Episode 300: Regarding Her Big Owner Energy with Dina Samson, restauranteur and co-founder of RE:Her

Everyone is always what else we do for work (because yes, we have real jobs besides the podcast!) and in this episode we talk about one of Bricia’s passion projects. This week we interview Dina Samson, restauranteur and co-founder of RE:Her. The non-profit started as a covid era support group for women owned restaurants like the Lopez family’s Guelaguetza and Dina’s Rossoblu and Superfine Pizza, and now continues to support & encourage women in the hospitality industry and the communities they serve. Dina also runs us through her busy days as a twin mom and how she structures the rest of her restauranteur work between mom life, and she’s sharing her best advice for restaurant owners that mamas can also use when raising their kids. 

More about Dina: Dina Samson adeptly assumed the role of “unexpected restaurateur” when she opened her first restaurant, Sotto, alongside husband/chef Steve Samson, in 2011. Since then, she has become the visionary and operational glue for their two concepts, Rossoblu and Superfine Pizza which fall under their newly formed Mighty Nice Hospitality Group. 

True to their hospitality group’s core values of compassion and community, Dina has co-founded RE:Her, Independent Hospitality Coalition, and FeedLoveLA, all organizations which focus on supporting and uplifting the Los Angeles restaurant community. Samson is both a James Beard Foundation Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership and C200 WinLab fellow. 

More about RE:Her: Nine female restaurateurs in Los Angeles formed Regarding Her (aka RE:Her) in November 2020 as a response to the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the restaurant industry. Their first undertaking, 10 Days RE:Her, united over 100 female food and beverage entrepreneurs across Los Angeles for a 10-day festival featuring unique collaborations, thematic menus, virtual events and conversations, and more.

RE:Her is a 501(c)(3) non-profit fund actively seeking donors and sponsors to support its services and initiatives, including its RE:Her Grant Program, designed to distribute cash grants to women-owned restaurants in Los Angeles County impacted by the pandemic. 

The members of RE:Her’s leadership team operate the organization, and do so pro bono. Their hope is that their work will support and empower the community they hold dear – the female-led culinary world of Los Angeles and beyond – and, in doing so, help to save HER restaurants.

Our Conversation with Dina

Tell us about the non-profit. What is it about and who is it for? 

How do you structure your day? 

What else do you do besides RE:Her?

How to become a member of RE:Her

Dina’s best advice for restauranteurs

Mom tips!

Pick or Tip of the Week

We always talk about the importance of self care! One of Paulina’s self care practices includes studying her Bible. She always reads it in the morning and journals, and she found pens and highlights made specifically for thin Bible pages. They’re by Mr. Pen in the Amazon store and they have plenty of options at different price points. It makes her self care experience that much better!

Bricia pick is the Good Notes app on her iPad. You can create anything for taking notes! She uses it for her Bible study and even created her own template based on the templates available on the app.

Links

Follow Dina, her restaurants and projects on social media - @dinasam, @rossablula, @superfinepizza, @regardingherfood, @independenthospitalityla and @feedlovela

Become a member of RE:Her! More regions coming soon.

Kanye West - The College Dropout album

Watch the documentary jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy on Netflix

Episode 270: Keeping It Real with the Super Mamás - Post-Pandemic Dreams and Acknowledging Personal Growth

Who else has missed our catch up sessions? We sure did, and this week is a little profound talk between sisters. Not only are we imagining what life is going to be like post-pandemic with family vacations (and maybe trips without them 🤣), going back to school, eating in restaurants and birthday parties, but we’re also getting deep into our feelings. We’re exploring buried emotions and acknowledging that growth from our childhood is just as important now that we’re parents and trying to understand our kids. It’s never too late to grow, sisters! 

P.S. Have you entered our giveaway for the new #TomAndJerryMovie ?! We’re giving TWO movie kits to a lucky random follower and a tagged friend! Check out our Instagram post for all the details on how to enter and watch the official movie trailer below.

Paulina’s Kid Schedules

The pandemic is finally on it’s way to out (we hope 🤞🏽) and Paulina barely started getting the hang of it! She realized that her girls needed to be on a better schedule before and after school, so she used Over to customize the schedules below. When the girls start to bother each other or tell Paulina they’re bored, she just points them to the schedule and asks what they’re supposed to be doing. Whether it’s meal time, school or free time, there’s always something to do.

Pick or Tip of the Week

Bricia and Eduardo tie dyed some shirts this weekend! The tie dye kit was gifted to her by Paulina. It’s a brand called Rit and it came in camel brown color and Bricia ended up buying more colors. She and Eddie went to Joanns for shirts, squeeze bottles and extra dye. Now her $5 shirt now looks like it cost $45 dollars!

Paulina is really into her eyebrows right now. She loves the Microfilling Brow Pen from Benefit. The tip is like three points and it almost feels like micro blading, and gives a much more full look. Elizabeth also recommended a brow gel from Anastasia. Paulina uses the gel first then the pen to fill in. 

Links

Bricia has started working with her life coach Victor Pierantoni again. Check out the episode we recorded with him about staying sane and zen in the pandemic earlier last year!

Episode 206: Keeping Up with the Super Mamas: Back to the Grind

We’re back on the mic, back to school and back to the grind! It’s been a while since we brought you an update because yes, we forgot to upload an episode last week 🤦🏽‍♀️ but we’ve been pretty busy. We announced our new family cookbook (pre-order it on Amazon here!), Bricia has been traveling to Las Vegas to prep the new bar opening next month, and Paulina is back from Oaxaca and her daughters have started school. Basically, it’s been a whirlwind and this isn’t even half of it.

Pick or Tip of the Week

Paulina pick this week is the store, The Children’s Place, for school uniforms. It came up on her Amazon feed as a brand while she was shopping last minute for the girls’ uniforms. It’s a wonder she has never thought of it before because everything is so inexpensive! There are so many options and colors, she’s definitely coming here next time she has to stock up on uniforms.

Per usual, Bricia has a bougie ass pick. 😂 She has been traveling a lot and someone asked her what her top 3 things when she travels. One of her must have products are under eye patches. Her facialist, Natalie, never pushes products on her, but when Bricia asked for under eye patches to preps her skin for makeup, she recommended CHANEL Firming - Anti-Wrinkle Flash Eye Revitalizer patches - and they actually work. There are 10 patches in a box for $130 (that’s $13 per patch). Put the serum on, then the patch, leave on for 10-15 minutes and when you remove, you look really awake and it makes a difference. If you’re getting married, going to a special event or it’s your birthday, make the splurge. It works!

Episode 191: Bringing Texas to LA, Briana Valdez from HomeState

This week on the show we have Briana Valdez, aka “Breezy” Chief Queso Ambassador of HomeState. Prior to opening HomeState, Briana had never run a business but that didn’t stop her from carving her way into the restaurant industry with one goal in mind- to share her and her families’ story of Texas through food. With her third location opening in Playa Vista soon, Briana takes us through her journey of opening her restaurant, the value of mentorship, staying true to herself, how she manages her time and self care.

Before the interview, Paulina and Bricia discuss last week’s episode and how they spend their Easter Weekend.

Our conversation with Briana Valdez

How did you get HomeState started? What did you do before and where did the inspiration come from?

What made you want to get into the restaurant business? & how did you “carve your way into it” ?

What do you love the most about mentoring? What have you gained?

Best mentor advice you’ve received?

Do you have any tricks on time management? How do you organize yourself?

Do you practice self care? & how?

What is the one thing that you told you yourself that you wouldn’t do as a mom that you’re doing now?

You can follow Briana Valdez on Instagram as @helloitsbreezy and her restaurant @HomeState. Find a HomeState location near you, on myhomestate.com

Pick or Tip of the Week

When she gets home, Breezy LOVES to watch Friends on Netflix. Also, her secret to her beautiful and glowing skin is Kate Somerville’s ExfoliKate, Psssst, she says this is the cure to all the nights of not washing her face.

Bricia and Paulina bond over putting essential oils or perfume in their Eucerin lotion.