Gabriela Diaz

Gabriela Diaz has followed her appetite for food and travel to 78 countries, but her love of the food business ultimately brought her to Stanford GSB.

“My parents always say I had a fork and knife in my hand from a young age, and if I was hungry, I was an unhappy person,” says Diaz, a Bronxville, New York, native who spent much of her gap year traveling and took off a semester in college to learn how to make cheese in Spain.

She met her fiancé while in hotel management school, and they like to try the hardest, most annoying recipes because there’s nothing quite like being challenged in the kitchen and succeeding.

How did you become a dual citizen?

My dad is from Argentina. He and my mom met on a blind date. He cared about our Argentine heritage, so we spoke Spanish with him at home and went to Argentine school on Saturdays to learn to read and write Spanish. My sister and I are proud Argentine and American citizens.

How have you taken advantage of that mobility?

I took off a semester of college and moved to Europe to learn to make cheese. Eventually, after emailing many people and one person connecting me to another, I finally found a woman in northern Spain who was willing to house me for six months and teach me. That’s a very fond memory for me. I enjoyed the life of a cheesemaker.

Can you pinpoint the origin of your interest in the food, beverage, and hotel industries?

The lightbulb moment wasn’t until I was 18 or 19. I was on a gap year before I started college and traveled for nine months. I was in Amsterdam and went to a local grocery store for breakfast. I walked in — I’ll never forget this — and saw a little boy, maybe four years old, with his mom. They were standing in the yogurt aisle, and this kid was holding two little yogurts, trying to make a decision about which one to buy. It showed me how, from a young age, you make decisions about food you don’t even know you’re making. Those decisions become a part of your identity. It made me realize that I loved food and markets and wanted to make food a part of my life going forward.

Should we assume that enthusiasm for food extends into your personal life?

Way too much. I was a sourdough baker before Covid. I’m very proud of that. I’ve gotten pretty good at caneles, French custard pastries. They’re difficult because they must be baked in individual copper molds. It’s crunchy and caramelized on the outside and gooey on the inside, but it’s amazing when done well.

Tell us about your time managing Épicerie Boulud at The Plaza Hotel in New York.

It was the hardest job I think I’ll ever have. I was 22, just out of college, and frankly, I didn’t know much of anything. I had textbook knowledge of management but no experience. I had to manage a team of 15 people who had no trust in my ability to lead them. I had an on-shift manager who emailed me and my boss daily about everything I did wrong the day before. Every day, I woke up panicked about what I did wrong, but I added to my list of things to learn every day. So, every day, I would learn something — how to set up a beer keg, clean the panini press, and clean the ice cream machine. It took me two months to learn all the job duties. It was such a miserable experience, and I didn’t want anyone else to go through this ever again. I made a handbook of all the duties and created a training manual.

When coming to the GSB, your goal was to “build a food accelerator giving mission-driven brands critical resources and guidance.” Has that goal evolved?

I had a great summer working for Melitas Ventures, which focuses on investing in amazing small food brands. But I realized I wanted to be on the other side of the table. I wanted to be implementing, and not necessarily just for food brands. I love creating value within an organization and making employees feel great about being part of something bigger. I realized it was more about building than just creating a space for mission-driven brands.

You worked with other Stanford students to reimagine the former six-acre Westfield Centre in San Francisco, which was hit hard by the pandemic. Was your work on that project primarily focused on the envisioned food hall?

Yes. I love retail, but I wondered why people would visit the Centre. Having the right makeup of retail is key to getting people to want to be in any space. I love farmers’ markets and local markets. Why do people congregate in those areas? How do you reimagine what that might look like in a mall space? What’s the right combination of retail to get people to visit and spend time? Food is a huge portion of that decision.

What was the most valuable thing you learned from that experience?

You can’t just think about who the retailer is at the end stage. There are so many things to do before you get there, and so many people’s buy-in you must have. You have to be willing to understand how long these processes take if you’re building or renovating a building. It could take a decade or more for a large project. How are you creating a vision that will excite people today and work when the project is completed?

Did you enjoy working in e-commerce at FreshDirect?

I managed the freezer and pet departments and got to decide everything that went into those “aisles.” I decided which brands stayed and went, and I chose flavors of ice cream. I got to dig through customer data to understand what people like and why. I was trying to figure out this puzzle. I had my goals, but no one told me how to meet them, and I loved that. I also had two amazing bosses who instilled in me structures that became key to being a successful, organized human being.

What aspects of those FreshDirect mentors do you most want to emulate?

My boss helped me ground myself in what I was trying to accomplish and how to get there. Without that north star, you’re always just searching. She supported me, allowed space for me to try things out, and trusted my ability. Sometimes, I’d make mistakes, and I’d learn from them and try again. I was inspired to think about the kind of leader I wanted to be.

You’ve traveled to 78 countries. What’s your favorite?

I would return to every place I’ve been, but I also want to explore new places. Most frequently I’ve been back to India. I’ve spent probably a cumulative four or five months there. It’s such a big country, and every single town is so different and unique.

Are there any classes at the GSB that will be particularly helpful as you move forward into your career?

I took Interpersonal Dynamics last spring. I used to make a lot of assumptions about why this person was doing XYZ, and more often than not it has nothing to do with you and has everything to do with them. Making assumptions robs us both of the chance to understand where others are coming from. So, that was an incredibly powerful class.

You get to choose a last meal. What are you having?

Cheese. All the cheese in the world. I’d love some bread with it. Those are my two must-haves.

Photos by Elena Zhukova