Heather O’Hara Dishes on Her Recipe for Success

Posted on November 18, 2013 by institute B

institute B shared a table with Heather O’Hara of Potluck Café Society and learned first hand what it takes to create a community of fiercely loyal clients. Why keeping your eye on the prize is critical, and how you can achieve business success and community impact without compromising either.

Since 2001, the Potluck Café Society, which owns and operates Potluck Café & Catering, has been transforming lives in the heart of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Job creation, training and life skills support for people facing barriers and improving access to healthy food are the cornerstones of this award winning social enterprise. A respected social enterprise leader Potluck is a collaborative community builder.

institute B: The mission of Potluck Café Society is to transform lives by creating jobs and providing healthy food for people living in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES). How has this evolved throughout the years?

Heather O’Hara: This is a really great question and something that I have personally experienced in my 8 years with Potluck. I’m pleased to say that our core values and mission have remained consistent, creating jobs with training and wrap around life skills support for people living in the DTES facing barriers and addressing community nutrition. What is amazing is how we’ve built on these goals over time. Our foundation of social enterprise success, the corporate catering business which sustains those jobs, has grown up a lot over the years thanks to the hard work of everyone who has worked at Potluck over the years.

Moreover, the success of this business has enabled us to scale up our community impact through the launch of new or expanded community programs in the DTES. Specifically, our DTES Kitchen Tables and Recipes for Success projects, which also focus on creating jobs and increasing healthy food in the community.

What I’m most proud of with each of these initiatives is their highly collaborative nature harnessing the power of dozens and dozens of organizations in the DTES plus residents working together towards a healthier community. We’re also proud of our creative approach including the launch of a DTES Community Food Map, educational outreach activities such as Food Jeopardy and Nutritional Street Theatre along with a DTES Kitchen Tables Food Procurement Group.

Surrounding yourself with a loyal team is one of the key factors to success. How do you ensure your employees understand that they are an integral part of your company’s mission?

The great thing about Potluck is we’re still a small enough operation where our staff can see the DTES community for themselves through the people from the neighbourhood who visit the Potluck Café. Also, everyone works side by side regardless of life experience and circumstance. Consequently, there is a great deal of care and empathy for each other at Potluck. Where possible, we also think it’s important that our staff have face to face contact with community members through the delivery of our meal programs, special community meals and outreach activities. It’s also super important that we demonstrate how valuable staff are to our success through the celebration of monthly birthdays for example.

How do you entrench adding societal value throughout your company and how can that impact the marketplace in which you operate?

At Potluck, we’re very conscious about the decisions we make in terms of community impact. For example how we purchase food and supplies among other services. Wherever possible we like to purchase from our sister social enterprises such as Cleaning Solution, Mission Possible and Recycling Alternative who also employ people from the DTES to deepen our community impact in addition to the work we do ourselves. Also, we’re a founding board member and I’m the current Board Chair of the Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association (HxBIA). As such, Potluck has been able to influence the creation of a community inclusive BIA benefiting both its business members while leveraging its resources for the good of the DTES community.

You have been transforming lives in Vancouver’s DTES and supporting the development of the Social Enterprise sector since 2001. How do you plan on keeping your distinct culture as you continue to grow?

Good question. While we’ve outgrown much of our current space, the upside is that we’re an incredibly close bunch, literally, and it’s a very family like culture with all the ups and downs you’d expect. There is never a dull moment at Potluck! Again, we’re conscious about demonstrating care for each other wherever possible.

Can you make a business case for companies who want to adopt a culture of generosity?

Absolutely. It’s incredible how loyal and committed staff, board and volunteers are to Potluck. This results in very high staff retention. Especially in the food and beverage industry, this is a huge accomplishment. So from a business perspective, keeping good people pays dividends to our business. Furthermore, every year more and more of our catering clients learn about our 5 charitable programs and community impact making them fiercely loyal clients over the long-term.

How do you motivate your organization to push past boundaries and pursue opportunities that they might have initially thought impossible or too big?

I think confident leadership from the many people who have led and managed at Potluck has enabled us to take important steps forward. We’re also a thoughtful and thorough bunch of people so willing to take a leap given the right dose of reflection and analysis. I think another factor is that we continue to ask ourselves whether big is really better and continue to focus on improving quality over quantity.

What has been your most profound wake-up call as a leader or entrepreneur?

Never be complacent and innovation is critical. Keep your eye on the prize, which in our case is ensuring the balance between a healthy business, and achieving community impact.

Purpose breathes life into all roles in an organization. What is the bigger contribution you are making to the world? What will be your legacy?

I think Potluck has shown the world and especially those with misconceptions about the DTES that you can achieve business success and community impact without compromise, even in a very complex neighbourhood. In terms of my personal legacy, my hope is that I’ve made this a stronger organization, respected by our own staff and other people and organizations, maintained its collaborative spirit and supported my colleagues as much as possible to reach their own potential.