In the past five years post global pandemic, we’ve watched the culture of community change drastically.
Some folks are now out of the house more than ever. Others are still embracing their inner homebodies that got to flourish for months on end in lockdown.
And yet despite our varying levels of sociability, we all require community and a sense of creativity to survive. How many studies have we seen that tout friendship and community increase our longevity?
Someone who I met recently who really lives and breathes this philosophy is Liz Mendez, founder of Aldea Hospitality.
We met cohosting an event with beCo in Chicago that was all about celebrating the hospitality community, providing new outlooks on how to enrich their lives outside work, and performing it in a “late night” format that embraced creativity in all kinds of ways.
Liz is a community member who not only knows how to reflect culture in all of her experiences (from sommelier, to wine bar owner, to now consultant and coach for folks building hospitality businesses), but also helps shape it herself.
She recognizes not only do folks in food & bev need additional creative outlets outside their work to fill their cups emotionally, but also fiscally.
Words like “moonlighting” and “side hustle” are falling to the wayside as folks universally are looking to build careers that look more like portfolios to show off all of their personal brand facets. Liz calls it being a “hospitality hyphenate.”
Let’s embrace how we can each find our own “hyphenate” lanes—not only for ourselves, but to enrich the communities and culture that literally give us life.
Liz Mendez’s Perfect Bite
Liz Mendez entered the hospitality industry with a specific mission: to tout beverages’ power to bring us together.
Liz fell in love with the ritual of tea time as a kid with her grandparents, enjoying the hospitality of offering an iced tea or lemonade when neighbors came for a visit. She turned this ritual into a career, becoming a sommelier, then wine bar owner with her husband Chef Mark Mendez.
When Liz and Mark had to say goodbye to their standout wine bar Vera in Chicago, she was dead set on becoming a partner to those in hospitality to help build their own businesses.
Through her philosophy of becoming a “hospitality hyphenate,” she’s helping folks recognize they can support and express themselves through multiple creative avenues—and monetize them.
Enjoy my conversation with Liz below—I know you’ll walk away inspired.
Listen to or watch my conversation with Liz on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts.
To learn more about Aldea Hospitality, visit www.aldeahospitality.com. You can follow Liz on social media @mendezmusings.
Subscribe to Liz’s Substack The Luncheonette!
Storytelling Secret Ingredient: How to Capture Culture
Becoming a culture capturer is not only about building your brand’s own culture, but about reflecting the culture your ideal audience is already apart of. It’s all about paying attention to cultural shifts in your industry and within your audience and responding to them. Here’s how:
Observe and reflect: What trends are you emerging online, in your industry, and with your audience? Where is there fatigue? What conversations are happening behind the scenes? Those are your moments to act as a culture sponge and then share what know one else is talking about. Spread it far and wide, and folks will think “Finally, someone is talking about this!”
Name shifts before they’re obvious: It’s easy to hop on a trend or new topic when many other folks have already been talking about it. Own and announce shifts you’re noticing on the early end, even if it’s scary. You become a trusted voice when you enter the conversation earlier.
Build your community through your shared reality: When someone captures culture well, people feel understood, more connected, and less alone. This how you build loyalty fast for your brand! It’s not just about talking about what you want to talk about—but about what your audience feels and experiences themselves.
Storytelling secret ingredient: Be a culture capturer. Pay attention to what’s shifting in your industry and help your audience see themselves in that moment.
Culture Cheerleaders
Take a cue from these F&B brands who not only help reflect culture, but are leading the way with their own culture shifts!
Farmer Lee Jones of The Chef’s Garden was always ahead of his time. Farmer Lee and his family decided to start growing their produce based on what chef’s wanted and needed in the ‘80s—for flavor and nutrition, not just yield. Now, most restaurants prescribe to the “farm to table” philosophy to work with the freshest, most local ingredients.
The Zero Proof is leading the way with elevated non-alcoholic options, acting as an online marketplace to help you discover something new, delicious, and without alcohol. Brands like Zero Proof are only going to continue to grow as more folks lean away from drinking alcohol, and ZP’s social account does a great job sharing their own insights into the industry.
Josh Chemparathy (a good college pal and former pod guest!) has built Kathas by Sinwise Farms, the first cold brew canned chai. He not only is setting a new tone for how folks get to know and drink their chai, but is honoring his South Indian culture in a new twist—a combination of setting and reflecting culture.
Thanks so much for being part of The Perfect Bite’s journey and supporting these founders’ stories. Feel free to respond to any of these messages with thoughts on how I can improve my storytelling in the future or if you have any guest ideas!
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