I invited my “dream team” to dinner in August 2013 and presented a new concept to all of the professional hospitality women who I believed would best represent the newly organized Women’s Food Alliance. Caterers, a wedding planner, restaurateurs, a celebrity food journalist, one restaurant franchise marketing director and a hospitality magazine publisher. Their diversity became the centerpiece of our organization’s mission — to bring together all of the career-women whose businesses revolved around food, events, travel and the growing power of females in the hospitality industry.
That night, at Ocean 60 in Atlantic Beach, the seeds were planted, and an invitation was sent to 100 hospitality-related women in Northeast Florida to attend our first official gathering on Sept. 10, 2013, at the historic Casa Marina Hotel — the Women’s Food Alliance Martini Gala of the newly established “sorority” of qualified women. Everyone who attended met the leadership team and heard the story about its inception and vision for the coming year. The evening was a huge success and our WFA had 60 members going into our second month!
We set the tone and template of the Women’s Food Alliance with five events that year:
Today nearly 10 years to the day, the Women’s Food Alliance has expanded to Coastal Georgia up to and past Savannah. Each month the themes and venues change — always including surprises — with the growth of exciting new women who bring their own distinctive businesses and style into the organization. We embrace entrepreneurs, new and seasoned members in hospitality throughout the Southeast, inviting them to enjoy being part of an organization that cheers, supports, networks, partners, lends a hand and always remembers “friendship first.”
For more information, go to womensfoodalliance.com.
