Caroline Skinner joined host The Restaurant Innovator podcast by FSR Magazine for a candid, 42-minute conversation about what it really takes to lead a restaurant brand through crisis — and come out stronger on the other side.
Listen to the Episode
Also available on Apple Podcasts and FSR Magazine.
Episode Highlights
In this episode, Caroline draws on more than 15 years of leadership at Tupelo Honey to discuss how the brand weathered one of the most devastating natural disasters in Asheville's history — Hurricane Helene — while keeping its team and culture intact.
Post-Hurricane Helene Recovery
When Hurricane Helene struck Asheville in late 2024, the damage to the local restaurant community was immense. Caroline shares what those first days and weeks looked like on the ground — from assessing physical damage to rallying a dispersed workforce — and how Tupelo Honey's multi-unit footprint provided a lifeline for displaced team members.
People-First Culture as a Resilience Strategy
A recurring theme throughout the conversation is the connection between strong workplace culture and an organization's ability to endure disruption. Caroline explains how investing in people well before a crisis creates the trust and loyalty that sustain a brand when circumstances are at their worst. For Tupelo Honey, that meant relocating team members, maintaining payroll through closures, and making sure employees had the personal support they needed.
Workforce Resilience and Retention
The episode also dives into the broader challenges of workforce retention in the restaurant industry. Caroline discusses actionable strategies she has used to reduce turnover, build leadership pipelines, and create career paths that give hourly workers a reason to stay and grow within the organization.
Scaling Through Disruption
Finally, Caroline and the host explore the operational discipline required to scale a restaurant brand through major disruptions — whether that's a pandemic, a natural disaster, or rapid growth. The key takeaway: operational excellence and cultural strength are not separate initiatives. They reinforce each other.
Key Takeaways
- Crisis preparedness starts with culture — the relationships and trust you build before the storm hits determine how quickly you recover.
- Multi-unit operators have a unique advantage in disaster recovery: the ability to absorb and redistribute displaced talent across locations.
- Workforce resilience is a leadership discipline, not a perk. Paying people through closures, offering relocation support, and showing up personally are investments that pay dividends in loyalty and retention.
- Scaling a restaurant brand successfully requires the same people-first principles that drive crisis recovery — they are one and the same.
Listen to the full episode on FSR Magazine or Apple Podcasts.