We were lucky to catch up with Sway Soturi recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sway, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

My first job was at Wendy’s at age 14. Since then I’ve worked most of the positions in the food industry – from dishwasher to bartender to cook. I’ve always been paid very little but never thought much of it because I was young and didn’t know much.

As I grow older I learned more and more about the practice behind the food and service industry – that most of the workers are overworked and underpaid. It’s a business model that’s extremely exploitive (and in some states they get paid basically nothing and that is slavery in the modern day). The issue is extremely complex and systemic.

To dismantle these unhealthy practices in the industry, Forest & Flour puts people as our focus. We offer paid interviews regardless of hiring results and we are working on paying living wage (MIT Living Wage Calculator) to our staff. Each team member in training gets paid $18 an hour and slides towards $20 an hour after training. And we also offer PTO. Admittedly, as a business this puts our labor cost at a higher percentage than “industry standards” but this is a worthy cost to create and reset a healthy industry practice.

Forest & Flour believes strongly in the beauty and potential when communities come together so we aim to create a workspace where everyone feels welcome. It is also our goal to help each of the staff to develop their unique gifts through culture-building and mentoring.

Here is a short essay I wrote to discuss our practice. https://forestandflour.com/we-dont-do-that-here

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As a parent of a child who was diagnosed with ADHD and as someone that has gone through a challenging childhood myself, I’m extremely passionate about nutrition and wellness. I have struggled with depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse, I know firsthand how food is truly medicine. Growing up I was never taught the importance of the role of food (and by extension, nature) plays in our life. So Forest & Flour is here to honor the bounty that earth has always offered us – nutritious food.

Forest & Flour makes delicious wholesome food that is safe for people with food allergies and sensitivities to enjoy. Each product we make is with health in mind – health for both humans and the planet. Lacking food diversity which means suboptimal health so we add different ingredients including herbs and spices into our everyday offerings with the intention of introducing new ingredients to our guests and adding nutritional value.

Because education is such a big piece to combat the advertising and lobbying of big cooperation who promote junk food, we use our cafe space for community workshops and partner up with local organizations like Garden To Table Silicon Valley.

Healing occurs when we can appreciate what mother earth has done for us through daily participation (of food) in nature, we are a step closer to coming home to ourselves. We see that each breath we take is full of meaning.

I believe that for-profit businesses can be a source for good. And Forest & Flour is committed to participate in good changes every step of the way.

It brings me tremendous joy when people tell us how our food changes their lives for the better. We wish to be a hub of connection and healing between food, land, and our community.

Any advice for managing a team?

Show up.

Show up as a leader that the team can trust. That means keeping an open mind and an open heart. Communicate with kindness (but firmly). Each person on the team will require different communication methods – learn who they are and how best they take in feedback and information and lead in the ways that best suit them.

I can’t emphasize the importance of open communication enough. Most times we (business owners) have everything in our heads and think that people should “just know”, but the reality is that’s just not true. To be able to create the result we want, leaders need to create good systems, and communication is a big part of that. Our team members will need reminders from time to time as well.

Don’t be afraid to tell your team when things are not going well for you. Of course, this has to be done with some thought and grace, do not just dump everything on them, but communicate that you are having a hard time and need support not only shows your team that you are human but also gathers support and resources because everyone has unique skills, maybe someone on the team will be happy to chip in and help lighten the weight.

PRAISE! Praise when they do well and celebrate each small success (publicly) so when you need to give constructive feedback it will be easier for them to process because you have already deposited “absorption cushions”.
Praise in public and criticize in private as much as possible.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Be clear on who and what we are. What are the non-negotiables?

Knowing this already set us apart from the rest in our industry.

Build relationships and practice reciprocity – with customers, vendors, suppliers, and basically everyone we come into contact with.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://forestandflour.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forestandflour/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forestandflour/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sway-soturi-bb00a792/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/forest-and-flour-fremont

Image Credits
Diane Rose Sway Soturi