Empowering Women Restaurateurs: Let’s Talk Womxn Drives Movement to Consolidate Economic Influence in Chicago

In the realm of the restaurant and food industry, women and minority-owned businesses surpass representation when compared to the private sector’s average, according to U.S. Census Bureau data analyzed by the National Restaurant Association for the Restaurant Owner Demographics Data Brief March 2022.?

The culinary landscape boasts a wealth of female talent, with women making up 48% of the culinary student talent pool nationwide.? However, despite this, a notable gender gap persists, with men occupying a staggering 77% of head chef roles across the United States. This statistic is particularly striking given that women make up half of all restaurant owners in the country, a fact underscored in The State of Women in the Restaurant Industry report (2022).

Rohini Dey, Ph.D. , the visionary behind Chicago’s hit Indian-Chinese fusion restaurant Vermillion, was appalled by the “culinary gastro ceiling.”? In response, Dey took action and founded Let’s Talk Womxn in 2020. Let’s Talk is more than a coalition of women restaurateurs—it's a movement aimed at consolidating economic influence.?

Meet Let’s Talk Womxn (LTW)

LTW is the renegade action movement of 120 of Chicago’s leading women restaurateurs to empower each other.

World Business Chicago is proud to support the Let’s Talk Womxn More Than March Bash on March 1st, 2024, at Moe’s Cantina from 4-8 pm. We invite all women and male allies to join us and kick off Women’s History Month.

This social-cerebral bash not only celebrates women food and beverage entrepreneurs showcasing gourmet fare & cocktails by 30 restaurants, but also confronts the notion of confining the celebration of women to March. Hence the "More Than March" theme across 15 LTW cities and 900+ women owners. The Chicago celebration also features crisp parity soapboxes by leading Chicago women, including Congresswoman Delia Catalina Ramirez . It is concretely backed by partners like World Business Chicago, Choose Chicago , National Hockey League (NHL) CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS FOUNDATION , Sysco , Illinois Restaurant Association and others.

The volunteer-run collective of women restaurateurs began with just 15 restaurant owners and has now expanded to 120 in Chicago, with 900 women owners across 15 cities in the USA and Toronto. Notably, the group has witnessed a remarkable 70% increase in membership over the past year. Departing from traditional restaurant summits, panels, and conferences, Let’s Talk Womxn orchestrates events that spotlight the multifaceted influence of women in Chicago, celebrating them as employers, creators of value, and tastemakers.?

Membership in a Let’s Talk Womxn city is open to anyone identifying as a woman owner in food and drink. The movement’s core lies in pooling expertise, learning from each other, boosting each other’s businesses with initiatives and visibility, sharing resources, providing year-long mentorship and overcoming the isolation of entrepreneurship in one of the highest failure grueling sectors. Through the exchange of insights and resources, Let’s Talk Womxn facilitates monthly deep dives and proactive engagement on topics pertinent to the daily rigors of entrepreneurship.

Sessions span diverse areas including:

• Social media strategy,
• Navigating insurance,
• Understanding the deep technological infrastructure requisite for restaurant operations and,
• Strategies for scalability.

Membership incurs no costs and encompasses representation from startups to Michelin Star restaurant owners. With no dues, no elitism, zero overheads (all initiative topline is allocated to members), the B-Cube model (of no BS, no Bureaucracy, and Breakneck speed implementation), an all volunteer model led by 50+ leading women restaurateur co hosts across the 15 cities, this positive collaboration model has won multiple leadership accolades.

“We strengthen each other, amplify our aspirations, boost each other's visibility and connect women owners to overcome the isolation of entrepreneurship. The goal is to create a women-owned-business friendly city ecosystem here in Chicago as the leading innovative model for all our 15 LTW cities,” said Dey. “I’m a zealous ambassador of Chicago, as an employer and a tastemaker. We want to showcase our women owners and our rich dining, and platform us as a city that’s a draw for both facets. What better partner than World Business Chicago to achieve our goals?”?

Rohini Dey, Ph.D. is a 30-year Chicago resident, Indian by birth, and a self-proclaimed ambassador of Chicago. She is a former World Bank executive and McKinsey & Co. consultant, and the restaurateur behind Vermilion in New York City and Chicago. Rohini is also a trustee of the James Beard Foundation and co-founded their Women’s Leadership and the Women’s Entrepreneurship Leadership programs. Rohini is also the mother of two daughters.?