Kristen Hawley

Even 20 (yikes) years into my writing career, I sometimes question my credentials, my understanding of a particular topic, or even my point of view. Also: When it comes to executing on big ideas, don’t ask for permission. I used to work from a co-working space that painted the phrase, “permission granted,” on the wall. It was great motivation and a reminder to think big.

“People will trust you because you are fair,” and I reflect on this daily. I’ve been covering restaurant technology for long enough that I have developed personal relationships with so many founders, executives, and other industry insiders. That can make it challenging to criticize a company or exec with whom I freely talk about industry things, but it’s my job to report honestly, and I take this very seriously. It would be unethical for me to provide any kind of preferential treatment to a company or subject just because I’ve known them for years, and I work very hard to maintain this boundary — remaining fair and as neutral as possible. (Ironically, the same editor once told me: “If someone’s not mad at you, you’re not doing your job.” This is also true.)

Social media affords everyone a platform, and it’s fun to watch creative ideas bubble to the top. But not all online content is the same. I believe it’s important to understand there are basic ethics that govern my work as a journalist, and that these might not apply to influencers in other circumstances. (I don’t accept free meals — or anything, at all — in exchange for coverage, for example.)

But I am consistently inspired by the people who work in and care about the hospitality industry. I talk to these people as much as I can, and it always humbles me. I just write words on the internet, they’re out there, doing the thing.

But even as a traditional desk worker, I can’t sit down and will myself to write amazing copy. (I can try, but it rarely ends well.) I try to read a lot, take walks, and leave space for getting inspired. I also dine alone at the bar of a great restaurant as frequently as possible. It’s my favorite thing — though maybe ironic that my self-care is someone else’s day at work.

I love to read others’ work in the publications I regularly contribute to, including Fast Company, Food & Wine. And I especially love to read and support other independent writers with business-focused newsletters: Fingers, The LO Times, and Feed Me are three favorites.

But I’ve always known that I wanted to write and create, and I’ve always been fascinated by people, social interaction, economics, and the general hum of daily life. I can’t imagine doing anything else.

When I moved to San Francisco and started working in the tech industry, I realized immediately how much I missed the restaurant beat. It was my husband’s idea for me to start a restaurant technology newsletter in 2013 — I think he was tired of hearing me talk about all the things I was noticing about tech’s influence inside San Francisco’s restaurants.

This is not uncommon in my business, but it stings every time. When I was let go from the company that bought my first newsletter, my youngest daughter was only 6 months old; she wasn’t yet sleeping through the night. This layoff felt like a real injustice, keeping me from finishing what I believed to be my life’s work when I wasn’t operating at 100 percent capacity following her birth. In hindsight, I wish I’d realized that no one cares about my work as much as I do. That’s why I think Expedite is so special. It’s personal in a way that a newsletter about hospitality should be personal. That’s also why Expedite is produced independently, and why I speak so openly about the challenges of competing with well-funded legacy media outlets. This focus defines and differentiates my work, and I’m very proud of it.

I have a love-hate relationship with the platform; it has many flaws including leaders with questionable opinions and positions on important issues. I believe the platform will always prioritize its own growth over the growth and reach of the newsletters that use it; its history of product releases supports this theory. I strongly dislike Substack’s design and branding and resent that I’m forced to use it. That said, Substack has a robust and creative network of writers, and Expedite has grown considerably on the platform. It handles much of the technical and administrative work that would be prohibitively time-consuming or costly for me to do on my own. Two decades into this business I can promise you: There is, unfortunately, no perfect platform.

It’s easy to slip into a “feed the beast” mindset if you hold yourself to a rigorous publishing calendar, and sometimes the story just isn’t there. That’s okay! Expedite is a reader-funded publication, and I know I have a responsibility to my readers to provide them with timely and thoughtful information. That information also has to be useful, though, and if I’m just publishing to cross something off of my own to-do list, readers can tell. It’s best to take a break, take a breath, skip a week, and come back with strong stories the next week.