What We Carry Forward - October 2026

By Farouk Rajab, President/CEO, RI Hospitality

Hospitality is built on relationships.

Rhode Island’s hospitality community has experienced several difficult losses recently, including Jen Matta, Tina Tomaselli, Julian Forgue and Kris Fuller. Their passing has been felt across the industry and prompts reflection on the people whose influence reaches well beyond a single restaurant, hotel, business or role.

In a close-knit hospitality community like ours, that influence travels far.

Anyone who has spent time in this industry can probably point to people who helped shape their career. A manager who trusted them with more responsibility. A chef who took the time to teach. A colleague who became a mentor. An operator who made an introduction or opened a door at exactly the right moment.

Rhode Island hospitality is especially connected in that way. Our state is small, careers overlap and people often cross paths many times across restaurants, hotels, tourism businesses, schools, associations and communities. Relationships built in one job can continue for decades and influence people far beyond the original workplace.

Those connections create a kind of institutional memory that is difficult to measure and incredibly valuable.

Someone who has spent decades in hospitality carries stories about businesses, guests, employees, hard seasons, turning points and lessons learned along the way. They remember what worked, what changed and what people needed during challenging moments. They understand the personalities, standards and relationships that helped shape Rhode Island hospitality into what it is today.

That knowledge has value every day.

A young employee may need someone to show them what a long-term career can look like. A first-time manager may need perspective when a challenge feels overwhelming. An owner may need a trusted voice when making a difficult decision. A team may benefit from understanding why certain traditions, expectations or standards have endured.

Much of that learning happens through mentorship.

Sometimes it is formal. More often, it grows naturally through the work itself: a conversation before a shift, advice after an event, feedback after a mistake, an introduction to someone new or a few words of encouragement at the right time.

Hospitality asks people to work closely, solve problems quickly and rely on one another. In that environment, knowledge is constantly being shared. Leaders who pass along their experience help build confidence, judgment and perspective in the people around them.

Those lessons stay with people.

They also help the industry renew itself. Experienced professionals share perspectives earned over years of service. Emerging leaders bring new ideas, new expectations and new ways of seeing the work. That exchange gives Rhode Island hospitality a strong foundation while allowing it to continue evolving.

At RI Hospitality, we see the importance of creating opportunities for those connections to happen. Education, workforce development, professional development and industry events all bring people together in ways that encourage learning, relationship-building and the exchange of experience.

The value can extend far beyond a program or event.

A conversation can lead to a mentor. A mentor can lead to an opportunity. An opportunity can lead to a career that eventually shapes someone else’s.

Rhode Island hospitality will keep changing. New businesses will open. New leaders will emerge. Technology, consumer expectations and the workforce will continue to evolve.

The relationships behind the industry will remain essential.

So, in honor of Jen, Tina, Julian, and Kris, each of whom leave an indelible mark on Rhode Island’s hospitality community, keep sharing what we know, recognize the people who helped build this community and create space for the next generation to learn, lead and eventually do the same for someone else.

That is how legacy moves forward.