I started with Restaurant Business just in time for the relaunch of our print magazine, a big undertaking by anyone’s standards. I’d been told all about the new design and business focus during the interview process, and while I was crazy nervous to dive in head first with a group of, shall we say, “seasoned veteran” editors, I couldn’t wait to write articles designed to help operators run their businesses better. Now, I figured that my background (both my culinary education from Kendall College and my professional experiences) would be an asset to Restaurant Business, but I didn’t expect my age to be something that would come in so handy. After all, isn’t being the youngin’ of the group typically a negative?
Our Executive Editor Kelly Killian wanted to kick off our first In The Know section with a Consumer Beat piece on the difference between young and old millennials. Looking for a couple of millennials for a quick interview, she readily admitted that her acquaintances were … well … of another generation. Enter, me—the only millennial on our small editorial staff (thus the title of this blog). Not only was I able give her a range of my peers to interview, but we soon realized that my perspective—that of a millennial with industry knowledge—was of value to our readers.
That’s what The Token Millennial is designed to do: Provide you with firsthand insights from a sometimes perplexing demographic, millennials.
I’ve had a hand on the culinary pulse for my entire career, no matter how short that might be compared to some of my fellow editors. I started with restaurant-industry market research at Technomic, then temporarily switched to cookbooks, before landing at Restaurant Business. I’ve always kept myself abreast of industry happenings, dining out A LOT and staying up on trends as much as possible.
What you’ll find in this space are the results and reactions to what’s going on in restaurants, from big trends all the way down to individual dining experiences. Whether you want a first-hand report or you’ve just forgotten what it’s like to be a 20-something and want to relive those days through me, I hope you’ll find my insights informative and helpful to understanding a group of consumers that so many want to capture but not everyone understands.
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