A passion for the hospitality industry has always been an important part of Wendy Derzai Minnett’s life.
The VP of TacoTime Canada and Extreme Pita Canada with the MTY Food Group can trace her career in the hospitality industry back several years ago when she had a burning desire to see Bruce Springsteen in concert in Toronto.
Wendy was born in Montreal but her formative years were spent in Geneva, Switzerland as her father had diplomatic status working with the International Telecommunications Union. The family lived there for most of her younger years.
The family came back to Canada by the time she was in Grade 8 to Manotick, Ontario, just outside of Ottawa.
“I had to learn to read and write in English,” says Wendy.
She initially took Arts at Carleton University and then went to the University of Toronto to do a degree in environmental science.
“That’s sort of where my career started. I worked at Skydome actually when I got hired by Manpower when they were just building because I really wanted to see Bruce Springsteen and obviously had no money to do that,” says Wendy.
“A friend of mine was getting a job as an usher and I thought ‘Oh my God that’s a great idea, I’m going to do that too’. So I got a job as an usher and of course I never got to see the show because I was too busy working. So that really didn’t work out very well but it started a great path for me.
“I was an usher. I was there eight years and I got promoted all the way through. I was in guest services, I got promoted to the head of guest services, I was the EA for one of the VP’s at Skydome and then ended up running the corporate suites. And in doing that, I met all the predominant Torontonians who worked in financial and big companies which led me to start my own event marketing company. And it was easy. I was lucky because I made so many great contacts.”
Prior to joining MTY, Wendy was with Gateway Casinos and Entertainment Limited as Director of Brand Marketing and Director of Food and Beverage Marketing.
Her professional career also included positions as Director of Marketing, Sales and Business Development with the Donnelly Group and Director of Marketing and Sales with Points West Hospitality Group.
Wendy also has a Diplome de cuisine from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France.
She spent five years in the casino industry prior to joining MTY.
“It was an exciting five-year venture in the casino business. I was able to build and develop four unique casino brands and four unique food and beverage brands that we sort of replicated in each of the casinos. It was really fun because it was a highly competitive and dynamic environment. It demanded a lot of creativity and innovation and each brand needs to stand alone in a market saturated with entertainment options,” explains Wendy.
“It really actually helped me hone in on my marketing skills, customer service, customer experience, attracting patrons. It really enforced the need for loyalty and that’s a huge thing in casinos but it really translated well into what I do now because it’s all about loyalty. Back then you didn’t have loyalty programs, it was really important to define that brand differentiation, customer loyalty program, high stakes project management. They were all crucial and critical things to learn before I got into QSR (quick service restaurant).”
When she first went to university, Wendy says she wanted to be an environmental lawyer.
“But that didn’t work out very well because the only problem with that is . . . at that time, it was 1992, certainly environmental science and the love of the environment is not where it is today, so back then I would have to be on the side of government and if I was going to be on the side of government versus the people that are polluting I wouldn’t have made any money and I would have starved to death, so that wasn’t going to be a good plan for me,” she laughs.
Working at Skydome led her into another field.
“My mom always said that you’ll fall into something that you love and it just became something that I loved. I loved hospitality. I loved cooking. I have the personality I guess as I’m always good with sales, so sales and marketing kind of came together and the great part of this part of my life is once I left Gateway and Mr. Dave Minnett (CEO of Edo Japan and now her spouse) sort of determined that it was a good idea for me to come to Calgary, doing that here brought the culmination of all that QSR experience,” says Wendy.
“I really love the whole idea of building a brand identity. Customer experience is paramount for me for anything that I’ve ever done. This has all kind of enabled me to innovate continuously, ensuring our QSR brands are not just met but exceeded by customer expectations in today’s competitive market.
“What I love about this job is that it’s sort of a culmination of everything that I’ve ever done and it’s brought into one place. And I feel all the experience I’ve had led me to where I am today. It’s been a 30-year journey.”
Wendy says she’s worked with great people and some not-so great people in her career.
“I sort of promised myself if I was ever put in a position of having people, leading a team, I would make it inclusive, non-dictatorial. I always say to my team this is not a dictatorship. Your opinion matters. We have to make these decisions together,” she says.
“I’m a very empathetic person. I like people to enjoy what they do. It’s a hard job. We have to do it every day. I want them to come and have a good time, enjoy themselves, and still enjoy their job with support. I believe every person has great abilities to do their job but I think you can do your job a lot better when you’re actually given a pat on the back and told what a great job you’re doing. I really wanted to build loyalty in my team.
“We are a team. I’ve always said the only time that I am the boss is when stuff’s rolling down the hill and then I’m there to protect you from it. That’s my role. Otherwise we do everything together. We collaborate. We do it together. I learned all the things not to do from previous people . . . I really wanted to be a mentor and I’ve had some great people in my career who have actually helped me get to that next level. So I wanted to do that for every member of my team.”
Wendy enjoys golfing in her spare time as well as traveling and culinary experiences.
“Calgary has just been a joy I have to tell you. Going from Vancouver to Calgary I was really concerned. I had a great space in Vancouver. 180 degree view with the mountains and the ocean. But honestly in Calgary the hospitality gene in this city is by far the best I’ve experienced in any city I’ve ever lived in,” she says.
“Our level of culinary expertise and cocktail culture here for a city of its size is staggering to me. There’s always something new and amazing to experience. It’s really been a joy.”
