Dane Wilfong’s Hospitality Journey: From Dishwashing at 13 to Leading The Ned’s Exclusive DC Club

Anthony Codispoti (00:00)
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast, where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. My name is Anthony Cotaspodi and today’s guest is Dane Wilfong, Director of Food and Beverage at The Ned and Ned’s Club in Washington, DC. The Ned is a private members club and hotel that started in London in 2017.

and now brings its blend of restaurants, bars, and rooftop views to our nation’s capital. They create spaces where like-minded people can meet, work, and enjoy life inside a beautifully restored landmark. Their brand has been praised by Forbes and Rob Report for turning historic buildings into lively social hubs and for opening its newest club in D.C. earlier this year. Dane guides every taste and sip inside the club.

He brings more than 18 years of experience across luxury hotels, fine dining, and large-scale hospitality operations. His background includes extensive work with Relay. Am I saying that right? Relay-style properties. Okay, you’re have to explain what that means to us here. And boutique luxury hotels, contributing to Maryland’s first Michelin recognition with two Michelin keys awarded to the Ivy Hotel in Baltimore. He has also partnered closely with ownership

Dane Wilfong (01:06)
Yeah, it’s really interesting.

Anthony Codispoti (01:23)
teams to support the build, design, and operational evolution of high-end hotels across multiple US markets. Earlier in his career, Dane became an executive chef at, get this, just the age of 22, leading a fine dining Italian restaurant. He also holds a sommelier pin from the court of master sommeliers. Now, before we get into all that good stuff, today’s episode is brought to you by my company, Adback Benefits Agency.

where we offer very specific and unique employee benefits that are both great for your team and fiscally optimized for your bottom line. Imagine being able to give your hospitality employees free access to doctors, therapists, and prescription medications. And here’s the fun part. The program actually puts more money into your employees’ pockets and the company’s too. One recent client was able to increase net profits by $900 per employee per year.

Results vary for each company and some organizations may not be eligible. To find out if your company qualifies, contact us today at addbackbenefits.com. All right, back to our guest today, the Food and Beverage Director of NEDS Club, Washington, D.C., Dane Wilfong. Thanks for making the time to share your story today.

Dane Wilfong (02:36)
Thanks for having me, Anthony. I greatly appreciate it.

Anthony Codispoti (02:38)
All right, so back to where I sort of slipped up there in the intro, what is relay style properties? What does that mean?

Dane Wilfong (02:45)
So Relay in Chateau is kind of like a badge of honor. It’s a…

A grouping of hotels, if you would, or a badge that’s put on hotels or that hotels can apply for. It’s kind of like how Michelin rates something when they get that type of recognition. It means it’s a certain level. Relais & Chateaux does the same to boutique hotels and some standalone restaurants. It’s a really massive badge of honor. You have to be boutique, so you have to be small. You have to have some kind of architectural or historical significance.

and you have to meet some really, really high standards as far as all of the above goes. It’s really a lifestyle brand, but each one is independently owned. And so they have a massive push for environmental. They have a massive push for culinary. They have very, very strict standards. So anything that you see a Relay and Chateau badge on or the RNC emblem means that it’s one of the highest rated things that you can enjoy.

Anthony Codispoti (03:44)
Wow, okay, lots of boxes to check there to be able to qualify for that prestige. So yeah, let’s start kind of at the beginning for you, what first drew you into the hospitality space?

Dane Wilfong (03:49)
It’s truly an honor.

Oh, I did not grow up with a lot of money or access to these items. And so I was kind of taken aback starting very, very early, earlier than one should be working in the industry. And I was introduced to so many things that kind of blew my mind because it was a whole different world than anything that I’d ever realized existed. And so it was an instant passport that I realized the only way that I was going to get

to see or understand any of it was to continue in the industry. Every day was a little bit of a treat. And so being that starry-eyed little kid, which I still think I am in certain ways, right? This industry was able to take me to a lot of different places that I would never have considered.

Anthony Codispoti (04:44)
You said, how did you put it? You started at an age, probably younger than you should have, something along those lines. What does that mean? How old were you?

Dane Wilfong (04:53)
⁓ so I was around 13 years old when I started, ⁓ washing dishes and then quickly due to the chaos that is that kitchen that I started. ⁓ I ended up as a fry cook very quickly, ⁓ due to demand. I was promised I was not going to be allowed to hold a knife until I was 15, but it happened shortly after being a dishwasher at 13. needs were needs. The industry is always short on, on help and ambition and I was not short on ambition. So.

⁓ I ended up having my hands in just about everything in that place.

Anthony Codispoti (05:26)
Needs were needs. And so I think in that particular context, you were talking about the needs within that restaurant, but I’m gonna guess there were personal needs on your side that drove you to be working at such a young age.

Dane Wilfong (05:39)
I was an ambitious child who always wanted absolutely everything. And I remember getting into an argument with my father about the latest game system or a new pair of socks or who knows what. And he told me, fine, go get a job. And I marched my little butt down the street and I did just that. The only way they let me get a job there though was by roping my older brother who was old enough to work, by roping him into working as well. And so that be begrudgingly started his career as well.

Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (06:10)
Okay.

Okay. And so the fact that you got started so young helps in some part to explain how you became an executive chef at the ripe old age of 22. But obviously, still big leaps to be made from, you know, using a knife at the age of 13 to becoming an executive chef. How did you bridge that so quickly?

Dane Wilfong (06:29)
⁓

Yeah, I went to high school and college at the same time. And so I was in culinary school and high school for the majority of high school.

And on top of that, it was just continued refinement through great mentors, great chefs, ⁓ and some really hard work with a lot of fantastic individuals who saw a lot of pride in me. I always wanted to know the things I didn’t know. And I was willing to stay late, work harder, assume more than one role in order to be able to gain that knowledge. I was always thirsty for responsibility and a little bit more. And ⁓ I still am very much that way. I can get passionate about absolutely anything.

And so that led me to turning over a lot ⁓ of leaves and opening doors that typically wouldn’t have been open for individuals my age.

Anthony Codispoti (07:21)
So I want to briefly touch on ⁓ some of the other accolades ⁓ that you’ve achieved. You hold a sommelier pin from the court of Master sommeliers. Explain what that means and what it took to achieve.

Dane Wilfong (07:37)
So CMS is just a certification or a rating system as well as education. Most certifications are just the verification of education. But it’s just kind of stating you understand the art, the nuance, the process of tasting, of presenting, of showing wines and everything that they have to offer.

And so there’s multiple levels and I still plan on going back to continue more, but obviously right now that’s not at the forefront of my focus. And so this is one of many random certifications that I have acquired to kind of verify my existence within this space.

⁓ And I believed as I was young that I needed to do as much as I possibly could in every arena in order to verify what I knew, because at every age, anyone had always been, how on earth did you accomplish this? Or how on earth did you do this at this age? And it’s like, well, genuinely, just working a ton from a young age and via osmosis and being in every position.

but also never saying no and making sure that every time that I saw something that was outside of my understanding, I wanted to know as much as I could about it to make sure that I was as well-rounded and no one could challenge me on something that I wasn’t at least remotely prepared for. so wine was definitely a big one coming from a chef doing a lot of wine dinners, which was seen as majorly prestigious when I was young. I really wanted to make sure I could fill in that flavor and that experience for other individuals.

And to this day, I believe every great moment in someone’s life can probably be attributed to at least a point around a table with great food, great wine, and even better company. And so that is definitely a mantra that I live by is recreating those moments for someone and understanding the vulnerability of

Anthony Codispoti (09:25)
Mm-hmm.

Dane Wilfong (09:32)
⁓ expression in those moments. And so the execution has to be flawless and almost subconsciously perfect in order for people to feel open and willing and accepting. And that’s where you get those belly laughs. And that’s where you get those people going back for seconds and thirds or eager for the next course.

Anthony Codispoti (09:52)
So as you went into that certification process, let me see, I’m gonna put words out there, you tell me if they’re right or wrong. You already knew quite a bit about wine. You already knew quite a bit about pairings and tastings and the presentation. Obviously you learned more going through that process, but it sounds like a big part of it was just wanting to validate for other people that I’m Dane Wilfong and I have this experience and

You know that because I have this certification.

Dane Wilfong (10:25)
Yeah, and

Anthony Codispoti (10:26)
Was that part of it at least?

Dane Wilfong (10:28)
Absolutely. I think everyone should get the basic levels of the offerings that are out there for a lot of different certifications just to make sure that they have the baseline level of items. But I also think, I don’t think certifications are necessary in a lot of this industry. I think just knowing your stuff is really, really important. Most individuals in this industry who are immersed can accomplish those goals with very little studying or work thereafter, just because you have to know these things to be great at this job.

And so it’s an already understood level or layer in being able to sell wine, be around wine, understand wine, pick wine. And obviously I’m the type of individual who takes my vacations to learn more about objects and immerse myself a little bit more in the culture.

And so on weekends when I go out to vineyards, I want to see the rooms. I want to see the barrel rooms. I want to see a harvest. I want to see how things work because learning on paper isn’t enough. I want to feel it. I want to understand it. I want to hear from the winemakers what their struggles are. And then I learn more about things that I shouldn’t even remotely have strange knowledge in, which is absolutely fantastic. These are little bits of life that get me excited.

Anthony Codispoti (11:43)
All right, give me an example of one of those things that you shouldn’t or wouldn’t need to really know that you do just because you have such a passion for it.

Dane Wilfong (11:51)
just understanding like the Coopridge, right? The way that the barrels are made or how few people actually make the barrels in the United States or like the rare places the woods have to come from or the extensive processes. ⁓ It’s a art that you believe in this world of fastening, making everything faster.

you believe doesn’t exist anymore, but it’s still a very romantic, very, very ⁓ limited view into a world that’s still like blacksmith style of the underbelly of an industry. It’s quite unique and fascinating. I have far more respect for cuprages and individuals making these barrels and putting them together than I ever would have if I didn’t start digging.

Anthony Codispoti (12:38)
And Cooper, what does this term mean? It’s the art or the science of making the barrels?

Dane Wilfong (12:43)
Correct, of putting the barrels together, it’s an extensive process.

And then whether individuals are using new or the type of wood or the size of the barrel, there’s a lot of different houses with specialties and the kilns that are used, their styles, all of it is basically heirloom. Like it’s passed down from somebody who’s been doing something a really long time, generally from Europe or which their families have been doing for a really long time, which their families have been doing for a really long time. I don’t think anyone in recent history has gone, this is what I want to do.

with my life and just created a brand new technique or way to do this. And even if they did, it probably would not be anywhere near as great. The romance makes half of it, right?

Anthony Codispoti (13:29)
Yeah, I love that. So you also contributed to the first Michelin recognition in the entire state of Maryland. Is this right? Yeah. So not one, but two Michelin keys for the Ivy Hotel in Baltimore. What were some of the key initiatives that led to that recognition?

Dane Wilfong (13:45)
Absolutely.

So, Michelin had never come to Maryland previous. Maryland has no stars, ⁓ especially Baltimore, ⁓ and it had no keys. And so the key program was introduced only recently. we, as a relay in Chateau, most relay in Chateau properties are synonymous. Most of them got keys. Most of them have keys and some of the higher recognitions amongst the United States anyway. And so ⁓ it was already an accolade that

no one thought was necessary, but it was really, really unique and very special to continue. The Ivy Hotel was a labor of love. It was a beautiful historic ⁓ cornerstone mansion in Mount Vernon, which is a beautiful historic part of Baltimore. You can’t recreate anything like what that area is in the world, which is why I was drawn to it. I came back to Baltimore during COVID and ⁓ they kept my heart so I was unable to leave.

and that project was absolutely phenomenal. So the refinement, the work, the beauty, ultra luxury, it’s only an 18 room hotel and it’s

It’s truly a work of art in every way, shape or form. And every employee who works there has to love what they do. You know everyone by name, you’re anticipating their next steps. You’re making sure that when they’re in Baltimore, whether they’re leaving the neighborhood or whether they’re doing anything or whether they want you to plan their entire time for them, you have surrounded them with love, care and attention. And to us,

the we were going to reach and ask for special permission from Michon as like the unit Little Washington had asked for special permission to rate them outside of DC. We were going to ask for special permission to have eyes or view the Ivy Hotel. And before we were even able to do that, we were going through extreme trainings. We were going through a lot of work cleaning stuff up. And I woke up one morning and saw that they had announced ⁓ keys in Maryland.

And not even thinking twice about it, I put the phone back down and then I got a million calls from the PR team. My team kept calling and calling and calling and it was a very spectacular thing to have without having to do anything. They just came, which is.

Anthony Codispoti (15:58)
So you hadn’t

taken that step of requesting that they come and check you guys out.

Dane Wilfong (16:02)
we had not the beat us to it. And so there was another property that was rated one key in Maryland, and it was the Pendry Hotel as well. And so two Baltimore staples as far as the industry goes. And it’s tough because luxury in Baltimore is difficult. As we all know, it’s seen its ups and downs. And tourism has definitely waned. so what

Capturing something like that, an environment like that is very difficult to do. You have to be special and you have to be unique. And so it’s very, very grateful for all of the work that they have done and that we have done as a team to be recognized.

Anthony Codispoti (16:41)
Well, that’s outstanding. OK, so how did the opportunity at NEDS come

Dane Wilfong (16:46)
just a phone call from an individual that had already, I was already on their radar for another project. And so I remember just getting a phone call, being pushed through very, very quickly. I was not part of the opening team in the way of pre-opening. Definitely part of the opening team, as in I started the week we opened. But…

And so definitely some growing pains there and a lot ⁓ of shifts and a lot of work. There’s still a lot of work and a lot of refinement and a lot of fantastic things to come as we come into ourselves, especially in the new year. ⁓ This has been a really, really fun project and I’m very excited to be a part of the team. It’s a globally recognized team. We have New York, Doha.

DC and obviously London, is the one, the incubator. And each of them from what I understand is completely different from the rest of them. And this is such a unique and lovely property. is nothing like this that I’ve ever seen or been a part of. So I’m very grateful for the opportunity.

Anthony Codispoti (17:57)
What

really sets it apart?

Dane Wilfong (17:59)
⁓ It’s first of the view, you can’t beat it. No one really has this style of square footage this close. We’re right over the White House and we have a beautiful view of the monument and the horizon, the airport and the water, everything you could want in DC, you can see from our terrace and pretty much all of our forward facing windows. ⁓ we have an events floor that’s open to the public.

Well, obviously, if you book an event. And then we have ⁓ members driven floors that ⁓ it’s just on 10 and 12. So there’s two floors for just membership. And it’s a lot of unique spaces. There’s live entertainment every day. There’s a library bar with a beautiful collection of spirits from around the world and a lot of rare things you can’t get. So it’s great for hosting. Right now it’s

has the largest Christmas tree that I have ever seen in the center of it. We have the drawing room, which is great. We do tea service. We have, like I said, live music every day. And then we have a gallery, which is an all-day American Italian concept. And Founders, which is an all-American steakhouse, which is for founding members. It’s…

exclusive to individuals who are that level of membership can be in that room. And so who we see in that room, who we fraternize with every day, who we host is truly a wonderful collection of minds from around the world of diversities, where bipartisan opportunity as well, all of our members are from anywhere and anything. And then Kaya, our rooftop, which is our Pan-Asian concept, which has a terrace that’s wrapped around the building, is truly, truly a unique spot for just

relaxing, having yourself some sushi and some Pan Asian, as well as really enjoying a list of spirits curated and cocktails curated for the same.

Anthony Codispoti (19:53)
So

for people who aren’t familiar with sort of this membership concept as it relates to a club or a restaurant, kind of akin to like a country club, but without the golf courses and tennis courts.

Dane Wilfong (20:05)
Yeah, that association is made all the time. And I do believe it’s true in certain ways, because we definitely tried to emulate that sense of community and knowing that when you’re here, everyone you’re surrounded with is someone worth talking to, whether it’s sharing opinions differ or alike.

or meeting new friends or even just hosting who you currently have. The spaces lend themselves well and each space is obviously unique as to how you want to use it. Obviously if you’re in the library bar, you’re gonna run into a lot of different people in an open kind of shared and communal space.

⁓ But if you’re looking to just capture a table and listen to the music, perfectly fine as well. And then you can have your intimate dining experiences. Or if you book a private event, whether obviously we’re in the middle of holiday season, so we’re seeing a million people host their parties and they love to bring people through from their groups and ⁓ their parties and their, just their coworkers, showing them off to a space that is an extension of their home, which I think that is truly what’s captured in a membership space.

is we know who you are. We know everything about you. We know your preferences. We know how you like to be greeted. We know where you’re going on vacation. You’ve told us these things and whether it’s the server you told, it’s definitely going to be a different server ⁓ who greeted you, welcomed you back, and asked you how your trip was. It’s a very tight-knit community, regardless of however many members we have at that time. And it’s truly a wonderful place to be seen.

Anthony Codispoti (21:40)
You use the word bipartisan in your description and being that it’s in Washington DC, safe to say that this is a place where a lot of influential politicians will sometimes come to have their meetings, spend their meals, share a drink.

Dane Wilfong (21:59)
Yeah, there’s obviously, and I will name no names, ⁓ but you can certainly find articles around of all different varieties of opinion. But you can see just about everyone in this club and everyone shares the space respectfully. There are no fights. There are no…

There’s no bickering. There’s no difference of opinions are met intelligently and well here in every space. And I wouldn’t say it leans one way or the other. Obviously we have members skewing that you’ll see from the current administration and things of that sort because they are obviously across the street. But we do a very good job at sourcing and making sure that we are only keeping the member ratios to decent levels.

never the determining factor of why you’re here, but there’s just as many artists and there’s actually a very, very large grouping of young individuals as well, which is something that membership clubs in DC ⁓ struggle with a good bit. And it’s, we’re very grateful to have the mix that we do. It’s, I’m very proud to walk around these halls.

Anthony Codispoti (23:09)
That’s awesome. I love to hear that. ⁓ Need more civility. ⁓ You mentioned that there’s some spaces that are only available to founding members. Is the term founding member what it sounds like? Like you got in sort of at the early stages or is that just sort of like another level of membership?

Dane Wilfong (23:28)
It’s another level. have the regular membership. And then there’s a few levels outside of that. And obviously for Politico and for other things of that like, but there’s the founding membership is the highest tier membership, which ⁓ I don’t want to misspeak on exactly what it gives you. But it does allow membership to Soho as well. And it’s for ⁓ anyone in that title. Obviously it’s a limited seating. And so ⁓ there’s a wait list for both options.

And so I only expect that to continue to grow. And there’s a lot of exciting buds.

Anthony Codispoti (24:05)
Is it the kind of thing where NEDS would look to or is looking to expand to other locales or is part of its charm that there’s only so many places that you can find it?

Dane Wilfong (24:18)
So I refuse to misspeak and there I am not allowed to say anything further than but there are certainly articles that lead to ⁓

the thought of expansion. And it is mirrored in some of those conversations with our head of brand that there are others in the future as well. And so stay tuned as soon as we announce anything, the media picks it up immediately.

Anthony Codispoti (24:49)
OK, I love the mystery.

We’re hanging on the future words from you guys. ⁓ Let’s see, I know that throughout your career, ⁓ you’ve put a big emphasis on sourcing locally. What in your current work maybe makes that challenging to drive those locally sourced menus?

Dane Wilfong (25:16)
This is ⁓ a massive issue that ⁓ I’ve kind of been shouting at the walls for a while now, especially since it was an issue before COVID, but it’s definitely an issue after. We have seen the largest opportunity for corporations and individuals with the financial power to kind of make the competitive space non-competitive to small companies and small people. I have seen so many

small places give in or give up or be absorbed by larger company, that it’s, we’re in danger of losing a lot of our local representation. There’s far less than there ever has been of farms that are able to sell on the public market or even willing to or capable of. The cost of goods has gone up so greatly that every company tries not to give that cost to the consumer.

But in order to do so, they end up having to go with larger groupings that have the availability to bend their margins a little to make sure that they can still keep the business while local can’t do that. So the first thing that goes is people, if you can no longer afford to keep your doors open, you’re definitely not gonna pay five extra dollars for that vegetable from the market, right? And so that’s a massive threat at the moment.

I mean, like when we saw Walmart come through and we thought they would never take out that small bait and tackle shop, that small clothing store, that small this, that, well, we blinked and they’re all gone and there’s nothing you can do about it. They’re never coming back. Those streets, especially in places like Baltimore remain empty. You’re looking at the same thing as far as food and beverage goes. Independence are almost gone and there’s hardly anything we can do to get them back once they are. I’m very worried.

Anthony Codispoti (27:00)
That was gonna be my question. What’s to be

done about all this?

Dane Wilfong (27:03)
I’m very worried about that. I can tell you to shop local till I’m blue in the face, but that’s obviously not going to help you if you’re struggling or you just simply can’t add that extra couple hundred bucks a month, which I completely understand. I’m not going to guilt anybody into going to the local farmer’s market and it is difficult. It’s much harder than ordering on Amazon. ⁓ I’m very hopeful that…

we’re in a space where we have a little bit more time and we are a little bit more conscious to where you have the moment, when you have the moment, you do spend the moment and you do take the time to spend it at these places. Hopefully restaurants are still doing everything that they can in order to be able to uphold certain contracts, to be able to fulfill those orders to those individuals.

Obviously we’re in a very seasonal market, so unless you want tubers, that’s really all you could get from the farmers market at the moment if they’re open. But as soon as spring is back, get on out there, find something new. There’s a lot of great heirloom projects. And even in Baltimore, there’s a lot of really cool…

places that are gaining identity and taking over abandoned lots and growing for their communities. There’s a lot of really cool initiatives happening in artsy areas and that have a lot of passion and a lot of creativity that it is finding ways to stay alive. I think everyone just needs to be a little bit more conscious of where exactly we’re spending those dollars because you might be able to survive now, but it’s only ever going to become more difficult.

Anthony Codispoti (28:39)
When you say you’ll be able to survive now, are you talking about in terms of like true survival? Like, you know, I found the food that I need to eat to stay alive. Like, is it that sort of like… ⁓

Dane Wilfong (28:49)
no.

The corporate options will always be there for you. the trickery there is when you walk into a grocery store, most people, if you’ve only ever shopped at a big box, you understand that there are three bell peppers. This is one of my favorite examples, which may just be different levels of the same pepper.

once you go to a farmer’s market and you talk to some of these individuals and you understand there’s actually thousands with different and varying flavor and taste profiles, we’re letting the world become small after we started to learn that there was a bit more in it and people were very excited about the expansion and all of that at our fingertips has allowed us to open our minds a little bit more and we’re kind of allowing our wallets to determine

⁓ the shrinking again for the ease of access. And that’s probably going to continue, but hopefully the individuals, and by survival I mean the passion of the smaller establishments, the row home kitchens that are just doing what they’re doing because they really want to present a great product to you. think places like small cities like Baltimore or even there’s a lot of them up and down the East Coast.

that are trying to feed you just because they love what they do, it’s becoming very, very difficult for them to keep their doors open due to the cost of goods, the cost of electricity, and just how little people are going out these days for one reason or the other. The survival of those establishments depends solely on you getting out there, and I understand not everyone can.

Anthony Codispoti (30:29)
Yeah, I know a lot of your work over the years has been about, you know, emphasizing efficiency and profitability, right? You got to keep the doors open. I’m wondering if you can walk us through an example of a process that you introduced that improved operations without having to sacrifice the guest experience on the back end.

Dane Wilfong (30:51)
Yeah, everything is about percentages. So at the end of the day, you have a profit margin that you protect that tries.

to keep your doors open even in moments that aren’t as kind to you. And so if you’re doing something in one region, you’re just taking it away from another. So you’re balancing percentages. And so whether it’s shared labor from multiple facilities that are allowing you to still do a great job because you’ve lessened that margin for yourself, or whether it’s if you still remain, if you need to do…

or you want to continue to do local, you may have to contract with those individuals, right? You may be like, okay, great, I’m gonna guarantee this much sales from you, but I need to guarantee this pricing from you, right? And so there’s a lot of a give and take and like what’s at the market is usually negotiable, especially if you have your buying power understood. And so there’s…

there’s a lot of initiatives of, I can guarantee you this many sales based on the volume and what we do. And if we don’t use those items, we can obviously preserve them and find other ways to use them throughout the year. And so massive preservation programs everywhere that I’ve been have generally kept us ⁓ in good standing with those options or items. But as far as any single fire, unique, one size fits all solution to moving the loom is.

Anthony Codispoti (32:14)
We want that low hanging fruit

that any restaurant can put in.

Dane Wilfong (32:17)
⁓ yeah, no, it’s, that’s a difficult one. Well, the biggest one is the key to success is having happy staff. And like, it’s such an overrated thing because everyone assumes there’s a line out the door for line level or entry level positions. A, that’s not necessarily true. And B, treating your staff well is going to cut your cost of turnover down tremendously. Which cuts your HR down tremendously, which cuts

Anthony Codispoti (32:18)
or any hotel, no, doesn’t exist.

Dane Wilfong (32:45)
trying to find these individuals down tremendously. Training time, like training is money. Mistakes is money, which is the biggest one people don’t understand. Everyone makes so many mistakes within their first so many months that cost the business a lot of money. And you can say, they’re new, great, but they didn’t have to be.

Putting a little bit more money and indexing earlier in taking care of your individuals is going to lead to better and happier customer understanding and better retention as far as customers go. overall, it does come down to if you’re not an employee first company, you’re probably going to have challenges and have to make cuts somewhere along the line. And I think that’s probably the biggest one that’s overlooked.

Anthony Codispoti (33:28)
So what is the labor market there in DC here at the end of 2025?

Dane Wilfong (33:33)
I was surprised and where do you need positioning? And so we’re in luxury, but we’re not in public facing luxury, which presents us a couple of issues. We obviously can’t get Michelin recognition, we can’t get 50 best, we can’t get certain public recognitions that most people can because of the gatecapped membership. And so a lot of employees that work here, that are left here in this industry are driven by passion and accolades and what they can achieve in the visibility of where they work.

And so a lot of individuals can’t necessarily, like they don’t have visibility of what this is and their perception of membership clubs are some of the older ones that they don’t necessarily take pride in working in. And because there’s not much creativity in them or this or that. So we don’t have a huge pool of employment ⁓ ready and willing and waiting. We have built more of a base now due to the amount of ⁓

prestige through media and things of that sort that people have seen out there. Some public events in which we’ve hosted that allow people through, they can see what we are and what we stand for and the level in which we operate or are continuing to establish. And so we’re gaining more of a base, but it was a struggle. It’s still a struggle. And the holidays, everyone’s heads down, nobody’s leaving their job in the holidays. So January will be another run, but we’re gonna have to over-index again.

on training, on making sure that everyone is up to speed and understanding there will still be loss of nutrition. Everyone who works here in DC, especially in the financial district, no one really lives right here because of the expense. And they also have more than one job. And so it’s very difficult to try to pertain extremely dedicated individuals.

because they’re leaving here to go to another job. So we can’t say, hey, we really need you to work a double today because this person’s out. The answer is usually no, I’m so sorry, I have another job to get to. Or if they’re beat, they’re tired, they worked their other job or other other job, there’s a lot of call outs. There’s a lot of individuals with less passion to be here or existing because of how many jobs they have to have to survive in DC.

Anthony Codispoti (35:43)
Wow. what are some of the, know, kind of understanding that employment landscape that you guys are in, what are some of the things that you guys are able to do to make that employment experience enjoyable?

Dane Wilfong (35:57)
So we have great benefits. ⁓ We are above market in just about every way in that facet, even pay. And we have continued training. There’s high visibility to leadership. We do have the availability. If someone’s been here for long enough, we’re happy to send a good word and to send you off to another one of our locations that looking for a similar position. Or if you can’t find growth here, we can set you up on a path to do so.

Every single one of our leaders is from all over the place and they’re all from fantastic establishments. And so there’s a lot of different opportunities, a lot of different personality and a lot of different leadership styles to learn under, to grow under, to kind of establish your footing here. ⁓ There’s not really many multi-units available in DC to work in. So to work in a place where you can kind of climb the ladder in a multi-unit is, it’s a unique market to break into.

So this, I would consider this an entry level in that way that you kind of in a happy thing that a lot of people aren’t necessarily looking at it for. And we also have a lot of soft management positions for people to grow into. have supervisor roles, have leads in just about every position.

And there’s, we’re growing our positioning in each of our establishments as our identities become more solidified and we gain ground in understanding of what we are. We’re adding more and more layers to make each establishment better. And so the wine programs are improving, the cocktail programs are improving, our offerings are improving, culinary is improving. And so to be a part of this and to ride the wave from employment is a truly a really awesome thing to be a part of.

Anthony Codispoti (37:36)
I think what I’m hearing you say is something that I’ve heard a lot of other folks in the hospitality space talk about, which is what a great industry to be in, in so much that you don’t necessarily have to have come from a traditional high education background, right? You don’t need a college education. You can start out in your cases, a 13 year old washing dishes and, you know, using a knife and work your way up. And if you’re

If you’re willing to put in that hard work and the long hours, there are opportunities that exist for you.

Dane Wilfong (38:12)
What I love most about this business is that it’s for literally everyone. There are so many facets and I know I’ve been through all of them, whether it catering, whether it luxury, whether it casual, whether it hotel, whether it resort, there are so many options for everyone that provides the work life that you’re looking for, provides the love of education, passion and reward that you’re looking for.

but you don’t have to start knowing anything about your future or where you want to go. This industry will welcome you, shape you, be excited about your wins and find places for you to go where you are rewarded for being what you are and what you’re great at. ⁓ It’s one of the only ones in the world that I have seen that will accept just about anyone of any experience level. And no matter how hard you’re willing to work, you will be rewarded for that.

or you can find somewhere that is better suited for exactly what you’re looking for. it does, this industry doesn’t see color, it doesn’t see background, it doesn’t see where you’re from, your social status, it sees none of that. All it sees is how hard you’re willing to work, that you’re willing to show up every day and that you’re hungry to be the best at whatever it is that you might be doing, whether it’s your job or an absorbed position. It’s true.

Anthony Codispoti (39:34)
What do mean by that

or an absorbed position?

Dane Wilfong (39:36)
Well, because if you, lot of smaller establishments can’t break out positions the way that a larger company would. And so if you’re an early manager, you’re also now the financial department. You’re also now the HR. You’re also now a lot of hats that you’re responsible for, that you’re learning things that you would have had no business learning in a larger corporation. They keep it in silos.

And so you learn so much about the industry in early management positions that if you chose to expand upon those and to be great at those and to take a burden off of someone above you, they’re happy to give it to you and they’re happy to let you learn and they’re happy to let you assist them. I mean, obviously the higher you get up or in different parts of the industry, they’ll go back to their silos and they want to protect their payroll. They want to protect the things that obviously could end up in lawsuit or items of that sort. But if you’re working in a mom and pop or if

working in a smaller standalone location, the opportunities of what you have access to learn are wild.

And it’s a large misunderstood thing to people. And if you want to just put your head down and be a great server, you can absolutely do that and make a career out of that as well. know servers that make six figures easy in this industry, but they, again, they have to decide that that’s profession for them. And so they’ve studied it. They’ve become, they’ve gotten some search. They’ve gotten a little bit of culinary background or education to understand exactly what it is that they’re selling, that they’re offering, how to create an experience for you and to make

sure that they’re anticipatory in every single way possible. You can’t just wander into this and do bare minimum and be fine. Some people do, and it’s weird when they do, but that’s not a long-term strategy. You have to be great. And by great, I just mean you have to show up and you have to want to be here. And the excitement to learn that I have that, again, I said earlier, I can get passionate about just about everything. The people that want to take care of people,

Anthony Codispoti (41:30)
I can tell.

Dane Wilfong (41:32)
accidentally or subconsciously find themselves doing that anyway. And I absolutely love that.

Anthony Codispoti (41:39)
What’s a trend or a shift that you see in the dining and hospitality space that you’re excited about?

Dane Wilfong (41:46)
I think there is a return to focusing on employee first, as I had stated earlier. I think as we went to the celebrity chef, as we went to glamorizing with a lot of TV show or reality show or things of that sort, individuals had a false sense of a line out the door for employment. And so it became more about how much money can you make? How quickly can you make it? How much can you expand your business?

and the focus became on a few select celebrity in an establishment. But I think it’s moving back towards the server is just as important. That server who’s been there for five years is even more important. That staffing level at every level, do you want them around? Do you want to know their name? Do want to know their families? I think besides bigger TV shows that just came out, they’ve glorified maybe in bad ways parts of the industry.

Yeah, the industry is not like that by and large. I feel like it is healing. I feel like conversations have been started and are having about the toxic culture and nature and cycles.

And I think we’re trying to protect the 40-day work week for individuals. You’re starting to see a lot more competitive benefits. I think you’re starting to see a lot more included things like therapy and pet insurance and wellness plans and making sure that people are treated as people or along the same lines as other industries are treating their individuals.

This is becoming more of a home for more individuals. My previous statement for this industry doesn’t necessarily love you back. I feel like it’s starting to be able to. Yeah, I’m starting to see wounds heal and I’m starting to see us get away from bad pattern, which is allowing each place that you go.

Anthony Codispoti (43:24)
Starting to love you back, giving you little bit of a hug.

Dane Wilfong (43:35)
to breathe new life and gain new identity by trusting in its people as opposed to treating them as turnover, which I think is a great movement that I hope continues momentum.

Anthony Codispoti (43:47)
What do you think has opened the door to that healing?

Dane Wilfong (43:50)
I think the fact that it forgot about those individuals ⁓ and that they weren’t there for them when COVID ended ⁓ made forced the industry to become competitive ⁓ and find new and exciting ways to either understand if they didn’t want to reinvest in their employees, what is it that their focus is, right? And I think everyone had to take a deep hard look

at what you really want your business model to be. And some people dumbed down their opportunities and what they are and what they want to be to smaller establishments. So they had to have less staff. And some places said, no, no, no, we’re just going to over index and we’re going to move.

this percentage over here, we’re gonna turn this lever so that we can turn this lever up and so that we can try to attract individuals that we actually want that family feeling back in a restaurant, right? It’s like, we don’t want that individual to burn out. We wanna be able to give them days off because we see that they’re struggling. ⁓ I think there’s been a massive push in that arena and it started past COVID, absolutely.

And there’s no hiding the fact that the industry got to a bad place and that the tourist towns, resorts definitely treated individuals like numbers and understood that every year is a new slew of individuals and they’re going to start all over again. ⁓ You can only do that until you’re faced with that list not being out the door, that list being cherry pickings of individuals that you may have hired previously that have to be convinced.

or just a much leaner pool. And the talent as well became leaner with it because people found how to transition out of the industry and use the talents or the multiple hats that they learned isn’t necessarily something that’s synonymous with every industry. So other industries learned that a lot of hospitality individuals were great employees because they’re thinking about more than just their jobs.

and their transition was easy and amazing and people loved how much work they expected of themselves to do every day because of how much this industry demands of you and how much it doesn’t sleep. They transitioned well to a lot of different opportunities.

Anthony Codispoti (46:07)
Did you have any visibility into specific industries where a lot of folks transitioned into? I hear what you’re saying that, you know, because the hospitality folks that wear so many hats, they’re always worried about the customer experience, always focused on that, that they transition well into lots of different kinds of roles. But did you see any specific places where more of these folks kind of landed?

Dane Wilfong (46:30)
it was pretty even across the board. if you actually, a lot of individuals went into sales because they were already used to achieving something and they were already used to working for a commission and they were already used to working day and night for something. Logistics, sales, I saw a lot of individuals go through to some larger corporations in kind of just operations. ⁓ Like you saw a lot of operational directors, you saw a lot of director roles, you saw a lot of soft management.

And so, and I know a lot of individuals that did very, very well in travel or international company. The transition was very easy for a lot of people. I know the job market right now is much less than it was then. ⁓ I know everyone has tightened the strings and there’s a lot of vacancies that are not being refilled or waiting until the new year, waiting to see what’s happening politically.

⁓ But when jobs were open and available and the market was flush, individuals had a very easy time transitioning.

Anthony Codispoti (47:32)
So Dane, there’s probably some folks that look at you and like, ⁓ man, look at all these dining awards, these catering awards, these recognitions, these certifications. Man, this guy just, everything comes easy to him. But no doubt there have been some hardships and difficulties to overcome in your life. Can we explore just one of those, talk through what it was, how you got through it and what you learned?

Dane Wilfong (47:56)
Yeah, one that I like to talk about frequently to allow others who don’t think that they have the opportunity to break into this industry or into luxury. I did not come from wealth. And this was so far away from where I ever would have imagined that I would have been because I didn’t think I was allowed access to this part of the industry or to this part of the world period. ⁓ The only

access I had to this was by working it, by lifting it, by providing that experience for others in this market. And so it was a

massive eye opener and a fantastic window into a world I wouldn’t have known otherwise. But I had such a point of pride of breaking into every social tier and learning and meeting and being accepted by individuals far beyond where I would have been had I stayed in my hometown just outside of Baltimore. But it was accepting. This industry continued to be accepting.

But the biggest thing people don’t realize is you have to continue to work. The modern day philosophy of, yeah, just do your best, show up every day and it’ll come to you. That’s not necessarily true. You have to look for the opportunities and you have to keep looking for the opportunities. You have to network and you have to have pride in yourself and your work and you have to sell yourself. ⁓ It’s…

a lot of work to make it or transition, but if there’s something that’s not treating you well, you have to stand up for yourself and you have to fight for the next thing. The next best thing is for you. And it’s difficult. It’s not easy to find. These items don’t come easy. ⁓

And like some things, yeah, they happened overnight and I woke up and this fantastic thing happened and we all clinked glasses and then we moved on the next day and kept moving towards the goal we were moving towards the whole time, right? There’s no stop sign. There’s no, you’re good, you made it and someone is looking at you and we’ll pick you up. No, the answer is you’re gonna have to work just about every day if you want to keep moving forward. And if you don’t, that’s okay.

There’s also a stopping point for lot of individuals that we had discussed earlier that this industry is demanding and it’s going to continue to be demanding. And it may be more demanding than a family life could mean for you. It may be more demanding than.

what your current situation allows. Some people fail physically due to the physical demands of this industry. And like that’s also, that’s perfectly fine. That’s okay. There’s so many people who have transitioned for one reason or the other and come out happy, much happier. They had found success and they put to bed, especially chefs. Chefs are such a prideful bunch that

They don’t find themselves gratified or think that the world sees them or understood or cared about them until they achieve the highest form of recognition possible. But no, to all of my friends out there, you did. You did enough. You’ve always done enough. The people around you saw it. Those diners who had fantastic experiences, who you were ingrained in the rest of their life because of that birthday dinner or that celebration dinner or that meal that they’ll never forget.

Anthony Codispoti (51:14)
Hmm.

Dane Wilfong (51:25)
And there’s more of those out there than you’ll ever imagine. You’ve impacted more people’s lives than you’ll ever imagine. And it’s okay to say, I’m done. It’s over. This is it for me. I have accomplished as much as I can or should or want to. And you can pick it back up at any time as well. It doesn’t go away. You can hit the books. You can get back in there. You can call up one of your chef friends and say, hey, I want to get back in the industry.

Anthony Codispoti (51:36)
Hmm.

Dane Wilfong (51:51)
Can you help me out for a couple months while I get my knife skills back? While I get my feet under me? Like, it’ll always be there for you again when you’re ready for it, but you can take time for your family. You can back out. You can say enough is enough. Yeah, it’s, yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (52:07)
And Dane, do you ever think about saying that?

Dane Wilfong (52:10)
I always have. Every relationship that’s ever ended, every time I go through, again, a new opening or something of that sort where you’re pushed far past where you should be as a human, I find myself sometimes sitting in a grocery store lying, being like, ⁓ this is nice, right? Just to be a part of society in a way that is intolerable normally.

I personally always bounce back because I’ve taken such pride. This has been so much of my life that I know that one day that that focus will shift and I will have to face if I want a family, if I want a happy relationship, if I want these things, I will have to change the percentages of where my work effort and ambition go.

Anthony Codispoti (53:01)
And so are those things so hard for folks that are highly ingrained in the industry to achieve because of the late hours, because of the long hours, because of the physical demand, because the customers are rude? Kind of paint a picture for people who are outside the industry and help us understand.

Dane Wilfong (53:21)
Yeah, especially being in management or of a higher position and even lower when you’re needed, you’re needed. And so in a position like mine, especially with a new opening, and I’ve done so many of them, most people do one or two and they’re done. They don’t want to do any more of that. You’re putting out fires every single day at every point of the day. Payroll, if it went wrong, it can last you

a 24-hour stretch of constant calls and trying to correct systems and deadlines that you may not be able to meet and then you have to push it off further and let chains of other people who are waiting on you know. There is, or there can be an emergency in the building where the fire suppression system went off or something’s not working or the walk-ins had gone down and someone needs to be there to mediate for damage loss and control.

Like there are so many things that keep you moving at all hours of the day that you have to pay attention to consistently, that you’re always on call, you’re always working, you’re always there. And if you’re not, the ramifications or the damage that could happen thereafter is felt by someone somewhere. Yes, you have teams you can delegate to, but someone’s paying attention to it. And at the end of the day, especially in newer openings or smaller facilities, because the less shared services you have, the more…

hats you have to wear, so the more things you have to pay attention to. And so especially ownership or management of smaller facilities.

that can’t pay for an expansive team, they’re on call all day every day in case the fire alarm goes off, in case something happens to their business, in case they’re shorted something or something happens in the world that could affect their business, they’re immediately scrambling, wondering if they have enough money to make it through and how to allocate something to make sure they’re paying staff or how they have to cut down if not. Like everyone is worried about this consistently. This isn’t just a nine to five, I’m turning my brain off and I’ll see you tomorrow.

Anthony Codispoti (55:16)
Yeah.

Dane Wilfong (55:16)
Now,

for the individuals, there are parts of this industry that are like that, and there are people fortunate enough to be able to do so. But the inability to do that for a lot of individuals in order to keep things moving or to keep a grasp on what’s happening, that that burns folks out more than anything else. And individuals like myself, I enjoy it. I don’t mind it. I love being immersed, and I can think about a lot of different things at the same time.

But if I had three kids and wanted to take off for this holiday season, I guarantee you I would be receiving a lot of phone calls and I would be checking my email every day still and I would, I’d still be here mentally to make sure that everyone is supported.

Anthony Codispoti (56:00)
So if and when you are able to disconnect from work even for just a little bit, what do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Dane Wilfong (56:09)
funny question. ⁓ I enjoy nature. It kind of heals me in ways it does a lot of individuals. But I also enjoy education. The way that I survive burnout is actually by learning and feeling fulfilled and better for the people around me and my own industry.

And so I usually take trips with a focus on education, but also reconnecting with nature. I am an avid rock climber. I enjoy sailing. I enjoy all kinds of really fun things that connect me back to the world. ⁓ Obviously less dangerous things these days. can’t afford any broken bones, but I enjoy big cities as well, seeing all the culture and what everybody has to offer.

being provided new and constant experiences is something I look for.

Anthony Codispoti (57:03)
Dane, I’ve just got one more question for you today. But before I ask it, I want to do three quick things. First of all, anyone who wants to get in touch with Dane, he’s given us his personal email address to share with you, danjwillfong.com. danjwillfong.com. And we’ll have that in the show notes for folks too. Also as a reminder, if you want to get more hospitality employees access to therapist doctors and prescription meds, that

Can you believe it? Actually puts more money into the company’s pocket. Reach out to us at addbackbenefits.com. Finally, if you’ll take a moment and just leave us a comment or review on your favorite podcast app and you’ll hold a special place in my heart forever. Thank you. So Dane, last question, a year from now, you and I reconnect and you’re celebrating one very specific thing. What is that specific thing you hope to be celebrating one year from today?

Dane Wilfong (57:56)
⁓ Hmm. That’s a good one. I like that. ⁓ Well, I look to be celebrating another year of fantastic successes. Absolutely. And I look to be celebrating it with a like-minded team of individuals. I would like to as well…

be celebrating ⁓ that the industry has healed ever so slightly, right? That you hear that jobs have opened back up and that you hear that local markets are flourishing, that it becomes more abundant and more clear. And ⁓ I just look to be celebrating the world a little bit.

more at peace than it was this year. I think that’s the biggest thing I could possibly ask for.

Anthony Codispoti (58:56)
Love that. Hope we’re all celebrating that. Well, Dane Wilfong from Nets Club, specifically in Washington, D.C. I want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate you.

Dane Wilfong (59:09)
Thank you so much for having me.

Anthony Codispoti (59:11)
Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.