If you’d describe yourself as a foodie who loves restaurants, or if you’re curious about what it takes to start a restaurant, then today’s interview with Erin Wade is for you. Erin is the founder of Homeroom, a mac-n-cheese restaurant with a mission to serve the most delicious and comforting pasta dish in America. And they’re well on their way. Homeroom quickly became a community destination in Oakland, Calif., with lines that stretch beyond the door. But, it wasn’t always so in demand — especially when it came to some family and friends who thought the restaurant was a terrible idea. Homeroom had a place in Erin’s heart though, and after she met the “one person who didn’t think Homeroom was nuts” that person became her partner. In episode 58 of I Want Her Job: The Podcast, Erin shares with Host Polina Selyutin some of the up’s and down’s of opening the restaurant — including running through her entire life’s savings and opening the restaurant with just two weeks of operations expenses left in her bank account. Finally, we discuss the reason Erin left her previous career — as a lawyer — behind. And, she shares why she felt staying in the legal industry was a bigger personal risk for her than putting her entire life savings on the line to passionately chase her idea.
