For the first time in its 76-year history, the Illinois Restaurant Association has elected a chairwoman.
Dorothy ”Dee” DeCarlo, founder of the Mama Mia! Pasta restaurant chain, says she earned the confidence of the predominately male, 2,500-member food service trade group by working hard.
”I became known for being very serious about improving the industry,”
says DeCarlo, who joined the association in 1984 as an advisory board member. ”I`d never turn down a chance to make myself more visible. If I was asked at 5 o`clock to give a speech the next morning, I`d say, `Sure.` ”
Besides her official goals-boosting the industry`s image and encouraging restaurant owners to be more environment-concious-DeCarlo plans to appoint more women directors and groom a female successor.
”My board knows that if there`s a (director`s) spot open, I want a woman to take it,” says DeCarlo, 43. ”Women are opening and running their own restaurants, so it`s only right that they have an opportunity to make
(association) decisions.”
Currently, two other women-Linda Bacin and Maxine Cwiak-join DeCarlo on the 28-member board.
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DeCarlo, who graduated from Loyola University in 1969 with a degree in business administration, spent a decade in media sales before venturing into the restaurant industry. In 1981, while holding a lucrative sales position at WMAQ-Ch.5, she decided she needed a challenge. Putting up $75,000 of her own savings in addition to a small business loan, she opened a 65-seat, upscale fast food restaurant.
”I designed the Mama Mia! menu around what I like to eat, which is pasta, and the way I usually eat, which is fast,” she says.
Despite some red-ink-filled months and a soured partnership, DeCarlo`s business slowly began to turn a profit. She moonlighted, cooking and managing at the restaurant until 1983, when she quit her full-time job to expand her fledgling company.
During the growth years, DeCarlo also found time to marry business associate David Houle in 1985 and have a child, Christopher, now 4.
In 1988, when DeCarlo sold off her controlling interest to pursue food service consulting, Mama Mia! had grown from one store, 15 employees and $300,000 in annual revenues to three units, 60 employees and $2 million in sales.
DeCarlo advises current and would-be women food service entrepreneurs to
”aim higher.”
”Don`t just set a goal of doing some catering out of your home,” she says. ”Set your sights on being head of a major food service corporation. Expect to be a big success.”