As part of celebrating women this Women’s History Month, PA Life talked to Jillianย MacLean MBE who joins our Inspiring Women series. Jillian is CEO and Founder of the award-winning bar and restaurant group, Drake & Morgan. A highly regarded leisure entrepreneur with over 30 yearsโ experience, she founded Drake & Morgan, growing its portfolio to 18 bars and restaurants since the launch in 2008.ย Jillianย was awarded an MBE for services to the hospitality industry and named one of โThe Most Powerful People in Hospitalityโ by industry magazine, The Caterer, and โOutstanding Entrepreneurโ at the Women 1st Shine Awards…
1. Men have traditionally dominated senior roles across industries. Have you faced challenges as a woman in leadership, and how have you overcome them?
Starting out as a female entrepreneur it can feel daunting and challenging to find support. However, there are some excellent groups and networks out there. When I started the business, our day-to-day lending was done with Coutts which, as well as being a bank, introduced me to a fabulous female entrepreneur network. This meant I was able to go to workshops and courses to participate with other entrepreneurs, which helped enormously. This solid network to lean on was vital when I faced challenges at the start of my career, and it was a real privilege to get this support.
2. What steps do you think the hospitality sector needs to take to ensure more women progress into top leadership positions?
I think the hospitality sector has a great diversity and balance with women progressing through the businesses into more senior roles. There is a wonderful informal network within hospitality whereby people are very generous in giving their time to younger female business women coming through the ranks. I believe there are more formal business networks with some due to launch this year.
3. Did you have a mentor or role model who helped shape your career? How important is mentorship in helping women into leadership roles in hospitality?
My mentor and role model was David Henderson, a colleague I worked with at Mitchells & Butler. I was really inspired by David, especially with the way he set the tone and culture of the business. David also placed an importance and prioritised guiding and assisting junior members of the team into more senior roles within the business. I have always tried to emulate the values and behaviours that David exhibited in the time that I spent working with him.
I think mentorship is really important for both men and women for all roles within the business. It is important to have a role model, to have access to someone who you can seek guidance from and be able to ask questions knowing they have the right experience to give a helping hand.
4. What advice would you give to the next generation of women looking to build a successful career in this industry?
Be really kind to yourself and lean on the experience within the sector, never imagine people are too busy to give their time. I feel, particularly people in more senior positions, have more time surprisingly to offer and are very generous with it. Step up, reach up and ask for support because it is certainly there. The hospitality sector is wonderful and often generous with their time.
5. What does International Womenโs Day mean to you?
Iโve been influenced by some incredible women in my life and International Womenโs Day is a fantastic time to amplify brilliant women and celebrate inspirational role models. Championing women in the hospitality sector is something we feel is an important responsibility but that also brings us great joy at Drake & Morgan, from our wonderful female mixologists to chefs to bar backs and duty managers.
ย 6. What inspired you to found Drake & Morgan?
The inspiration behind Drake & Morgan- Drake & Morgan was born out of a time in 2008 where there wasnโt lots of casual, accessible places that were really warm, welcoming and that predominantly thought about the psychology of women. We were really fortunate to start at the Blue Fin building where Time Warner were based above us. There was around 3,500 people working in that building, with most of them being women so we were able to focus and talk to the customers there and ask their opinion on what we were proposing there which meant we had the opportunity to run lots of customer focus groups.
7. You carry a lot of responsibility and Iโm sure your life can get quite stressful at times. How do you create a good work-life-balance for yourself?
In terms of work life balance and actually keeping calm, sport is the thing for me. I love playing tennis, I try to play early in the morning and outside, as a Scot I am used to all weathers. Making time for sport, family and friends is very important and giving myself some downtime as headspace is very important in the roles we have. We are also lucky to be based in London and Manchester so it is easy to walk between the places.
8. Are there specific restaurants or cultures that have inspired the menus for Drake & Morgan? Talk us through the process of creating the menus for the restaurants.
ย We have been influenced initially in the business by the West & Eastern Coast of America, my sister lives in California and we have been fortunate enough for some of our team to go out there. Rob, our executive chef director, has been with me since the business was founded and leads the menu development alongside the chef brigades and the marketing team. We look at consumer trends and the data as to what is selling and what isnโt and how we need to move the business on. We refresh the menuโs three times a year- in spring and September and we bolt on summer dishes and Christmas/Thanksgiving menus too. Overall, it is predominantly led by customer data, customer insight and the financial data. We look for inspiration from other businesses around the world who we admire that are doing well that are similar to Drake & Morgan so we can try and test new things. Rob & the team are brilliant at doing that.
We have many more of our Inspiring Women interviews for you to enjoy.
