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Meet & Greet: Sunni Patel, Founder of Dish Dash Deets

LGBTQ+ professional and Founder of Dish Dash Deets Sunni Patel shares his holistic wellbeing mission with myGwork. After leading many wellness initiatives in senior roles at global corporations, Sunni decided to set up his own venture as a culinary medicine coach, specializing in gut health and eating addictions. He shares his career journey and coming out story, touching on the importance of being an out leader who promotes LGBTQ+ inclusion, and provides a glimpse into both his social and work life.



 

myGwork: Why did you start your company? 

Sunni: My journey into ‘solo-preneurship’ centering around health, wellness and food came about because of my own personal struggles as a senior leader facing daily issues around health (both chronic as well as issues around burnout and fatigue), navigating my sexuality (as I came out recently); as well as seeing a huge gap in whole wellness space and sustainable means of support for people in the workplace. A lot of traditional Employee Assistance Programmes didn’t cover what I felt people needed to know about health and wellness, which led to the creation of my company. My company known affectionally as Dish Dash Deets (Dishing in a Dash all the Deets you need to know as well as creating wholesome dishes and recipes in a dash with all the health deets) is centred around my medical knowledge and expertise in health; as well as experience in creating interactive and impactful workplace learning events, supported by associate specialists in yoga, psychotherapy, mental health, movement and food. 

 

myGwork: Have you always wanted to lead a company and why?

Sunni: I never imagined I would take the risk of starting my own company and supporting other people and organizations in a way that plays on my passion. I was on track to develop beyond a senior leader in executive management and felt that would always be my development plan. Part of it was down to fears and my belief system that I would be better off serving organizations and driving change through that as opposed to being able to drive change through my own company. My health issues and the pandemic itself (and being hospitalized twice during lockdown) made me consider otherwise. So I took on my own struggles to encourage and motivate myself to tackle the issues I faced, and let it blossom into a message that aims to be creative, considerate and impactful. 

 

myGwork: How would you describe your leadership style?

Sunni: I have a saying that I use in all my interviews and initiation – 'trust isn’t earned; its maintained'. Having faced a lot of early discrimination and constantly feeling as though I had to jump through culture-created loopholes in some organizations to constantly prove myself, I wanted to build myself as a leader and not a manager. I feel that is only possible by building and establishing an immediate foundation of trust so that people that work with me as a team feel that they can exercise free will, autonomy, and intellectual decision-making and execution based on mutual integrity and understanding.

 

myGwork: What attributes do you look for when promoting/hiring employees leaders in your company?

Sunni: I am immediately drawn to initiative and ambition. People that go above and beyond in terms of approach, thinking and how they come across is a massive appeal to me as it means they can contribute to our company core values of creativity, communication, and community. How can we make a positive impact to people’s and organisations lifestyles (both in and outside of work) through these values and out of the box thinking really appeals to me too. That coupled with hard work and a strong work ethic with a passion for personal development, makes for a great person on my team. 

 

myGwork: How do you successfully motivate your employees?

Sunni: I don’t overthink motivation and make it part of every interaction with my team members. I do my best to get associates of the company included in all decision making, brainstorming and planning, and encourage it through open, honest and candid feedback. I make it my mantra to ensure team members are aware of how important they are to bringing the mission of my company to life, and that they have a pivotal role to play in impacting people positively. I also take the time to get know each individuals’ motivators and drivers so that we can center discussion, development and work that they do to bring those to life. Put simply, the company doesn’t exist without them, their passion, work and motivation; and it’s important they know that. 

 

myGwork: How important is LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace to you?

Sunni: Extremely. I stress the emphasis on that word as someone that has had to recently come out and identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. It was hard for me to navigate in the workplace let alone personal settings. Most of our life we are presented a lot of ‘you should’ conversations; things that we should be doing taking, others thoughts, experiences and ‘advice’ into account. I had to do that for so many things; my colour, my age, my health and I didn’t want to have to face that with my sexuality. So I found allies in the workplace that I trusted and could be honest with to create and own my LGBTQ+ work narrative. I am conscious that not many people get that opportunity in the workplace. It hasn’t been a smooth ride for me but because of that I can say that inclusion across the workplace in all manners is pivotal for success. I stress the equity and equality elements of culture in all I do with DE&I initiatives. 

 

myGwork: Why do you think there are so few out leaders in the workplace, and what more can organizations do to ensure more leaders who identify with LGBTQ+ are promoted into leadership roles?

Sunni: It’s hard to speculate why there are less ‘out’ leaders than we would like and imagine. My own personal experience of fearing situations of facing prejudice, discrimination and assumptions in the workplace meant it took me a long time to consider becoming an ‘out leader’. I think the culture and environment of an industry and well as personal cultural and societal experiences can play a part in why a leader may choose not to identify as an ‘out’ leader. The answer isn’t a straightforward one. People will still always face issues and I believe everyone deserves a choice whether they want to come out or not; and if that includes the workplace or not. I do think having more safe conversations, offering the right tools and services to allow any individual to find their authentic selves (and authentic voice) in the workplace could help that process without the necessity of creating a loaded and focused program on ‘coming out in the workplace’ or ‘being an OUT leader’. 

 

myGwork: In your opinion, how important are LGBTQ+ allies at work?

Sunni: In my own experience I think allies play a critical role and stakeholder for LGBTQ+ people at work. There is always a level of reassurance and comfort in knowing that you can lean on someone for a comfortable conversation, create a plan of action or help bring an idea to life. This is very different to having a mentor, because being an ally allows you to use your lens and voice as a LGBTQ+ person to frame particular thoughts, actions and needs.



 

myGwork: How are you personally promoting inclusion in the workplace? What more can organisations do to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace and community.

Sunni: I use try to use my voice and passion to talk about the issues, as well as the solutions to tackle the issues that our communities face. I also try and leverage my health and wellness offerings and creativity with food as a springboard to inclusion in the workplace. I also ensure that we focus on people of colour and those with disabilities, as well as the LGBTQ+ community, to advocate, inspire and empower. 

 

myGwork: What's your all-time favourite movie/show and how many times have you watched it?

Sunni: I absolutely love Shawshank Redemption and I am embarrassed to say that I have watched it over 10 times. For me, it covers all aspects of life that we face within a microcosm of issues surrounding stereotype, sexuality, insecurities, and dreams. It embodies things that we all face from time to time – working for someone else’s dreams, struggling to find our voice and how to navigate the world as well as finding our community. I also have a guilty pleasure of enjoying The Greatest Showman. which I saw at least six times in the last nine months!

 

myGwork: What's your most favorite holiday destination to date?

Sunni: With very few occasions to go on holidays of late, I have to say my most memorable has to be hiking to Machu Pichu in Peru and also having a yoga break in Corfu with my fiance. The first was a solo traveller break which tested my resolve, patience and passion (as I was robbed half way up the hike); and the Corfu trip was break to enjoy self-care in beautiful surroundings with the person I adore.

 

myGwork: What do you do to unwind? Which drink/cocktail helps you unwind most?

Sunni: For me, family time and precious interaction and meals with loved ones helps me to unwind most of the time. If I am seriously stressed, then a spin session (as I am also a Personal trainer and Spin instructor) often provides much-needed relief.


Sunni will also be speaking at the myGwork virtual global WorkPride 2022 Conference today. Click here to sign up and find out more.

 

 You can find more about Sunni and connect with him here.

 

 Check out some of myGwork's other recent Meet & Greet interviews, including:


 

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