Christine Guyott FCSI RD: winner of FER’s Industry Service Award
In February 2017 Christine Guyott FCSI RD was honoured with Foodservice Equipment Reports (FER)’s prestigious Industry Service Award.
“I didn’t have any goals when I was young; no princess goals or anything. I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up,” she told Foodservice Consultant in our Q2 2017 edition. “I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up!”
A registered dietician and hugely respected consultant in the healthcare sector in particular, Guyott is a principal of Rippe Associates.
Approximately 80% of her work is healthcare oriented while the rest of her work is mainly K-12 projects. Under Guyott’s management, Rippe Associates are working on 30 or so projects at any one time.
“It takes a long time to learn how to be a consultant. And it’s hard to be the expert in the room until you have the experience behind you. When I started out I was 28, I just listened and tried to observe as much as I could.”
She has certainly made a lasting impression on the industry and her passion for seeking constant improvement in the industry she loves remains undimmed – a princess goal if ever there was one.
“My dad always says: ‘People don’t care about how much you know unless they know how much you care’,” she says.
Brett Daniel FCSI: winner of FER ’s Young Lion – Consultant Award 2017
According to FER, the Young Lion Award was created to “recognise ones to watch, whose accomplishments this early in their careers signal major contributions for years to come”.
Daniel is certainly one to watch. A project manager at Camacho Associates in Atlanta, Georgia, US, and becoming a full professional FCSI member in 2017, he plays a significant role in FCSI The Americas Division as both a member and past leader of the Committee for Emerging Consultants. He is also part of FCSI The Americas’ Conference Planning Committee.
Daniel was delighted to win. “I was blown away! I had no idea I was even in contention. It was very humbling,” he says. “I’d like to think I was recognised because of my involvement with the industry, my willingness to go to factory tours to learn about different manufacturers, giving my open ears to listen to sales pitches and offering up my honest opinions. Willing to try just about anything and giving anyone an equal shot.”
His father Reggie Daniel FCSI was proud to hear of his son’s award, but sadly passed away before the ceremony. “The day before my father passed, he made a post about my award on Facebook, mentioning how much of an impact I’ve already made. He was ecstatic. He always encouraged me to try and think outside of the box. I feel like that’s what makes me a good consultant,” he says.
Björn Grimm FCSI: winner of FCSI EAME 2017 Excellence in Management Advisory Award
For Björn Grimm FCSI, owner of Grimm Consulting in Hamburg, Germany, winning FCSI EAME’s 2017 Excellence in Management Advisory Award at its conference in Vienna, Austria, brought the “recognition of peers” for the hard work of his food and beverage specialist team members in particular.
Grimm’s award-winning concept of mystery cooking consultancy involves a new member of staff (actually a consultant) being introduced to an existing food and beverage team in a commercial kitchen.
“They will analyse the kitchen production processes as well as the food and beverage processes as a whole,” says Grimm. “Later their observations and results will be discussed with the team in order to define areas for knowledge transfer and coaching.”
This process, says Grimm, in the end “often led to a number of improvements for clients in terms of cost reduction and customer and employee satisfaction”. And ultimately to a competitive advantage.
For Grimm, FCSI membership gives him the means to “discuss actual problems with professional peers” as well as the opportunity to communicate with stakeholders on a peer-to-peer level in order to change product and service designs.
“Moreover, FCSI gives us the chance for networking and to development partnerships for future assignments,” he says.
Michael Jones
Further reading:
Foodservice Consultant‘s Review of 2017 can be viewed here.
