Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf President Sanjiv Razdan started GLEAM Network in the throes of the pandemic because he wanted to create mentorship opportunities like those he’s experienced throughout his career in the industry. The focus is to provide such mentoring and development opportunities to underserved employees with a goal of closing the parity gap for both women and minorities. Less than one-fourth of c-suite executives are women, for instance, while over 70% of servers are. That gap is even wider among minority employees.
Since its founding four years ago, GLEAM – which stands for Global Leadership Enhancement & Mentoring Network – has paired 300 mentees with industry executives and leaders who serve as mentors. Because the organization is nonprofit, those mentors volunteer their time to support a white-glove-matched pairing with a mentee for a six-month, structured, one-on-one mentoring journey, as Sheri Miksa, GLEAM board member and mentor programs leader, explains.
“GLEAM’s first program was our Mentor Program because we felt so strongly our industry’s emerging leaders and leaders needed access to a mentoring program like this – with experienced, passionate Industry leaders/execs like myself and other GLEAM board members – giving back and volunteering their time to support our up and coming leaders, ensuring we retain them in our industry,” Miksa said. “Our program is designed for our industry’s busy professionals, with a focus on individuals from underserved and underrepresented communities. We are so passionate about the program, especially after hearing the testimonials from our participating mentees and mentors, that many of us have served multiple times as mentors.”
Indeed, several participants are quick to share the impact the program has had on them – both personally and professionally. Consider Tracy Steinwand, for instance, who has worked in the industry for more than 20 years, including with Subway and now with COBS Bread in Vancouver, Canada.
“It is true what they say about being a mentor – you often learn more than your mentee. It reinforces that we are all dealing with similar issues and having someone outside of your organization to talk with in a confidential environment is simply invaluable. Whether it is a business or personal issue, this safe professional environment holds tremendous value,” Steinwand said.
Steinwand’s GLEAM experience includes serving as both a mentor and a mentee, which – as Miksa noted – is common. The program is designed for volunteers, so the time commitment is “reasonable.” And the onus falls on the mentee to take care of logistics and determine what they want out of that time. As Steinwand said, “minimal preparation time and invaluable connection time.”
One of Steinwand’s mentees was Christie Cruz, the vice president of global ops excellence at Krispy Kreme. Like her mentor, Cruz has also served as both a mentor and mentee in the GLEAM program, and joined because she credits mentorship for being where she is in her career today. She also believes mentorship has a unique place in the restaurant industry in general.
“This industry is full of people who should not make it on paper. I am the daughter of Cuban immigrants who grew up in a tough home environment and had no real future,” Cruz said. “Working at McDonald’s and then Arby’s opened doors for me that would have never been opened. I worked my way up in this industry because of caring mentors along the way.”
She said the GLEAM mentorship program is structured in a way mentorship from a store manager is not; where she was able to learn how to foster a personal growth mindset and be her authentic self. Being a part of the GLEAM program inspired her to get her MBA, in fact.
“Being a great mentor or mentee requires both sides to be all in. As a mentee, be ready to hear real feedback and then put it into practice,” Cruz said. “That’s where the magic happens; changing behaviors and seeing the positive impact on your performance.”
The magic is created by that relationship – mentor to mentee and vice versa. This is where Andrew Miele, food and beverage director for Westgate Resorts, found the most value from his GLEAM experience.
“Throughout the program, my mentor and I had weekly meetings to review progress. Each week, we set goals to ensure I was on track to achieve ‘My 1 Big Thing.’ My mentor pushed me, worked with me, gave me the inspiration I needed to achieve my goals,” Miele said. “The most valuable part of this program was the relationship my mentor and I created.”
The two still keep in touch even though their program ended, and Miele has since shifted his focus to paying it forward – growing and developing the future leaders in this industry.
“I worked for a leader who saw the potential in me early in my career. They were able to groom me into the person I am today. I want to be able to give the same opportunity to others,” he said.
Mentorship, he adds, is especially important in this industry because restaurants are constantly evolving and because it is hospitality focused.
“I am a firm believer of ‘take care of your team and the team will take care of the business,’” he said.
And, as Sunny Ashman, CEO/founder of AmpliSky Franchise Consulting, adds, this industry is vast and complicated, and opportunities may be hard to understand.
“People don’t know what options they have to grow their careers. Sure, you can move up the ranks within a specific restaurant or organization, but there are so many options outside of that – franchising, CPG, suppliers, vendors, etc. Having someone that can help you navigate all the options is huge,” Ashman said.
GLEAM’s reach, Ashman adds, covers all these areas. She credits the mentorship program for providing her with the skills needed to be a better coach and develop training that went beyond just giving direction. The program also helped her move beyond an “imposter syndrome” way of thinking.
“But the most valuable part of being involved is, hands down, the relationships I’ve made,” she said. “I learned so much and would not trade this experience ever.”
GLEAM is gearing up to kick off its latest cohort later this month; registration for the Spring Mentor Program is now open for both mentees and volunteer mentors at gleamnetwork.net/programs.
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]