Paula Haines is the CEO of Freedom a la Cart. Paula Haines graduated college with a degree in marketing. Freedom a la Cart is a nonprofit that empowers women of Ohio who are survivors of sex trafficking and exploitation. The cafe and catering business gives these women workforce skills and training. The organization started in 2009, the social enterprise started in 2011, and Paula joined in 2013. Freedom a la Cart started as a food cart in 2011 and in 2021 opened their first cafe. They have...

Joe Pine II is the author of The Experience Economy: Competing For Customer Time, Attention, and Money and Co-Founder of Strategic Horizons LLP. Joe Pine began programming computers in the 7th grade. He worked at IBM for 13 years and moved up to management and strategic roles within that company. Since the he has been a consultant, coach, expert and author on the topics discussed today.  Favorite success quote/mantra: "Go beyond goods and services to staging experiences and guiding...

Nick Kosevich is the CEO and Co-Owner of Earl Giles and Beverage Director at Mr. Paul's Supper Club. Nick started in the restaurant business in 2001 at the Minneapolis restaurant Palomino, where he learned a lot. He learned even more and found a groove at Town Talk Diner, owned by previous guest Tim Niver, where he also worked with previous guest Tommy Begnaud. He started Bitter Cube in 2009, a bitters company, and started Earl Giles 7 years ago. He dabbles in writing, podcasting, consulting,...

Tim Niver is the owner of Saint Dinette, Mucci's, Mucci's Frozen, and the host of the Niver Niver Land Podcast. Tim's first job in the industry was with McDonald's at the age of 15. After college, in 1992, he lived in Spain for 10.5 months before returning home and working in some of the best restaurants in Las Vegas, Colorado, and NYC. He opened his first restaurant in Minneapolis, called Town Talk Diner. He opened Saint Dinette in 2015 and Mucci's soon after, in 2016, followed by Mucci's...

Ryan Bowlds is the Senior Director o Product Innovation at Restaurant Technologies, Inc.RTI is a current sponsor for Restaurant Unstoppable. What exactly is RTI? Delivery: Cooking oil delivery is one component of our Total Oil Management solution. As a Total Oil Management customer, you’re able to better control your oil. Our equipment is installed so we’re able to deliver and pump in bulk cooking oil to your business. Think outside the JIB and modernize your restaurant with oil tanks that...

Tommy Begnaud is the Chef/Owner of Mr. Paul's Supper Club. Tommy Begnaud is from St. Paul and got his first real job in a restaurant washing dishes at the age of 13. He was a bartender in college and when he left school, he worked in his family business for about 5 years. He then realized he wanted to open a restaurant. He went off to culinary school and spent the next 10 or so years working in some great and not-so-great restaurants until he opened Mr. Paul's Supper Club in 2022 in...

Peter Campell is the Chef and Owner of Red Wagon Pizza Co. in Minneapolis. Peter started making pizzas at the age of 2 with his grandfather. He grew up working in kitchens and continued to do so through college. After a long time working with banks and in the world of real estate, he started making pizzas on Friday nights for friends and family. He started his business in 2012, doing pop ups in farmers’ markets. In 2014, he opened his brick and mortal restaurant, Red Wagon Pizza Co.  Success...

Timirie Shibley is the Co-Owner and Co-Creator (along with her husband, Patrick) of Doo-Dah Diner in Wichita, KS. Timbre has been a foodie since the age of 2. She worked in sales and customer service for many years until she and her husband met in their mid-40s. A few years later, in 2012, they bought a restaurant on Craigslist that was once a Chinese food restaurant, and opened Doo-Dah Diner with about 10,000 dollars. Doo-Dah Diner has been going ever since (11 years and counting!). Check...

Sam Fore is the chef and Owner of Tuk Tuk Sri Lankan Bites and Tuk Tuk Snack Shop. Sam went to school for marketing and studied consumer behavior. She did web design for Boston restaurants, including those owned by past guest Jamie Bissonnette, before moving to Lexington,KY. There she began cooking Sri Lankan food (she is first-generation Sri Lankan). She hosted brunches for about six months around 2016 in her home on Sundays and hit a max attendance of 44. This became unsustainable, but she...

Johnny Zela is a the COO of Condado Tacos and an employee since DAY ONE! Johnny began his restaurant career in 1995 as a 15 y/o dishwasher in his hometown of Chicago. After high school he joined the US Navy and was a ship's accountant for 4 years before getting out and going to work in bars and restaurants in Chicago. He bought a restaurant there and sold it after 5 years of running it profitably. He then moved to Columbus and applied as a bartender at Condado Tacos before the first location...

Chris Artinian began selling insurance and investments out of school. He soon realized that career wasn't for him and he landed a job at Morton Steakhouse and the bottom of the restaurant's ladder. He soon climbed up the ranks and became the CEO and President of the Morton Restaurant Group. He moved on from there to Smokey Bones and most recently he became the CEO and President of Condados Tacos. Condados Tacos aims to have over 100 restaurants by 2026. Favorite success quote/mantra: "You...

Sangeeta Lakhani is the Co-Founder and Executive Director at Service! Sangeeta moved to the US from India just before she turned 17. She tried her hand at art school and eventually landed on culinary school. Neither paths were for her at the time. in 1992, at the age of 21, she began working at a pizza place and became co-owner. She operated that restaurant until 2004. In 2004 she opened Bodega in Columbus, OH and operated that restaurant for 10 years. She was the co-founder and chef at The...

Marc Forgione is the Chef/Owner of Peasant, Trattoria on Fifth, and Restaurant Marc Forgione. Chef Marc comes from a family of chefs, most notable his dad, Larry Forgione of An American Place, a very famous restaurant in NYC. When he was young, Marc didn't' necessarily want to be a chef himself. While in college though, he would cook for all is friends and he decided he might be into enough to make it a career. He travelled Europe after school and came back to work in his father's An American...

Jim Tseleikis is the co-Founder of Cousins Maine Lobster. Jim graduated college in 2008 and went into sales, specializing in medical device sales for about 4 years. While visiting his cousin in LA, the two men conjured up the idea for Cousins Maine Lobster, based on their love for family and lobster back in their home state of Maine. 13 months later, in April of 2012, the first Cousins Maine Lobster food truck opened in LA. They appeared on Shark Tank not long after that, and today they have...

Ray Villaman is the President and CEO of Tahoe Restaurant Group. Ray got his start in the industry at a young age as a busser, soon moving on to waiter and then bar tender. He eventually took a job after college at California Pizza Kitchen where he assisted the company in impressive expansion. He was then recruited by Boston Chicken (today known as Boston Market and helped that company do the same. He worked for World Wraps in their early stages of expansion until he started his own...

Matt Abrahams is the author of Think Fast, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You're Put on the Spot as well as a speaker and coach, a professor, and a podcast host. Check out episode 989 with Christine Miles as mentioned in today's episode! Show notes… Favorite success quote/mantra: "No matter where you go, there you are." Today's sponsor: OneDegree Coaching: Self-awareness is the #1 skill for leaders in the New Era of Work. Self-awareness is also said to be the Peak of...

Dan Dreher is the Co-Owner and Operator of Wally's Pizza Bar, as well as the Co-Owner of FLB Entertainment Center in California. Wally's and FLB Entertainment Center were family businesses and still are. Dan and his siblings Monica and Jeremy and his father are all co-owners. Dan received a business degree in Strategic Management and joined the family business as a bartender in 2003. In 2006 his father retired, leaving the business to him and his siblings. In 2015, Wally's opened and joined...

Robert Chen is the Founder and CEO of eatmise, currently operating out of and within NYC. Robert graduated from Columbia with a 4.0 and entered the world of Professional Investment. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, he got the idea for eatmise. eatmise is "the first restaurant-to-you delivery service for busy people who want to eat well. Learn more here. Join Restaurant Unstoppable Network and get your first 30 days on me!  Connect with my past guest and a community of superfans. Subscribe...

Anthony Tartaglia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Costa Verde Hospitality. Anthony got his start in the industry at age 13 and basically never left. Hen worked in restaurant and bar management, as well as being a bartender in NYC and Long Island, until 2014 when he opened his first restaurant, Verde Kitchen & Cocktails, at the age of 29. Verde Hospitality has since opened 5 more concepts. Favorite Success Quote or Mantra: "Just do it." Today's sponsor: OneDegree Coaching: Self-awareness...

Adam Guild is the cofounder and CEO of Owner.com. Owner.com is a software-as-a-service company that provides restaurants with everything they need to succeed online, and drive traffic into their stores. The company currently has over 1,000 restaurants using its services. Show notes… Favorite success quote/mantra: "Do or do not; there is no try." Today's sponsor: OneDegree Coaching: Self-awareness is the #1 skill for leaders in the New Era of Work. Self-awareness is also said to be the Peak...

Jamie Greer is the Interim CEO at Sticky's The Finger Joint in NYC. Jamie Greer got her start in the culinary world in high school, where she attended a vocational school for culinary arts and restaurant management. She then went on and got a degree in hospitality management at Syracuse. She worked for about a year at Magnolia Bakery in NYC before she landed a job at Sticky's, starting as the Director of Guest Experiences in 2017. Today she holds the Interim CEO role. Sticky's currently has...

Just Salad was co-founded by Nick Kenner and Rob Crespi. They established the company in 2006 with the goal of providing healthy and environmentally friendly fast-food options. Just Salad recently opened their newest location, in Huntington Station, in NYC (there are 75 stores now!).  Show notes… Today's sponsor: MarginEdge: Fluctuating food prices. Staffing challenges- Now more than ever you need to control costs to remain profitable. MarginEdge is a restaurant management software that lets...

Steven Salm is the Founder and CEO of PLANTA. Steven Salm started in the restaurant industry at the age of 18 and he fully embraced the ideas of making people happy and providing off of that. He opened his first restaurant in 2013 at the age of 28 in Toronto, that being The Chase. In 2016, he open his second restaurant, PLANTA, after becoming a devout vegan. Today, there are 13 going on 14 PLANTA locations. Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! Join Restaurant Unstoppable Network and get your...

Al Lucas is a Partner at Defined Hospitality in Philadelphia, PA. Al began his career at Chart House where he began as a dishwasher, leaving the company 21 years later as the Vice President of the East Coast. He then moved on to be the Director of Operations at Stephen Starr's company. He worked for Cozy Cafe and Border House and eventually arrived as a Partner at Defined Hospitality. Al Lucas has played a significant role in the openings of several restaurants throughout his career. Check...

Chef Nok is the chef/owner at Kalaya in Philadephia, PA. Chef Nok got her start in the industry as a flight attendant, first in Kuwait and then in Bangkok, where she excelled from 1994 to 2009. There she learned her love for food and hospitality. She also helped operate a jewelry store with a friend and opened an Italian restaurant with her former husband. In 2010, she moved to the U.S. with her current husband and began cooking nonstop until she decided to start a catering business from...