In a recent poll I took on LinkedIn, 43% of leaders surveyed said they experience loneliness 50 to 100% of the time in their leadership positions. This topic of loneliness is one that comes up often with my clients and is something that I've personally struggled with as a manager and an entrepreneur, and today I wanted to share with you five strategies that you can use to combat loneliness as a restaurant leader. Welcome to the no Hesitations podcast, the show where restaurant leaders learn tools, tactics and habits from the world's greatest operators. I am your host, Christin Marvin, with Solutions by Christin. I've spent the last two decades in the restaurant industry and now partner with restaurant owners to develop their leaders and scale their businesses without wasting time and energy, so they can achieve work-life balance and make more money. This podcast is sponsored by ScheduleFly. Schedulefly provides a simple, web-based and app-based restaurant employee scheduling software backed by legendary customer service. If you are using pen paper, excel or fancy scheduling software with tons of bells and whistles that you don't use, schedulefly is perfect for your business. When I was a regional manager handling seven locations, schedulefly was our go-to for scheduling. It's, hands down, the easiest platform that I've ever worked with, and their employee scheduling tool is awesome for shooting out mass messages about crucial restaurant updates. Visit ScheduleFlycom and mention the no Hesitations podcast to learn more and get 10% off. I hope you enjoy this episode 10% off. I hope you enjoy this episode.

Leadership can be really lonely in any industry, but can be especially felt in the restaurant business. Restaurant owners are often running businesses alone, without a leadership team to brainstorm with, to strategize new business ideas with, bounce new ideas off of vent to or problem solve with. Restaurant operators often spend the majority of their days and work weeks giving to their staff members and guests rather than really taking time to build their own supportive community, and because of that they can really tend to be lonely leaders. For someone looking at the industry from an outside perspective, it may seem strange to think that somebody in a leadership position in a restaurant, who is constantly surrounded by people every single day, from staff and guests, can be lonely. But just like anybody else, restaurant owners and operators really crave connection beyond the four walls of their restaurant. Navigating the demanding world of restaurant leadership can be a solitary journey, but it does not have to be.

In today's episode, I'm going to offer five effective strategies to combat loneliness as a restaurant operator and to cultivate a supportive community, from hosting engaging events to seeking mentorship and leveraging technology. These tips are going to offer a roadmap for you to be able to forge connections, to share experiences and to build lasting relationships within the restaurant industry. My main message today is really this Remember that you are not alone on this hospitality adventure. Embrace the community around you to conquer loneliness and thrive in your passion for food and hospitality. So let's dive into these five strategies. The first one is to create a community, and I love this one because you can do this inside and outside of your restaurant.

Inside, as a restaurant leader, you have a really unique opportunity to build a network of regular guests inside the four walls of your restaurant. You can do this by connecting with guests during your table touches. If you're not doing table touches, please start. They are very impactful to your business. That's another topic, but table touches give you an opportunity to connect with guests on a deeper level. Get really curious about their life, and what you'll see is that you'll watch them. Get really curious about yours, right? Ask them what's going on in their day, what their agenda is, how their day has been. Ask them what's going on in their business. Ask them what's going on in their personal life, their hobbies. The more that you talk to them, the more that you're going to build these connections, and the more and more and just the closer you're going to get to them, which is great. A bonus that I love, too, is that oftentimes, when you start connecting with these guests, you're going to hear from them how your business is playing a role in their life, and that will just lead to even more fulfillment in the work that you're doing every single day in your career, which is just huge, because leadership is lonely and it's also very thankless Again, maybe another topic for another episode but by connecting with these guests one-on-one, you're really going to get some gratitude from them, which is really really important and, again, something that you don't hear very often in the business.

The second strategy is mentorship. Okay, seek the wisdom of those around you who have been in your shoes. Look for seasoned restaurant owners, seasoned managers who are willing to share their experiences. This one was huge for me when I became a regional manager, because I wanted to have a network of people that I could really learn from, talk about their challenges, learn from their experience, learn how they're finding their wins, how they're spending their time and just the. I wanted to understand the overall big picture of what life was like as a regional manager, but also the little nuances that would make help make me, make me successful and speed up my learning curve. Hey there, podcast friends. I hope you're enjoying these impactful conversations and leadership insights I'm bringing you each week.

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I think in the beginning of my journey I was a little hesitant to reach out to people because I didn't think that they were going to be open to sharing. But I'll tell you, especially now in my entrepreneurial journey. Every single person I have reached out to on LinkedIn that I don't know has graciously said I would happily spend 20 or 30 minutes with you sharing my experience, and it's just been incredible. The third strategy is join food and beverage industry groups. This one was also really, really impactful for me. This opens doors to networking events, keeps you in tune with industry updates and trends and creates potential partnerships that you can create to grow your business right, which is just beautiful. Not only do the groups teach you you know, keep you in line with industry updates and create partnerships, but you'll also really find comfort in learning that other people in the industry are facing the exact same challenges that you do right. That that, in that, that point right there helps, I know, helped me feel like I wasn't as long as alone going. Okay, we're all in this together. We all face the same challenges. We can all learn from each other and listen to each other and be heard, and sometimes that's that's really all we need to feel less lonely, which is great.

I will say that in Denver, a couple of key things that were really helpful for me and successful. You know I would join, join, sometimes attend, like Colorado Restaurant Association meetings. I know Eat Denver is a wonderful organization in Denver and I'll put the link to them in my show notes. They have a wonderful membership program. I just caught up with Executive Director Kristen a couple of weeks ago. I think they've got over 300 members now. I served on their board for a brief time when we had pre-pandemic, when we had 200 members, but they do wonderful events together. They do Big Eat the Big Eat every year. They do Harvest Week, which is a beautiful event. They do Ed Talks, where they have a variety of speakers come in and talk about their experiences in the industry and really kind of offer different perspectives and big picture thinking, which is great. And again, every single time I would go to a meeting and interact with somebody. I would just learn something different Again, maybe get an idea of something that is working for their business right now that I hadn't thought about, or a way that they are engaging with their team. That would really be beneficial for me. So there's so many things that you can learn from these industry groups and it really takes hardly any time. I think I would spend maybe an hour a month going to these meetings and I really carved out that time, and I really looked forward to that, because it was just a really nice break from the day-to-day grind as well.

The fourth strategy is balancing work and life, and this one is really about making time for yourself. We know that this industry demands so much, and it's really important to not forget about your personal life. Make time for your loved ones, make time for hobbies, make time for self-care. I think for me, the lonelier that I got in my career, the more that I pulled away from people like friends and family, because some of them weren't necessarily in the business and I didn't feel like they could understand or relate to what I was going through. But what I didn't think about was that they were always there to just listen, and sometimes that's so. That's a really important one.

The fifth strategy that I'll offer is leveraging technology, and I can't speak highly enough about this one. Again, as an entrepreneur, this has been huge for me and my journey, so examples of this would be joining online forums, webinars, subscribing to podcasts. I listen to podcasts every single day when I'm walking the dogs or I'm in the car, and they've taught me so much about every aspect of how to build my business and grow my business, but they also have reminded me that a lot of people that I am learning from were just where I am. They used to be in my shoes, right. They've been where I am at in my career and that's really comforting. I think, in you know, they used to be in my shoes, right they they've been where I am at in in my career and that's really comforting. I think in the beginning, I thought everybody was this huge celebrity, this, this status level that I would never get to. But the more and more that you listen to people and again connect with people on podcasts, the more that you connect with their story and again hear their challenges, and it just humanizes the entire experience, which is great. So that's a way for me to not feel lonely, especially working from home. I would also recommend books. I've learned a ton from authors again sharing their challenges and their wins as well.

I think from leveraging technology, you can really gain some important, valuable insights, share advice. There's so many interactive live videos. You can catch videos on events on LinkedIn, I know, instagram, facebook Live. There's just a ton of resources out there on any topic that you want to learn about, which is great, and so you know. So I love being able to share advice on those platforms, but most importantly, it's it's just really amazing to be able to connect with others who understand your unique pressures and and your journey from all over the country. Right Technology has has just opened up so many doors for us and it's just such a beautiful tool. So those are the five strategies To kind of recap here.

In the hustle and the bustle of the restaurant industry, overcoming loneliness isn't just about personal wellbeing. It's really an important strategic move that can profoundly impact your business. By implementing these strategies listed, or that I've listed for you to combat loneliness, you're not only fostering a sense of community, but you're unlocking doors to growing your business as well. So creating a loyal customer base through community events and gaining insights from seasoned mentors and networking within industry groups can elevate your restaurant's reputation and guest satisfaction. A well-balanced life, as I talked about in the fourth strategy, not only rejuvenates your spirit, but also enhances your creativity and decision-making abilities. Making time for your personal connections and self-care contributes to a healthier work environment, not just for you. Time for your personal connections and self-care contributes to a healthier work environment, not just for you, but for your team Overall. Improving business performance, and joining online forums and webinars and subscribing to podcasts harnesses the power of technology to really connect with like-minded individuals, opening up avenues for collaboration and partnerships that can propel your business forward. So the bottom line here is that combating loneliness isn't just about feeling good. It's a strategic investment in the success and longevity of your restaurant business.

One challenge that I would offer to you today is to pick one of these five strategies and act on it. I would love to hear what strategy you're excited about and which one you want to lean into. If you have questions, I would be more than happy to support you with providing some resources, and I'd love to be an accountability partner. So I would ask for you to shoot me an email. My email address is christinlmarvin@gmail. com. I want to know what strategy you're picking and what your plan is to act on it. I hope this has been helpful for you today. I really, really appreciate you. Listening could benefit from listening, and if you would like more weekly leadership tips, subscribe to my weekly newsletter. It's completely free at christinmarvin. com. Thanks so much. We'll talk to you next week.