{"id":29983,"date":"2023-12-23T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-23T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/in-the-weeds-co-founder-talks-mental-health-in-restaurant-industry\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:08:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:08:34","slug":"in-the-weeds-co-founder-talks-mental-health-in-restaurant-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/in-the-weeds-co-founder-talks-mental-health-in-restaurant-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"In The Weeds co-founder talks mental health in restaurant industry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Blaine
Blaine Bailey, left, In the Weeds director and co-founder, and Dillon Lindborg participate in an In the Weeds yoga class on Thursday at The Hive Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

For many in Durango, the restaurant and hospitality industry is how they make a living.<\/p>\n

Restaurants and bars are heavily emphasized because of the city\u2019s high visitation rate, especially during the summer. While many of the workers are passionate about their job, the industry does come with a level of stress and mental unrest.<\/p>\n

In 2019, John Rowe and Blaine Bailey started In The Weeds, a nonprofit organization geared toward helping change the culture of mental health in the restaurant industry.<\/p>\n

Bailey sat down with The Durango Herald <\/em>to discuss the issues of mental health and substance use in the hospitality industry.<\/p>\n

Q: How did In The Weeds start? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: <\/strong>We start a few years ago, and before that I\u2019ve been in the industry for 17 years now. I really first thought of the idea in 2015.<\/p>\n

My co-founder, John Rowe, was working for me at Carver\u2019s, and we had lost one of our cooks to an overdose. We had already been working with him trying to connect them to other resources in town, but we\u2019re still running a business.<\/p>\n

And John, he was in school for his sociology as (a licensed clinical social worker) and everything. I told him, I said, \u201cMan, when you graduate we need therapy for freaking chefs,\u201d and we laughed it off then, like, \u201cThat\u2019ll never happen,\u201d you know? Years went on, and in 2018, I had gone through loss of relationship and was hitting the bottle hard and just stressed out working all the time.<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t spend time in my relationship and my partnership and my personal relationships. So I decided it was time to take a break for a bit and went out to Wisconsin for summer and just getting away from everything out here.<\/p>\n

I went to work for a company. And our chef, she gave us a project for the summer and it (focused on) \u201cHow can we save the world through food?\u201d<\/p>\n

And so I started thinking about it. I kind of got down to the individual, you know, you can\u2019t help anybody else until you help yourself. Then it was like, \u201cWhat does that look like? And so why not our industry? the hospitality industry?\u201d Because we are connected to every other industry \u2026<\/p>\n

Everybody from bankers, construction, real estate, whatever, they all go to restaurants at some point, you know, usually at some time in the week \u2026 and we have an awesome opportunity to kind of connect with those other industries \u2026 We\u2019re there for good food service, drink, atmosphere, all those types of things.<\/p>\n

Everybody from bankers, construction, real estate, whatever, they all go to restaurants at some point. We have an awesome opportunity to kind of connect with those other industries. We can literally change the trajectory of someone\u2019s day.<\/p>\n

That was kind of where the idea started, and then we decided to bring it back here to Durango because we have so many restaurants in town.<\/p>\n

I already knew a lot of the restaurant chefs and was focused on the restaurants, and it was kind of like we had that relationship built, because we are talking about mental health and substance use and suicide prevention, all those heavy things.<\/p>\n

Q: If you had to scale it, how bad is the issue of mental health or substance use in the restaurant or hospitality industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: <\/strong>In La Plata County \u2026 I don\u2019t have those numbers off the top of my head. To give you an idea nationally, and this is even worldwide, we are the third largest industry for substance use issues.<\/p>\n

I think the top two are like health and construction or something. But you know, we always laugh like it was so bad in our industry because it really is like the rock star lifestyle, and you could party and still keep your job and all that.<\/p>\n

Then when we start looking into like the entertainment sector and it\u2019s No. 4, and (hospitality\u2019s) No. 3. It\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, we actually party harder than the rock stars.\u2019<\/p>\n

Q: Why do you think that is?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: <\/strong>There\u2019s numerous things that kind of overlap. From being overworked, underpaid, and it\u2019s a big passion-based industry.<\/p>\n

Folks ask like, \u201cWhy do you stay in this industry if it\u2019s not that great pay?\u201d We love what we do. We love helping others, take care of others, whatever. It is (a) lower-income industry, which is something we\u2019re trying to change and work on, creating a viable career out of this industry.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s ease of access. If you\u2019re working in a restaurant, booze is right there at all times. Especially if you\u2019re a bartender or server, and pouring drinks constantly. So we\u2019re trying to shift that culture.<\/p>\n

A lot of restaurants will do the shift drinks and those types of things, and so we\u2019re trying to get away from that and provide other healthier incentives and rewards or choices.<\/p>\n

Yeah, overworked, underpaid, ease of access, culture, tradition, you know, it was that industry of misfits and users, and you can still keep your job coming in hungover.<\/p>\n

That was my first job.<\/p>\n

My manager was like, \u201cI don\u2019t care what you\u2019re on as long as you can still do your job.\u201d We would start drinking at 8 o\u2019clock, you know?<\/p>\n

Q: What is your organization offering to help people in the restaurant industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: <\/strong>The biggest one is our top self-care program. So, it\u2019s our healthy rewards for healthy choices. And this is how we help our businesses because giving shift drinks is one of the cheapest, easiest benefits workers can get.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s folks that are like, \u201cI don\u2019t want to drink or they\u2019re under 21 or they are sober.\u201d Then its like \u2018Well, where\u2019s my $3 for not taking my shift drink or whatever?\u2019 People are like, \u201cI might as well take my shift drink because there\u2019s nothing else to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s like a punch pass. Each time they turn down a drink, they get a punch. Once they get 10 punches, they can turn it in for like $25 vouchers for different types of healthy alternatives. That\u2019s the No. 1 used item.<\/p>\n

I moved out here 10 years ago from Arkansas to come and do all the fun stuff and couldn\u2019t afford any of the fun stuff. So the other option is trying to remove barriers, we pay for passes to the climbing gym, yoga studios and then we have like snowshoes and snowboards for people in the industry to take out for free.<\/p>\n

Summertime, it\u2019s paddle boards, kayaks, and then just connecting people to resources, trainings, those types of things.<\/p>\n

Stuff like professional life skill and capacity building and training, we\u2019ll pay for those folks in the industry to reduce those cost barriers so they can grow and however way they want to.<\/p>\n

Q: Do you think there\u2019s anything restaurant owners can do to better help this cause, or is it just kind of part of the industry grind?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> There always is, I think on an individual business level, communicating with your team, and being part of your team and hearing out your staff and paying attention. I think that\u2019s the biggest thing, paying attention to the culture, toxicity and how you can help shift that.<\/p>\n

Also, reach out for help with that. There\u2019s no shame in it. I wouldn\u2019t place blame on an individual restaurant. It\u2019s just how our industry has been for the past however many years.<\/p>\n

I think asking for help, understanding and seeing how they can shift those talking to their team, what would they like to see? Also, being a part of the change and on the forefront and leading it, exemplifying it, you know?<\/p>\n

Yeah, there\u2019s all different kinds of things they can do. When we first started In The Weeds, we asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s our ultimate mission and vision?\u201d It\u2019s like, \u201cWell, let\u2019s shift the culture,\u201d but that could take 10 to 50 years or whatever.<\/p>\n

When COVID hit, and it really sped up that culture shift because people recognize how much they should be taking care of their mental and physical health.<\/p>\n

Restaurants were like \u2026 \u201cHere\u2019s more pay, here\u2019s benefits, here\u2019s this,\u201d but then food costs shot through the roof because of inflation, and so now they\u2019re struggling.<\/p>\n

Owners and the chefs and the managers are also having to wash dishes and work every part of the restaurant. So, they no longer have the capacity to communicate with their team because they\u2019re exhausted, they\u2019re drained or whatever.<\/p>\n

Q: What are some of your future plans for In The Weeds?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: <\/strong>Currently, we\u2019re expanding to Montezuma and Archuleta County.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re kind of working with another organization similar to this out of Denver, but they\u2019re kind of the urban piece and we\u2019re the rural (piece).<\/p>\n

I think, you know, it\u2019s just being out there and supporting folks and helping create those opportunities for folks and really shifting the culture.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also collaborating with others, from business owners to other nonprofits. And it\u2019s such a meaningful industry, with all the food shows and documentaries on TV.<\/p>\n

It really does impact people\u2019s lives, and it can be truly an amazing industry. That\u2019s what I miss most is making the food and seeing someone eat my special dish and really loving it.<\/p>\n

It is really cool, and I think that\u2019s what\u2019s really special about our industry too, is that a lot of folks come from broken families and they get to create that new family out of working in a restaurant.<\/p>\n

tbrown@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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