I had the great pleasure to be joined by two great guests from Escapism Bar Group – Head of Learning and Development, Flynn Byrne, and Managing Director, Grant Dexter. It was fascinating to learn from the nightlife industry – a sector that hasn’t been fully covered on the show yet. Escapism Bar Group was founded in 2004 by husband and wife team Phil and Mel Harrison. Since the opening of their first bar Mean Eyed Cat, they have gone on to open seven other unique bars which all offer something totally different in Leeds, UK. 

Flynn and Grant talk about how they have bounced back from lockdown and what they have done to ensure they create a working palace that people love and support. Tune in to learn more about creating experiences through great culture, American hospitality, training from the bottom-up, and creating a strong group of brands.

Links:

#167 Dan Simons, Co-Owner and CEO of Farmers Restaurant Group, on Slowing Down To Go Deeper

Escapism Bar Group

Flynn’s LinkedIn

Grant’s LinkedIn

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A big thank you to our sponsor Bizimply who is helping progressive leaders and operators make every shift run like clockwork. Head to our website at www.bizimply.com or email them directly at [email protected].

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Today’s guest has gone through an incredible entrepreneurial journey, which includes having bought a hotel on an island, and how he is trying to find a way to ensure we change the world positively through business. Giles Fuchs is the Founder and CEO at Burgh Island Hotel, as well as Office Space in Town and Gunner Cocktails.

Burgh Island Hotel is a unique Art Deco hotel on its own private island in South Devon. With notable past guests including Winston Churchill, The Beatles and Agatha Christie – Giles took on the exciting challenge of restoring its reputation and service excellence when he became co-owner in 2018. In this episode, we explore how he’s pledging to be net zero, supporting the local community – and some of the key challenges he has faced with transforming a company’s culture. 

Links:

‘Speed & Scale’ by John Doerr

#160 Paul Hargreaves, Founder and CEO at Cotswold Fayre, on B Corps and Being a Force For Good

Burgh Island

Office Space in Town

Gunner Cocktails

Connect with Giles on LinkedIn

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Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter: https://rb.gy/5rqyeq  

A big thank you to our sponsor Bizimply who are helping progressive leaders and operators making every shift run like clockwork. Head to our website at www.bizimply.com or email them directly at [email protected].

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

How do you have a story and a brand that talks to people's hearts? Find out how from Sophia Ahamed, the Principal at Monograph&Co – a Design Agency based in Vancouver, Canada. They produce compelling brand identities, publications, product packaging and digital experiences for clientele both locally and internationally. She is a Designer and Artist with over a decade of experience building brands and crafting design-specific pieces for the hospitality, food and beverage, and retail sectors

It was fascinating to learn how storytelling bleeds into all parts of a business. Tune in as we discuss behavioural theory, how good storytelling helps retain your employees, why ‘bespoke’ is now an expectation, finding your voice as an introvert, and life lessons from the Stoics. 

Links:

‘Stillness Is the Key’ by Ryan Holiday

#163 Ari Weinzweig, CEO of Zingerman's Community of Businesses, on Visioning and the Myth of the One Thing

#114 Ari Weinzweig, Co-Founder of Zingerman's, on Self-Leadership

#113 Carlijn Postma, Founder of The Post, on Binge Marketing

‘Meditations’ by Marcus Aurelius

‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho

Monograph&Co

Monograph&Co’s Instagram

Sophia’s Instagram

Sophia’s LinkedIn

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Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter: https://rb.gy/5rqyeq  

A big thank you to our sponsor Bizimply who are helping progressive leaders and operators making every shift run like clockwork. Head to our website at www.bizimply.com or email them directly at [email protected].

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

I’m super excited to have Rachael Nemeth, CEO and Co-founder of Opus, on today’s episode. Opus is a training platform designed for businesses with a deskless workforce that helps more than 300 businesses boost their training on the frontline. It was fascinating to learn more about Rachael’s background in operations from hospitality where she worked with some great brands like Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality. 

In this episode we explore more about the training platform, and how it delivers mobile-first learning through chat-based microtraining. We also chat about building your own skill portfolio, addressing some of the common challenges with training frontline staff, and why you need to develop a strong onboarding experience.  

Links:

#160 Paul Hargreaves, Founder and CEO at Cotswold Fayre, on B Corps and Being a Force For Good

#73 David Klaasen, Founder of Talent 4 Performance, on Self-Leadership

Opus Training

Rachael’s LinkedIn

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Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter: https://rb.gy/5rqyeq  

A big thank you to our sponsor Bizimply who are helping progressive leaders and operators making every shift run like clockwork. Head to our website at www.bizimply.com or email them directly at [email protected].

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Shawn Askinosie left a successful career as a criminal defense lawyer to start a bean-to-bar chocolate business – Askinosie Chocolate. It is a small batch direct trade chocolate maker in Missouri, sourcing 100% of their cocoa beans directly from farmers. Shawn’s commitment to fairness, sustainability, minimal environmental impact, and community enhancement is undeniable. 

It was great catching up with Shawn to learn more about his work ethic and advice on leading purpose-driven initiatives. Tune in to learn more about the dangers of the ‘cult’ of goodness, the sufficiency economy, reversing the inequality train in the cocoa supply chain, how he is open about the company’s finances with his employees – and baking in monasteries.

Links:

‘Meaningful Work’ by Shawn Askinosie

Askinosie Chocolate

#163 Ari Weinzweig, CEO of Zingerman's Community of Businesses, on Visioning and the Myth of the One Thing

#114 Ari Weinzweig, Co-Founder of Zingerman's, on Self-Leadership

#161 Mats Lederhausen, Founder and CEO at Be-Cause, on Impactful Capitalism

#134 David Lockwood, MD of Neal's Yard Dairy, on Having a 10-year Plan

Connect with the podcast:

Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter: https://rb.gy/5rqyeq  

A big thank you to our sponsor Bizimply who are helping progressive leaders and operators making every shift run like clockwork. Head to our website at www.bizimply.com or email them directly at [email protected].

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Today we are joined by the co-founder of a mission-driven fashion brand Thumbprint, as well as Strategy and Brand Consultant for a number of great hospitality brands – Edward Francis. We explore how Ed and his co-founder Evgenia Baydikova have launched a fashion brand that, from the outset, is helping the world become a better place. Thumbprint Apparel breaks the mold of the fashion industry, by building a business around the people who make your clothes: young women from low income communities in India, initially in south Mumbai.

Tune in to this episode as Edward talks candidly about running a founder-led business, making space for experimentation, dealing with the complexity of the supply chain, and how he is intentionally living a simpler life.  

Links:

#134 David Lockwood, MD of Neal's Yard Dairy, on Having a 10-year Plan

#161 Mats Lederhausen, Founder and CEO at Be-Cause, on Impactful Capitalism

#150 Carly Trisk-Grove, Co-Creator of OPOP, on On How Restaurants Catalyze Change

Ed’s Instagram

Ed’s LinkedIn

Thumbprint Apparel

Thumbprint Apparel – IndieGoGo

Thumbprint Apparel’s Instagram

Connect with the podcast:

Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter: https://rb.gy/5rqyeq  

A big thank you to our sponsor Bizimply who are helping progressive leaders and operators making every shift run like clockwork. Head to our website at www.bizimply.com or email them directly at [email protected].

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Today’s guest, Dan Simons, co-created and co-owns Farmers Restaurant Group, which includes seven restaurants in DC, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, including Founding Farmers, Farmers Fishers Bakers, Farmers & Distillers, and their distillery, Founding Spirits. The company supports over 1,500 employees and continues to grow. Dan blogs regularly @Dan Simons Says about restaurants and hospitality, personal productivity and time management, developing partnerships and brands and environmental issues.

Tune in to this episode to learn more about how Dan has built a business as a force for good. We talk about unbundling the supply chain, how their capital is aligned with the business in every way, teaching personal productivity – and how to make space for undistracted time and daydreaming. 

Links:

The Founding Farmers

#163 Ari Weinzweig, CEO of Zingerman's Community of Businesses, on Visioning and the Myth of the One Thing

#122 Tom Barton, co-founder of Honest Burgers, on Leading by Example

‘How To Break Up With Your Phone’ by Catherine Price

DanSimonsSays.com

FarmersRestaurantGroup.com

FB @DanSimonsSays

Instagram @DanSimonsSays

Twitter @DanSimonsSays

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Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter: https://rb.gy/5rqyeq  

A big thank you to our sponsor Bizimply who are helping progressive leaders and operators making every shift run like clockwork. Head to our website at www.bizimply.com or email them directly at [email protected].

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Want to build a brand that people rave about? Dan Nash is the founder of SixEight, an agency that helps food brands turn their customers into a cult of superfans. As a Brand Strategist, it’s Dan’s mission to make food brands become a force for good, behave more like humans and generate the same intense love as the best brands in the world. He works with brands like Dishoom, Flat Iron, and Tonkotsu who have a story worth fighting for.

We talk about how you tell and scale your story so it has a huge impact now and in the future on your brand and sales. We also discuss building local connections, the power of naivety, creating a manifesto, Anthony Bourdain – and his previous life as a digital nomad in Thailand.

Links:

Omsom

Hiut Denim

Liquid Death Water

#20 Your Brand as Your Promise With Cliff Ettridge, Partner at The Team

Connect with Dan on LinkedIn

SixEight

Connect with the podcast:

Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter: https://rb.gy/5rqyeq  

A big thank you to our sponsor Bizimply who are helping progressive leaders and operators making every shift run like clockwork. Head to our website at www.bizimply.com or email them directly at [email protected].

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Many companies are communicating 30 - 40 years out of date. But by bringing more emotion and humanness to your language, your company’s values and ‘soul’ can be brought to the center stage. To learn more about telling stories, I am joined by Anthony Tasgal – Trainer, Author, Speaker, Strategist and Lecturer.  

In this conversation, Tas talks candidly about what drew him to the art of storytelling and what we can learn from some of the great masters of communication like Pericles and Nelson Mandela. We also explore the power of personality, the problems with business cliches and jargon, the ‘Pratfall’ Effect, and some of his practical tricks of storytelling that you can start with today.

Links:

‘The Inspiratorium’ by Anthony Tasgal

‘InCitations’ by Anthony Tasgal

‘The Storytelling Workbook’ by Anthony Tasgal

‘The War Against Cliche’ by Martin Amis

#122 Tom Barton, co-founder of Honest Burgers, on Leading by Example

Home Grown Cub

‘Into the Woods’ book by John Yorke

‘Nudge’ by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein

‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ by Daniel Kahneman

#113 Carlijn Postma, Founder of The Post, on Binge Marketing]

Connect with Tas on LinkedIn

Harness the power of storytelling to transform your communications – Guardian Masterclass

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Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter: https://rb.gy/5rqyeq  

A big thank you to our sponsor Bizimply who are helping progressive leaders and operators making every shift run like clockwork. Head to our website at www.bizimply.com or email them directly at [email protected].

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

As you know, I’m a big fan of checklists, so it was great having a like-minded guest on today’s show – Tommy Yionoulis – to explore all things Operations Management and ticking things off your list. Tommy is the founder of OpsAnalitica, a platform that helps operators manage their daily operations and identify issues in their businesses, so they can address these before they escalate elsewhere in the business. 

Join us as we discuss how to avoid “business death by a thousand mistakes”, what is a data-driven checklist, why Operations Management is (and needs to be) the next big thing – and Tommy’s stint in standup comedy.

Links:

‘The Checklist Manifesto’ by Atul Gawande

#6: 'Only the Innovative Will Survive' With Joe Cripps, Co-founder and MD at Trail

OpsAnalitica 

Connect with Tommy Yionoulis on LinkedIn

Connect with the podcast:

Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter: https://rb.gy/5rqyeq  

A big thank you to our sponsor Bizimply who is helping progressive leaders and operators make every shift run like clockwork. Head to our website at www.bizimply.com or email them directly at [email protected].

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy