Emily Knight wants to have a real talk with women.
Emily is the CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association, an organization that advocates for causes on behalf of over 48,000 restaurants. Emily’s 20-plus years in the restaurant industry has taken her all over the nation, from Marriott’s Key West Resorts to the Chicago culinary arts school Kendall College as its President.
But Emily’s life isn’t just career-focused; it’s also family-focused. Her “breakthrough moment” happened when she was 33, the same year her twin daughters were born. Juggling between her professional and personal life was a challenge, yet Emily proved she was up to the task.
“I was traveling with one-year-old twins, trying to run this west coast region,” Emily chuckles. “Who would do that with one-year-old twins? But it changed my career. That just kind of set things off.”
Nowadays she spends most of her time advancing and educating the restaurant industry, with the majority of her time spent lobbying on hospitality causes in Austin. But her success didn’t just come to her from nowhere. She had to put in the extra hours, take risks and totally commit herself to everything that she did.
“As women, we put on a brave face even when we don’t have things going so well,” Emily expresses. “I’m hoping to share some really life-changing moments for me as a female executive. If we’re a little bit more vulnerable and a little more open, we’re actually all in the same struggle.”
Emily is the keynote speaker for Southlake Style’s 2019 Women’s Luncheon, a leisurely afternoon where women across the metroplex gather to learn how to balance their lives together. Emily is looking forward to what the afternoon may bring, but more than anything else, she wants ladies to realize that their experiences aren’t so different from hers.
“I still just see myself as this mom of two girls trying to make a difference in the world,” Emily says. “You can do it all. You just have to decide what ‘all’ means to you.”
Want to hear Emily’s story at the fourth annual Women’s Luncheon? Purchase tickets at 817Tix.com.