Catersource + The Special Event Schedule 2026
From the Line Level to Leadership: Why Promoting from Within Often Fails – and How to Do it Right
Betty Kalin (Vice President, Dish Food & Events)
AJ Harris (Executive Chef, Dish Food & Events)
Location: 403B
Date: Thursday, March 5
Time: 2:00 pm - 2:45 pm
Pass Type: All Access, Catersource Conference Pass, Combined CS/TSE Conference Pass - Get your pass now!
Track: CS-Leadership & Professional Development, CS-Culinary Arts
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: Intermediate
Promoting from within should be a win-win, but all too often, it leads to burnout, frustration or, even worse, losing a high performing team member. Why? Because the skills for leadership are entirely different from the skills that make someone a great line level operations or kitchen worker. Also, most companies don't teach their team how to lead until it's too late.
In this session, Executive Chef AJ Harris and Vice President Betty Kalin of Dish Food & Events will share their real-world journey as they've re-imagined leadership growth for a rapidly growing brand. Drawing from personal experience and the practical tools they've developed, they'll walk through the mindset shifts, training frameworks and support systems that help culinary and operations talent succeed when stepping into leadership roles.
Whether you're a chef, owner or operations leader, you'll walk away with strategies to spot leadership potential, structure effective leadership training and build a culture where growth doesn't come at the cost of morale or execution.