Hands, please

Working in hospitality requires immense emotional labor — the constant performance of warmth, patience, and humor, often while masking exhaustion, frustration, or pain. Long hours, physical demands, unpredictable schedules and unstable finances leave many workers feeling burnt out and disconnected from themselves, with nervous systems in a constant state of overdrive. Despite being wholly dependent on workers, restaurant culture can be notoriously uncollaborative, with little room for recognition of individual gifts or contributions.

As someone with over twenty years' experience in the restaurant and hospitality industry before becoming a therapist, I understand this world from the inside. I know what it's like to give so much of yourself to others that you lose track of your own needs — and I know the particular kind of exhaustion that comes from work that can both sustain and deplete us. This is a space for hospitality workers to find belonging, understanding, and to process the unique challenges of the industry.

“When I put the plate down, you don’t hear a sound.”

-Dolores Dante, Working