WFF Leadership

"It is truly an honor to stand here as your Chair and to serve this wonderful organization. Thank you to the women who came before me – for you accomplished so much and laid the important groundwork for us to move confidently into our 20th year.

 

- We have grown from 14 to 3,700 members

- We have celebrated women who have moved into the very top jobs in our industry

- We have been employed by companies who create environments where women thrive

- And we (well some of us) have even watched our daughters as they have successfully entered the industry

 

But the truth is. The work is far from over.

 

These strides are juxtaposed with statistics that aren’t quite as positive. The opportunities to transform – literally transform – our industry into an inclusive, gender-balanced one remains the WFF goal. And our work won’t be complete until we’v e moved further along that road.

 

2008 is a far different place and era than 1978 when I started my career in this industry. 

 

Some of you know that after a 30 year career, I recently retired as President and Chief Operating Officer of Batrus Hollweg International. It has been an amazing career. Like many women at that time, I began as a secretary -- wide-eyed and looking for an opportunity to do more.   Wearing dull brown (I guess a sign of my personality at the time), I launched my career with all my heart, energy and enthusiasm. 

 

Along the way, I had the opportunity to work closely with great industry leaders. I watched and learned from different leadership styles, organizational successes and challenges. These experiences became the building blocks on which my career was built.  

 

But when I think back, I can point to two things, without question, that contributed to my career.

 

The first is having caring and capable mentors – and I am grateful to the women and men who gave of themselves to help me grow.

 

The second key contribution was directing my own course

 

You wouldn’t be here with us in Washington DC today if you did not believe that you are ultimately responsible for directing your own course. 

 

Through your membership in WFF and your presence here, you are confirming that you are actively building on your development and growth. And we are committed to being your professional development partner.

 

But neither our partnership nor your own journey can be approached passively. You must direct your course with energy and focus it with relevant information about where you are on your journey. 

 

Because there are three “truths” to professional development:

 

- To know where you are going, is the first step to getting there.

- To know where you stand, is to know what it’s going to take.

- And to believe in who you can become, is the key to unlocking your potential.

 

We have tools for you. We offer the opportunity to assess, plan, track and measure your progress. Use the tools. Use them to understand where you’re going, where you stand and to unlock your potential. Use them to talk to your boss, your leadership team – even your peers to frame your path and make key decisions about your career.

 

We have a lot of exciting planning in the works for this coming year. We will continue to improve our signature programs and services and make competency based programming available to you all year long and in a wider variety of ways. We will keep providing you with crucial networking opportunities so you can make important connections with other influential decision makers who can impact your career. .

 

We have tools for our industry organizations as well. This year we will roll out an online organizational assessment so the great companies in our industry can fully understand both what they must do to create environments there women thrive and also how to go about it in the most successful way.

 

And you will see more energy around the programming for executives and board readiness. Because we must not only influence decision makers but we must be the decision makers at the very top of the companies in our industry. 

 

This is important work – important to you, to your organization, to our industry and importantly to the women who are coming up behind us.

 

I have personal reasons for cherishing this opportunity to serve as the Chair of the Women’s Foodservice Forum. 

 

For me, it’s time to give back and do my part to support the next generation of women leaders. Admittedly, there is a reason this mission is very personal for me – and I’d like to introduce you to my daughter, Lindsay Arnott.

 

Lindsay is a manager for The Cheesecake Factory right here in the Washington DC market. Like me, Lindsay’s foray into the foodservice industry was happenstance. She came to DC to get her masters degree in political science and chose to work at TCF as an hourly employee to earn money while in school. You can guess what happened: the industry bug bit her and after graduation she decided instead to stay on with The Cheesecake Factory as a manager. 

 

I’m proud to have her in this industry and believe it is young women like Lindsay that will be absolutely instrumental in taking this industry to the next level.

 

I ask that each of you think about what this industry can be for your daughter, niece, granddaughters of today and tomorrow. 

 

See our industry through the eyes of young women. What challenges will these women have to face as they seek to elevate themselves and who will be there to mentor them and to lead the way? 

 

We know our industry benefits significantly when organizations tap all available talent, and cultures are rich with diverse people and ideas. As the chair of the Women’s Foodservice Forum I am committed to helping this vision become a reality for my daughter and for the women who will be leading our great industry in the years to come.

 

For now, though, it’s time to celebrate three accomplished and inspiring leaders who are impacting our industry today. Join me as we honor them for all they do to Elevate Women Leaders."