The Hotel Daddy Podcast
Hotel Daddy is a podcast featuring in-depth interviews with hospitality movers and shakers, offering candid conversations that reveal how the best in the business became the leaders they are today. Listen in for inspiration and behind-the-scenes stories from the best in the industry.
Hosted by T. Blake Danner, Executive Producer, Stephanie T. Bryant, Production and Engineering by David Jewell. Associate Producer, Nelson Luis Ortiz, with original theme music composed and produced by Evan Jewell.
The Hotel Daddy Podcast
From Pirate Kitchens To Radical Candor: A Chef's Journey into Fine Dining at Scale and Life as an Out Trans Man
What if a single bite could send you home again? Chef Ollie Walleck joins us to explore how memory, empathy, and rigor can reinvent what a kitchen feels like—and what guests taste on the plate. From his start as a teenage cook chasing the service rush to leading teams at The Midway in San Francisco, Ollie breaks down the craft behind food that scales to thousands without losing nuance, warmth, or soul.
We get granular about culture change: why the scream-and-throw era doesn’t build loyalty, how radical candor and respect keep teams together, and why calm is the strongest position when the weeds close in. Ollie credits mentors who embodied presence and precision, then shows how he translated those lessons into systems that make large events run smoothly. He argues the most expensive ingredient isn’t caviar—it’s time. Time to think through a dish, teach it, and respect the guest’s time with food that’s clever, consistent, and genuinely satisfying.
We also talk candidly about identity and visibility. As an out trans man, Ollie shares why leadership that’s openly queer matters to hospitality’s future, and why cities like San Francisco feel built from queer joy, not just tolerant of it. The throughline is simple and powerful: judge a chef by what they plate and how they care for people. If you’re a rising cook, a culinary leader, or just a guest who loves thoughtful food—from nightclub snacks to festival service—you’ll find lessons on scalable creativity, systems that hold under pressure, and the kind of kitchen culture that lasts.
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Welcome to Hotel Daddy. I'm your host, Blake Danner. In today's episode, I speak with Chef Ollie Wallach. We'll dive right in and get to know Ollie, exploring his unique journey and the stories that have shaped his career in hospitality and food and beverage. Expect some candid conversations, some honest reflections. Whether you're an industry insider or you just love a good story, you're in the right place. So hey kids, if you're listening to us today on your morning run, stay alert, kick up that endurance a bit, and enjoy the run as we open the doors to Hotel Daddy. Chef Ollie Wallach has over 15 years of culinary experience with an emphasis on fresh farm-focused ingredients and is known for his playful and creative take on dishes. Currently, the executive chef at the Midway, nestled in San Francisco's Dog Patch District, the Midway is a sprawling 40,000 square foot hub of creativity and innovation, welcoming all to discover, create, interact, and be moved. It's a vibrant venue celebrating the confluence of music, art, cutting edge technology, and of course, culinary arts. Before joining the Midway, Ollie was the executive chef at the Freehand Hotel and the Kitchen Bistro in Chicago. And before that, the radio room in circa 33 in Portland, Oregon. As an out and proud trans man, Ollie was featured as the speaker for the University of Wisconsin's Chef's Speak Out series. He's been a published contributor in BuzzFeed's Tasty Pride Cookbook, and has been featured on Kitchen.com, Eat Queer, San Francisco Eater, Go Pride, and the Windy City Times. When he's not innovating menus or testing a new recipe, Ollie can be found at the dog park with his best friend and hungriest sous-chef, his golden doodle, Murphy Boku. Ollie, did I say that right? Murphy Boku. Ollie, welcome to Hotel Daddy. I am so excited to have you here today. By the way, I'm excited to have you here. I'm excited for this conversation, and I'm excited to reconnect. You and I haven't actually spoken in a couple years. For sure. No, I miss you. I miss you too. We've Instagrammed, we've DM'd. This will be a great reconnection. One of the reasons why I really wanted you on season one is so far, we've talked to a lot of really senior leaders in the business, people that have been 25, 30 years in the C-suite. We have an episode with Michelin star James Beard Award-winning chef David Myers. And I think you're just a great compliment to all these conversations because in my humble mind, you're that next generation. You are what's coming up in Culinary Talent today. I'm super interested to hear your take on what culinary is gonna look like five years from now. Before we dig in, there's something we do here at the beginning of every episode that I like to call who's in the lobby. All right, I am gonna ask you a series of rapid fire questions. And Ollie, you just say the first thing that comes to your mind. Are you ready? Are you ready with the believe button? Yeah. What's your name? Ollie. Zodiac sign. Aries. Sweet or savory? Savory. First dish you ever cooked? Scrambled eggs. Favorite late night snack. PvJ. We have the same taste. One ingredient you just can't live without. Vinegar. Coffee or tea? Tea. Hot sauce. Yes or no? Always. Cookbook or just experiment and throw it down. Ooh, I have my own systems. Alright. So that's not experiment. That's just you know your go-tos.
SPEAKER_01:I like this is a longer answer. Sorry, it's not rapid fire. Give it. I want to hear it. I'm pretty adept with Excel and I have my own suites written out, and a lot of my cooking has to be adaptable and scalable from anywhere from 50 to 500. I am really good at whipping something up and then scaling it out. Yeah, we're very different that way. Last rapid fire question kitchen music.
SPEAKER_00:Silent or banging playlist. Banging. It has to be. That one does not surprise me. I can't wait to be in the kitchen with you. I want to hear the playlist. So listen, let's jump in. I have known you professionally. I've watched your career. I've been super excited to see how you continue to grow and continue to be creative. And quite frankly, I've loved watching you find your own voice and exude much more confidence. But I don't know what really got you into culinary. What first drew you into this culinary world that you're in?
SPEAKER_01:First got me into culinary was why I started working in restaurants when I was about 14. There was a cafe nearby. I always loved cooking at home, but there was a like a pizza place called Zeppy's Kitchen that I walked in and I wanted to make some money. And I fell in love with the kitchen crew. I fell in love with the sort of pirate nature of it at the time. I was like a fairly attractive 14-year-old girl. And a couple weeks into my employment, the owner told me that he only hired me because he liked the way my ass looked in sweatpants. Oh no. He's surprised by how hard a worker I was. You overcame it. Well, I was like, I'd never been more flattered.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, with that auspicious start then, when was the defining moment where you realized it wasn't just about making some cash and it wasn't about the people you worked with at that moment? It was that maybe cooking was your calling. When was that moment? Do you remember a flashpoint where you're like, oh wow, this is what I want to do?
SPEAKER_01:In terms of the service standpoint, it was a number of moments where the rush of it and the adrenaline and the environment felt like I just never wanted to get away from the theater of that and the drama. It was a point where I knew I wanted to cook professionally forever. I had come back from New York City and while my mom was sick, and I made her a dish that was fish and chips because she grew up in Australia and she took a bite and she said that she felt instantly like she was six years old on the dock. And I was like, I want to give people that feeling for the rest of my life.
SPEAKER_00:Isn't it interesting how food can draw up emotion? It can draw up feelings. That's something that we don't talk about a whole lot, but I think food is very inspiring in a way, right?
SPEAKER_01:Entirely. It's the most sensuous blend to me, the most direct chemical experience of art and memory and science for people that it's not only like the flavors themselves, but like where were you, who were you around, how were you feeling? All of those feelings can be invoked in just a second with flavor.
SPEAKER_00:I think both flavor and smell. You know, there are some foods that all I need is a whiff, and it takes me back to a moment, a memory that I always will attach to that smell. And they're always good memories, interestingly enough. What were your biggest coloring influences? What defined your style?
SPEAKER_01:My two chef mentors in their own ways. My first mentor, Jonathan Sawyer, he was at a place called the Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland, and he stepped on deck like a bear, like a captain. Like that show is triggering just because oh shit, like the real deal is here. I remember he was showing me how to make this dish that was pretty signature to him in the restaurant, foie gras steamed clams. And I made it and I thought it was perfect. And he came over to taste it, and he's like, give me just two seconds. And he swirled it twice with his just his right hand, and it completely transformed the thing that was like, uh, this guy's a wizard. He was terrifying. Was like, this is back in the day when it was not uncommon for not just him, but other people to, you know, throw plates and scream and all that fun, violent stuff. But I really learned from him that your physical presence has to be powerful and like you just kind of have to step on and literally step on deck.
SPEAKER_00:This is a topic I want to double down on because one of the reasons that I'm so excited to talk about you is where's culinary going? What's the future look like? But you know, you have just described what I think to a lot of us is the stereotypical historical chef, super aggressive, harsh feedback, creates this persona. And I guess my question for you is does that work anymore? Can that be the future?
SPEAKER_01:I think it hasn't been the future for a little bit. When I say 15 years, like when my 15 years, it's closer to 20 and 25, right? Because I'm I'm 38 now and started cooking at 14. It's always been a little bit ahead of societal trend, too, in my imagination and in culture. Like also growing up in kitchens as a woman and then transitioning right before being promoted very quickly as a Sioux chef, as a head chef, and my career for the last 12 years at least being executive chef. It's been really interesting that like the environments that I witness now are completely different. And if anything, I feel a bit in some ways like an old tranny yelling on my porch and an old chef yelling on my porch, too. No fucking idea how hard it was. Like, you know, it's novel guaranteed, and you're not entitled to all of these like gentle leadings, and the work is hard. But that doesn't mean you have the people leading it have to be cruel. You don't gain loyalty by scaring people.
SPEAKER_00:Really interesting because one of the common through lines that we've heard through season one talking to leaders like yourself is that styles have had to change in culinary arts because you're dealing with really creative folks, their tolerance for putting up with some of that old style leadership, it's gone. The old chef who was the screamer-yeller, that doesn't work anymore. And I think because of a highly kind of creative workforce, they've had to transition, they've had to change, they've had to be more sensitive to their kitchen.
SPEAKER_01:There's a general zeitgeist and vernacular that's shifted entirely. Like even growing up, the trans and all the language and tools of language that I have access to now for my own identity were nowhere near available. And it's only in the past 10 years that we've seen this massive release of language that I think has scared a lot of people into the backlash that we're seeing. But in the same way, that empathy around identities and empathy around people existing and being sensitive is a new thing for a lot of environments to deal with. And there's always going to be places that are difficult and violent and in all of those scary things. If you want a kitchen that lasts, it has to be built from a place of respect and radical candor and that sort of empathy for people.
SPEAKER_00:So then let me ask this because you're an executive chef now, you run a kitchen, you're at a 40,000 square foot big environment. What's your style? What's your leadership style? Forget your cooking style for a second. What's your leadership style? You've got a kitchen of staff that work with you. How do you want them to perceive you?
SPEAKER_01:They know that I love them. I love how hard they work. I work very hard. I don't need to prove that to them and they don't need to prove it to me. We just need to do it. And I think that that's a day-to-day thing that, like, if you love what you're doing and if you love the environment, even when things get tough and difficult, you can still remain professional. And that respect, I think, like goes deeper than a day-to-day this day or this service or this event was hard. That overall we work together for a long time. Like that's what makes it sustainable.
SPEAKER_00:You've grown your career so fast and so well and so notably. Do you feel an obligation to help the next generation of chefs that you're working with? Like, do you feel an obligation to help them uh have that same success?
SPEAKER_01:No, fuck them. Run away, babies. I love it. I want people to want my job. The more support we have from underneath, the more we can grow higher. Do you cook differently at home than you do in a professional kitchen? Yes. I cook like a garbage raccoon for myself. Again, we have the same taste. I shred a head of cabbage and make some grilled chicken and then sort of parse that out for myself throughout the week. And mostly my dog eats very, very well.
SPEAKER_00:So let's talk about the future of kitchens for a second. We talked about leadership and styles that have changed over the years, shall we say? What do you think the future of culinary looks like? What do you want to take it to?
SPEAKER_01:My favorite part of my job now is I mean, we do massive corporate events, we do cafes that are open, but I my favorite thing is cooking for the nightclub and the shows and the different things that are open. Cause I think that the accessibility of fine dining and what people expect out of sort of lowbrow and accessible, available price points. I really think that the most expensive ingredient that anyone ever will put is their time. And that's not even time to create it. It's time to have thought about it. It's time to like know how to make it. People would be really, really surprised at how elegant and it's not upscale the kind of food that I love doing in serving 20,000 people at a time, but you can taste that it's clever and professional.
SPEAKER_00:What I'm really digging right now and the connoisseur of the New York restaurant scene is there are a lot of up-and-coming chefs in New York that are doing what you just described. A really interesting take on a hot dog, everything bagel version of egg rolls. It's traditional in nature, but they've just given it this little wink and nod that I don't eat it and go, oh my God, this is the best thing I've ever tasted in my life. I eat it and I go, This is creative. They took time, they thought through this, and it's a good fusion of flavors that I'm really digging. So I think your point of time might be the best ingredient you could put in is noted.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks. My experiences in Portland as a sort of creative breeding ground, each city is sort of doing things interestingly and more creatively than other ones are going to do five years later. But the melting point of across the country, and like as soon as things start to get national attention, you know, what's the next crow nut? Like with those kinds of that kind of thing. Chefs need to move around more. Stop staying in only one city your whole career. I think that's boring.
SPEAKER_00:Good advice. What's the biggest misconception people have about being a chef?
SPEAKER_01:That we cook at home. The other person who would deeply influential of my career, Jen Lewis, she would always ask me every Monday or Tuesday, whenever we would first come in and see each other. She would always ask me, What did you make for yourself this weekend? And that sort of encouragement, I think, has stuck with me for a long time to always keep a little bit about food and the artistry for yourself, if it is like what you're going to dedicate your life and your craft to. How many chefs do you think don't really cook a lot at home? 98%.
SPEAKER_00:It's so funny you say that because I think all of us non-foodies think that all you guys, you go home and you throw together this fancy, beautiful meal every night. I've been very honest about this. No one has ever reached out to me because of my culinary excellence. I can scramble some eggs on my best days. I think we all have this impression that, you know, you go home every night and you do this great, beautiful display. My senses talking to a lot of chefs lately.
SPEAKER_01:That's just not the case. It's a unique privilege of our job that we get to do something that we artistically love and that a lot of people do as their stress release. If an orthodontist doesn't go home after 14 hours and is like, I just want to look at teeth.
SPEAKER_00:You know, it's so funny you say that because that makes so much sense to me. I'm a business guy. I spend all day doing budgets. The last thing I want to do when I go home is do a budget. But I do think a lot of us think that, you know, yeah, they're cooking every night at home. Interesting. So, what is the most valuable lesson that you've ever learned in the kitchen? In the kitchen to stay calm.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, wow. The strongest and most powerful I've felt is when things were getting a little hairy, get a little weeded, and people are starting to get a little snippy and losing their heads. The first instinct is to shout someone down or to whatever it is, but I've had people scream in my face. And I think the most powerful position I've ever taken is to just stand calm, shut it down, but stay the calmest one in the storm. That's helped me in my life immensely.
SPEAKER_00:I love it. One of the things that we have talked a lot about on this series is well-being. Well-being, fitness, meditation, all those things. What do you do to stay calm? You know, you're running this big operation, you're in the weeds a lot. What do you do to stay calm? Well, we're not in the weeds a lot because it's so well organized.
SPEAKER_01:Too shape. What's also wonderful about my current position is that Murphy gets to join me at work pretty often, more often than not. And he really is my life's beacon lighthouse towards joy and enjoyment. He keeps everybody happy. He's a kitchen dog, he's grown up around them. And just looking over at his little face where he's just happy to be there and sweet.
SPEAKER_00:I love that story. And I'll tell you why. We were talking just this week about my passion for fitness. And that's kind of what is my leveler. The person I was talking with said, Well, but Blake, fitness is yours. It's different for everybody else. And what I just heard you say is, yeah, for me, it's Murphy. Murphy is that calming impact that I need to stay balanced and stay centered. I love that. He's my fitness. So, Ollie, can I tell the story of how you and I met? Yes. By the way, I don't I don't know that I've ever even told you this story. I think back a lot about how we met and what I thought was some unique circumstances. So, to table set this for the listeners, I was the COO of Sadell Group. We were open in the Freehand brand. We had opened Freehand in Miami to great success. The bar lab boys knocked it out of the park with Broken Shaker. Just the whole project was just a home run. And that allowed us to go on and do, you know, Freehand LA and Freehand New York and Freehand Chicago. Freehand Chicago was about to open and there's a lot of pressure. You know, it was really important to us. It had to be successful. Everybody was lots of eyes on it. And frankly, through great folks like you, it ended up being a huge success. But I remember that this was so important to the company you were interviewing to be the executive chef at Freehand Chicago, opening Rook and Shaker. I can't remember if you were still interviewing or if I came down right when you were accepting the role. I don't remember that part, but I remember this was very important to the company and I wanted to fly in and meet you. And so I came to Chicago and you and I met personally, and I still remember it, like it was yesterday, the top of the left side of the mezzanine, and we were having a lovely conversation. And about 10, 15 minutes into the conversation, a little voice went off in my mind, and I said, Oh, Ollie is a trans man. Cool. Okay. And we kept on talking. And then it dawned on me just how happy I was in that moment. And I give Andrew Zobler a lot of credit for this wonderful environment and culture that he created at Sadell. But you know, there was a lot of folks that were involved in setting up my meeting with you. And what I love about this story is nobody felt the necessity to asterisk or say, hey Blake, just so you know, like, no, I got a copy of notes from your tasting. I got your resume. A couple of folks stopped by and said, Oh, you're meeting Chef Ali. I think he's gonna be a great addition to the team. Like nobody felt obligated to disclose anything else to me. As I think about that story, I hope that that's always the way it is. But I want to ask you, has that always been the way it is?
SPEAKER_01:That's so funny that that's your first memory of it. I remember they were telling you you were visiting, you were very health conscious. And I was like, okay, I'm gonna make a Blake special. I'm gonna do like grilled chicken, avocado. What else is he like? And so I'm glad that that at least my anxiety didn't read through.
SPEAKER_00:Not at all. You got the job and you came on and you were hugely successful there. But I want to hear your take on is it always the case I have the privilege of passing or whatever that means in a lot of environments.
SPEAKER_01:I try to make it a point to have it be something very, very visible about me. I think that especially, God, now when there's threats of us being designated terrorists and whatever, just by virtue of being trans, I think it's more important than ever that trans visibility doesn't go away and is ultra visible in leadership, in higher-end environments. And that, you know, I thought, what was his name? BD Wong. Who was it that promised us things got better? I want to live up to that for all the queer people out there. For I think hospitality in particular has always been a safe haven for queer folk. You know, if if we can present the drama and then miracle of having two existences coincide and take care of people, then why not? I think that lends itself specifically to having queer people and queer environments and welcoming because it is about caretaking and an intimacy outside of your home with a stranger. And the queer people are adept to doing that. Interesting.
SPEAKER_00:As an out, proud gay man, I feel like right now I have a huge responsibility to be visible. Just be visible. I don't have to lead with it. It's not how I define myself, but I just want my life to be visible. I want it to be visible so people understand who and what we are, right? And I want to be visible for all the people who can't quite be yet. You know, I have the great luxury of I can be really visible right now. And so I want to own that. So what's visibility look like for you?
SPEAKER_01:Visibility looks like I've never been anyone but myself. And you would have no idea what would that maybe have changed for you ahead of time if you had known I was trans. I mean, I don't think anything because you're you, but for some people it might change something if they ahead of time know my filthy secret or whatever it is. It's a huge part of my life. Living in the world, my life has been informed by existing as a woman and then transitioning, and then my perspective of a man living in like having lived as a woman, like none of those things exist in a vacuum. There's nothing that I have to really push in people's spaces by doing my day-to-day job. But I think that's another lovely little side benefit of having such tangible work. I'm good at what I do. It's not because I'm trans, it's not because whatever, it's it's whatever. I'm just good at what I do.
SPEAKER_00:So by the way, that's why I particularly love the story about how we met, because it wasn't about you being trans. It was just, oh, had great tastings, great resume, think he's gonna be good in the kitchen. That wasn't the issue. Like you were just judged on what you were gonna bring to the kitchen. And I think in large part that's how it should be.
SPEAKER_01:In the same way that anything kind of outside of the kitchen, any other candidate for that role, you know, like, oh, and he's a Catholic. Like we would have never known. Right. Just it's what's not important. Right. How do they do their job? How do they lead? How are they around to be like, like, are they a pleasure to work with?
SPEAKER_00:Those qualities I think are what's important. So listen, it's interesting. Throughout the first season of Hotel Daddy, we really haven't been, if you want to call it political, you know, it's not really what Hotel Daddy's about. But as I prepared for this conversation with you, I just like you. I have respect for you. You're a person that I adore and I've watched you grow your career. And when Steph and I were talking, I was like, I care for Ollie, and Ollie's someone I adore. So I don't know how to have this conversation without just asking you, how are you doing? How are you doing in this moment? Because I this is a fraught moment right now for the community. So because I care, how are you?
SPEAKER_01:That's very sweet of you. I really appreciate that. It is reminiscent of the first round of things. And I think that at least this time around, it's a little bit less gaslighty. First go of things, I try to frame it as like 2016 through 2020. Anytime there was like, oh, but but that'll never happen. But like the thing, they would never. And now things are sort of slowly coming to pass just one month after the next, that are all of these terrible things that we would never have fathomed four years ago, three years ago, 10 years ago. And it's scary. It's very scary. I'm a white dude passing person living in a very wealthy city with a good job. I really try to just keep to myself in a lot of ways. The people who are more in danger to me, trans women, women of color, all of my stuff, those are people I think about every second of every day here. But it's yeah, it's uh it's not looking great. I'll say that. But I think that the more visibility, like when I when we talk about visibility, if more people just knew trans people as humans and not whatever monster. 100%.
SPEAKER_00:Back to my comment. I'm not overly political. I don't think I'm an activist. I just think I adore Ollie and I want Ollie to live his full life and potential and be supportive of that.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks. I want you too. I think that inherently living the lives that we do, like whether we want to be or not, we are political. Just the freedom and ability. There's nothing to me that is more American than the ability and freedom to choose your own path and to choose your own life.
SPEAKER_00:Interesting. I've always said that my support of the trans community isn't necessarily because I'm a huge activist or you know, I'm I'm carrying the banner, but it's because I've just always been a live and let live person. I approach it from the standpoint of I want you to live this wonderful full life. And so whether it's any subgroup, so to speak, of people, my support has usually been pretty foundational, which is just who I am and how I believe, which is come on, let's just all do our thing and get along, you know? Genuinely. Like, who is it harming? My God. So let me ask this question. When I saw that you had moved to San Francisco, and again, we hadn't talked in a while, and I said, Oh, I'll end up in San Francisco and very liberal city. And my immediate thought was, you know, I wonder why he moved to San Francisco. And then it dawned on me, well, Mike, probably moved to San Francisco for all the reasons anybody else moves there. What was your move to San Francisco? Was there a part of you that thought the community there might be more supportive, it might be easier, or was that even a thought? And am I just attributing something that I shouldn't?
SPEAKER_01:No, it absolutely is. It's the safest. It's the to me, and I'm sure there are other places. I hope people do argue with you and say, like, no, this place is super safe to be gay. This is to me the last safest bastion of queer people in America. We are untouchable. This is a city that is built on pleasure and queerness and gay people at its very, very roots and core. It doesn't feel like, what's the term? Where it's like a military compound. It doesn't feel like a sanctuary city in that way. It feels like the ground itself is built from it.
SPEAKER_00:I'm gonna close out this topic on I just think the best thing you and I can do as my case, a senior business leader in your case, this up and coming young culinary talent. I think the best thing that we can do is just continue to be visible, you know, live our authentic lives, be visible, and not let it completely define us. Amen. What's next for you professionally? What are you hungry to do? What comes next?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, we are, well, what's really, really awesome is our company is rapidly expanding. And we're about to do another 20,000-person show at Golden Gate Park and coordinating all the food to feed 20,000 people in an interesting and fun, and the crews that build the stay like stages and the artists, all of those different things is really, really fun for me to coordinate.
SPEAKER_00:In this conversation, I hear as much passion about food, which I I hear loud and clear, but I also hear a lot of passion about event planning and quantity food prep and being able to feed the masses and something that's super interesting. Am I misreading that or is that part of what drives you? Not at all.
SPEAKER_01:That's a that's a very big part about what drives me. I personally can cook a delicious thing. I can cook it myself 20 times, a hundred times, but teaching a team of 50 to individually be able to do all these things with very clear systems and do them really well, and then just like go with a like a master, what is it, conductor? That's really fun for me. I love that.
SPEAKER_00:How important in that environment is consistency? Crucial. It doesn't exist without it being consistent and precise. Final question for you, Ollie. You have had a great career trajectory, and I'm so proud that, you know, I can say I knew you in the beginning, ish, ish, uh, and I've watched from afar as you've continued to grow, and I'm so proud for you. And I really, by the way, I've also watched your confidence grow. You know, I see you now on Instagram, and you just have such presence, and and that's just this confidence that you continue to kind of walk in and own. And I love that for you. But if you were to give a young chef some advice on how to have the same level of career trajectory that you've had, what would it be?
SPEAKER_01:Number one, thank you, you sweet angel. I think honestly, that's it. Like the Dunning Kruger of confidence level when what you think you know versus what you actually know and your your confidence level around it, when that drop-off hits, sort of staying in that after part for as long as you can, where you always say, like, I actually don't have all the answers. I know what I know. And I and I will always continue to work on those things and work on those tangible skills and people skills and keep reading books about, like, don't just read books about food, read books about leadership, read books about management. Just staying in that low, thirsty sponge kind of place, I think is gonna serve anybody well, no matter the career.
SPEAKER_00:So I've said this so many times, and you nailed it. And by the way, common comment amongst many of the senior leaders that we're talking to in this series. Don't be ashamed to admit you don't know everything. So much feedback around that topic. I think you nailed it. I don't know everything. I learn every day. I learn from my teams, I learn from junior people in the organization, but it is a constant learning curve, incredibly sound advice.
SPEAKER_01:People trust you when they think that you're a person. If you're just this monolith that like impossibly knows everything, they're gonna be too scared to bring you their problems. They're gonna be too scared to bring you their mistakes. They want to know that you at least understand what a mistake looks like or a lack of knowing about something. And that's really crucial to maintain trust with your people.
SPEAKER_00:Ollie, thank you for joining me today. So look, I like to give every guest the final word. Anything that we didn't talk about today, or anything you want to say to the listeners before we cut out today. I love you.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know. You have been such an inspiration for me. Just your consistency, your dedication, your thirst, and your your ferociousness the which you approach life has always been an inspiration. And I love you to yours. Uh, I love you back.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you for joining today. Kids, this has been Hotel Daddy. Thanks to Chef Ollie Wallach for being my guest today. Thanks for listening to Hotel Daddy with your host, Blake Danner. Be sure to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
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