Born in Cleveland! and raised in Sarasota, Tara O’Neill is a people-first hospitality leader, lifelong learner, and firm believer that growth rarely happens in a straight line.
Tara got her start in hospitality around age 12, refilling coffee cups on Sunday mornings at a family friend’s restaurant. She continued working in the industry through college and beyond, with brands including Hard Rock Cafe and Bloomin’ Brands, before earning a Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling and working with children and families in the child welfare system—an experience that deeply shaped how she thinks about people, leadership, resilience, and growth.
Tara has spent more than a decade at Fresh Kitchen, where she helped build the company’s learning, development, and people infrastructure from the ground up and helped define and operationalize its first core values. Today, as Chief People Officer, she focuses on the entire human experience—leading Training, Talent Acquisition, and Human Resources while helping shape how people experience Fresh Kitchen from their first interaction with the brand through their growth as leaders, who, in turn, impact others.
At her core, Tara believes joy and excellence can—and should—coexist, and that workplaces designed with intention and care can genuinely change people’s lives, both inside and outside of work.
A conversation on the future of work, culture, performance, and retention—and what the best restaurant leaders are doing differently to build teams that last.
