Serena O'Callaghan - Madam Woo
Love thy Stranger
English - October 15, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 50.2 MBFood Arts Society & Culture Philosophy hospitality philosophy food beverage people stories drinks coffee entrepreneur artist Homepage Download Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
I don't have favourites when it comes to my podcast guests but if I did Serena would be one of 'em! Serena has an amazing cultural tale filled with delicious and insightful stories, relationships and great wisdom gleaned from a life lived with empathy, compassion and a genuine desire to love the stranger well.
Serena has been in the hospitality industry for around 15 years but embodies hospitality in all she is and all she does. She is the daughter of a real estate agent and a diplomat, and started her career as a host at TGI Fridays.
Serena has a 'way' with people which quickly garnered respect amongst her hospo peers, earned her a number of professional accolades and made way for many growth opportunities and leadership roles within the industry including managing the iconic Melbourne cocktail bar - 1806 - under the supervision and tutelage of industry legend and mentor Sebastian Raeburn, Jungle Boy, Tommy Collins, Employees Only and most recently with Merivale.
All the world truly is a stage for Serena who oozes creativity; whether she finds herself behind a mic, a bar, a coffee machine or in front of a camera, in the gym and even in an orchard - which became evident in-and-through one of her most recent iso projects - @madamwoosgoodstuff - an experimental kitchen that was birthed during lockdown after she was gifted car loads of beautiful fruit and produce during a stint on a fruit farm with her mate Jimmy!
There is so much to this human that you can probably expect a follow up episode down the road because I'm not sure we scratched the surface but it was such a privilege and pleasure to begin...
You can find Serena here:
Instagram:
@mdmwoo
@madamwoosgoodstuff
And her take on The Jasmine Cocktail here:
LTS Podcast Guest Recipes
Love thy Stranger is recorded on Wurundjeri land in the outer east of Naarm, that you will find on a map as Melbourne, Australia and we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation and we pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.
Sovereignty was never ceded.