February 18, 2025 • 26 mins
Susan Lacz, a recognized leader, and sought-after speaker in the catering and special events industry, is Principal and Chief Executive Officer of Ridgewells Catering in Bethesda, Maryland.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
M and T Bank resients.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
iHeartRadio's CEOs you should know, powered by the Montgomery County
Economic Development Corporation.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Let's meet Susan Las.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
She is the CEO and owner of Ridgewell's Catering, bought
by Susan in nineteen ninety seven, but this company is
beginning to go way back to the nineteen twenties. Now,
before we find out more about Susan's company and the
amazing things that she and her team accomplish every day,
I first asked her to talk a little bit about herself,
where she's from and her origin story.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
I grew up in New Jersey, Northern New Jersey. I
came down here to go to college at Marymount University
and I never went back.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
So it's an amazing history about Ridgewells. And we're going
to talk about you purchasing the business in ninety seven,
and I know it's almost been four decades and talking
this series to people that have been with companies for
a long time, they've got great stories in the evolution
of companies, why they bought it and where it started
to where it is now. And I know that's an
incredible story, But can you tell us about the history
of Ridgewalds because we're going back to the nineteen twenties,
(00:56):
can you tell us just about the history of it.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Yeah, So it was as a French maid and an
English butler and they worked at the embassies and they
got together and started doing small events for each other's embassies,
whether it be providing some staff, maybe some glassware, cooking
some food, and that's how it all evolved, and they
(01:18):
got married and started this company, Ridge Wells. And we're
really excited about celebrating our one hundredth anniversary in twenty
twenty eight. We're already starting to plan it. But not
many companies can say they've been in business for one
hundred years.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
It really is incredible. I want to talk about you
purchasing the business, and when we talk in this series
about being a CEO or a founder or purchasing a company,
it's pretty epic. It's daunting. And we're going to find
out about the catering business, about how much you and
your team do, because it really is unbelievable how many
working parts go into a company like yours. But when
you decided to purchase this company, why did you do it?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
So I had the opportunity to work with the original
Ridgewell's family, Jeff and Bruce Ellis. They were descendants of
the Ridgewells of Fife and Marguerite and Clarence, and so
I saw how Ridgewells was on. It's the top of
its game. We were the only caterer in town. We
(02:17):
had very little competition, and I saw the passion of
Jeff and Bruce.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Ellis, and I had the ability to work with them.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
They eventually sold the company several months later and the
company just started going downhill from there. They were sold
to a company called Carson Perry Scott, which is no
longer in business out of Chicago. And their intention was
to put a Ridgewells on every street corner like McDonald's
in every major city. But the people is what makes
Ridgewell's work. It's the passion, it's the dedication. And that
(02:49):
model just wasn't going to work. We did have an
office up in Philly and Newark, Delaware, and it just
didn't work. And then they sold it back to a
group of private investors here in washing to DC. And
at that time I started to really get my grounding
and I enjoyed the larger events and I was taking
Ridgewals on the road to larger sporting events, and the
(03:13):
group that they sold it to financially the company wasn't
doing well.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
They said, let's sell it. Let's just sell it.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
And at that point I knew that they were selling it,
and I put a group together, someone that I had
met through an event that we were catering down at Atlanta,
the Olympics, and I just wanted to get it back
to with all of its glory and it was a
great story. It took a while. Everybody in town knows
(03:41):
Ridgewells back then. The good news was they all knew us.
But the bad news was that our finances were not
really where they needed to be, and we were really
close to financially not being stable enough to get any
traditional financing, and we ended up getting some VC money,
but bought it in ninety seven. And the way to
(04:02):
get around this is to sell yourself out of it,
and we had to increase sales. We increased sales our
first six months of business, and then it was a
lot of work we had to do. So the good
news was we got it for a great price, but
the bad news was we had a lot of work
to do, a lot of hard work and you know
it's all paid off. I was very passionate about the company.
I was very passionate about the history of the company,
(04:23):
as I still am, and I'm often brought to tears
about how proud I am with everybody who works at
that company and how hard they work.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Well that something about a leader, and I know that's
not a surprise you, But when we talked to founders
and CEOs and leaders in this series, one of the
first things that come up is passion and having a
passion for what you do and your team, which I
want to talk to you in a little bit, but
why don't we start from the beginning as far as mission.
What is the mission of the company?
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Well, our tagline is passion for Celebration. We want to
provide top quality, innovative food and service and do a
beautiful event from start to finish, whether it's a dinner
party for four or whether it's a big gallop for
four thousand. We have the capability to scale up or
(05:08):
down in any way, and a lot of people might
think that we only do the larger events, but you know,
our roots were the smaller events, and I always instill
in my team that it's really important that we don't
worry that we don't forget missus Smith's garden party over
in Kenwood or something. It was important for us to
always remain and be solid with our roots.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
I know, sometimes Susan, the mission and vision collide. But
is the vision a little bit different for what you
wanted for the company and what it is today.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
No, Actually, I'm really quite pleased with where we're heading
and what we're doing. My goal is to be a
fifty million dollar company by twenty twenty eight, when we
turned one hundred years old, and we're well on our
way there.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
So I feel we're all on the same path and
we're going in the right direction.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
So you talked a little bit about the name, and
obviously almost one hundred years around, name means a lot.
With that said, you have to have all the tools
to make sure that the name meets up to what
everybody expects it to be. With that said, you're certainly
in a customer service kind of industry. It's like maybe
a restaurant would be. With that said, I want you
to talk a little bit about your team, and I've
(06:14):
checked your team out on your beautiful website that we'll
talk about a little bit more and all the offerings
that you have. But you have almost three hundred people,
and that's an extraordinary number. It's a large company. Tell
us a little bit about what the team, what they do,
and how you delegate the many people.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Yeah, so it's interesting because a lot of people have
been working for.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Me longer than I have been there.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
In generational someone who's father worked for us, now their
kids work for us. It's a safe place for them
to work. It's consistent. I am very focused on the employee.
It's not me who makes it successful. It's everybody who's
surrounding me. And I'm forever grateful for all their hard work,
because this industry is hard. Lot of nights, it's a
(07:01):
lot of long hours, and so I think what happens
is it's I've got such an amazing team around me
that knows that what's important to me and that it's
employee first. And I want to make sure that I
am very well connected and I know almost everybody's name
in the company, and it's important for me to acknowledge him,
(07:24):
and I walk around in the mornings, my team members
walk around in the mornings. I've got an amazing group
of people that have been with me for quite a while,
and it's important it's that that it's it's a different generation,
but I'm still old school as it relates. And I
often talk about my mentor and my father, and he
made sure that he went around.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
And talked to everybody.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
He ran a successful architectural and engineering firm in North
Jersey and he was a mentor for me and his
management style was important to me. And when we first
bought the company, my dad was put in his chair
of the board. So I had many, many years of
his leadership growing up in the business world. And I
know if he was still alive, he'd be looking down
at me, and I know he's very proud of me.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
So one of the things you're talking about really gets
me all jazzed up. And I'm a big sports guy.
I've been in it for a very long time, and
when you talk about teams and sports, it's about culture
and that's what you were kind of getting at, and
that all go to the business world too. Tell me
about the culture that you bring down to your employees
and how you make this the atmosphere that you've been
talking about.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Culture is so important to me. There's I work really
hard at it. It's important have I started this during
COVID just because you know, as you know, the industry
just got decimated and I had a handful of people
who kept on, but ninety seven percent of my company
I had to lay off. But that handful of people
we would get together every morning and.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
We would huddle. We'd call it a huddle. What do
you need?
Speaker 4 (08:53):
How can I help you? I mean, we were delivering
food all over the place. We were making boxes to make,
you know, do boxed lunches, and we were just doing
pivoting as much as we can, just to stay open
and stay alive and stay focused. And I'm forever grateful
for that team around me who was so instrumental in
(09:14):
us surviving through the COVID and the pandemic. But it's
important that they know that I care and that we
get together. So now our huddle, which used to be
seven or eight of us, is now forty fifty people.
Anybody can come to huddle the when they want. It's
every Wednesday morning. I get up and I greet everybody.
We say Happy Wednesday, we cheer, we sing, we laugh,
(09:36):
We introduce new employees to the company.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Who might be new.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
We do a quickly little interview, and we celebrate everybody's
birthday during that month, like whatever birthday. But it's just
important for me to be connected and to feel appreciated.
On Friday night, I rented out a bar in Bethesda
and had our holiday party because we're just too busy
during the season and with inauguration, you know, it is important.
And I said, all right, bring your plus one, bring
(10:02):
a friend or whatever. And it was I'm there dancing
with them, and I'm there doing raffle prizes and handing
out gift cards, and it's just it's just important for
them to know that I care. It's just nothing made
me happier than Maria winning a fifty inch screen TV
from our raffle who Maria cleans our offices. I mean,
we were both in tears. We were so excited that
(10:23):
she won that TV. But it's important they know I'm connected,
they know my door is open, they know that they
can talk to me if they've got issues.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
But I just want to make sure.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
That we have a healthy communicative environment that everybody feels
comfortable and wants to come to work in the morning.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Well, one of the things you're talking about that not
a lot of CEOs get to do is having access
to you, and it sounds like that's ultra important.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
I mean, I have an open door policy, although a
lot of times my door is closed just for more
for concentration or meetings, but I'm absolutely absolutely accessible.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
So I want to talk about how everything has changed
over the years. In the four decades that you have
had the company where you started, you went through, of course,
the pandemic, and I know you had to pivot in
many different ways, But how is the industry overall changed?
Speaker 4 (11:11):
Yeah, I think you know, we've got some great competition
in the area. You know, way back when Ridge Wells
was the only game in town and we were the
go to and we love that. But now I've got,
you know, probably a dozen or so really great competitors.
And then we have to deal with the hotels as well,
and we're competing for the same gallon, and so I
(11:31):
think the competition is stiffer.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
But I think the competition keeps us fresh. Yeah, I
think it.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
Keeps us on our toes. But you know it's it's
being innovative. No, you no longer can put a beautiful
plate together on a white dinner plate on a white
on a white tablecloth. It's got to be like, oh,
the tablecloth has got to be demisk and has sequence
and flow, and you.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Know, talking about the extra things you have to do,
the extra things.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
It's just it's not just about the food.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
It's got to be about the presentation and the service
and the style and and you know, we talked about
the caviar station we did the other night at the
Book of Lists, and it's just was a creative and
I brought back the peaking duck station. We used to
do it all the time when I first started at Riginal's,
but we put a.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Different twist on it. We made it.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
The way it looked was different, The way we prepared
it was different, but it was still, you know, really
great peaking ducks. So it's just being innovative and being
creative on how how we display it because the competition
really keeps us fresh, right, So.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
I want to talk about challenges in the industry, and
obviously having competition is a big challenge, but are there
any other challenges that present themselves in the industry right now?
Speaker 4 (12:39):
Well, I think with the labor market, you know, after
during the pandemic, a lot of people left the area.
A lot of people didn't want to be in this
and they've done went to other jobs some more you know,
nine to five jobs, not not so seasonal with us.
So labor's always an issue, and you know, dealing with
the local and all the minimum wages and the taxes
(13:03):
and the tips and you know that kind of things
that are dictated. So you know, that kind of stuff
had guests to get passed on to the customer, so
you know, trying to deal with you know, the regular
things that every company and every industry does. You know,
health insurance, making sure that we've got the right coverage
for all of our employees.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Four oh one K. I mean, it's just running the business.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
So let's forget about being creative and how we're doing
that peaking deck station. It's how we're going to make
sure that everybody's got the proper healthcare coverage and are
being able to afford to live in this region because
this region is expensive to live in. So there's just
taking to consideration everything but also making it making sure
it's still we're not pricing ourselves out of our market.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
Right, So Susan, if you're pitching your business to somebody
that you're interested in doing event, or maybe somebody's coming
to you. Where do you decide to say this is
going to be a good fit for us.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
Well, everybody's going to be a good fit for us.
So as a matter of fact, I'm going to leave
here and we're doing a tasting for a fortune five
hundred company for an event in March, and I want
to make sure that they know me and it's my presence.
You know, our competition, some of our my bigger competitions
have been sold to European companies and so they're no
(14:16):
more locally owned and they're no longer American companies. They're
companies from from England or wherever the other companies are.
So I want them to know that the buck stops here.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Right so there might not be a face to face
connection with them, and that's what you're trying to do
here exactly.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
I'm not all the cases like I don't sit in
on wedding tastings or you know you can't when I can,
I want to be so on my schedule in a
different color. It tells me where all the tastings are
going on and what's going on I always know what
I always get a daily report of what's going on tonight,
what's going on tomorrow night, what's going on over the weekend.
So I just want to make sure that my team
(14:53):
is connected and it's on the radar for everybody.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
So on the website, I want to talk about the
dish and the blog because went onto that this morning
before the interview. It's gorgeous. There's a lot of different
things that you handle.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Thank you well.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
Before that, can you talk about some of the different
events you do, because you really do cover everything.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Yeah, As I mentioned earlier, like it's important we can
do a tea party for four people, or we can
do that galla for four thousand.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
We have a large portfolio of events.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
We do some private school feeding, we have some government contracts.
I have someone who just looks at the government contract page.
That's how that Melon auditorium came up to us. And
it's important for us to always be looking for new business,
and so we do everything from the smaller event to
the much larger galas fundraisers. We have a division of
(15:45):
major events that does the golf. We've had a wonderful
partnership with the United States Golf Association for the last
thirty years, an account that I actually sold when I
first started at the company, and we go all over
the country and cater the us opens no matter where
it is, with exception of Pebble Beach, but I heard
it that we might be doing Pebble Beach. But we've
had a really wonderful relationship and it says a lot
(16:07):
about Ridgewells.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
We can compete with the big dogs.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
We can compete with the larger companies out there, the
billion dollar companies, because our name pops up because of
the service that we have, the style of the food,
our approach, our flexibility. Our food is all homemade and
made from scratch. We're in the middle of a golf
course where we erect a twelve or fifteen thousand square
foot kitchen and we actually boil the potatoes and season
(16:33):
them and serve a beautiful potato salad instead of buying
it from one of the broadliners and opening up a
box and dumping it into a bowl. So we're very
proud of the quality of the food and the presentation,
and obviously the USJA is as well. Because we've had
this contract for so many years. We're excited to be
doing the Preakness again in Baltimore up at Pimlico, and
(16:54):
we've had that for the last three years and we're
looking to grow with them in the future. But it's
know everything you can imagine, weddings, galas, life events, you know,
you name it.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
So I want to talk about a great story, and
I'm sure you have hundreds, But when I talk to
people in your position, one of the great things beside
their team executing whatever they do for a living and
making sure the customer's happy, at something special happen and
you say to yourself, this is why I get up
every day to make something and a life, maybe lives
change where it's a special event, whether it was a
(17:28):
wedding or you put on something special, Do you have
maybe just a story you could share with us, something
that was real special to you that had a profound
effect on you.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Yeah, I think always. An inauguration is very special. But
even more special than that was we cater to the
Nuclear Security Summit several years back and I was in
a room with forty two world leaders.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Wow. Not many people can say no, they cannot with
forty two world leaders.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
And it was very surreal, very high Security We were
during the Nuclear Security Summit, and then we went in
the other room was where the number twos were of
these forty two world leaders, and even that was awe inspiring.
But you know, it's just it's being able to have
access to some of these events. We just did the
(18:17):
seventy fifth anniversary signing of NATO and it was I
wasn't there the actual day of the signing, but my
team was, and it was just, you know, a lot
of my newer team members are like, wow, that was
very cool, and it's just you just get access to
some really wonderful things.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
So with us talking and just getting to know each other,
I'm going to make an assumption that you thrive on
the pressure of having a perfect event, would I be correct?
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (18:41):
Yes, I'm a very hands on person. I am. I
was attending an inaugural ball probably two inaugurations ago, as
a guest, and we were catering the event, and I
saw we started to get backed up for whatever reason,
whether the guest count was misjudge or whatever, but I
like literally started bussing tables. I'm very well known for
(19:06):
being jumping behind a bar at a US Open if
the bar line gets too. I started my career as
a bartender, jumping behind a bar if the lines get
too long.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
I like I thrive on that.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
I'm not afraid to bust tables, I'm not afraid to
roll up my sleeves. I will pitch in whatever they can.
And that to me was taught by my father. In
order to get respect, you've got to give respect. And
they see that I'm picking up dishes in a ball
gown and they're.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
So I wanted to talk about philanthropic and charity work.
And I know that you're very busy with you and
your team, but when you have time to do it,
whether it's through the business or personally, what do you
like to be involved in?
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Yeah, so it's it's I have a top ten list
that I do and I do public speaking, and one
of the top ten is give back. You've often give always,
and so when I first bought the company in ninety seven,
it was important for me to give back to the
community that gave to me and made this ridge wal
I was so successful. So I'm currently I was at
(20:04):
the on the board of Marymount University. I just was fortunate,
by the way, Well, thank you I agree. At last year,
I was given their Alumni of the Year award and
I was their keynote speaker, and they have ordered me
a doctorate of Humane Letters.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
So you can call me. That's quite an honor. Call
me doctor Las if you like.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
But I want to give back to things that I'm
passionate about. And every time I see some new team
members come in, I'm like, all right, you guys. To
be a well rounded you have got to give back
to whatever works best for you and I will support you.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
You find what you're passionate about.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
So for me it was I was diagnosed with cancer,
so I was involved with cancer issues, women issues, children issues,
so I love to mentor women and girls. I was
on the board for many years of the Girl Scout
because I was a Girl Scout myself, and it was
it was really transformative for me when I was younger.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Rachel's Women's Center. I mean I could go on and
on and on.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
Marymount University a great, a great university. But Washington Jesuit Academy.
I love that organization so much and what their mission
is don Bosco Christo Ray.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
So it's stuff that I'm passionate about. Uh, But I encourage.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
The team members, especially the newer ones, to find something
they're passionate about and I will support them.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
We'll give the website at the end of the interview
just here in a couple of minutes. But I didn't
mention the dish and the blog and it's really a
fun read and it's it's there's a lot of variety
on there. Can you tell people about it?
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (21:30):
So it's called the Last Word, and it's just just
a streaming of what what is on my mind or
what's going on in our events industry and just trying
to get traction with the with what what, what's what's hot,
and what's not Just yeah, it's it's I'm very proud
and we've got a good team who add content to
(21:52):
it as well. It's not just me, it's everybody and
their beautiful events that they host.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
So I know when I talk to people in this
series that they're going to stay along around and do
this as long as they had the passion to do that.
And you mentioned that several times, your passion for the company,
your team and what you do, how long do you
want to do this and what's next for the company?
Speaker 4 (22:10):
Yeah, you think I haven't been asked that question a
million times. Well, I want to continue to grow. My
son just joined the company.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
A little over congratulation. Yes, very excited. He's been amazing.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
And I've got another son who I'm going to be
graduating in May from college.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
And I ask you because you know, I have a
daughter that's in the film industry and she didn't want
to get into my industry. But I'm glad she's wanting
to do what she wants to do. Yes, when you've
been doing this for a long time, was there a
plan that you would like him to join or did
he want to join on his own?
Speaker 4 (22:41):
No, he wanted to join on his own, and he
had ten years out of college and he was in
the hotel business and luxury hotels, and so he brings
such a wonderful perspective to the company.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
So I think you know he was all on his own. Yeah,
it's nice. I actually we were out in laing the.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
US Open at LACC, very beautiful club, first time we
were there, and I asked him to take some time
off from his job because we had a very high
end area that I needed to have someone at his
caliber to work it. And he kind of got the
bug and he just is like, Okay, this is kind
of nice, mom, And so it was.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
It was wonderful.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
That's got to be thrilling for you.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Yes, very thrilling, very cool.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Really, so let's do this, let's kind of wrap up.
It's so cool. And I know we've only kind of
hit the tip of the iceberg in the company, but
maybe did some final thoughts. We'll give the website in
just a second. If you're hiring, I know people want
to hear about that in this series as well too,
but maybe did some final thoughts on the company for you.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Go yeah, no, we're always hiring.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
And it's funny because during that huddle, if you were new,
I'd say, okay, Dennis, what did you what did you
major in high school?
Speaker 1 (23:46):
In college?
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Excuse me, They'll be like, oh, art, history or psychology,
And I always go slash catering, Like nobody would ever
think yes to get into catering. I mean, now you
can get a degree in the events business.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
I didn't.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
I'm the old school, well on the job training idea,
but I think it's important. Like we've got hiring, and
the nice thing is that there's so much growth in
this company, like I could give you two dozen examples
of people who have started at the bottom and worked
their way up, starting with me. I mean, I was
the lowest level employee, you know, in the sales department,
(24:20):
and I literally worked my way up. And I can
everybody who's directly around me and my direct reports, I
could still I could say the same thing they were.
My general manager was an intern for me thirteen years ago.
You know, my CFO is a controller at another unit
that we had. My chief development officer has been with
me for over almost twenty two years, and he started
(24:42):
you know.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
You know, I'm glad you brought this up because I've
run into a lot of different companies and CEOs or
general managers or vps that when they get somebody that's
good at what they're doing, they like them to stay
in that corner. But it sounds like you like growth.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
No, and who doesn't like growth? I mean I would, well,
there are some that don't, well, yeah, far be it.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
But I wouldn't want to someone to come in here
to say, like, Okay, I'm going to be in this
job the rest of my life. Like I just I'm
a firm believer in growth, and I see talent and
I see drive and I love that.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
But that goes back to your culture too, because I
think somebody that's starting your company and sees other people
moving up the ladder and assending has to get everybody
very jazz that I don't have to be in this
job the rest of my life.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yeah, no, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (25:27):
I mean I have very little turnover, and if I do,
it might be because someone is spouse's moving or they're
leaving the area.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
But it's great.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
And I've even got people coming back from pre pandemic
who are working for me that left and have decided.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
To Well that's wonderful.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
And not to embarrass you, but that's obviously how you
treat people and a sense of respect for everybody, and
I imagine that pays off and things that you've.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Talked about, right, Yeah, yes, Well, let's give the website every.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Yes www dot Ridge Wells dot com and feel free
to follow us on social media. It's at Ridgewell's DC
on both Facebook and Instagram, and Susan laz at LinkedIn.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Ouk Xanny well Susan, We know how busy you are.
Thank you so much for joining us on CEOs.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
We should know. Yes, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
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Montgomery County, Maryland is where innovation happens. Learn more at
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Speaker 2 (00:02):
iHeartRadio's CEOs you should know, powered by the Montgomery County
Economic Development Corporation.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Let's meet Susan Las.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
She is the CEO and owner of Ridgewell's Catering, bought
by Susan in nineteen ninety seven, but this company is
beginning to go way back to the nineteen twenties. Now,
before we find out more about Susan's company and the
amazing things that she and her team accomplish every day,
I first asked her to talk a little bit about herself,
where she's from and her origin story.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
I grew up in New Jersey, Northern New Jersey. I
came down here to go to college at Marymount University
and I never went back.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
So it's an amazing history about Ridgewells. And we're going
to talk about you purchasing the business in ninety seven,
and I know it's almost been four decades and talking
this series to people that have been with companies for
a long time, they've got great stories in the evolution
of companies, why they bought it and where it started
to where it is now. And I know that's an
incredible story, But can you tell us about the history
of Ridgewalds because we're going back to the nineteen twenties,
(00:56):
can you tell us just about the history of it.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Yeah, So it was as a French maid and an
English butler and they worked at the embassies and they
got together and started doing small events for each other's embassies,
whether it be providing some staff, maybe some glassware, cooking
some food, and that's how it all evolved, and they
(01:18):
got married and started this company, Ridge Wells. And we're
really excited about celebrating our one hundredth anniversary in twenty
twenty eight. We're already starting to plan it. But not
many companies can say they've been in business for one
hundred years.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
It really is incredible. I want to talk about you
purchasing the business, and when we talk in this series
about being a CEO or a founder or purchasing a company,
it's pretty epic. It's daunting. And we're going to find
out about the catering business, about how much you and
your team do, because it really is unbelievable how many
working parts go into a company like yours. But when
you decided to purchase this company, why did you do it?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
So I had the opportunity to work with the original
Ridgewell's family, Jeff and Bruce Ellis. They were descendants of
the Ridgewells of Fife and Marguerite and Clarence, and so
I saw how Ridgewells was on. It's the top of
its game. We were the only caterer in town. We
(02:17):
had very little competition, and I saw the passion of
Jeff and Bruce.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Ellis, and I had the ability to work with them.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
They eventually sold the company several months later and the
company just started going downhill from there. They were sold
to a company called Carson Perry Scott, which is no
longer in business out of Chicago. And their intention was
to put a Ridgewells on every street corner like McDonald's
in every major city. But the people is what makes
Ridgewell's work. It's the passion, it's the dedication. And that
(02:49):
model just wasn't going to work. We did have an
office up in Philly and Newark, Delaware, and it just
didn't work. And then they sold it back to a
group of private investors here in washing to DC. And
at that time I started to really get my grounding
and I enjoyed the larger events and I was taking
Ridgewals on the road to larger sporting events, and the
(03:13):
group that they sold it to financially the company wasn't
doing well.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
They said, let's sell it. Let's just sell it.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
And at that point I knew that they were selling it,
and I put a group together, someone that I had
met through an event that we were catering down at Atlanta,
the Olympics, and I just wanted to get it back
to with all of its glory and it was a
great story. It took a while. Everybody in town knows
(03:41):
Ridgewells back then. The good news was they all knew us.
But the bad news was that our finances were not
really where they needed to be, and we were really
close to financially not being stable enough to get any
traditional financing, and we ended up getting some VC money,
but bought it in ninety seven. And the way to
(04:02):
get around this is to sell yourself out of it,
and we had to increase sales. We increased sales our
first six months of business, and then it was a
lot of work we had to do. So the good
news was we got it for a great price, but
the bad news was we had a lot of work
to do, a lot of hard work and you know
it's all paid off. I was very passionate about the company.
I was very passionate about the history of the company,
(04:23):
as I still am, and I'm often brought to tears
about how proud I am with everybody who works at
that company and how hard they work.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Well that something about a leader, and I know that's
not a surprise you, But when we talked to founders
and CEOs and leaders in this series, one of the
first things that come up is passion and having a
passion for what you do and your team, which I
want to talk to you in a little bit, but
why don't we start from the beginning as far as mission.
What is the mission of the company?
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Well, our tagline is passion for Celebration. We want to
provide top quality, innovative food and service and do a
beautiful event from start to finish, whether it's a dinner
party for four or whether it's a big gallop for
four thousand. We have the capability to scale up or
(05:08):
down in any way, and a lot of people might
think that we only do the larger events, but you know,
our roots were the smaller events, and I always instill
in my team that it's really important that we don't
worry that we don't forget missus Smith's garden party over
in Kenwood or something. It was important for us to
always remain and be solid with our roots.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
I know, sometimes Susan, the mission and vision collide. But
is the vision a little bit different for what you
wanted for the company and what it is today.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
No, Actually, I'm really quite pleased with where we're heading
and what we're doing. My goal is to be a
fifty million dollar company by twenty twenty eight, when we
turned one hundred years old, and we're well on our
way there.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
So I feel we're all on the same path and
we're going in the right direction.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
So you talked a little bit about the name, and
obviously almost one hundred years around, name means a lot.
With that said, you have to have all the tools
to make sure that the name meets up to what
everybody expects it to be. With that said, you're certainly
in a customer service kind of industry. It's like maybe
a restaurant would be. With that said, I want you
to talk a little bit about your team, and I've
(06:14):
checked your team out on your beautiful website that we'll
talk about a little bit more and all the offerings
that you have. But you have almost three hundred people,
and that's an extraordinary number. It's a large company. Tell
us a little bit about what the team, what they do,
and how you delegate the many people.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Yeah, so it's interesting because a lot of people have
been working for.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Me longer than I have been there.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
In generational someone who's father worked for us, now their
kids work for us. It's a safe place for them
to work. It's consistent. I am very focused on the employee.
It's not me who makes it successful. It's everybody who's
surrounding me. And I'm forever grateful for all their hard work,
because this industry is hard. Lot of nights, it's a
(07:01):
lot of long hours, and so I think what happens
is it's I've got such an amazing team around me
that knows that what's important to me and that it's
employee first. And I want to make sure that I
am very well connected and I know almost everybody's name
in the company, and it's important for me to acknowledge him,
(07:24):
and I walk around in the mornings, my team members
walk around in the mornings. I've got an amazing group
of people that have been with me for quite a while,
and it's important it's that that it's it's a different generation,
but I'm still old school as it relates. And I
often talk about my mentor and my father, and he
made sure that he went around.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
And talked to everybody.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
He ran a successful architectural and engineering firm in North
Jersey and he was a mentor for me and his
management style was important to me. And when we first
bought the company, my dad was put in his chair
of the board. So I had many, many years of
his leadership growing up in the business world. And I
know if he was still alive, he'd be looking down
at me, and I know he's very proud of me.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
So one of the things you're talking about really gets
me all jazzed up. And I'm a big sports guy.
I've been in it for a very long time, and
when you talk about teams and sports, it's about culture
and that's what you were kind of getting at, and
that all go to the business world too. Tell me
about the culture that you bring down to your employees
and how you make this the atmosphere that you've been
talking about.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Culture is so important to me. There's I work really
hard at it. It's important have I started this during
COVID just because you know, as you know, the industry
just got decimated and I had a handful of people
who kept on, but ninety seven percent of my company
I had to lay off. But that handful of people
we would get together every morning and.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
We would huddle. We'd call it a huddle. What do
you need?
Speaker 4 (08:53):
How can I help you? I mean, we were delivering
food all over the place. We were making boxes to make,
you know, do boxed lunches, and we were just doing
pivoting as much as we can, just to stay open
and stay alive and stay focused. And I'm forever grateful
for that team around me who was so instrumental in
(09:14):
us surviving through the COVID and the pandemic. But it's
important that they know that I care and that we
get together. So now our huddle, which used to be
seven or eight of us, is now forty fifty people.
Anybody can come to huddle the when they want. It's
every Wednesday morning. I get up and I greet everybody.
We say Happy Wednesday, we cheer, we sing, we laugh,
(09:36):
We introduce new employees to the company.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Who might be new.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
We do a quickly little interview, and we celebrate everybody's
birthday during that month, like whatever birthday. But it's just
important for me to be connected and to feel appreciated.
On Friday night, I rented out a bar in Bethesda
and had our holiday party because we're just too busy
during the season and with inauguration, you know, it is important.
And I said, all right, bring your plus one, bring
(10:02):
a friend or whatever. And it was I'm there dancing
with them, and I'm there doing raffle prizes and handing
out gift cards, and it's just it's just important for
them to know that I care. It's just nothing made
me happier than Maria winning a fifty inch screen TV
from our raffle who Maria cleans our offices. I mean,
we were both in tears. We were so excited that
(10:23):
she won that TV. But it's important they know I'm connected,
they know my door is open, they know that they
can talk to me if they've got issues.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
But I just want to make sure.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
That we have a healthy communicative environment that everybody feels
comfortable and wants to come to work in the morning.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Well, one of the things you're talking about that not
a lot of CEOs get to do is having access
to you, and it sounds like that's ultra important.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
I mean, I have an open door policy, although a
lot of times my door is closed just for more
for concentration or meetings, but I'm absolutely absolutely accessible.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
So I want to talk about how everything has changed
over the years. In the four decades that you have
had the company where you started, you went through, of course,
the pandemic, and I know you had to pivot in
many different ways, But how is the industry overall changed?
Speaker 4 (11:11):
Yeah, I think you know, we've got some great competition
in the area. You know, way back when Ridge Wells
was the only game in town and we were the
go to and we love that. But now I've got,
you know, probably a dozen or so really great competitors.
And then we have to deal with the hotels as well,
and we're competing for the same gallon, and so I
(11:31):
think the competition is stiffer.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
But I think the competition keeps us fresh. Yeah, I
think it.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
Keeps us on our toes. But you know it's it's
being innovative. No, you no longer can put a beautiful
plate together on a white dinner plate on a white
on a white tablecloth. It's got to be like, oh,
the tablecloth has got to be demisk and has sequence
and flow, and you.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Know, talking about the extra things you have to do,
the extra things.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
It's just it's not just about the food.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
It's got to be about the presentation and the service
and the style and and you know, we talked about
the caviar station we did the other night at the
Book of Lists, and it's just was a creative and
I brought back the peaking duck station. We used to
do it all the time when I first started at Riginal's,
but we put a.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Different twist on it. We made it.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
The way it looked was different, The way we prepared
it was different, but it was still, you know, really
great peaking ducks. So it's just being innovative and being
creative on how how we display it because the competition
really keeps us fresh, right, So.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
I want to talk about challenges in the industry, and
obviously having competition is a big challenge, but are there
any other challenges that present themselves in the industry right now?
Speaker 4 (12:39):
Well, I think with the labor market, you know, after
during the pandemic, a lot of people left the area.
A lot of people didn't want to be in this
and they've done went to other jobs some more you know,
nine to five jobs, not not so seasonal with us.
So labor's always an issue, and you know, dealing with
the local and all the minimum wages and the taxes
(13:03):
and the tips and you know that kind of things
that are dictated. So you know, that kind of stuff
had guests to get passed on to the customer, so
you know, trying to deal with you know, the regular
things that every company and every industry does. You know,
health insurance, making sure that we've got the right coverage
for all of our employees.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Four oh one K. I mean, it's just running the business.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
So let's forget about being creative and how we're doing
that peaking deck station. It's how we're going to make
sure that everybody's got the proper healthcare coverage and are
being able to afford to live in this region because
this region is expensive to live in. So there's just
taking to consideration everything but also making it making sure
it's still we're not pricing ourselves out of our market.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
Right, So Susan, if you're pitching your business to somebody
that you're interested in doing event, or maybe somebody's coming
to you. Where do you decide to say this is
going to be a good fit for us.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
Well, everybody's going to be a good fit for us.
So as a matter of fact, I'm going to leave
here and we're doing a tasting for a fortune five
hundred company for an event in March, and I want
to make sure that they know me and it's my presence.
You know, our competition, some of our my bigger competitions
have been sold to European companies and so they're no
(14:16):
more locally owned and they're no longer American companies. They're
companies from from England or wherever the other companies are.
So I want them to know that the buck stops here.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Right so there might not be a face to face
connection with them, and that's what you're trying to do
here exactly.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
I'm not all the cases like I don't sit in
on wedding tastings or you know you can't when I can,
I want to be so on my schedule in a
different color. It tells me where all the tastings are
going on and what's going on I always know what
I always get a daily report of what's going on tonight,
what's going on tomorrow night, what's going on over the weekend.
So I just want to make sure that my team
(14:53):
is connected and it's on the radar for everybody.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
So on the website, I want to talk about the
dish and the blog because went onto that this morning
before the interview. It's gorgeous. There's a lot of different
things that you handle.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Thank you well.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
Before that, can you talk about some of the different
events you do, because you really do cover everything.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Yeah, As I mentioned earlier, like it's important we can
do a tea party for four people, or we can
do that galla for four thousand.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
We have a large portfolio of events.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
We do some private school feeding, we have some government contracts.
I have someone who just looks at the government contract page.
That's how that Melon auditorium came up to us. And
it's important for us to always be looking for new business,
and so we do everything from the smaller event to
the much larger galas fundraisers. We have a division of
(15:45):
major events that does the golf. We've had a wonderful
partnership with the United States Golf Association for the last
thirty years, an account that I actually sold when I
first started at the company, and we go all over
the country and cater the us opens no matter where
it is, with exception of Pebble Beach, but I heard
it that we might be doing Pebble Beach. But we've
had a really wonderful relationship and it says a lot
(16:07):
about Ridgewells.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
We can compete with the big dogs.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
We can compete with the larger companies out there, the
billion dollar companies, because our name pops up because of
the service that we have, the style of the food,
our approach, our flexibility. Our food is all homemade and
made from scratch. We're in the middle of a golf
course where we erect a twelve or fifteen thousand square
foot kitchen and we actually boil the potatoes and season
(16:33):
them and serve a beautiful potato salad instead of buying
it from one of the broadliners and opening up a
box and dumping it into a bowl. So we're very
proud of the quality of the food and the presentation,
and obviously the USJA is as well. Because we've had
this contract for so many years. We're excited to be
doing the Preakness again in Baltimore up at Pimlico, and
(16:54):
we've had that for the last three years and we're
looking to grow with them in the future. But it's
know everything you can imagine, weddings, galas, life events, you know,
you name it.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
So I want to talk about a great story, and
I'm sure you have hundreds, But when I talk to
people in your position, one of the great things beside
their team executing whatever they do for a living and
making sure the customer's happy, at something special happen and
you say to yourself, this is why I get up
every day to make something and a life, maybe lives
change where it's a special event, whether it was a
(17:28):
wedding or you put on something special, Do you have
maybe just a story you could share with us, something
that was real special to you that had a profound
effect on you.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Yeah, I think always. An inauguration is very special. But
even more special than that was we cater to the
Nuclear Security Summit several years back and I was in
a room with forty two world leaders.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Wow. Not many people can say no, they cannot with
forty two world leaders.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
And it was very surreal, very high Security We were
during the Nuclear Security Summit, and then we went in
the other room was where the number twos were of
these forty two world leaders, and even that was awe inspiring.
But you know, it's just it's being able to have
access to some of these events. We just did the
(18:17):
seventy fifth anniversary signing of NATO and it was I
wasn't there the actual day of the signing, but my
team was, and it was just, you know, a lot
of my newer team members are like, wow, that was
very cool, and it's just you just get access to
some really wonderful things.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
So with us talking and just getting to know each other,
I'm going to make an assumption that you thrive on
the pressure of having a perfect event, would I be correct?
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (18:41):
Yes, I'm a very hands on person. I am. I
was attending an inaugural ball probably two inaugurations ago, as
a guest, and we were catering the event, and I
saw we started to get backed up for whatever reason,
whether the guest count was misjudge or whatever, but I
like literally started bussing tables. I'm very well known for
(19:06):
being jumping behind a bar at a US Open if
the bar line gets too. I started my career as
a bartender, jumping behind a bar if the lines get
too long.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
I like I thrive on that.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
I'm not afraid to bust tables, I'm not afraid to
roll up my sleeves. I will pitch in whatever they can.
And that to me was taught by my father. In
order to get respect, you've got to give respect. And
they see that I'm picking up dishes in a ball
gown and they're.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
So I wanted to talk about philanthropic and charity work.
And I know that you're very busy with you and
your team, but when you have time to do it,
whether it's through the business or personally, what do you
like to be involved in?
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Yeah, so it's it's I have a top ten list
that I do and I do public speaking, and one
of the top ten is give back. You've often give always,
and so when I first bought the company in ninety seven,
it was important for me to give back to the
community that gave to me and made this ridge wal
I was so successful. So I'm currently I was at
(20:04):
the on the board of Marymount University. I just was fortunate,
by the way, Well, thank you I agree. At last year,
I was given their Alumni of the Year award and
I was their keynote speaker, and they have ordered me
a doctorate of Humane Letters.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
So you can call me. That's quite an honor. Call
me doctor Las if you like.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
But I want to give back to things that I'm
passionate about. And every time I see some new team
members come in, I'm like, all right, you guys. To
be a well rounded you have got to give back
to whatever works best for you and I will support you.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
You find what you're passionate about.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
So for me it was I was diagnosed with cancer,
so I was involved with cancer issues, women issues, children issues,
so I love to mentor women and girls. I was
on the board for many years of the Girl Scout
because I was a Girl Scout myself, and it was
it was really transformative for me when I was younger.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Rachel's Women's Center. I mean I could go on and
on and on.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
Marymount University a great, a great university. But Washington Jesuit Academy.
I love that organization so much and what their mission
is don Bosco Christo Ray.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
So it's stuff that I'm passionate about. Uh, But I encourage.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
The team members, especially the newer ones, to find something
they're passionate about and I will support them.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
We'll give the website at the end of the interview
just here in a couple of minutes. But I didn't
mention the dish and the blog and it's really a
fun read and it's it's there's a lot of variety
on there. Can you tell people about it?
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (21:30):
So it's called the Last Word, and it's just just
a streaming of what what is on my mind or
what's going on in our events industry and just trying
to get traction with the with what what, what's what's hot,
and what's not Just yeah, it's it's I'm very proud
and we've got a good team who add content to
(21:52):
it as well. It's not just me, it's everybody and
their beautiful events that they host.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
So I know when I talk to people in this
series that they're going to stay along around and do
this as long as they had the passion to do that.
And you mentioned that several times, your passion for the company,
your team and what you do, how long do you
want to do this and what's next for the company?
Speaker 4 (22:10):
Yeah, you think I haven't been asked that question a
million times. Well, I want to continue to grow. My
son just joined the company.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
A little over congratulation. Yes, very excited. He's been amazing.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
And I've got another son who I'm going to be
graduating in May from college.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
And I ask you because you know, I have a
daughter that's in the film industry and she didn't want
to get into my industry. But I'm glad she's wanting
to do what she wants to do. Yes, when you've
been doing this for a long time, was there a
plan that you would like him to join or did
he want to join on his own?
Speaker 4 (22:41):
No, he wanted to join on his own, and he
had ten years out of college and he was in
the hotel business and luxury hotels, and so he brings
such a wonderful perspective to the company.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
So I think you know he was all on his own. Yeah,
it's nice. I actually we were out in laing the.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
US Open at LACC, very beautiful club, first time we
were there, and I asked him to take some time
off from his job because we had a very high
end area that I needed to have someone at his
caliber to work it. And he kind of got the
bug and he just is like, Okay, this is kind
of nice, mom, And so it was.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
It was wonderful.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
That's got to be thrilling for you.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Yes, very thrilling, very cool.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Really, so let's do this, let's kind of wrap up.
It's so cool. And I know we've only kind of
hit the tip of the iceberg in the company, but
maybe did some final thoughts. We'll give the website in
just a second. If you're hiring, I know people want
to hear about that in this series as well too,
but maybe did some final thoughts on the company for you.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Go yeah, no, we're always hiring.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
And it's funny because during that huddle, if you were new,
I'd say, okay, Dennis, what did you what did you
major in high school?
Speaker 1 (23:46):
In college?
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Excuse me, They'll be like, oh, art, history or psychology,
And I always go slash catering, Like nobody would ever
think yes to get into catering. I mean, now you
can get a degree in the events business.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
I didn't.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
I'm the old school, well on the job training idea,
but I think it's important. Like we've got hiring, and
the nice thing is that there's so much growth in
this company, like I could give you two dozen examples
of people who have started at the bottom and worked
their way up, starting with me. I mean, I was
the lowest level employee, you know, in the sales department,
(24:20):
and I literally worked my way up. And I can
everybody who's directly around me and my direct reports, I
could still I could say the same thing they were.
My general manager was an intern for me thirteen years ago.
You know, my CFO is a controller at another unit
that we had. My chief development officer has been with
me for over almost twenty two years, and he started
(24:42):
you know.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
You know, I'm glad you brought this up because I've
run into a lot of different companies and CEOs or
general managers or vps that when they get somebody that's
good at what they're doing, they like them to stay
in that corner. But it sounds like you like growth.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
No, and who doesn't like growth? I mean I would, well,
there are some that don't, well, yeah, far be it.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
But I wouldn't want to someone to come in here
to say, like, Okay, I'm going to be in this
job the rest of my life. Like I just I'm
a firm believer in growth, and I see talent and
I see drive and I love that.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
But that goes back to your culture too, because I
think somebody that's starting your company and sees other people
moving up the ladder and assending has to get everybody
very jazz that I don't have to be in this
job the rest of my life.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yeah, no, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (25:27):
I mean I have very little turnover, and if I do,
it might be because someone is spouse's moving or they're
leaving the area.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
But it's great.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
And I've even got people coming back from pre pandemic
who are working for me that left and have decided.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
To Well that's wonderful.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
And not to embarrass you, but that's obviously how you
treat people and a sense of respect for everybody, and
I imagine that pays off and things that you've.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Talked about, right, Yeah, yes, Well, let's give the website every.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Yes www dot Ridge Wells dot com and feel free
to follow us on social media. It's at Ridgewell's DC
on both Facebook and Instagram, and Susan laz at LinkedIn.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Ouk Xanny well Susan, We know how busy you are.
Thank you so much for joining us on CEOs.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
We should know. Yes, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Montgomery County, Maryland is built for business success. Here CEOs
find the resources, incentives, and support they need to grow
their businesses. From site selection to the county provided incentives,
Montgomery County, Maryland is where innovation happens. Learn more at
Thinkmoco dot com. That's th h i n k m
Oco dot com
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