Impact Story: Rande Gaier on Culinary, Hospitality Industry’s Mental Health
Looking at the Full Picture
Every organization has that person who keeps the cogs turning behind the scenes. For Culinary Hospitality Outreach and Wellness (CHOW), that person is Rande Gaier.
Typically, Gaier, the Operations Manager, would be busy with a plethora of program management duties. But this quarter, CHOW is taking a step back to look at the bigger picture. After much deliberation and internal discussion, the team decided to take some time to reassess all of their programs with a dedicated eye so they could come back stronger than ever before.
The whole team realized there was a need for a reset toward the end of last year, and during one meeting, it just clicked! “By the end of the meeting, we were all like ‘Oh, we’re all burnt out.’ We’re all at capacity — well beyond capacity. We keep saying yes to new things, because [of] the culture of CHOW, because it’s the industry culture, because we all come from the industry” Gaier said.
Having been in the culinary/hospitality industry for over 13 years, Gaier described the mentality well: “Just keep going. You aren’t the priority. The customer is the priority.”
Challenging “Norms” and Finding Her Way
Workers in the culinary/hospitality industry face lots of challenges. Long hours, physically and mentally demanding roles, and low pay all contribute to one’s mental health. In fact, 84% of food, beverage, and hospitality workers in Colorado feel stress from their job (CHOW). This is where CHOW comes in, to fill the wellness gap for this vast community.
Because of the low entry barriers, Gaier joined the hospitality industry early, like many others, as a barista. Gaier attended a four year college after high school, not really knowing where it would take her. She felt like continued education was the natural trajectory she was on, but she didn’t think much about whether it was the right path for her.
“Looking back from where I’m at now, I’m like, ‘I could have chosen that,’ but it felt like it was just what was happening,” she said.
Gaier’s next journey was working for Teach for America post-graduation in an effort to build a traditional career. It didn’t end up being the right fit, but the experience did help widen her options for the future.
“It was one of the first times I felt like I really broke out of that sort of self-imposed or societally-imposed trajectory. At that point, it’s hard to tell which one it is. That was a major shift for me,” she said.
Gaier continued to break the imposed mold by starting work at a coffee shop. Eventually, a big realization dawned on her — that she could continue this work long-term.
“I think a lot of times people do view it as only a thing that you do in between jobs. But I’ve been doing it for 13 years,” she said. “I know several people who have made a career out of it, and I think that’s been a really big part of the journey for me. Recognizing [that] this is a career. This is a choice.”
Gaier’s love for coffee has kept her going through both the joys and toils of the food and beverage service industry. “On a really personal note, I love coffee. I love the entire process of coffee and all the hands that touch coffee,” she said.
Gaier’s work came to an abrupt stop in 2021, which she believes was the biggest challenge of her career. “I didn’t want to leave the industry or the company I was working for, but I felt that I had to, for my mental health and wellbeing. It took me months to years after that to really come back to knowing something about my career, about myself,” she said.
The next year, a poster with the words, “If Screaming In the Walk-in Isn’t Cutting It Anymore, Let’s Talk About It,” made Gaier and her partner feel seen as service industry workers. It turns out that CHOW’s witty and compassionate messaging stuck with Gaier, who later applied for an Administrative Assistant role.
She was hesitant at first, but Gaier’s partner was a steady force in reminding her that she was experienced and capable for the role. This constant support helped Gaier recognize that, “Turns out, I was already doing a lot of this work in my barista supervisor role and knew I could learn what I didn’t know as I went along.” Erin Boyle, CHOW’s CEO, encouraged her along the way, and Gaier now wears the title of Operations Manager three years later!
Stigma is Everywhere
Stigma plays many roles in the industry. Yes, the jobs themselves are stigmatized to only be for certain people, for a certain amount of time. But, mental health is stigmatized as well. The nature of hospitality imposes unspoken pressures on its workers that CHOW dares to bring to the table when corporations won’t.
“[In CHOW], everybody knows that the industry is a really hard place to work for your physical health and mental health. It’s one of those things where everybody in my sphere thinks like that,” Gaier said. “We’re a small speck in an industry that is really going to take a lot of time to change. Knowing that CHOW existed when I was more intimately and fully in the industry would have been so helpful.”
Gaier said that because society does not think of the industry in terms of longevity and sustainability, workers are fighting to just make it through the shift. Wellness is strained, and self-care is put on the back burner.
For Gaier herself, self-care methods have changed over the years. Right now, she tries to listen to her mind and body, prioritizing whatever will make her feel well in the moment.
Appreciation Goes a Long Way
“Something we do at CHOW that I really value and will take with me is recognizing employees how they would like to be recognized,” Gaier said. Not everyone wants to be recognized the same way, and that’s okay! As a part of CHOW’s “Getting to Know You” survey, new team members indicate how they prefer to be recognized at work, which guides how appreciation is shown.
Gaier also believes that formal recognition, such as public shoutouts or an “Employee of the Month” program, is just as important as “casual, in the moment recognition.” “It helps the recognition feel authentic when it is varied and not just saved for once a year reviews,” she said.
Erin Boyle, Gaier’s manager, nominated her for the Outstanding Employee Award as part of COPA’s 2025 Annual Provider Reception.
Part of the nomination process was to write some words of gratitude for the nominee, or something they want their nominee to know.
Boyle said, “We are endlessly grateful for your steadiness, your kindness, and the way you just get things done often before the rest of us even realize they needed doing. You have a way of bringing order to chaos without ever making it feel like a burden.”
This just goes to show Gaier’s impact on the organization and the countless people who have benefited from CHOW’s programs, big or small.
About Culinary Hospitality Outreach & Wellness (CHOW):
CHOW is a mental health wellness nonprofit dedicated to serving food, beverage, and hospitality workers. CHOW offers regular group discussions, weekly community events, and countless resources to support wellness of the people in the industry.