From Oracle to Oasis: Reena Miglani’s Journey into Hospitality

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tonya J. Long (00:03):
Welcome friends.
I'm Tonya Long and this isRESET.
Each week, we shareconversations with thought
leaders, innovators and thedreamers and doers who are
reshaping the future of work,technology, longevity and
purpose.
So settle in and let's explorewhat happens when purpose meets

(00:25):
possibility.
Hello everyone, this is TonyaLong.
Welcome to RESET with Tonya.
And today in the studio here inbeautiful blue, sunny Los Gatos
, we have my good friend, ReenaMiguani.
Reena and I gosh, we areheart-connected; We are mama's
girls.
I met Reena's mother, who is 82, at an event and just fell in

(00:49):
love with her mama, and haveknown Reena for a few years now.
We were part of a women'snetworking organization and the
first time I met Reena we wereat Benu's at a Christmas party.

Reena Miglani (01:00):
And at that time.

Reena was a big-time executive in a huge
company here in the Bay Area,but Reena knew that she had her
own RESET coming.

Yeah.

She understood that she was looking at what
that looked like, and Reena andI went through those transitions
together.

I remember being on camping trips, driving and
talking with you about some ofthe opportunities you looked at.

But in the end, I think Reena followed her heart.
She opened up the mostexquisite restaurant.
So remember, think about thisbig sales executive for Oracle,
because we'll wind up saying itduring the fall and then
transitioned to creatingexperiences for people, to
create memories for people, toreceive comfort, comfort, and

(01:46):
it's just of the most.
Amara is the most lovely.
There are two other restaurantsin your family that are, in
their own right, beautiful andelegant, but Amara is just.
There's nothing quite like it.
So, Reena, welcome to RESETwith Tonya.
Thank you.

Thank you, so excited to be here.
Thanks for the opportunity.

Ah, early in the morning and talking about myself
, I don't care what time it is,you are not much good at talking
about yourself, so we're goingto have to ask some questions
for you.
Juiced and Coffeed.

Up so I've been more than two decades.
A Bay Area resident Definitelyfeel every morning when I get up
and see the beautifulCalifornia skies I feel so
blessed.
Then I forget about how muchthe property costs here or
anything else, but it's just sobeautiful and we're lucky to be

(02:36):
here.
We also live a very hard life.
We've built so much in SiliconValley.
It comes with its own stress,and I lived through that working
in Silicon Valley.
And it comes with its ownstress, and I lived through that
working in corporate career.
And when I got the chance toRESET and transition out of it,
I wanted to build a space wherewe can all slow down, Not one
day when you're on a vacation inEurope, but perhaps a few times

(03:00):
in the week.
And that's why I built Amaraand we'll talk more about it.
But it's as I like to tellpeople.
It's little paradise found inthe Bay Area, but not for some
day, but for every day Not forevery day.

When you say paradise, I think of my time
there.
You have these lush gardensthat are adjacent to the
restaurant which can accommodatepeople, but I think, a paradise
.
Typically, I think most peopleare conditioned to think about
palm trees and flowing water,beautiful blooms, and you
incorporated all of that intothe design of that space.

(03:33):
You've done a lot of design.

I've done.
It was actually quiteinteresting, from looking at
software UX to transitioninginto designing a big space.
Amara is a large restaurantwith our outdoor indoor space,
almost 7,000 to 8,000 squarefeet, and when we took over the

(03:57):
space it was a large space and Iwas when I would close my eyes.
I'm not a designer.
I didn't go to interior designschool, so I really don't know
how to do renditions, but it all, it was all in my brain, all
the sketching and everything.
And I was envisioning a spacethat, without use, without
saying anything to anyone, whenyou enter the space, you come in

(04:21):
stressed, or there's 10 things,100 things on your mind, but
somehow the sensory experiencejust lets your shoulders drop
and you feel like you'vetransitioned into a different
space.
And how do I do that?
And how do I take this bigspace?
Keep the vastness, keep theopenness, but still create

(04:45):
intimacy?
And that's where my designprocess came in that you have
different nooks, you build thespace in a way where you treat
every area with slightlydifferent textures and colors,
and all those are sensoryexperiences which you don't
really need to spell out, but itconnects with you when you walk

(05:08):
in.
So Amara, where it is situated.
It's not on a busy street, it'sactually in a strip mall, which
is great because you don't haveto worry about parking and when
you walk in, nobody's expectingit to be the way it is.
It's a beautiful space, open onthree sides, overlooking the
garden.
Lots of glass.

Lots of glass right.

And then you get hit in your.
You smell something beautifulbecause you have a custom.
You have a custom scent forAmara.
He's hard at making my candles.
Hopefully soon with the holidayscoming.
And so you get that.
Then you've got the lighting,so visually, and you're smelling
this, and then you get seatedin one of those beautiful nooks

(05:51):
and start to see the differenttextures, with marble and
leather and beautifulfurnishings, street patterns
yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly,exactly.
And so you get hit with allthese senses and then you start
to interact with our wonderful,hospitable team members that
really believe in to human andthese wonderful people.

(06:14):
They will make you feel likeyou belong, they will make you

(06:35):
feel that they care about howyour day is going, what you feel
is going to nourish you today,and they'll make the right
recommendations.
It's not about upsells, it'snot about making you eat the
special of the day.
It's really an authentic humaninteraction.
So with all of that, I hearfrom people hey, what have you
built here?
I came in feeling one way andnow I'm so relaxed and that's

(06:57):
just music to my ears.
That's why we built it.

Yes, I remember the night I was there for dinner
with you and I watched yourpatrons and there was a couple
near us.
It looked like they were ondate Adults our age.
And then there was a loud groupdown in the corner celebrating
a birthday or an anniversary andit just felt like a really

(07:19):
high-end, exquisite neighborhoodexperience.
Yes, it's not pretentious atall, so I think you've designed
it for people to want to bringpeople there, special occasions
for gathering in community, wantto do self-care.
I think being in smallcommunities is self-care.
Your most intimate closefriends Right.

And I would say that not just about how you feel
, but Amara is also aboutself-care.
One of the things that I'm a bigproponent of is, yes, you can
be, go and achieve, but if youcan find a time in your day to
slow down, that really helpsyour nervous system, that really
helps your brain, your mentalhealth, your physical health,

(08:04):
and that's why I built thisspace.
I consider Amara almost likecheers of Belmont surrounding
area yeah, exactly, definitely alittle bit brighter, but a
place where, when you come in,they know your name and we
really strive for that and, ofcourse, we use good CRM systems
to bring in that digitaltechnology to help with that,

(08:26):
but definitely want you to feelthat you belong and we are farm
to table.
We go to the local farmer'smarket, we work with the local
San Mateo County farmers.
So it's also about nourishing,and sometimes people might come
back and say, hey, it'sexpensive, but we are really
sourcing high qualityingredients.

(08:48):
And for me it's abouteverybody's, as we're getting
older, eating less and less.
But why not eat really highquality ingredients?
Because that's really going tohelp nourish your body and your
soul.

So, yeah, this was a transition for you Two
years ago.

I think it's been a year, but two years ago you
were in the middle of the RESET.
You're right.

I see that you brought your personal values to
this.
What did you bring in terms ofvalues that you learned in your
20 years ago?
Because, I'm sure there has tobe, and not just tech.

You just mentioned that you have a CRM,
so restaurants with a CRM.

That's clearly from your tech-linging met.
You want to be able to trackbetter service for customers.
But what other values do youthink that you brought that make
you, as a restaurateur, uniquebecause of the journey that you
had before?

I would say the biggest thing that I bring is
quick experimentations that wedo in tech quick experiment and
fail, try something new.
So bringing that agility, Iwould say, is one of the biggest
lessons that I brought from howtech founders work, whether

(10:01):
you're a large company that'sstill innovative or a new
founder, how you quicklyexperiment, see how things are
working and the ability to pivot.
That would be a big lesson thatI brought from there in terms
of building things.

I imagine your staff loves that because they
don't get stuck into something.
That's because it was your baby.

We've all seen that.
We've all seen that in certainleaders.
But I this is my idea I'm stillwedded to people who can't
experiment with things and trythings on when it doesn't work.

I think people like working in those
environments because they get tobe part of trying and trying to
make it work.

And then some little bit more around process.
Probably If you have a bigparty, ivo, I don't want it in
people's heads last minute tostress so if it's going to be a
big banquet or a raw bar, okay,this dish is going to be plated
here.
Let's quickly even use chat GPTand create a little table

(11:03):
setting rendered so nobody'sconfused, everybody's on the
same page.
So just bringing some of thatthoughtfulness and organization
detail.

You reached out to me a couple of days ago
because I have an event at Amaranext week, but you reached out
to me ahead of time to check myintentions, what they would want
to eat those kinds of things.
And then you took the burdenoff me, because I frankly don't
care what they eat, and yourecommended how about, if we do
this, that's taken care of afull week before anyone?

(11:33):
in my party arrives at your door, I think that level of
organizational detail and notleaving things to chance and me,
as a meeting leader, not havingto get there and be bothered by
do we want this versus that?
And then asking people whenit's just when it comes to you.
It allows your guests to focuson why they're there.
Just spend time with each other.

And it's been really fun doing that because
we've done some reallyinteresting events or with local
tech companies being theirboard meetings, and you can see
the stress that the executiveadmins have.
They carry so much burden andeverything needs to be flawless
and they are reporting to highachievers, so our team takes off

(12:18):
a lot of that burden off themand once they've done an event
with us're like wow, you allknow what wine to recommend,
what food my team will.
If somebody comes up with alast minute request, you take
care of it.
I like that because it not onlygives joy to the people that
are eating there but theorganizers too, because they
feel responsible right, I thinkthat's because when everybody

(12:41):
wants purpose, they're not justschlepping food, they are
curating an experience.
Well, their work is elevated.
I love it.

So you had a 20-year career at Oracle.
So that's a big pivot and aRESET from large enterprise tech
to small, intimate hospitality.
On that journey, how did youstart to realize that this
amazing 20-year career was notserving you anymore?
What was your process inrecognizing you wanted to make a

(13:13):
transition and starting to dothat?

I would say multiple things led me to this.
I, earlier in my career, Iworked really hard and you are
at least.
I was always looking for doingmy best and giving more than
200%, and I ended up in a placewhere my body told me you need

(13:40):
to sleep, you need to takebetter care of yourself, and
around 2018, I got really sickand I had my body forced me to
take time off.
Once I started resting a littlebit, I had to take a few weeks
off from work.
Nobody told me this is what aburnout is.
I, once I could get back online, I researched and I found out

(14:02):
oh my God, this is what aburnout is.
My doctor didn't tell methey're sending me to physical
therapy, this that I actuallyended up finding a chiropractor
that is focused on neurology andhe helped me heal and gave me
practices.
So even I know now, when I'mlike just doing too much, how to

(14:25):
RESET, how to RESET, take abreak.
But so that?
And then, once, I became anempty nester.
And then COVID.
I think all of those things gaveme time to reflect and at this
point, somehow my husband Ajayand I reached a consensus that

(14:45):
we were younger parents.
We were in grad school when wehad our first child.
We've done so much run run Notthat running three restaurants
slows you down, but maybe we'llrun together.
So we decided to make this move, to work together and do this.
But with this transition I hadto learn something really

(15:08):
different, which is being anentrepreneur and working for
yourself.
You don't have a boss, andthough in corporate I worked
harder than what was expected ofme, all of a sudden you needed
to be accountable to yourself,and that was a different mind,

(15:28):
different way of thinking, amind shift where I can work 24
hours or I can work two hours,nobody's going to question me.
How do I find that motivationevery day?
And I think took me some timeto get find that balance.

What I see and have personally when I move into
entrepreneurship is we don'thave the forces pulling.
We don't have the pulling usinto things.
So our lives were set.
Our lives were dictated bysales kickoff yeah, a big user

(16:05):
conference with 10,000 people,and then in between were all the
product roles, and for me, Iled products and you led sales.
But we still are focused onwhat's coming out.
What do we need to do?
Yeah, I built it, youcommunicated it with customers
and when you move intoentrepreneurship you don't have
those cadences that you'removing toward.

All about what you want to move toward People
think that's like freedom For me.

It wasn't, because I couldn't just grab
five people into a conferenceroom, go through some ideas,
whiteboard it, get validationand validation is motivation and
then go do things.
It was very different.
Relying only on myself.

Totally agree.
Yes, it's harder.

Yeah, I think it's harder to have those
resources and people tocollaborate with.
And I still miss.
I think the communities that weare involved in have found new
and different ways tocollaborate.
I know you and I have had a fewconversations about Amara, when
you were thinking about newideas for service.

Yeah.

And I've talked about my different pieces of the
journey with you.
As I've moved along, I think wefound new ways of getting that
motivation structure Right.
That's right.
As we continue, I'm going tostep away to do a quick station
ID.
Going to step away to do aquick station ID.

(17:26):
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So thank you for being with us.

(18:13):
And this is Tonya.
Here was Reena Mabloni, therestaurateur and hospitality
guru of Amara Restaurants.
So, Reena, family is superimportant to you and I mentioned
as we started that I had metyour mother and you are a mother
and I think those are importantattributes that you bring to
how you show up.
It makes you a naturalnurturing person.
How have you used those assetsof yours?

(18:36):
How do you see those assetsshowing up in how you lean?

It's interesting that you call it as an asset.
I don't even consider that aliability or an asset.
It's what you grow into andbeing as a mother you learn so
much intuitively when to stepback and when to discipline,
when to totally let somebodyfail and when to discipline when

(19:07):
to totally let somebody fail.
It's a choice, yes, and I thinkthat's something that, as
leaders, it helped me grow as aleader.
It's something that I won'teven say use.
It was just who I was when Iwas leading big teams during my
tech career and it naturallycomes in when I am now, where I

(19:28):
am and now that I'm older, I'mworking with so I have one kid
who's my older daughter, who's amillennial, the younger one,
Gen Z, and I would say 90% of mystaff in my restaurants, 90% of
my staff in my restaurants.
They fall in that category.
So I can totally see, oh,they're saying this, but I know

(19:50):
what's going on, what's behindthe veil, so it's maybe made you
more relatable, if you will, tothe teams.
Yeah, exactly, and some of themjust relate to me as mom because
they're maybe away from theirparents.
So they actually literally someof them say, oh, like, when no
guests are around, it's nice.

(20:10):
It's nice, my kids are away too, so I don't mind having kids
calling me that.
There's a guy in the kitchen,his name is Jonathan, we call
him Johnny, and sometimes I'llsay hey, johnny, and he goes yes
, mama, that's going to thenursery rhymes.
I think it just makes for aclose-knit family at work and we

(20:31):
all uplift each other and thereis no relationship where you're
the boss or whatever, just allare working towards the same
goals to make this successful,make every customer interaction,
every customer happy.

And, based on my limited experience in the
restaurant, I also saw and andyou were teaching and growing
them into more, moreunderstanding, and it was unique
whether it was your sommelieror the person who was taking
care of our table.
I saw you approach themdifferently, I think, with a
mindset on how to help them grow, and that you definitely pull

(21:22):
from your corporate career tohelp them grow, and that you
definitely pull from yourcorporate career and you do it
with a maternal element to you.
That, I think, makes it a veryenjoyable experience to be on
your teams, thank you.

Thanks for noticing that Because, as I said
, I'm not actively trying.
Probably it becomes secondnature.

We're very lucky because a lot of us have to work
on it.
We really have to work at it.
It's not inauthentic.
And to your point earlier abouthow busy we all get, I know the
busier I am, the less time I'mable to take for people, the
less time I have to give to thenurturing process and I have to
consistently remind myself toslow down so that I can, because

(21:59):
at the end of the day it'sabout the people.
You're not serving the people.
You're right the people Right,both your client people and your
employee people Then you're notgoing to move forward.
We know this.

Then even just cooking personally for yourself
when you're in a bad mood, thesame simple sandwich is not
going to taste good.

We've talked about that Right.
So I want to match you,matching people Exactly Better
tasting meals, yeah.

So, whether it's meals or writing software, it's
so important that, as leaders,whatever you're suffering from
in your mind or in your body,you've got to leave that when
you show up, it's curtain, stoptime and the energy you bring
it's going to either permeateand uplift everyone.

(22:44):
You are down, you bringnegativity.
It's actually going to multiplyand bring everybody further
down.
Then what's going to happen tothe product, whether it's food
or code or selling or whatever?
It's going to suffer.
So being a leader comes withthat responsibility and I guess
I've been in leadership rolesfor so long.

(23:05):
Now it's become second nature,but something I had to learn and
I actually just saw an articlein Harvard Business Review,
something talking about thatthat, as leaders, the energy
that we bring, the positivity,is one of the most important
things that we can do for theteam, yeah, and you and I have
been around a long time.

I want to see Right.
Negativity, the inability tomake people happy, and it's a
chore to be in thoseenvironments.

We've seen the impacts that we value creating
environments People want to showup and do their best work,
exactly Right, and you can be aleader without you got to let go
of your ego.
I think that's the otherimportant thing, because when
you let go of the ego, you'reable to learn so much from

(23:55):
others.

Yes.

Because and then you don't have the need to be
always so you actually multiplythe intellect on your teams,
because people are then notafraid to give suggestions or,
as I said, do small experimentsand fail because you've provided
the space.
And that happens when you letgo of your ego and thinking that

(24:18):
my idea is always the best.
So that's, yeah, I love it.

I think what you just said is gold.

It really is gold .

This concept of letting go of ego.
Use that for just a moment.
I talk to a lot of people whoare suffering that's a strong
word, but they're suffering fromthe loss of status when they
move down from a big corporaterole being a consultant, and
they had all the reasons in theworld for choosing to make that
RESET, but it's easy to missbeing on the main stage right.

(24:51):
What was that like for you andhow did you manage the change in
status, the shift in, maybe theway you show up with, how
people identify you by where youwork and what you do, and they
declare their value of you basedon that.
How did you manage that, comingout of Oracle to Amara?

I need to give it a little bit thought.
I would say I was.
I do tell people that I waslucky because I had the support
of my family and sometimescorporate is your identity and
that's if people don't see thatyou don't know what you, what
identity you hold.
But I think my kids and myhusband really supported me

(25:37):
through the transition and thatreally helped because I saw that
I still have 70% of the otheridentities that are so much more
important.
You have a corporate career butat the end of the day everybody
goes to earn money so they canraise their family.
I think that's the biggest,most important thing, that if

(25:59):
you lose that part, then that'sdifferent.
But that was always importantto me because my family
validated who I am outside ofcorporate.
I think that was very helpful.
And then I did have a launchingpad with our existing
businesses to bring thatgoodwill, that name that
Michelin credits to this newStrongyville.

(26:21):
So I would say it's not easyfor everybody but maybe I was
lucky to have that foundation.
And then things you do strugglewith stuff.
It's not all hunky-dory.
First of all, how do you workas an entrepreneur?
I touched on that earlier, eventoday sometimes I'll be.
You might approach some guestsand you can tell instinctively

(26:45):
that they think of oh, this issomebody in hospitality.
You're talking about suchimportant things, so this AI and
that AI.
When I hear that I know whatyou're talking about.
I come from tech and not thatyou have to be from tech to know
what AI is.
I know plenty of smallbusinesses that are using AI

(27:06):
very well, but I think there's alittle sense of elitism.
When you are even a smallbusiness owner, you actually own
your destiny.
Your destiny is owned by on aspreadsheet.
Tomorrow you are out of budgetfor somebody and it can change.

(27:29):
So I don't know why peoplebuild their identities just
around that and forget thatother people are important or as
smart or bring some othersmarts.
But, as I was going back towhat I was saying, that you'll
approach some guests and you canfeel that intellectual elitism
where you can tell the thingthat oh, this is somebody who's

(27:50):
not so smart.
So, yeah, I'm like, okay, yeah,go get me this thing and please
get out of my way.
You're not important enough totalk to.
But I guess with years ofexperience, as you're older, you
go like that.
It almost makes me chuckleinside that.
Why are we building ourselvesto be better than somebody else?

Probably age.
It's probably internalconfidence that continues to
gain in wisdom.
But for me, when I run intothose situations, I'm absolutely
confident those people don'tmatter to my future.
So the people who would behavein that manner are well, let me
take care of what they need, butI don't need to convert every

(28:36):
point into understanding myinherent value.

I need some people like that for my internal
comedy so I can laugh.
That's a little chuckle.

Now I'll tell you what I saw in you as we did
that journey, because you didn'timmediately make the decision
to go into restaurant.
What was it?
Maybe six or eight months, butwhat I saw was I really saw you
lean into the creativity youwere going to get to do in this
design and build.
Yes, your family had otherrestaurant roots, but this was

(29:09):
yours.
I don't want to call it aproject because that minimizes
it, but I saw when you made yourpivot, when you made the
decision, I saw how much joy youhad in being refreshed by doing
something new.
Yeah, and that's what I takeaway from your experience on
behalf of others, because itgoes back to that mindset thing

(29:30):
You've leaned into what you getto do instead of what you
weren't showing up for what youweren't showing up for Right and
I think that made just likeyour examples of happy people
make tastier food.
You were really happy doing thework.
I build it in my shows Rightand all the care comes from how
you feel when you walk into atomorrow?

Definitely no, I totally agree, and probably I
grew some other brain cells insome other part of my brain.

What did you learn that was new, that
surprised you?

Being able to design something like that, and
both my kids are in creativefields and I used to wonder
where did they get that from?
And now I know there is thatdormant creativity that laid in
there, but probably due to thepressures that my husband and I
grew up with, that there'scertain careers that you kind of

(30:23):
gravitate to.
Yeah, you are supposed to pursueand that's what success means.
So I think I'm glad that I,later on in life, got to try
that.
And now I'm really excitedabout the journey of launching
Amara to now what we want tobuild it to be a community space

(30:44):
.
I'm really leaning into eventsthat resonate with a different
age group.
That's like the next chapter.
Next six months will befocusing on that.
We started with some live music.
We're starting with some artclasses.
I really want to build At Amara.
Yes, art classes.
Yes, fascinating.

(31:05):
Yes, the first one is coming upcalligraphy and you sip wine
and you meet other women.
Men are welcome too, but wow,Okay.

And your live music?
What kind do you do?

So we started with once a week bringing in DJs
Again, different music becauseI feel that everyone should just
enjoy life and not just bestuck in the 80s music just
because I'm Gen X and all that.
So we're doing things acrossthe board.
I'm bringing in in a couple ofweeks DJ that plays Afro, funk,

(31:40):
arabic music.
Okay so.

I was expecting acoustic, a guitar in the corner
or jazz.

We are going to do jazz, I'm planning to do jazz
brunches, but I want to helpour local jazz bands at high
schools, so I'm going to bringlocal high school bands, bring
them in and then make a donationto them.
They come to play, theneighborhood shows up and then
we give part of the proceedsfrom that day to them.

(32:08):
That's coming too, but slowlybuilding that.
We're starting with Fridaynight DJs.
So, as I mentioned, we've gotan Afro, funk, arabic music.
We've got EDM, we've got anAfro, funk, arabic music.

We've got.

EDM.
Oh wow, yes, latin.
Actually, a Spaniard who'splaying Latin beats.
So all different kinds of stuff.

Your daughters, may have had something to do
with these playlists.

I know a lot about music too.
In fact, some of my staffmembers go oh, how do you know
this artist?
I'm like I'm not dead yet Ilove it.
I like to listen to currentmusic.
I'm not stuck just in my 80s80s, not age 80s music.

Exactly, I grew up on 80s music too.

And I love it, I love it, yeah, yeah.

Good, we're going to do a quick radio station ID.
You're listening to Pirate CatRadio, kpcrlp 92.9 FM at Los
Gatos and KMRT LP 101.9 FM outof Santa Cruz.
We also have a new itty-bittybaby station, and I shouldn't
say it that way, but I'm just soenamored with it.
We've opened a station inPortland, as in Oregon, so we

(33:15):
have a brand new station, kbbeLP 91.1 FM.
If you're up in Portland, we'rehappy to have you today.
Back to RESET with Tonyafeaturing Reena McGloney.
I've got to come up with asnazzier description for you
Restauranteur, hospitality guruand happy pivoter, because I

(33:36):
think that you have reinventedyourself when you think about
the work you were doing in 2015versus the work you're doing in
2010 is not anything you wouldhave probably forecasted.
So that reinvention process.
What did you learn that?
How do I say this and be I wantto know what you wish you

(33:59):
hadn't learned, hadn't had tolearn.
What was the hardest learningfor you in reinventing this new
era of Reena?

You've asked me the toughest question because
I'm such a glass half fullperson and I'm not inviting any
negative.

That's a good call out for you, okay, yeah
yeah, I will simmer innegativity sometimes.

Yeah, as I said, I will simmer in some negativity
, but you don't.
But then, like in a few hours,I'm like, yeah, just move on.
Yes, yeah, exactly, there'sthings to worry about.
I always say that I have alovely home.
I live in California, as Istarted out earlier.

(34:41):
I have 25 chefs on my beck andcall.
I can eat the fanciest food tothe simplest meal I want.
What's there to worry about?

I've learned that .
I derive more value out of myquiet time Working, processing
time than I thought I did.
I'm a pretty strong extrovert,but I've learned that there's a
lot of my thinking happens withjust me and in the silence of my

(35:13):
home office.
So that's something that isvery different than my
operational personnel incorporate.
So that was for me.
As my reinvention occurred, Ibecame a lot more introspective.

So I would say some things haven't changed,
because in my corporate careerit was go.
You're interacting, especiallyin sales and supporting large
global teams.
You're always talking on thephone, on the Zoom, so for me my
deep thinking was always latenight.
That's why I sleep very littleand now I'm used to it.
If I sleep more than six hoursfor two nights in a row, then

(35:47):
I'm up at 3 am.
But it's just fine, okay, butdefinitely my deep thinking
still happens at night.
That's just how I think.
But one thing that I've come torealize is I don't try to drive
myself with my task list or adaily task list.

(36:09):
I build a broader horizon,maybe weekly, like a monthly
horizon, and a weekly horizonFocus on strategic, and then I
kind of work based on my energy.
So now, different thancorporate, my Saturdays and
Sundays are not off, becausethat's when the whole world is
going out to have fun.
So I have a restaurateurworking, so my days off are on

(36:32):
Monday.
But then in the beginning, whenI was taking my Mondays off,
people are on my differenttechnology partnerships that I
have.
They want to meet on Monday andI was booking my Mondays off.
People are on my differenttechnology partnerships that I
have.
They want to meet on Monday andI was booking my Mondays and
then I was.
That was supposed to be my dayoff.

Then I was waking .

And then my Tuesday is my Monday.
Then I was waking up reallytired because I didn't give
myself a chance to refresh, so Ineeded to block Mondays off.
Now I realize Tuesday morningis my Monday morning, so I take
it slow.
I removed all my meetings from.
I had my management meeting setup for Tuesday morning.

(37:08):
I'm like, no, I'm not going todo that.
So I think I've, because I'm myown boss.
I've learned to also manage myenergy better and then align my
energy to what I need to do andfigure out what days work better
, what hours work better forwhat kind of tasks.
For me.

Eleven we keep unintentionally dancing around
this notion of beingoverscheduled, overstimulated.
What do you think you'velearned coming from hyperdrive
tech enterprise to modeling forthe environment?

(37:50):
You want to create slower, moreintentional.
What have you learned that youthink would be good advice for
people who are looking to makethe same shift?

So, as I touched upon energy, I think when you
start realizing your own energyand how you feel and then at
least be able to influence whatyou're going to do where you
have influence, I think reallyhelps.
And also starting to understandwhen your body and your mind

(38:20):
tells you that it's time to slowdown, do that.

I had this conversation just yesterday.
Yeah, I'm not good at listening.

But your body tells you before it gets to a
point of where it's going to getsick, because then it's forcing
you to so doing.
That is important and I believejust stop ordering DoorDash.
That's what I will tell you asa nothing against DoorDash.
Get out of your house and meetpeople, and that's what

(38:52):
restaurants provide.
They don't provide a meal.
They actually provide you aspace to be with other humans.
As far as I remember growing upand hearing from my dad which he
missed with big cities when hemoved to New Delhi from a small
city in the western border ofIndia that in the evening women

(39:14):
never made bread at home.
They had a communal tandoorwhere they would bring their
dough and they would all chatand gather, exactly, and sitting
in front of the TV, you'retaking that away from yourself.
Put on some pants and shoes andget out and be communal, and
that's what helps you slow downand then put that phone away,

(39:37):
because you have to reallyrealize people who are rich
today are the ones that canactually control their attention
span, because it's being robbedfrom us.
So force yourself to do thatand you'll actually connect and
enjoy and recharge and be readyfor the crazy next day where you
are meeting customers anddebugging bugs, or coming with
the next billion dollar idea.

But society's working against this concept
with DoorDash, with one of theinvestments that my funds looked
at was a robotics in food,high-end food truck with walks
that cooks exquisite food.
We're not talking about cheapchicken and rice, we're talking
really like high-end lobster andscallops.
As the truck is en route to yourhome.

(40:21):
So it's delivering a veryhigh-end, restaurant grade,
high-end meal, but to your house, and part of me sees the value
in that.
But then I see the loss ofcommunity because like being at
Amara and seeing peoplecelebrating a birthday, people
on a date, you're out, you'regathering that energy of other

(40:44):
people and like what's the pointin delivering lobster to my
house if the kids are out in thebackyard on a swing set and the
husband's working on you knowhe's watching a football game?
What good is that exquisitemeal if you don't have the
environment that supports beinga community?

So I'll give you a quirky and funny example.
I was watching this movie fromthe 80s, a rom-com, which one
I'm forgetting.
I think it was something withMeg Ryan, I think.

Oh, that could have been 10 different ones.
Yeah, yeah, okay, ryan.

I think, oh, that could have been 10 different
ones.

Yeah, yeah, okay, so you're watching a rom-com.

I'm watching a rom-com and I tell my husband
look at their teeth, they'renatural, they have flaws and
they all have their own.

How interesting.

They all have their own unique faces because
there's something imperfect withtheir teeth.
I think having flaws, even withyour food once in a while, I
think that's what it is.
Not having perfect teeth, buteverybody having a little quirk
is what's human and that's whatmakes your unique smile yours,
versus a perfect, perfectlywhite, beautiful big teeth.

(41:54):
I think you've got to get awayfrom perfection and realize a
meal is not about yes, some daysyou want that three Michelin
star experience, but every dayshould be more about connecting
around the table, around food,and sometimes our customers tell
us you guys always do such agreat job.
Every time I have a great,every time I come in I have a

(42:17):
great meal.
And I really laugh because myhusband always tells them the
same thing You're not diningwith us enough because we cook
plenty of bad meals too.
But I think that's what it isto be human to make mistakes and
have flaws and have bad dayswhen you do something not so
perfect.

And your husband has a tremendous amount of
humility Right.

Humor and humility it does.

Both make people more accessible, exactly.
So what have you noticed withthe way you serve people,
building community?
Have you started to see thatimpact, how your business
cadence is run by people, groupsof friends, that all come on

(43:02):
Thursday night.
Or I had one of those groups inTennessee.
Every Thursday night we wentand had dinner together for two
or three years and it was greatto different places.
And have you noticed communitybuilding around the experience
that you curate?

yet A lot.
So one is like formal that weintroduced a membership club and
we're building a communitythere and there's a little bit
of exclusivity because they getaccess to these events ahead.
As we change the menus, we wantto invite them in more, not
because it's exclusive, not justbecause it's exclusive, but we

(43:40):
also think that as members theyare rooting for us to be
successful.
So why don't you get the firsttaste and give us feedback
before you make it available toeveryone?

I don't know if I'm right or wrong, but it feels
like country clubs have gone.
They're not as useful anymore.
I guess, I was a member ofSilicon Valley Capital Club.
That was downtown and it was agreat place Whenever I was out
with friends and we'd donesomething.
I didn't have to wait for atable on a Saturday.

I could just text them.

When I got there with my friends, they had the
table ready take people two orten, but I can take people
somewhere and people are goingto greet me by name.
People are going to know what Iusually have to drink which is
not alcohol, and my guests aregoing to be made to feel like
guests in my home.
They're going to come therereputedly, and so you having a

(44:33):
membership club andpersonalization that I think
people are looking for.
There's beauty in variety, butI think most of us eat out a lot
with work.
I would rather go somewherethat's familiar, because I
really don't care what I'meating.
I care about how I feel.
And I want my guests who havebeen here before to have that
experience as well.

The thing is we try to do that with each guest.
So how do we make it exclusive?
Because I mentioned CRM, andnot just that, because our team
members stay with us for a longtime, so they naturally start to
recognize and then they getasked by name by our guests hey,
can so-and-so be there the dayI am there?

(45:15):
So how do we build exclusivityfor our members?
So we've opened up some otherprivileges.
So, for example, one of ourmembers he has his own company
and his board meeting washappening on a Monday and we are
closed, and he requested can Ibring my board in?
I'm like, oh, we're closed, butI've got to check with the chef

(45:36):
, maybe he'll be okay with that.
And chef goes, check with thechef, maybe he'll be okay with
that.
And chef goes, of course,anything for him.
And the chef didn't even knowhe's part of this membership
club.
But the fact that he comes thereall the time, exactly.
So there's that.
And then Saffron.
Our first restaurant has beenaround for 20 plus years.

(45:57):
We've seen some couplesactually propose at the
restaurant.
Then they got married, they hadkids and once the kids were
ready to eat out, the kids got achance.
And these are not Indianfamilies, these are non-Indian
families bringing in their twoyears old eating butter chickens
.
I'm like, wow, I have a kid wholoves Indian food now for life.

(46:21):
These kids go away to college.
When they come back home, theirfirst stop is saffron.

Oh, I love that Because they've been craving.
They've been craving butterchicken or whatever their dish
is.

And then on the other end, now I can count three
people that have had saffron astheir last meal.
They requested One meal wasactually flown across the
country.
Oh my goodness, wow, yes, so Idon't know if I.
Yeah, it's kind of it's anhonor.
It's sad, but it also speaks topeople wanting comfort.

(46:54):
Yes, wanting to lock somememories that were built over a
lifetime.
Exactly exactly.
And then, when we were lookingto expand, we did look on the
East Bay.
We went all the way up toSacramento because people were
talking about the opportunities.
But we felt that our communitywas the Bay Area, because this

(47:14):
is where we raised our families.
Our friends live here, ourcustomers are here.
Some of them have become ourbest friends.
We just couldn't relate.
So we ended up staying here andnow, with three restaurants, I
feel like we're building acommunity where people are
almost saying, hey, do I wantNorth Indian today?
No, I think I want Mediterraneanor I want a dosa today, I think

(47:38):
I want Mediterranean or I wanta dosa today.
And within our own ecosystem webuilt this community where
people get a certain feelwherever they go, because they
know they'll get great food,great service.
They know the people that workthere.
Some of our team members havebeen there within Saffron from
the beginning.
So a lot of people don't knowus as the owners.

(47:59):
They think they are the owners.
So it's like that community.
I don't know.
It's almost gives me goosebumpsand like a warm feeling that
our customers, the love they'vegiven us.
And that's the community andit's been building for now two
decades.

I see this need for connection with all the
people.
I'm out.
A lot People are seeking andthis is I've not thought about
this, so these words aren'tgoing to be pretty People are
seeking standardized connection,connections they can count on.
I grew up in the South, so inthe South everybody goes to
church.
But you go to church becausethat's how you're called, but

(48:38):
you also go to church becauseit's your time with community,
Of course, On Sunday mornings,Wednesday nights you can be with
your community and I think thatpeople are going back to those
values of needing to be withtheir community to feed their
soul and you happen to feed themotherwise.
I love it.
What's your prediction for thenext big trend in dining and

(49:00):
hospitality?

I feel that we've become very performative in
terms of how we represent foodand by that Instagram and it
took food to this level of again, perfection, beauty, and then

(49:26):
the first person that went viral.
Everybody copied them and tookaway from being authentic, or
it's still taking away frombeing authentic to everything
being the same and this is notjust hospitality, it impacts
other sectors too.
I'm predicting that people aregetting tired of that too.

(49:48):
I'm predicting that people aregetting tired of that, and I
feel it's going to be.
We'll still be on social mediapresenting what we do, but I
think it's going to be moreauthentic and less on trend
versus what I do, and I believehow people will rise above that
will be storytelling.
Storytelling in every sales hasbeen very important.

(50:09):
I believe it's going to geteven more important because
that's where people will know,because if I'm doing this, the
second person follows the sameway of plating, the third person
does the same.
It's my unique value, then.

Third person does the same with my unique value,
then I see that in your socialmedia presence, because there is
a narrative evolving about theenvironment, about the place and
space that gives to people.
So I hadn't consideredstorytelling to be an element of
that, but now that you've saidit, I absolutely see it in how
you position Amara as a serviceto others.

So I feel that across hospitality, going back
to, instead of trying to be ontrend, probably people will go
back to why I'm unique, what'smy signature in what I do.
And I believe that as we shedthose fears of COVID and going
out becomes more important whichalready is becoming, especially

(51:11):
for younger generation I thinkrestaurants will lead the trend
for building community because,as you mentioned, country Club
Narg is not something that'saffordable, approachable for
everybody.
It's not something that'saffordable, approachable for

(51:34):
everybody and it does notprovide that short-term ability
to gather.

So I think restaurants will fill that,
continue to fill that need andbuild more around events and
bringing entertainment andbringing lectures and different
types of experiences anddifferent types of experiences
and, as you've demonstrated,you're there to and this is not
come out well either, but you'vedemonstrated that you're in
service to your customers.

So when someone wanted to come in on Monday for
a really good reason you did it,how you've curated menus for
different events.

It forces us to get out of our, but I have this
my menu is hamburgers, fries,milkshake.
That's what I do.
You're being extremely flexibleand accommodating.
What can we do?

for you.

And I think that's a mindset that will pay
dividends for you as youcontinue to grow People that
know about them, thank you,thanks for noticing that.
Let's do a quick lightninground.

I like lightning rounds of beer.

We can just answer several questions with
quick answers.
And I think some of the answersbecome very interesting.
So the first question oneSilicon Valley habit what?

was the one Silicon Valley habit that you
had to RESET when you went tohospitality.
I touched on something where Isaid quick experiments and fail.
But I would say my quickexperiments and fail were very
driven by what my customer needs, not what I feel is needed.
So that was a switch and, to bea little bit witty, I had to

(53:05):
drop saying all those acronyms.

All right, All right, all right.
So what she means for thosethings that aren't necessarily
inside the tech machineeverything in the world is a
four-letter acronym, like we canspeak acronym.
Our people say I'm headed toLAX, we know that's Los Angeles.
But other people are like I'mheaded to LAX, yeah, we speak in

(53:27):
our acronyms in tech, so that'sLos Angeles.
But other people are like I'mheaded to LAX, yeah, we speak in
our acronyms in tech, so that'spretty funny.
That is pretty.
What's a dish that instantlyRESET your mood?

Basmati rice with moong dal Always takes me back
to no, no, just the lentils andrice.
Simple lentil and rice, thecomfort food that every mom in
India cooks, and it might be alittle bit varied as you move
across different regions withinIndia, but it's always a staple

(54:03):
comfort food.

I'm so glad you didn't say biryani.
I had a whole team who wantedme to love biryani.
Good stories, good stories.
We talked about a habit youshed when you came into
hospitality.
I'm glad acronyms was Thank you.
What's a habit that you thinkSilicon Valley leaders need to

(54:24):
learn from hospitality?
Customer orientation.
But we think we have a lock onthat.

I think we need to observe our customers more
and not just feel that I'mbuilding this new thing and the
customers need it, andespecially as tech leaders, we
are not just impacting one or 10customers.
We're impacting a wholegeneration of customers.
So let's be mindful.
Am I building for wealth or amI actually building it for my

(54:55):
customers?
So what impact is it going tohave?
Because it's not going toimpact just 10 people.
It's going to impact the wholesociety and don't forget, you
are part of society too.
So what you are building backthe whole society, and don't
forget, you are part of societytoo.
So what you are building, it'sgoing to come back and impact
your families, the world youlive in.
So let's be mindful.
Preach.

Preach Love it.

So I love your wisdom, I love your mindset.
Are there any books or podcaststhat you really enjoy, that you
think contributed to how youengage, to who you are?
Multiple things, but I believeI read Brene Brown her Dare to
Lead.
Yeah, it really helped mebecome shed some of the fears
about being authentic.

Big fan of Renee.

Yes, what else?
I would say some of the sciencefiction, like the Foundation
series, oh interesting.
I don't know about theFoundation.

That's.

Isaac Asimov's book series.

Obviously, I know Isaac Asimov.

Yes, his Foundation series.
I go back and read or evenlisten to it, because imagining
what's happening today back thengives me because I'm a very
imaginative person.
But for me, if you can imagineit, it can happen, you can build
it.
So yeah, I would say it's notreally a leadership book, but it

(56:26):
does help me expand my mind andbe very brave.

I see how it would right and books transport
into new environments, sciencefiction, environments that may
not even exist.

One of the things I went back and listened to the
first in the series a few weeksback and of course, they're
living in the future and theworld is run by science.
But one of the things thescientists say is that many
thousands of years back wedecided that we invented
everything we need to, soscience became unimportant.

(56:59):
Makes you feel that howsometimes leaders can shape this
because they want people tostagnate and feel that, okay,
everything is right.
Yes, exactly, and some of thosethings we are going through
right now.
So it's very interesting to getthat perspective from somebody
who wrote that 50, 60 years back.

I think it's important that you're interested
in that perspective.
Okay, one tough question to endwith.

Oh my.

No, it's insightful.
It's insightful If you couldRESET one decision that you've
made in life.
That'd be what would you doover?

I wish I'd done some more RESET.

I love that and I think that's authentic.
That was the first thing on thetop of my head.

I wish I'd done more RESET, but again, I was
busy raising children so Ineeded more consistency and I
feel RESET are like remixes,because you learn so much and
then you bring that and remix itwith what you're learning right
now.
So it's my fusion living.

I love it.
All right, Reena.
Where can people learn moreabout Amara Love?

it.
All right, Reena.
Where can people learn moreabout Amara?
Definitely our website,amararestaurantscom.
Or follow us on Instagram,where most of the storytelling
is happening, again atamararestaurantscom.
Or connect with me on LinkedIn.
Reena Miglani and we can have aconversation and I would invite
people to come experience it.

Come meet me, come say hello and experience
what we've built your Instagramaccount, too, for Amara has some
beautiful visuals.
You've really found you may bedoing these, but if you're not,
you've found people that reallycapture the essence of what it
is in your Instagram post.
It's just beautiful and itcreates it's that storytelling

(58:48):
that we talked about.
Yeah yeah, I love it Definitely.
So when we finish up an episode, we do this.
Give me a heart Excellent.
So we're giving a heart to theaudience that's out there on our
video and, Reena, you've got somuch heart and I'm so glad we
had this time together.

Thank you.

I You've got so much heart and I'm so glad we
had this time together.
Thank you, my friendship withyou has been so impactful to me
over the last three years.
The things that I've learned,the Band-Aids that you put on my
skinned knees.

You both have helped each other get to this
remix.

It has been a wonderful journey.
I feel like we're both likeright now.
We're enjoying it.
There will be more.

There will be more RESET?

Yes, and I'm so happy to know that people like
you are out there to engage withand you're growing that next
generation into the samebehaviors.
Thank you, such a pleasure,such a pleasure to be with you
today.
Thank you Everyone.
This has been RESET with Tonya,with the inimitable Reena
McGloney on.

(59:50):
Are you ready for it?
Kpcrlp 92.
I know it's M in Los Gatos.
And KMRT LP 101.9 FM out ofSanta Cruz.
And, of course, I've alreadymentioned our newest addition to
the family, kbbe LP 91.1 FMfrom Portland.
Everyone, have a marvelous day.
Go find your own patch ofsunshine while Reena and I enjoy

(01:00:12):
the one here in Los Gatos.
Take care everyone.
Thank you, goodbye.
Thanks for joining us on RESET.
Remember, transformation is ajourney, not a destination.
So until next time, keepexploring what's possible.
I'm Tonya Long and this is home.

(01:00:34):
This is RESET.

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Episode Transcript

Host

Tonya J. Long

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}From Oracle to Oasis: Reena Miglani’s Journey into Hospitality