Who Is Julie?

I’m Julie — and hospitality has never really been “just work” for me. It’s something I fell into, stayed in, stepped away from, came back to, and ended up loving far more deeply than I ever expected.

Kent and I took on a pub in a small rural village, and from the beginning we knew it wasn’t somewhere people would simply wander into. This wasn’t a city pub with passing trade — people had to choose to come to us. That felt like a responsibility, but also an opportunity. If people were going to make the effort, we wanted them to feel it had been worth it.

And it was. Within our first year, five-star reviews started to appear. Rosettes for culinary excellence followed, along with a brilliant team who cared as much as we did. But recognition was never what we focused on most. What mattered was the feeling in the room — when it hummed, when people stayed longer than planned, and when it simply felt like a good place to be.

We built our team with care, often giving people their very first jobs. Hospitality is a great grounding — it teaches you how to turn up, work with all sorts of people, and keep going when things don’t quite go to plan. Watching confidence grow, skills develop, and pride take hold was one of the most rewarding parts of running the pub. It also taught us patience — plenty of it.

Being rooted in a rural community shaped everything we did. We got to know locals, regulars, and visitors, and the pub became a meeting place, a celebration space, and sometimes a place to remember others. And we enjoyed it — genuinely. New friendships formed, and on quieter evenings there was time to lean on the bar, share conversations, and feel part of the room rather than simply running it.

Creativity never really stopped, front of house or back of house. Menus evolved, spaces were tweaked, lighting adjusted, layouts rethought (more than once). We were always asking how it could be better — not bigger, just better. When it looked right, smelled right, and sounded right, with people deep in conversation and laughter drifting across the room, that was the reward.

Alongside hospitality, my career has always been people-focused. I’ve worked in recruitment, employability coaching, and hospitality roles — all centred around helping people find their feet, grow in confidence, and feel supported. Those experiences shaped how I led and how I worked with teams. People do their best when they feel valued — it’s something I’ve seen time and again.

At my core, I care about people and experience. I take pride in doing things properly and in understanding the impact hospitality can have — not just on guests, but on those who work within it. This guide isn’t about rules or formulas. It’s simply a reflection of what I’ve learned along the way — from the hard days to the very good ones.

Hospitality shows you the best and worst of people — sometimes in the same evening. But when you care about the space you create and the people in it, it becomes something special. My partner and I built an environment we would want to go to ourselves. It was tough, it was demanding — and we loved it.