The Burnt Chef Journal

Mark McCulloch, Kevin Steele, & Gavin Young | The impact of swapping CVs for trial shifts.

On 22nd March 2024, Kris Hall and Cara Houchen of The Burnt Chef Project were joined by guest speakers:

⭐ Gavin Young, Group Culinary Director of Thomas Franks Ltd

⭐ Kevin Steele, Head of Culinary - Midlands of Thomas Franks

⭐ Mark McCulloch, Founder of Hospitality Rising UK

 

Enjoy this episode as we discuss the impact of swapping CVs for trial shifts. 💭

Scott Duncan and Aktar Islam | As leaders, do we get enough sleep?

On March 15th, The Burnt Chef Project Founder & CEO, Kris Hall, was joined by Scott Duncan, Managing Director of Unox, and Aktar Islam, Chef Owner of Opheem.

Listen in as they discuss whether they feel they get enough sleep or not? 💭

Stevie Belshaw: Rebuilding from within.

This week on The Burnt Chef Journal, Kris Hall is joined by Stevie Belshaw. A hospitality professional who suffered a brain injury, fractured vertebrae, broken ribs, punctured lung, and a bleed in his spinal cord after colliding with a lorry on his way to work, whilst working in Sydney during his gap year.

 

Following the incident, Stevie spent the next 6 months learning how to do everything again, from walking and talking to baking brownies.

 

As the result of his brain injury, Stevie suffered periods of manic episodes and low mood swings.

 

Now 10 years on and working full time in his own cafe, Stevie now knows what will trigger his episodes - pressure. He has put steps in place to reduce the pressure on the kitchen as a whole, for not only himself but for the wellbeing of his team also.

 

Take a listen, as Stevie talks about the accident, his recovery, and where he'd like to see himself in the future. 

 

Stevie would also like to thank Royal Rehab Hospital in Australia for their support and knowledge throughout his recovery.

Justine Murphy and Ruth Hansom | International Women's Day Special

On 8th March 2024, International Women's Day, we were joined by guest speakers, Ruth Hansom, Chef Owner of Hansom Restaurant, and Justine Murphy, Founder and CEO of mymuybueno.

 

Enjoy this episode as they discuss "what do women really want from the industry and themselves?" 💭

Will Gennard and Anna Haugh | Do we as an industry pat ourselves on the back as often as we should?

Kris Hall and Cara Houchen from The Burnt Chef Project are joined by guest speakers each week as they discuss headlines which impact our industry!

On Friday, 1st March at 9:30am across LinkedIn and Facebook, Kris and Cara were joined by Will Gennard, Managing Director of Talent Hive and Anna Haugh, Owner of Myrtle Restaurant.

Talent Hive were the headline sponsor for The Burnt Chef Awards, and both Will and Anna were two of our fantastic judging panel. ⭐

Discussing headlines from recent news, and establishing whether we as an industry pat ourselves on the back as often as we should? 💭

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Dr Sian Edwards - Platfform Wellbeing

On The Burnt Chef Journal this week, Kris is joined by Dr Sian Edwards, Head of Training and Delivery for Platfform Wellbeing.

Sian has a background in psychology and has worked across a number of sectors, including Clinical, Forensic, and Sport Psychology.

Her specialism is mental health in performance environments, and her PhD explored the mental health experiences of high-performing athletes and part of Sian's role at Platfform is to use this learning to help change organisational culture and create environments that help people to thrive.

Through research, practice, and her own personal experience of mental health challenges, Sian has become a firm believer that our mental health cannot be separated from our social context and she is proud to be part of an organisation that challenges the medical model of mental health.

We hope you enjoy this episode as we explore personal wellbeing!

Find out more about Platfform Wellbeing here: https://www.platfformwellbeing.com/

Nadine Benjamin - Neurodiversity Celebration Week

This conversation was dominated by Neuro-diversity. Nadine talks about how she manages with it and she suggests ways to cope on a busy schedule.

Neurodiversity is a popular term that's used to describe differences in the way people's brains work. The idea is that there's no “correct” way for the brain to work. Instead, there is a wide range of ways that people perceive and respond to the world, and these differences are to be embraced and encouraged.

Hospitality is a very busy, hectic sector and particularly if you work backend in the kitchen. So for someone who may have challenges, and may not even know they are neurodiverse, Nadine suggests what can they do and how can they recognise this.

British soprano Nadine Benjamin recently made her Royal Opera House debut in 'A new dark age' and her Glyndebourne Festival Opera debut in the title-role 'Luisa Miller'. At English National Opera Nadine’s roles have included Clara Porgy & Bess and Mimi.

Nadine was made an MBE in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours for her work as a soprano and the Founder of Everybody Can! - a mentoring, concert series and professional development programme for creatives. Nadine is currently doing an Executive Arts Innovation MBA with the Global Leaders Institute where she is focussed on the financial sustainability of artists over 35 to retirement.

What is Compassion Fatigue? An International Women's Day Special.

Compassion Fatigue a type of burnout that occurs when we experience prolonged exposure to the suffering and trauma of others.

 

This week’s episode is from our guest host series. Hulya interviews...

Hulya is a Burnt Chef Project Ambassador and has over 20 years hospitality experience as a professional chef, teacher, mentor, apprenticeship leader, business owner, consultant and coach. Hulya has joined The Burnt Chef Journal as a guest host to launch her own mini-series focussed on speaking with guests who can delve deeper into mental health and wellbeing.

 

𝗛𝘂𝗹𝘆𝗮’𝘀 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲.

Jennie is a qualified counsellor, wellbeing, and mindfulness coach, with an expertise in addiction and trauma and she is passionate about reconnecting and resetting our wellbeing and mental health.

Her purpose and mission is: “Everything, and anything to do with mental health.”

If that wasn’t enough, Jennie also spent 11 years working in the hospitality sector, in professional kitchens, pubs, corporate events, and wedding venues.

Jennie is currently developing workshops for young people “Wellness Tools for Life" with an ethos to help the younger generation with skills, techniques and ways to develop emotional intelligence.

All the things we’d wished we had been taught when we were younger.

You can find Jenny on:

Instagram and Facebook: @Jenniferraindletherapy 

Website: www.wellnesstoolsforlife.co.uk 

 

Dr Reiner Kraft - The Mindful Leader

In this episode, Dr Reiner Kraft discusses the importance of becoming more aware of both the mind and the body to increase body awareness. He explains this as a foundational principle for making upgrades to both the mind and the body, emphasizing that limited awareness keeps people trapped in their thought activity without reflection. This lack of awareness, he suggests, is a significant barrier for many people, limiting their ability to recognise and address the imbalance between their mental and physical states. By becoming more aware, people can begin to observe and manage their thoughts and physical sensations more effectively, leading to better overall health and well-being.

Reiner is a seasoned technology leader, engineer, scientist, technical advisor, trainer, executive leadership, micronutrients expert, human potential coach, and teacher who shares transformative principles of presence, mind-management, and biohacking using the latest science of epigenetics. ​

During his tech career, he spent 20 years in the Silicon Valley and the past 6 years in Berlin, Germany, working for top high-tech companies (e.g., IBM Research, Yahoo, Zalando) and startups while exploring novel approaches to leadership and new work methodologies to build purposeful and impactful organizations. ​

He is considered a top innovator with more than 120 U.S. patents, making him one of the most prolific inventors in Silicon Valley. Both IBM Research and Yahoo recognized him as a Master Inventor. The prestigious MIT Technology Review (TR 100) in 2003 also nominated him as a top innovator under the age of 30 to shape the world.

 

Thank you Dr Reiner Kraft for sharing this with us - we hope you all find this episode insightful.

Find out more here: https://www.themindfulleader.net/

Resilience Unmasked: Fabian Martinez's Journey Through Workplace Gun Violence

TW: Gun Violence

This week on The Burnt Chef Journal we are joined by Fabian Martinez from Wisconsin, who shares his very unique story of being impacted by a shooting within the restaurant he worked.

Fabian talks about how this has affected his overall mental health, and the steps he has taken to try and recover from this horrendous event.

This is a sensitive topic, so if you feel comfortable listening to this episode, please feel free.

We are so proud of Fabian for sharing this with us.

If you need support, or you would like someone to talk to, we have a list of worldwide support numbers available to you here.

If you enjoy our podcast and would like to hear more, please do follow us for latest episodes and rate us which will allow other people to find this great stigma burning content. ⭐