Meet Lydia H., who joined Toast after graduation and has been thriving here for 10 years. Read more about her journey, the key skills that drive her success, and why she believes Toast is the place to be. 

1. Can you tell me about your career path and how you ended up at Toast?

Prior to Toast, my career was based in Kigali, Rwanda. I worked for the U.S. State Department as a Fulbright scholar and then partnered with the Rwandan government and Solid'Africa to construct the country's first commercial kitchen.

I met Aman and Steve in 2013 while I was completing a Masters at Harvard in post-conflict studies. On the weekends, I worked as a bottle server for Paga Group, a high end nightlife group and one of Toast's first customers. 

After graduation, Aman offered me a job to "build NYC" in 2014. The rest is history and 10 years later, I am here in London undertaking a similar role to build out the U.K. market.

2. How has your career evolved since you first joined Toast? 

A big question mark when I joined Toast was how and when I would be able to tie restaurant technology to my previous career and research in genocide studies and projects in Rwanda. Over the years, the launch of Toast.org - our philanthropic branch - and our work to address the pillars of food security, community, and environment have brought me full circle back to meaning, impact and purpose. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to relocate from NYC to London to build Toast's presence in the U.K. and also now have a direct flight to Rwanda to continue building kitchens with Solid'Africa to serve vulnerable patients in public hospitals.

3. What do you think attracts people to Toast and keeps them here long-term?

Culture is a huge part of what attracts people to Toast- and just as importantly, what keeps them here. Many sales organizations have a competitive, cutthroat culture, but what sets Toast apart is the humility of its leaders. At the very top, you’ll find people who are incredibly grounded. They’re driven, they don’t celebrate too early, they never talk down on competitors, and they hold both employees and customers to the same ethical standard. 

We do our best to always do right by our customers. We don’t always get it perfect, we make mistakes, but when we do, we take responsibility and work to make it right. The same applies internally. If an employee notices something isn’t being handled the right way, whether it’s a customer situation or an internal process, they can speak up knowing leadership will take it seriously. That trust, that belief that the company will do the right thing, is what makes people stay. 

Personally, what’s kept me here is the ability to carve my own career path. In most sales organizations, the trajectory is predefined: you move from sales to sales management to climb the ladder from small and midsize business to midmarket to enterprise sales. But for me, early on, it was important to have control over my time, energy, and income. At Toast, that kind of flexibility exists. Ask any Toaster who’s been here for more than two years, and they’ll tell you they’ve worked across different teams and departments. There isn’t just one set path- everyone has the ability to define their own direction. 

4. What are some of the skills that make someone successful on your team?

Our values like One Team and Lead with Humility aren’t just things we say; they’re what make people successful at Toast. 

The best way to see what makes Toast employees special is to watch how they respond to a problem. In many companies, when an issue arises that doesn’t fit neatly into someone's job description, people tend to step back, saying, “That’s not my job.” But at Toast, it's the opposite- people run toward the problem, eager to tackle it. There’s real energy and excitement around: “How do we fix this? How do we make this better?”

That mindset exists because no one here feels like they’re in it alone. We’re surrounded by people who genuinely care about our customers, our industry, and each other. And that shared commitment is what makes all the difference, makes someone successful here at Toast, and encourages people to apply for our roles.