Latest / Loud & Lifted / Young Women in Leadership: Building Community in the Restaurant Industry with Satyne Doner

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Young Women in Leadership: Building Community in the Restaurant Industry with Satyne Doner · Loud & Lifted

0:00
Welcome to Loud and Lifted, the podcast where
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we're done whispering about what women need to
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do to be more supportive of each other, and we're
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ready to say it louder for the ones in the back.
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I'm your host, Betsy Hamm, and today's guest
0:10
is living proof that leadership doesn't come
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with age requirement and courage doesn't wait
0:14
for permission. Satine Donner is the associate
0:16
editor of Women in Restaurant Leadership at QSR
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and FSR magazines. And she's not just writing
0:22
about change in the industry. She's leading it.
0:24
She's building a national platform that elevates,
0:27
educates, and empowers women, and she is showing
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up with purpose and power. She's bold, she's
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grounded, she's young, and she's here to talk
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about building platforms that actually support
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women, not just with social media posts, but
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with real opportunity. Let's get loud and lifted
0:41
with the unstoppable Satine Donner. Welcome,
0:51
Satine! Hi. How are you today? Good. Thank you
0:54
so much for being here. Thank you. Well, here
0:57
as in you're in Florida, right? Yes. Here is
1:00
Tampa, Florida. I will represent. Nice. It's
1:03
hot here. We're getting ready to be summer for
1:06
the next 10 months. Yeah. I'm slightly jealous
1:08
because we cannot get out of this like cold weather
1:10
in Pennsylvania. So I would love some nice Florida
1:13
weather about right now. I know a lot of people
1:15
are here on spring break right now and I'm like,
1:18
welcome. Yeah. You're like, welcome. Please leave
1:20
soon. Yeah. So you've been in Florida your whole
1:23
life. Just tell us a little bit about yourself
1:25
before we get into the world. We'd love to hear
1:27
your story. Yeah, absolutely. So I am a very
1:30
rare Florida native. I grew up in suburb of Tampa,
1:34
a tiny town called Tarbon Springs. It's a great
1:37
place if you love Greek food, just so you know.
1:40
They have something called the sponge docks.
1:42
So they have people go out every morning and
1:45
they dive into the water for sponges that you
1:48
can use, you know, as a loofah or something like
1:50
that. fact about Tarpon Springs, Florida. Like
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I said, I grew up in this area for the past...
1:57
How old am I? I just had my birthday like three
1:59
weeks ago. Oh, happy birthday. 23 years of my
2:01
life. Thank you so much. Baby. You're a baby.
2:05
I love it. So yeah, I haven't flown too far from
2:09
the nest. My horse, I've had him for almost a
2:13
decade. I keep him about 30 minutes from downtown
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Tampa. People are always surprised when I say
2:18
that. They always say, you know, I didn't know
2:21
there was land outside of Tampa. And I said,
2:24
yes, you just got to look for it. Basically,
2:27
that takes up all my free time. So if I'm not
2:29
here, not writing, not working on the world platform,
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I'm usually out riding my horse or cleaning a
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stall. The funniest and like the most creative
2:39
ideas I've ever had in my whole life have come
2:41
from the inside of a stall covered in dust. It's
2:44
very unglamorous. Okay. Like while you're cleaning,
2:47
not while you're actually riding. Nope. While
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I'm cleaning stalls, quiet, it's peaceful. I
2:53
mean, most people say the shower or driving a
2:56
car or going for a run, but okay, cleaning up
2:58
a horse stall. That is the first call. I love
3:01
it. Hey, it's clearly working because in your
3:04
23 years, you have been making quite the impact.
3:07
So for those... those people who are not familiar
3:10
with women in restaurant leadership, tell us
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what it is and how it got started and how you
3:13
even got involved in this. Oh my goodness. Well,
3:16
I will try and be quick with this. So let's roll
3:19
the scenes way, way back, way back to September
3:23
2023. So I was an intern for QSR and FSR magazines.
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We're a B2B magazine that covers QSR and FSR.
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So basically the entire restaurant industry.
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And we have a very large event every year. September
3:39
in Atlanta. And what started as a women's networking
3:43
hour very quickly turned into the fire marshals
3:47
telling us, hey, you have too many women in this
3:49
room, too many people, we got to shut this down.
3:52
So have to give the credit here to our editorial
3:55
director, Danny Klein, he, you know, saw this
3:58
idea, he saw there was obviously something there.
4:02
And a lot of the women in the room, just, you
4:05
know, thinking off the top of my head, they eventually
4:07
be became what was world's board. They told him,
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you know, we should do something. We should do
4:14
something more. There's more that we can do to
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uplift women in the industry and bring them together.
4:21
So September 23, hang with me here. Six months
4:24
later, Danny put together the very first women
4:28
in restaurant leadership, we call it Whirl, event
4:31
out in Nashville, Tennessee. He put together
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an advisory board of about 20 people at the time,
4:38
I think 24. And they sort of went out and recruited
4:43
people for us. And we sold out that event with
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300 people, which was crazy because this event
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just came up out of thin air. In six months.
4:52
That's amazing to pull together. Yeah. And I
4:55
was there for that very first event. I was still
4:57
an intern. I was finishing up my senior year
5:00
of college. I remember being very Scared honestly
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there are so many different types of leaders
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you know you have people who have been in the
5:09
industry for decades you have people who are
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you know just starting out people in the mid
5:14
level and there was just so. much happening that
5:17
I felt like a deer in headlights at the time.
5:20
I was just in the back of the room and just kind
5:22
of taking it all in. Little did I know, you know,
5:25
Danny always has tricks up his sleeve. You're
5:27
like, I'm sitting there trying to figure out
5:29
what I'm going to do with the rest of my life.
5:31
Because, you know, that's what it feels like
5:33
when you're getting ready to make all these big
5:36
decisions. Nothing is working for me, you know.
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What am I going to do? So right after the first
5:43
world event, Danny called me right outside my
5:46
class. My phone was about to die. He's like,
5:48
hang on, find a charger. I've got something.
5:50
The best opportunity. You'll never get anything
5:53
cooler than this. To take over the women in restaurant
5:57
leadership, not just the event, but create a
6:00
platform for it. I said yes. I mean, I said yes
6:04
in three seconds. I was like, yeah, totally.
6:08
And I didn't really understand what the impact
6:11
that I would have at the time or what I was walking
6:13
into. I just wanted a job. I had bills to pay.
6:17
So I was like, I'll take any full -time job.
6:20
But what ended up happening, I started last June.
6:23
So I'm getting ready to celebrate my one official
6:25
one year of working full time. We built out an
6:29
entire what I call the engine of products. So
6:33
we have, you know, the magazine, the print stories,
6:38
we have a digital platform for digital stories,
6:42
we've got a newsletter, a podcast, a webinar
6:46
series, virtual hangouts, you know, like little
6:49
zoom sessions every month. And of course, our
6:52
signature event, which we announced today, we're
6:55
bringing to the larger event in September. So
6:59
I've got lots of things going on workshops. And,
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you know, hang on with me here. I know I've been
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yapping about. Oh, great. There's so many different
7:07
things that, you know, we've turn this idea of,
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you know, how can we serve the community? How
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can we bring women together? How can we be the
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bridge between, you know, leaders who have been
7:17
in the industry forever and leaders who are making
7:20
looking to make their next pivot? You know, how
7:22
can we and even newcomers into the industry?
7:24
How can we? elevate, educate, and empower. And
7:28
whether it's through the digital stories that
7:30
I write to help bring visibility and awareness,
7:33
or it's, you know, our Barbie party networking
7:36
event that, you know, everyone's silly and connecting
7:39
with each other. We just want to have an impact
7:42
and, you know, foster conversations that help
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push women in the industry forward. And now we
7:48
have, you know, we just welcomed our new board,
7:51
our advisory board. I flipped it over, spent
7:53
the past two weeks, you know, sourcing. We have
7:56
40 board members, brand new from all over the
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industry. Very proud because we brought in some
8:02
Gen Z board members. So it's very diverse in
8:05
terms of, you know, age, job, title, you know,
8:10
how long you've been in the industry. So I just
8:12
want to represent everybody. And I love that.
8:15
I love that it is representing everybody that,
8:18
to your point, could be somebody who's just starting
8:20
off into the world and somebody who's been doing
8:22
this for 30, 40 years because there's something
8:25
to be learning from. each of those people, no
8:27
matter how much experience they have. So I love
8:29
that it's not just, oh, you have to be VP, C
8:31
-level, whatever it is. Let's get them while
8:33
they're young, essentially, and teach them how
8:38
this can work when we work together. So I think
8:40
elevate, educate, empower. Those are your three.
8:44
I love that. Elevate, educate, empower, and then
8:46
our backup is unite. lead, inspire. So those
8:50
are just sort of, you know, the values that I
8:53
hold really near and dear to me. And I think
8:55
the other thing about Whirl, it's very, it happened
8:58
very organically. I think the community just
9:01
needed a safe space and they really held on to
9:03
that. And it's kind of like surfing. I mean,
9:05
we've been surfing this wave of energy and I'm
9:08
just here to sort of guide, be the good shepherd
9:11
of this energy. And for us, you know, leadership
9:15
doesn't look like one thing. You can leave. And
9:18
I think Rhonda Levine, one of our board members,
9:20
she's the CEO of Ziosk, she said you can leave
9:23
from any seat. So I personally really hold on
9:26
to that. And I actively encourage anyone to come
9:30
be a part of what I call the world of world from
9:33
anywhere. That's awesome. And I'm sure you're
9:35
getting a ton of ideas and feedback from not
9:38
just the board members, but just women who have
9:40
participated. So how do you How do you prioritize,
9:43
right? You're probably, and probably even just
9:45
personally, you probably have a million things
9:47
that I wanna do this, this, and this. How do
9:48
you just take a step back and prioritize how
9:50
you're gonna spend the time and energy? Yeah,
9:53
so that's been a learning curve for me. That's
9:56
always probably gonna be a learning curve. Yeah,
9:57
this is a learning curve because this is my first
10:00
full -time gig. This is my first time sort of
10:03
learning how to strategize and brainstorm in
10:06
a professional setting. So there has been a little
10:09
bit of a curve there, but I have such an incredible
10:11
I mean, the support from my editors, from my
10:15
editorial director, from the sales team, from
10:19
our events team, they really do stand behind
10:23
me and help uplift me. And they have all really
10:26
taken me underneath their wing. So anytime I
10:28
have questions about how do I prioritize things,
10:31
they are there to guide me. And you're right,
10:34
I am getting pitches and through my email and
10:38
through LinkedIn. And sometimes it does feel
10:41
never ending but I just tell myself that is a
10:44
very good problem to have and it's just more
10:47
opportunities for me to either tell stories of
10:51
the incredible women of this industry or you
10:53
know I always ask people what's on your mind
10:55
and what's on your heart and how can I help get
10:58
that story out. So usually, I mean, more logistically
11:02
speaking, I'm very hands on. So I am thinking
11:05
about getting a giant whiteboard to like brainstorm
11:07
and think about, you know, every month, what
11:10
do I want to highlight? But I usually have keep
11:13
a journal, I brain dump brain dump often in my
11:17
journal. And just on a day to day, I try to,
11:19
you know, what's main priority. We're still journalists
11:22
at the end of the day. So yesterday was our print
11:25
deadline. So Monday and Tuesday, I really had
11:28
to turn everything off, like all my notifications
11:30
just so I could go in what I call the layer,
11:33
my little writing lab, and get these stories
11:36
out because I take it very seriously. I take
11:38
everyone's story as if it were my own. And I
11:42
want to do them these women justice when I tell
11:44
their stories because it's important to them.
11:46
It's important to me. You know, and you just
11:49
bring up a really good point about the the journalist
11:51
piece that that's obvious Of course, you're a
11:52
journalist But I wonder if that's part of the
11:54
success of world is because it's journalists
11:57
running it and your jobs are to tell story So
12:00
you're able to connect with people and pull out
12:02
that emotional connection that maybe sometimes
12:04
doesn't happen when you're with an organization
12:06
That's just sort of you know, maybe scheduling
12:07
a few events They do a few social posts, but
12:09
just doesn't create that engagement and that
12:11
story that gets people like sucked in, right?
12:13
Like it's sort of like you're building this,
12:15
um, I don't want to call it a cult, but you're
12:17
building this organization where people have
12:19
so much love, I guess. I call it the cult of
12:22
love. Okay, good. Because, I mean, it's a, it
12:24
really is a community. We started last June,
12:27
you know, we created the LinkedIn and today it
12:29
has almost 7 ,000 followers. Our second world
12:33
event sold out at around 500 people and we had
12:36
a waiting list. And I mean, I will tell you,
12:39
Betsy, like I am not a trained journalist. I
12:42
didn't go to school to be a journalist. I'm a,
12:45
you know, it just happened by happenstance. I've
12:47
always loved to write my entire life, but I went
12:49
to school for business. So this is very, you
12:52
know, goes hand in hand, but I'm just so passionate.
12:56
I treat everybody in the community. It's really
12:58
hard, but I don't care that it's difficult to
13:01
make those connections with people. If it's your
13:03
first time at an event, you know, I don't care
13:05
if I'm busy. I want you to come find me so I
13:08
can. you know, walk you through. And I know how
13:11
intimidating it is to come to these large industry
13:14
conferences, because I've been there. I was literally
13:16
just there last year. I'm just I mean, I am a
13:22
huge empath, but You know the I know how intimidating
13:26
again these events can be I know how intimidating
13:28
it is Totally go on a panel for the first time
13:30
or even just raise your hand, you know in any
13:33
professional setting So if there's something
13:35
I can do to help or you know, what we've done
13:38
really brilliantly I think is build out this
13:40
board of 40 plus board members and we now we
13:44
have 40 legacy board members, our world OGs is
13:48
what I call them. They show up. They are so generous
13:52
that they volunteer their time to helping this
13:54
community. They show up at these events. They
13:57
are great brand ambassadors. They help with bringing
14:01
in the newbies and the first timers. And, you
14:03
know, it's not just me. It's a whole suite now
14:05
of people who are dedicated to the movement.
14:08
and giving back. And you're so right on the intimidation
14:12
part. I think that's a struggle especially for
14:14
women. I think it's for everyone, but especially
14:16
for women. And a lot of times in the restaurant
14:18
industry, you walk in and when I started going
14:20
to some of the leadership stuff, I was like one
14:22
of the few women. So then it's that whole struggle
14:25
of not feeling confident, maybe changing how
14:27
you behave or perform. But when you're in a group
14:30
of women, It can go one of two ways, right? Like
14:32
it can feel like a little intimidating. Maybe
14:34
you lack confidence and it feels more competitive,
14:37
but you've managed to create this atmosphere
14:40
where, because part of it is your energy and
14:42
your personality. You're so welcoming. You're
14:44
so high energy. You always seem happy, right?
14:47
Like that's awesome that you're able to create
14:49
this atmosphere that people feel comfortable
14:51
and feel safe in essentially, which I think is
14:54
then when we can really grow and learn a lot
14:56
when people are just feeling comfortable and
14:58
safe in the environment they're in. And that's
15:00
you. to the fact that you've done that in a year
15:01
is like. kudos to you. Thank you so much. And
15:05
I don't really know how it happened. I'll be
15:07
honest. Somehow my personality has just sort
15:11
of bled into the movement. But at this point
15:14
now in my career and just having a clear view
15:17
of what I want world to be and the impact I want
15:20
it to have, it's becoming more intentional and
15:23
my eyes are just open to how this affects others.
15:26
But I mean, I'll give you an example. How can
15:28
you feel intimidated when you're at a networking
15:31
event? and everybody has fluffy pink light up
15:34
cowboy hats. You have people walking around dressed
15:37
like Barbie. Our editorial director has a fake
15:40
Barbie box on it. We do these events with the
15:46
intention to make networking easy because we
15:48
know how hard it can be. We have first timer
15:51
meetups. We have crazy wacky Barbie parties.
15:54
And some people might say, oh, it's a little
15:56
unbuttoned. It's not professional. who said leadership
16:00
development had to be so buttoned up? I mean,
16:03
we can let loose and have a little bit of fun
16:05
and just get rid of some of those barriers that
16:08
make, you know, leveling up hard and making connections
16:12
hard. Sure. I love that. So have you run into
16:16
any like negative feedback or support, whether
16:19
from other women or from men be like, what is
16:21
this? Why are you guys doing this? How's just
16:22
the feedback outside of this amazing group that
16:24
you're creating? Yeah, I mean that's a great
16:28
question Certainly over the past, you know year
16:31
and a half almost two years of doing world We've
16:34
gotten you know, we still get the what is world
16:37
question But I just view that as an opportunity
16:39
to educate them on just it's a very powerful
16:43
case study in you know, the power of shared voices
16:47
of connection and community and You know, of
16:50
course you get the you know our men allowed I
16:54
mean, we had, yeah, yeah. I mean, it is women
16:58
in restaurant leadership, so it is marketed very
17:00
specifically. But, you know, there is something
17:03
to be said about allyship and male allyship.
17:05
And we very much cherish our male partners and
17:09
how they can help. I mean, just being real, sometimes
17:12
when your boss or your mentor is a man and has,
17:15
you know, in some industries, the power to unlock
17:18
things, sometimes them. helping you raise your
17:21
hand and that can be a big unlock for people.
17:24
Absolutely. There's something to be said about
17:25
that. Yeah and I'm a big fan of mentorship and
17:29
I talk a lot about mentorship and making sure
17:31
you have mentors and that when as you grow in
17:33
your career that you become a mentor but I think
17:35
the other piece too that that we I don't talk
17:37
about enough I don't know if other people do
17:38
it's just the sponsorship piece of it where somebody
17:41
is sponsoring you and a lot of times it probably
17:43
is a man if he's in a higher position or whatever
17:46
it is where he's going to say your name, he's
17:48
going to recommend you for a project when you're
17:49
not in the room. Being intentional as that grows,
17:53
how do you find mentors? I think sometimes people
17:55
think it's this formalized, will you be my mentor
17:58
proposal? It's not like that. It's making connections
18:02
and reaching out. When I first took on the CEO
18:05
role at Duck, I was like, oh my gosh, I don't
18:07
really know other CEOs. This is all new. I was
18:10
just on LinkedIn, reaching out to people like,
18:13
hey, I'm needing my role, would love to talk
18:14
to you, would love to have feedback. And some
18:17
of those casual conversations ended up being
18:19
longer relationships where I'm still in touch
18:21
with those people. It might be a random text
18:23
of, hey, have you ever dealt with this? Could
18:25
you help me with this? Or do you know somebody
18:27
who does that? So sometimes it's informal. having
18:31
a vehicle like Whirl to be able to meet people,
18:34
you know, that would have been a whole other
18:35
game versus me and my like, blinding links, LinkedIn
18:38
messaging to people hoping that they write back.
18:41
I mean, yeah, it can be scary, especially on
18:44
LinkedIn. It's like how do I do this? How do
18:46
I not come off like salesy? Because we get so
18:49
many cold experiences every day. But I think
18:52
we do get comfortable in our bubbles and we feel
18:55
safe there. So it can be hard to sort of reach
18:58
out. So I'm trying to, with Whirl, create just
19:00
a very big bubble, very big wide bubble that
19:03
can help bridge people together and have those
19:06
conversations. And people have gotten jobs through
19:09
Whirl. People have met their mentors through
19:11
Whirl. I mean, just the messages that I get,
19:14
they They remind me of why I do this when I get
19:17
messages like that of people, jobs, mentors,
19:21
even just a friend. I mean, sometimes I do think
19:24
we're going through a loneliness epidemic. I
19:26
think it affects a lot of people. I mean, my
19:29
first job right off into the workforce, I work
19:31
from home. So I understand sometimes when you
19:35
get really deep into the grind and your deadlines
19:38
and all this, it can feel isolating. So it is
19:41
nice to have that. breath of fresh air and just
19:44
that person who asks how you're doing. No, I
19:47
love that. And if it's once or twice a year or
19:50
different conferences to be able to see people
19:51
in person. I went to a conference a month or
19:54
so ago and I was so happy to see people that
19:56
I just haven't seen and be able to connect in
19:59
person. That goes back to the loneliness thing
20:01
and just having that real life connection and
20:04
having those network events that are not intimidating
20:06
is super smart. So I love that. So do you have
20:09
any like metrics that you guys are using from
20:12
a number standpoint or is this just kind of like
20:14
the growth perspective? Like how are you going
20:16
to measure success over the next year? Yeah,
20:18
absolutely. I mean, of course we are, we have
20:21
our sponsors, so we run metrics in that number,
20:24
you know. we're always looking to start at strike
20:26
up partnerships that way. We are starting, you
20:30
know, branded content studio. That's something
20:33
that we have had within the larger company that
20:36
we're going to do for world, which is exciting.
20:39
Of course, we're looking at how many people come
20:41
to the conference year over year. So just the
20:44
technical aspect of that. But for me, again,
20:47
it's just how do you measure an impact? I mean,
20:50
it's from the stories I tell, it's from the messages
20:52
I get, you know, just seeing the amount of people
20:56
every year grow at the event. When I stand up
20:59
there on that stage and I see everybody, I'm
21:01
like, this is amazing. So I just hope me personally,
21:05
just how can I reach out and touch more people's
21:08
in their lives? That's great. That's good. Well,
21:11
and I said to you earlier, one of the reasons
21:13
why I wanted to have you on is because I talk
21:15
about people who are actually taking action to
21:17
make things happen. Now in the restaurant industry,
21:20
everybody knows you. You are like celebrity at
21:22
this point, which is so awesome. I love it so
21:24
much. Totally. Because even I get stuck in my
21:30
own bubble. Hey, you're top 30. You just won
21:32
that award for top 30 women in the industry,
21:35
right? So another awesome kudos to you. But I
21:37
think as we look outside the restaurant industry,
21:40
part of my reason for wanting to have you on
21:42
was because there's a lot of other industries
21:44
where a world doesn't exist. So what's your advice
21:47
to others in different industries who want to
21:49
start something like this? How do you get the
21:51
momentum? And I'm sure it's baby steps, but how
21:54
do you just start to kind of get this in place
21:56
that people in other industries can try to replicate
21:58
this. Yeah. The first thing I would say is act
22:02
first, post later. So a lot of the things that
22:06
we do at Whirl behind the scenes. before we even
22:10
make that social media post, we're already the
22:13
stories already out there, you know, the workshops
22:15
already in motion. So in that way, we're very
22:18
genuine and authentic in the fact that we want
22:21
to make the impact and then post about it later.
22:23
You know, it's not our first priority to have
22:26
it on socials just to get clicks. So that's number
22:29
one. But from a logistical standpoint, I would
22:31
say any industry that you're in, unfortunately,
22:34
if you're a woman, I'm sure a lot of the things
22:37
are universal, like for example, imposter syndrome.
22:40
I think we've all felt that regardless of our
22:42
industry. If you're looking to make a women's
22:45
group, first you need to just tap into that emotion.
22:48
What are people in the industry feeling? What
22:50
do they need? For us, it was community. Again,
22:53
I think that can go across industries. And so
22:55
we found strategically found top voices. And
22:59
I think with Dani and I being journalists, we
23:02
had connections and a network already. So we
23:05
kind of found, you know, who are those top voices?
23:08
Who knows the most people who can have, you know,
23:11
have the greatest impact and are they willing
23:12
to help? So we found those people and that was
23:15
our original advisory board. And they sort of
23:18
just, the magic went from there. I mean, they
23:20
went out, they kind of, I don't like to say recruited,
23:23
but they just bring people into the fold. And
23:27
month after month and just all the way up until
23:29
now, we're still bringing people in the fold.
23:31
I mean, I have two calls later today from people
23:35
who, you know, they write to me and they say,
23:37
Satine, I feel like a big fish in a little sea.
23:39
Can you show me around? Absolutely. You just
23:42
have to be willing to say yes. Sure. And make
23:44
it known that you're willing to be that person
23:47
that will be the connector. And it can be hard
23:50
and no time. You know, everyone's busy nowadays,
23:52
but just setting aside a few seconds to say,
23:55
Hi, how are you? You know, and maybe this is
23:57
the journalist in me, but asking people, where
23:59
do you come? What's your story? And I guarantee
24:02
you people will be willing to share. I love that.
24:05
And it's funny that you say that about asking
24:06
questions because I tell my, I have two teenage
24:08
daughters and my 14 year old sometimes is quiet
24:11
in settings and not as, you know, as active or
24:14
as engaging. So I said, just start asking questions.
24:16
Like when you don't know what to say, just start
24:18
asking questions to people because it's just
24:19
kind of sometimes gets people to open up and
24:22
like engage in the conversation from other places.
24:24
But that's a great way just to start. Yeah. I
24:26
mean, you just need people. I think at the end
24:28
of the day, you just need a few people and then
24:31
just let it grow organically from there. I mean,
24:34
it really is about just creating a community.
24:37
And to your point about the questions, my roommate
24:39
is a therapist, so I'm sure you can - Oh, no.
24:42
What our conversation - Good or bad. She's really
24:46
good at asking questions. Sometimes she's too
24:47
good at asking questions. Right. Right. Oh, that's
24:50
so funny. Oh, that's awesome. Okay, so I want
24:53
to do a quick rapid fire with you, right? So
24:55
let's see how you do with this. What's louder,
24:57
your leadership style or your playlist? I would
25:01
say my playlist. I definitely enjoy rock music,
25:05
all different kinds. So I love a car concert.
25:08
Okay. Are we going old school rock or like current
25:10
rock? Yes, old school rock. I knew you were going
25:12
to say that. Yacht rock, like it doesn't matter
25:16
to me. Nice. All right. Most overrated leadership
25:20
buzzword. I mean, I just keep coming back to
25:24
circle back. I'll circle back around because
25:26
I say it so much. My friends always joke because
25:30
they say I sound like a girl boss or I sound
25:33
like I work in corporate America. And I'm like,
25:35
guys, stop. They're like, who are you? Yeah,
25:38
that's true. Let's circle back. I'm going to
25:40
say that sometimes too. I get it. One restaurant
25:42
you'd never say no to. Right now it's Wingstop.
25:46
Oh, okay. Good choice. Good choice. What's a
25:50
hot topic you have about women in leadership
25:52
that might ruffle feathers? Sometimes we are
25:57
the only ones that get in our own way. And sometimes
26:01
the people who can cut us down the most are,
26:07
you know, other women. So we just need to be
26:10
cognizant of that and really just understand
26:13
that. Success for one person, it's not a competition.
26:17
Rising tides lift all ships. It sounds cliche,
26:22
but I always come back to it. So true. You gaining
26:25
success doesn't cheat someone else out of success.
26:28
So just be mindful. So true. We can all be successful
26:29
for 100%. Plenty of room. What's the last thing
26:33
that you did that scared you, but you did it
26:34
anyway? Probably... speaking up for myself and
26:40
setting a boundary. I am definitely a self -proclaimed
26:44
people pleaser. I think in a lot of ways, it
26:47
makes me really good at my job because I love
26:49
making people happy. But I have to remind myself
26:52
I can't pour into people 24 -7 without pouring
26:56
into myself. So having the courage to step back
26:59
a little bit. That's good. That's good to even
27:02
acknowledge. If world had a mascot, what would
27:05
it be? I thought about this. I thought about
27:08
it. I do think there would be a phoenix rising
27:11
from the ashes because I just think it's a powerful
27:15
like image. Okay. Okay. I thought you're going
27:18
to say like your horse, but okay. That's awesome.
27:24
Any parting words, any other tips for success
27:27
as you help others maybe create in other industries?
27:30
I would just say reach out and don't focus too
27:35
much on how big that impact is as well, you know,
27:39
it can look as simple as connecting with three
27:43
women in your local community and getting together
27:45
over a glass of wine and asking, you know, how
27:48
are you doing? And how can I support you? Or
27:51
it can be as massive as 500 people at a leadership
27:54
conference. I mean, it really, it can be a small
27:57
drop or a large pond, like it doesn't matter.
28:00
No, that's great. And keep working on circles.
28:03
I talk all the time about making sure you have
28:05
circles. And those circles are different. There
28:07
will be different groups. There might be three
28:08
women in this circle that all know each other
28:10
and three or four over here. But having those
28:12
circles who can support you is a game changer
28:15
for sure. So that ties into that, which I love.
28:17
So that's great. If our listeners want to find
28:18
you, LinkedIn, best place to look you up. Yep,
28:21
LinkedIn is the best place. Just look me up.
28:23
It's Satine. I'll spell it out. S -A -T -Y -N
28:25
-E. Donor. Just look me up on LinkedIn. Check
28:28
out the Women in Restaurant Leadership page on
28:30
LinkedIn as well. But you can also go on QSR
28:33
and FSR magazine, their website. They've got
28:35
great stuff. I'm a little biased if you're looking
28:38
to read. It's a good starting point. Absolutely.
28:41
That's great. Huge thanks, Satine, for bringing
28:43
the fire, the focus, and the reminder that the
28:46
next generation of women leaders is incoming.
28:48
They're already here. If you've been waiting
28:50
for a sign to start that platform, raise your
28:52
voice or build something bold for women in your
28:54
world. This is it. And if you like this episode,
28:56
please subscribe, leave a review and share it
28:58
with the women who light your fire. The louder
29:00
we get, the stronger we lift. Till next time,
29:03
keep showing up, keep standing tall and keep
29:05
getting loud and lifted.