Resilience Is Unnecessary: Catarina Bill on Building Real Support for Hospitality Workers

What if resilience is just a code word for neglect?

Catarina Bill of Southern Smoke is calling BS, and doing something about it. Born into the back-of-house world through her family’s meat business, Catarina’s not just preaching compassion, she’s building infrastructure. Her work exposes the cracks in our industry’s foundation: no healthcare, no mental health safety net, no margin for error.

In this conversation, we get into the systems she’s building to catch people before they fall, why professionalizing hospitality means meeting human needs, and the radical idea that support shouldn’t be earned by burnout.

This isn’t charity, it’s a wake-up call. And for anyone still wondering why staff won’t come back, this conversation has answers.

To learn more about Southern Smoke and how to support their mission, visit southernsmoke.org.

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