This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED conferences. Lack of employee engagement is a real problem facing businesses across all industries. Gabriel Stulman shows how innovative leadership techniques from the restaurant industry can help other businesses succeed.

Originally from Northern Virginia, Gabriel came from a Jewish-Moroccan household with a strong emphasis on cooking and entertaining. While attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he developed a passion for the hospitality industry while working in local restaurants. After graduating, Gabriel moved to New York where he worked in various positions at several famous New York restaurants.

Then, in 2009, Gabriel and his wife Gina opened Joseph Leonard, a rustic American neighborhood restaurant that was an instant success. The following year, they added Jeffrey's Grocery across the street, a seafood restaurant and oyster bar. Two months later, he took over a historic space to open Fedora nearby. Next came Perla, an Italian restaurant a few blocks east, and then Chez Sardine, originally an izakaya that has since become Bar Sardine. Gabriel's sixth restaurant, Montmartre, opened in 2013 and is a contemporary French bistro located in Chelsea.

Although originally named "Little Wisco" due to the strong representation of Wisconsinites among its staff, Gabriel's family of restaurants is now called Happy Cooking Hospitality, a name that better reflects the makeup and mission of the restaurant. business. Ingrained in him by his family and nurtured by his time working in Wisconsin restaurants, the spirit of Little Wisco lives on in the atmosphere of the restaurants and in the renowned warmth and enthusiasm of the Happy Cooking team. Gabriel was named "40 Under 40" by Crain's New York Business and "Restaurateur of the Year" by Esquire Magazine in 2012.

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