Creating Five Million Memories: Scaling Hospitality with Joshua Funk

He went to Penn State to become a doctor. But bartending at his stepmother's Irish pub changed everything—and now he's creating memories for Lady Gaga tours and corporate events alike.

Josh Funk, President and CEO of TFB Hospitality, discovered he was a math nerd who runs restaurants. After hating pre-med despite a 1400 SAT, one hospitality course showed him restaurants are "chaos math"—probabilities with six different bullseyes. After nine years at the National Press Club managing $10M operations, Josh bought Andy Bailey's in Lancaster in 2012. What followed: seven restaurants in six years, catering for 1,400-person conferences, and becoming Live Nation's caterer for Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field, and Lady Gaga at Hershey Stadium.

Growth wasn't smooth. Opening two unprofitable lunch counters taught him cash is king. COVID shut him down before a $100K St. Patrick's Day, and a $1.9M grant error stung hard. Yet he scaled from $5.6M in 2022 to over $12M in 2023 by taking himself out of the equation—hiring right people, building systems, and focusing on one powerful vision: create five million memories in 10 years. Currently at one million and counting.

Key Takeaways:

• Vision unites teams: "Five million memories" gives purpose beyond profit
• Cash is king: Growing too fast without capital kills businesses
• Take yourself out: Build systems for the organization, not you
• Hard work matters: Success requires relentless dedication
• People come first: Take care of your team—they create memories

About Josh Funk:

Joshua is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University's Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management program. He brings experience, vision, and cutting-edge strategy to TFB Hospitality's growing portfolio of properties. Previously, he spent nine years at the prestigious National Press Club in Washington, D.C., overseeing operations with total revenues of $10 million in food, beverage, audio/visual, and broadcast, along with a staff of 10 managers and more than 40 full-time and part-time union staff. This experience helped Joshua foster a forward-thinking hospitality company that can thrive across locations and concepts.

Connect:

Website tfbhospitality.com
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/joshua-funk-321780/
Instagram @tfbhospitality, @conwaysocialclub, @anniebaileys, @perdiemlititz, @docfunk6, @tfbcatering

This episode is brought to you by The Satell Institute; the leading CEO organization dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility. Go to satellinstitute.org to

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