Imagine a place in social media that is dedicated to celebrate, to bring awareness and to feature influential women in the food, beverage and hospitality industry. A place where you can see, in your city, women who are restaurant owners, founders, general managers, directors, and executive chefs. A place where you can observe how their creations come to life, how they prepare extraordinary dishes while sharing recipes and their stories in fascinating videos on Instagram. That place exists. And the creator is with us today. Her unique experience and mission bring Dish'n Dames to life. It is an honor to welcome Lorena Legarreta to the show!
Imagine a place in social media that is dedicated to celebrate, to bring awareness and to feature influential women in the food, beverage and hospitality industry.
A place where you can see, in your city, women who are restaurant owners, founders, general managers, directors, and executive chefs.
A place where you can observe how their creations come to life, how they prepare extraordinary dishes while sharing recipes and their stories in fascinating videos on Instagram.
That place exists. And the creator is with us today. Her unique experience and mission bring Dish'n Dames to life. It is an honor to welcome Lorena Legarreta to the show!
Time Stamp:
01:15 Meet Lorena Legarreta
01:30 The Journey in Creating Dish’n Dames: Fulfilling a Need to Highlight Successful Women in the Culinary, Food & Beverage, and Hospitality Industries
03:01 Taking the First Step
06:43 Interested in the Culinary Industry? Steps to Take
08:01 Internship Possibilities and more
10:42 The Big Event: Fork & Flame – A Live Fire Competition
11:24 Exciting Result: Building a Network and a Community
15:02 Challenges to Overcome
18:01 Expanding from Central Texas to Other States and Countries
19:52 Social Media and Contact Information
Lorena Legarreta, MBA
Instagram @dishndames
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorena-legarreta
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Instagram: @Life100Podcast⠀⠀⠀⠀
Website: Life100Podcast.com
Email: Life100Podcast@gmail.com⠀
YouTube: Life 100 Podcast
Music from https://www.zapsplat.com
Rosie (00:11):
Welcome back to Life 100 Podcast. This is Rosie, and it's so good to spend this time with you today. Imagine a place in social media that is dedicated to celebrate, to bring awareness and to feature influential women in the food, beverage and hospitality industry. A place where you can see, in your city, women who are restaurant owners, women who are founders, general managers, directors, and executive chefs. A place where you can observe how their creations come to life, how they prepare extraordinary dishes while sharing recipes and their stories in fascinating videos on Instagram. That place exists. And the creator is with us today. Her unique experience and mission brings Dish'n Dames to life. It is an honor to welcome Lorena Legarreta to the show!
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (01:15):
Hi Rosie. Thank you so much for the invitation. I'm so excited to be able to be here today with you.
Rosie (01:20):
It is so exciting to have this opportunity to share your amazing journey in making this platform a reality. So tell us about your life story.
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (01:30):
Absolutely. Just to kind of start off with, you know, Dish'n Dames is a social media platform. We're focused on being on Instagram and we celebrate women in culinary. And how that came about, is really all about me not seeing the representation of culinary women in the media, or being highlighted anywhere locally. And that's really what sparked my interest. I really wanted to highlight more women. Going down my journey, I have a Bachelor's in Computer Information Systems and Marketing, and I have a culinary degree, and I have an MBA. And that kind of rolls up into teaching culinary in some way or another. And I'd been invited to teach as a guest lecturer at The Art Institute for some of the business courses in culinary. And as I was doing this, I was really trying to find local chefs to highlight to my students and share with them their success stories is really what I wanted to share with them.
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (02:18):
And in doing this, I never saw all these culinary women. I didn't see women in culinary, chefs, or mixologists or wine makers, anybody in beverage. Didn't see those I could share with my students. I'd been in the industry for quite some time. And I really thought, I know so many women, how come they're not being highlighted. So that really kind of opened the door to what I started in Dish'n Dames. And that was really just about creating a bigger presence for women, making sure that we're visible in our industry and highlighting women. At the beginning of it really started, I was going to do maybe one a month. We try to do one a week now because there's so many wonderful women. And that's kind of where we started the journey, we really kind of picked it up where I wanted to do this.
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (03:01):
I wanted to highlight more women. I wanted my students to learn more about the experience women have had in this industry. I was able to go ahead and bring on two of our graduate film students who had just graduated from The Art Institute with us here in Austin, they were looking for extended experience. And I said, this is my crazy idea. This is what I'd like to do. We're going to highlight some chefs, some women in beverage. Are you interested in doing this with me? They said, "Absolutely." And so grateful to Ellie and DJ for joining me on the journey in the beginning with their help, And along with the help of another friend of mine, Olivia Gonzalez, we kicked off Dish'n Dames.
Rosie (03:35):
When I go to your Instagram, it shows the diverse roles that they have, all the sectors in the industry that I didn't even know existed. It's beautifully made. And it's a journey into their world, their stories. I want to congratulate you and your team because they have done an amazing job from the videos to the stories, to the educational aspect of it. It's valuable information. And also to showcase the women in our case here in Central Texas, correct?
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (04:03):
Yes, Rosie, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Cause it's been a labor of love and our main focus is Instagram. Our Instagram page is really the way we communicate to our public, to our audience. This is where we share our stories. I did a lot of research and really Instagram is the key in culinary. People are really visual. It's been an incredible work crafting these videos. The stories I take no credit for the stories, because the stories are the stories of the ladies and all the women that participated in this to share. It's their stories that we put forward. And I thank them for the incredible time and effort that they give to us to make space in their busy schedules, to sit down and do this with us and share not only their stories, but even recipes and their skill and their craft is what they're ultimately sharing with us. So I appreciate it. Thank you.
Rosie (04:47):
It's so significant and meaningful what you have done because you're building the bridge between the dream and the reality, this idea that you have to bring in all this forward to people that perhaps were considering a career in the industry, but they didn't know all the layers and all the opportunities, all the options they have because it's visually appealing. It shows the women in leadership roles, in the industry, all the things that are possible. One of the things that I like as well is the educational portion of it. For instance, I learned about the honey, that posting that you did about the different types of flowers produce different types of honey, and the color and the textures, I learned that. It is truly a journey to go into your account and learn and support all these women in the business.
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (05:35):
That is one of the aspects that we try to hit is that, as I mentioned, when I began this, I took a perspective of my students and what I can share with them. But the reality is that one of the questions I get often from lots of people, lots of women in culinary, is what can I do with my culinary degree? Or what else is there that I can do besides being a chef? And the truth is, there's so much in the food industry that you can do. That was one of the aspects I wanted to share with my students is that they can go into honey and be a honey producer if they'd like, or they can make wine, they can go ahead and run a business and be a director of operations or a general manager. You can source food, you can be a farmer. There're so many incredible opportunities in this field. I never want any one of my students feeling that they're tied or pigeonholed into just one capacity. There's so much, so much variety that you can still do and learn from and do and participate in.
Rosie (06:26):
Yes. And as a professor in this business and all the experience that you have and the education that you bring forward, for a person who is thinking about this industry might be something I would like to explore, what are the steps you suggest to them in taking?
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (06:43):
Absolutely. That's a great question, Rosie. For women in culinary or people in culinary that are interested in going into the food industry, for starters, I would want to let them know there's a few steps that they can definitely take, really think about which role you'd like to play in food. Why are you going to craft food as a chef? Are you going to sell food? A distributor? Are you thinking of maybe making your own product and selling it yourself? So there's lots of avenues. So first and foremost, think about which avenue you'd like to take. Now I'm a big proponent of education and culinary education, culinary school, but it's not for everyone. And I want to admit that to you is that culinary school is not for everyone and it's not a requirement to enter into the food business. I know many lawyers that have gotten into the food business.
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (07:22):
They've gotten into a food truck and they've moved on. The one thing I would say is find out what it is that is your passion in food. And then try to go ahead and take a job in that even if it's part-time job so that you can get a feel for what that is going to take, because this industry is a difficult industry, that it is hard work, and that is labor intensive. You're working early mornings, late hours, holidays, weekends, and that's pretty much across the board in the food industry. So, know that going into it know that in the beginning, it might be a little difficult to don't shy away from it, but know what you're going to get into. And I would highly suggest maybe a mentorship, maybe going in and doing maybe an internship with a chef if you'd like, in the culinary industry, we call it a stage.
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (08:01):
So you would stage for a few days, which means you go in and you work with them, for free, to test out the waters to see how you like working with them. And you get a feel for the skills that are needed for the job. And this is a great opportunity. And I will say this about the Austin community and actually the Central Texas community, if you are interested, reach out to a chef, all the chefs that I have listed and all the women that are listed, actually in Dish'n Dames are amazing women. And they are, open-minded, they're open to working with anyone, reaching out to any one of them and talking to them and saying, I'm interested in this position, I'm interested in learning more. Do you have time to sit down and have a conversation with me? Do you have an opportunity to, maybe I can do a quick internship or stage with you for a few days, I will guarantee you that the majority of them will have time to either have a conversation or welcome you into their kitchen. It's a very opening, they're very welcoming in this community. And I would suggest to anyone interested in food this way to start there, really understand what you want to do and reach out and talk to people.
Rosie (08:56):
Yes, because sometimes people might think that they are out of reach, and no, they are approachable and willing to share their knowledge because they understand firsthand what it took to get them where they are. And that is so important because sometimes a lot of people don't even know they have a particular talent until they explore it. So if you don't have any idea where to begin, then you will suggest just start somewhere. And then from there you observe, you practice do the work, and then you will have a better idea of what are the things that you're interested in. Correct.
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (09:28):
That's exactly it. And I'm a big supporter of building relationships, going out and speaking to people. I know that sometimes that can be so daunting, but it's okay. Take that first step, reach out to some of the people that you'd like to learn more from. I can hear it to you that they'd be honored to talk to you. They may not all have space in the kitchen in the moment, but they'll have a moment to have a cup of coffee, have a conversation and do a Zoom call. If you'd like, and just get to know them, ask them. A lot of the women, a lot of the people that are in this industry are very, very welcoming to that and they want to teach and they want you to feel comfortable in their space.
Rosie (10:00):
Absolutely. It's an opportunity for you to see what else can you do? What else can you do? And in a positive light, some people, because of the limited knowledge, don't understand all the vast opportunities that are within the industries. So by just talking to them and they are amazing. Another thing I like so much about what you do in your Instagram and your website as well, is that you get to know the person, know the story behind amazing women in the industry. What has been one of the most profound things that you have experienced in interviewing these women, and one of the stories that you remember that has changed somebody's life?
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (10:42):
Absolutely. I will say this, last January before COVID we had actually kicked off our very first live event, which was one of the plans for Dish'n Dames, is not only to go ahead and do the videos and the website and to post these things, but to actually create events for women, which we did beginning last January. So we're on pause until COVID clears up a little bit before we do our next one. But what I really loved about our event, and it was called Fork and Flame, and we brought in 14 shifts, all female, some came in from Houston, some from Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, to all participate. And one of the key things that I really loved to hear from the women were that they were building a sense of camaraderie. This is what Dish'n Dames was doing, was building a network and a community.
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (11:24):
And all of a sudden, all of these women knew each other through Dish'n Dames. Some of them had never met before, but because they were part of Dish'n Dames, they now became part of a community and they had friends, they had mentors, they have people that they were going to other chefs that they could talk to, other women in the industry that he could ask questions. I've seen collaborations between chefs and winemakers come out of this. So just the camaraderie that this has actually created for some of our women that have been in Dish'n Dames has been amazing, it's something that has really touched my heart. It has made my work worthwhile doing week after week, to see that was really something profound to me that I didn't know what's happening. And it was amazing to get to see it making a difference.
Rosie (12:04):
It's making a difference because it's so much needed. That community, that support system and the exchange of ideas. Also mentorship, because you have a group of women that you know, that you can have access to answer the questions that you might have, to get ideas, to compliment each other in events and things of that nature. I am a big advocate of building a community that supports each other, and build each other, because one is an expert in our field, but we are not experts in every field. And that is where that community comes, and evolves, and to make not only the industry, but the entire world a better place. So I love to hear that. I can't wait to see more of those live events because once COVID is under control, I know that we are going to do a lot more things.
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (12:51):
I'm looking forward to it. Like I said, we had a successful event. We kicked it off, we did really well. In fact, it was a Live Fire competition in our judges that we brought in were Ms. Tootsi from Snow's BBQ. She's the legendary female in barbecue, LeAnn Mueller herself, also another legend in barbecue, along with her wife, Alie Clem of La Barbecue, Jess Pryles who owns Hardcore Carnivore, another grilling woman in the world. So we brought these incredible women in to come and be judging part of this competition. And the winner was actually, cause everybody was paired up with, the winners were actually Sarah McIntosh. the owner of Epiciere here in Austin, and Sasha Gruman who just appeared on Top Chef Season 18. You have these incredible women. And like I said, more than anything, the camaraderie that is actually being built between them very important.
Rosie (13:36):
And Central Texas has so much talent, from your teaching experience, how have you seen evolving from a student that perhaps their knowledge was limited, to now a professional that has mastered a specific skill? How have you seen that journey?
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (13:52):
It's amazing to see their journeys because some of them have started off as dishwashers and now they are Executive Chefs in their own right. And that is amazing to get to see that transformation as well. And I have had many students come back to me and thank me, which is also very heartwarming, to thank me for those opportunities or to thank me for just the knowledge for sharing some of the knowledge. A lot of times with my students, what I try to do is I try to provide mentorship opportunities with other chefs or with other culinary professionals. I give them those contacts. I opened those doors. I create a network for them and I've received so many just thank yous for that alone because it had an opportunity to go work with a chef, learn more, hone their skills, be able to maybe open up other opportunities for them in bigger and better jobs.
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (14:36):
I've seen students, both male and female, come to me and tell me, thank you, Chef. I've now just gotten a position as executive chef or a sous chef now. I'm working at this great restaurant that has created that for me. And I see that quite a bit Rosie, and I'm grateful that I'm able to do that. I love my students and I'm going to do everything I can to help because they're starting off in a career and these are the steps they need to take. But more than anything, sometimes they just need a hand up, gets you to where you need to be because you have so much talent. They just need to see it.
Rosie (15:02):
And there are many challenges making that dream a reality. What are some you have seen in building this community and what are some of the challenges that perhaps someone getting in the field might experience?
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (15:15):
When I first started this, I thought this is going to be wonderful. This is fantastic. I'm going to close my first video and I'm going to have a million viewers and I would have a million followers and well, not exactly. It takes a while because you have to build a community. You're building an audience, you're building followers. And more than anything, I have to be honest on social media, I really felt that it was important It would be authentic. That'd be original. And we have built that slowly but surely. And we have an incredible group of followers now for Dish'n Dames, which I'm so grateful for. But there are challenges. I always talk about the rule. That 21, it takes 20 No's before you get the one Yes. So you get the one. Yes. That's 21 and you have to be resilient. What does that mean is that you're going to get a lot of no's.
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (15:55):
People close their door on your face. People are not going to want to participate or not want to do something. And you have to be persistent yourself. You have to be driven. You cannot be turned down or turned away because you received one No. You have to have that resiliency and say, "I'm going to continue down my path, my journey, because I know that this is where I want to be. And this is what I want to do." I've been fortunate. I've been very, very fortunate because I would say 99% of the women that we approached to do series or a feature with us said "Yes", they want to participate in this, which is wonderful. I've now gotten to the point where women outside of Texas want to support you, to come on and feature them. And as soon as COVID kind of comes out, we're going to get out there outside of Texas. But now it's to a point where women are seeking us out, which is wonderful. It wasn't like that. In the beginning, we had to do a lot of asking. We had to go and knock on a lot of doors. And we went through a lot of speed bumps, learning curves, to finally get to where we are able to put out a really good product, I think.
Rosie (16:46):
Exactly. It's just one step at a time. Know that not everything is going to come easy and concentrating in the value that you want to bring forward. If you are a person going into this industry, or hesitating about sharing your story in social media, there are ways that you can do it that is a good way to share it, because so many people are going to be inspired and I applaud you and everyone else who has taken that particular step from, "I have this idea. I don't know exactly how everything is going to work out, but I'm going to try it." In your case, you have built something that is so significant. It has a community. It has so much benefit and bring so much value, so much value because like you said, it wasn't there. It's needed, and I'm so glad that it was done, that women are looking forward in participating. And if you are a person considering this industry to go ahead and try it, I encourage every single one to go and visit your Instagram, to visit your website, because you're going to learn. And you're going to join these women in this beautiful journey. And now you mentioned that you're going to expand out of Central Texas. What other places do you have in mind? How will you like to take this next step?
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (18:01):
Texas is an amazing state and we have incredibly talented women here, and we haven't touched on all areas of Texas yet. So just to start off with, I'd like to get out of Central Texas. We have some incredible chefs down in the Rio Grande Valley, some in El Paso in the panhandle, but we haven't had a chance to go ahead and speak to, or even work with. Definitely that's one step I want to start. And hopefully in the next few months is getting out of Central Texas and grow in Texas. But outside of Texas, we have opportunities also over in Nashville, women that are doing incredible work in Nashville, New Orleans, you have incredible chefs that are out in New Orleans. You have New Mexico. I don't think we've had an opportunity to feature so many women in New Mexico yet. And Arizona has a group of women that are doing some incredible work in Arizona as well. So even just our States are neighboring States, so we can actually go and talk to you and do something with, I would love to. And eventually I would really love an opportunity to go back to Mexico City. I had lived in Mexico City for six years and feature some of the incredible women that are in Mexico throughout the country. You have such rich food, the culture, everything that's happening over there and women are at the forefront of it. And people don't know that. So that's something that I would love to explore next.
Rosie (19:08):
Oh, that's wonderful. I can't wait to listen about all their stories also to know that we are supporting these women by going to their businesses, promoting them as well, sharing their experiences that we have when we go visit their places and seeing them in their craft, because that's how we make everything a better place. It is so great to spend this time with you. I just hope this is not the last time you're going to be here because I am so inspired and so moved. I'm looking forward for the episode we will do in Spanish as well. And before we go, what will be the best place to get in touch with you so that we can reach you and learn more about what you do?
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish’n Dames (19:52):
Our number one social media location is going to be @dishndames, https://www.instagram.com/dishndames, on Instagram. You can find us there. We're also on LinkedIn. We're on Facebook, but the one number one place for us, is going to be Instagram is where you can find us. And if you'd like to reach out to me, you can always send out an email to info@dishanddames.com and I will respond to you. And then if you have anybody that you'd like to recommend that to be featured, if you have maybe some comments or anything that you'd like to share with us, please share. I'm always willing to lend a hand, lend an ear. How about however I can, but please reach out to us. Absolutely. And Rosie, I do want to just make a note here. I want to thank you for the incredible work you're doing also, highlighting all of us that were out there working so hard and trying to promote other women. You are doing an incredible job promoting women as well here on your podcast. And I appreciate the time and this conversation that you're sharing with me today.
Rosie (20:48):
Thank you. It's my pleasure. I am so honored to have you here. And it's a labor of love. Like you said, what you do, what I do, what we all do. It's a labor of love because we know that it needs to be done. We know that it was a need to be met, and I'm just glad that the steps were taken to make it happen. And I encourage everyone to go and visit the Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/dishndames or @dishndames, to make a decision to start, making the decision, to ask a question. You know how to contact Lorena right now, make a decision to call, just start. And then from there you might get all the answers that you need. Also support these women, go to the restaurants and enjoy the beauty of the creations that they make for all of us. Thank you, Lorraine. And once again, for being on this show, I'm looking forward to our next episode and I wish you a wonderful and beautiful day.
Lorena Legarreta, Founder of Dish'n Dames (21:36):
Thank you so much, Rosie.
Rosie (21:38):
What a great conversation this was, full of possibilities for women in the culinary world. So until next time, thanks for listening, and Like, Comment, Subscribe on the website or on Instagram. Go ahead, stay in touch, 'cause Life 100 Here We Go!