“The hospitality industry — and people can be surprised to hear this — is challenging and thrilling, but at times it can be incredibly lonely if you’re an independent venue without the leadership support of a larger hospitality group,” says Michelle Grand Milkovic, co-owner of Love.fish.
Grand-Milkovic points out that solo operators wear all the hats, from HR and finance to team building, social media, and SEO. “The list is exhaustingly endless. It’s just you in charge of numerous staff. As an individual leader, I found that I needed to seek out not only other women in hospitality, but those in other industries.” So, it was a fortuitous occurrence when Business New South Wales introduced Grand-Milkovic to Samantha Theron of Collabor8Women.
Collabor8Women is an initiative created by two friends. Public relations expert and visibility strategist Karen Eck was on a personal branding photoshoot when she met Theron, who was working as a stylist. Theron — who is now R.M. Williams’ global senior visual merchandising manager — had just returned to Australia from Singapore and found her network in Sydney was outdated. The two decided to meet for lunch and introduce each other to their respective connections. “Three weeks later, we had a phone call and came up with the idea of Collabor8Women,” says Eck. “We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to get people together around a table of eight with meaningful curation?’ So, we decided to pilot it in December 2021.”
The duo began developing the idea more robustly in early 2022 by hosting an event at The Butler in Potts Point (enjoying food by Head Chef Amber Doig) with just two tables of eight. Now, thanks to a system of participants bringing a professional plus one, the program has ballooned, recently selling out an event held at Bathers’ Pavilion.
When Grand-Milkovic met Theron in the early days of Collabor8Women, she was already part of WAR — Women and Restaurants — a networking group linking women restaurant owners (through a “very active” WhatsApp group) to share advice, inspiration, and tips for navigating legislation. “When I met with Sam and heard about what they were doing, I was really excited by the prospect,” says Grand-Milkovic, whose peers from WAR — including Baci Moore of Bistro Rex, Judy McMahon of Catalina, and Anna Pavoni of Ormeggio — have since attended Collabor8Women.
The restaurateur has now been to 21 Collabor8Women events — “it ends up being the highlight of my monthly calendar” — and introduced Theron and Eck to a range of venues where women hold pivotal roles. “It can be very daunting for outsiders from hospitality to ask, ‘Where are the female-led venues? Where are the female-owned venues? Where are the venues with women head chefs or sommeliers?’ I find it’s not something you can easily get information on.”
The dining aspect of Collabor8Women soon became a core part of the experience for attendees and the event recently announced the restaurants where meetings would take place this year, which were chosen according to offering and presence of female management. “The right setting transforms an event — it creates an experience, sets the mood, and encourages genuine engagement,” says Theron. “This year’s venues were chosen for their ability to do just that.”
Eck says a foundational aspect of the group was based around supporting the hospitality industry in the aftermath of Covid-19 as well as women in the industry. “We know there are not enough women in executive levels in hospitality and our aim was to do whatever we could to help them network and shine a spotlight on the incredible work they do.” With more than 1,000 women in the database — the majority of which are based in New South Wales — the demographic encompasses women in their mid-20s and up, (“We’ve even had an octogenarian,” says Eck) but the average guest is mid-career. “They tend to be skilled and experienced at what they’re doing.”
Collabor8Women aims to facilitate learning and creating authentic connections. “It’s a no-hustle environment, so no one is going to try and sell you anything,” says Eck. “This is why the feel is authentic and genuine.” The event even has a list of eight commandments including ‘thou shalt forget about networking the room and focus on connecting with people at your table’; ‘thou shalt value your own experience, skill and wisdom’; and ‘thou shalt value a good sense of humour and enjoy a good laugh at every opportunity’.
Through a rigorously curated seating plan (which Eck says can take multiple full days to devise), women are seated at tables of eight. Each table has a host who helps ensure the conversation flows and encourages a “no small talk” policy. Eck says the benefit of the eight-seat format is that no matter how large the event grows, it remains intimate and curated. “There’s a reason why everyone is on their table,” she says. “We’re looking for genuine, interesting conversations, and we deliberately mix industry background and levels of leadership. Each time you join, it feels like there’s always something a little bit surprising.”
Women at the events come from a multitude of different industries, and Grand Milkovic says her personal growth as a leader in hospitality has benefited from the variety of connections. “I love listening to the challenges other women have experienced in other industries,” she says. “Our experiences can be so different, but in many ways, there’s also many commonalities you wouldn’t necessarily think we would have. But they’re common threads that run through all female leadership.”
And while the event isn’t explicitly about finding work (as Eck puts it — “if you’re looking for a job, it’s not necessarily going to give you that”), Grand-Milkovic has developed professional relationships through the events. “I’ve gone on to frequent several businesses the women represent, one is a graphic designer and one is a chiropractor,” she says. “Even though it’s not really the goal, it’s a great way to upskill and grow your business at the same time as meeting some really incredible, intelligent, and passionate women.”
There’s clearly a demand for female-oriented events, as proven by the sold-out sessions. “After 28 events, what we’ve proven is that the concept works and people need it,” says Eck. For Grand-Milkovic, the events have created a unique networking experience to participate in. “They really celebrate and support women in hospitality, whether that be a female-owned hospitality business or someone opening a new venue,” she says.
The event is held on the first Wednesday of each month. Women wishing to join simply need to apply through a form on the Collabor8Women website. Eck says the team is always looking for new venues with women in leadership roles to collaborate with. For women-led venues — whether they’re owners, head chefs, sommeliers, hospitality duos, or family-owned venues — interested in hosting an event in 2026, more information can be found at collabor8women.com
This story was originally published in the March – April 2025 edition of Hospitality Magazine. Subscribe to newsletter or print.
