Forktales

• McDonalds gave him a taste of being a steward for a brand, not just a customer-centric thinker.
• Worked his way up through McDonalds and into Coca-Cola and learned a ton of lessons
• Menial jobs and starting jobs gave insight into how restaurants operate and what it takes to make the back of house work
• Went to University of Illinois
• Had a radio show during college and was interested in an actor
• Attended Second City Training Conservatory
• Importance of holding a brand true at McDonald’s internship
• Forayed into the Happy Meal toys company
• Then moved to Coca-Cola working with restaurants and concessions
• Role at The Green Room Collective combines everything known about brand and business into a perfect dream job
• Goal at The Green Room Collective is to help team get unstuck around big problems they face.
• Liberating minds and imagination
• Restaurants are always something special even if you’re refueling
• Discussed the Coca-Cola Alum putting out amazing thinking and expertise
• All about insourcing creativity

00:00.00vigorbrandingEveryone I have the honor today of being joined by my friend pat mcgill pat and I met a couple years ago during covid actually fostered a relationship through a mutual love of food and strategy and just thinking and so um. Just made sense to have pat on. He has a great history that you’re going to unpack on the call today or call their session today I should say but pat say hello give a quick little backstory.

00:24.25Pat MagillSure, thank you very much and I’m glad to be here I’ll have to say that in terms of the ah the 3 things that you mentioned I brought the food aspect to it. You brought the strategy and the thinking for sure. But ah anyway, thank you very much for having me on joseph. It’s great to be here. Um, and yeah, the. Love of food. Not so much as well as an eater as well as um, ah as someone who’s been in the restaurant industry almost my entire life. Um, my very first job my very first job that wasn’t a paper route and I’m not going to date myself too. Badly.

00:57.15vigorbrandingUm.

01:01.44Pat MagillBut was at a ponderosa in the little town that I grew up in ponderosa steakhouse for those that might remember it where I bust tables and then eventually was the dish picker which was the guy in the back with the big spray and and got all the dishes clean and sent it through and I did that for a couple months and then i. Joined ah a local Mcdonald’s as 1 of their crew as you know Burger guy flipping burgers doing all the things. Um, which was a great experience for me as a teenager because it it gave me um, especially ah in the Mcdonald’s experience it gave me an idea of. Serving the customers but also being um, 1 that had a stewardship of a brand to a certain extent. Um and and I’ll kind of come back to this in a little bit I’m sure. But when I did this so I will date myself. It was in the mid 80 s mid to late 80 s I was in high school.

01:46.20vigorbrandingAnd.

01:57.74Pat MagillAnd we weren’t on the the coasts. So this happened where I lived a little bit later in the eighty s but the malls and the video stores when they really started to come up. Um, it became a. A more attractive place for teenagers to go to work because it was basically it was air conditioned. Um I mean the video store and I’m really dating myself Joe. So if I didn’t need to do this. This is where I need your strategic thinking but you know the video stores you know is air conditioned and you jus

• International Hospitality Industry – Board Member
• AAHOA – Asian American Hotel Owners Association – Director of Western Division
• Third generation hotelier
• “No matter what’s going on in your life, you gotta put on a face and give the best that you can.” – Tejal Patel
• Number one way to prevent burnout: Talk about it.
• Fighting the Great Resignation
• Focus less on why people leave and focus more on why do people stay? Home into that question.
• Hotel brands creating niche sub-brands like Even Hotels, Moxy and Tru – Is it effective?
• Everyone is coming out with lifestyle brands, soft brands, and youthful focused brands – it’s going to be common
• Franchisees suing brands due to lack of support and hasn’t seen returns on the investment
• Revisionist brands versus building from ground up
• Hope we learned what makes our business really run – it’s not transactional
• “What makes the hospitality run? It’s a spirit” – Tejal Patel
• The ROI is based on what the people inside the four walls is doing for your customer
• Equity and Inclusion are more important than Diversity – do we feel included? How are we cultivating our people?
• It’s so hard to be resilient in this pandemic era, but try to talk to people and figure out how to help and support your people
• Masterclass on Negotiation with Chris Voss
• It’s important to excavate the full picture of issues instead of finding only one issue
• Technology can help smooth over bumps in the experience while opening the door to better, stronger jobs
• Rethinking new opportunities inside the hotel from ghost kitchens to full-time living in the hotel – what will continue on?
• Working from the hotel room concept was a bust
• A little skeptical of virtual kitchens but mostly because of the love of experiencing first hand
• Hot takes on crypto and its role in becoming a real currency for hotel transactions
• Some hotels have implemented so there’s a future for it, but it will be a slow rise and implementation

00:00.00vigorbrandingHey everyone today I am joined by my friend tasel patel she’s the ceo of niem tree hospitality amongst other things tasel won’t you say hello and give a little background.

00:08.99Tejal PatelSure so hello everyone hi je thanks so much for having me um my name is tajel Patel and I’m the present Ceo of Nemtro hospitality. Um, it’s a venture that I created right before the pandemic and before stuff hit the fan if you will.

00:24.46vigorbrandingIf.

00:26.73Tejal PatelUm, but prior to starting my company and since the beginning of my career I’ve worked in all different areas of hospitality I’ve worked in restaurants and events and consulting and I went to school for hospitality as well. So um, it runs in my blood I’m a third generation hotelier. Um I wear a lot of different hats I serve on a couple boards such as the international hospitality institute and I’m also the email director for the western division for the asian american hotel owners association. So.

00:52.82vigorbrandingNice. That’s great. So it’s funny that you mentioned um, being third generation hotel year. So um I remember when I met my first patel and and then I remember meeting my second. And I was like oh do you he’s like no no no he’s like patel’s like smith and jones you’re gonna meet a lot of us I was lik

• Partner and Senior Designer at Hager International
• Karl has over 20 years design experience and is a graduate of Algonquin College in Ottawa and has a Diploma of Interior Design. He is also a 2010 inductee of his alma mater Hall of Fame for the School of Media and Design. Karl’s background is in hospitality which included partnership in a restaurant located in Whistler, BC, Canada. Karl is NCIDQ qualified, is registered with the Interior Designer Institute of BC, the Interior Designers of Nova Scotia and the Interior Designers of Canada.

• www.hagerinc.com 
• https://www.instagram.com/hagerdesigninternational/?hl=en 
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/hagerinc/ 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/karltravisathagerinc/ 
• https://www.foodandwine.com/news/shake-shack-first-drive-thru 
• https://www.brooklyndumplingshop.com/
• https://www.qsrmagazine.com/outside-insights/geofencing-can-minimize-face-face-interactions-restaurants
• https://marybrowns.com/

• “There are so many shifts happening as a result of the behavioral shifts with consumers – designers are reacting, absorbing, and developing new solutions.” – Joseph
• “Things like drive thru’s were shunned for the most part.” – Joseph
• “What also shunned it was city council, because of the environmental factor.” – Karl
• “There’s potential for overcorrection, but it depends on the board rooms of the large companies, they have some very smart people and they pay them to do the research.” – Karl
• “It’s giving people the option to not interact with other people, so it’s all about choice.” – Karl
• “McDonald’s was always way ahead of the game.” – Karl
• “It’s all automated. You can see the appeal from investors – its very low cost of entry, you dont need a lot of labor, and the food is delicious.” – Joseph
• “It has a lot to do with location as well, and rent/leasing/availability. And of course the labor shortage – this will factor into how companies will determine what they want to do.” – Karl
• “I used to go to Starbucks a lot and I don’t go anymore …. I’m gonna get my coffee and go on with my life.” – Karl
• “What if people want to stay and watch? Maybe it’s a spectacle … watch the hustle and bustle of what’s happening behind the glass wall with these

• VP of Brand Development & Strategy at Savory Restaurant Fund
• Started career at 18 – managing a small Mexican grill (under 10 units)
• Began franchising and helped the company expand until acquisition by Jack In The Box
• Then helped grow the Paradise Bakery with franchising until acquisition by Panera
• Moved on to 14-unit company called Cafe Rio, grew to 100 units and, you guessed it, acquisition!
• Grew another franchise system with Four Foods Group; then purchased 48 Little Caesar’s locations. Added 30 more locations, then sold them off and “lived happily ever after”.
• https://www.hashkitchen.com/
• https://savory.mercatopartners.com/

• “Small brands – those 5 to 15 location concepts … this growth from that moment to 50, 100, 200, seems very enigmatic and tough.” – Joseph 
• “During that growth phase … we learned a lot on going fast but not too fast.” – Alonso
• “There’s nothing you can read, nothing you can do, that will teach them but your experience. You can’t replace experience.” – Alonso
• “Every stage in the restaurant business is difficult. It has its own little challenges. The industry in itself is hard, right? The initial stage from 5 to 50 is especially hard … you gotta keep that momentum. Setting up that foundation is so important.” – Alonso
• “Sometimes restaurants get funding and they slowly forget to be scrappy.” – Alonso
• “There’s all these services that come to you as a young operator and they offer you … this extra little software that tells you the weather … the sales pitch was fantastic … so the middle of your P&L fattens up and your profits are so low.” – Alonso
• “You have to be brilliant at the basics. If you have great service, great quality food, and a clean environment, and you’re consistent with it, that’s all you need.” – Alonso
• “If you’re not careful you can get rid of your money. It’s pretty easy.” – Joseph
• “What’s needed today and a little bit of tomorrow, instead of what’s needed five years from now.” – Joseph
• “If you’re a mom and pop shop, opening your first or second location, do you need to spend $50k on a brand identity? Probably not.” – Joseph
• “Focus on operations, get those systems smooth… when you hit that 10, 15, 20 location mark then take a look at the brand.” – Joseph
• “Your food is your branding. Your marketing budget is getting your food in people’s mouths …. Feed the local football team for free. That’s your marketing” – Alonso
• “Everything you do does build a brand, so if you do it wrong you’re doing yourself a disservice.” – Joseph
• “We find these brands that have so much potential to become

• The very first Pizza Hut was only a half mile from Bill in Wichita! And they asked their fraternity brothers to open franchises.
• Pizza Hut’s red roof was so iconic you could identify them from aerial photography. It was designed by Robert Burke.
• Sagmeister & Walsh book: https://sagmeisterwalsh.com/work/all/beauty-book/  
• Taco Bell’s logo evolution: https://www.grayflannelsuit.net/blog/logo-evolution-taco-bell 
• Papa John’s logo evolution: https://1000logos.net/papa-johns-logo/ 
• Home on the Range: https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/kansas/state-song/home-range 
• Bullhearted Brand Book: https://bullhearted.co/ 
• Handles IG @gardnerdesignusa Twitter @gardnerdesign FB https://www.facebook.com/WeAreGardnerDesign/
• https://gardnerdesign.com/
• https://www.logolounge.com/ 

• “Back in the 70s 80s and maybe 90s, there was a lot of character in restaurant brands… it seems like there was a push to eliminate that.” – Joseph
• “People forget that the McDonald’s golden arches were the original arches on the building. These things draw this language and vernacular of the architecture of the restaurant. That’s where the color comes from, the pattern, the textures.” – Bill
• “There’s been this regrasping from the 70s especially – with Stranger Things – the typography, wonderful fat swervy, bold, and spoke of food, people love that.” – Bill
• “If you didn’t live through it, it’s new to you, but you remember it in a retro way – you remember the good, not the bad.” – Bill
• “I rarely say this about design … but God, it’s sexy.” – Joseph
• “If we all believe that brown rectangles are the ugliest thing in the world then why are we building them?” – Joseph, paraphrasing Sagmeister
• “We brown-rectangled logos and design elements for so long.” – Joseph
• “Familiarity is what we consider ugly” – Bill, interpreting Sagmeister
• “If you come to me, I can do (Burger King’s) 2050 logo, the bun will be just enormous on the thing … but the type will be the same.” – Bill
• “I’m not speaking about how good the product is, I’m just speaking about from a design perspective, I love the fact that they’ve picked up that vernacular and pushing that forward as a brand component.”
• “Is it lazy? I don’t mean in the amount of thought or work, but it seems like a parlor trick to leverag

• Jinya is franchised across the US and Canada
• 40 locations with a plan to add between 15 and 20 restaurants
• Pork broth is a 20 hour process

• “What it comes down to is the best marketing is word of mouth” -Justin
• “Trying to define who that customer is and once you have that definition then, putting the resources to where those folks are: -Justin
• “I cant underscore enough how important it is to truly think local at all costs” -Joseph
• “I try to let the data tell the story and kind of guide us” -Justin
• “If you’re not communicating with your franchisees on the “why”, they can go rogue rather easily” -Justin
• “It’s not just explaining what or how, it really is why” -Joseph
• “An elevated experience isn’t just the food, it’s all of it” -Justin

• Decided to go mobile first to get feet wet and understand how the industry works.
• They tailor the bar options and garnishes to the season 
• RAMP Certification – certification that servers and bartenders need to receive in order to serve food and beverages.
• Presley’s is named after CJ’s goddaughter

• “Make an experience with your brewery” -CJ
• “If you don’t have good beer to match your experience, you’re going to get washed out unfortunately” -CJ
• “What I’m really yearning to find is a brewery who really starts to take the brand seriously” – Joseph
• “I’m hoping that we just find a stride where people realize it’s not just the beer, it is the brand and people really need to start buying into the brand” -Joseph
• “We want you to have the experience that you’re sitting down in a really comfortable dim lit bar” -CJ

• Book — Run Studio, Run
• Naming Tips
  • Look around to see what other people aren’t doing
  • Understand the field and know what’s been done
  • Be clear about what you want to put on the table and why you’re existing
• Nopicnicpress.com
• Twitter — @elialtman

• “The middle ground is where the bad names exist” -Eli
• “We would rather have someone do something ridiculous and interesting and fail than try to do something completely bland” -Eli
• “Mediocrity is driven by a desire to appease everyone simultaneously” -Eli
• “If you spend your time trying to fit in, you’re gonna waste your budget trying to stand out” -Danny Altman
• “You know you’ve done a really good job at strategy and absorbed it because it makes innovation feel more comfortable” -Joseph
• “We as humans have an innate desire to want to fit into something and when you haven’t effectively defined what that something is, it becomes just fitting in” -Joseph
• “Names are really introductions to stories” -Eli
• The name is about getting you to the front door, beyond that, it’s about experience” -Eli

• Cinnaholic, a gourmet cinnamon roll bakery, was founded in 2010 by a husband and wife team in California 
• No freezers, rolls are made fresh everyday
• Menu is 100% vegan and over 20 frostings and toppings
• Owners went on Shark Tank in 2014, deal fell through so they decided to go into franchising shortly after that.
• Each location has their own Facebook and Instagram page
• 59 units opened right now
• Menu Innovation
  •  Have to think USA and Canada from a sourcing perspective
  • Change flavors at least 5 times a year
• Don’t focus on being 100% vegan in marketing
• Future of Cinnaholic — lots of growth and new markets!

Notes coming soon!