Kris Hall on Burnout, Culture Change & Building a Healthier Hospitality Industry

In this powerful episode, Shawn Soole sits down with Kris Hall, co-founder of The Burnt Chef Project — a global initiative dedicated to improving mental health, work culture, and human connection within hospitality. Kris offers candid insight into the systemic challenges faced by teams and leaders alike and actionable frameworks for creating workplaces that nurture people, not just profits.

This conversation goes beyond burnout statistics — it explores why hospitality can be hard, how culture fails us, and what it truly takes to build compassion-driven teams that stay and thrive.

🧠 What You’ll Learn

• Kris’s journey: what sparked The Burnt Chef Project and its mission to shift hospitality culture

• The root causes of burnout in hospitality — and how systems, not individuals, must change

• Practical strategies for supporting mental health, psychological safety, and team resilience

• How restaurants and bars can create environments where staff feel seen, heard, and valued

• Live Q&A: culture transformation, tough conversations, and tools leaders can use today

⏱ Timestamp Highlights (Approximate)

• 00:02:45 – Kris’s beginnings and the origin story of The Burnt Chef Project

• 00:15:00 – Why burnout isn’t about weakness — it’s about systems that fail people

• 00:29:20 – Designing workplaces that elevate dignity, belonging, and connection

• 00:43:10 – Live Q&A: real-world scenarios, culture practices, and interventions that work

• 00:58:00+ – What’s next: scaling impact, training leaders, and changing the industry narrative

🎯 Who It’s For

Hospitality leaders, operators, trainers, HR partners, and anyone who’s felt the weight of burnout — or has seen team culture struggle under it. If you care about people first, and want to build environments where teams belong, contribute, and grow, this is a must-watch.

✅ If You Loved This Episode

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