O'CONNOR: The air in Colleen Silk's house echoes with laughter and the rhythmic thud of small feet stomping through the living room. Her daughter, the eldest of Colleen's two youngins, is a blur of energy and bright colors waving between parents, grandparents, and the two dogs. She scattered toys in her wake and gave one of the doggies a mindless pat here and there. But upstairs, a different kind of life. The quiet focused world of Colleen's podcast room where she weaves her passion into audio and where she began, the journey that became Hospitality Bites and her soon-to-be debut documentary Unhospitable. For Delmarva Public Media. I'm Jenny O'Connor. As a hospitality industry vet, Colleen is used to a job where every day is different. New people, new orders, new menu, new mission, but her new life as a podcaster, entrepreneur, and mom adds a whole new level of keeping you on your toes. Colleen has recently decided to take on another project after nearly 20 years in hospitality and the world kind of falling apart during COVID, Colleen had founded Hospitality Bites, a media company dedicated to bringing awareness to the mental health crisis in the hospitality industry.
SILK: I believe that there's a lot more work we can do. I want to provide resources through my advocacy work at the Burnt Chef, so men and women to feel comfortable talking and tackling some of these more taboo topics. There's no reason for it to be uncomfortable. I want young women to feel safe in the environments that they work in.
O'CONNOR: Soon after starting Hospitality Bites, Colleen became a Burnt Chef ambassador, joining another project dedicated to challenging the stigma surrounding these mental health issues, and especially focusing on the high pressure environments of hospitality.
SILK: I love that there was people from all around the globe. We all have the same mission of not only destigmatizing mental health by talking about it, but they offer free resources and they train our ambassadors, myself included.
O'CONNOR: And her own struggles have proven to be a fire to fuel her passion for advocacy in women's health.
SILK: I unfortunately miscarried while I was behind the bar, and I luckily worked for Liz who's joining me for the documentary. And from that moment, I realized I wanted to do something with that. So I founded Hospitality Bites and started putting together this idea of this documentary called Unhospitable, where not only will we feature women who have suffered physical ailments in the industry, my goal is to create resources through my advocacy at The Burnt Chef.
O'CONNOR: The podcast was doing well, but suddenly this idea of turning this concept into a documentary started brewing. And after attending a conference with the Burnt Chef Project in Atlanta, the opportunity seemed to fall out of thin air.
SILK: And the production company that's joining me, Eric and his crew from Charlotte, he really saw me and really heard me, and they said that they were all in.
O'CONNOR: And on August 7th, the Fuse production team flew in from North Carolina and met at Mackey's in Ocean City to film the proof of concept for Colleen's groundbreaking documentary. And her producer, Eric Haviland, walked in the door, inspired, eager, and ready to go.
HAVILAND: These things need to come to awareness because it's not a thing that most men would probably understand that women have to deal with in these sorts of operations. And so I think a little bit of training and a little bit of awareness is going to go a long way.
O'CONNOR: And at Mackey's, Colleen was looking to do just that by interviewing a couple of her friends from the industry, including owner of the Four Corners Pub in Silver Spring, Liz Smith, who is a key piece of Colleen's story.
SILK: I miscarried the very next day. Her and her husband had left bread pudding, my favorite, at my front door. And I've been calling Unhospitable my bread pudding to the women in the industry because that's just my little way of giving back and saying that I see you and I hear you, and I don't want you to feel invisible.
O'CONNOR: From the vibrant energy of a home, filled with family to a podcast studio, and finally to a documentary set, Colleen Silk has channeled her life experiences into a mission to help others. Her own struggles with maternal mental health and a deeply personal tragedy have given her a unique perspective on the challenges faced by women in the hospitality industry. By founding Hospitality Bites and becoming a Burnt Chef ambassador, she created a platform to highlight these often overlooked topics. To find out how you can contribute to Colleen's bread pudding, and to keep up with Unhospitable, go to hospitalitybites.com. For Delmarva Public Media, I'm Jenny O'Connor.
