 My name is Trish Nelson, and I have been in the service industry. I've wrote all this down. I've worked alongside some of the greatest innovators of this whole profession. I started when I was 14. I'm a loyalist, began and never looked back. And helping these various people build their empires, I have donated tiny slivers of my sanity and my soul, which I'm sure you can relate to. Restaurants, they're composed of a group of highly skilled misfits. And when we're brought together in the right formation, we can accomplish enormous feats. The physical and the emotional heat of the industry, especially the heat in the kitchen, it's not for the faint of heart. The adrenaline that kicks in when you are finding yourself in the weeds or the exhilaration that runs through your body when you accomplish the impossible. And that release that you experienced after a grueling 12 to, I don't know, 20-hour shift, finally sitting down with your comrades that you've been in the trenches with, having a beer, it is indescribable. And if you're not a part of the industry, you just don't get it. These friendships are for life. These bonds are unbreakable. One of the things that I really love about us is that we pretty much, we accept everybody. So you've ruined it for me. One of the things that I do love about us is that we do accept everybody. And from the point of saying like, you're just, you got out of prison, come on, join us. Not from this country, great, hop aboard, welcome. You feel like you don't have any skills? Well, it's going to take years, but here's an onion and go figure out how to shop it. We are a part of this wild and this unmonitored industry and we're building our successes using this organized chaos and a little pinch of lawlessness, which I personally like. We are the counterculture and we find each other within the cracks of society. And the main requirement for us is we just have to have a skin that's as thick as a superhero's saying that if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen, that's been branded into all of our flesh. And this is the chaos that defines us. This is the chaos that is kitchen culture. All of these elements that are mixed with an unwavering emotional tolerance have been the ingredients that we have used to help to maintain the engine of this industry. As a people, we are not well healed, obviously, we are part of the working class. And because of this class divide, up until recently, no one has ever really cared or questioned our survival methods. They've just kind of left us alone to survive, which brings us to the other side of kitchen culture. Things that are completely normal to us, they sound absolutely effing insane to anybody who is not a part of this industry. Behind the scenes of a restaurant, it can be intensely passionate and chaotic. I once heard that you can tell how good a chef is by the amount of scars that they have on their forearms. But what you don't see are the scars that are psychologically embedded within their souls. As I look out into this forum, I know that you kind of know what I'm talking about. Sometimes you have been so verbally or physically bullied and abused by your teammates or your chefs that it has been irreparably soul crushing. Possibly, in the middle of one of these tirades, you have witnessed somebody completely lose their minds and toss all your hard work in the trash. Maybe you've been spit at, called stupid or incompetent, or had some of their barrage of profanity-laced character insults hurled at you. Maybe you've had scalding hot food thrown in your direction, which is always fun. You've experienced other forms of harassment, or the violence from not only your superiors but your teammates who are supposed to be your family. These endless cycles of abuse have been allowed to continue on for decades. It has been carelessly labeled as kitchen culture. And what you have done during these moments, I mean, really, what have you done? You felt humiliated. How did you respond? I mean, I think, like many of us, you probably stayed silent. This is kitchen culture. It's the way that it is. It's the way it always has been. This is our norm. When chef berated you or demoralized you, told you to quit, told you you were worthless potentially, what did you do? I'm going to guess that you barreled down, you said yes, chef, and you continued on with a task at hand. It's just the way it is. It's the way that it's always been. This is kitchen culture. So this year, there's been this massive global expose that has kind of begun to look at the underbelly of some of these less than desirable traits that are a part of our industry. I think we have to take a long look at the methods that we've used and the bullying and the tactics. This is an unmonitored industry. We have accepted these abusive behaviors as normal. Why have we chosen to stay silenced along? What's wrong with us? Well I think, I know, it's because this is really damn hard to talk about. It's been much easier to turn our heads and to ignore the elephant in the room. Dealing with the ugliness that stems from kitchen culture has always been a part of the job and we've just been finding the vocabulary recently to truly crack this open and have these necessary discussions that have led to the dismantling and the reconstruction of our entire foundation. These conversations are necessary and they will bring forth this long overdue change. Moving us forward as an industry, violence, abuse, sexual harassment, racism, sexism, misogyny, these are the triggering topics that we need to finally address in order for us to reform our culture and it ain't going to be easy. We're basically starting a new discussion and we have to be forgiving of each other for mistakes that have been made along the way. We have to be empathetic because this is nothing but awkwardness and discomfort as we reluctantly and painfully stumble together into this dark and uncharted territory. As we truly evaluate these issues that plague our industry, the term kitchen culture enters into the conversation as being the very root of this global problem. Patient zero, if you will. The sexism and sexual harassment that runs rampant throughout our establishments are not alone issues. They're not standalone issues. They are directly, they're symptoms. They're created by the toxicity that we have provided and that nourishes other matters of contention such as toxic masculinity and rape culture and that's a whole another discussion that we don't have time for today. But those things are still associated with kitchen culture. The end result is this unbridled poison that has been injected into our most beloved establishments, spreading like a disease, a malignant tumor, infecting and destroying these institutions that we love, starting from the very top and fingering their way outwards, trickling down, mutating, until it has permeated every single cell within the bricks that build this industry's foundation. There's no way around it. This year is sucked. It's been so painful for so many of us as we've stood by and we have watched our heroes fall from grace. Some of these leaders were our mentors. Some of them were our friends. Those of us who worked alongside of these people witnessed firsthand the events that led to their demise. And the knowledge that has been gained from observing their mistakes I think is crucial for all of us to take note of as we strive to make a better choice for both ourselves and for this industry. It is important that we stop this repetition of these abusive cycles. Sometimes you just have to get rid of the outdated broken systems and archaic methods in order to implement new and improved structures. Luckily, as we maneuver forward through this transition, we're all going to be able to carry this knowledge. The knowledge from the past, what we knew it was like, what isn't useful, what hasn't worked, the mistakes that could have easily been avoided. Now, this saying, if you can't take the heat, it takes on a whole new meeting. If you cannot behave with integrity and you treat your employees with dignity, if you can't respect that they deserve empathy for the tireless and thankless help that they are giving to you as they build your empires, then you've got to get out of the kitchen. Someone asked me the other day what I thought the answer was to changing the landscape of this industry, that a lot of people are viewing as being broken. And as I look out into all of your faces, I know the answer. It's you. You guys are the answer to this. And it all comes down to a word. It's choice. It's about accountability and having, holding each other accountable for the choices that we are making. It is about ending our silence. And if you hold a leadership position right now on the most basic level, you can have the awareness of behaviors that will help you check your ego and move. Sorry. I'm glad I brought this because I knew I was going to need it. Thank you guys. Back to ego. You just have to become more mindful of your choices. And if you have made some mistakes throughout the history as a leader, there is still hope for you. There's still hope for all of us because all of this comes down to the action of choice and we can and we should be better than this for the love of God. We are in the middle of a changing of the guard. And what is being asked of you right now is to find your true strength of character and the integrity and internal fortitude to be able to take the heat of this industry without taking it out on everybody else around you. Within moments of exhaustion and depletion, the right choice will be within your grasp. The right decision will always be yours to make. You are the leaders of this industry. Please be the leaders that you were meant to become and forge a new path for all of us because we will follow. Force yourselves to have these difficult conversations with one another so that we can overcome these obstacles and find our way forward together. This chapter has not yet been written and you are going to be the ones that write it. You will implement better ways and you will bring with you all of the knowledge from the past helping our industry redefine what is normal. You are going to recreate this entire culture. And it's huge. It's a huge responsibility. But I just know that you guys can do this. You're 100% up to this task because it's time to change the archaic landscape and build a better future for all of us. It's for those who follow in our footsteps. They are depending on us. Please, I'm begging you to make this change a part of your legacy. And I wasn't going to add this. I'm going off script, which is a good thing. I am one of the women who came forward to the New York Times and to 60 Minutes. And I know that makes me a controversial figure to some of you because I know that these people were your friends. But I want you to know this decision was one of the most difficult ones that I've ever had to make. But I had to do it. Because I couldn't resolve this any longer on my own. I needed you. And I needed your support.