We recently connected with Emily Sakowski and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, thanks for joining us today. Along with taking care of clients, taking care of our team is one of the most important things we can do as leaders. Looking back on your journey, did you have a boss that was really great? Maybe you can tell us about that boss and what made them a wonderful person to work for?

I had an amazing boss a few years ago. I remember my first time meeting him was a coincidence at the airport. I sat down next to him, waited for him to finish his call and introduced myself. I knew after that first, brief, conversation that I was going to get along with him and build a great partnership. He was able to push me in the way that is not overbearing or gives you a lack of confidence in your abilities, but allows you to take the mis-steps and mistakes and learn from them. I can be very “in the box” in my thinking and he was the direct opposite and thought “out of the box”. But, with those two extremes we were able to balance our thought processes and still get to the same end goal. He trusted me to build my business, choose my team, execute on the strategies and overall become successful within myself rather than an extension of him. He inspired me to be better. He trusted me so much that many of our 1-on-1 calls, we ended up talking about life instead. I flourished under his leadership. He not only was a boss to me but a true mentor and someone I greatly looked up to.

A good example of this is when I had to make a change on my team. I had one person that needed to be moved. My boss and I both knew the outcome of the situation. He wanted me to move faster while I had to follow the correct process and procedures not only to give the person time to improve but follow the guidelines the company set for us. Every day, he would ask: “Emily, is it time?” This occurred for a couple months. One day, after I followed the steps and I knew improvement wasn’t going to happen, I called him and said today was the day. I made the change that was needed. He was happy with the end result, as was I. He allowed me to take the time that I needed to give, even though he would have made the decision much quicker. But, he didn’t fault me for making the decisions I made or the time it took. He never made me feel like I was doing a poor job. He encouraged me. We talked through my process and what I saw in the situation and how I was going to handle it. He supported me 100% through the process and beyond.

He was able to lead with passion and vigor that excited those around him and made you want to work for him. I never had a boss like him previously, and I doubt I will have a boss like him again. To me, he was a true stand out in leadership.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have a passion for food. This started when I was young, around 12. I learned to cook and was making multi-course meals for my family at home in no time. This passion bled into adulthood, where I found myself working in restaurants for most of my career which blended my passion and management.

After 20 years in management within a restaurant corporate setting, I decided to venture out on my own and start my own business. This was something that was often stirring in the back of my mind, and the timing was right in my personal life.

I found Acai and it stuck. What I love most about serving Acai and sorbets is coming up with the unique flavor combinations for bowls and smoothies. We took the traditional take on Acai and expanded with our in-house made fruit sorbets. This sets us apart from other concepts and it really lets me dive into my creative side. We’ve done four rotating flavors (with more always in the works) and have five standard in-house made flavors. When I start to think of a new flavor, I do a ton of research on the fruit itself, the health benefits, how it would fit in our menu and then the concept of great flavors together. The whole process can take over a month for a flavor, and that’s not including the making of the sorbet. Sometimes all the ideas sound great, and you get to making the sorbet, and it falls flat. Then it’s back to the drawing board. When I am able to chat with our guests, I love talking about our house made sorbets. I even bring up the failures! Not everything works out the way you want, and from that you have to get up, dust off and try again. I have high expectations of myself and I show that through the sorbets and food I sell. If it’s not up to my high standards, I won’t sell it.

I feel with Acai and sorbets the possibilities are endless. I started with a basic concept and am continuing to grow in offerings and flavors throughout the year. It has allowed the freedom I’ve wanted and has made it possible to form great connections with our guests. I feel more engaged with my guests and they appreciate the uniqueness in offerings we sell. For me, as a business owner, my passion shines through my food and what I serve.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

About 10 years ago, I worked in Bakery Operations for my previous company. When I was promoted to the role of Bakery Market Manager, I took on a market that was 12 locations, and 60-70% staffed. There were two shifts for baking: day and night. I had 1 baker trainer and 2 shift supervisors. I knew I had a tough hill to climb to improve the market situation and operations as a whole. This was my first multi-unit role, so I felt I really had to prove myself. I took everything head on, and tried to do much of the job by myself. The first six months were brutal. I had constant call outs, a team that wasn’t trained properly, environments that were dirty, and an overall neglected team and market. I had to build trust with my new team. I had to prove I could bake, and bake I did! I was working day and night to fill the gaps, build relationships with my direct reports and the cafe managers I supported. I had to hire, train (which was a 6-8 week process to complete), build sales, and beg my team to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I ended up as close to burnout that you can get. I knew I had to make some changes in my leadership and within my team to be able to not only to survive, but thrive.
Within the next six months I was 110% staffed, lowered my turnover to lower than expectations. I promoted nine bakers to trainers, lowered my overtime hours, increased production rates, improved working environments and improved product quality throughout the market. I did not do this alone, but rallied my team around me. I got my bakers to be on board with the direction and vision with accountability of performance. I made some changes on my management team and got them to be on board with the direction the market was headed. I was able to build the needed trust while building great relationships with my team.
I could have easily called it quits, and was ready to many many times. But, I stuck it out. I was not going to fail or let this job get the better of me. I was promoted to a regional role within a year and a half of taking the market role.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Be authentic, approachable, caring, yet set expectations, hold true to your word, and keep your standards. There’s a fine line between being a friend to your team and being authoritative. If you let the pendulum swing too far one way or the other, you won’t have high morale on your team. Being too much of a friend and they won’t respect you and you won’t get the work out of your team and that will equate to low morale. Being only authoritative and you dehumanize them. You have a team that is constantly in fear, you won’t get the work out of them and that equates to low morale.

I am very real with my teams. I am open and honest with them. I care about them as people, not just numbers on a page or cogs in the machine. However, they also know that they have a job to do. They know my expectations and the company expectations, and they know where they stand. We would work together to make them successful. My success relies on their success, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make my team successful. When you build up your team, it builds their confidence in their abilities and it builds up their own teams. This all equates to High Morale.     

Contact Info:

• Website: www.blissacai.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bliss_acai/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blissacaibowls

Image Credits
Eric Sakowski