Marina Baronas is a hospitality executive, mentor, and author whose life and work have unfolded across borders, kitchens, and dining rooms. With more than twenty-seven years of leadership experience in luxury food and beverage operations across the United States and Europe, she currently serves as Complex Director of Food and Beverage for The Don CeSar and Beach House Suites in Tampa Bay, Florida.
Born in Germany and shaped by the cultural layers of Lithuania, Russia, and Azerbaijan, Marina immigrated to the United States in search of belonging, not as a destination, but as a practice. That search, for home, for identity, for meaning, became the foundation of both her leadership and her writing. She is the author of A New Life, A New Menu: An Almanac of Belonging, a lyrical memoir that explores food, exile, identity, and the invisible labor of service. Rooted in kitchens and dining rooms both remembered and real, the book reflects her belief that hospitality is not simply what we do for others, but how we choose to see them.
Marina leads with empathy, rigor, and presence, advocating for people first leadership in environments where standards are high and care must be constant. Whether guiding future leaders or reflecting at her kitchen table, she believes true luxury is defined not by excess, but by intention, consistency, and how people are made to feel, both at work and in life.
Grab a copy of A New Life, A New Menu: An Almanac of Belonging- https://a.co/d/01Po8jJr