Woman of Influence: Courtney Mankin
As a student at the University of Oklahoma, Courtney Mankin worked as a waitress in a cocktail bar- that much is true.
Today, just about a decade later, the 34-year-old is president of The Social Order, the restaurant and hospitality company which owns that bar and employs more than 400 Oklahomans across eight restaurants. The groups holdings include seven Fuzzy’s Taco Shop outposts across the state and perhaps Oklahoma City’s coolest live-music venue, restaurant, bar and hotspot, The Jones Assembly. Mankin has a hand in running all of them and she’s also launched ambitious, forward-thinking programs designed to make life better for the company’s employees. Best of all? This woman is just getting started.
The Social Order, founded by the high-energy impresario Brian Bogert, is also collaborating with Scissortail Park to create a concept restaurant there called Spark, set to open in 2021. Like so many other projects, its timeline has been altered by COVID-19. But it’s going to be smashing when it’s done.
That fateful Campus Corner bar, Seven47, is still an anchor business in the district, but due to the pandemic, it is closed to the public for now as it navigates a safe return to service. “I worked at Seven47 through college and started working as a manager there when I graduated. That was the second restaurant Brian Bogert had opened,” she says. During her time there, our heroine met the man she would marry, Justin, who started as a bartender and, like his future bride, had quickly risen to a management position. Justin works for The Social Order as well, holding the title of corporate operations director and partner.
Courtney Mankin may be quiet, but don’t let that fool you. She’s a big thinker and isn’t afraid to swim in uncharted, even choppy, waters. Though she and Justin were on the road to a serious relationship, Courtney knew she needed to make her way to a big city, at least for a while. “I knew if I didn’t go somewhere then, I probably wouldn’t. And I wanted to live in a big city.” So off she went, to Big D, as in Dallas, Texas. “I worked for Hotel Zaza and did social media for Brian on the side,” she says. After a couple of years, she’d had her fill and came back home. She and Justin married four years ago and are the parents of a two-year-old boy, Miller.
Mankin self describes as being very much a “behind the scenes person,” choosing always to focus on the greater good. She’s modest. “I do a little of everything, some HR, a little marketing, a lot on the events side. I’m kind of a catch-all.” That’s another word for playmaker, which is another word for superstar.
Employee well-being is her highest priority. “The hardest part of this whole thing is our responsibility to our staff. We don’t want to endanger them, but they want to work. Most of our employees have worked in this industry since high school,” Mankin says. The restaurant business is a different kind of work, she explains, and the people who choose the career are unique. They hate to sit still.
Statistically, there are other, even more serious challenges for restaurant workers. Addiction and mental health issues are too common. A study by Unilever Food Solutions says that 74 percent of chefs are sleep deprived to the point of exhaustion, 63 percent feel depressed, and more than half feel pushed to the breaking point. Restaurant workers as a category are consistently reported as having among the highest rates of drug abuse and alcoholism.
“We have always focused on our staff. Our employees have an abundance of talent. They take care of our guests and we do our best to take care of them,” she says. While The Social Order has always maintained an open-door policy, and its employee assistance program offers up to six free, anonymous therapy sessions to anyone who needs them, Mankin is determined to do more. “It’s a necessity. People are struggling. It’s not just the pandemic. After George Floyd’s murder, with everything going on, we knew we needed something bigger.”
One thing Mankin and her team decided to do is to host a series of gatherings for employees. Dubbed ‘Intermissions,’ and offering staff a break from the performative art form that is the dining industry, they feature high-level speakers discussing relevant albeit difficult topics. Oklahoma County Sheriff candidate Lt. Wayland Cubit, Black Lives Matter organizer and attorney Andre Caldwell and Black Eats founder Apollo Woods led the first Intermission. Oklahoma County Commissioner Carrie Blumert and Whittney Preston, associate diversity director for Heritage Hall, headed up the second gathering. Mankin says the third will focus on mental health.
The Social Order, under Mankin’s direction, has also become a bold force in philanthropic circles. “We do a lot with Cleats for Kids,” she says. “We are very involved with lots of organizations. We don’t do a lot of traditional marketing, but we maintain partnerships with nonprofits. Brian is very involved with many organizations and he really tries not to say no to any of them. That’s part of what has made scaling back during the pandemic difficult.”
Born and raised in Shawnee, where her mother still lives, Mankin comes from a food-loving family. She’s an avid home cook and her son Miller is an avid eater. Her late grandfather Buddy Allen, a talented baker, hand-crafted loaves of bread in batches of 20 each month, which he gifted to people he cared about. “He gave bread to widows, friends and people from church, neighbors and his grandkids.”
Mankin is a kind-hearted product of her tight-knit family. She’s young, talented, successful and driven, but what sets her apart is her giving spirit and a love of caring for others through food and hospitality. It’s a part of Mankin’s DNA.
photos by Kennon Bryce