Foodservice stars on the rise

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These wunderkinds are making their mark on the industry

In a culture obsessed with youth and cracking the cipher to the ever-complex millennial, young people appear to be an overvalued demographic in nearly every sphere but one: the workplace. It takes confidence, persistence and respect to stand out among more experienced peers, which is why FoodService Director is taking a moment to recognize the young people with gumption, grit and a thirst for change.

Top foodservice personnel—from contractors to professional association staff and seasoned directors—nominated individuals who are changing the noncommercial foodservice game. These fresh-faced foodservice superstars do not only bring demographic insights and fresh ideas to the table; their leadership style and operational perspectives are all their own.

Sean Armstrong

Marketing Manager, Chartwells Higher Education
Florida Atlantic University
Dining Services
Boca Raton, Fla.
Age 28

Top accomplishments:

• Developing the Captain Flex mascot campaign to remind students to use the Flex Bucks declining balance portion of their meal plan
• Increasing declining balance sales by 9.5 percent over the previous year
• Leading customer service initiatives that helped Florida Atlantic rank No. 1 in customer satisfaction within Chartwells Higher Education nationwide

What’s the best career advice you’ve been given? From a professor at St. Joseph’s University, as well as my current district manager, Greg Moran: Both said, “Don’t be afraid to be tenacious. Don’t be afraid to speak your mind and stand up for yourself.”

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome? Trying to target a wide variety of students who have different cravings. Making sure that everyone is happy. That’s a challenge for a lot of our colleagues and competitors, but we do a lot of focus groups.

What has been your best mistake? When I first joined this industry, my “best” and frequent mistake was my inability to delegate tasks of larger weight. I often found myself overwhelmed, but, more importantly, my assistant or interns were not gaining a more valuable experience. This lesson has certainly helped me in terms of efficiency and meeting more deadlines. 

Amanda Goodwin

Marketing Manager, Chartwells Higher Education
University of Miami
Miami
Age 28

Top accomplishments:

• Growing UM Dining’s Fall 2015 revenue to $229,360 in retail restaurants and $263,704 in event sales
• Increasing social media engagement, with 1,521 new Instagram followers and a 21 percent increase in Twitter followers
• Boosting customer and client satisfaction scores by 10 percent for the Fall 2015 semester

Where would you say you excel over more seasoned colleagues? The personality traits within this new Generation Z demographic are uncharted waters for most of my colleagues. With this growing demographic is the need for social media and technology, but also creating a relationship with students, faculty, staff and associates. The ability to deal with various personality types and multitasking relationships while managing a department of this magnitude is something that has set me apart.

What’s the best career advice you’ve been given? It was intimidating coming into an account where there were directors here for more than 10 years—and some 20. I was the new kid on the block—the youngest of the directors—and knew I had a long road ahead in gaining their trust. My regional district manager let me know that I can’t take everything to heart, and while I have passion for what I do, I needed to not let the little things bother me.

What’s been your most rewarding moment? I started this position in July 2015 and went straight into my first fall semester. If it weren’t for my existing designer, I don’t think I would have survived! As they always do, opportunities surrounding the communication and branding on campus came to fruition. With the hard work of my retail and residential team, we were able to turn the corner quickly and rise to the occasion. We hold biweekly vegetarian and student-government meetings to continuously check the pulse on our student population. We were able to see results in our secret-shopper surveys and client feedback recently.

Allison Pietrucha

Marketing Manager, Registered Dietitian
Innovations 2 Solutions (Sodexo)
Gaithersburg, Md.
Age 31

Top accomplishments:

• Overseeing the implementation of culinary and marketing innovations throughout the Midwest
• Serving as corporate wellness chairwoman
• Bringing together experts across the country to share best practices that ultimately lead to positive client and customer experiences

What’s been your most rewarding moment? Keeping in touch with my past clients who continue to make lifestyle changes that better their health.

What’s been your funniest on-the-job disaster? I wouldn’t necessarily say disaster, but I was at an account educating our clients on the sugar content of certain beverages. I had stacked sugar cubes up in front of each of the drinks to signify the number of teaspoons of sugar in the drink. Two people walked by at separate times, grabbed a few sugar cubes from the display and ate them.

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome? There are many seasoned professionals who work in foodservice. Being new to the business and going into accounts with a set of fresh eyes wasn’t always well-received.

Rocky Dunnam

Executive Chef
Bivins Foundations (senior living)
Amarillo, Texas
Age 30

Top accomplishments:

• Creating a Chef Demo Day to prepare fresh meals in front of residents
• Organizing a culinary internship program
• Writing menus that challenge the notion of food served in long-term care facilities

What has been your most successful culinary creation? I’m a country boy, so I measure success by the flavor, doneness and moisture of every piece of protein I prepare. My most successful creation to date might be my bone marrow pasta—I use the marrow in the dough.

What career advice would you give to your 20-year-old self? Don’t be arrogant. Just because you have a culinary degree doesn’t mean that you know everything or you are above anything. If you need to wash dishes ... roll up your sleeves. Soak everything in, and assume that you can learn from anyone.

As a leader in the kitchen, what do you think is your most important role? I feel like it’s important for me to bring a positive attitude and high energy every day. Attitude is contagious, and you can taste it. If I’m in a bad mood, my staff will be on edge and mistakes happen that literally are palatable.

Kaitlin Miller

Front of House Supervisor
Flik (Compass Group)
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas
Richardson, Texas
Age 26

Top accomplishments:

• Converting to an electronic cash-handling system, cutting paper-usage waste and costs
• Cross-training front-of-house staff and increasing employee engagement
• Modernizing the brand and updating electronic marketing strategies while working closely with a registered dietitian to create a clean look and feel

Where would you say you excel over more seasoned colleagues? Optimism. I bring forth an optimistic attitude that I can say that not everyone else does. My glass is always “half full,” and I truly believe that with the right attitude in mind we can all accomplish great things.

What’s been your funniest on-the-job disaster? One of the funniest on-the-job disasters I can remember was trying to deliver a catering order to the Duggar family [from “19 Kids and Counting”]. The daughter was getting married, so the family had ordered catering for the camera crew and themselves. When I arrived on scene, I was police escorted away from the church because no one had told security that I was to be expected to arrive. After persistent conversation that I was no wedding crasher and simply a caterer, I was able to set up and make the client happy.

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome? One of the biggest challenges I have had to face in my career is the generational gap between my employees and myself. I am a millennial managing baby boomers and Generation X. I have learned to give respect as well as earn respect with my employees by learning to sympathize with their points of view, morals and treat them with the same respect as I would like to receive.

Heather Smith

Food Service Director
Cardinal Community School District
Eldon, Iowa
Age 36

Top accomplishments:

• Coordinating a co-op food buying partnership with three other districts
• Increasing foodservice revenue, allowing the team to grow and update equipment
• Fostering a culture of continuing education among her staff 

What has been your proudest career moment? Turning our program around and having a positive balance for the first time in school history.

What’s been your funniest on-the-job disaster? While transporting food, two gallons of mustard fell to the ground and covered myself and another staff member in mustard—as well as my car!

What would you like to accomplish in your career short-term? We would love to offer an expanded food line as well as a salad bar in our elementary building.

Kate Rittman

Nutrition Services Director
Aging Resources of Central Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Age 27

Top accomplishments:

• Going out of the way to assist in activities, even those that go beyond the scope of the job
• Starting a nutrition newsletter that is distributed to all ARCI meal sites
• Furthering her education by earning a Certified Dietary Manager credential within two years of joining ARCI

What has been your best mistake? One of my best mistakes was diving into a project without asking enough questions. It turned out later on that if I had asked more questions in the beginning, I likely wouldn’t have taken on that project, and a lot of time and effort would have been saved. At a conference I once heard the quote, “A good leader doesn’t always have the answers, but asks a lot of questions.”

Where would you say you excel over more seasoned colleagues? I love analyzing current processes and then finding innovative ways to simplify them. I’m not afraid of change.

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome? Overcoming my shy and accommodating personality. Since I’m young and relatively new to my position, it’s even more important for me to be assertive and self-assured.

Colleen Brewer

Food Service Manager
Plymouth State University (Sodexo)
Plymouth, N.H.
Age 25

Top accomplishments:

• Creating a video that won second place in Sodexo’s Safety Video Contest
• Capitalizing on marketing and social media to help two Plymouth State University students win national sweepstakes within Sodexo that included a home gym and a trip to Los Angeles
• Developing a plan to increase catering revenue through a subcontracting agreement with a local venue

What’s been your funniest on-the-job disaster? To save my dignity, I will not share the details of my story, but I will share the lesson I learned: It takes about a month for eyebrows to grow back, a little longer for eyelashes. Enough said.

What’s the best career advice you’ve been given? The best career advice came from my operations director, Sandy Marrotte, who said, “Know your weaknesses.” I continue to identify these weaknesses and construct plans of self-improvement every day.

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome? I was promoted from within, so it was challenging to go from being a coworker to an authority figure with the employees who trained me. But the experience has taught me patience and understanding.

Amanda Williams

Director of Food Service
Freeport School District 145
Freeport, Ill.
Age 29

Top accomplishments:

• Creating and establishing a new culture for the foodservice department
• Developing new breakfast and lunch options, increasing fresh seasonal fruit service to every morning and working with foodservice staff to create more housemade items
• Working with nonprofit community groups to offer support with their foodservice programs, including catering or daily programs and training staff on food production and creating healthy meals on-site

Where would you say you excel over more seasoned colleagues? I think the director I am today has been defined by a series of strong mentors along the way, each offering bits and pieces to who I am and how I handle situations. Often, I find that having the ability to blend old-school and new-school philosophies together is an advantage in leading a team and encouraging them to think out of the box.

What’s been your most rewarding moment? While working in an elementary building prior to school ending last year, I witnessed a kindergarten student walk up to our head cook and say, “Are there any extra sandwiches? My tummy still hurts.” It was in that moment that I realized that many of our students might not always have access to a warm, nutritious meal every night after they leave school. I also realized that it was important for foodservice to adapt in order to support students and parents through healthy breakfast and lunch options that are fresh and made from scratch daily. Choosing to approach foodservice differently for our students and their families has come with a lot of time and dedication. However, knowing that we are able to assist students, seeing their smiles when they try something and love it for the first time makes every obstacle worth it. 

What would you like to accomplish in your career short term? I would like to continue the growth of a positive foodservice culture, with not only staff, but with students, parents and our local community. And more importantly partner and facilitate culinary education opportunities to help show students that fresh ingredients are an option for them.

Ally Zeitz

Food Lab Manager
Drexel University Center for Hospitality and Sports Management
Philadelphia
Age 22

Top accomplishments:

• Starting as a student-employee in the Food Lab and working her way up to a manager position
• Organizing a project to create seasonal recipes showing new ways to use canned clams and conducting a successful tasting for the brand’s leadership team
• Helping create dishes from food waste that were met with accolades from Gina McCarthy, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

Where would you say you excel over more seasoned colleagues? In my position, I think that I take more risks with new flavors and ideas than some of my colleagues. I learn a lot from them, and they help me think through ideas.

What’s been your most rewarding moment? When I have a tasting for various Food Lab clients and cook what the students and I have been working on, thinking about and cooking for months. The people we cook for are seasoned foodies and business people. They are always shocked at the great food that we produce at the Food Lab.

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome? I think that it was hard for me in the beginning of my position to feel confident that I knew what I was doing. But I realized that I don’t always have to know what I am doing; I just need to cook and stand behind what I make, and what the students in the Food Lab also make. 

Related:

What younger FSDs think they can do better
 The next generation is bringing a new outlook to the noncommercial table, as we learned when we asked the 32-and-under set to list the advantages they have over older colleagues in the workplace.

What frustrates newcomers to foodservice careers
Here’s what pros age 30 and under have found to be frustrating about working in the field.