649: Lisa Astorga-Watel on Taking Chances, Networking, and Presence.
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Release Date: 09/12/2019
692: Todd Coerver on 3 Steps to Recovering a Lost Brand
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Todd Coerver is the recently-announced CEO of the Austin, Texas, hamburger chain, . Prior to his current role, Todd served as CEO and as chief brand officer and Chief Operations Officer. And if we go back EVEN FURTHER... Before his role at , Todd spent 14 years at Whataburger where he ended his tenure as VP of marketing and innovation. Check out P. Terry's founder/owner Patrick Terry's as mentioned in today's episode! Check out as mentioned in today's episode! Check out as mentioned in today's episode! Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! Subscribe to the Join the private Join...
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691: Patrick Terry on Taking the Leap into Business Ownership
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
In 2005, after a career in advertisement and owning two pizza places, Patrick and Kathy Terry decided it was time to go all-in on burgers. With that, was born. The vision was to re-create the burger joint Patrick remembers as a child: simple, with a focus on quality and great customer service. 15 years later has scaled to 16 locations in and around Austin, TX with plans to expand into Houston and San Antonio within the next year.
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690: Chris Schultz on Bringing Solutions Instead of Problems
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
This is Chris Schultz's 2nd time on Restaurant Unstoppable. We met over 4 years ago at the NRA show and he was on a panel I was hosting. A few months later I hosted Chris on Restaurant Unstoppable, ! Hands down, one of my best interviews out of 691 total episodes. It was so good, I re-published it last week. In that episode, we discuss how Chris helped scale from 200 to 20,000 locations. Then we discussed how Chris helped launch and Scale from its first single unit to 400 locations. When we last left Chris, his focus was on bringing MOD international. That was 3 years ago. Today, and...
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689: Chris Schultz ARCHIVED-Scaling Culture
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
This is a REPEAT EPISODE!! One thing I'd like to do going into the future is to build on my pre-existing relationships. Who were some of our best guests? Where are they now? Let's get them back on the show and continue learning. Chris Schultz is absolutely one of those standout guests. Today, I'm bringing to you his original interview so you can get caught up because on Thursday we're bringing him back! Here is a link to the original: At the time of this interview, Chris Schultz had spent 15 years with the Starbucks Management and Leadership team before joining , aka the MOD Squad in 2009....
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688: Justin Turner on Scaling a Scratch Kitchen
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
A Chicago native, Justin Turner got his start in fine dining serving for years as a private chef to NBA star Shane Battier. When Shane was traded to the Rockets, Justin followed to Houston, but when the baller moved on again, the chef stayed, converting a yellow school bus into one of Houston’s first food trucks and naming it after his grandfather: . His gourmet burgers and fries were wildly popular and led to a fleet of buses, a spot at NRG Park and now 4 brick-and-mortar restaurants. Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! Subscribe to the Join the private Join the email list!...
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687: Steve Raggiani and Joe Scalo on Fixing the Broken Review Culture
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
What if there was a way to help us find the food we’re craving, in a no-bullshit, dead-simple, dependable manner recommended by people we actually trust? According to Steve Raggiani and Joe Scalo, there is a better way and it's called the . Show notes… Favorite success quote or mantra: "It's about the food." In today's episode with Steve Raggiani and Joe Scalo we will discuss: How deep and useful are the recommendations on 8it app? The obnoxious "old way" of finding a good place to eat in a city strictly about the food; the app specifically suggests restaurants based on food The online...
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686: Dave Hirschkop on Launching Your Retail Product
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Upon graduating college Dave Hirschkop opened Burrito Madness in College Park, MD. As a way to deal with unruly drunks, Dave created a hot sauce. Before long that hot sauce became Dave's main focus, and was born. Today Dave owns a website and business called where they sell Dave's Insanity Hot Sauce, pasta sauce, overnight oats and much more. In Today's episode, Dave shares how he spun a gourmet food business out of his restaurant and what advice he has for other restaurants looking to launch their products into stores and online retail. Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! ...
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685: Jason Harris on 6 Habits to Make You More Persuasive
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Jason Harris is the CEO of the award-winning creative agency and the co-founder of the . Harris works closely with brands through a blend of soul and science to create proactive campaigns that engage audiences. Today we're here to talk about his book . Check out as mentioned in today's episode. Show notes… Favorite success quote or mantra: "No growth in comfort." In today's episode with Jason Harris we will discuss: Partnerships Marketing Branding The power of trust A summary and understanding of what we will find in the book Don't mirror what is popular; be yourself The...
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684: Michael Peticolas on Be Better not Bigger
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
After over a decade of practicing law, Michael Peticolas left bailiffs and briefcases behind for barely and brews (at least that's what he thought) when he opened in 2010. In the first year, Michael and wife, Melissa, were the sole brewers, sales reps, and distributors and they still managed to win gold at the Great American Beer Festival …and again in their third year. In 2013 Peticolas was elected to the board of directors of the . Shortly after, the board elected Peticolas as co-chair of the legislative committee, which has been integral to changing Texas laws that have long hindered...
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683: Nir Eyal on 4 Ways to Be More Indistractable
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Since 2003, Nir Eyal has founded two tech companies and has taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford. He is the author of the bestselling book, and . In addition to blogging at , Nir’s writing has been featured in , , and . Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! Subscribe to the Join the private Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!) Favorite success quote or mantra: "Real success is being happy for the success of others." In today's episode with Nir Eyal we will...
info_outlineChef/Owner Lisa Astorga-Watel grew up in Santiago, Chile, before moving to Houston, Texas where she attended The Culinary Art Institute. Astorga-Watel's ambition started early wit the opening of her own catering business to cover her expenses while in school. Following her formal training, she served as a private chef for celebrity, Tommy Lee Jones. It was during this time in her career she was able to travel the world developing her pallet and culinary repertoire. It was also during this time she met her future husband and business partner Chef Damien Watel. Together the couple owns Bite and Bistr09
Show notes…
Favorite success quote or mantra:
"Shoot for the moon. If you miss you'll hit a star."
In this episode with Lisa Astorga-Watel, we discuss:
- What took Lisa off the path of fashion and on a new culinary path.
- Taking chances and risks early in your career to set yourself up with experience and opportunity
- How to deal with being a woman in a male-dominated industry.
- The impact of a well-groomed, well-dressed staff.
- Lisa's advice for progressing quicking within an organization.
- How to become someone people want to network with.
- The sacrifice that comes with being a personal chef for celebrities.
- Other challenges of being a personal chef.
- What good communication with your business and life partner looks like.
- Recognizing those who want it and giving them an opportunity.
- Taking zoning into consideration when opening a restaurant.
- Imprinting your personal identity onto your restaurant.
- Maintaining your presence in a restaurant, even when you are absent.
- Giving your staff a sense of ownership, and significance, especially in the eyes of your guest.
- Always anticipate your opening taking longer than you think.
- Opening restaurants in close proximity so you can compound on pre-established relationships.
Today's sponsor:
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Knowledge bombs
- Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
- Patience
- What is your biggest weakness?
- Time away from her son.
- What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
- Honesty
- What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
- Showing up today a better version than herself, yesterday.
- Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
- Be on time.
- What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
- encourage your team to work together.
- What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM - What's the one thing you feel restaurateurs don't know well enough or do often enough?
- Consistency
- What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your four walls restaurant and how has it influence operations?
- If you got the news that you'd be leaving this world tomorrow and all memories of you, your work, and your restaurants would be lost with your departure with the exception of 3 pieces of wisdom you could leave behind for the good of humanity, what would they be?
- Be good.
- Be Kind.
- Be the best you can be.
Contact info:
Websites:
Instagram: @lisa_astorga_watel
Thanks for listening!
Thanks so much for joining today! Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!
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Huge thanks to Lisa Astorga-Watel for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!