Leanna Chroman.

When you meet her, you are immediately drawn to her style and stunningly kind eyes. You feel an urge to confide your every secret. She is just that kind of a person—the kind that doles out hugs, hearty greetings and well-wishes to everyone. Her engaging smile greets you as if she were meeting her best friend. It is hard to imagine that her story entails surviving hell on earth.

Leanna, 46, is the first to tell people she meets that every single thing that happens to her belongs in her life. She believes the events and incidents are only a fragment of her story and they do not have to define her. She isn’t a victim. She’s someone who takes the painful fragments and recycles them into purpose with optimism and hope along the way.

As she tells her own story, she spent a better part of her childhood moving to many different regions of the country with her family, following her father’s Pentecostal ministry. She has lived in 13 different states before calling Indianapolis her chosen home.

A childhood that should have been innocent was drastically altered when she was physically and sexually assaulted as a little girl. Her safety was shattered continually over the course of nine years at the hands of people she knew and trusted, even resulting in a pregnancy and miscarriage at the age of 14. She says she divulged the abuse to multiple adults over the years, but no one believed her or came to her rescue. Instead, she was told not share any of these “stories” with her father, whom she idolized and loved dearly, as something like this could exacerbate his medical conditions.

Her father had his first heart attack when Leanna was just 8 years old, she recounts. Her father was no longer able to provide for the family and this resulted in years of living in constant fear about where the next meal would come and how long they would have a roof over their heads. Constant hunger pangs, holes in her shoes and the full-length skirts with uncut hair required by the Pentecostal religion provided moments for others to be ruthlessly cruel. Leanna left school early to help provide stability, food and money for her family. When she was 19, she independently earned her GED.

“I’ve always looked at myself as a survivor, never a victim,” says Leanna. “I think that tenacity is why I am here. I’ve learned how to repurpose and recycle the pain I went through to be able to help others, and that is inherently who I am.”

Her father passed away shortly before she turned 21 and her heart wanted to stay in Mississippi where her father was buried, she recalls. At the age of 27, she courageously came out as gay to her family and overnight she lost her entire family. Her mother, brother and sister no longer wanted to be around her because they believed homosexuality was contagious. But for Leanna, it was the beginning of living her truth and she started writing her next chapter in life. The one that is brighter.

“I’ve always looked at myself as a survivor, never a victim,” says Leanna. “I think that tenacity is why I am here. I’ve learned how to repurpose and recycle the pain I went through to be able to help others, and that is inherently who I am.” 

The childhood trauma she suffered gave her drive and desire to become a police officer. However, that desire was quickly stifled when she learned there was a hiring freeze within the Indianapolis police department. She had to find something to hold her over until she the hiring freeze was lifted and, on a whim she applied for a server position at the then–newly opened Harry & Izzy’s in downtown Indianapolis. H & I was the second restaurant of what is now a line of restaurants and food and beverage products of the upscale hospitality group Huse Culinary. For Leanna, that whim started an unexpected 15-year journey at Huse Culinary. One where she has grown from server to vice president of culture and learning and where she has found a family who embraces all of her.

“The restaurant industry is so diverse and that is what initially drew me to Harry & Izzy’s,” she says. “It was the first time in my life I could be me without judgement. They never made me feel less than or that they were checking the box because I was a woman or a lesbian.”

“I first met Leanna when she was a server at Harry & Izzy’s Downtown,” recalls Craig Huse, CEO and president of Huse Culinary. “Leanna is the type of person that makes herself known. She’s a leader amongst her peers, and I could tell—we all could tell—that she was born to be in the hospitality industry, and we were blessed to have her on our team. Her genuine care for everyone, whether our guests, co-workers, or anyone she comes across, is so evident. Leanna’s superpower is her ability to convert genuine care into actionable support quickly.”

Leanna is also one of 51 employees with double-digit tenure, out of a little more than 800 in all the Huse Culinary brands. Importantly, these years of hospitality work gave her the career she wanted by becoming the first executive female leader and the first acknowledged lesbian. “When they asked me to take the role of vice president for culture and learning,” she says, “Craig Huse said to me, ‘You’ve shattered all of our ceilings.’”

“When [Huse Culinary Brands] asked me to take the role of vice president for culture and learning, Craig Huse said to me, ‘You’ve shattered all of our ceilings.’” 

“They have always listened to the people in the organization, making impactful changes and allowing for people to grow in ways they may not even be aware of,” says Leanna. They encourage Leanna to cultivate her will to make a positive impact on the community around her. Her past abuse along with the ostracizing of her sexuality drives her passion for LGBTQIA+ and women’s rights. That passion leads her to speak with the support of Huse Culinary and their leadership at the Indiana Statehouse on such crucial topics. It also gives her a platform to champion change within the organization itself.

She listens to the employees within Huse Culinary and advocates for more effective change, equity and fairness. “I recognized and embrace the impact I have on other people who work here that are in both the women and the LGBTQIA+ community. I also recognize the importance of understanding the power of equity in the workplace and creating new initiatives to be more inclusive.”

Huse offered, “[Leanna’s] a special person. She is the heart and soul of our culture at Huse Culinary. We all spend so much time dedicated to our careers and serving others. It’s valuable to have Leanna making sure that our time together is fun and purposeful and that we embrace and love each other along this journey.”

“I’ve been through some real hardships in my life,” Leanna says. “People asked multiple times, ‘How do you maintain a positive attitude with all the things you’ve been through?’ For years, I couldn’t answer that. There was just something in me that always says ‘Everything will be OK. You’ve got this.’ I take after my father. He was such a giver. He was just so compassionate towards people. He always wanted to give back. He was willing to step in and help people in their time of need.”

“These stories are not pretty” she says, “but it’s my truth. If you don’t tell your story, there is no chance for you to move on. No chance to heal. I have never been afraid of telling my story and know trauma doesn’t see race, religion, gender, culture or age. I know what pain feels like. I know true suffering and I refuse to be a victim. I refuse to have these stories define me,” Leanna adds.

“I want people to be hopeful and resilient and know you do have the fortitude to be more than a survivor. You have the ability thrive.”

Leanne Chroman certainly shows us how.