An Interview With Martita Mestey — Know that you are brilliant, you are worthy, you are enough. I grew up in a different era, where I was constantly told I wasn’t ‘academic’. Hearing this really affected my self-worth. Of course, I now know this was a misguided comment, but in those formative years, I had to…

An Interview With Martita Mestey — Listening Skills: Listening to your customers and understanding their feedback is key. By listening, you’ll get greater insights as to what they value about your product and you’ll see areas where you might need improvement. You may decide to offer more options, develop a variation on a popular product or…

An Interview With Martita Mestey — Palate — Understand how and why your brand resonates in taste compared to the competition. Do blind taste tests against competition and get people’s feedback as to taste, texture and mouthfeel. Feedback is sometimes painful, but learn to see it as a blessing as it can save a ton of…

An Interview With Martita Mestey — Solve a real consumer problem or need. We didn’t need New Coke. Don’t create New Coke. As a part of our series called “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Stephanie Lind. Stephanie Lind founded ESA (Elohi Strategic Advisors)…

An Interview With Martita Mestey — Keep Learning. It is important to teach and learn from others. There is so much to learn and teach others when you are moving up the ranks in the kitchen. As a part of our series about the lessons from influential ‘TasteMakers’, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Jennifer…

An Interview With Martita Mestey — Find someone who is really, really good at communicating your ideas! You might have it all laid out neatly in your head, but that does not mean others can see it. Communicating big ideas is hard, and often takes someone with a specialized skill set to do it well. As…

An Interview With Martita Mestey — Find opportunities to upskill: Staying relevant in the industry depends largely on your employers’ training and learning resources. I believe that having a farsighted manifesto for consistent upskilling is the key to long-term employee success and retention — it is no longer a nice-to-have for employers but a must-have. The…

An Interview With Martita Mestey — Be a leader. Gain the loyalty of your staff. Bump elbows with them when you can. Wash dishes with your dishwashers. Be a person that your staff wants to follow into battle. If you are a true leader, they will be right behind you every time. As a part of…

An Interview With Martita Mestey — Find something to change in their school. For example, there are several middle schools in my area where children are eliminating the excessive use of plastic for meals. In this way, students learn how to be effective change agents. As a part of my series about what we must do…