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DXB F&B Awards 2024: Jury member Jean Winter on the need to be inclusive

Ahead of KT Events’ DXB F&B Awards, all set to take place on November 27, jury member Jean Winter talks at length about what it takes to be truly inclusive

Published: Fri 22 Nov 2024, 10:50 AM

  • By
  • Lekha Menon

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One of the most pivotal moments in Jean Winter’s life came during a breakfast conversation during Covid. It was the height of the pandemic, and Jean was planning a Father’s Day lunch for her family when her husband, Andrew, a shipping industry professional, sat her down for a serious discussion about finance and future planning. Recognising the challenging global economic conditions, he suggested the family be prudent with their money and invest wisely in stocks and shares. But Jean, who already had a thriving career as a business and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) consultant for various corporates and government agencies worldwide (including the Singapore Pavilion at World Expo), and private chef, had other ideas.

“I told him that investing in stocks was his forte, I would rather invest in people,” she laughs. “And then I asked him to give me half an hour.” That was all Jean needed. She quickly posted on the Female Fusion Network UAE page on Facebook, offering to be an angel investor in female-led businesses that had struggled during Covid and were unable to secure bank loans. “I was expecting about 15-20 replies,” she recalls. “Imagine my surprise later when I saw 96 messages requesting support!”

Soon, Jean began conducting interviews at home, with people coming in wearing masks to pitch their ideas. One of those ladies that approached her was Jessica Smith, the Australian Paralympic swimmer and motivational speaker who was looking for a sponsor to publish her series of three children’s books.

This marked the beginning of Touch, an inclusive talent agency and disability inclusion consultancy that has, in recent years, made a significant impact in fostering a more diverse and accepting business world for People of Determination (POD) and other under-represented individuals in Dubai.

The Touch Story

Jean started by reaching out to a few trusted friends who shared the vision, asking them to join Touch as talents, mentors and support system. The goal: a CSR business that would be community driven.

Interestingly, Jean had always dreamed of starting a company called Touch, though she never had a concrete plan for what shape it would take. A serial entrepreneur, she had started businesses wherever life and her husband’s job took her, whether in Italy, Geneva, Hamburg or Dubai. After a hugely successful stint in Europe, where she launched Geneva’s first underground dining concept named Jean’s Private Kitchen, Dubai offered a brief break where she only did selective private dinners for VIP clients.

But her innate drive to make a difference soon propelled her onto a new path. “The start of Touch may have been accidental, but as the months passed, it grew in scope and scale, becoming more and more involved with impact-driven projects,” she explains. “It began with a CSR-driven business model that didn’t fit into any established mould. I didn’t want to call it an NGO or a charity because I didn’t want pity involved. I wanted every individual to be seen and appreciated for their innate talent beyond their different abilities or backgrounds.”

Cut to 2024: Touch has grown by leaps and bounds, becoming an important voice in making disability inclusion and equal opportunities to all a core component of business. The organisation has initiated several projects worldwide, deeply influencing the communities in which they operate. In Dubai alone, 87 families are currently part of Touch programmes with over 30 on the waitlist.

“Touch’s network and influence amongst talents and mentors come together to create impactful change from the top down,” she says.

And to achieve this change, Jean established key pillars. First, equal representation for all, ensuring that the agency represents celebrity athletes, celebrity chef mentors as well as those talents typically unseen or unheard by society.

The second pillar is mentorship — grooming talent to compete with the very best internationally. Globally, Touch mentors 119 individuals, providing them with everything from skills-based grooming to opportunities for career growth.

The last pillar is impacting social change through local and global outreach programmes. For example, in Cambodia, Touch helped build eight water filtration units in eight schools in Kampong Chhnang in 2023, with 10 more in the pipeline for this year. From sending water to Gaza every month, supporting displaced families in Egypt with rent and food monthly, to new projects in Africa, Touch’s focus remains on creating initiatives that have a 360-degree impact — being inclusive, long-term, and sustainable.

Take its new project, Canvas, for instance. Created in partnership with the water brand Monviso, Canvas is a sustainable water line packaged in recyclable glass bottles. A portion of the proceeds goes to pay the POD talents who design the bottles, while another portion helps fund water filtration units in Cambodia. The QR code on each bottle tells you more about the artist who created it.

Hospitality, too, plays a central role in Touch's work, with the agency collaborating closely with top chefs and hospitality professionals in Dubai and around the world as mentors in the industry. Being a key opinion leader in the sector, Jean believes that “hospitality is an enormous industry with huge potential to bring about impactful change through collective action.”

Touch today is community and partnership led in all its free weekly activities that extends to its POD families from CrossFit, swimming, baking, Bollywood dancing, Top Golf, painting to ceramics making. “Our driving force is that every single member of the community, be they PODs and their families, mentees, mentors, volunteers or partners, believes in the same vision and plays an equally important role. We have become a close knit community and see ourselves as each other’s chosen family, offering genuine support and friendship without judgement.”

She admits that the business, created from almost nothing, grew organically and fell into place over time. “What we have achieved now is beyond what I ever dreamt of,” she says.

Jean’s Private Kitchen

While Touch is undeniably Jean’s passion, she has another driving force in her life - her love for food and cooking.

The story of her underground dining concept is just as fascinating as her work in inclusion. A proud Singaporean and foodie who moved from her native country with her husband two decades ago, her first stop was at Liguria, Italy, where she spent time in a charming town called Bogliasco, home to the Sampdoria football team. After five years and two beautiful daughters, Keira and Tegan, she followed her husband to Geneva, where Jean’s Private Kitchen was born.

“I knew I cook better Asian food at home than what was available around where we lived in France and in Geneva,” she laughs. “I started with takeaway meals, and my first clients were from the United Nations — some personal connections while others were parents from my daughters’ school who were all expats working in Geneva.” What began as a simple takeaway service soon evolved into Geneva’s and Pays de Gex’s first underground dining concept and private dinners. In no time, diplomats from UN, WTO, WHO, embassies and her celebrity friends were ordering her Singaporean and other Asian dishes.

She ran Jean’s Private Kitchen unconventionally, using her mix of connections to fuel the endeavour. “The diplomatic cars lining up my driveway may have raised a few eyebrows with my neighbours who had no idea what I was doing,” she says. “At that time, it had to be underground because I didn’t have the proper license to run it as a business. But when a group of friends from London flew into Geneva on their private jet for a dinner at my home, only to book another dinner three months later, I knew it was time to get serious and register the business. Otherwise, my husband would have had a heart attack from worrying about not being licensed!” she quips.

Jean’s Private Kitchen, now a licensed business, became a hugely successful supper club, driven not only by exceptional food and hospitality but also by her flair for storytelling and creating a memorable atmosphere. As the club grew, it was time for the family to move again — this time to Hamburg.

In Hamburg, Jean expanded her culinary brand while also deepening her philanthropic efforts. During the Syrian war and the influx of refugees into Germany, she and her network sprang into action, providing support through food, clothes and other essentials. “I’d cook for over 100 people from my home, trying to make a difference however I could,” she says. She also went on to train 50 others to start ghost kitchens alongside her across Hamburg, in order to supply more food to other camps. Finally, she ended up being the main sponsor looking after two Syrian refugee camps totalling 550 refugees.

Jean’s two and a half years in Germany were both emotionally challenging and fulfilling, and the experience laid the foundation for the remarkable work she later undertook in Dubai when she moved here in 2016.

In Dubai, Touch opened a whole new chapter for Jean. “Touch is my homage to this country who has blessed me with genuine friendships, love and kindness ” she reflects. “I want to show this side of Dubai that the rest of the world seldom sees. There are so many genuine stories of compassion, kindness and goodness from Dubai that should be shared.”

“My goal for Touch is to not only keep growing and impacting lives, but also investing in more people who don’t have access to opportunities. We are ready to bring on other angel investors who are passionate about creating impact the same way,” she says.

Jean’s journey — from underground dinners to the inclusive mission of Touch — demonstrates the power of passion, ingenuity and a drive to change the narrative. It’s a story of positive change, both in the kitchen and beyond, with a deep commitment to making the world a more inclusive place.

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