Actions speak louder than words: engaging in meaningful change
From bartenders and bar owners to consultants, ambassadors and more, women in hospitality are flourishing. But how can we support, protect and celebrate them more effectively? Our recent International Women’s Day panel discussion delved into all of this, and additional talking points, which you can now listen to in full.
‘Accelerate Action’. That was the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, which took place on 8 March. It’s a day that has been observed since the early 1900s. In 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City against oppression, inequality, and for the right to work shorter hours, to have better pay, and the right to vote. The following year, in 1909, the first National Women’s Day was observed across the US, on 28 February. In 1910, the idea for an ‘International Women’s Day’ was put forward for the first time by a woman named Clara Zetkin, who was leader of the Women’s Office for the Social Democrat Party in Germany. A conference of more than 100 women from 17 countries – including the first three women elected to the Finnish Parliament – unanimously approved, and so International Women’s Day (IWD) was born. On 19 March 1911 the first IWD was acknowledged in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland.
More than a century later, IWD is celebrated around the world. What started as a protest has evolved with time – but the day inarguably continues to be an opportunity to amplify conversations about gender-based inequity.
For the second year running, The Spirits Business hosted a panel discussion, titled ‘Actions speak louder than words: engaging in meaningful change’. This was not a protest or an empty celebration of women; what’s always been at the core of these events is to share a conversation where women can attend, participate, and leave with actionable steps to further their professional development, and support other women along the way.
This year’s discussion centred on women in hospitality, with a powerful line-up of experienced voices: Alice Taraschi, manager of The Guard’s Bar & Lounge at Raffles London at The OWO; Hebe Richardson, owner of Soda & Friends; Siobhan Payne and Hannah Sharman-Cox, co-founders and directors of London Cocktail Week, HANDS London Consultancy, and The Pinnacle Guide; and Anna Sebastian, founder of a global hospitality agency and Celebrate Her. Melita Kiely, editor-in-chief of The Spirits Business, moderated the discussion, which took place at The Guard’s Bar & Lounge – a proudly Pinned bar.
“The natural abilities that women have actually lends itself really well to running a business and to starting a business,” said Payne, with sound agreement from her business partner Sharman-Cox, when asked what being a woman in the spirits and hospitality world is like. “We are lucky in that, on the whole, we don’t experience much negativity as a result of being women. That is not to say that that doesn’t exist, and we are really, really aware that working behind the bar, actually working in a venue, is sometimes a little bit of a different experience.” She added: “It is a fabulous industry to work in, and we all love hospitality, we love spirits, we love the drinks industry, and it’s really important [that] as well as acknowledging that there are challenges we have to address and we need to do more work to improve conditions, that there is a lot to celebrate, to be positive about in the industry.”
What positive action has been evident in the industry recently? Quick off the mark, Richardson replied: “I recently went to an event organised by Janice [Snowden, Bushmills brand ambassador], where it was the first time I’d been allowed to bring my daughter to an event. As a new parent, that was such a big moment for me, to be able to stay involved in the industry that I’ve worked in since I was 18. But also, if I hadn’t been able to do that, I wouldn’t have been able to go at all. It was a huge moment for me to have that acceptance.
“There’s a lot more of our industry leaning that way of realising that if we just ask a couple of questions, we can make our events in our spaces a lot more accommodating to a lot more people.”
An open conversation
As previously mentioned, this was always intended to be an open conversation. And Snowden and her colleague, Jessie Jarvis, prestige activation manager at Bushmills owner Proximo Spirits, accepted the microphone to satisfy some curiosity. How challenging was it to accommodate children at an industry event? Could others easily adopt the notion? Essentially, yes, they could.
“It was like, well of course you can bring your kid – imagine saying no to an all-women’s event,” said Snowden. The restaurant where the event took place in London was equipped with highchairs for little ones – complete with names on the back to give them a proper seat at the table, and an all-encompassing reminder to their mothers that they were seen and welcome.
Jarvis continued: “Going back to your original question of what made you think to do that, we didn’t. It was, ‘of course you can bring your daughter – we want you to’.” It was an example of how a shift in attitudes towards events and experiences can be so impactful – and beneficial for all involved.
It takes good leadership to successfully create better working environments. Taraschi explained how she has worked hard to ensure her staff always feel supported. The age-old adage of ‘the customer is always right’ is outdated. Poor actions should have consequences – and that goes for the consumer, too. “It’s not easy to manage the situation where a person [on the team] doesn’t feel comfortable serving somebody anymore,” Taraschi said.
“I always say to my team, if you don’t feel comfortable doing something, just tell me, and I’ll step in. But I would never push any of my staff to deal with something that they’re not ready to do. The moment that a guest behaves badly, you get security, and you kick them out.”
Shared experiences
These shared examples reiterated the importance of sharing newfound ways of working to inspire and encourage others to follow suit. Payne continued to make an important point: “As women, we need to make those changes and that isn’t just events; that’s understanding that in a bar, a woman going home at 3 o’clock in the morning after a shift is very, very different to a man going home at 3 o’clock in the morning after a shift.”
Sebastian agreed, and added: “Random fact, but TfL [Transport for London] obviously have tube drivers, how do you think the tube drivers get home at the end of the night? They have their Ubers paid for. Why can’t we do this for hospitality? But if enough people say, ‘I don’t feel safe,’ is this not something we can lobby the government with?”
To effect change at a higher level – and even at an industry level – the group repeatedly stressed the need for more data. After all, knowledge is power. However, there are significant gaps when it comes to information about the hospitality and spirits trade.
It’s one reason why Sebastian, through the Celebrate Her platform, recently teamed up with hospitality training platform Allara Global and consumer intelligence experts CGA by NIQ to create the inaugural Data Census Survey for the Drinks Industry. A first of its kind, the aim is to provide insight into the drinks industry and the people who work in it, spanning bartenders, managers, buyers, ambassadors, marketing executives, and more. Completing the survey is just one example of an actionable step everyone, regardless of gender, can take to move the needle towards a more equitable industry.
Big changes can come from small actions. Levelling the playing field between all genders will take time. But positive change is happening. And, perhaps, by looking closer within our own circles, companies and communities to take smaller positive actions, that is how we can effectively accelerate the progression we all want to see.
Scroll down for the YouTube video link and The Spirits Business Podcast link, plus a selection of useful resources and images from the night.
The Spirits Business Podcast is available to listen to on all major streaming platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon.
Useful resources
Women’s Night Safety Charter: www.london.gov.uk/programmes-strategies
Highlights from the International Women’s Day event
