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 002 - Alex Jump - From Death & Co to living life to the fullest!
Welcome to this week's episode of We Recover Loudly where Shell has the pleasure of chatting to beverage industry titan Alex Jump. Alex is an award-winning bartender who began her career behind the stick in her hometown of Tennessee after spending time studying aboard in Florence, Italy, including a stint interning at the largest wine shop in the Italian city.
Her first management role came in her early 20s, at East Bistro and by 23 she was promoted to overseeing the beverage programs at both Easy Bistro and there, more casual, whiskey-focused sister restaurant, Main Street Meats. She dreamt of working at the infamous Death & Co and moved to Denver hopeful for the chance to get to work at the opening of the cocktail bar. Finally in 2018 she got her wish and was made the new outpost’s bar manager.
Alex continued to add accolades to her name, including being named a finalist for Bombay Sapphire’s “Most Imaginative Bartender” in 2019 and being included on the 2021 Forbes “30 under 30 Food and Drink” list. In 2020, Alex co-founded Focus on Health with her business partner, Lauren O'Brien, and they use this platform to advocate for the physical and mental wellbeing of people working in the food and beverage industry. With FOH she has is able to share about her own struggle with mental health over the years and has created some vital training and support resources for the industry.
We discussed
- Looking for community when studying religion and the parallels with that and the communities we form in hospitality jobs.
- How there is still work to be done around the stigma of drugs and drug usage in the industry
- How important it is to support team members with compassion and flexibility.
- Ways to bond with team members that does NOT involving getting drunk.
- The work herself and the Focus on Health team are doing bringing more awareness to the industry of the mental health challenges people face and how to support them.
Alex is a wonderful example of bartender – one who still drinks but has changed her relationship for a more positive one, embracing having a mindful approach. She is also a totally awesome cocktail throwing, motor bike riding bad ass – a privilege to chat too!
Connect with Alex –
@axljump
@fohealth
@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
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