Meet Hanae Suk Bragg | Founder & Executive Recruiter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Hanae Suk Bragg and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hanae, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I never considered entrepreneurship as a career option for myself. Culturally and scholastically, I was well prepared for excelling in a corporate company or pursuing a field that is traditionally revered in the eyes of immigrant parents. There is a tremendous amount of pressure growing up as a first generation Asian American to achieve a certain version of success. This is the understood way of honoring and living up to the sacrifices of your parents, their parents, and everyone who fought to pave the road to a better life for you in a new country.

So, for me, even entertaining the idea of owning a company and business required me to strip away a lot of expectations that I had subscribed to and let shape my major life decisions. It is a powerful process to reframe how you view yourself professionally. That takes a tremendous amount of honesty and rigorous self assessment.

I’m a firm believer that without embracing fearless authenticity, I wouldn’t be a business owner.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Hospitality Confidential is a best in class executive recruitment agency serving the Hospitality, F&B, and Hospitality real estate industries. Our business model is disruptive in that we are highly focused on DE&I practices. All of our recruiters are trained and certified in unconscious bias and building diverse teams. This is all with the goal of creating a more inclusive, equitable, and ultimately more sustainable hospitality and F&B future.

Traditionally, recruitment agencies can be more sales focused with DE&I falling under the purview of its own department or Human Resources.

Additionally, we opt for a “Jerry Maguire” type of approach as We are a high touch agency and only work with a very low volume of clients who share our core values at once one time.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Wow! As a former restaurant operator, my hospitality instincts will always guide me towards curating the itinerary towards their tastes. So, it’s tough for me to create an itinerary without a friend in mind! If you’re asking about my tastes, I have a very high low approach to food and beverage in the city. I’ll enjoy michelin star dining, small hole in the walls, and dark dive bars in the same breath.

For most friends, we are going to go eat Korean food. This can be a contentious topic, but I do believe we have the best Korean restaurants in the United States as Los Angeles is home to the biggest Korean population in the country. I love taking friends to restaurants outside of the well known Korean BBQ category.

I love the Magic Castle and Highland Park Bowl.  The Hammer Museum, LACMA, and The Broad are all fantastic. I love seeing live music in some of our more historic venues: The Wiltern, El Rey, The Regent etc.

I think Alamo Drafthouse is the coolest indie movie theatre with really fun food and beverage offerings.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
SO many people have contributed to the formation and success of my company.

I will always be eternally grateful to my parents and the example they have set for me. My husband, Ben Bragg, has supported me through thick and then. I’m very fortunate to have a life partner who has been open minded and not risk adverse throughout our different stages of professional development.

Spencer Suk, Raina Lewis, Sabrina Park, Julia Embury, Jeremy Snell, and Erin Mavian are all talented folks who have most recently been key advocates and consultants to our business as well! Thank you all so much!

Website: www.hospitalityconfidential.com

Instagram: @hospitality.confidential

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hanae-suk-bragg-5125517a/

Image Credits
Cinthya Silverstein