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In Oakland, California, a culinary revolution unfolds at Homeroom, a restaurant that turned a simple craving into a comfort food haven. At the heart of this transformation is Erin Wade, whose journey from lawyer to pioneering chef and entrepreneur captures the spirit of innovation and resilience.
Wade's story is rich with lessons on creativity, grit and the art of cheese. Her book, The Mac & Cheese Millionaire, chronicles this adventure, offering insights that resonate with anyone looking to turn a personal passion into a business.
"I was working very unhappily as an attorney, and I came home one night craving mac and cheese and realized there was no restaurant I could go to," Wade says. "I thought, How wild there are restaurants dedicated to pizza and burgers, but there's no place I could go to just for mac and cheese."
The country was in the midst of a housing crash, and Wade recognized an opportunity to offer people comfort food during tough economic times. Thus, Homeroom was born, aiming to provide relief through simple, satisfying dishes during times of uncertainty.
Wade started her entrepreneurial journey by venturing into the market through pop-up events, which helped her gauge customer interest and refine her menu. "I priced my bowls of mac and cheese at $2, which is just obscene," she says. "I mean, that makes no sense at all. I wanted no one to ever think twice about getting it. I wanted to be packed. I wanted to sell out."
Beyond pricing, Wade invested deeply in customer engagement, and her methods helped cultivate a strong community around Homeroom, turning first-time visitors into regulars and advocates for her brand.
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Behind the scenes, Wade also focused on cultivating a supportive team culture, including a unique hiring process that focused more on candidates' aptitude and values than traditional metrics of skills and experience.
"Hiring is eerily like dating insofar as what you're measuring is how good a conversationalist someone is," she says. Her hiring process includes practical trial shifts, allowing candidates to demonstrate their abilities in a real-world setting.
"Something that we did that's particularly unique in the restaurant industry is we started hiring, training and promoting based on our values," she says. This strategy fostered a cohesive team that not only shared Wade's vision for Homeroom but also contributed to a culture of mutual respect and innovation.
With a shared language and mutual respect, staff felt free to infuse their personality into their work, making each guest's experience uniquely memorable.
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Beyond internal operations, community impact was critical to Homeroom's ethos. Wade implemented a system to significantly reduce workplace harassment, setting a new standard in an industry often plagued by such issues.
"We came up with this color-coded system of yellow, orange and red, and there is an automatic action that a manager needs to take when a color is reported," she says.
The simple yet effective protocol empowered her staff to feel safer and more supported. This proactive stance on social issues garnered local and broader community support, transforming Homeroom into more than just a dining spot but a beacon of positive change within Oakland.
As Homeroom flourished under her leadership, Wade started working on her book to provide tangible strategies for entrepreneurs aiming to transform personal passion into professional success. Her narrative offers broader business lessons on resilience, innovation and ethical leadership and describes how she learned to be more transparent with employees.
"I realized that I was the one holding a lot of the information about the business, and there's no way that you can run a great team if they don't know how they're doing, what the measures of success are, or how to influence those," she says. "I realized that was my goal as the coach or the leader."
"So we started teaching people about the business," she continues. "We started having them participate in it. [In] most companies, restaurant or not, it's very rare to have people share any meaningful financials, to expect you to watch certain things, to engage collaboratively on figuring out how to improve those. But that made a huge difference for us."
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Homeroom relies on these principles for success:
- Prioritize accessibility and value. Strategically price products to remove barriers for customers, encouraging trial and building loyalty.
- Foster a culture of mutual respect and innovation. Develop hiring and training practices emphasizing cultural fit over traditional metrics, ensuring every team member contributes to a collaborative environment.
- Utilize feedback for continuous evolution. Regularly incorporate customer and employee feedback to refine the business model and offerings, ensuring the business stays relevant and responsive to community needs.
- Champion community and employee well-being. Implement workplace practices that promote safety and support, demonstrating that a commitment to social responsibility enhances business success.
Listen to the episode below to hear directly from Wade, and subscribe to Behind the Review for more from new business owners and reviewers every Thursday. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora and Soundcloud.
Editorial contributions by Charlotte Che and Kristi Lindahl
