Shell Righini

Shell is a hospitality veteran with 18 years FOH experience, focusing primarily on operations, training, and business development. She has worked for some of London's best restaurant groups including Hawksmoor, Gaucho and Polpo. Having suffered a life changing burnout late 2020, she has changed her focus to improving the mental health working conditions of people in the industry by forcing difficult conversations out into the open, specifically concerning the hidden epidemic of addiction.

Her podcast We Recover Loudly offers a platform for people with experience of drug and alcohol addiction, in the hospitality industry to discuss what we can do to change the systemic culture of excessive alochol and substance use we have. The episodes also highlight how it is possible to break these habits and still work within the industry, having a thriving career while in recovery. Shell's work continues to look beyond high levels of addiction we have and ask, "if alcohol/drugs were the solutions to a problem, what problems do we have in our industry that we need to change?” The services she provides include onsite workshops promoting a safe and inclusive drinking culture in the workplace, small group coaching for managers to help them better support team members, and as a qualified recovery coach she also runs 121 mentoring for hospitality leaders who want to change their relationship with drugs and alcohol.
As someone who is diagnosed as autistic, ADHD hyperactive and dyslexic, Shell’s recent training has focused on how we create more supportive environments for people who are neurodiverse in the workplace, and what long term impacts that has on their mental health. In her spare time, Shell is Low No Drinker magazine’s resident agony aunt. She also has a sassy sausage dog called Milo who is addicted to going for brunch.