We were lucky to catch up with Chad Goldsmith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Chad, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you have any thoughts about how to create a more inclusive workplace?

The best advice I can give on creating a more inclusive workplace is to take the time to speak to staff about their thoughts and opinions on as many topics as possible. The food and beverage industry is unique in that it draws people from different backgrounds to an almost extreme extent. Very often teams can begin with little to no cultural common ground. Learning to understand and accommodate staff with different nationalities, languages, education levels, and socioeconomic backgrounds not only helps them feel more included but helps me learn new techniques that can become invaluable to the business.

As I was learning to navigate this industry a few stand out moments really shaped how I learned, not only to manage people in it, but to do the jobs well. My first higher level manager position in this industry involved a setting that required extremely fast paced learning with a team that had minimal time to teach. During my first week a busser, who spoke very little English, asked me if I needed help at a moment he realized I may have been confused- I said yes. He showed me all of the smaller scale details that management tends to not have time to train on and introduced me personally to the entire bussing staff. I owe a large amount of my success in this industry to being trained by the lowest level position in most restaurants.

Since then I have made a point to focus on the talents lower level positions have and how I can help them improve and move up the ladder. That practice has led to a higher level of diversity in positions who have a say, and are heard, to improve the workplace and ensure everyone feels not just included in the team, but know that the opportunities exist for them to thrive under my leadership.

Chad, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve had a passion for food for as long as I could remember. As a child I loved to cook, try new foods, and always said I wanted to open a bar. Despite being too young to understand what alcohol was I saw bars as giant chemistry sets, now that I’m in the business I still do. Some things just never change.

I have been working my way up in the food and beverage industry for over 10 years learning as much as I could along the way. I am so proud to have been able to open a Wine Bar near home featuring not just wine but craft spirits and really great variety of food to pair with it.

We focus as much of the wine and spirits list as possible into featuring small. batch producers with special attention to underrepresented winemakers (female, LGBT, minorities in the regions of production, etc) as well as products that donate part of their proceeds to charity. There is also a heightened focus organic, natural and vegan wines. The mission here is to provide these products and educate our community comfortably on them while staying in a Queens price point.

The most important thing that Tootles & French does is focus on our community. The staff is almost entirely comprised of local Astorians who love being part of the neighborhood. We have local partnerships with many other small businesses and organizations in the area. Being part of, and giving back to, the community the team here loves so much is the best feeling for all of us.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients for us has been word of mouth. We’re coming up on our first 6 months in business and have tried many marketing methods. Some have definitely been more viable than others but the main thing that works for us is treating our guests well and having them return with friends and relatives to spread the word.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I began building a social media audience for this business with teasers on Instagram over a year before we opened. Unfortunately, permit delays made it an approximately two year process to build and open Tootles & French. With that time I regularly took photos in my “backyard” of Astoria landmarks such as Astoria Park and murals in underpasses with wine and local “models” to promote the eventual opening. Since opening the team makes a point to take snapshots and catch moments to add to our social media. We post regularly and hope for organic growth in our following.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tootlesandfrench.com
• Instagram: @tootlesfrench
• Facebook: Tootles & French