The Burnt Chef Project’s Post

Transcript

Umm, And I didn't know about any of that until now when I'm obviously a lot more aware, but it wasn't until I was about 2627 that my personality identity crisis basically popped up and it was just destroying everything around me. And in my head, I just thought, well, I'm nearly one that feels like this. No one else in the entire world is going through what I'm going through. And it just brought about the sense of. Just didn't belong anywhere. And the sense of isolation and, and that drags you into a hole and it drags you into a feeling of not being worthy of support or help, but. It turns out there's a lot of support and there's a lot of help out there and. That's what the Burnt Chef project was specifically set to target as, as the hospitality sector. Are you a chef yourself or in what capacity have you worked in the hospitality industry? Yeah, so I'm not actually a chef. I would be awful at chef one. I've always wanted to work in the kitchen, but I wouldn't been able to cope with the the long hours and, and the temperatures and the and the stress that comes with that. I was actually in sales and marketing for for many, many years and I ended up supplying fine dining ingredients around the South of the UK. And so it gave. That's fascinating. That's in my head, I thought was more the people in the kitchen in the restaurant. But you're still working within the industry. On a totally different department. Yeah, yeah. So I was working with chefs on a daily basis in terms of purveying some, you know, incredible truffles and finger limes and other ingredients like that. But I was a supplier to the to the sector. And at the time I was struggling with my own mental health. But I could also start to see that the impact it was having on my friends, my clients, my colleagues, and also from grassroots level as well. Over here in the UK, college uptake was really starting to drop. People weren't seeing this as a viable. Rare choice and. I became frustrated that no one was doing anything to tackle this and there was just I often joked that the Burnt Chef project should have been called. That's just the way things are because that's what we got told all the time. Chef project. I think it's it's it's literally burnout. Yeah, burnout and it's not just chefs as well, you know, we the services and tools that we provide are for anyway if you've got a brain inside your head and you work within the ecosystem of hospitality, tourism or leisure, we are all impacted by the same things. You know, yes, there are slight variances whether you're back a house, front of house, but you still have mental health in the same way that you still have physical health. But the Burnt Chef Project brand has definitely. The name has carried us and the work and the just, we're unapologetic. We want to be everywhere. We want people to know that we're here to start to tackle this and no longer live in the shadows. So I, I love watching, you know, there's so many food shows out there, restaurant shows, you know, all these kind of things. It's been a massive like influx all over streaming services and TV. And a lot of these people have become like massive celebrities and rock stars in the world of food and travel and on TV. We do glamorize it. Now, the average person watching these shows doesn't know what it takes to do that show. I know the reality because I used to have my own TV travel show and I travelled around the world. We stayed. They would see on the TV the fanciest places, filmed at the best restaurants, interviewed the best chefs. What they didn't know is every day I get up at 6:00 AM and I'd be working till 8:00 PM. Couldn't even enjoy the hotel, had a bite of the food on camera. Then I had to move to the next location. So if you they, the way they see this, I had people. Coming up to me going, I would love your show, I would love to do your job. It looks so easy. Do you think a lot of people look at the hospitality industry the way it's sold to us that I could do that? I I think we have a PR problem within the global hospitality community, which is if you speak to anyone, maybe someone who works in hedge fund management and you say. I work in hospitality. The first thing they do is they pull a face and they go, ohh, yeah, long hours. That isn't it, you know, lots of, lots of problems with drinking, drugs and yeah, you know, a lot of abuse and you go. That used to be quite common and it still is prominent in certain areas of the industry, but it's not the same industry now. So I wouldn't say people are queuing up to come into the sector because we've got a brand issue. But that brand has changed. We we have seen. Improvements in this sector that no other industry has seen in such a short period of time. We are literally doing a complete U-turn in terms of culture, leadership, support mechanisms. It's really impressive to be a part of this. OK, well don't go anywhere Chris, we'll be back. We're talking about the Burnt Chef project and just Wellness and mental health issues. If you're in the hospitality industry, we are getting texts in. Tom says behaviours that are acceptable in the restaurant industry are not acceptable. Anywhere else and that pretty much sums it up. What do you think? Texas on 4001. We'll be back after the break. You're listening to Farmer's Kitchen on Dubai I 103.8 more coming up next on EU find it so confusing that people who have to take care of others as a profession now, be it healthcare, doctors, nurses, teachers, chefs, they're the ones having to work very long hours and do a lot of hard work, which is mentally and you know, especially for a doctor, you know, you're saving. People's lives for chefs, you could be on your feet 12/13/14 hours with a lack of appreciation and not even see your customers and be stuck in the kitchen. And I once asked the doctor, I said, why are so many of them when they start out for the first few years on such long shifts? Why can't they just do like a nine hour day, especially if they're doing intense and complex surgeries. They need, you know, focus. And he kind of said, ohh, it's like a rite of passage, you know, And I didn't agree with that at all because I would want a doctor, a slept wealth in his house healthy. Operate me not a tired overworked 1 so in the same goes with chefs like. Ours is a big thing. Is that something that's being looked at? Yeah, I mean, there was a knee jerk reaction after COVID, which is the same thought process I had back in 2019 when I launched this, which was well, let's just put people on four day working weeks and that will give them time to rest. However, it's not a one-size-fits-all. That's not great for the mom and pop restaurants. That's not great for team members necessarily who actually quite like the hours we need to start looking at. So we talk a lot about presenteeism and burnout, which is. Presenteeism is effectively where you're at work, but you're not performing at your best, and if you do over 50 hours a week in any profession, your productivity drops significantly. I can't remember the percentage off the top of my head. It's about 30% or more. Naturally. We're not robots at the end of the day. Well, we're not right. And especially in hospitality, we're creative, we are diverse. We want to give people the best experiences. Whether you're a general manager, maitre-d' or a chef, we want to provide those unique experiences to individuals. We really do care. So by actually working longer and saying well, we don't have the money, you know, resources are tight, demands are high. What we're actually doing is we're providing a lower level of quality of. Of service, we're increasing our turnover rates. I mean some, some restaurants in well around the world have turnover rates of 125%, which means they losing their entire workforce plus an additional 25% new hires within sometimes less than six months. So operators need to start looking at and as the chap said, Mr. Palmer said. Sustainability isn't just about being net zero. It isn't just about being plastic free. It's about looking at the energy use of our teams because without our teams, there is no hospitality industry. We have to value them, otherwise your customers will just not get served. Yeah, we've had a few techs in, Niles said. I used to work in F&B and five years on after leaving that world, I still have PTSD symptoms due to the abuse I would get as a waiter. And there's no name on there saying I've worked. Until my feet bleed and this was about six years ago. I'm still feeling the effects of it today. The restaurant industry in many, many places, not places. Maybe it depends on the establishments is modern day slavery. I pray for those that are unhappy. Please talk to someone. Your your work isn't doesn't come first. Your health and your life does. I mean, I'm sure you know loads of people who've struggled and friends that have you know, I mean, I'm, I'm assuming there's, there's a high number of people who actually leave the industry because you can't sustain. Can you? No. And and you often tend to meet those individuals, you know, they become builders, maybe they work in retail. And you say to them, why did you leave the industry? And they said, why? I just needed that work life balance. I needed to be able to see my family. I needed not to get divorced again. And and the answer is so simple. It's right in front of our faces in terms of making sure that our teams are valued, that they have that work life balance and that they are cared for. This is the. The Olympics are on at the moment, right? You wouldn't expect an Olympian to do a 400 meter race, finish the race, sit down for two minutes, smoke a cigarette, have an espresso and eat some cold chips on the pass and then run the race again and repeat that multiple times. No, you give them time, time off, you massage them, they see the physio, they have the right nutrients, they're allowed to rest before they race again. Our industry, our profession that we should be proud of is a sport and the sooner the organizations. Not looking upon us as athletes, the better we'll find our retention rates, the better we'll find productivity. And you know, then we won't. Hopefully the stories that we hear will be a lot less and people be like, had a great time, worked 36 hours, got felt like I was valued, felt like I had a life and I got to be creative in my profession. We'll have a much better time because you guys are all happy and you're happy to see us or serve us as well. That makes a difference. Let me just end on this one text, Rick. Rick says, as a chef who is a man, I do think sometimes we as men find it hard to talk about the stress we feel. You know, we have to man up, toughen up and just get on with it. Life is tough, so stop being so soft. But to depression and for many of us is a taboo. If we own up to that, we may also lose our job because they might think, oh, they're not in a good place and we get replaced easily. But if you don't have anyone to talk to, eventually it will eat you up. And I think that does cover a lot of men. There is that stigma there. It is. She is a it's a very macho culture. And even with women within the sector as well, you know, there, there is this bravado that you have to, you know, show that you are tough. But in reality, actually, the real badge of honor is not slogging your guts out and and holding it all inside. It is actually being that leader and being authentic and saying, look, I'm not. Well, this is how I'm dealing with it. This is the routine and the support that I've got for it because as as I say, the Burnt Chef project started in 2019 with a handful of people in the local area in South Bank of England. We now have over 55,000 followers on Instagram. We have 212 global ambassadors now in places like Australia, Dubai, South Africa. This is not a unique situation, so if you are feeling that you need someone to talk to, we're here no matter where you are in the globe, and it's not something to be ashamed of. And if your employer does not value your honesty and does not value your health, please do know that the industry is the third largest industry in the world. There will be employers out there who do value what you value, so please don't be afraid of looking around for something that. Your lifestyle and your well-being better. So if there is someone listening out there saying, you know, I do need to talk to somebody, I don't wanna go to my management or my team, well how can they contact you? How can they work with you? Fantastic. Head across to our website. Uh, it's a bit of a beast of a website because as I say, we've grown so much over the last few years, but there's a get help now section on there. There is for anyone who's not in the UK. You've got an e-mail address and also a +44 number which you can phone. My suggestion would be drop an e-mail through to us. They'll actually then get someone to contact you via Skype or via video calling, have an initial conversation with you, but it's all confidential. They don't even need to know your name and it will give you an opportunity to be able to speak to someone without fear of any recourse. Um, trust me, it was the best thing I did. It saved my life, it turned my life around and it can be. Terrifying about the thought of opening up to someone when you spent so many years holding it back. But don't let that be a barrier to getting help. It is transformative and it will improve your life. So please do reach out to us. It's free. We pay for it for you. Yeah. It's called the Burnt Chef project. If you want more information on that, just text the word chef to me on 4001. And Chris, you're an amazing speaker. And the fact that you compared. The work that you people do in the hospitality industry to an athlete in the Paris Olympics explained it beautifully. Just keep using that. That is such a great example. So thank you so much for coming on the show and I really appreciate all the work you're doing to help everyone in this industry. Thank you very much. Cheers. Take care, Take care. Your IRN news. Good afternoon. I'm Andrew Hosey.