Meet the 2025 Food & Wine Mentorship Award Winner

Dear Pros,

Hunter here. I hope you had a good Fourth.

I loved seeing some of you last month at the 42nd Annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. My favorite part about the event is being in community with the hospitality industry, particularly when it's time to give people their flowers. We had the honor of celebrating Sheila Johnson onstage with the third annual F&W Mentorship Award, presenting her with a Laguiole champagne saber. Like Bobby Stuckey and Jacques Pepin before her, Johnson earned the accolade for her lifelong commitment to bringing others up with her as her businesses flourish.

Johnson was a concert violinist before she co-founded Black Entertainment Television, and she is the first woman to hold a stake in three professional sports teams. She's also a philanthropist and hotelier, which is how I've gotten to know her and her team at Salamander Resort and Spa in Middleburg, Virginia. For five years now, Food & Wine has partnered with Salamander on The Family Reunion — an event Johnson co-founded with 2019 F&W Best New Chef Kwame Onwuachi to celebrate diversity in the hospitality industry. This year's event takes place from August 14–17, and it's unlike any other culinary festival or conference thanks to the dynamic mix of talent and programming, and to the fact that the event is on Johnson's home turf. That means that the hospitality shared is ultimately Johnson's responsibility, and her team delivers it in spades. (Visit salamanderhotels.com/familyreunion for more information.)

"The event has become the Black culinary world's most coveted invitation and sought-after ticket," writes Jessica B. Harris for Food & Wine in her profile of Johnson, who was also named a 2025 F&W Game Changer this year. "A gathering of African American and African diaspora chefs, it brings together culinary personalities like television chefs Carla Hall and Eric Adjepong; Gregory Gourdet of Kann in Portland, Oregon; Nigerian chef Michael Elégbèdé of ÌTÀN Test Kitchen; and matriarch Virginia Ali of Washington, D.C.'s Ben's Chili Bowl. And unlike many other culinary events, The Family Reunion is inclusive: Guests and chefs socialize, sample food, and just hang. It annually lives up to its motto: 'Come as friends, and leave as family.'"

I've witnessed this community in action. All around the country you'll find participating chefs from the Family Reunion supporting one another with collaborative dinners and cookbook celebrations. They carry the magic of the event with them and lift one another up.

Many of you attend the same industry conferences I do. While I appreciate that leaders in hospitality are speaking about issues like mental health more frequently and sharing business best practices with more honesty and empathy — something that was taboo a decade ago when restaurants still operated more like pirate ships — too many rooms are filled with the same chefs and operators talking to one another about the same things. It becomes an echo chamber. We need more cross-pollination of business ideas from different industries in order to take these lessons and learnings to another level.

Johnson, who has succeeded in several industries, brings exactly that cross-pollination and fresh insight to the hospitality industry. She also brings to bear personal wisdom from rebuilding her life after a tough divorce—stories she shares in candid detail in her memoir, Walk Through Fire: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Triumph.

Johnson credits her mom Marie Iris Crump as the most significant mentor in her life, the person who instilled in her the values of resilience, courage, and fortitude. "More than anything, my mother believed in me, even when I didn't fully believe in myself," Johnson shares. "She was the one who advised me to 'get my power back.' I did, and I haven't looked back since. That kind of belief is a gift, and it's something I try to pass on to others, whether it's my close friends or the people I lead in my own company."

Like any good mentor, Johnson also learns from her mentees. "Mentoring also keeps me constantly learning, and when I see the world through the eyes of someone else it sharpens my perspective as a leader. Innovation often happens at the intersection of industries, and I love helping the next generation discover that sweet spot where their passion meets purpose."

At The Family Reunion, Johnson sees talent hungry "for sustainable pathways – especially when it comes to business infrastructure, capital access, and long-term planning," she says. "The whole event planning team has always been intentional about including voices from finance and entrepreneurship on our stages. It's not just about celebrating talent; it's about equipping them with the tools to build legacy."

None of us got to where we are without the support of a mentor. I'd love to know: who made a difference in your life? Drop a line and let me know — and remember to always keep paying it forward.

Warmly,
Hunter