EPISODE 02 | SEASON 01 Sue Walter is the CEO of The Roof Gardens, one of London’s most distinctive private members’ clubs, set 100 feet above Kensington High Street across an acre of historic gardens. Her career has spanned hospitality, people and culture, private equity, publishing, music, education and the public sector. She has held senior leadership roles at organisations including the Metropolitan Police, the Royal Opera House, Universal Music and several private members’ clubs, developing a reputation for building successful businesses around people, purpose and community. In the second episode of Makers Workshop, we sit down with Sue at The Roof Gardens to explore how leaders build world-class hospitality teams and create communities people genuinely want to belong to. Sue explains why kindness is the defining value at The Roof Gardens, how values must influence real decisions, and why the club will cancel the membership of anyone who treats its team or other members unkindly. We discuss the relationship between people and profit, why investing in employees is one of the most commercial decisions a hospitality leader can make, and how a strong internal culture shapes every part of the customer experience. The conversation explores leadership, employee engagement, customer experience, workplace culture, private members’ clubs, hospitality management, community building and the challenge of protecting a company’s purpose as it grows. Makers Workshop is a podcast about the people behind remarkable work. Hosted by Erik Stjernström and Julia Andersson of Makers Morrow, each episode is a conversation with someone who has spent their life creating, building or shaping something worth paying attention to. IN THIS EPISODE: • Building a world-class hospitality team • Creating a genuine sense of belonging • Why kindness is a powerful company value • The relationship between people, culture and profit • How leaders stay connected to employees and customers • Building trust through consistency • Attracting 1,500 members before opening • Why The Roof Gardens does very little traditional marketing • Protecting company culture during growth • Giving employees freedom without losing direction • Why micromanagement holds people back • Creating an exceptional customer experience • Turning negative experiences around • Building loyalty and retaining great people • The future of private members’ clubs CHAPTERS: 00:00 Preview 02:07 Welcome to Makers Workshop 03:08 Sue Walter’s unconventional leadership journey 06:48 How leaders influence company culture 11:13 Why people and profit are connected 15:07 Reinventing an iconic London venue 21:56 Protecting culture as a business grows 28:30 Kindness as a non-negotiable company value 34:36 Why people are searching for belonging 41:26 How The Roof Gardens attracted 1,500 members 45:21 Building a community without traditional marketing 49:25 Emotional connection and brand loyalty 54:42 Recruiting and empowering exceptional people 58:13 Why confident leaders avoid micromanagement 64:03 How employee retention shapes customer experience 68:34 Creating hospitality that makes people feel seen 73:37 Can a strong culture be recreated elsewhere? 77:01 How consistency builds trust 81:11 Balancing openness with professional boundaries 84:20 What people should take into their next role 86:49 Will the flamingos return? New episodes every Tuesday. Watch and listen on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music. KEEP EXPLORING Subscribe to Makers Workshop for more conversations with remarkable people about the ideas, decisions and experiences that shaped what they made. Then take that thinking further with Made For Momentum by Makers Morrow. Discover practical tools, frameworks and exercises designed to sharpen your thinking, improve decision-making and turn momentum into action, whether you are building a business, leading a team, developing a project or bringing an idea to life. makersmorrow.com
