AUGUSTA - Celebrity chef José Andrés is famed not only for his slew of acclaimed restaurants he operates but also for the one he decided not to. He notably pulled the plug on his restaurant that was to go into Trump International Hotel in Washington.
This week, he's in Augusta during Masters Week, but not necessarily for golf. He addressed a crowd Thursday morning at Augusta's West Lake Country Club, where Intersport and the Washington Speakers Bureau hosted the Executive Marketers Leadership Summit. Joining Andrés was former CIA chief John Brennan in a conversation moderated by Business Insider U.S. editor Alyson Shontell.
“We are seeing the beauty of what America is. We make decisions and we have to live by those decisions,” Andrés said, referring to his decision not to do business in the president’s hotel. “For me, it was a smart business decision because 55-60 percent of my work force are Latinos.”
Trump's key rallying cry during his presidential campaign was building a wall between the United States and Mexico. Shortly after becoming president he issued an executive order broadly expanding the pool of people prioritized for deportation. As a result some immigrants in the United States illegally have found their routine check-ins with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have begun the deportation process.
Andrés kept his restaurants closed during the recent "Day Without Immigrants” protest, another tangible show of support for his diverse workforce.
“You are only as good as the team you have around you,” he said.
The James Beard Award-winning chef also shared his thoughts on success and leadership.
“One thing I really try to do is make my organizational chart more flat and open where everyone knows who everybody is,” he said. “I’m able to see across the room a person who probably would have never had the chance to meet me and they might give me a good idea. It’s good to create an environment where everybody is at easy sharing ideas, even as absurd as they may be.”
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