#140

Josh sits down with Deirdre Auld, CEO and partner of Coda Restaurant Group in Boston, whose portfolio includes SRV, Baleia, Gufo, The Salty Pig, and the soon-to-open Celine. Deirdre traces her circuitous path into hospitality leadership, from an early love of architecture and a stint in private equity to years running restaurants and eventually stepping away to earn a master's degree and a leadership coaching certification from Northwestern. She and Josh dig into the coaching philosophy she's built her career around: assuming people are whole and complete, leading with curiosity instead of trying to fix, and helping leaders ask better questions rather than hand out answers. 

The conversation moves through Dierde's approach to running one-on-ones and leadership meetings at Coda, her mental models for hiring, firing and performance improvement plans, and where she sees restaurant technology and AI heading over the next several years. Deirdre is candid about both the promise and the risk of leaning on AI as a thought partner, why she still believes human connection is the ohardest thing to replace in hospitality, and what it took to build a leadership culture that can absorb constant change. It's a wide-ranging, thoughtful conversation about leadership, mentorship, and what it really takes to develop people well.

Links and resources 📌

Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com

Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez

Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en

Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/

Visit Coda Restaurant Group: https://www.codarestaurantgroup.com/

Follow Deirdre Auld on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deirdre-auld-b40666162

Follow Deirdre Auld on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deirdreauld/

Timestamps

01:19 From architecture and private equity into restaurant leadership

08:59 The story behind naming a restaurant Celine

15:11 Growing up in Raleigh and moving to Chicago for school

18:17 Finding her way back into restaurants after stepping away

20:54 Choosing to go back to school for a master's and a coaching certification

29:54 Building a coaching product for restaurant leaders

35:01 Where coaching ends and therapy begins

44:18 Using AI as a thought partner without losing critical thinking

50:07 Skill thinning, governance, and the hollowing out of middle management

59:43 One-on-ones, team structure, and weekly rhythms at Coda

1:06:30 Do performance improvement plans actually work

1:12:00 Closing thoughts and an invitation to visit Coda's restaurants