Culinary Careers at White Lodging

Hi, my name is Rachel Solano. I am the banquet executive chef at the JW Marriott Indianapolis. Funny story — I was actually supposed to go to college. The night before, I ran into my mom’s room and told her, this is not for me. I just don’t feel right about this. And she said, what do you want to do? And I said, well, I want to go to culinary school, and this is where I want to go. My first position in the culinary field was actually an unpaid job, just as a stage working for one of my chefs that was an instructor at the school. My career journey was a little different. I started at restaurants. I worked at a steakhouse here locally. I did that for quite a while during culinary school, just as a line cook, to get the experience in a kitchen. I saw this building being built, the JW Marriott Indianapolis, and I would drive by here almost every day to get to work. And I told myself, I would really like to work there. I didn’t know anything about really large numbers. I knew how to make canapés for a couple hundred people, but I started over on the hot side here, grilling steaks. I was actually ready for the next step in my career. I went out to an outside restaurant and interviewed and actually got a job, and I was going to leave White Lodging. And he said, well, do you want to stay here? And I said, I would love to stay here. I love this company. I love my boss. I love this building, these people. Yes, absolutely. He created a sous chef position for me to stay here in this kitchen. It meant everything to me that they wanted me to stay. The first thing I do when I come in every day is check in with my team. A lot of the time I like to lead from the kitchen, which is really important for me. I ask that the chefs are present in the kitchen while we’re executing. A lot of the time you’re going to see us on the line plating up meals right next to them, making sure that quality is maintained and that plates are consistent. If I could tell my younger self anything, I feel like I would probably write her a novel. But if I could tell my younger self one thing, it would be: stop caring so much about what people think about you. I may have missed opportunities years ago because I was more worried about other people’s perception of me. And it’s just not important. It’s important to surround yourself with a team that’s going to support not only you as a manager, but also the goals you want to achieve in your department. My success hinges on the success of those that are below me, and I want to set them up for that. My biggest piece of advice for someone that wants to be a banquet executive chef is: just because the start of your journey looks a little different, or might not look like mine, that doesn’t mean that you can’t end up where I am. If you know where you want to be, just work really hard. You can find knowledge and you can learn from anybody.