Fi$H Factor With Mike Ungaro

Röckenwagner Bakery COO Erich Schmaranzer joins Mike Ungaro to share how the Southern California artisan bakery became the new bread partner behind San Pedro Fish Market's world-famous garlic bread.

Schmaranzer explains how Rockenwagner scaled from supplying local cafés to becoming a national partner for brands including The Cheesecake Factory, Mendocino Farms, and Target, all while maintaining artisan quality. He discusses the technology behind frozen bread, why repeatable scalability matters for restaurant operators, and how trusted partnerships help iconic brands grow without compromising the guest experience. Live from the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago.

Episode Links

Röckenwagner Online: https://rockenwagner.com/

13-time World Pizza Champion Tony Gemignani joins Mike Ungaro to share the lessons he's learned from building one of America's most respected restaurant brands. From spending 17 years working in his brother's pizzeria before opening Tony's Pizza Napoletana to growing Slice House into a national franchise, Gemignani explains why success comes from mastering both the craft and the business. He discusses learning from failure, scaling a restaurant company, mentoring the next generation, and why great leaders never stop improving.

Episode Links

• Tony Gemignani: https://tonygemignani.com/
• Tony’s Pizza Napolentana: https://tonyspizzanapoletana.com/
• Tony Gemignani LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-gemignani-43459218b/

What happens when losing your job leads to an entirely new career?

Jeff Perera, co-founder of Jeff's Bagel Run, joins Ty Wilson to share how a layoff in 2019 led him to learn how to make bagels from scratch, despite having no culinary background. What began as a challenge from his wife quickly turned into an obsession, then a Kickstarter campaign, the sale of their family home, and eventually one of the fastest-growing bagel brands in the country.

Jeff also shares what he's seeing across the restaurant industry after walking the floor at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago. From AI and dirty sodas to protein-packed menus and beverage customization, he explains why successful brands never stop experimenting. He also discusses franchising, creating systems that scale, and the financial metrics every restaurant operator should be tracking to build a stronger business.

What You'll Learn

- Franchising Tips

- Resiliency tactics when moments get hard

- What makes Jeff's Bagel Run Special

Episode Links

- Jeff Perera LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreyperera/

- Jeff's Bagel Run: https://jeffsbagelrun.com/

Eric McDermott, equity partner at Pacific Advisors® and founder of NEXTpectations®, joins Mike Ungaro to share how visual storytelling can help leaders simplify complex ideas, build stronger teams, and communicate more effectively. From his three TEDx Talks and bestselling books to building an audience of more than 500,000 on TikTok, McDermott explains why making ideas easier to understand creates better businesses, stronger relationships, and lasting impact.

What You'll Learn

- Why visual storytelling makes complex ideas easier to understand

- How leaders can communicate more effectively across generations

- The framework Eric uses to learn from failure and improve faster

- What internet trolls taught him about empathy and leadership

- How simplifying your message creates greater impact

Episode Links

- Eric McDermott on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emcdermott/

- Eric McDermott on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nextpectations?

- NEXTpectations®: https://www.nextpectations.com/

Markos Scheer, founder and CEO of Seagrove Alaska, joins Mike Ungaro to share how he went from working in seafood as a teenager to practicing law for two decades before leaving it all behind to build one of Alaska's leading mariculture companies.

Scheer explains why sustainable oyster and kelp farming represents the future of Alaska's coastal economy, what it takes to launch an entirely new industry, and how persistence, long-term thinking, and the right partners helped turn an ambitious vision into reality. He also discusses raising capital, overcoming skepticism, and why entrepreneurs need to embrace failure, adapt quickly, and keep moving forward.

What You'll Learn

- Why Markos Scheer left a successful law career to build a mariculture company

- How oyster farming can create long-term economic opportunities for Alaska's coastal communities

- The challenges of raising capital for a business that had no roadmap

- Why entrepreneurs need resilience, patience, and a short memory

- How technology and innovation are helping modernize sustainable seafood production

Episode Links

- Alaska Mariculture Cluster: https://alaskamariculturecluster.org/

- Southeast Conference - Advancing Southeast Alaska’s Economy: https://seconference.org/

- Alaska Mariculture Alliance: https://alaskamariculture.org/

Dan Whittaker, managing partner of Whitaker & Company, joins Mike Ungaro to discuss entrepreneurship, leadership, family business, and the lessons learned from building an accounting firm over nearly three decades. From selling real estate to pay for college to launching his own firm while his wife was pregnant, Whittaker shares why business is the ultimate strategic game and how financial data helps uncover the real problems holding companies back. He also explains why people, not numbers, are often the biggest challenge in growing a successful business.

What You'll Learn

- Why successful leaders stay open to feedback and growth

- How financial statements reveal the root cause of business problems

- The importance of planning for partnership changes before they happen

- Why empathy and humility are critical leadership traits

- How advisors help business owners see what they cannot see themselves

Episode Links

- Whittaker CPA’s Online: https://www.whittakercpas.com

- Meet Dan Whittaker: https://www.whittakercpas.com/about/

- Whittaker CPA’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6180oqyKXHA2W-jSbTQFIQ

Welcome back to Fi$H Factor, where family legacy meets entrepreneurial grit. Recorded live from the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, Mike Ungaro sits down with Chris Bryson, founder and CEO of New School Foods, to discuss the future of plant-based seafood and the technology powering a new generation of alternative proteins.

After building and selling a software company to Instacart, Bryson turned his attention to food innovation. Frustrated by plant-based products that failed to deliver on taste, texture, nutrition, and culinary versatility, he set out to create something different. New School Foods developed a proprietary manufacturing process that produces a plant-based salmon filet designed to look, cook, and perform like traditional salmon while giving chefs a flexible ingredient they can use across a wide range of dishes.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

- Why most plant-based products have struggled to meet consumer expectations

- How New School Foods developed a plant-based salmon filet that cooks like real seafood

- Why foodservice operators are looking for center-of-plate protein alternatives

- The role nutrition plays in the future of plant-based foods

- How owning manufacturing helps drive innovation and continuous improvement

Episode Links

- Chris Bryson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brysonchris/

- New School Foods: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newschoolfoods/

Welcome back to Fi$H Factor, where family legacy meets entrepreneurial grit. Recorded live from the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, Mike Ungaro sits down with Diana Dumet, Senior Director of Marketing at Mowi USA, to talk about the global salmon industry, consumer trends, and why salmon continues to grow in popularity across restaurants and households alike.

As the world’s largest salmon producer, Mowi operates across multiple countries and supplies salmon to customers around the globe. Diana shares how different salmon origins create different flavor profiles, why chefs are becoming more selective about the products they serve, and how sustainability and health-conscious dining are shaping the future of seafood.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

- Why salmon demand continues to grow in the US

- How salmon origin impacts flavor and texture

- Why chefs are becoming more specialized with seafood

- Why salmon is considered one of the healthiest proteins available

- How Mowi became the world’s largest salmon producer

Episode Links

- Diana Dumet LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-dumet/

- Mowi USA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mowi-usa/posts/?feedView=all

- Mowi Salmon US: https://mowisalmon.us/

- Mowi: https://mowi.com/

- Mowi Salmon TV: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC533qGcwVC2D37tQ5WAsubA

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets real-world strategy. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with Trent Bryson, CEO of Bryson Financial and host of the Grit Rising podcast, to talk about family business, leadership, accountability, and the role grit plays in building both successful companies and successful kids.

From growing up around the family business to chasing Olympic dreams as a Nike-sponsored athlete, Trent shares how discipline, adversity, and obsession with improvement shaped his career. The conversation also dives into hiring high performers, why hospitality creates better leaders, and the challenges of balancing ambition, parenting, and legacy inside a family business.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why grit and adversity are critical for long-term success
• How accountability can transform company culture
• Why hospitality creates stronger business leaders
• How family businesses balance legacy, pressure, and growth

Episode Links

• Trent Bryson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trent-bryson-3114946/
• Bryson Financial LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bryson-financial/
• Bryson Financial: https://brysonfinancial.com/
• Grit Rising Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grit-rising/id1612149639

What happens when a single piece of content changes the trajectory of your entire business?

In this episode of Fi$H Factor, Mike Ungaro breaks down why storytelling has become one of the most important tools in modern business and how a viral moment helped transform San Pedro Fish Market into a nationally recognized brand.

From early lessons inside the family business, where marketing was dismissed as “hocus pocus,” to experimenting with social media, customer storytelling, and the launch of Kings of Fi$H, Mike shares the real experiences that changed his perspective on branding, audience building, and business growth. He also tells the story of the viral Foodbeast “Super Tray” video that brought tens of thousands of customers to San Pedro Fish Market and showed the true power of content distribution and partnerships.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

- Why storytelling is one of the most valuable business tools today

- How customer-generated content helped grow San Pedro Fish Market

- Why great marketing starts with understanding human connection

- How one viral video created massive real-world business results

- Why operators should stop letting other people tell their story