Jean-Francois Flecher Talks About His Inspiration
How cool is that to have a job title of Chief Waffle Officer? So, what exactly is a chief waffle officer? Well, after meeting Jean-Francois Flechet, the founder of A Taste of Belgium, and reading his story in multiple 
media interviews, I’d have to say it is a job that requires a great deal of entrepreneurial spirit, determination and a tireless capacity to follow your path, business acumen, a genuine belief in human potential…and a pallet for mouth watering food.
That pretty much sums up Jean-Francois. He is an economist with a big heart who happens to be able to concoct a pretty tasty meal for a group of his friends or family, and who is willing to take risks and learn from doing.
It all began with a waffle maker
Jean-Francois was actually attending, of all things, a vending machine conference in Brussels for another business idea when the sweet aroma of homemade waffles baking caught his nose. The next day he went back, and left with a 120 pound cast-iron waffle maker that he shipped to the United States.
I guess vending machines were just not in his destiny.
Here in Cincinnati, his journey began with his making waffle dough in the kitchen at Covington’s Pho Paris. Then Jean-Francois sold his waffles at Findlay Market, and later borrowed $35,000 to open a stand in Columbus’ North Market. He cashed out his IRA and ordered 10 tons of Belgian pearl sugar.
Little by little, waffle by waffle, Jean-Francois made an imprint on our region – first at festivals and events, then with his bistros, and now even as the Official Waffle of the Cincinnati Reds.
I wanted to learn more about this man who has captivated Greater Cincinnati, where his inspiration comes from and why he loves what he does. This is some of what he
shared.
Lisa: Talk to me about where your inspiration comes from.
Jean-Francois: My original plan was not to get into the restaurant business. I made this up. I can cook for 20 people but not for hundreds of people. I wrote all the original recipes and chefs have tweaked them. Some of the recipes came from my mom or grandma.
No one else in my family are entrepreneurs. My grandparents were farmers but that is different. My parents have been my biggest inspiration. They raised me to work hard and stick to it. My work ethic comes from dad. He taught me that nothing ever is handed to you. When I was six years old, he took time off and took us to a cherry plantation to pick cherries because I was literally too young to work in Belgium and this was the only way I could do that. After a week or two, I had enough money to buy my first walkman. By age 12, I was the fastest cherry picker there. We did that for many years.
Lisa: What is one of the most satisfying parts of your work?
Jean-Francois: Really it is the interacting with people. What is very exciting is to see how some of my team started with us at a very entry level and how they have grown with us. Many have gotten their life together. One young guy began with us as a delivery driver, then in the bakery, then the dishes and the prep line, and now he is running his own kitchen. He has a salary, insurance 401K, and other benefits. It changed his life. He is a different person.
It is fulfilling to know you are helping people to grow and giving them a new challenge. That is one of the things which gives me the highest satisfaction, helping people. We have a great team. We keep hiring good people so that they can mentor the younger folks.
And, as we expand, we can create more opportunities for people. Every time we open new restaurant, we are hiring 60 to 70 people. It is amazing to think about how many people, how many families get food on their table from something that just started with a waffle iron.
Lisa: And, on your time off, what do you enjoy doing?
Jean-Francois: I still like to cook but I don’t have much time any more. I have a five year old so I love to spend time with him. I only speak French to him. I can teach him the language when it is just us. I also run marathons as it is good to clear your mind.
Help Cincinnati Be More Welcoming!
Kathleen Cail and Nestor Melnyk need your help in making our downtown and Over-the-Rhine a more livable, welcoming community for everyone. If you live, work or frequent that area, this volunteer opportunity will only be a few hours commitment but will have a very important impact not only to the vibrancy of the region, but also to those who want to enjoy time together.
Kathleen and Nestor received a grant from People’s Liberty for their project, called Access Cincinnati. The goal is to create an online resource providing accessibility information on restaurants and bars to families with strollers, veterans, seniors, and individuals with mobility issues. Having that information easily available will allow people to make decisions where they will be spending time and spending money enjoying our great city.
There are over 250 establishments to survey, which is how you can help!
Their ACCESS Cincinnati Launch Party is Tuesday, August 31, 2016, at 6pm, at People’s Liberty, 1805 Elm St. (on the corner of W. Elder, across from Findley Market). There you will learn more, meet other great people, receive your ACCESS Cincinnati cards and a list of 4 to 6 establishments to survey.
Can’t make the Launch Party? You can still volunteer! Just register here.
What you need to know (provided by Kathleen):
Q: How long will the survey take do complete?
A: Probably 10 minutes maximum. There are only about 12 questions/observations which you will be asked to answer/make, for each bar/restaurant on your list. Every question is multiple choice.
Q: Do I have to eat or drink in these places?
A: No. Only if you want to. Some places you can just walk right in. Others will have a Host/Hostess and you can just let them know who you are and what you are doing. DCI & OTR Chamber have been informed of this and should have informed their members.
Q: Where will this information be stored?
A: We will post this on our mobile website, accesscincinnati.org (which is under construction now).
Q: Are we the accessibility police?
A: No. There are no accessibility police. We are looking at whether a place is visitable? Is there a level entrance (including a stepped entrance where a portable ramp is provided), are there accessible bathrooms, and can I move around easily inside the venue? No tape measures needed!
Q: What if I can’t make the Launch Party, but still want to complete the surveys, what do I do?
A: Call or email me and I will provide you everything you need. 513.604.2070, kcail@mac.com
Kathy Wade Inspires Through Art
On a corner of Over-the-Rhine, down a long hallway and behind glass doors, there is a place where imaginative ideas take shape. Hanging from the two-story lofted office space are whimsical characters and brightly colored banners. Two of the corners of the main meeting space include a piano and a banquet sized table with dozens of children’s books displayed on top.
This is the home of Learning Through Art, Inc., a Cincinnati nonprofit organization that has benefited over 1 million people with its innovative cultural arts programs aimed to increase opportunities for collaboration, arts education, artistic grown, community engagement and economic development.
A few of its programs are:
Books Alive! For Kids, a four-time EMMY nominated, national award-winning, performing arts literacy program, that makes books come alive through sight, sound, and touch with phenomenal success. Targeting Pre-K through third grade, readers experience interactive, hands-on activities aligned to the new national Common Core Standards.
Mosaic Entertainment programs that bring arts education programs to students and faculty through lectures and performances.
Kathy is a twice EMMY nominated producer and award-winning international jazz entertainer who was twice voted Best Singer by Cincinnati Magazine. She and her nonprofit received the Cincinnati USA Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Joseph P. Dabney Award for Diversity; and, in February, 2014, Kathy was voted resolution from the City of Cincinnati Council for more than 20 years of dedication to engaging, empowering and educating our global communities.
Lisa: You have such an incredible passion for lighting that spark in young minds. Was there anyone or an experience in your childhood that inspired you?
Kathy: At home my parents surrounded us in Jazz. I picked up on the music and began to imitate the instruments and voices I heard. In school, Ms. Flowers, my second grade teacher, sparked so much for me with her enthusiasm to teach and our making her proud to learn. Reading was always important in our house, so books were my friends and stories my vehicle to travel anywhere. My grandmother was a published children’s author who was very influential. Proper English, reading and education were the norm growing up.
Lisa: When was it that you knew you had such a love for the arts and creative expression?
Kathy: I have always had an interest in performing. From pretending to do commercials in our basement in front of our new washing machine to taking the required dance and flute (selected instrument) lessons. I always saw a creative solution to problem solving, but the summer arts enrichment activities my mother enrolled me in were by far the moments where my creativity was truly inspired.
Lisa: How did you get started pursuing ways to teach and engage through the arts?
Kathy: While working and waiting for my star to ascend as a Jazz entertainer, I decided a good sign of success is performing at your alma mater or any school. I had an idea for what is now A Black Anthology of Music, a lecture performance now known as Edutainment, about the history of Jazz and learning the importance of ‘finishing what you start’. What started out as a Black History Month assembly at old Washington Park Elementary became the foundation of Learning Through Art, Inc., ‘to augment the dwindling arts in schools.’ Once I discovered performing arts used as a method of teaching could turn on the light for learning, my late husband, Dan Jenkins, and I co-founded the non-profit 501c3 organization dedicated to building community through art inviting kids of all ages to …”don’t just learn… experience.”
Lisa: You are doing so many innovative programs and activities through Learning through Art, Books Alive! being one of them. What are the plans for expansion of this program?
Kathy: As we plan for our 25th anniversary, we are working to expand distribution of Books Alive! For Kids® in schools, communities and homes with our book boxes and backpacks. We are particularly excited to expand The Big Read: Books Alive! For Kids® Family Literacy Nights empowering parents and caregivers to engage their children to read. The nights promote family/parent engagement while taking the mystery out of how to engage your child to read making them lifelong learners. Each child takes their backpack home with them which includes the book at the end of the literacy night. We look forward to sharing The Big Read: Books Alive! For Kids® Family Literacy Nights across the country.
Our next program Books Alive! For Kids® Emerging Authors will provide us a platform to introduce new authors, their book, which LTA will publish and create Books Alive! For Kids® collateral program materials. This will give Learning Through Art the seamless production of all the materials from book to box or backpack contents.
Lisa: What is the greatest satisfaction you receive from the work that you do?
Kathy: Seeing the light of learning turn on in a child’s eye; watch the interaction of parents and caregivers when working with their children during family literacy nights; providing access to institutions whose admission cost may be prohibitive for many families and individuals; seeing neighbors meeting neighbors while learning about other cultures through music, crafts, dance and animals from around the world; knowing you can make a difference.
Lisa: What is a personal challenge you have overcome in life? What are lessons learned?
Kathy: Moving forward after the sudden death of my late husband who was such an integral part of the founding and shaping of Learning Through Art and my life. Taking one step at a time; building collaboration and support; Breathe!
Lisa: What is some advice you would give to others about pursuing their passion in life?
Kathy: When you pursue your passion you will become your best you.
Lisa: What is something about Kathy Wade that people may not know?
I have had the pleasure of performing the National Anthem for then candidate and now President Barack Obama three times. Amazing to be part of the country’s history.
Jessica Kavinsky Wants To Change The World
My Walnut Hills High School intern, Isabella Noe, spoke with a young world changer. Below please see what Isabella learned of Jessica, her Modern Abolitionist Movement Club, and what Jessica wants to do to make change happen.
photo credit: Isabella Noe
“When I tell people I don’t drink Starbucks, don’t buy Nike and don’t eat Hershey’s, they have no idea why. These are a few of many large corporations that abuse fair trade laws and perpetuate modern slavery. There are more slaves today than any time in human history… My freshman year, my sister started the Modern Abolitionist Movement club (MAM) at my school. It was mostly seniors, and the next year they had all graduated. The club dissolved. But, I realized, over the summer, that this was important. The more and more I saw about it, and the more and more I heard, human trafficking was something I wanted to fight against, and I wanted to start up something at my school, so I brought back MAM. Since then, I have realized human trafficking is not an isolated issue, it is a systematic issue. The reason sex trafficking is ignored in the United States and in third world countries is that we have a systematic abuse of women in today’s society. I want to go into business to work out corporate sexism, because at the moment, there are more men named John in the workforce that are CEOs than there are women. I want to show the world that this is who we are, this is what women around the world look like, and this is what they face on a day to day basis. I want to bring value to women because there are women out there being treated as animals.
I’ve noticed, through MAM, that there are many other people like me who care just as much about it, and that at our age, we are still vital to the fight because we have this youth outlook on the issue. There are adults who do not have as much passion as we do about this issue, which makes me know that this is what I’m meant to do. No, I don’t want to change the world a little. I want to change the world a lot. Long term, not short term, to change the system- not the people. I won’t see the results right away because there are people in charge who don’t see the new ways, who don’t know what equality looks like. So no, I don’t want to change one person, I want to change the system.”
-Jessica Kavinsky,
student at Walnut Hill High School
Wise Advice From Kurt Yaeger
Acting roles on hit tv shows. People Magazine interview. Way to go Kurt Yaeger! It was truly such an honor to have had him here in Cincinnati and to have met him through my work promoting the ReelAbilities Film Festival. Can’t wait to see what is next for him! Please click here to read the article in People Magazine.
