To jump into things directly Lisa – given all that’s swirling how do you describe the outlook for the hospitality sector the next 12 18, even 24 months?
It is tricky. Just forecasting per se is difficult right now… What I do know and what we can see is that there’s no rhyme or reason that you can really pick up and run with. So you’re using a lot of your knowledge and your experience and trying to really look at the future with your crystal ball in hand. But we like to be optimistic. And we also believe that this is the time you should be growing – we’re about to open four venues in [North Sydney mixed use development] Aura, so we’re certainly a big believer in growth and have a growth pipeline.  

Ultimately what’s presented under the group’s umbrella is a broad offer across the various Etymon venues. That broad brushstroke must aid during times such as these?
What we know about this market [Sydney] is it’s value led. So value driven people want to see value and it’s perceived value – it’s not necessarily a fact; some of the brands doing really well I would argue aren’t necessarily cheaper than others. But it’s the perception of value – and good for them.

Is part of the future for Etymon – that growth you speak of – looking and thinking internationally?
Yes, that’s part of planning. And certainly Asia for us – Hong Kong, Singapore, China are of interest for different reasons. But also LA and London – they’re areas that we would like to play in and our vision is 20 to 30 venues here and then offshore.  

We’re sat in Tiva, downstairs from the sumptuous standout that is The Grand Charles Brasserie. What has this venue enabled in regard to wider brand equity for the group …
It’s huge brand equity from this – firstly, because it looks so good, the design is fantastic. The building itself, it’s iconic. And that’s partly why we’re here. When we look to build signature style, iconic heritage is something that tick boxes for us because we want to be different. So, in seeing this building to begin with and walking in upstairs and you’ve got this double height ceiling on the righthand side, it just screamed brasserie. I think the way both H&E and Cox brought it to life is incredible and that’s really added huge brand equity to us and is also huge reputationally. There isn’t anything like it in the city.

You touch on it there – but good hospitality design is just so incredibly important and on a multitude of levels.
Absolutely, and I think there’s the difference between those that can design interiors that look beautiful and those that can design interiors that look beautiful and are functional – I mean we need that in hospitality but not everyone is able to provide it. For us, we love working with those like H&E because they get it. If it’s not functional, we can’t serve and service gives the experience that we want. From a brand perspective things certainly have to look a certain way and match your brand identity and vice versa…  the whole thing has to match the concept that we originally designed but also be fitting for the market that we’re trying to attract.  

What should be the experience of a patron coming into an Etymon venue – given that the offer is so broad, what are those central tenets that govern across the group’s properties?
Everything has to be approachable. Everybody is treated the same way. So humility, approachability and being welcoming and having a generosity of spirit – when you’re coming into our places, you’re coming into our home. I like that. So, we want to make people feel comfortable – at home. And that’s also the origins of hospitality – ‘welcome into my home, let me feed and water you after your long journey’.

You started your career in finance. Why make the move and what do you most enjoy about working in ‘hospo’? 
I was in the area of equity derivatives – it wasn’t exciting, the GFC hit and it was also that I just felt like I wanted to change, I just didn’t know what that change was. But I found a group that was struggling with one particular issue, it had growing pains, a classic family hospitality business that needed help. So I jumped in as their COO and ended up there for seven years… I’ve always had a passion for food and beverage, but I don’t think that’s a reason to be in the industry. I really don’t, but I have always followed what’s going on and have an interest in it and that definitely helps. But with my background in banking – it was very broad and very product centric; I was a product developer, product manager – so legal, tax compliance, sales, marketing, I could do all of it. So it was no different for me transferring that into a different business and when I realised I could do that, what really struck me about hospitality was the people.  

In which ways? 
I feel what you get back is far greater than what I got back in finance. No disrespect to finance, but there were times where you felt that if you fell over dead in the corridor, people would just walk over you to get where they’re going. Hospitality isn’t like that. It’s a funny way of describing it, but it’s just how it feels. So for me it’s the people part and really being a part of their career, their success, because their success is our success.  

You’re one of very few women in a senior position in hospitality – is it frustrating that this point continues to be raised, things don’t seem to be changing in the industry? 
Coming in and being taken seriously as someone not from this industry was much harder than being a senior female. I think the greatest thing that I can give females is more confidence to take the leap and go after what they want … and then it’ll be a numbers game and then we won’t have to say, ‘you’re one of the few’. I don’t feel negative about it – we haven’t been doing this for as long as men, it’s just a numbers game.