Hospitality, operations, and product development shape Drake’s perspective. Beyond the Plate explores food + behavior.
What does food communicate before the first bite?
Hospitality leaders, food and beverage brands, creative teams, and consumer-experience audiences.
What changes when the menu begins with an invitation rather than a list?
Food entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, designers, and product teams.
How can the parts of a community help one another work?
Entrepreneur support organizations, universities, community leaders, and small-business networks.
How does noticing everyday friction become a useful idea?
Corporate innovation groups, founders, cross-functional teams, and students.
The food-menu work is developing independent research. Early preference tests illustrate questions and methods; they are not presented as validated causal findings.
Keynotes and talks · Panel conversations · Workshops and facilitated sessions
Share your audience, purpose, and desired takeaways. We’ll shape the format and scope.
Start a speaking inquiryDrake Wilkins Jr. is a strategist, consultant, developer, and ecosystem builder. Grounded in hospitality, he turns insights on human behavior into products, experiences, and business opportunities.
From Stage to Fired—An Inside Look Beyond the Swinging Door.
Restaurant language, teamwork, safety, and belonging. More on people, culture, and service at Victuals + Prose.
10 Pillars on Customer Service and Human Interaction
Ten service principles. Two free placards for everyday practice.
Choose your industry and enter your email for a free PDF. No account or purchase required.
Ten pillars with the signature water goblet illustration.
8 × 10 inches · Portrait · PDF
Free PDF Download
Ten pillars in a minimalist typographic edition with a subtle gold finish.
10 × 7.5 inches · Landscape · PDF
Free PDF DownloadA preview of Never Spill Water: 10 Pillars on Customer Service and Human Interaction, Drake’s book planned for early 2027.
On The Fly softcover ordering opens December 4, 2026.
Explore On The Fly ↗Hospitality, entrepreneurship, and culture—from Detroit to Chicago.
Hospitality, language, and belonging around the table.
Nina Love follows Drake’s culinary evolution from his Detroit foundation into demanding Chicago kitchens.
A father, son, and Detroit sandwich shop opened during COVID-19.
20+ years across restaurants, nightlife, and hotels—from front of house and the kitchen to ownership, private dining, and leadership.
Experience: Health, Safety, + HR Policy Assessor · PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
The DWJ wordmark for press, presentations, and approved partner use.
Interviews · Panels · Keynotes · Podcasts · Strategy conversations · Creative collaboration
