Talk highlights: People are what makes or breaks a brand  Learning from others’ stories and best practices in the restaurant industry Focusing on creating happy employees will, in turn, create happy customers Speaker bio: Austin’s career an operator at Four Foods Group’s first location opened with Kneaders Bakery and Cafe. He was able to experience first-hand the operational side of restaurants, something that many other investors do not have. Austin was one of Four Foods Group’s first employees and was able to help grow the brand from the ground up. While there, he led the acquisition and integration of many food and beverage brands and developed over $100 million in commercial retail real estate. Austin now serves as an investor with Savory Restaurant Fund, which is partnering with high potential emerging restaurants to facilitate their growth into multi-unit brands.

Tech and Mortar

0031 Austin C. Smith, Savory Fund

Talk highlights: Changes to the grocery industry caused by COVID-19 Why some grocery stores don’t make it past the planning stages How Planned Grocery came to be Speaker bio: David Beitz and George Daigh are Co-Founders of Beitz and Daigh Geographics, Inc. the company that created Planned Grocery in 2016. Planned Grocery is a data mapping platform company that tracks grocery store real estate development cycles. The platform currently includes over 2,500 locations across the United States that are either proposed, planned, under construction, or built within the last 6 months.

0030 David Beitz and George Daigh, Planned Grocery

Talk highlights: The advantage of having offered delivery pre-pandemic  Optimizing new and existing sites to be off-premise friendly The biggest issues on the minds of many restaurant professionals 

0029 Anonymous Restaurant Professional

3 main takeaways: Examples of the initiatives restaurants have taken to reach customers in new ways. What restaurant professionals should be doing to ensure they make it to the other side. How the future of the restaurant business will look. Speaker bio: Jim Mizes started his career in the retail industry as a young man working at his father’s pharmacy. He then went to school and received a degree in accounting and began working in typical finance jobs. After realizing that accounting wasn’t what brought him joy, Jim joined Taco Bell as a general manager and quickly worked his way up to their VP of operations. In 1989, Jim repositioned the brand’s 59, 79, 99 campaign and saw a 60% growth in same-store sales. After building up several restaurant brands, Jim finally joined Blaze Pizza where he grew the brand from 2 stores to over 340 in only 6 and a half years. Jim is now retired and recently joined SiteZeus’ board of directors to continue to help retail and restaurant brands grow into new markets.

0028 Jim Mizes, Blaze Pizza & SiteZeus

3 main points: Things that Fred learned from his mentors, like Rich Melman from Lettuce Entertain You, and how it molded him into the business consultant he is today How technology advancements disrupted the industry - both in front-of-house and in the kitchen How restaurants can improve the experience for their customers Speaker Bio: Fred LeFranc originally began his career in the restaurant industry in Chicago at Lettuce Entertainment Expertise. He then worked with El Torito when the brand had only 18 restaurants, which lead to opening a restaurant in Laguna Beach and growing it to 250 locations. Fred has worked as CEO for over half-a-dozen restaurants. When he recognized that the industry was entering an era of creative destruction, Fred decided to open his business, Results Thru Strategy. Working as a Chaos Strategist with Results Thru Strategy, Fred finds order in disorder working with entrepreneurs, investors, and c-suite executives. Helping companies find their purpose that resonates with each team member that makes the company who they are. He believes that trust and discretion is what makes his business relationships last long. Working with both big and small brands, he provides guidance and strategy to be a successful business no matter the hardship.

0027 Fred LeFranc, Results Thru Strategy

3 main points  Selecting talent versus hiring people  Creating a company language that matches the existing behavior  The key to retaining good talent Speaker Bio Dee Ann Turner started her Chick-fil-A career as a secretary to the Vice President of Human Resources and eventually, moved up to the VP of Talent and HR becoming the very first female officer of the company. During her 33 years at Chick-fil-A, Dee Ann focused on growing the renowned culture of the company by recruiting for the corporate staff as well as selecting franchisees.  Dee Ann now owns her own organization which focuses on providing keynote speaking, consulting, and coaching around transforming and growing companies’ culture and talent. She has visited many corporations to speak about topics like The Recipe for a Remarkable Culture, How to Win with Who, The Secret Sauce of Legendary Customer Service, and more.  Dee Ann is also a 2x best selling author of Bet on Talent and It’s my Pleasure. Her books focus on creating remarkable talent and culture within an organization as well as its impact on customer loyalty as well as the entire company. Purchase Dee Ann’s latest book, Bet on Talent here: https://amzn.to/36habWW 

0026 Dee Ann Turner, Chick-fil-A

3 main takeaways: What is a ghost kitchen? Find out how brands are becoming successful with third-party delivery Answers to the most frequently asked questions from retailers regarding ghost kitchens Speaker bio: Brett Wilson has been in sales for 10 years and specializes in technology, food service, and data analytics. Brett is currently at DoorDash where he helps brands of all sizes enter into third party delivery and the ghost kitchen space.

0025 Ghost Kitchens featuring Brett Wilson, DoorDash

3 main takeaways: How to create a foundation and team within a restaurant that supports growth and success. The importance of discovering your “zone of genius” and how it can lead to internal joy. Building a team that is service-oriented rather than task-oriented. Speaker bio: Jim Mizes started his career in the retail industry as a young man working at his father’s pharmacy. He then went to school and received a degree in accounting and began working in typical finance jobs. After realizing that accounting wasn’t what brought him joy, Jim joined Taco Bell as a general manager and quickly worked his way up to their VP of operations. In 1989, Jim repositioned the brand’s 59, 79, 99 campaign and saw a 60% growth in same-store sales. After building up several restaurant brands, Jim finally joined Blaze Pizza where he grew the brand from 2 stores to over 340 in only 6 and a half years. Jim is now retired and recently joined SiteZeus’ board of directors to continue to help retail and restaurant brands grow into new markets.

0024 Jim Mizes, Blaze Pizza & SiteZeus

3 main takeaways Types of innovation commercial real estate is experiencing What emerging trends Mariel is excited to see What to expect at a DisruptCRE conference Speaker Bio Mariel Ebrahimi co-founded DisruptCRE in 2014 with the goal of connecting industry professionals with emerging technologies and trends. Recently, Mariel has spoken for groups within CoreNet New England, Commercial Real Estate Finance Council, NGKF, and at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. In 2015, she was selected as a finalist for the SmartCEO "Skyline Awards" for innovation in commercial real estate and in 2018, a Bisnow NYC Woman of Influence award. With a background in international logistics, tech and supply chain management, Mariel has found a passion at the nexus of commercial real estate and technology.

0023 Mariel Ebrahimi, DisruptCRE

3 Main Takeaways: How untraditional education and experience can be the most valuable When and how brick and mortar retail met their pitfall How to have the most beneficial relationship between a franchisor and franchisees Speaker Bio: Garrick Brown started his career by working in various retail stores while going to school for a creative writing degree. He then pursued freelance writing where he created a connection with a broker and began writing real estate reports. Today, Garrick is one of the leading Retail Real Estate Analysts in the US and serves as the Vice President of Retail Intelligence for the Americas at Cushman and Wakefield. In this position, Garrick manages the retail research team and runs analyses and forecast for the US, Canada, and Latin America. Garrick is also a talented public speaker. He frequently speaks on behalf of Cushman and Wakefield and serves as a keynote speaker during various conferences. He is also regularly quoted regarding retail by dozens of business journals, including Wall Street Journal and CNBC.

0022 Garrick Brown, Cushman and Wakefield

3 Takeaways: What can listeners gain from the Tech and Mortar podcast? Why retail isn’t dead – just evolving The importance of having young perspectives in business Speaker Bio: Tyler Carlson is a serial entrepreneur who was involved in an acquisition of a company during college. As Freshman in college, Tyler began selling study guides for his classes. He went on to sell more guides than any individual in the country, averaging around $10,000 each semester. Eventually he went on to join a website that facilitated the sale of guides and was involved in the acquisition. In 2015, Tyler joined the sales team at SiteZeus, a technology company assisting in the growth and optimization of brands like Subway, Checkers, Vitamin Shoppe, Burger King, and more. After leading the sales efforts as the VP of Sales, he transitioned to the VP of Customer. Tyler enjoys playing golf, spontaneous traveling, and learning from people. He loves reviewing customer experience/service and considers himself the ultimate secret shopper. His goal is to touch a million lives.  

0021 Tyler Carlson, Tech and Mortar & SiteZeus

3 Takeaways: What went wrong when introducing Chipotle in Jacksonville that led to Bobby’s biggest insight? How $8 and 10 minutes can facilitate creating culture at a Whataburger Know the difference between good and great performers - if you can’t define it you can’t find it   Bio: Recognized in 2016 by Fast Casual in their annual Top 100 report as a Top 25 Executive, Bobby Shaw has held senior leadership roles with several restaurant companies including Freebirds World Burrito, Chipotle, and McDonald’s. Bobby got his start in the restaurant business at McDonald’s where he spent 17 years, starting his career in the kitchen and working his way up to a successful multi-unit leader. He joined Chipotle as an Area Manager in 2002, where he was one of the chief architects to the strong culture supporting the high growth Chipotle experienced during that time. Bobby grew the South Region to over 200 restaurants during his tenure. His focus on developing people gave him the opportunity to guide numerous individuals into senior leadership roles throughout the organization. An avid writer, Bobby writes and about leadership development extensively on LinkedIn, various industry publications, and on his ​blog at bobbyshawconsulting.com. His first book, "Cutting Onions: Leadership Lessons Learned from the Restaurant Industry" releases in March 2020 from Morgan James Publishing. Pre-order it now: https://amzn.to/2XDiRDy

0020 Bobby Shaw, Bobby Shaw Consulting

  3 takeaways: What is the state of cannabis today and how is the west coast leading the way? What can retailers do to embrace the changing tide? What are some of the expanding applications of cannabis?   Speaker Bio: Ryder Jeanes has unparalleled expertise in the intersection of cannabis and retail having spent decades on the retail side. He is also a member of the very first cannabis hedge fund. Through his experience in the industry, Ryder founded Canntilever. Canntilever operates at the intersection of real estate, capital markets and the global cannabis industry. The main objective of Canntilever is providing strategies and solutions to the complex and growing cannabis industry.  

0019 Ryder Jeanes, Canntilever

0018 Barry Wolfe, Marcus & Millichap

Talk Highlights What is a leader’s true job? To help them see what they don’t see 5 year outlook on off premise What is going to happen to those 30% fees third parties are charging?   Speaker Bio Mo is an expert at aligning technology development and corporate strategy to anticipate, shape and lead major market trends. As a professional manager with over 25 years of Software Development and Technology experience, most of his career has been spent in an executive technology management role developing and managing products ranging from an extensive enterprise solution, to corporate wide client-server solutions, to an off-the-shelf consumer based solution. He has owned and driven entire releases of major software solutions, taking ownership of tasks and believes in management through empowerment.  Mo is results oriented, energetic, with entrepreneurial spirit, thriving on new challenges and opportunities, with the ability to wear different hats and properly communicating information to individuals with different backgrounds and focus areas. He has proven success attracting and retaining technical and non-technical resources, allowing him to build dynamic teams in a variety of company structures/environments, and defining technical and operational processes to help those teams be highly effective. As a volunteer high school coach, Mo’s leadership and coaching skills transcend into his professional world motivating his teams to maneuver difficult, changing, fast paced environments. Mo scored in the top 5% of all senior managers tested in an internal in-depth leadership assessment evaluation. Scoring above average in all aspects of the test including: vision, execution, inspiration, drive, ownership and empathy.  

0017 Mo Asgari

Brick and mortar isn’t dying, just evolving. Tyler Carlson of SiteZeus sits down with retail industry experts to discuss the intersection between retail and technology, how these individuals embraced or avoided this evolution, and how that affected the business.

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Tech and Mortar

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