Michelle Rice, PR Manager HFWF
Growing up, kids imagine all manner of jobs. From truck driver, chef, policewoman, to lawyer and doctor, many traditional roles are visible and therefore easily identifiable – if not always attainable. However, I’ve always wondered – and still do – how people find the non-traditional, cool, invisible jobs. The ones that call upon creativity in a professional capacity while touching on the basic joys of life like eating, drinking and general merriment. How do people get those jobs?
As part of an ongoing series interviewing people with unique careers in hospitality, I set up an interview with Michelle Rice, Public Relations Manager Hawaiʻi Food & Wine Festival (HFWF). Rice recently joined the HFWF with seven years of experience at New York City-based public relations firms, where she developed communication strategies for global consumer brands including 23andMe, Laura Mercier, and Olay. In 2018, she managed production of the first Franciacorta Wine Festival in the U.S. market on behalf of the Consorzio of Franciacorta sparkling wines. She oversees, develops and implements all communication and public relations strategies for HFWF, plus provides support for marketing and social media efforts.
Here’s how she managed a dream move to Hawaiʻi and landed her coveted role.
You are the Public Relations Manager for the Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival. I’d say that qualifies as a “cool” job in the food, beverage and hospitality industry. How did you land the role?
Earlier this year, I relocated to O‘ahu from the mainland and was looking for an in-house position with a locally based company. A publicist friend turned me onto the job opening, to which I applied and interviewed.
In looking at the job role and responsibilities for the HFWF Public Relations Manager, I felt confident in my abilities to succeed in this position. I went into the interview with confidence and expressed my openness to the aspects of the job with which I was unfamiliar.
What was your background before coming to the festival? How did that background fit into the demands of this job?
I started HFWF with a toolbox of skills I learned servicing consumer brand clients over the years at a few midsize PR agencies. My foundation was primarily based on traditional PR tactics – writing the essential press releases, daily email pitches, long-term campaign building, event management and more. This was back when I thought four events in one month was cause to self-sacrifice any semblance of a personal life.
My understanding of the basic PR tenets helped me land my current job and saw me through the first few weeks until the 2019 kickoff events — which is when I realized that these large-scale Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival events were going to be nothing like the intimate media previews my PR agencies hosted in the small private dining room of Del Posto.
The years of media and client relations (plus my inner foodie) were the saving graces in helping me manage the speed and intensity of HFWF events to come.
Tell readers a bit about the festival. It’s an incredible event spread across multiple islands. In fact, I don’t think there’s anything like it, is there?
The Festival takes place over three weekends on multiple islands, featuring a roster of more than 150 internationally-renowned master chefs, culinary personalities, wine and spirit producers.
The Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival is different from most of its peers— it was founded as a nonprofit by two chefs, Roy Yamaguchi and Alan Wong, who wanted to give back to the community and raise the islands’ profile as a culinary destination. Since 2011, the festival has given more than $2.5 million to culinary education and agricultural programs.
We gather chefs from around the world to work alongside Hawai‘i chefs, using Hawai‘i ingredients, in spectacular locations—from a grand terrace overlooking Kā‘anapali Beach on Maui to the sands of Ko Olina Resort on the West Side of O‘ahu.
Could you describe some of the functions of your job?
My day-to-day responsibilities include media relations and all communications for the Festival, which includes the standard news releases, pitches, photo requests and newsletters. All written documents (digital and print) pass by my desk for proofing before distribution. Since we’re a small team — only five people total — I started to provide more support for our Marketing Director, helping to manage our advertising deliverables via our partners, graphic designer and social media consultant.
Oh yeah, we also launched a magazine this summer called Hashi. It serves as the ‘Ultimate Guide to Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival’, offering stories about food and culture that reaches beyond the borders and dates of the festival season. I stumbled into the role of Editor-in-Chief overseeing the copy editing, design process and contributor team. It’s an achievement that I would have never imagined!
Could you share some of the pros and cons of the role? I imagine it’s a lot of fun to meet people from around the world on different islands but is also a lot of stress given the sheer number of chefs, mixologists, wine producers, etc. that need to be orchestrated into a flawless ballet.
It’s been an incredible journey since March. Moving to Hawai‘i with my then-fiancé, I didn’t know where I would land, but I knew I wanted to be involved with the local community. The Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival met that requirement and more. It’s launched me into this wonderful and supportive community that spans across tourism, restaurants, hotels, marketing/PR, government and agriculture. Sometimes I surprise my in-laws, who were born and raised on the islands, by the knowledge and understanding I’ve gained in just a few short months.
The biggest learning curve in the beginning was learning the grammatical and political implications of Hawaiian culture. For example, the use of okina in the Hawaiian language is important to words such as “Hawai‘i” and “O‘ahu.” As a publicist and editor, it’s my job to not only use it correctly, but oversee that all of our communications are accurate. It was extremely necessary that I approached not only the Hawaiian language with respect, but also the Hawaiian and Polynesian cultures that infiltrate we do at HFWF.
I found that there was undeniable stresses during the month of the Festival, but the excitement of it all coming together energizes you with adrenaline.
What tip can you share with readers on getting their dream job?
Look beyond your definition of the job you want. It’s good to have direction and goals in place, but your dream job might fall outside of the search settings you enter on Indeed.com. Be open to new job descriptions or roles that can fulfill you ways you never dreamed of.
Most importantly, approach your new job with respect and earnestness. If the responsibilities fall outside of your wheelhouse, leverage your resources and most importantly, your own problem-solving skills, to succeed… even if it takes a few tries. At least you’re putting in the work.
Finally, what’s in store for the HFWF next year? Can you give us any hints?
Next year, Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival will be celebrating its tenth anniversary, which will come with new event themes and some surprises that HFWF attendees haven’t experienced before. We’ll be bumping up our Island of Hawai‘i weekend to two events — a multi-course dinner, plus a walk-around grand tasting style program. We’ll be thinking outside of the box for 2020!
Anything else you’d like to add?
I never thought I’d be working for a non-profit, especially at this point in my career. The most impactful thing I’ve learned over the last nine months is that non-profit doesn’t mean cheap, fewer resources or smaller budgets. I’ve been impressed with how much HFWF operates as a for-profit company, which ultimately benefits our partners, attendees, beneficiaries and the state of Hawai‘i. It’s somewhere that I can be successful and proud to work.
The Tenth Annual Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival runs October 2-25, 2020.