Easy on people, tough on standards: A COO's leadership philosophy
- S1E14
- 41:14
- December 11th 2025
In this episode of What’s Cooking?, host Conor Sheridan talks with Amy Hom, Chief Operating Officer at Barcelona Wine Bar, about scaling leadership in hospitality. From humble beginnings to the C-suite, Amy shares powerful insights on developing frontline teams, creating real culture, and making operations more human. A must-listen for operators navigating complexity at scale.
What you'll learn in this episode
>> Why frontline development is a non-negotiable for restaurant success
>> How to balance empathy with high standards in leadership
>> Practical advice on implementing new tech in multi-site operations
>> The importance of stay interviews and succession planning
>> Why culture is built through action, not slogans
Meet our guest
Amy Hom is a veteran operator and board leader with over 20 years in hospitality. From sweetgreen to REEF and now Barcelona Wine Bar, Amy has held top roles and now channels her experience into mentoring future leaders through initiatives like LEAD and GLEAM Network.
About our host
Conor Sheridan is the founder and CEO of Nory, a pioneering AI platform helping hospitality brands run smarter, leaner, and more profitably. A former restaurateur himself, Conor blends operational grit with technological vision.
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What's Cooking? | A Podcast from Nory
What's Cooking? is the podcast for hospitality operators scaling smart. Hosted by Conor Sheridan – CEO and co-founder of Nory, and a former operator who built and ran multi-site restaurant brands himself – each episode goes behind the scenes of fast-growing restaurant groups to explore the operational challenges that actually matter - like disconnected systems, staffing chaos, and margin pressure.
Through honest conversations with industry leaders you’ll get practical insight into what’s working on the ground right now - from automation and AI to culture, data, and waste reduction. No fluff. No forecasts. Just the blueprint for better hospitality operations at scale.
New episodes every two weeks.