Meet Dayle - Our Marketing Manager

This week we sat down with Dayle, our Marketing Manager and member of our Head Office Team, and asked her a few questions so you could get to know her better, Fazendeiros.

Tell us your Fazenda Story

Shall I give the long version or the short version?! I started with Fazenda way back in November 2011 in our first (and only) restaurant at that time in Leeds as a waitress while I was studying at university. I moved full-time to floor supervisor when I finished my degree.

From there, I actually left Fazenda Leeds in January 2013 to move to Geneva, Switzerland and then onto Southern Italy. I then found myself moving back to England, and heading up the reception of our second restaurant, Fazenda Liverpool, which opened in September 2013. [Footnote: I was supposed to stay for 6 months. Read on to find out how 6 months turned into nearly 10 years...]

In 2014, I moved into the first Business Development Manager role in the company at Fazenda Liverpool, which I absolutely loved! It was so much fun shaping the role and building relationships in Liverpool to drive the brand forward.

From the Business Development Manager role (which we renamed Relationships & Events Manager) I moved into a Head Office role in early 2017 as Marketing Coordinator. It was such an exciting time to move into the growing central team as we were ready to take the Fazenda brand beyond the North of England, and in a more marketing focused role I could get involved in lots of creative projects.

Fast-forward to 2018 and I was overseeing the development of the Relationship Marketing team, when we opened our Edinburgh and Birmingham restaurants within the same year, which was such an action-packed and exciting year. Opening restaurants is hard, but you can't quite beat the feeling in my opinion!

Always looking for a new challenge, I moved into the group Marketing Manager role in April 2021, which has definitely been a journey! Who says you can't grow and learn in the same company?! It's hard to put my 11 years with Fazenda into a few paragraphs, though the company and the people within have been a huge part of my life. Now for the next chapter - our first opening in the capital in 2023! Watch this space...

What do you love the most about your current role?

Moving from a more relationship and business development focused role into what I do now needed a mindset shift, really, though I love that we have been able to grow the team and focus on wider areas that we never did before. In my role now, I love being able to dig deep into the data to help understand and enhance our guests' journey and experience both online and offline. For me, my favourite part has got to be this. Guest insight and consumer behaviour is something fascinating to me, so I'm lucky I get to spend time on this.

Your go-to activity when the goal is to unwind

Horseriding, paddle boarding or exploring new places in the countryside - in no particular order! I completely switch off from everything else. It's amazing!

A book you keep re-reading

This is a tough one as I've tried to stay away from re-reading books! A book I'm reading at the minute is called 'Why We Sleep' by Matthew Walker. It's a non-fiction book written by a neuroscientist and it's mind-blowing. Definitely recommend.

Inspiration sources: one professional, one personal

Someone who inspires me personally has to be my Mum, though I would say on both a personal and professional level, Brené Brown covers all bases. We work a lot as a team on our values, inspired by Brené herself, and I believe she delves into areas that span across all aspects of life!

Favourite Fazenda meat, side and Market Table dish

It may seem an obvious/cliché answer but it has to be Picanha! It never fails to impress every time. Coming in a close second would be our Contra-filé (Sirloin).

Side would have to be the Purê de Batata Doce. If you have never tried it, I'll say no more. It's a must when visiting Fazenda.

Lastly, I just can't get enough of the seaweed on our Market Table. I feel out of all of the choices there, my favourite should be something more exciting, but if I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I would!

What a story, isn't it, Fazendeiros? We really love seeing our team grow and develop across various areas of our company, and Dayle has been no exception. You can find dayle on Instagram @doharafz, which is also her Twitter handle.