General Manager

Growing up in an Italian household filled with heaping bowls of casual home cooking and endless hours gathered around the kitchen table, Kristyn knew from a very young age that no matter what she did for a living, it would involve food. She has never strayed from that mentality. After moving to New York City on a whim, Kristyn began private cooking for families, then fell into restaurant marketing and eventually hospitality recruiting. Throughout Kristyn's career, she gained experience with high volume hourly recruiting, career site development, and all things marketing - from overseeing and managing job ad spend and performance, managing media platforms, supporting new restaurant openings, and managing employer brands. In addition to being an all-star recruiter and marketing authority, Kristyn is a food marketing graduate of Saint Joseph’s University and also has a culinary certification from Le Cordon Bleu London.

Ideal Restaurant Experience

This is tough! Most recently, my favorite restaurant experience was at Madre in Greenpoint. I love any seat with a view of the kitchen, but more importantly – it was almost as if the staff was psychic. For example, as soon as we finished a bowl of pasta, they dropped piping hot bread at the table to mop it up instead of just clearing the plate. The food and cocktails were spectacular. I can’t wait to go back.

What does creating workplaces where people thrive mean to you?

I think a big part of this overall is transparency. In addition, creating an environment that encourages people to show up as their authentic selves, and one that celebrates our wins but also sees the positive in our disappointments (this is how we learn right?). An environment that not only promotes growth, but also welcomes new ideas and allows individuals to carve their own paths.

Sarah began her career in restaurant operations with Hillstone Restaurant Group, becoming one of the youngest general managers at a $10m+ location before transitioning to a corporate HR role. After several years as an HR director, however, her position was eliminated, prompting her to pursue a similar HR leadership role in NYC's bustling hospitality industry. To her dismay, many of the small hospitality businesses she was drawn to simply did not need full-time HR support, despite their struggle with HR. In many of these initial conversations, Sarah instinctively pivoted her interview into a strategy session, focusing not on her career goals but on the HR needs of each business - often offering to complete small HR projects as a freelancer. A few months of working in this capacity was all Sarah needed to embrace her calling to build a sustainable, scalable consulting business. Empowered Hospitality was born.

Sarah earned her bachelor’s in political science with honors from Yale University, and holds her SHRM-SCP, WSET Advanced Certification (Wine & Spirits Educational Trust), and CSW (Certified Specialist of Wine). Sarah was selected as a 2021 Tory Burch Foundation Fellow for her passion for building an equitable, collaborative, and socially-conscious small business, is a perennial speaker at the annual FAB Conference in Charleston, SC, and is a guest lecturer at the School of Hospitality Administration at Boston University.

Ideal Restaurant Experience

Visiting home in Massachusetts always involves a highly-anticipated trip to the local clam shack, where we would go in the summertime as kids. There's no happiness quite like catching up with friends and family over fried clams and 'lobstah' rolls in a place with so many memories!

What does "creating workplaces where people thrive" mean to you?

Creating workplaces where people thrive means fostering growth, transparency, and well-being. It means defining the larger purpose that drives you, and building a team that believes equally in that purpose.