June Rodil, MS is the Beverage Director at McGuire Moorman Hospitality overseeing the wine, beer and spirits programs at seven of Austin’s most popular restaurants: June’s All Day, Jeffrey’s, Josephine House, Clark’s, Elizabeth Street Café, Perla’s and Lamberts Barbecue.
Born in the Philippines and raised in Dallas, Texas, June is a Master Sommelier —the seventh in Texas and the 23rd woman in the U.S.— after passing The Court of Master Sommelier test in 2015.In July 2016, June and MMH opened June’s All Day, an all-day restaurant on South Congress Avenue. June serves her favorite hard-to-find wines with an emphasis on Champagne and sparkling wines from around the world and changes the menu monthly with different themed regions. Food & Wine named June’s “Best Restaurant of the Year in 2017.” Outside of her work at MMH, June is an active board member of GuildSomm, TEXSOM, the Advisory Counsel for Atlanta Food & Wine and has been a speaker on panels for SXSW Pebble Beach Food & Wine.
Daisy Ryan, the Assistant Beverage Director at McGuire Moorman Hospitality, assists Beverage Director and Master Sommelier June Rodil in overseeing the diverse beer and cocktail programs at all seven Austin restaurants and for events. Daisy attended the Culinary Institute of American and spent time training in both back of house and front of house in some of NYC’s best restaurants, Gramercy Tavern, The Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, and Per Se where she met her husband Greg Ryan who is the GM at Jeffrey’s.
How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?
JR:I immigrated to the United States to join my mom (who had been here for 3 years working to get a green card for me) around the age of 5. I did not know the language, I didn't really know my mom because she had been away, and I left behind my formative years and experiences to, essentially, start anew. I remember getting lost in a grocery store. Someone found me crying, and I wasn't able to communicate with them at all. Not being able to express myself due to cultural and language barriers was paralyzing. I just had to figure it out. I would go home and recant words that I heard and have my parents try to explain. These experiences really laid down the foundation of my need to communicate and acknowledge people, co-workers, friends, guests, family. Sometimes, we take language skills and speaking to each other for granted.
DR: I believe an incredibly important core strength of the restaurant/ hospitality industry needs to be empathy and support for the people you work side by side with. Over my 15 years in the industry I have held many jobs and one thing I can say is that it is incredibly, complicated, difficult and there are an amazing amount of moving parts. I am truly grateful that I have had the opportunity to do everything from work as a line-cook, food runner, event coordinator, butcher and beverage professional which allows me to be empathetic and shed light on trials and tribulations that occur throughout restaurants. Being a part of a restaurant is like being on a sports team, you need to understand everyone’s roll and how it correlates to the goals of your establishment.
How has your previous employment experience aided your tenure at McGuire Moorman Hospitality?
JR: I had two part time jobs while attending the UT as a full-time student-- Olive Garden server and file clerk for local attorney. Juggling this schedule was challenging and exciting. I learned that I like being busy and not confined to four walls for 40 hours a week. Now, at McGuire Moorman Hospitality, there are seven restaurants, two designer clothing stores, catering, and more. In addition, participation and mentorship within the Court of Master Sommeliers, specifically, and the wine industry, in general is extremely important to me. I teach classes for certification for the Court, am on the Board of Directors for the Guild of Sommeliers, and travel domestically and internationally as a speaker to strengthen the network and continue my education.
DR: I started my journey by attending Culinary School and I then began my career in NYC where I worked at two different 3 Michelin starred restaurants, a fast casual Italian favorite, an American upscale tavern and a multi faceted business that was not only a cooking school, but also an event space and supper club. In LA, the hospitality group I worked for did food and beverage for a hotel, which included a Korean restaurant, café, lobby bar, vegetable driven restaurant, room service and banquets. Having worked in these settings has really helped me to navigate my current role with MMH as assistant Beverage Director due to the fact that run 7 restaurants with very different concepts.
What have the highlights and challenges been during your tenure at McGuire Moorman Hospitality?
JR: Both a highlight/challenge has been opening June's, my first partnership. I've been with the company for three years and am honored. Ebbing and flowing from a leadership position to a coworker is very delicate and requires a lot of awareness. What's great is that everyone's intention-- to be successful in our restaurants and still have fun while doing it-- is equal. Add to this above the challenges of a restaurant buildout with the city breathing down your neck, the industry and journalists putting a spotlight on what you're doing even before you have an answer to their questions -- yeah, that's challenging. But the HIGHLIGHT, is when you finally open, space is beautiful, staff is amazing, food and wine are spot on, and you realize... wow, I would totally go to my own restaurant!
DR: There have been a lot of highlights working for MMH.I think due to the diversity of the restaurants, having the opportunity to purchase different spirits and beer I really love and want to support is always open because there is placement at one of our concepts. As far as challenges go, the hardest thing about running any business is managing people as their behavior are intrinsically unpredictable. Therefore, I find maintaining flexibility and empathy helps me do my job interacting with individuals better.
What advice can you offer to women who want a career in your industry?
JR: There are no mental or physical limitations to prevent a woman from becoming a Master Sommelier or a restaurant owner! There are only 24 female Master Sommeliers or 10% presently, however, those gearing up for the examinations are half women. This will change drastically in the next decade, so don’t worry. There are presently more female Masters of Wines (another post-nominal accreditation that is more prominent in Commonwealth nations) than male. Be self-aware of your worth and abilities.
DR: The best advice I can give is to always make sure at each new job you move on to, or each step you take in your current role that there are differences from your last position. Seeing new branches of any industry and working in different environments will help you later on to accept new challenges and anything out of the ordinary that might come your way.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career to date?
JR: Be honest with yourself and coworkers especially in the most difficult situations and learn how to relay any grievances in a direct, professional way.
Become as efficient and amazing as possible in your job that you dislike the most (i.e. spreadsheets, costing) to allot you more time for the parts your job the you love most (traveling internationally to meet with winemakers, education seminars)
DR: Work hard and keep your mouth shut at any new job for at least three months, then start to give your input, in some cases only when solicited and in some cases when it’s not. Exercising commonsense and social and self-awareness will get you far.
How do you maintain a work/life balance?
JR: Working on it! never thought that I would be a Master Sommelier or restaurant owner, but when I was having serious doubts about moving cross-country to go to law school, I realized that I was already doing what I wanted to do. Balance is difficult when you really love what you do.
DR: You just learn that nothing is ever finished. Restaurants are living breathing things, and at some point you just need to walk away and take care of yourself, because being over tired and frustrated in the end helps no one.
What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace?
JR: Because the restaurant and wine industry has been so traditionally male, it's easy for women to feel a sense of isolation. Women are often the "only woman" in the management role or ownership, that it becomes part of their identity. Now I see more women in the industry and more climbing the ladder to higher management positions and ownership. What I do not see is more mentoring and camaraderie amongst women. What I would love to see more of is women working well together and climbing together in the workplace. I know it's doable and it's so wonderful when you see it happen.
DR: I think the bigger issue is over all labor rights and laws that need to be addressed. Often throughout my experience I have felt like I wasn’t taken seriously as a figure of authority not necessarily because I was a woman but also because I was in management at a pretty young age. At the end of the day it is on all of us to present ourselves in a professional, thoughtful, hardworking manner if we want to be taken seriously and the harder you work at it, the better professional you will become. Truth is women have come leaps and bounds in our industry, and I have many friends who are fine examples of that.
How has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal life?
JR: Mentorship is essential in the wine world and especially so if you are looking to go through the Court of Master Sommelier diploma. No one is on an island and it’s a business based on networking and communicating. I would not have become a Master Sommelier without the mentors that I had in Texas.
DR: I find that in the past I have looked much more for mentorship in specific scenarios than I have looked to label specific people as my mentors. And when it comes to looking for that mentorship, I mostly turn towards people that I know first and foremost very well personally and second professionally. I think if you are going to take advice or guidance, it is important to know what they stand for in all aspects their lives.
Which other female leaders do you admire and why?
JR: Ann Richards, former Governor of Texas and her daughter Cecile Richards, President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. They are known for being unequivocally themselves while advocating for extremely polarizing platforms and causes. To be hated and touted at the same time but still be lady. That's strength and perseverance of a caliber I can only imagine.
DR: As far as our industry, the first woman that always pops into my mind is Juliett Pope the now ex- Beverage Director of New York City’s Gramercy Tavern. Often times when people reach her tenure and have received the accolades she has they take the opportunity to move into more of a lax schedule and absent themselves from the floor of the restaurants, but that woman never took such liberties. She was always right there with the employees bussing tables and selling wine. I admire rather obvious female leaders such as Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Angela Merkel, Ana Wintour. I admire all women leaders, even if I don’t agree with what they stand for or their cause. I appreciate their hard work and dedication to rise to the top of their game no matter what that is, as long as they have done so with honesty.
What do you want McGuire Moorman Hospitality to accomplish in the next year?
JR: I would like to see June's grow in business and settle into her identity as she reaches her fist birthday in August, continue the growth of the company in all other locations and projects, watch/mentor our employees at MMH into their next level of certifications in the Court of Master Sommeliers, launch our private label wine, and start my Masters of Wine Diploma.
DR: I just had my first child, so my hope is to begin the long process of raising my son to be a good human being while maintaining growth, drive and curiosity for myself professionally.