The Quiet Work of Belonging in Hospitality with Marina Baronas and Chef Carl Riding

Belonging is not something you arrive at. It is something you build.
In this episode of Walk-In Talk Media, Carl Fiadini sits down in studio with Marina Baronas, hospitality leader and author of A New Life, A New Menu: An Almanac of Belonging. Raised across Lithuania, Russia, and Azerbaijan, Marina came to the United States at nineteen without speaking English and built a life through the unseen work of hospitality. Her journey moves through kitchens, dining rooms, leadership, motherhood, burnout, and reinvention, offering an honest look at service as lived experience, not performance.
Joining the conversation is Chef Carl Riding, who came up through hotels and kitchens before stepping away from the line to build Crab Island Seafood, a small, independent, chef-driven company producing elevated crab dips. Together, they explore dignity in invisible labor, identity beyond titles, redefining success without leaving hospitality, and why this industry continues to feel like home even after it takes its toll.
This episode is for anyone who has carried their roots across borders, worked until they were unseen, or searched for belonging inside the hospitality industry.
What to Expect From This Episode • Immigration, identity, and finding belonging through hospitality

• The emotional cost of invisible labor and long-term burnout

• Front of house and back of house perspectives shaped by hotels and kitchens

• Redefining success without walking away from the industry

• Why hospitality continues to feel like home, even after reinvention

Brand Partners Crab Island Seafood crabislandseafooddip.com
Metro Foodservice Solutions metro.com
RAK Porcelain USA rakporcelain.com/usa
Pass the Honey passthehoney.com
Trade Show & Event Partners New York Restaurant Show nyrestaurantshow.com
California Restaurant Show californiarestaurantshow.com
Florida Restaurant Show flrestaurantshow.com
Pizza Tomorrow Summit pizzatomorrow.com
U.S. Culinary Open (NAFEM Show) usculinaryopen.com
Cause Partners We Support The Burnt Chef Project theburntchefproject.com
Operation BBQ Relief operationbbqrelief.org
Hogs for the Cause hogsforthecause.org
Sustainable Supperclub sustainablesupperclub.org