I have been the general manager of Pilu at Freshwater for the last 4 years, but I am also a director of Pilu Hospitality Collective, a consultancy arm of business that focuses on assisting other businesses build a solid framework to achieve the style of hospitality we’re known for.
Although I’ve never formally studied business, my upbringing and education in Alabama with a farming family background gave me a brain for it. I moved to Australia from the United States in 2010 and in 2012 I joined the Pilu team in a junior role while studying, and I worked my way up through the business. Marilyn Annecchini and Giovanni Pilu are fantastic employers who provide support, mentorship, and continually promote building and expanding skills.
When I mention the Pilu style, I’m referencing a holistic knowledge of and passion for hospitality. Giovanni is the backbone of food and menus, he’s an incredibly talented chef. Marilyn oversees events, marketing, and brand building, she curates the soul behind the brand. My aspect is the operational side, developing a strong core team that loves what they do, knows their products through and through, and can exude that to guests. To achieve this, we provide staff with great experiences, from meeting suppliers and producers, to having engaging training sessions. We also listen to our staff, what works and doesn’t work, so they are vested in what we do together.
There is no typical day for me, that’s the crux of most general management roles. I need to be prepared for anything that comes my way to ensure the next day isn’t chaos. As we prepare to open Flaminia, I’ve been working with Giovanni and Marilyn on all aspects from designing the menu and service structure to brand and uniform details. In the immediate lead-up to opening and once we’re open, my focus will be training floor staff and making sure that they’re strongly linked with kitchen staff. In a lot of venues it can feel like there is a divide between the floor team and the kitchen team, but we work hard to cross-train so that our staff understand how every action has a flow on affect to someone else in the team.
A particular pressure I’m focused on most days is managing the current financial environment, which is extraordinarily difficult for hospitality businesses. Talent shortages, particularly at the management level, are common. The regulatory pressures from IR laws to wage awards make it extremely challenging to operate efficiently and effectively. To address this, it is crucial for us to understand how to manage those pressures without breaking our team, which requires extraordinary flexibility. This is again where cross-training is essential. If staff are multi-skilled, you’re able to run a leaner team and still retain high performance. This also provides the team with more hours and more earning capacity.
At Flaminia, I’m excited to be able to flex our skills outside of the Sardinian cuisine that Pilu is known for. Introducing our brand to new clientele, both local and international, and being able to partner with other city-side brands and talent is going to be a great aspect of this venue.
The main challenge for us is hitting the mark in terms of expectations – not only ours but also our guests’. We have a high bar of what we want to achieve, and I think our guests do as well. As for what’s next for me? Watch this space.
This story was originally published in the September/October 2025 edition of Hospitality magazine. To read more or subscribe, visit here.
