The Industry

The Industry
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A discussion with people working in the Service Industry - Bar, Restaurant, Hospitality - Front of House, Back of House, all aspects of what is commonly referred to as The Industry.

  1. Sep 28

    Christin Marvin

    In this episode of The Industry Podcast, we sit down with Christin Marvin, founder of Columbine Hospitality, author, and host of The Restaurant Leadership Podcast. Christin started as a line cook at 15, worked her way through fine dining and high-volume concepts, and eventually helped scale a Denver restaurant group from six locations to 48 before burning out. She shares the honest story of how that growth cost her — including a period of heavy drinking she eventually walked away from — and how the process of rebuilding her own life became the foundation for the company she runs today. Christin now leads Columbine Hospitality, where she and a small team of coaches help independent restaurant and bar owners build the leadership teams and systems needed to run a business that doesn't require them to be in it every hour of every day. She walks through how that work actually happens — remote coaching, digging past the surface-level complaint to the real problem, and rolling out change gradually so owners don't lose their sense of purpose in the process. She also gets into why she started writing (her first book, The Hospitality Leader's Roadmap, and her second, Multi-Unit Mastery) how self-publishing actually works, and her plan to grow her coaching team over the next decade. - Growing up in the industry and the "highlight of her career" moment that hooked her on hospitality - Scaling a restaurant group from 6 to 48 locations and what private equity changed - Burnout, losing her voice as a leader, and the drinking that came with it - Getting sober and rebuilding a life and business around her core values - How Columbine Hospitality coaches independent owners remotely - Writing and self-publishing *The Hospitality Leader's Roadmap* and *Multi-Unit Mastery* - Hosting The Restaurant Leadership Podcast and building her coaching team - Why "structure" is no longer just a corporate word for independent operators Notable Quote "There's gotta be more intention and more clarity and more systems, and systems used to be a very corporate word, but there's gotta be more structure to the business than there used to be in the past, because it's so hard to find experienced people." — Christin Marvin Connect with Christin Marvin - Columbine Hospitality - LinkedIn: Christin Marvin - Instagram: @christinlmarvin - The Restaurant Leadership Podcast — available wherever you listen to podcasts - Books: The Hospitality Leader's Roadmap and Multi-Unit Mastery A big thank you to Jean-Marc Dykes of Imbiblia. Imbiblia is a cocktail app for bartenders, restaurants and cocktail lovers alike and build by a bartender with more than a decade of experience behind the bar. Several of the features of the platform include the ability to create your own Imbiblia Recipe Cards with the Imbiblia Cocktail Builder, rapidly select ingredients, garnishes, methods and workshop recipes with a unique visual format, search by taste, using flavour profiles unique to Imbiblia, share recipes publicly plus many more....Imbiblia - check it out! Contact the host Kypp Saunders by email at kyppsaunders@gmail.com for products from Elora Distilling and Noble Estates. Links: kyppsaunders@gmail.com @sugarrunbar @the_industry_podcast email us: info@theindustrypodcast.club

    Christin Marvin

  2. Sep 14

    Ryan Foley

    Ryan Foley, publisher of Bartender Magazine, joins the show to talk family legacy, print media, and the Bartender Hall of Fame. In this episode of The Industry Podcast, we sit down with Ryan Foley, publisher of Bartender Magazine. Ryan grew up inside the publication his father, Ray Foley, launched in 1979 — after Ray left a career as a comedy writer for Johnny Carson to chase what he loved most: bartending. As an only child, Ryan says the magazine has been "his sibling" his whole life, and he stepped in to run the business full-time after his father passed away. The conversation traces the magazine's roots as a scrappy New York/New Jersey zine to its current run of 50,000 print copies per quarter, distributed at major industry events like Tales of the Cocktail. Ryan opens up about the pressure and privilege of carrying on a family business after his father's passing — from Ray's two unbreakable rules (never change the logo, never stop printing) to the emotional weight of stepping into his dad's shoes while raising two young kids of his own. They also dig into the Bartender Hall of Fame, a program Ray started in 1985 to honor bartenders who might otherwise be overlooked — not just industry stars, but the person who tended the same bar for 60 years. Ryan also shares the story behind Bartending for Dummies, the million-copy bestseller his father wrote in 1999 that Ryan later took over rewriting, along with Running a Bar for Dummies and his own book, Non-Alcoholic Drinks for Dummies. Additional topics discussed: - How Ray Foley bought bartender.com, mixologist.com, and roughly 450 other domains in the 1990s (including budtender.com) - Balancing a growing digital presence with the cost and tradition of print - How the magazine finds and features under-the-radar bars and bartenders, not just the famous ones - The layout and editorial process behind each quarterly issue, including regular contributors like Christine Wiseman and John Jakuru - Recent Bartender Hall of Fame inductees, including Julie Reiner and Chris Hannah - Life as a family business — travel, cover shoots, and running things day-to-day with his mother Notable Quote "I hustle so hard because I care about it so much." — Ryan Foley Connect with Ryan Foley Bartender Magazine @bartendermagazine https://bartender.com A big thank you to Jean-Marc Dykes of Imbiblia. Imbiblia is a cocktail app for bartenders, restaurants and cocktail lovers alike and build by a bartender with more than a decade of experience behind the bar. Several of the features of the platform include the ability to create your own Imbiblia Recipe Cards with the Imbiblia Cocktail Builder, rapidly select ingredients, garnishes, methods and workshop recipes with a unique visual format, search by taste, using flavour profiles unique to Imbiblia, share recipes publicly plus many more....Imbiblia - check it out! Contact the host Kypp Saunders by email at kyppsaunders@gmail.com for products from Elora Distilling and Noble Estates. Links: kyppsaunders@gmail.com @sugarrunbar @the_industry_podcast email us: info@theindustrypodcast.club

    Ryan Foley

  3. Aug 31

    Michelle Freed

    In this episode of The Industry Podcast, we sit down with Michelle Freed, a bartender currently behind the stick at The Mermaid in Downtown LA's Little Tokyo. Michelle traces her hospitality career back to age 15, working at Polly's Pies, through a stint as a general manager at Panera Bread, and into her first cocktail bar job in LA roughly a decade ago. She credits the Long Beach cocktail scene — and a mentor she met there — with pushing her to take craft cocktails seriously and start entering competitions. The conversation centers on Michelle's run in Diageo's World Class, where she advanced from an initial field into the Top 15 this year. She walks through the multi-round format — a pantry-list cocktail, a free-choice Diageo-portfolio cocktail, a classic, and eventually a six-cocktail themed menu and live presentations in front of judges. Michelle also opens up about how the competition experience previously outpaced the support she got from her former bar, and how that contributed to her decision to move on to a new role. Dan and Kypp dig into the bigger picture too: why competition culture matters for the wider bartending community, how the industry has shifted from secrecy to openness around recipes and technique, and Michelle's evolving plans to eventually open her own bar — including a scaled-down mobile/pop-up concept as a lower-risk way to build an audience before committing to a full build-out. Also discussed: - Michelle's move from El Segundo's neighborhood-bar scene to Downtown LA - Her Speed Rack Fast Track experience - The pantry-list and prompt-based rounds of World Class judging - Foraging local ingredients (loquat syrup) for her competition menu - The disconnect between "global" bartender-community recognition and local bar culture - Using scotch as a base spirit in tiki-style drinks - Social media strategy for an eventual bar or pop-up launch Connect with Michelle Freed @m.f__ck A big thank you to Jean-Marc Dykes of Imbiblia. Imbiblia is a cocktail app for bartenders, restaurants and cocktail lovers alike and build by a bartender with more than a decade of experience behind the bar. Several of the features of the platform include the ability to create your own Imbiblia Recipe Cards with the Imbiblia Cocktail Builder, rapidly select ingredients, garnishes, methods and workshop recipes with a unique visual format, search by taste, using flavour profiles unique to Imbiblia, share recipes publicly plus many more....Imbiblia - check it out! Contact the host Kypp Saunders by email at kyppsaunders@gmail.com for products from Elora Distilling and Noble Estates. Links: kyppsaunders@gmail.com @sugarrunbar @the_industry_podcast email us: info@theindustrypodcast.club

    Michelle Freed

  4. Aug 17

    Sean Goodchild

    A former touring musician and lifelong bartender turned brand director and bar owner, Sean Goodchild joins the show to talk beer, bands, and bringing a century-old Kitchener landmark back to life.* In this episode of The Industry Podcast, we sit down with Sean Goodchild, co-owner and program director of The Boathouse DTK in Victoria Park, and director of brand development for Farm League Brewing in Galt. Sean traces his path from bartending and touring in a band across 15 years in London, Ontario, to a graphic design role at Waterloo Brewing. in 2020, a partnership manager position through the Carlsberg acquisition, and eventually a jump to Farm League — the "blue collar craft" brewery known for collaborations with acts like Greta Van Fleet and Mount Joy, and for running the Meadows and Fest2Fall music festivals. The conversation digs into the two-year process of transforming The Boathouse — a heritage-designated building on city-owned land dating back to 1896 — into a modern bar and venue, including how the ownership group became the first in the city to win unanimous Heritage Committee approval to expand the patio. Sean and the guys also get into the state of the live music industry post-pandemic, why charging a cover matters for musicians and venues alike, and why supporting independent bars and restaurants is more important than ever. - The sales lessons Sean picked up moving from bartending into corporate sales at Waterloo Brewing - What changes when a craft brewery gets bought by an international giant like Carlsberg - Why a good lager is harder to brew than a hoppy IPA - Building The Boathouse ownership group and navigating city bureaucracy on a heritage property - Balancing a touring musician's life with running two hospitality businesses - The economics of live music venues and why cover charges protect musicians - Why the pandemic permanently changed drinking and spending habits Connect with Sean Goodchild - The Boathouse DTK boathousedtk.com @boathousedtk - Farm League Brewing farmleaguebrewing.com @farmleaguebrewing - Meadows Music Festival meadowsfest.ca @meadowsfergus - Fest2Fall Music Festival fest2fall.com @fest2fall A big thank you to Jean-Marc Dykes of Imbiblia. Imbiblia is a cocktail app for bartenders, restaurants and cocktail lovers alike and built by a bartender with more than a decade of experience behind the bar. Several of the features includes the ability to create your own Imbiblia Recipe Cards with the Imbiblia Cocktail Builder, rapidly select ingredients, garnishes, methods and workshop recipes with a unique visual format, search by taste, using flavour profiles unique to Imbiblia, share recipes publicly plus many more......Imbiblia - check it out! Contact the host Kypp Saunders by email at kyppsaunders@gmail.com for products from Elora Distilling and Noble Estates. Links: kyppsaunders@gmail.com @sugarrunbar @the_industry_podcast email us: info@theindustrypodcast.club

    Sean Goodchild

  5. Aug 3

    Patrick McMurray

    A conversation with Guinness World Record holder Patrick McMurray on merroir, the art of the perfect shuck, and building a career around one ingredient.* In this episode of The Industry Podcast, we sit down with Patrick McMurray, a Toronto-based oyster sommelier, restaurateur, and two-time record holder — 2002 World Oyster Shucking Champion and current Guinness World Record holder at 39 oysters shucked in a minute. Patrick got his start as a teenage butcher's apprentice before working the front and back of house at some of Toronto's top restaurants in the late '80s and '90s, eventually opening his own spots, Starfish and Ceili Cottage. Patrick walks through the concept of merroir — how oyster flavour shifts based on species, region, and season, in a direct parallel to terroir in wine — and breaks down North America's five oyster species along with French affinage, the process of "finishing" oysters in high-tide clear pools. He also shares the story behind his namesake oyster knife, now carried by Zyliss and *The Oyster Companion*, his book on oyster tasting and technique. The conversation covers his Guinness World Record training, including the head-to-head challenge against Gordon Ramsay on Ramsay's show, and the proper technique for eating an oyster — no sauce, a two-bite chew, and retronasal breathing to pull out the full range of flavour. Patrick also discusses: - The Oyster Master Guild, the sommelier-style learning platform he co-founded with Julie Chu - Toronto's lack of local oysters, and how that pushed him to become an expert in importing and logistics - Growing regions in Baja Mexico and Dubai, and how climate and depth change flavor - Pairing oysters with wine, beer, and whiskey — including his oyster shell whiskey pairing method - Finding "your ingredient" — the mindset he teaches his students at Centennial College Notable Quote "It's the first 50,000 oysters that are tough — after that you either get good or you become a pillow stuffer." — Patrick McMurray Connect with Patrick McMurray Website: shuckerpaddy.ca Instagram: @shuckerpatty ShuckerPaddy Oyster Shucking knife: zyliss.com/products/oyster-knife-shucker-paddy Book: The Oyster Companion A big thank you to Jean-Marc Dykes of Imbiblia. Imbiblia is a cocktail app for bartenders, restaurants and cocktail lovers alike and built by a bartender with more than a decade of experience behind the bar. Several of the features includes the ability to create your own Imbiblia Recipe Cards with the Imbiblia Cocktail Builder, rapidly select ingredients, garnishes, methods and workshop recipes with a unique visual format, search by taste, using flavour profiles unique to Imbiblia, share recipes publicly plus many more......Imbiblia - check it out! Contact the host Kypp Saunders by email at kyppsaunders@gmail.com for products from Elora Distilling and Noble Estates. Links kyppsaunders@gmail.com @sugarrunbar @the_industry_podcast email us: info@theindustrypodcast.club

    Patrick McMurray

  6. Jul 20

    Nicole White

    In this episode of The Industry Podcast, we sit down with Nicole White, a bartender currently working at OPA, a Greek and Mediterranean restaurant in Waterville, Maine. Nicole traces her path through the hospitality industry — from her first job at Panera Bread and serving at Ruby Tuesday, to learning the craft behind the bar at The Speakeasy in Waterville, to becoming a full-time bartender in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Nicole's career eventually took her to San Diego, where she spent six years working at spots including Urban North Park (a New Haven-style pizza bar) and the now-closed Magic Dinner Theater in the Gaslamp Quarter, a speakeasy-style venue accessed through an escape room, known for elaborate, intentional cocktails like the smoked "Smoking Elephant" and a Manhattan served through a bullet-pierced glass. She also worked at a comedy club, giving her a unique window into hospitality under very different crowd dynamics. A pivotal early moment in her career was attending Gaz Regan's Cocktails in the Country in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, in 2016 — a four-day intensive she credits with shaping her approach to mindful, service-first bartending. The conversation also covers Nicole's deep involvement with Camp Runamok (Lush Life Production), where she's participated three times — first in the low-ABV Pathfinder cabin during her sobriety journey, then running the Suze-themed cabin, and most recently joining the beverage team, which included an R\&D trip to the Monin facility in Nevada and a seven-day stretch making over 10,000 cocktails for 150 bartenders at camp. Nicole also discusses: - Moving back to Central Maine after her mother's stroke, and rebuilding her career and creative outlet from the ground up - Her certifications, including the ABCs of Canadian Whiskey and the Executive Bourbon Steward program through the Stave & Thief Society - Attending Behind the Barrel distillery experiences at Wilderness Trail and Wild Turkey - Her honest reflection on her relationship with alcohol and sobriety, and how that shaped the direction of her career - Her favorite bars and restaurants across Maine (Portland, Bangor, Rockport) and San Diego (North Park, Little Italy, Gaslamp) - Why she loves doing thoughtful riffs on classic cocktails as a way to make craft drinks approachable to guests Connect with Nicole White - Instagram / all platforms: @NicoleXTayl0r https://www.instagram.com/NicoleXTayl0r A big thank you to Jean-Marc Dykes of Imbiblia. Imbiblia is a cocktail app for bartenders, restaurants and cocktail lovers alike and built by a bartender with more than a decade of experience behind the bar. Several of the features includes the ability to create your own Imbiblia Recipe Cards with the Imbiblia Cocktail Builder, rapidly select ingredients, garnishes, methods and workshop recipes with a unique visual format, search by taste, using flavour profiles unique to Imbiblia, share recipes publicly plus many more......Imbiblia - check it out! Contact the host Kypp Saunders by email at kyppsaunders@gmail.com for products from Elora Distilling and Noble Estates. https://malivoire.com/ Links kyppsaunders@gmail.com @sugarrunbar @the_industry_podcast email us: info@theindustrypodcast.club

    Nicole White

  7. Jul 6

    Marina Ferreira

    Inside the remote desert resort redefining hospitality, one cocktail at a time Guest Bio Raised between Brazil and New York, Marina Ferreira developed a deep appreciation for how food, drink, and hospitality bring people together. With more than 12 years in the industry, she's built a career rooted in creativity, connection, and guest experience — growing from host to beverage director along the way. She currently leads the bar team at Jacumba Hot Springs Hotel in California's high desert, where she builds intimate hospitality experiences and thoughtful cocktail programs. Known for mentoring her bar teams and for believing that any great conversation can be elevated by a well-made martini, Marina blends operational know-how with an artistic approach to beverage development. Episode Summary Marina joins the show to talk about her unconventional path into the industry and her current chapter running the beverage program at one of the most remote hotels in Southern California. She digs into what it's like building a cocktail program in a town with no grocery store, why she came in as an SOP-and-systems consultant before stepping into the beverage manager role, and how a dive bar bartending job taught her more about hospitality than any craft cocktail bar ever did. The conversation covers her early restaurant-industry upbringing, her time in New York City bars, opening Botanica, running community events in San Diego, and what she's building next at Jacumba — including a new mocktail program and an upcoming cocktail menu overhaul. Key Topics - Life in the middle of nowhere: Living and working in Jacumba Hot Springs, where groceries require a 45-minute to hour-long drive and deliveries only come twice a week - The history of Jacumba Hot Springs: From a railroad boomtown to natural mineral springs to the hotel and bathhouse standing today - Consultant to beverage manager: How a three-month SOP-focused consulting contract turned into a full-time role - Building for a destination, not a neighborhood bar: Designing a beverage program around hotel guests, pool bars, weddings, and cabana service rather than walk-in traffic - Launching a mocktail program: Using adaptogens (Aplos, lion's mane, African black pepper) to build a non-alcoholic menu that doesn't feel like an afterthought - Growing up in restaurants: Marina's parents' own service-industry and entrepreneurial backgrounds, and how that shaped her path - Brazilian heritage and flavor: How growing up identifying plants, herbs, and berries in Brazil shows up in her cocktail-building today - From hosting to bartending in NYC: Her early days on the Upper West Side and how watching a bartender work pulled her behind the bar - The dive bar lesson: Why working at a no-frills dive bar taught her more about real hospitality and conversation than any cocktail bar did - Building Botanica: Opening a genever-focused bar from scratch, learning to manage and hire for the first time, and the toll — and growth — that came with it - Running industry events in San Diego: Building a 250-person industry group chat to coordinate events and avoid oversaturating the same night - Letting go of ego: Why she now actively seeks out feedback from people earlier in their careers and treats every conversation as a chance to learn something - What's next at Jacumba: Plans for a new cocktail menu, more community takeover events, and growing programming to bring people back to the property Guest Links - Marina Ferreira (Instagram): @marinimartinisd - Jacumba Hot Springs Hotel (Instagram): @jacumbahotspringshotel - Jacumba Hot Springs Presents (events/concerts/pop-ups): @jacumbapresents A big thank you to Jean-Marc Dykes of Imbiblia. Imbiblia is a cocktail app for bartenders, restaurants and cocktail lovers alike and built by a bartender with more than a decade of experience behind the bar. Several of the features includes the ability to create your own Imbiblia Recipe Cards with the Imbiblia Cocktail Builder, rapidly select ingredients, garnishes, methods and workshop recipes with a unique visual format, search by taste, using flavour profiles unique to Imbiblia, share recipes publicly plus many more......Imbiblia - check it out! Contact the host Kypp Saunders by email at kyppsaunders@gmail.com for products from Elora Distilling and Noble Estates. Links kyppsaunders@gmail.com @sugarrunbar @the_industry_podcast email us: info@theindustrypodcast.club

    Marina Ferreira

  8. Jun 22

    Manny Hernandez

    In this episode of The Industry Podcast, we sit down with Emmanuel "Manny" Hernandez, lead bartender at Stokes Adobe in Monterey, California, and a 2024 Punch Magazine Top 10 honoree. Manny shares his journey from dishwasher to one of the most respected bartenders in the Monterey Bay area — including the bar-back humility that shaped his career, the physicality and "choreography" of working behind the wood, his grueling Bar5 spirits certification experience, and a harrowing, deeply personal story of surviving a shooting at the restaurant where he worked. Guest Bio Emmanuel "Manny" Hernandez was born and raised in Mexico City and moved to California at 18. He got his start in hospitality as a dishwasher before unexpectedly being thrown behind the bar one night — and never looked back. After working his way up through restaurants in Watsonville, Los Gatos, and Santa Cruz Manny completed the demanding Bar5 spirits certification and was named to Punch Magazine's Top 10 Bartenders in 2024. He currently runs the bar program at Stokes Adobe in Monterey, California. Find Manny on Instagram: @mezcalito_manny Key Topics Discussed From dishwasher to bartender — Manny's path through prep cook, barback, and an unplanned first shift slinging beer and piña coladas Bartending school and early classics — margaritas, Long Islands, and the documentary that sparked his love for the craft Taking a step back to move forward — choosing to work as a barback again at a more advanced bar in order to learn from top-tier mentors The physicality of bartending — reading your bar partner, "dancing" behind the bar, and moving efficiently in tight spaces Competition cocktails — early competition mishaps (almost forgetting the mezcal), egg-white cocktails, and lessons learned the hard way Mentorship — the influence of Kate Goodwin, Blaise Montana, and best friend/mentor Jorge Vargas on his technique and classics knowledge Bar5 certification — what the legendary, high-pressure spirits program actually involves, from memorizing 100 classic recipes to building cocktail stations from scratch Punch Magazine Top 10 (2024) — how the recognition came together and what it means for someone who started as a dishwasher Surviving gun violence at work — Manny's account of a shooting at a former restaurant, the aftermath, and how bartending helped him recover Respect for bar-backs — Manny's message to the industry about valuing the people who keep the bar running A big thank you to Jean-Marc Dykes of Imbiblia. Imbiblia is a cocktail app for bartenders, restaurants and cocktail lovers alike and built by a bartender with more than a decade of experience behind the bar. Several of the features includes the ability to create your own Imbiblia Recipe Cards with the Imbiblia Cocktail Builder, rapidly select ingredients, garnishes, methods and workshop recipes with a unique visual format, search by taste, using flavour profiles unique to Imbiblia, share recipes publicly plus many more......Imbiblia - check it out! Contact the host Kypp Saunders by email at kyppsaunders@gmail.com for products from Elora Distilling and Noble Estates. Links kyppsaunders@gmail.com @sugarrunbar @the_industry_podcast email us: info@theindustrypodcast.club

    Manny Hernandez
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Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

A discussion with people working in the Service Industry - Bar, Restaurant, Hospitality - Front of House, Back of House, all aspects of what is commonly referred to as The Industry.

Information

  • Creator
    The Industry
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    277
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026
  • Show Website
    The Industry