JANET HAYES TRANSCRIPT
Kerry Diamond:
Hi everyone. You are listening to Radio Cherry Bombe, and I'm your host, Kerry Diamond. Each week, I talk to the coolest folks in and around the world of food. For today's show, I headed out to Northbrook, Illinois, to interview Crate & Barrel's CEO, Janet Hayes. Janet has been called one of the most inquisitive and caring retail CEOs around by no less than Jane Goodall. How's that for an endorsement? Janet started her retail journey as a teenager working at Macy's and never looked back, spending time at world class brands, including The Gap, Nike, and Williams Sonoma. Janet was named Crate & Barrel's CEO in August 2020. She and I talk about what it was like growing up one of six kids, uprooting her family and starting her job in the middle of the pandemic, and why vision and values are so important for anyone leading a company no matter what size. We will hear from Janet Hayes in just a minute.
Be sure to join us for the second annual Cherry Bombe Cooks and Books Festival at the Ace Hotel Brooklyn on Saturday, November 5th, and Sunday, November 6th. We've got talks, panels, and demos all weekend long with amazing folks like Erin French all the way from The Lost Kitchen in Maine. I'll be interviewing her on Saturday. We've got a pasta demo with Odette Williams. Ooh, we can learn how to make fresh pasta. I will be there. There's an entertaining panel with Athena Calderone, Amber Mayfield, and Mariana Velasquez, moderated by the always hilarious, Marcy Blum. That is going to be a good one. And then there's a special talk about the legacy of Edna Lewis with Chef Adrienne Cheatham and Edna's niece, Nina Williams-Mbengue. You do not want to miss that.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. So basically what I'm saying is you should just buy an all-access pass. Head on over to cherrybombe.com to snag that all-access pass or tickets to the individual events. You can also order personalized copies of the author's books for pickup at the talks. Those would make a great holiday gift for a loved one or for yourself. It is okay to buy holiday gifts for yourself. For more information about cooks and books, tickets, talent and schedules, head on over to cherrybombe.com. The Cherry Bombe Cooks and Books Festival is presented by Kerrygold and our bookstore partner is Kitchen Arts & Letters.
Now let's check in with today's guest.
Kerry Diamond:
Janet Hayes, welcome to Radio Cherry Bombe.
Janet Hayes:
Thank you, Kerry. So happy to be here and with you. I'm a fan of you and all that you do, so thank you for having me.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, right back at you. And I can't believe we are at Crate & Barrel headquarters.
Janet Hayes:
Welcome.
Kerry Diamond:
I would like to move in.
Janet Hayes:
There's not a day that goes by that I'm not grateful for walking in this beautiful building. And there's not a night that goes by that I walk out and don't appreciate the beauty of this place.
Kerry Diamond:
Because I do love white furniture, even though it is not wildly practical. And I painted my floors white, which again, wildly impractical, but I love it.
Janet Hayes:
It's approved. It's all approved by me.
Kerry Diamond:
So I thought I'd start with an easy question. Where did you grow up?
Janet Hayes:
I grew up in Northern California. I'm a true Northern California girl, so north of San Francisco in a small little town called Fairfax. When I was growing up, it was a town that refused to come out of the '60s. I think it still does. It's very true to who it is. And it was the best place to grow up. I felt safe and cared for and it was a cool place because it was close enough to the city that you could go there, but far enough away that you had your nature around you and 20 minutes from the beach and 20 minutes from the city. It was ideal.
Kerry Diamond:
And you were one of six kids, right?
Janet Hayes:
I am.
Kerry Diamond:
Where'd you fall in the mix?
Janet Hayes:
Number three. Middle.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, you're right in the middle?
Janet Hayes:
In the middle. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Wow.
Janet Hayes:
Yeah. And again, it comes kind of true through my personality too. So it goes five girls and then the last one's a boy. So I'm the middle of the five girls and kind of the middle of the six, if you will. And I've got a lot of middle child personality traits.
Kerry Diamond:
I'm one of five and I'm the oldest. I think similar to you, the oldest thing comes out very often. I would love to know, how would you describe your family's interior design style when you were a kid?
Janet Hayes:
I would say true to the '70s. True to the '70s. That's my galvanizing childhood memories. And I would also say true to the rhythm of life. I watched my parents fill their house with things that they could afford at the time they could afford it with six kids. I think I grew up conscious of what a budget was and what it meant. And when a new piece of furniture came into the house, it was something. They purchased things that would last. But in beautiful '70s form, we had two gold chairs in the living room. I remember a floral sofa. They lasted through most of my childhood. In fact, whenever one of us got in trouble, we were told to go sit in the gold chair until my dad came home. And he would walk through the front door and if anyone was sitting in that chair, he knew he had to say.
Kerry Diamond:
And when you say gold, the fabric was gold or…
Janet Hayes:
It was gold velvet.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. Oh, gold velvet.
Janet Hayes:
Yeah. It was perfect '70s.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay.
Janet Hayes:
It was really iconic actually looking back at it.
Kerry Diamond:
The gold velvet punishment chair. Okay.
Janet Hayes:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
If my mom's listening, I'm going to tell her to turn off the podcast right now because I'm going to make fun of you, mom. I apologize in advance. We had this couch that had 1776 all over it and the Liberty Bell, and it was in shades of brown. It was the most hideous pattern ever. I see photos of it now and I'm just like, "How did anyone think that was a good idea?"
Janet Hayes:
Yeah. Well, it was at that time.
Kerry Diamond:
But it was the '70s and it was…
Janet Hayes:
Yeah, it was at the time.
Kerry Diamond:
... bicentennial. And that was a big deal.
Janet Hayes:
Yes. I could see it.
Kerry Diamond:
I'm going to find a photo and send it to you and you're going to cringe. Sorry mom, you can start listening again. Okay. Did you have to share a bedroom?
Janet Hayes:
Absolutely. Absolutely. I loved sharing a bedroom.
Kerry Diamond:
What?
Janet Hayes:
I would still share a bedroom with any of my siblings to this day. I just…
Kerry Diamond:
Stop.
Janet Hayes:
No. We all grew up best of friends. I shared it with two of my younger sisters, one of my older sisters. Some combination of sisters at all times. All six of us shared one bathroom, right?
Kerry Diamond:
Mm-hmm. Yes, I can relate to that.
Janet Hayes:
We had a routine. We had minutes. We had to get in, we had to get out. I think I had my own room for one year and it was when I was a senior in high school.
Kerry Diamond:
Because the other kids had left?
Janet Hayes:
Yeah. There was enough space that maybe for that one year I could have my own room.
Kerry Diamond:
I shared a bedroom with my two sisters. I think we had a trundle bed. I'm sure you probably had a trundle bed. Did you have one of those? No?
Janet Hayes:
We never had a trundle bed. No.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, we had to have a trundle. For those of you who don't know that, it's the mattresses underneath the bed and you have to pull it out every night. But I did not get along with my siblings like you did. And we were full on The Brady Bunch with the masking tape down the middle of the room and "Don't you dare come on my side or use my things."
Janet Hayes:
Yeah. I love that. I love that. It's so good.
Kerry Diamond:
I read that you got your driver's license at the age of 16. And when you did, your mother said you needed to find a job, and you found one at Macy's. Now a few decades later, you're still in retail. What attracted you to the field initially? Was it the only job you could find?
Janet Hayes:
It probably was the only job I could find. I don't think anyone's ever asked me that question what attracted me. I probably liked to shop and thought that's something I understand and I could do it. But at the same time, it began the journey of just hard work and understanding retail.
Kerry Diamond:
What hooked you about retail?
Janet Hayes:
At the beginning, just the study of people shopping and how I could help them or change their mind or have them see things differently. I loved the idea of making a goal by the end of the day. You were given a goal to hit by the end of the day and you hit it and you wrapped it up and cleaned your cash register and turned off the lights and left and you felt good, like day by day you felt great. There's an energy from working with the customer that I loved. I loved it. I still love it.
Kerry Diamond:
Where did you go to college and what did you study?
Janet Hayes:
I went to California State University, Chico, which was about three hours north of Marin County where I grew up. For five years, I studied liberal studies. I wanted to be a teacher. So I studied to be a teacher all the way through college. And then about 30 days before I was going to graduate, I thought, "I don't want to do this. This is not what I want to do." I was just kind of sailing through on a path to finish. And I remember being almost terrified, but it was the first time I had a real conversation with myself, like, "I like this retail thing."
Janet Hayes:
But I didn't have anyone around me in retail. I didn't understand it could be a career. I had never seen it as a career because I didn't see that model in front of me. And it was scary to say out loud, "This is what I want to do" because I didn't even understand it. So I graduated. Honestly, the base of learning how to be a teacher I think has taught me how to be a leader. And even to this day, I can be in a room and say something or be explaining something and I can see that people might not be getting it. And I take those skills that I learned in college of just how to teach and use it. I think it has really taught me to be a better leader.
Kerry Diamond:
I didn't know that about you, that you studied to be a teacher, but I totally get that now. You're also a good listener, which is probably why it's painful to be interviewed.
Janet Hayes:
Oh, that's nice. That's a nice compliment. I appreciate that.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you have retail jobs in college?
Janet Hayes:
Yes, I did. All through summer, right from the first day of summer to the last day of summer like most college kids, I hit the summer and worked over probably 60 hours a week at any retail job I could find. But there was one job that I had all through summer. It was working at a retail store, it's called Strouds Linen. It was a West Coast retailer, family-owned bedding, really a store. I needed to get a job at my last two years of college and there were no jobs in Chico. It was a very small college town with lots of kids there so it was difficult to get a job. So I would drive home, three hours home on Friday night. Friday afternoon after I got out of school I would drive home, work the weekend, close up on Sunday and drive back to school. And that was either my last year or my last two years.
Kerry Diamond:
So all your college weekends?
Janet Hayes:
Yeah, but I think I was ready to go probably at the end, right?
Kerry Diamond:
Okay.
Janet Hayes:
I know. I think about that a lot. And there was another friend of mine that did the same thing. She drove home to the Bay Area. She was also in retail and we drove together. I remember it was so fun looking back at it, but it was a long way to go. If I had actually done the math, it probably wouldn't have paid off that I was spending all that money on gas going home. But it was a job and I was committed. Yeah, I stayed in retail the whole time through college.
Kerry Diamond:
So you graduate, what happens next?
Janet Hayes:
There begins the retail journey. First job I had out of college, I was a manager for a boutique called Sheridan. And it was within the Macy's walls of San Francisco, Union Square, San Francisco. And it was back when boutique shops were a new idea for Macy's. So on the domestics floor there was Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Sheridan. I walked into that building every day and managed my little 800 square feet and merchandised the floor, faxed in my orders every night back to Australia, wrote down what we did. And eventually they let me start picking the assortment that would land on the floor. We were sharing information back and forth. They started opening other boutiques because of this great success happening out of Union Square, San Francisco.
So I did that for about a year, year. And then Macy said, "What are you doing? Come work for us." So I just hopped right over onto the domestics floor in Union Square San Francisco, which I still can't believe they let a 24 year old at that time run their flagship Union Square domestics floor. But it was the beginning of a great journey of my career that I'm so grateful for.
Kerry Diamond:
Where did you think you were going to go from there? Did your mind work that way? Are you someone who plans? Were you thinking five years ahead?
Janet Hayes:
No, it's never worked that way. I'm not even good with working that way. I'm someone who just puts my head down, works hard every day to do the best job they can do. Typically in my career, a phone would ring and I would pick it up and there's someone on the other line saying, "Why don't you think about this? Or why don't you think about that?" And the same thing happened even as I was in my career for... If I was at a company for five years, six years, 13 years, whatever it was, I never worked with the intention of being promoted. I worked with the intention of doing the best job that I could and actually really wanting to make my manager, or whoever my boss was, successful. And that could be seen as an old way of thinking, but I actually wouldn't change it today. I think I just always understood, "Let's do this together," understood teamwork. And if I win, you win. If you win, I win. But I just try and do the best job I can do every day and I've never planned my next move.
Kerry Diamond:
So you weren't standing on the floor of Macy's with your hands on your hip saying, "I'm going to be CEO one day"?
Janet Hayes:
No. No. I've actually never said that. I've never said I'm going to do this until I'm a CEO.
Kerry Diamond:
And here we are.
Janet Hayes:
Here we are.
Kerry Diamond:
You are the CEO of Crate & Barrel Holdings. What attracted you to this job?
Janet Hayes:
Well, I've always had a passion for retail. CBH's iconic brands are an integral part of people's lives. From outfitting their wedding registries to picking out must-haves for bringing home a new baby, it just was too exciting of an opportunity to not come and lead these brands. The potential that I saw behind all of the brands and what they have meant in people's lives and what they can continue to mean in people's lives, Crate & Barrel as a brand has an emotional connection for a lot of people. Most people will say, "Oh, I registered there," or "Oh, I've wanted that sofa there." They have real emotional connection to the brand. And that's something that is important to me that I can't just manage something that doesn't lead, something that doesn't have an emotional connection.
Kerry Diamond:
Mm-hmm. I am one of those people. I have been a Crate & Barrel customer for a long time and even registered for my wedding at Crate & Barrel. Some of my Crate & Barrel items even outlasted my marriage.
Janet Hayes:
That's our purpose, to stay with you no matter what.
Kerry Diamond:
And you have. Thank you for that. Despite being a customer for so long, I really knew nothing about the origins of the brand until I did some homework for this interview. Can you tell us how the brand started?
Janet Hayes:
Yeah, it's a beautiful story. We're celebrating our 60th anniversary this year. In fact, we just had a celebration last week. 60 years this company has been here. Started with the Crate & Barrel brand, but has grown into four beautiful brands that sit on top of a nice strong foundation. But it was started 60 years ago by Gordon and Carole Segal that on their honeymoon they took a trip to Northern Europe and realized the beauty of what they saw there and the value of what they saw there, whether it was cups, plates, fork, spoons, beautiful product at great prices. They came back to the U.S. after their honeymoon and said, "Why wouldn't someone here want that?" And so they began to import what they saw there and they opened their first store here in Chicago on a street called Wells. And right at the beginning they established values that we still live on today, which is value, beauty, purpose, and a customer-first orientation. And we still live on it today and it has stood the test of time. It's amazing to me the foresight of it all.
Kerry Diamond:
You mentioned there are four brands. What are those brands?
Janet Hayes:
Crate & Barrel, Crate & Kids, CB2, and Hudson Grace is the newest member to the family of our brands.
Kerry Diamond:
Hudson Grace is the one I'm least familiar with. What's that brand about?
Janet Hayes:
Hudson Grace is a beautiful giftware brand. It is based on the idea of gracious entertaining. So it's a lot of tabletop, the best candles you will ever buy, unique finds from Europe. And it's all curated by two of the original founders.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, that's cool. Okay. So you finally become CEO. You're not sitting there pining for a CEO job. But you do become CEO in the middle of a pandemic. Anything anybody has to take on during the middle of the pandemic was so hard. What went through your mind when this job was offered to you?
Janet Hayes:
I almost had to put away the idea that we were going through a pandemic and focus on the opportunity and the opportunity and the potential of what this could be. I couldn't let the pandemic scare me into not taking the job. I have a personal mantra of courage over comfort. And honestly in retrospect, I couldn't have asked to join at a better time, believe it or not, because I will say there was a common denominator going on, not only for other CEOs but for everyone in the world. And we were all reset back to what I call a start line. That gave me a really nice advantage to say, "Okay, we all went through this together. We're all experiencing this together whether you're a CEO or just a human. And what does it mean?" So there was a real recentering and a moment for us to take stock of what was important.
As a CEO, I thought this is going to be the most amazing time to learn how to take stock of what you have, how to recenter, how to find purpose and value. It was something I think that particularly in Crate & Barrel Holdings, we used the time to reposition the Crate & Barrel brand, not only from a mission and a vision, but also to recenter how we actually came to work every day. It was a recentering in people's lives and we've responded by really putting the human part of our business first, customer centric, employee first and recentering how we look at everything.
Kerry Diamond:
You know I love a good business podcast and I listen to a lot of them. One question I realized they don't ever ask people or ask CEOs or business leaders is you sometimes have to pick up, move your whole life somewhere else. And you did that. You had to pick up your family and leave California and come to the Chicago area. Was that hard?
Janet Hayes:
Coming for Crate & Barrel Holdings was not hard. And having a passion for retail, the opportunity was clear. Moving my family was the first time that I had ever... Well, I did it when they were three so they wouldn't remember that. But it was, and still, one of the most memorable moments, scariest moments of my life when I had to tell my girls who were twins and they were entering their sophomore year in high school. So not only was I moving them in the middle of high school, not only was I moving them from California to Illinois, but I was moving them in the, literally, middle of the global pandemic. I've always been so proud of them. But to see a full human evolvement of their thinking, they said to me, "We don't want to do it, but we'll do it for you and we'll do it for your career." Oh, it just makes me emotional still.
Yeah, it was hard. It was hard. But again, that's what the pandemic brought for us as we came as a family, we were bonded as a family. We were forced to be indoor and stay with each other. So we really supported each other through the move. And I'm so proud of who they are today and how they've assimilated and actually thrived and become leaders in their new community. So I couldn't ask for a more lovely place to land. Being here in the North Shore and with the community of people at Crate & Barrel Holdings has also made it extremely easy to land here.
Kerry Diamond:
It just made me realize, it also probably gave you some insight into the customer that you didn't have because you had to relocate, redecorate, do all of those things and recreate a home.
Janet Hayes:
That's right. Yeah. And I'm so grateful for that. I've lived in California, Oregon, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and now Illinois. All of that has added to what I can think about for the home. Living in different regions is the best thing you can do if you're in the home business because you can get very centric to where you live. And so being able to bring the idea of, "This is how California lives or this is how the West Coast lives, this is what the East Coast lives. It's not all right here." And actually we're a global brand. So even thinking outside of the U.S. and how Europe can influence us or how people in the Middle East live, we've got to always have our heads up. And we have to adjust our product and our aesthetic for what will fit people's lives.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's talk about collaborations. I love collaborations. I know you love a collaboration. And Crate & Barrel has had some great ones recently, the latest being Athena Calderone of EyeSwoon. We love her very much here at Cherry Bombe. How did the Athena colab come about?
Janet Hayes:
Oh, we've admired Athena's work for many years. Once we entered into our initial conversations with her, the vision for a collection that felt true to both sides quickly came together. Our team worked for years actually to bring the vision to life with more than 130 pieces across five categories that seamlessly fit her aesthetic and function in any home. And as expected for Athena, an expert hostess among many other talents, a key category for the collection was entertaining. So she just had the beautiful eye of small yet purposeful details that we were able to bring in. Her glassware as an example, I don't know if you've seen it.
Kerry Diamond:
No.
Janet Hayes:
But my favorite piece of that collection, her glassware, it's so beautiful and elegant just like she is, and also practical. You could use it on a Tuesday or a Thursday night. So she just brought this kind of elegance to the collection, but they worked so beautiful together.
Kerry Diamond:
I look through the collection online, it is so beautiful. And I need to get to a store.
Janet Hayes:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
I'm going to go to the biggest one here and see.
Janet Hayes:
Oh, you're going to go down to North & Clybourn.
Kerry Diamond:
Great.
Janet Hayes:
And see the Athena Collection. You mentioned that it took years. I think sometimes people see these things and it seems so effortless, but obviously a great deal of work goes into these things.
Yeah. And you want to give it time to evolve. I think the collaboration has credit both the team at Crate & Barrel and Athena. They were going through the global pandemic. There was a lot of this done over screens. There were in-person meetings and they had a real awareness and consciousness to what the customer was craving during this time, which was to be together, to have their house feel real, to have it feel comfortable, to have it feel inspired. I mean, we were spending a lot of time in our homes. Her journey through that and Crate & Barrel's awareness of customers coming together I think made the collection inspired and relevant.
Kerry Diamond:
And she's always done such a beautiful job of letting people into her home in a way through social media. I think she uses it so well.
Janet Hayes:
Yeah. She's very generous.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. Have you been to her place in Brooklyn?
Janet Hayes:
I have not been there. My team has been there. I have not been there.
Kerry Diamond:
You got to come to Brooklyn.
Janet Hayes:
I feel like I've been in it because of all the...
Kerry Diamond:
Right.
Janet Hayes:
Yeah, all of the good things she has.
Kerry Diamond:
It's easy to feel that way. I'm in walking distance from her place. So when you come, let me know.
Janet Hayes:
Oh, I'll go knock on your door.
Kerry Diamond:
I'll come up and crash your party. One of the categories that Crate & Barrel hasn't moved into in a big way is food or drink. You have a few olive oils, vinegars, and spices on your site I was looking through, but that's it. Is food an area you're looking at?
Janet Hayes:
I would not say we're avoiding it, but the customer is at the forefront of every decision we make. And we're always looking at how we can evolve and adopt our offerings to meet their ever-changing needs. And like I said, I was watching them go through the pandemic and I could tell what they were buying from us, whether it was tools or cookware or they were searching for recipes and content. So we immediately focused on providing the tools they needed to cook because I could see that was an emerging need. And then we went into content and recipe and inspiration. So that's really what we've been focusing on and developing our assortment to what they need. We launched our first ever private label cookware and tools, which I'm really proud about.
And then during the pandemic, even in this building, we quietly built a kitchen. It's so gorgeous. I can't wait to have you there and have all of our customers come and experience it too. But we built a kitchen where now even here we can develop content and potentially food in the future. So we're not avoiding it, but I want to do is stay relevant to what the customer needs right now. And I saw that they needed tools and cookware and content first.
Kerry Diamond:
Got it. We're going to go look at that kitchen in a little while.
Janet Hayes:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
Our friend Sophia Roe I think was out here doing some stuff in the kitchen.
Janet Hayes:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
Speaking of food, Crate & Barrel does have a restaurant. The Table at Crate in Oakbrook, Illinois. Is that the company's only restaurant?
Janet Hayes:
That is the company's only restaurant. We have a lot of dates we have to do, Kerry.
I'm going to have to take you on a date there too. Yes, that is our only full-service restaurant, but it also serves in a really unique way, just to connect differently with our customer and really have them sit down and engage and enjoy the space they're in. It's such a fun space. And the food is delicious there.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh good. Okay. I know it predates you though.
Janet Hayes:
It does.
Kerry Diamond:
This wasn't your project.
Janet Hayes:
It was just a little bit before the pandemic that it opened. And then I was one of the lucky people to be able to put my arms around the restaurant during the pandemic and to give them support and really help them through. But it was hard. It was hard. It gave me a lot of empathy for the restaurant business and what they went through as I was living it right there with them. Not only with having to close the store, but having to close a restaurant.
Kerry Diamond:
Do you think you might do more?
Janet Hayes:
It is definitely an opportunity. It's definitely an opportunity.
Kerry Diamond:
And not having been there, I don't know the answer to this, but is it a lab of sorts for your product? Can I go in there and order whatever off the menu, but then buy the plates and the cups, the table?
Janet Hayes:
You can. You can buy the chair you're sitting in, the table you're sitting at, the fork, spoon, everything there is... And I think that was the original intent of how it started. We've now seen it a different way of just engagement and relaxation. And if you're buying a lot of furniture or even thinking about registering or you're registering at our stores, it is nice to have a place to just sit down and think and have a meal. It could be a long journey in our store. We're now thinking it as a moment of engagement and it's almost a easier creative place to jump off from.
Kerry Diamond:
But I do like seeing... I've got the coffee in front of me and the water in a gorgeous Crate & Barrel glass. I like seeing things in use, seeing them in real life, not just on a shelf somewhere. Have you been to that store La Mercerie? Oh, well, actually it's a restaurant. Have you been to La Mercerie?
Janet Hayes:
I have.
Kerry Diamond:
Same thing, they're serving everything that you can buy in the store next door there.
Janet Hayes:
Yeah, I love the idea.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, it's very cool. Speaking of the restaurant, what's your favorite menu item? Is there a Janet regular order?
Janet Hayes:
Oh, my gosh. Well, it changes seasonally, which I love. But we have a really talented chef there, Chef Bill Kim. Any Asian influenced dish he cooks, I eat. He has an amazing palate and he layers such complexity into his dishes that I keep saying to him, "Push more of that direction. Push more of that direction." So anything Asian-inspired that he cooks, I’m here for it.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I love that. So you're open to anything on the menu really.
Janet Hayes:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
I would love to get some advice from you for our listeners out there. So many women in the Cherry Bombe community have launched products in the food, beverage and houseware space. There's just been this incredible explosion in entrepreneurism. What advice do you have for those looking to build brands with longevity? We didn't talk about other jobs you've had, but you've worked at world class brands, so you know what it takes to build a brand for the long run.
Janet Hayes:
Yeah. First of all, I'm cheering for all the Bombesquad, really cheering for... Wishing them the best success. And if they ever need anything, I'm here. They can reach out at any time. But I would say work on your vision. Work on your vision and attach your values to your vision. You're going to get bumped around, you're going to get pushed around, you're going to get... Don't be more strategic than opportunistic because it's hard to unwind. Some of those things that feel like a good opportunity in the moment might not be that great opportunity two or three years down the road. So work on your vision, put your values to it. And then feel free to iterate on your vision as times change. That's okay. That's okay to hold your vision, but iterate if you need to a little. But I think values and vision can't be underestimated. The combination of those two.
Kerry Diamond:
That's great advice. How about for those in the retail field? We all know online shopping was huge during the pandemic. Now we're hearing physical stores are back again. For those out there involved in retail in some capacity, what are a few trends or headwinds they should be paying attention to?
Janet Hayes:
One, there's one trend, the customer. I think it's funny that we keep having this conversation between online and then stores. And really it's just what the customer wants. You got to pay attention to what they want. I think the common denominator that every customer wants is make it easy. Be fast. No one wants to spend a long time checking out. No one wants to spend a long time waiting for anything. They will, because if it's made and delivered with purpose and meant to last, they'll wait a good amount of time. But just be where they are, be convenient, be fast. I think every customer that comes to us, I'm grateful for that. We've earned their trust. And to hold that trust is a critical mission of ours. And I think everyone needs to think like that. There are a lot of choices for customers and we all need to be grateful they're with us and hold their trust.
Kerry Diamond:
The fast part is hard when you're a little brand. I'll admit we struggle with that.
Janet Hayes:
Yeah. But I think there's ways to that you can think about it, even if it's a fast checkout. How long you're taking to wrap that product? Watch your customer. Are they trying to get out? Is it fast to go through your register? Is it fast to check out? Is the food coming fast? Just little things. Little things. Customers notice. They notice it all.
Kerry Diamond:
Mm-hmm. I feel like what we lack in speed, we need to make up for in communication.
Janet Hayes:
Love that.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. But I don't know that we're...
Janet Hayes:
I think that's brilliant.
Kerry Diamond:
We need to work on that too.
Janet Hayes:
Yeah, I think that's brilliant.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. If people have to wait, you have to do a good job communicating.
Janet Hayes:
Communicating.
Kerry Diamond:
But then you can't over communicate, because then that gets annoying.
Janet Hayes:
Right.
Kerry Diamond:
So it's this real delicate dance.
Janet Hayes:
Yes, it is. I think that's the right way to think about it.
Kerry Diamond:
All right. Personal question. Are you cooking more? I know historically you have not been the cook in the family.
Janet Hayes:
God, I want to say yes. I really do. In my mind I cook, but I'm just a good consumer of my husband's fabulous cooking. He is such a good cook. I would be honest and say no, I'm not cooking more. I have some go-tos that I'd love to have time to do more but I'm not.
Kerry Diamond:
Do tell.
Janet Hayes:
Oh, I can cook a pretty mean chicken parm meatball off What's Gaby Cooking? She has the best…
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, is that her recipe?
Janet Hayes:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh my gosh. A chicken parm meatball. I love that.
Janet Hayes:
Yeah, it's unbelievable. I'm pretty good at that. That's probably my go-to at the moment.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. And that was a judgment-free question just for those of you who thought maybe I was shaming Janet. I absolutely was not shaming you.
Janet Hayes:
Yeah, I didn't feel judged.
Kerry Diamond:
Good. Okay, good.
Janet Hayes:
I used to be a good baker too, but I now have a gluten-free daughter, so I'm really having to think about baking a little differently too. And I want to get good at gluten-free baking. That's my new goal.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, there's so many great people out there with cookbooks, with gluten-free cookbooks.
Janet Hayes:
Yeah. I have to dive in.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, we'll send you something.
Janet Hayes:
Okay. Okay.
Kerry Diamond:
And sometimes you just eat more than you cook, especially if you like to go to…
Janet Hayes:
Yeah, I'm not ashamed.
Kerry Diamond:
... restaurants and all that.
Janet Hayes:
I probably need to exercise more. That's probably a goal I should have as well.
Kerry Diamond:
And then we're in Chicago, one of the best food cities in the world. Can you, aside from your Crate & Barrel restaurant, can you share a favorite restaurant or two?
Janet Hayes:
Anything Stephanie Izard, Girl and the Goat, Duck Duck Goat, Sugargoat, Goat Me.
Kerry Diamond:
We love Stephanie.
Janet Hayes:
She's just not only a phenomenal human, but gosh, she has just unbelievable restaurants. So she's always going to be one of my favorites. And then there is a restaurant I went to the other night, which I loved and surprised me. It was called Alpana, it's wine inspired Cuisine. The woman who owns it is Alpana Singh.she is a master sommelier. The food is designed around the wine. So you could eat a brussel sprout salad or this beautiful halibut. She has designed that because of the wine she serves. And the restaurant is beautiful. I love a good beauty surrounding. Her bar is beautiful. The vibe is beautiful. So I was pleasantly surprised because I wasn't seeking it up. I was a guest at someone there, so it was lovely. One other restaurant I love is called Ada Street. The vibe in there is so cool. Lit by single candles on the table. Delicious, easy food. I don't love overcomplicated food. So both of these restaurants are really simple, well-cooked food.
Kerry Diamond:
Great. It's been so long since I've been to Chicago, so I need some…
Janet Hayes:
More dates for us.
Kerry Diamond:
... new recs. Exactly.
Janet Hayes:
Yes, more dates for us.
Kerry Diamond:
Well Janet, thank you so much. I know how busy you are and I can't thank you enough for taking the time to chat with us today. And you're the Bombe.
Janet Hayes:
Thank you for having me. And thank you for doing such wonderful work for women in food and the restaurant industry and business in general. You're a hero to us. Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, folks should know you've supported us a lot over the years and we wouldn't be able to do the work we do without folks like you.
Janet Hayes:
Thank you. Appreciate it.
Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show. Thank you so much to Janet Hayes, CEO of Crate & Barrel. Janet is a force. If you'd like to check out Crate & Barrel's products and collaborations, head on over to crateandbarrel.com.
Don't forget Cherry Bombe's Cooks and Books Festival taking place November 5th and 6th at the Ace Hotel Brooklyn. Visit cherrybombe.com to see the lineup and snag your tickets. If you enjoyed today's pod, check out past interviews with other CEOs like our friend Ellen Bennett of Hedley & Bennett. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Radio Cherry Bombe is a production of Cherry Bombe Magazine. Our theme song is by the band Tra La La. Thanks to our new Chicago friends, Tom Brown of Innova Digital and to our sound mixer, Kelly Askam of Mind Exchange Music LLC. And thank you to our assistant producer, Jenna Sadhu. And thanks to you for listening. You're the Bombe.