Krista Cole is the sole owner of Sur Lie in Portland, Maine, which she built from the ground up in 2014, and Gather in Yarmouth, which she acquired in 2022. A two-time James Beard Award semifinalist, Cole brings a perspective on restaurant ownership shaped by her background in healthcare, where systems, empathy, and accountability are non-negotiable.

In this episode, she shares how nursing informs her leadership style, why sustainable culture requires intentional workflows, and how equity, transparency, and community engagement show up in daily restaurant operations.

Takeaways

• Hire for attitude and values, then teach the skills
• Strong systems protect people from burnout
• Work life balance requires structure
• Leadership means meeting people where they are
• Consistency matters more than sweeping change
• Culture improves when owners stay close to the work
• Transparency builds trust during difficult decisions
• Growth should create opportunity for the team, not just the owner
• Community context must shape how each restaurant operates
• Sustainability includes financial, emotional, and human health
• Equity starts with listening and shared decision making
• Change works best when applied steadily over time
• Restaurants thrive when people feel seen and supported
• Everyone brings something valuable to the table

Want to connect directly with industry thought leaders like today’s guest?

MAJC has built a community of hospitality professionals, where insights and tools help drive sustainable, profitable businesses. To get early access to the MAJC community, sign up at www.MAJC.ai.

Heather Morrison and Austin Carson are the co-owners of Restaurant Olivia in Denver, a fine-dining restaurant known as much for how it treats people as for what’s on the plate. With decades of combined experience, they’ve built a business rooted in hospitality, sustainability, and long-term thinking, one where culture is protected as deliberately as margins.

In this episode, they break down how values-driven hiring, honest leadership, and systems-based sustainability show up in real day-to-day operations, and why none of it works unless the business remains financially viable.

Takeaways

• Build culture by protecting the whole team, not individual exceptions
• Hire for values alignment first and train the rest
• Sustainability must work financially or it won’t last
• Hospitality applies to staff as much as guests
• Systems remove ego and make consistency possible
• Letting go of misalignment is part of leadership
• Care is not soft when it’s paired with accountability
• Transparency and honesty create trust at scale
• Mentorship starts with understanding how people want to be seen
• Reduce waste by designing systems, not relying on willpower
• Innovation often comes from constraints, not abundance
• Quality and warmth matter more than any marketing strategy
• Leadership requires vulnerability, not perfection
• Long-term success depends on clarity of purpose

Want to connect directly with industry thought leaders like today’s guest?

MAJC has built a community of hospitality professionals, where insights and tools help drive sustainable, profitable businesses. To get early access to the MAJC community, sign up at www.MAJC.ai.

Henry Rich is the managing partner of the Oberon Group, a hospitality group based in Brooklyn and the Catskills that includes Rucola, June, Anaïs, and Rhodora, a carbon-neutral zero-waste natural wine bar, among other projects. In this episode, he breaks down why most “green” work happens behind the scenes, how to build team buy-in when sustainability adds friction, and what it really takes to run a mission-driven business without burning out or going broke. He also shares why their most successful differentiators were not the sustainability claims at all, but what happened once the team was empowered to lead.

Takeaways

• If the food and experience aren’t great, marketing won’t save you
• Most sustainability work isn’t “legible” to guests, so don’t rely on it as the hook
• Start with the biggest lever: composting and separating organics from landfill
• Zero-waste adds steps to an already hard job, so buy-in is the real work
• Don’t impose a mission top-down; recruit people who opt in
• Removing layers of hierarchy can reduce resentment and increase ownership
• You can pay people more by widening roles and running lean per cover
• Low waste choices can force menu constraints, so balance ideals with viability
• Push vendors to change small things (packaging, tape), and they will often adapt
• Focus spend on getting the room, service, pricing, and execution right
• A clear mission can invite other missions in: pop-ups, mutual aid, and community support

Want to connect directly with industry thought leaders like today’s guest?

MAJC built a community of hospitality professionals, where insights and tools help drive sustainable, profitable businesses. To get early access to the MAJC community, sign up at www.MAJC.ai.