Back of House

In this episode of the Back of House podcast, Luke Butler and Michael Rodrigues are joined by Shelly McElroy, Founder and CEO of Dream Culture, to explore the role workplace culture plays in building successful hospitality businesses.

With a career spanning hospitality operations, leadership development and workplace culture, Shelly shares her experience and practical insights into creating environments where people feel valued, supported and empowered to perform at their best.

The conversation explores the difference between culture by design and culture by default, the importance of psychological safety, managing generational differences in the workplace and supporting more women into hospitality leadership roles.

Shelly also discusses how businesses can embed their values into everyday behaviours, from recruitment and onboarding to team communication, leadership and performance management.

An insightful conversation about the connection between people, culture and business performance, and the practical steps hospitality leaders can take to build stronger, more engaged teams.

What makes people want to build a career with your hospitality business?

In the latest episode of the Back of House podcast, Luke Butler and Kate Hemat-Siraky sit down with David Flynn, co-founder of Friends of Friends, the group behind venues including Rick Shores, Southside, Marlowe, Central and Norte.

From 1 July, hospitality businesses are navigating a wave of significant workplace and regulatory changes.

In this episode of the Back of House Podcast, Luke Butler is joined by workplace relations expert Kate Hemat-Siraky to unpack what these changes mean for hospitality operators.

Together, they discuss Payday Super, award wage increases, merchant fee reforms, changes to sponsored employee salary thresholds, and the practical steps businesses can take to prepare, remain compliant and minimise risk.

Kate also shares the Award Finder tool from Worksauce, a practical resource to help employers understand their award obligations: https://awardfinder.worksauce.com.au/

If you have any questions after listening or would like advice specific to your business, you can contact Kate directly at [email protected].

Whether you own, operate or manage a hospitality business, this episode provides practical insights to help you understand what's changing and what actions to take next.

In the latest episode of Back of House, Luke Butler and Michael Rodgriues sit down with Daisy Tulley, Group CEO of Mucho Hospitality Group, to discuss her unconventional journey from musician to leading a portfolio of celebrated venues.

On the latest episode of Back of House, Luke Butler and co-host Ben Fitzgerald are joined by Rob Chislett, Partner at Wish You Were Here Group.

On the latest episode of Back of House, Luke Butler and Kathy Savill are joined by Jo Taylor, Managing Director of Compass Group Australia.

Jo shares her journey from growing up in a family coffee business to leading one of Australia’s largest hospitality and foodservice organisations.

We cover:

• what operational excellence really looks like at scale

• how hospitality is evolving across workplaces, events, education, healthcare and leisure

• the growing role of data, AI and customer insight in shaping better experiences

• why great hospitality is about much more than what is on the plate

Jo brings a thoughtful and practical perspective on leadership, people, growth and the future of hospitality in Australia.

How do you scale and still deliver quality, consistency, and a genuinely great guest experience?

In the latest episode of Back of House, Luke Butler and Michael Rodrigues sit down with Paul Waterson, CEO of Australian Venue Co, to unpack what scaling well looks like.

What does it take to take a global hospitality brand into India and make it work?

In the latest Back of House podcast, Luke Butler and co-host Kathy Savill are joined by Jasper Reid, a corporate director turned hospitality builder, who helped scale global hospitality concepts in India for the past 12 years.

#79 - The End of Lockout Laws, Part 2 by Luke Butler & Mike Rodrigues

In our latest Back of House episode (Part 1, because we had far too much to discuss to fit into one episode), we mark the final removal of the last remaining lockout law conditions, and unpack what it took to get here, and what it could unlock next for Sydney’s nighttime economy.

Hosts Luke Butler and Michael Rodrigues speak with:

• Paul Nicolaou - Executive Director, Business Sydney (former CEO, AHA NSW)

• Justine Baker - foundational in building unified industry advocacy

• Mick Gibb - CEO, Night Time Industries Association (joining us in Part 2)

Part two is coming later this week.