Confessions of Barbara Kane

Barbara Kane, vice president of industry relations for Ecolab, and new president of the Society for Foodservice Management, hates traveling in the winter, wants to see the future and swears by sugar-free Red Bull.

Q. What is the best part of your job?

Meeting so many different people—it sounds corny, but there are so many different segments within foodservice so there is always something new to learn.

Q. What is the worst part of your job?

Traveling in the winter.

Q. What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?

Being the first business partner elected president of a foodservice association.

Q. What is your greatest fear?

Failure. I’m a bit of a perfectionist.

Q. Which living person do you most admire?

Al Schuman, Ecolab CEO emeritus. He was an amazing leader that started selling on the streets of New York.

Q. What is your favorite meal?

Thin crust New York pizza.

Q. What is your guilty pleasure?

A deep-tissue massage.

Q. What will people always find in your refrigerator?

Sugar-free Red Bull.

Q. What food fad do you wish had never started?

The radical “healthy” food trends like kale chips.

Q. What do you consider to be the most overrated foodservice trend?

Kitchen table service—I never got why you would pay a fortune to sit “in” the kitchen.

Q. What are your words to live by?

Invest the time. Write the letter. Make the apology. Take the trip. Purchase the gift. The seized opportunity renders joy. The neglected brings regret.