Carin Stutz Interview: Restaurant Industry Icon Pays It Forward
Diana Landau | September 23, 2025
Carin Stutz has been Somebody -- an icon in the food service and restaurant world for decades. Carl interviews her about her meteoric career starting in service and working her way up to Division VP for Wendy's International, Exec VP for Applebee's, President of Global Business Development for Brinker International (Chili's Grill & Bar, Maggiano's Little Italy, etc.) and now the good work she is doing to give back to the restaurant industry she loves. Her industry awards and accolades are a very long list.
After college she started as a management trainee for Wendy's and quickly fell in love with the restaurant biz. "I think I learned early on that you have to advocate for yourself," she says. Carin has held top-level positions at seven different restaurant organizations, where she led hundreds of franchises across multiple brands in 34 countries.
Carin (un)retired two years ago at age 67. Her Mom was ill and she says she started realizing that quality of life can deteriorate quickly. "You start thinking about how much time you have left. It was a wake-up call." Carin now sits on nine boards and has founded a global network called GLEAM, which is 100% volunteer-run and provides mentoring and career enhancement opportunities to those in the restaurant industry. "I feel so much has been given to me. I wanted to give back," she adds.
When not mentoring, volunteering, and speaking all over the country, Carin spends time traveling with her husband, enjoying family and friends and tries to attend two concerts a week. She says, "Just say YES to more things. Get outside. Do something. Stay active!"
Carin Stutz's (Un)retirement Tips:
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"What do you do when the applause dies? (After a big career.) You ultimately have to recognize your own accomplishments because it really does stop and you need to be okay with that."
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"I was working all the time so I didn't have hobbies when I (un)retired. I started thinking about what I didn't have in my life and what I could have now."
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"Have friends! There's something about friendship that lifts you up and just enriches your soul."
• I Used to be Somebody World Tour: Croatia
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the "I Used to be Somebody" blog
Steve Hoffman Interview: Food Writer and Author of French Countryside Experience!
Diana Landau | November 12, 2024
Renaissance Man Steve Hoffman explains to Carl how you can truly have it all. Steve has figured out how to divide his year between a successful business and his creative life. He is a tax preparer and also an award-winning food writer that has been featured in Food & Wine, The Washington Post, Artful Living magazine and many more. He is also the author of the memoir that's a real eye-opener if you've ever thought about living in foreign country and bringing your family along with you, "A Season for That, Lost and Found in the Other Southern France".
Steve grew up in the "Twin Cities" of Minnesota in a traditional suburban family. "It was a fairly boring, staid existence," he tells us. As a teen, Steve was obsessed with tennis and basketball and dreamed of becoming a professional athlete. He went on to St. John's University and then a trip to Paris, France changed everything for him.
Steve married and had a family and also ran a successful tax preparation business. He likes to say that he knows the names of all of his 500 customers. But tax work is seasonal, and he realized he could live out his dream of living in France part of the year. In 2012, Steve brought his wife and family along with him, which proved challenging beyond his initial expectations. "You know, you have this image of swimming in the ocean on the coast and then having a glass of Rose'. The blue collar, dusty, hot winemaking village where we could afford to live was not like that."
The culture shock was very real. Carl points out that many people talk about living in another country for a while, but rarely actually do it. In his memoir, Steve tells us how his family needed him to step up and be a leader for them and not just live in a dream, practicing his French in town. The family decided to give up their expectations, stepped back and let the experience and the village opened up to them.
Steve always kept journals, yet never imagined he would one day become a prolific food writer. And then his first article about his French adventure won him a National Food Writing award. Steve's wife, Mary Jo also explored her creative side during their stays and became a photographer. 10 years later, they both came out with a new book at the same time! Steve is also the recipient of the 2019 James Beard M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award. He now lives on Turtle Lake in Shoreview, MN with Mary Jo, their elderly and entitled puggle and roughly 80,000 honeybees.
Steve's (Un)Retirement Advice:
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"Accepting that part of being a creative person in this economy in this time in history means you gotta have a boring, semi-lucrative job that pays you a little more than you need and that buys you more creative freedom in another part of your life."
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"Write a five-year plan. There's incredible magic in writing down what you want to do."
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"Think of your life in decades. Your 3rd act, which is the culmination of all your life decisions that came before, will become richer for it."
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"It's okay to understand this part of life (unretirement) is about editing and taking things away, so you're focused on the core of things that mean the most to you."
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the "I Used to be Somebody" blog
Bob Tuschman Interview: Former Food Network Exec Now Gets Top Ratings at NYU
Diana Landau | September 21, 2021
Carl talks with Bob Tuschman, former Food Network Senior Vice President and General Manager. Plus he's had many other cool job titles, as you will learn. Bob realized even as a kid that when he grew up he wanted to be part of the entertainment world.
To say Bob worked his way up to the top is an understatement! Beginning with a job as an assistant producer on a set, (which means loading trucks at 5am, working long hours for little pay), he then seized the opportunity to work for research on a movie that Diana Ross was producing. Bob worked his way up there, eventually becoming Diana’s personal assistant and traveling the world with her.
After a short gig as an agent for actors, he returned to work for Diana when he again was presented with a new opportunity—to work as a producer for Good Morning America with ABC. Bob loved the work and advanced quickly in six years. Then it happened. While riding his bike in NYC, Bob was hit head on. He says of that time, “You can do everything right in your life and play by the rules and then get hit by a car tomorrow.” The experience made him really think hard about what he wanted to do in life and realized he wanted to try something new.
Bob left GMA and took a position as Executive Producer with this new start-up called the Food Network. The network had little budget and had been largely focused on “how-to” and learning shows. Under Bob’s management, the network moved toward entertainment and the rest is well known. Bob oversaw shows featuring Guy Fieri, Giada, Ina Garten, Bobby Flay and more.
After 16 years with the Food Network, Bob wanted to try something new again—but he knew he didn't want to work every day. He is now a professor at NYU/Stern and loving it. Some of his best advice to his students (and all of us, really): “Take any door that opens and walk through it. If you work hard, people will help you to succeed.”
Bob's unretirement success plan:
Bob decided not to craft a typical “bucket list". Instead, he created three distinct lists to make this next phase of life successful-- Curiosity, Adventure and Service. Under each category he listed all the things he’d like to accomplish. For example:
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"Curiosity" would be all the things you want to learn, like a second language or how to play an instrument.
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"Adventure" would include that mountain to climb, exotic place to visit, challenging yourself to do something that scares you.
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"Service" is about committing some of your time to making your world better, through community service, volunteering, philanthropy.
• More About Bob Tuschman:
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the “I Used to Be Somebody” weekly blog.
Patrick Mulvaney Interview: It Really Is A Wonderful Life!
Diana Landau | June 29, 2021
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In the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” George Bailey learns that his family business, Bailey Bros. Building and Loan, is so much more than a business. It's about the bonds they created to hold the community together. Patrick Mulvaney, award-winning chef, leader of the Farm-to Fork movement in Northern California and a local hero for his non-profit programs, was inspired by this sentiment and named his restaurant Mulvaney’s B&L. Patrick and his wife Bobbin have a successful restaurant business--- and have taken it to a whole new level of community service.
Although Patrick calls his restaurant a “shanty Irish joint” it is elevated dining using the freshest ingredients. Patrick and Bobbin believe the world can be a better place through their restaurant. They have cultivated relationships with local farmers, developed programs like Great Plates to feed hungry people in need and during the pandemic they were a vital part of a region-wide program, Family Meal Sacramento, making meals for over 100,000 families. California Governor Gavin Newsom observed the program and pledged to take it statewide during the pandemic.
Patrick’s grandparents on both sides immigrated to the U.S from Ireland. He grew up in New York with a lawyer father and an English professor mother. Then he found his true calling by working in kitchens and the rest is history! He had the opportunity to apprentice with a chef in Ireland. “I was fired 6 times in 9 months!” he says.
Patrick worked at Rockaway Beach in Queens for a time, and it was there he learned the powerful connectivity between a restaurant and the community. “It’s a place to help the community become stronger, to become engaged, and it’s also a pathway to making your voice heard to decision makers.” Patrick then worked his way up the ladder at Metropolis in NYC under Leslie Revsin. During grad school at UC Davis, he saw a 12-month growing season and winemaking and knew he wanted to open his own restaurant in Sacramento, which he did in 2006.
“It gets back to what I learned in Ireland—where does your food come from? Do you know the farmers? Sacramento felt like home.” Now he is one of the lead innovators of the Farm-to-Fork movement, bringing farmers and chefs together in a big way. “It’s given something to Sacramento that the people can be proud of.”
Patrick and Bobbin also started the I Got Your Back Project, a mental health program and education for restaurant employees, after there were several suicides in the local restaurant community. “Restaurant work can be fast-paced, stressful and nocturnal. It requires thick skin and talent, not a college degree.” The program is now helping people every day.
What’s next? Patrick is still doing what he loves to do, wishing maybe he had a little more quiet time to cook. But he’s also taking the time to think about and reflect on what he wants to accomplish in his third act, whether it’s more involvement in advocacy, mental health, food insecurity or all three. We know he will keep making the world a better place!
Patrick’s (Un) Retirement Wisdom for Second Acts:
“Keep your eyes open and be enthusiastic in whatever it is you're doing, knowing that it might not be a direct path to doing (exactly) what you want to do. But know the experience will eventually help you in some way. When you meet someone, you never know what it is they can teach you, or how they might lift you up!”
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the “I Used to Be Somebody” weekly blog.
Devon Zagory Interview: Food Safety Superhero
Diana Landau | February 23, 2021
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Carl interviews Devon Zagory, a global expert in food safety. (Full disclosure: Carl and Devon are good friends!) Devon has decades of experience working on produce safety with agricultural producers, fresh-cut industries, and university researchers. He has worked internationally as a consultant in the fields of food microbiology and modified atmosphere packaging.
Devon was also the founder of Davis Fresh Technologies, which had dozens of employees and five offices around the world. He sold that company in 2006 and became a multi-millionaire. He has written numerous scientific publications and given many presentations about produce microbial safety, packaging, quality and operations.
What does all Devon’s background actually mean? Is Devon Zagory a Superhero for food safety around the globe? YES. And he still is at age 73, consulting when he wants for as much as he wants. Devon has travelled to over 70 countries around the world, with a mission and a continued passion: Working with poor farmers in rural countries to make their lives a bit better with technology.
Devon was a bookish kid with the typical childhood in the Bay Area of Northern California. His father was a family physician and his mother raised four kids. He went to UC Berkeley, where, as Devon says, “I had too much fun. Then I quit.” He decided to travel around the world for two years with a buddy and visited many rural farms. The experience made him realize what he wanted to do with life. He went back to school, earning a PHD in plant pathology, plus an agricultural degree. He founded his company and has worked with giants like Subway, Costco, Safeway, Raley’s and Outback restaurants in addition to farmers.
About 5 years ago, Devon said he felt tired and cranky and made an announcement he was done with consulting and he definitely was not going to work anymore. What he didn’t know at the time was that he was sick. (No wonder he felt so tired all the time.) After the doctors found and treated a heart condition, Devon realized he still enjoyed his work and didn’t want to stop. He also participates in a weekly walking group and a Masters Swim program.
Insights on (un)retirement:
1. Push your comfort zone. Devon is an analytic scientist who now is exploring his creative side through becoming more social, playing music and writing a memoir.
2. Do what you love to do, feel moved to do. Volunteer, help out, give back, do what needs doing!.png)
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Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the “I Used to Be Somebody” weekly blog.
