Joe Baker       

First hospitality job:

Service Bartender at The Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto

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Age you started working in hospitality:

18

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Your inspiration to begin working in hospitality:

My grandfather Frank Baker was a restaurateur and hotelier in Vancouver. He was a

legend and I idolized him. Even to this day while he is no longer on this earth, he is my

inspiration. A man who loved entertainment and hospitality as much as he loved his family.

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My hospitality mentor:

At Toronto Met University – Dr. David Martin and Dr. Gabor Forgacs. In the restaurant

industry, Steve Carroll from The Keg and Bruce McAdams from Oliver & Bonacini. In

education - John Walker from George Brown and Bill Pallett while at Centennial.

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What are your favourite aspects of your job?

Helping people fall in love with the hospitality industry and helping the industry

reinvent itself.

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What has inspired you to continue your career path in hospitality?

Hospitality is the care for, and love of, a stranger. It is the gift of service. For me,

service leadership is a calling. Call me a romantic, I feel most alive when I am helping

and taking care of people. And I am best with strangers. A natural nomad.

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Advice for students interested in a career in hospitality:

Lots of people will tell you to pursue your passion. That is important. But it’s not the

whole story. Pursue your passion and align it with opportunity. That is the true path to

success and fulfillment.