Meet Keyesa Green: Hospitality HR Extraordinaire

Keyesa Green is a 2021 Homaro Cantu scholarship recipient from The Trotter Project. She currently is in the HR department at the esteemed Alinea Group.

If you don't believe in serendipity, you will once you hear Keyesa Green's story. Keyesa received the 2021 Homaro Cantu scholarship from The Trotter Project, and the stars really did seem to align to bring her to Chicago's hospitality industry, inspired by Chef Cantu himself. Learn more about Keyesa’s journey in HR and hospitality below!

Watch Keyesa Green's story here.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into the hospitality industry?

So, I'm from Portland. I grew up there until I was 18. And at that time, I had really developed a passion for the hospitality industry that was really shepherded by my grandmothers and my mother, who were ladies who really loved the spirit of family and bringing all of their love to the table.

I wanted to deliver that to other people so that I could be in the hospitality industry. It really spoke to me to be able to present that love to others, to really develop culture in that way. And so when I turned 18, I decided to move to Chicago to go to DePaul University because they had a hospitality management program. 

And did you find other things, like were you working in restaurants while you were at DePaul or did you stay strategically in school?  

So I would like to say I was only strategically in school, but I was told by one of the program managers early on in the program at DePaul, Shelley Gibbons, the only way to really develop your knowledge and grow as a student of hospitality in this time is going to be direct experience in restaurants. So I began working at Perennial Virant. I worked at the Public Hotel. I worked at the Chicago Yacht Club because I wanted to see what the member's experience was. I think fine dining is a lot like treating people like a members club, where they feel welcomed and that the experience is really all about them and this temporal moment of hospitality. And then I worked at Band of Bohemia, which was at the time the only Michelin-starred brewery in the nation. So I definitely tippled into a lot of restaurants during my time at DePaul. 

That's very exciting. I completely know of every place you listed so you picked some very good ones. How did you first hear about the Trotter Project and our scholarship program? 

That was during my second phase of school. So I started my first two and a half years, and then I became enraptured with the hospitality industry. At that time, I had just begun working at Band of Bohemia, and their pursuit of fine dining coupled with the experience that they provided the guests and the employees at the time really took me away and I momentarily paused my studies so that I could work for them.

And then over that time, the pandemic eventually happened. During the pandemic, a lot of things were put on pause and I really wanted to reevaluate what the hospitality industry meant to me, what school meant to me, because it was always kind of a chip on my shoulder. I wanted to complete my studies, but I still wanted to be in the hospitality industry.

And there was also the financial commitment piece where I had been a student for so long, I had loans. Being furloughed during that period of COVID meant that I couldn't meet the financial obligations of going back to school.  So at that time I was searching for scholarships and I came upon The Trotter Project, and it honestly changed my life.

Chef Cantu actually spent a lot of time in his childhood in Portland, Oregon. And that spoke to me. Through looking into the scholarship more, one of the primary reasons that I actually went to Chicago was Moto and the nacho dish that they decided to depict on a TED Talk. There was a Wired article that had a picture of it and I said, “Cuisine is more than just food. It's more than what you put on the plate, the invention of it all.” It really felt like serendipity finding The Trotter Project and knowing this figurehead of the industry was connected to my journey being from Portland, Oregon and loving cuisine. Long-winded answer to say there were so many pieces of my journey that came into knowing The Trotter Project.  

You are now at The Alinea Group and working with them, how did that come to be? 

Yes, I feel so privileged to work at The Alinea Group. It was again at Band of Bohemia, so Craig Sindelar and Michael, they both managed and owned the restaurant, co-founded the restaurant, and they were both alumni of The Alinea Group. They had brought on a lot of folks that worked for Alinea and I loved the spirit that they brought into service, the professionalism of it all, and my mom was a choreographer for a really long time, and the way that they brought dance and choreography into everything that they did spoke to my soul. So when I transitioned out of school, I always kind of thought it was a pipe dream to work for The Alinea Group, quite honestly. There was a job opening, and Shelley Gibbons, again, one of the program administrators at DePaul University said, “Hey, I really think that you should apply for this opportunity. It really speaks to your soul, really speaks to what you do best.” 

And I told her, “You know what? I'll try.” I would love to try for this position. And so I was hired on eventually as a payroll administrator, and now today I do some more of the HR and systems management. That journey was also one that just makes me feel so blessed and I don't think it would be possible without receiving the scholarship from The Trotter Project. It really helped me believe in myself, to know that a group of people that represents the greats in the hospitality industry, was willing to go out on a limb for me and help see me through my last few years of school. It's provided me the confidence to apply for this job to be where I am today.  

What are you most excited about for the future in this industry and hospitality? 

I think one of the really scary things that happened during COVID was there was a lot of uncertainty in the hospitality industry. A lot of pivots had to happen. But another part of the beauty is it really entrenched the equity that is needed to be members of the hospitality industry, to be a business that succeeds in 2024. So I'm really excited for the new DEI efforts that will occur. I'm excited for equitable wages. I'm excited for the new cohort of hospitality students. The future seems really bright. 

Very exciting. What about your personal future goals?  

I feel as though having obtained this position, being at The Alinea Group, I want to be a steward to the next cultural revolution that happens in this company and in the hospitality industry as a whole. We have a goal that's surrounded by becoming the epitome and the trendsetter of the gastronomic industry in the 21st century. And that so closely ties to my values that I want to  direct change in HR to be able to provide an environment that our employees can be the best that they can be in providing experiences for guests.  

What piece of advice would you give someone in your shoes years ago starting out? Like, what would be your top three pieces of advice?

I think the first one is really obtaining that knowledge of the hospitality industry. We have an extern right now who I think is so smart because what he did is before even going to school, he accepted his offer, but he decided to work at Roister for six months before he decided to go to school, to really get that direct knowledge of the industry and to find out what it means to be a chef, to be a CDP, to be a commis. And so using that knowledge, I feel like he'll be leaps and bounds above the knowledge that his peers bring to the space or at least have a different skill set that I think is very valuable. 

The second one is you don't really have to know yourself in the beginning, like you're 18, you're 19, you're still figuring everything out. I have had a million different dreams that have all led me to this moment here. So trusting your gut and trusting your intuition to go where your spirit leads you in the moment is something that I think is supreme, and really just accepting yourself and making sure you validate your own journey.

And then it's also about the people that you work with. The hospitality industry, I think, is bar none that you go through complex services and really challenging environments and services with the team that you are with each and every day. And so building those relationships with others and leaning on them to help you in your next moves is also very important.

What would you like to see, or what do you see The Trotter Project being involved with present and future scholars? How would you like to see us evolve, or do you have any ideas for that? 

One of the pieces of The Trotter Project that I love is they have almost every single portion of what I think makes an excellent organization.

It's not only giving scholarships, but it's that direct contact with children that are in schools. I love what Charlie Trotter did allowing students to go into the restaurant to either experience a meal or work on the line. I think that's invaluable experience to know that someone in that position in their career is willing to devote resources and time to you.

Honestly for me it's continuing everything that you already do because it's an excellent organization that really benefits the students coming through Chicago and beyond.

Thanks so much for sharing your story with us, Keyesa! To support our scholarships and other programming, be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date and check out our donation page here!