FULL COMP: The Voice of the Restaurant Industry Revolution

Do you remember when you first started in this industry? Do you remember the excitement and the optimism. Back then we believed that anything was possible. What if we never lost that? What could we have achieved? Today we talk to Brittney Valles. A restaurateur that carving her own path in this industry and, along the way, showing us what's possible when you pair talent and hard work with a brilliant mind and endless optimism. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES [2:07] Unconventional mentorship in an unconventional industry [4:43] The benefits of delegation [8:45] Getting it right: Creating consistency in inconsistency [11:15] Creating a brand: The value in saying yes [12:20] Lessons in partnership: It's a marriage. [15:10] Pretending to be humble: You'll never get there if you don't put yourself out there [17:52] Gogo's Tacos: Building a brand that stands for something better [21:20] Being mission-driven: Intention is everything [22:22] Pushing back: Defending the cost of doing business well [26:09] Sticking to your guns: Not everyone is your customer [29:09] Using influence for the greatest good [30:05] The power of winging it For more on Gogo's Tacos and her foundation visit https://www.gogostacos.com FULL COMP is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. ________________________________ CLICK HERE to Chat with Josh Free Download: 5 Steps to Achieve a 15% Net Profit We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out the FULL COMP media universe by visiting: FULL COMP Restaurant Marketing School The Playbook Industry Town Halls

What's the best event you've ever been to? What made it special? What do you remember most vividly about the experience? One of my favorites is Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, an event as dynamic as the city it was born in. Today we chat with Eileen Wayner, the CEO of the foundation to talk about what it takes to create an event that is as educational as it is entertaining for the last 20 years. TIME STAMPED SHOW NOTES [2:18] For the industry, by the industry: determining what's important. [5:42] The evolution of an event: delivering the world's best cocktail conference [10:15] Connecting through the rich and robust spirit of New Orleans [13:15] What makes a great event: inspiring attendance [18:38] Luring people back to bartending as a career [20:25] The work we need to do as an industry [21:22] Looking to the future: what's coming next for Tales of the Cocktail [23:44] We all thrive when we all thrive: Exploring values and responsibility [26:55] Why Hospitality is the best industry in the world That's Eileen Wayner. For more on Tales of the Cocktail visit https://talesofthecocktail.org FULL COMP is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. ________________________________ CLICK HERE to Chat with Josh Free Download: 5 Steps to Achieve a 15% Net Profit We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out the FULL COMP media universe by visiting: FULL COMP Restaurant Marketing School The Playbook Industry Town Halls

How do we communicate with our customers when they're not in our restaurant? Email has been the staple for decades but in a world where everyone is using their smartphone for everything, shouldn't we explore our other options? Today we chat with Mike Yan, founder of Manychat, a chatbot platform that gives us the ability to effortlessly connect with our guest via text, instagram, facebook and much more. Together we unpack the different ways this new tech enables us to engage and delight our guests. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES [2:10] Leapfrogging email: the origin story of ManyChat [5:30] Success with Facebook Messenger [7:24] The merits of chat marketing: a world of effortless possibility on autopilot [15:20] How to get an 80% open rate on your marketing efforts [19:24] How to run a contest to drive engagement through the roof [22:32] Data collection might be the new CRM [25:05] It's simple: get on board early or wait until you've lost the race. That's Mike Yan. For more on Manychat go to https://manychat.com FULL COMP is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. ________________________________ CLICK HERE to Chat with Josh Free Download: 5 Steps to Achieve a 15% Net Profit We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out the FULL COMP media universe by visiting: FULL COMP Restaurant Marketing School The Playbook Industry Town Halls

I'm sure everyone ascribes to the philosophy of being the change you want to see in the world, but what does that look like in practical application? As hospitality professional, we have a unique opportunity to shape our neighborhoods by influencing what they consume and how they consume it. André Hueston Mack is doing exactly that. Never in my life have I seen someone invest so much of themselves into their community and today we talk about the risks and rewards associated on betting on your neighbors to create a better neighborhood. TIME STAMPED SHOW NOTES [2:20] Learning the standards of self-expression [5:00] Leaving Thomas Keller: Where uncertainty meets determination [7:09] The slow burn of getting rich: "It was hard, but it was mine". [9:22] Making the wine was the easy part [11:02] Knowing who to impress: the key to success in salesmanship [13:28] Running toward discomfort: Understanding your own strengths [14:04] Pushing boundaries: Priorities, time management, and opportunity [16:06] How hard could it be?: Scaling an empire outside your front door [20:56] Ensuring a profitable ecosystem: The demerits of peaking early [22:53] It's all about the neighborhood: Keeping it personal [24:35] Preparing for the moment you're in the way [26:10] What Albert Einstein, distillation, and For Dummies books have in common [29:00] Choosing from a thousand options [30:10] Everything you ever wanted is on the other side of your fear. FULL COMP is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. ________________________________ CLICK HERE to Chat with Josh Free Download: 5 Steps to Achieve a 15% Net Profit We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out the FULL COMP media universe by visiting: FULL COMP Restaurant Marketing School The Playbook Industry Town Halls

You are your restaurant and no one is ever going to know it or be able to run it better than you. But is that a good thing? Today we chat with Michele Hecken, an executive coach who specialized in helping you get out of your own way--eliminating you as the bottleneck to growth and empowering your team to fulfill your dreams. Today we begin the process of offboarding ourselves. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES [2:22] Offboarding: when delegation isn't enough. [4:20] Getting fired from you own life: the choice to do something different. [7:30] The symptoms of success: measuring your effectiveness as a leader. [10:44] Why work/life balance is bullshit. [13:11] Why assigning responsibility trumps delegating tasks. [16:53] The struggle for restaurateurs: translating magic to the rest of the business. [22:10] Accelerating the decision-making process. [23:57] If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there. [28:07] How to offboard yourself: getting clear on what matters. [31:05] Don't be held by the shackles. To get started with a FREE 25-Minute Coaching Session with Michèle, visit  https://www.michelehecken.com/fullcomp FULL COMP is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. ________________________________ CLICK HERE to Chat with Josh Free Download: 5 Steps to Achieve a 15% Net Profit We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out the FULL COMP media universe by visiting: FULL COMP Restaurant Marketing School The Playbook Industry Town Halls

Who do you look to for inspiration? For me, it's always been Wolfgang Puck and not just because he's a talent chef and restaurateur, but because he's a skilled entrepreneur. Even without a formal business education, the chef has built an international empire. In today's conversation we unpack the critical decisions he made to get it to the top and overcome the obstacles along they way. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [2:11] Rising from ashes: how a household name was born in the journey from one hell to the next [5:11] Staying above the fray: how Chef defied the odds and stayed off the sauce [6:35] Showmanship and status: the evolution of an industry [8:51] Dreaming big, sinking in, and mastering hospitality as a craft [11:59] Accelerating an education: lessons learned in the early days at Spago [13:07] The critical decisions that shaped one of the world's best-known chefs [15:35] Mistakes and what we can learn from the man who's failed his way to unparalleled success. [20:34] Get knocked down, get back up: fear as a motivator [22:15] Staying relevant: a lesson in innovative evolution and finding balance [24:30] Chef's recipe for success [27:24] Marketing greatness: why personal relationships are the backbone of success [29:51] Pandemic perspective: projections from the man who sees opportunity where others don't [31:47] Passing a legacy on: hopes from a father to his children for a healthy succession [34:08] Defining and communicating success [35:56] The gift of listening: advice from a legend For more on the chef, visit https://wolfgangpuck.com FULL COMP is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. ________________________________ CLICK HERE to Chat with Josh Free Download: 5 Steps to Achieve a 15% Net Profit We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out the FULL COMP media universe by visiting: FULL COMP Restaurant Marketing School The Playbook Industry Town Halls

How many hats are you wearing on a daily basis? One? Two? Two hundred? The only way we're going to get better is by getting better at sharing our workload with others. That's where Emily Morgan comes in. Emily is a delegation expert and today she walks us through the mindset and strategies we need to pull this off along with the pitfalls to avoid. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [3:14] Out of the weeds: WTF do I do with myself now? [4:25] The discipline, art, and science of delegation [6:05] The 5 types of bottlenecks we threaten our businesses with [10:20] Checks and balances: getting realistic about your habits [11:49] Expenses and investments: understanding what you're worth [13:13] Reversing the math [13:55] The 5 Golden Rules of Delegation: best practices to set your goals [15:05] We are special unicorns: discovering what's possible to delegate [17:21] The low-hanging fruit: get rid of the easy stuff first [18:45] How to create the steps and build the systems [20:30] How to avoid delegating a broken machine [22:08] The first 5 things to pull off your plate [23:21] The science of delegation [24:25] Delegating the end result: the value of defining success [25:27] Feedback: how to solicit honesty and communicate productively [27:30] How to avoid setting your hair on fire [28:18] Determining good enough: the 80% rule [29:00] Committing to the boring stuff [29:40] Clearing space for your impact To check out everything Emily referenced on today's show go to https://www.delegatesolutions.com/fullcomp FULL COMP is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. ________________________________ CLICK HERE to Chat with Josh Free Download: 5 Steps to Achieve a 15% Net Profit We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out the FULL COMP media universe by visiting: FULL COMP Restaurant Marketing School The Playbook Industry Town Halls

What does the restaurant of the future look like? Well, if we've figured anything out in our time together it's that I could look like many different things. I think Chef Steve Brown has stumbled upon a really intriguing business model. He's evolved the pop up model into a restaurant incubator, creating massive demand and awareness for his brands. In our conversation we unpack what went into conceptualizing and executing this restaurant ecosystem and how he leveraged his unique personal brand to bring it to the masses. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [2:] Taking partnership to the next level: creating a brand vibe with the love of your life [5:01] Being in hospitality vs. being in the hospitality business [6:56] Anything but a restaurant! How the Swagyu pop-up was born [8:15] It wasn't marketing... it was survival. [9:39] The Wagyu concept: born the Coachella of culinary battles [11:25] Taking it on tour: You can't perform the concert in the same town every day [12:48] The last supper: how a moment of desperation tripled revenue [16:07] Swagyu Study Hall: how Covid shaped next-level hospitality [17:13] "Uhh, Chef, we don't see it...": the journey into Brick & Mortar [18:36] Making what was for the 1% accessible to the 99% [19:36] Capitalizing on sh*tty strip malls: the golden ticket that made Swagyu Chop Shop possible [20:54] The Wagyu Smashburger: how the greatest oxymoron in the history of food became a huge success [23:46] What's better than zero waste? Negative waste. [24:16] And the beat goes on: the success keeps rolling in at every turn [25:13] Failing your way to success:  trust your gut and understand your audience [27:43] Why Chef Steve Brown was able to rise from the ashes of Covid [29:09] Choosing the good choices: "I'd rather be miserable than without clarity." [29:49] Now what?: The future of Swagyu [31:12] "Wouldn't it be so funny if this worked?" [33:17] Listen for the mic drop: Chef detonates the Hiroshima of truth bombs. [33:43] "You wanna know how to expand this fast? I'll tell ya..." [36:00] Multiple revenue streams done right: Chef Steve divulges an EPIC strategy [37:41] Massive expansion during the great recession: where he's finding his employees [38:38] The creativity doesn't end at the plate: make big moves that might seem crazy. For more on all of his projects visit https://chefstevebrown.com FULL COMP is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. ________________________________ CLICK HERE to Chat with Josh Free Download: 5 Steps to Achieve a 15% Net Profit We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out the FULL COMP media universe by visiting: FULL COMP Restaurant Marketing School The Playbook Industry Town Halls

I'm always amazed when someone with absolutely no prior experience in our industry can open a place and dominate the market. Today we chat with Dana Shertz of the RMD Group who did just that. In our conversation he shares how he was able to take the lessons he learned while scaling Calloway Golf and leverage them to create a hospitality empire. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [3:16] Lessons from the sports industry: unpacking the fundamentals of business with Dana Shertz [5:22] Building a relationship-focused business: How to leverage your vendors for success [7:02] Pivoting to restaurants: the road that led a sports professional into the hardest industry on earth [8:17] How to create a banger out of the gate: getting your financial house in order [10:25] The top KPIs to keep track of and optimal review frequency [12:30] The overlap between consulting and operating [13:35] Pandemic drama: thriving through challenges [14:53] Pulling in a crowd: the art and science of tapping into demand [17:07] To compete or play your own game: the mentality of success [21:04] The universal issues: what a consultant sees when they can see everything [21:51] The benefit of mentoring others: learning how to work and think in different ways [24:04] Cultural shifts: changing your mindset to align with generational values [26:38] A philosophy of mutual investment: how to get the best out of your people [28:11] A mentor's mentors: the people who shaped and influenced Dana Shertz [29:52] What will change and what won't: the bird's eye view [31:28] Keeping a focus on what's important: camaraderie in the industry For more on the RMD Group go to https://rmdgroupsd.com FULL COMP is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. ________________________________ CLICK HERE to Chat with Josh Free Download: 5 Steps to Achieve a 15% Net Profit We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out the FULL COMP media universe by visiting: FULL COMP Restaurant Marketing School The Playbook Industry Town Halls

There are a thousand roads that can lead to success in our industry but only one road that leads to profitability. Today we're talking numbers with Anne Gannon, founder of the Largo Group. In our chat today we're going to explore what the formula for success looks like by examining some of her most successful clients and unpacking the tactics, tools and strategies they've used to achieve massive profitability. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [2:56] How to stop playing catch-up: The trends worth tracking weekly. [4:20] Analyzing your restaurant. [5:26] The labor crisis: an economic perspective and evaluation. [7:01] Bottom line revenue: budget and operational inefficiencies [8:15] The reality of labor: You can't have it both ways. [9:55] Lessons from the best: where passion and practicality collide. [11:51] Profitability: you are in control of your own destiny. [13:50] An industry comparison: where we can shift, and what we can embrace. [15:33] The KPIs you should be tracking and the tools to do it with. [17:24] Nauseating, but necessary: what we really should be considering when we invest in a POS. [19:28] What we shouldn't return to: the hidden dysfunction in the successes of 2019. [21:43] Cashflow is king: remembering  the pain of being top-heavy. [23:53] Setting yourself up moving forward. [25:25] Financial aid resources you don't know about yet. (Here, have some money. You're welcome.) [26:56] What we don't know we don't know: Accounting doesn't actually suck (really!). [28:20] Congratulations are in order. For more on her company go to https://www.thelargogroup.com FULL COMP is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. ________________________________ CLICK HERE to Chat with Josh Free Download: 5 Steps to Achieve a 15% Net Profit We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out the FULL COMP media universe by visiting: FULL COMP Restaurant Marketing School The Playbook Industry Town Halls