Who We Are

Pilot Light Consulting was founded in August of 2016 by Shannon Waters, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute (now part of ICE) and DePaul University. In early 2017, Courtney Blake joined Shannon and the newly founded Pilot Light brand as the Back-of-house Specialist. Courtney had been, at that point in time, working in restaurants for 15 years and had held many positions both front and back-of-house across North Carolina, New York City, and San Francisco. She was completing a Masters Certificate in Hospitality Management from Cornell at the time and has since completed an MBA focusing on Organizational Development from the University of San Francisco and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Leadership from Gonzaga University.

After the first year of working with clients, Shannon and Courtney realized that Pilot Light’s strength came from a human-centered systems thinking approach to business design. Because of this, Shannon and Courtney began strategically focusing on hospitality business launches allowing Pilot Light to work holistically across all components of our client’s businesses. This focus led to the development of the strategy, operations, and teams systems we now call the How My Restaurant Works® system (HMRW).

During the industry upheaval brought on by COVID, Courtney bought Shannon out of Pilot Light so that Shannon could focus on Gastro Gnome Meals and teach at Montana State University. Meanwhile, Courtney continued to refine the HMRW® system and researched pivots that restaurants were making to survive in 2020. That research turned into the book Restaurant Apocalypse and helped to further evolve Pilot Light’s client scope of services and to set the table for new scopes of service like our recently launched Spark Program.

Pilot Light has continued to expand since 2021 with a team of incredible hospitality industry veterans and creative problem solvers. Together we are working to make sustainable independent hospitality businesses where people can be proud to work. We are continuing to work one-on-one with launch clients across the U.S. and are expanding our impact through Spark and our newsletter, “Running the Pass.”

Meet your Team!

  • OWNER & MANAGING DIRECTOR

    Courtney Blake is the owner of Pilot Light Consulting and has been working in the restaurant industry for over 20 years. Before becoming a consultant, she worked with respected chefs in North Carolina, New York City, and San Francisco including chefs Nick Balla and Cortney Burns at the now shuttered Bar Tartine, Dan the Pig Man in Charlotte and the late Molly O’Neill in upstate New York. She was previously co-chef of Private Dining Room SF, a pop-up restaurant located in San Francisco that focused on a ‘farm to neighborhood’ mission by raising funding for local partners such as Larkin Street Youth Services. She is a partner at OWL Bakery in Asheville, NC.

    Courtney holds an MBA with a concentration in Organizational Development from the University of San Francisco, a Masters Certificate in Hospitality Management with a focus in Foodservice Management from Cornell University, and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Leadership at Gonzaga University. She has been working with owner/operator clients to bring their hospitality vision to life through Pilot Light Consulting over the past seven years.

  • Project Director & Beverage Development

    Rosie Grillo began her career bartending at the Whiskey Flat Saloon in her home town of Volcano, CA. In New York City, she opened EMM Group's original Catch as head bartender, won Best Team at the Spirited Awards for Holiday Cocktail Lounge, was voted one of the top 50 Bartenders by Time Out NY, and was a Speed-Rack contestant.

    Rosie was most recently the General Manager at Point O’ Woods in Fire Island, New York and is now working on an Amaro with natural winery, End of Nowhere, in Amador County, CA.

  • Project Manager

    Heather Miller is the administrative master and project manager for Pilot Light Consulting. Her background in the food industry has spanned over 13 years. She prides herself in knowing the restaurants flow from front to back by learning the nuances of each role and how they work together to form a holistic system.

    Heather attended the College of Charleston where she received a Bachelors in Psychology with a focus in Developmental Psychology and a minor in Studio Art with a focus in Photography.

  • Marketing & BOH Operation

    Justin Lewis began his hospitality career in the kitchen and has launched two of his own hospitality brands: Amador Uncorked and Justin’s Pantry. Moving to the dining room, he has also been awarded a Court of Master Sommeliers, Certified Sommelier pin and WSET (Wine Spirits Education Trust) Level 3 certification.

    The fall of 2022 awarded Justin his first opportunity to work with Pilot Light as the opening kitchen manager of a new brewery. In 2024, J Lew joined the Pilot Light team and was christened with the title Marketing & BOH Operations.

  • Beverage Development & FOH Operations

    Miranda Escalante has been working in the hospitality industry for 13 years. In Asheville, NC, Miranda has worked as the General Manager of Edison Craft Ales + Kitchen and as the Beverage Director and General Manager of the Montford Rooftop Bar. She now works with the team at Avenue M as they revamp their bar program to match their Wine Spectator award winning wine list.

    She is pursuing her WSET (Wine Spirits Education Trust) Level 2 certification and is co-founder of “Purple Teeth”, a pop-up wine club.

  • Business Innovation

    Allison Slaughter began her career in client services at retail marketing creative agency FCB/RED in Chicago, IL, and she has explored her passion for food with internships at Brown Bag Seafood in Chicago and Califia Farms in Los Angeles.

    Allison holds a MBA from the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley with a Graduate Certificate in Food Systems. Before joining Pilot Light she spent two years at top management consulting firm Bain & Company focusing on strategy, go-to-market, and transformation projects for food & tech clients.

  • Food Program Development

    Michael Evans has been working in the hospitality industry for 19 years. In San Francisco, he worked as Chef de Cuisine at Atelier Crenn and Commonwealth and was Sous Chef at Bar Tartine.

    After leaving San Francisco, Michael returned to his home town in Traverse City, Michigan in 2018 to continue his culinary journey and start new creative projects. Michael and his brother are the co-owners of Crocodile Palace, a small Sichuan restaurant opened early 2023.