We Recover Loudly - Serving Essential Hospitality Conversations
Welcome to We Recover Loudly the podcast.
In season one, the mission was to spark conversations about addiction, recovery, and drinking cultures within hospitality. What we found was that these topics are closely linked to much bigger issues that we face in the industry, which truly deserve our attention and a space to be discussed. The podcast has evolved to delve into important matters surrounding addiction and recovery, as well as significant themes like burnout, sexual harassment, gender imbalance, mental health, chronic illness, stress, and eating disorders—the list goes on! This podcast isn’t just for individuals in recovery from drugs and alcohol working in hospitality; it’s for anyone who has dealt with challenges, tough working conditions, or health issues related to their experiences in this industry, who want to hear inspiring stories of strength and recovery.
Each episode features a mix of personal stories from myself and other incredible individuals who are currently in the industry or connected to the industry via a mental health space. We engage in conversations with hospitality leaders who are paving the way in providing training and resources to cultivate healthy workplace environments for their teams. This podcast aims to be a welcoming platform for everyone to share the challenges they've faced while working in hospitality and how they’ve overcome them... loudly!
So, let's turn it up and get loud, because when we recover loudly we stop others dying quietly.
We Recover Loudly - Serving Essential Hospitality Conversations
S2 Episode 006- Greg Baker - From Chef on the Line to Life on the Line
On this week’s episode, we are joined by Greg Baker. Greg was a chef and restaurateur for 36 years, with six James Beard Award nominations behind him, before retiring in 2019, citing the physical and mental toll the work took on him as his reasons. In his last years as a chef, he became a vocal advocate for raising awareness of and dealing with systemic mental health issues in the hospitality industry. Since leaving restaurants, Greg has continued his advocacy work, and he now works as a freelance writer for such publications as Food & Wine magazine, Serious Eats, and Tasting Table.
We first became aware of the work Greg is associated with when watching a short video The Wall Street Journal put together in 2018 after the tragic death of Antony Bourdain. The video called ‘A Reckoning With the Dark Side of the Restaurant Industry’ features industry leaders at the time such as Greg Baker, Cat Cora and Patrick Mulveny. Talking to Greg all these years later was really moving, especially as he shares how difficult his mental health became over the years and how his shame to share about it nearly cost him his life.
We discussed -
- Toxic masculinity and whether it is self imposed at times
- How he gravitated towards the chaos of the kitchen and that high adrenaline lifestyle from a young man
- The failure of the industry to rebuild itself after the pandemic better than it was before
- How if we want to create lasting change, it has to start at the top
This is a raw, no holds barred and very moving conversation with a talented chef who we could have lost, and who is now making positive changes with his story. Inspiring stuff.
@greg_baker
@werecoverloudly www.werecoverloudly.com
Want us to come into your business and talk to your teams about addiction in the workplace?? Send us an email at hello@werecoverloudly.com and we will be in touch!
This episode is sponsored by
The Burnt Chef Project.
@theburntchefproject www.theburntchefproject.com
AND
Low No Drinker Magazine
@lownodrinkermagazine www.lownodrinkermagazine.com
For more information on We Recover Loudly and to reach out for speaking engagements or support email hello@werecoverloudly.com
@werecoverloudly
www.werecoverloudly.com
This episode is brought to you by our proud sponsors:
Low No Drinker Magazine @lownodrinkermagazine
www.lownodrinkermagazine.com