Mindfulness Q&A with Austin Carson

FOH: What is your name?

Austin: Austin Carson

FOH: Your current job title and place of business?

Austin: Owner at Restaurant Olivia

FOH: How do you define mindfulness?

Austin: I suppose I define it (or think of it, rather) as presence of mind. Being “present” implies a kind of cognitive awareness or focus that requires of us an alertness at the wheel.

FOH: How does mindfulness play a part in your everyday life?

Austin: I struggle with the idea of productivity versus presence and I think part of the modern American struggle is to fight the compulsion to use work and material progress as a sort of vanity metric for ourselves and our place in society. The truth is it takes a great deal of discipline and self-respect to, say, ensure that you get an adequate amount of sleep each night, as resisting the urge to sacrifice work left undone for something so personal is often viewed as a sign of weakness. As I’ve gotten older its become more apparent to me that I have to prioritize myself and my health and I try to pursue things professionally that have a self-actualizing sense of importance which, in turn, renders critical things like sleep, exercise, reading and so forth as non-negotiables.

FOH: How do you actively work to bring mindfulness to your community?

Austin: We are working on a few really fun projects to launch within our little restaurant group in 2021. We are trying to integrate health and wellness into our operational model on a deep and individualized level. Typically, in the restaurant industry we see lip service paid to these types of ideas but very little action taken, and we are committed to upending that norm.

FOH: What is something you would like to see change in the Hospitality Industry?

Austin: I see so much nobility in hospitality as a profession but so few people taking it seriously enough to make outward declarations about their choice of it as a “career”. We have a responsibility as restaurateurs to create the framework within which people can not only be proud to make that declaration but are incentivized to do so. I would love to see a more focused effort to that end and would love to see more folks choose the path my partners and I have walked for decades now.