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Author
A real story about hospitality, leadership, personal growth, and the experiences that shaped a 35-year career.
Author. Hospitality Leader. Mentor. Leadership Speaker.
Thirty-Five Years of Hospitality. One Story Still Being Written.
Justin Morales is a Connecticut hospitality leader, restaurant operator, author and mentor. For 35 years he has built teams, shaped restaurant culture and led through the pressure of service — and he still does, every night, on an active restaurant floor.
Introduction
Hospitality Is More Than an Industry. It's a Life.
For more than three decades, Justin Morales has worked inside the moments most guests never see—the preparation before the doors open, the pressure behind the bar, the decisions that shape a team, and the sacrifices required to keep moving forward.
His work explores what restaurants teach us about leadership, culture, creativity, resilience, service, and ourselves.
Justin Morales
Leading Today
Director of Hospitality
Vyne Restaurant & Bar
Middlebury Hospitality Group
Connecticut
2026 CRAZIES Finalist
Restaurant of the Year
The leadership principles Justin writes and speaks about aren't theory—they continue to be practiced every day inside active restaurant operations.
What Justin Does
Four Decades of Work, Four Ways In
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Hospitality Leader
Lessons from decades spent building teams, developing culture, solving problems, and leading through pressure.
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Beverage Creator
A creative perspective on cocktails, spirits, service, storytelling, and the role beverages play in the guest experience.
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Mentor and Educator
Practical, honest guidance for the next generation of restaurant leaders, bartenders, managers, and entrepreneurs.
Short-form
Stories From Behind the Bar, Beyond the Dining Room, and Inside the Industry
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Dish Washers
Restaurant Culture
Getting to know people and the importance.
Pressure
Leadership
How pressure shapes people.
How did you end up in the kitchen?
Restaurant Culture
What brought you to this life of what you've wanted.
Manager vs Leader
Leadership
What is the difference between a manager and a leader.
What's important today?
Leadership
What is important to you today that was not important to you 10 years ago...
Shift by shift mindset
Leadership
Why it's important to shift your mindset from shift to shift.
What was your greatest gift as a kid?
My Story
In life what was your greatest gift as a kid.
What did being behind bars teach you?
My Story
How has being behind bars change you into the person you are today.
What did the kitchen teach you
My Story
What is an important lesson that you've learned.
What changed when you became a father?
My Story
What in your life has changed when you became a father?
Why did you write a book?
The Book
What drove Justin to put thirty-five years of hospitality into a memoir.
Why did you write a second book?
The Book
What inspired Justin to write a follow-up book after his first.
“The restaurant business teaches you quickly that leadership is not what you say when everything is working. It's what you do when everything is falling apart.”
— Justin Morales
The Book
You Are the Standard: The Restaurant Leadership Blueprint
The Restaurant Leadership Blueprint is Justin Morales's playbook for leading teams through the pressure, chaos, and people-work that define hospitality.
Work With Justin
Bring an Experienced Hospitality Voice Into the Conversation
Seven ways to bring thirty-five years on the floor into your event, team or brand.
- 01Speaking engagementsLearn more
- 02Podcast and media interviewsLearn more
- 03Hospitality panelsLearn more
- 04Leadership conversationsLearn more
- 05Restaurant and beverage collaborationsLearn more
- 06Mentorship and educational opportunitiesLearn more
- 07Book-related eventsLearn more
- Next stepStart a conversationContact Justin