Meet our Team at TheFork: Emily Allen

Published 12.15.2020 - Last update 07.22.2021
Meet our Team at TheFork

Emily Allen, Senior Business Development Manager, NSW 

1. When you were little, what job did you want to do when you grew up? 
Funnily enough I wanted to be a backing dancer in the music videos I saw on MTV. Watch this space Beyonce! It never happened as I can’t dance but I always love to be the first one on the dancefloor!
 

2. What was your very first job? 
My very first job was a paper round, once a week every Wednesday. I used to do it with a friend which made delivering 200 papers around my village a little bit more entertaining…. All for a massive payout of 3 pounds. 
 

3. Can you tell us a little about your career progression to this point?
I’ve worked in Sales since the age of 18. I started in the construction industry and dabbled a little bit in Account Management.  I was one of the only young women working in this field at the time so as you can imagine it definitely  set me up for success when stepping into the world of Sales.

I have worked as a BDM in a fair few different industries face to face and over the phone over the last 7 years, most recently Groupon. I’ve always loved the thrill of over achieving (doesn’t everybody!), winning new business and giving clients a solution to their problems.

I have to add, one of my most challenging jobs was on a banana farm for 4 months to secure my visa to stay in Australia. Sales is a walk in the park compared to this!
 

4. Why did you make the move to TheFork?
I LOVE FOOD! I know that’s probably the same as everybody else but its true, you couldn’t work here if you didn’t.

The opportunity to grow with the company and make this role my own excited me from day one. I’m hungry to go and smash my professional and personal goals and I really felt like TheFork ticked all the right boxes.

Not to mention I am passionate about the product and what it offers to restaurants and customers. PLUS all the wonderful people keeping the culture alive, that’s so important to me!
 

5. Can you share the high-level responsibilities of your role at TheFork?
My role is to hunt new business in NSW and deliver new and exciting restaurants to TheFork.

Its really important I listen to the restaurants pain points and help them find a solution, whether this is a new and improved ERB, expanding their customers database or helping promote a special offer to drive volume to their restaurant.
 

6. What is your favourite restaurant?
Café Sydney
 

7. Tell me about your best food related experience?
I think one of my best (and I’ve been to lots of fancy places) was stripping it back to basics.

I was in the Philippines and we ended up on a deserted island by boat. The kind locals cooked an amazing feast with next to no resources. I remember the Lechon meat standing out. It was delicious!
 

8. What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?
Scorpion!
 

9. If you could open your own restaurant what would the concept be?
This is actually one of my dream goals! A café or restaurant on a beautiful island that wasn’t saturated with too many tourists.

It would be a beach café and I would specialise in one item and the menu would revolve around this, it would have to be something that’s easy to get hold of like a coconut. So Emily’s coconut pancakes, coconut smoothies, coconut curry etc.. Oh! and there would have to be great live music and lots of dancing of course!
 

10. What are the 3 apps that you can’t live without?
Spotify, Instagram and Uber
 

11. Name your 4 dream dinner guests?
Zac Efron, Richard Branson, Princess Diana, Leonardo DiCaprio  

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