Her Story
About Amber
Amber Brawner is a seasoned hospitality and food-and-beverage professional with nearly two decades of experience spanning restaurant operations, culinary arts, beverage management, and multi-unit leadership. Based in San Diego, California, she has built a dynamic career by working in virtually every facet of the industry, including serving, line cooking, bartending, cake decorating, and executive management. Her passion for delivering exceptional guest experiences, coupled with her commitment to operational excellence, has enabled her to develop a strong reputation as a leader focused on quality, innovation, and team development.
Throughout her career, Amber has combined her culinary expertise with advanced beverage knowledge to create impactful food-and-beverage programs. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts and the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, she further strengthened her credentials through professional certifications, including the Certified Beverage Specialist designation from the Society of Wine Educators and WSET wine qualifications. Her experience includes leadership roles with HMSHost, where she managed multiple airport food-and-beverage locations, oversaw brand compliance, staffing, inventory management, financial performance, and served as an Adult Beverage Ambassador. She also played a key role in launching and managing innovative hospitality concepts, including high-profile airport dining destinations.
In 2026, Amber joined Starbucks as a Store Manager, bringing her extensive operational expertise and leadership experience to one of the world's most recognized beverage brands. Known for her empathetic leadership style, she is dedicated to mentoring team members, fostering professional growth, and creating pathways for career advancement. With specialized expertise in hospitality operations, beverage program management, training, food safety, sales, and culinary arts, Amber continues to pursue professional development while shaping memorable guest experiences and high-performing teams across the hospitality industry.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Amber
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my kids. You know, if I didn't have them, I might not have pushed myself so hard to try and be successful. I wanted to make sure that they had everything they needed, and I feel like they do. I give my kids more than I ever had as a kid - that's all I really hope for with them. Being a single mom with two kids for the longest time, working in an industry in the kitchen where men really did not respect me the way they should, I had to prove myself. I've had bosses that have not treated me the same as they've treated other managers or given me projects that they would give to their male managers. So I've had to take things that I wanted to kind of prove what I can do. I'm also passionate about helping people grow. We started doing personal development programs where we'll meet with our staff to see where they want to go and what I can do to help them be more successful and get further on in their career. We'll work with them to see if they can be promoted in some way.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I took a seminar from a woman who talked about the Power of Five. She said you've got to have a group of five people in your career: somebody that's your idol who you're working towards, somebody who's a confidant so you can rely on them to get advice from, and someone that's under you so you can know where you're at and see where you've been. It's just having that group of friends in your career to help move you along. These people work together, they help each other, and then everybody moves up in their field. I thought it was a really wonderful speech.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I took a seminar from a woman who talked about the Power of Five. You've got to have a group of five people in your career: somebody that's your idol who you're working towards, somebody who's a confidant so you can rely on them to get advice from, and someone that's under you so you can know where you're at and see where you've been. It's just having that group of friends in your career to help move you along. These people work together, they help each other, and then everybody moves up in their field. I thought it was a really wonderful speech and that's what I'd recommend - build that network of people at different levels who can support each other.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Having a place that supports work-life balance is wonderful and is a big opportunity in this field. I grew up working 16-hour days, sometimes 6 days a week. It's really hard to think that you're sacrificing your quality of life just to kind of get ahead. So having a flexible schedule and a place that supports work-life balance is something that's really attractive now. The airports are always busy, but you meet people every day that are traveling for business or vacation, which makes it enjoyable and rewarding.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being empathetic is something that's really important to me and has been beneficial as a leader. I've worked with people that have tried to rule by fear and that are really transactional with all of their discipline and how they speak to people. But you have to understand that every person is different and everybody's going through something different - you have to lead with empathy. I always say everybody gets a different version of me because I will learn someone's working style and approach them differently based on who they are as individuals.
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