Erin Wade – författare

Porchlight Business Book Award nominee, Leadership & StrategyA captivating tale about what it takes as a small business owner to build a meaningful company from the ground up, falling in love with your work along the wayIn The Mac & Cheese Millionaire: Building a Better Business by Thinking Outside the Box, best-selling author, entrepreneur, and culinary innovator Erin Wade shares her inspiring and often hilarious journey of leaving her corporate lawyer job to open a hit mac and cheese restaurant, taking you through the challenges and victories that paved her path to success. By sharing the lessons that helped her sell millions of dollars in cheesy carbs, she delivers the tools you need to create change and surpass all your expectations.This book isn't just a personal narrative; it's a masterclass in redefining what it means to love your work. Because while her journey started out of a love of mac and cheese, Wade found that what she ultimately fell in love with—was business. What follows is the story of starting a small business, all of the ensuing trials and tribulations, and ultimately building a unique, feminist work culture that helped transform the restaurant industry.You'll also find: Funny and inspiring personal anecdotes that illustrate the power of tapping into your own singular brand of leadershipStrategies for creating a one-of-a-kind work culture based on greater meaning, purpose, and connectionTools to embrace a feminine leadership style that offer an enduring competitive advantage to entrepreneurs With leadership takeaways for businesses of all sizes, The Mac & Cheese Millionaire is an essential read for small business owners, professional women, aspiring entrepreneurs, and, of course, comfort food-lovers. Wade's story demonstrates how blending passion, innovation, and a bit of culinary magic can lead to unparalleled success. Whether you're dreaming of launching your own venture or seeking to infuse your current role with more meaning and joy, let this book be your guide to transforming your professional life.

Why Restaurants Matter is a heartfelt plea—told by the unlikeliest of restaurateurs—for the warmth of the hearth, the unifying spirit of hospitality, and the power of public eateries to build community.You’re hungry. And, if not, you will be soon.Does it matter if you get your spring rolls from a ghost kitchen instead of the joint on the corner?Erin Wade thinks it does.Wade opened her first restaurant in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2008, when phone books were still a thing, and “farm-to-table” was not a cliché. A former fashionista turned farmer, with virtually no restaurant experience, she made no sense in the breakneck business of food.But when her restaurant Vinaigrette grew busier than she ever expected—it "got slammed,” in industry-speak—Wade got schooled. Why Restaurants Matter follows her white-knuckle ride opening six restaurants in three cities over a decade. And, it’s the story of her education along the way in food and health, gleaned from serving hundreds of thousands of customers every year.In that same decade, how her customers ate, socialized, and communicated changed radically but incrementally, making it hard to notice. Then, the Covid-19 pandemic cut a window onto a bleak future of food in which delivery apps take restaurants’ place in the zeitgeist and VC-funded ghost kitchens oust the mom-and-pop shops that provide access to a sliver of the American dream for millions. Wade realized that the very things restaurants were doing to adapt to modern life may be killing them.In the spirit of Wendell Berry and Michael Pollan, Wade reminds reader-eaters that how we eat represents a vote on how the world is used. She argues that the decline of the independent restaurant, like the loss of the independent farmer in the last century, raises an urgent concern about the unregulated power of technology platforms, the future of our cities, the problems of food and waste and, even, the health of American democracy.