Building, Scaling, Exiting: How Steve & Michele Have Built and Ran Multiple Restaurants (Without Burning Out) - Steve and Michele Sullins

In this episode, Matt sits down with longtime friends Steve and Michele Sullins — two powerhouse restaurateurs who’ve built, bought, and sold multiple restaurants and retail stores over the past 35 years. Michelle started with a coffee cart in Sedona and grew it into a thriving restaurant empire, while Steve worked his way up from dishwasher to opening restaurants for major resort brands like Hyatt and Loews.

Together, they’ve mastered the balance of systems, leadership, and partnership — both in business and marriage. From promoting employees into management to scaling multiple locations at once, they share how they’ve built lasting success in one of the toughest industries around.

Now, they’re taking that experience to Prescott with The Copper Note, their newest concept bringing elevated, scratch-made “world comfort food” to the downtown Prescott area.

 

Timestamps: 

0:00 – Intro and why Steve & Michele chose restaurants in the first place

 

3:34 – Michele’s first restaurant purchase in Sedona

 

4:25 – How she knew it was time to sell

 

5:09 – Building a 6–7k sq ft restaurant from scratch

 

8:10 – Opening restaurants inside major resorts (scale, budgets, staffing)

 

10:14 – Bringing corporate systems into a mom-and-pop shop

 

11:46 – Launching a business together (and becoming partners)

 

13:40 – How they work as a married team without clashing

 

16:33 – Running multiple restaurants and multiple retail stores at once

 

17:51 – Their leadership structure and how they build a team

 

20:13 – Promoting from within vs. hiring outsiders

 

22:58 – How they train and grow future managers

 

25:30 – Selling Sedona locations and moving to Prescott

 

28:02 – Why they bought (not built) the new Prescott location

 

30:39 – The Copper Note: concept, menu, and “world comfort food”

 

31:12 – Reusing what works from past successful menus

 

32:35 – Why location matters more than most buyers realize

 

34:31 – The lifecycle of a restaurant and when to rebrand

 

37:16 – Is year one really the “best year” for a restaurant?

 

39:25 – Their full pre-opening / relaunch process (mock runs, critique, soft open)

 

44:38 – Who gave them a hand up and shaped how they lead

 

 

Resources & Links

 

Connect with Michele and Steve on Instagram: @thecoppernote 

 

Connect with Matt: 

 

Instagram: @AmpedSuccess

 

LinkedIn: Amped Success

 

Tiktok:  @Ampedsuccess

 

YouTube: @AmpedSuccess

 

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