How do you create an amazing place to work? Is it the mac & cheese? Kevin chats with Erin Wade, founder of the wildly successful Homeroom restaurant, which specializes in one thing: mac and cheese. Erin shares the personal journey that led her from being an unhappy corporate lawyer to building a thriving business that values culture, autonomy, and joy. Erin discusses how the idea of a mac and cheese restaurant came to her on a rainy night, craving comfort food after a tough day as a lawyer. She shares her leadership viewpoint of connection, collaboration, and collective success and how focusing on process, systems, and trust empowers employees and creates extraordinary customer experience. This podcast was recorded during Virtual LeaderCon 2024.

Listen For

0:00 Introductio
1:24 Welcoming Erin Wade
2:10 Erin’s Background and Introduction
3:43 Becoming "The Mac and Cheese Millionaire"
4:04 From Law to Mac and Cheese
5:17 The Inspiration Behind Homeroom Restaurant
8:06 Lessons from Working in Fine Dining
10:06 Importance of Gaining Practical Experience
12:16 Erin’s Leadership Philosophy
13:10 Connection, Collaboration, and Collective Success
14:39 Erin's Violin Story Fake It Till You Make It
17:12 The Role of Reflection and Self-Listening
19:01 Passion as a Key to Fulfillment and Success
20:08 Importance of Having a Reflective Hobby
22:33 Balancing Work Passion and Life
24:32 Creating Culture and Systems in Business
28:18 Paint by Number vs Coloring Book Leadership Styles
31:11 The Stoking Out Rule for Memorable Customer Experiences
33:50 The “Color Code” System for Managing Harassment
38:10 Power of Inclusive Leadership and Collective Solutions
39:15 Restorative Discipline Making Things Right
42:35 Erin’s Approach to Reading and Staying Informed
43:14 Mac and Cheese Tips and Recommendations
44:48 Mac and Cheese Ice Cream and Other Creative Ideas
47:15 Closing Remarks

Meet Erin

Erin Wade is the author of The Mac & Cheese Millionaire: Building a Better Business by Thinking Outside the Box. She opened a wildly popular restaurant, Homeroom, which has been covered everywhere from the Cooking Channel to the Wall Street Journal. She authored the bestselling The Mac & Cheese Cookbook, as well as a viral op-ed in the Washington Post that was named one of the publications’ best of the year. Erin's work on business culture has been covered in Forbes and The New York Times, and she was named one of thirty-five “World-Changing Women” by Conscious Company magazine. Erin has a public policy degree from Princeton and a law degree from UC Berkeley. She lives in the Bay Area with her family and an array of surfboards.