Looking Backward

Ever witness a great restaurant that opens a second location then goes downhill? Harlan discusses how an early experience at a corporate restaurant taught him how to avoid this folly and to run a business instead of owning a job. Having managed half a dozen successful concepts at once, Harlan has had his own issues automating himself out of a job until he decided it was time to launch his own concept.

What business is more common than a food service business? Out of all the types of services out there, the individuals that serve our food and drink are a special set. Cody Taylor started in the food service industry as a bartender, then a server, assistant manager, general manager, and now the owner of two fledgling restaurants. But during the 2008 recession, success meant staying open when no one was eating out. Follow along as Cody learns what it takes to compete in an aggressive foodie market like Austin.

You don't always have to be doing your own thing to be an entrepreneur. Part of the journey is learning from as many sources as you can then picking and choosing the lessons that you deem most important. Current Facebook Programmer Hunter Monk is 26, but has a decade of experience running various businesses. He has hired contractors overseas, managed over $1M in yearly advertising spend, grossed over $1M in annual revenue, and earned investment from Mark Cuban.

It me! So who am I and why am I qualified to have a podcast about turning your failures into a growing skill set? Hopefully this episode will give you a solid background on my 22 years of  work experience. From my first job staring at satellite maps for 8 hours a day to my current venture BetterLegal, I go through the raw details.

Toni has spent the last 12 years taking Jacaruso Enterprises from a small Hilton contractor to a $15M a year business. Listen how she started her path towards hospitality CEO from humble beginnings as a babysitter then working the night shift at a hotel while still in high school.

Looking Backward will be about taking your life experiences into an official skillset that you can be aware of moving forward.