Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Five Pillars of Restaurant Success: Carl Bachmann's Riko's Pizza Revolution

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Five Pillars of Restaurant Success: Carl Bachmann's Riko's Pizza Revolution · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
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where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
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their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:14
adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi and
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today's guest is Carl Bachman, President and Chief Operating
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Officer of Rico's Pizza based in Stamford, CT Rico's is known for
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its thin, crisp pies, high quality ingredients, and a warm
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neighborhood dining vibe. Over the years, they have
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expanded through franchising and are now a growing presence in
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the food and beverage industry. Carl brings a wealth of
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hospitality expertise, having LED major brands like Burger Fry
0:44
and Smash Burger through significant growth.
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At Burgerfi, he served as CEO, guiding the company to new
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heights. While at Smashburger, he oversaw
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operations as president. His background in real estate
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selection, construction, and team building has helped
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transform these brands into beloved dining destinations.
1:03
Now at Rico's, Carl aims to continue that legacy, focusing
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on quality, expansion, and a remarkable guest experience.
1:11
He has a proven track record of driving sales and building
1:14
strong teams, making him a perfect fit for the brand's
1:17
future ambitions. Now, before we get into all that
1:20
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backbenefits.com. All right, back to our guest
2:03
today, President and COO of Rico's Pizza, Carl Bachman.
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Thanks for making the time to Share your story today.
2:09
Thanks. Honored to be here.
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So, Carl, you've been in the food and beverage industry for
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three decades now. What initially drew you in?
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I think, well, I kind of grew up working in restaurants and I
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think it was the adrenaline junkie that I am, played a lot
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of sports when I was a kid and when I couldn't play sports
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anymore, I kind of think someone was missing.
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And that ability to work in a restaurant on a busy Friday
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night, the clang of the plates and the crowds and the
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excitement, to me, it was like an adrenaline rush.
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And I realized that this is what I love to do, so I've been doing
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it ever since. You just like the the energy of
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all the the activity that's taking place there, yeah.
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Hustle. Yeah, there's something special
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about that energy and excitement.
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And there's something for me heartwarming about serving
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somebody. You know, I started out in a
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restaurant business washing dishes and cooking and serving.
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And there's a lot of satisfaction in seeing someone
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have a great experience and pride and in, in taking care of
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somebody and it creates joy. And it's a kind of a nice way to
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to to live your life. You know, giving a little joy to
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somebody else in a simple way is something is a good meal or or
3:20
just a, you know, random acts of kindness.
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I love that. Any random acts of kindness you
3:27
can remember from some of your earlier dining escapades?
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Something that you did maybe to kind of go above and beyond for
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the guests? Yeah, I, I at at one point we
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had a guest come in to one of the restaurants.
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This is years ago with a different business.
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A guest came in and was upset, was a regular guest because her
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daughter's wedding was that weekend and the caterer was in
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home wedding, backyard type wedding and the caterer went
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bankrupt and disappeared. And so there was no way to do
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the wedding and she was in a panic and they didn't know what
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to do and they were going to cancel the wedding.
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And this was on Friday night. The wedding was on Sunday.
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Oh my God. So I offered to do the wedding
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for them and she, she didn't really believe we could pull it
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off. She'd really believe we would.
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Is that like 36 hours notice? Yeah, yeah.
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And it was a great. It was a lot of fun.
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I got with my team and my management team.
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I was a franchise at the time of a big brand.
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And I said, listen, we got to take care of this regular guest.
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We've got to find a way. So I said, give me the menu.
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And we created the menu and we did an off premise catering
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event wedding. And we did a wedding for over
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100 people. And we did in, in less than a
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day. But, but I think you're right,
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maybe 30 hours. And it was a huge success and it
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was very rewarding for everybody.
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Even everybody on my team was rewarding because they knew what
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we were doing. That's incredible.
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I mean, the logistics of that, you know, you weren't planning
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for this. So you've got to have food on
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hand for, you know, the the raw materials for 100 people.
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You've got to have the staff to prep it and the staff to serve
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it. How did you pull all it together
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so quickly? At the time I owned 10
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restaurants, so I had I had the staff, I had the people, we
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could prep everything. The real logistic challenge was
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creating building a kitchen on site because there was, we had
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to build a commercial kitchen on site.
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So renting equipment, buying equipment last minute, that was
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the real challenge. But we figured it out.
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And actually it's funny, after we did it, my team came to me
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and said we can do this. And we started doing a lot of
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catering as a result of that. And I actually started a
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catering company years later based on that, based on that,
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that exact weekend. So that to me, maybe one of the
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most rewarding things we ever did.
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That's a really cool. Story.
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All right, So let's move forward a little bit because we want to
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spend most of our time on Rico's.
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But before we get there, I want to hear a little bit about your
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time at Smashburger and Burgerfi, because you were there
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through guiding the companies through some pretty impressive
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growth. As you think first about
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Smashburger, what was that biggest growth lever you were
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able to pull while you were there?
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I think at Smash it was really organizing the operation side of
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the business. So we had a, a founder there
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that was iconic, you know, in the industry and genius really
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that did a great job creating credible menu items.
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But what they really needed was structure and organization, team
6:30
process. So I built like a set of pillars
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or foundational pillars of how you run a business.
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That's really where I designed my strategy that I've used ever
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since is how do you, how do you design A strategy to manage a
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business multiple locations across multiple countries Even
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so to get some consistency in the brand.
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And, and to me, that was the biggest challenge.
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Of course, a couple years into it and when I took over as
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president of the company was just a few months before COVID.
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So then there was a whole bunch of whole myriad of new, new
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challenges. But really once you have
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foundational pillars that we put together, I think that was that
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was the big challenge. And that's how we were able to
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kind of structure Smashburger for growth and really structure
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it to be sold to the the new entity that that purchased it.
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Can you say more about that structure and that strategy that
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you were figuring out and putting in place that you still
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use today? Absolutely.
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It it, there's five, you know, I think when you build anything,
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build a, a, a, a, a big building or a house, the foundations like
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the most important thing, right? Everything lies on that
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foundation. So for me, these pillars are
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foundational pieces had to be in place.
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And I think there's really 5 basic foundational pillars in
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the restaurant business. And, and I guess I've learned
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this over doing this for 30 years plus.
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But number one, and, and it's always #1 and I know it's going
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to sound corny or trite, but there's a reason why it's a
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cliche is people, I call IT infrastructure, but that's just
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a fancy, you know, $64,000 word for people.
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So to me is, is, is having the right team with the right skill
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set, building a team of people that complement each other,
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creating a culture where the teams first, having a servant
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type of leadership style. So to me, number one pillar is
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definitely infrastructure. Number 2 is taste and quality.
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I think so many restaurant chains really compromise on
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those things because of cost. And I think that's the recipe
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for failure in the end. So for me taste and quality, so
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having something that's flavor forward, high quality
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ingredients, things are expensive today's world and they
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have been for many decades and they're just getting more
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expensive. So you have to deliver quality.
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So that to me that that's number two.
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Number three is defining the portfolio.
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And for me that comes down to picking the right locations,
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putting in the right platform to execute your business and really
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have the right four wall ambiance for the business.
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So it's inside and outside the four walls is step three-step 4
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is process, what I call gold standards that that fourth
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pillar, it's having great processes.
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So you can duplicate that effort over and over and over again.
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So identifying your standards, identifying your processes to
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deliver on those standards over and over again.
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And then I think Step 5 is tell the world that your marketing
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approach, you know, and if you don't have step, those first
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four pillars, you're not ready for Step 5 S.
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And I always like to say I used to run, you know, small to
9:41
medium companies that we always got a punch above our weight.
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And so utilizing the most current media, digital media,
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social media, word of mouth, guest experience, to me, those
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are the five pillars. So again, really simple, you
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know right people, right product, right the right
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location, you know the right process and then tell the world
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about it. So that first pillar, people,
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what is your approach to hiring and retention?
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I think, I think for us at Rico's but and really in my
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whole career, I've always believed in the passion of
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people. I think you have to have a
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passion in this business. You have to love what you do.
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You know, raising a bunch of kids, I've always told them that
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if they, if they are searching for the right job, you know, and
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they're searching just for the right paycheck, they're always
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going to fall short. We always want to make more
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money. But if they shoot for something
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that they love and they're passionate about, they'll be
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happy and the money will come. So I think when you're finding
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and choosing people, that's the philosophy I take as somebody's
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passionate about service, passionate about other people,
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big personality people, they're just passionate about each
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other. And I think if you hire the
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right attitude, you can train the skill.
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You know, it's not rocket science what we do.
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It's very important what we do, but it's not rocket science.
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So I think I think that's really what it comes down to.
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How do you? Determine if the attitude is a
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good connect during that hiring process.
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I'm sorry, say again. The you're talking about, you
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know, if you hire the right attitude, you can teach the
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skills. So how do you determine if the
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attitude is right during that hiring process?
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I think in the restaurant space, you know, it's service industry,
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so we're serving others, which is something that either you
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either you love or you or you or you hate, you know.
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So I think you find out right then and there if they have a
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servant, servant type attitude, even down to how they make eye
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contact, how they speak, how they talk, do they put their
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head down? Do they still looking straight
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in your eye? So I think there's a lot of
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cues, but most importantly, I'm looking for passionate people.
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You know, a lot of management. I will tell you we need to hire
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people with experience and I don't necessarily believe in
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that. I think we need to hire people
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with passion. And if they're passionate about
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anything, they're passionate about their family, or they're
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passionate about their past job, or they're passionate about
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their school, or they're passionate about their team, you
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know, or their sport. I feel like anybody who has a
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strong passion for something and you see them light up.
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So when I'm interviewing people and meeting people, that's what
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I'm looking for. What are they passionate about?
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Learning about them. And as soon as I can click on
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that and find that passion point, then I know they have
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something in them. They have that energy.
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That's the kind of people you and.
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You can figure out a way to awaken it in the work
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environment there too. 100%, as long as they're passionate about
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something, you know, and people that are excited about whatever
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it is in their lives and they want to talk about it, those are
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the people you want to you. You can train them and get them
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excited about our business. What was something you learned
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at Burgerfi that you're able to apply to Rico's today?
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At Burgerfi, I think Burgerfi was a very challenging business.
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It was a restructure, reorganization, taking it
13:08
through bankruptcy. So I learned a lot taking a
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company through bankruptcy. You know, when I got there, it
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was pretty insolvent and my job was to really kind of get us
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through a restructure and a reorganization.
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And I think I think probably I personally learned the most
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about humility is that sometimes I can't fix everything and, and
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choose what I can fix and do the best by the people and try to
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set them up for success in the next, in their next lives, in
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their next future and next careers.
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So that's probably the biggest thing I learned is it's all
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about the human element of the business, you know, so sometimes
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you have to know when to say when and, and sell the company,
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move on and restructure and other times you rebuild.
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In this case, there needed to be new ownership, there need to be
13:57
new structure. So I got, I think the biggest
14:00
learning was how do I set these people up so that they can
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successfully take the brand if they stay or whatever they do in
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the future, set them up for success.
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That's probably my biggest learning out of that.
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So what was behind the decision to join Rico's small up and
14:15
coming pizza chain? Well, I met Rico himself.
14:21
They came to me about his vision for this dream for this company.
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And I actually told him, no, you're too small.
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I don't do that. I do reorganizations and
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restructures. And that's what I've been doing
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for the last 15 years is kind of trying to turn, do turn arounds
14:38
of companies and take people through those hard times.
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And Rico was convinced that that I was the right fit for him.
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And he really showed me something special when I toured
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his restaurants. He he flew down to Florida where
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I was living and took me out to dinner.
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And we spent three hours just talking about the things I just
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mentioned. What makes you, what's makes you
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passionate about life? What it you know, why do you do
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what you do? You know, what your background
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is. And we talked with each other
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about it and I realized he had such a passion for this business
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and his people and his team and, and he's, he built something
15:14
that was really unique. And so that's really why I chose
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to take this chance and do this. And I've never seen a a family
15:24
run business where people are so excited about their brand,
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excited about their product, so involved in the community.
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So I think the moral compass was true North and that really made
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me feel good about it. And so I was excited to work
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with really good people. What is it that they're doing
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there that's so? Special, I think we, we well,
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first of all, our pizzas different.
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It's a thin crust pizza and and that maybe doesn't sound so
15:51
different, but it really is. It's very light, it's very
15:54
crisp. It's, it's different in that
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sense, you know, it's, it's been around if you've ever heard of
16:01
like a bar pie or like a Tavern style pizza, that's what it is,
16:05
like a Tavern pie. But they really perfected the
16:07
process. So Rico found a way to take the,
16:11
the pizza and be consistent about it.
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He engineered an incredible process for making our pizza
16:17
from the dough right to the cut table where he cut and sliced
16:19
the pizza. I think what's unique about it
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is kids love our pizza. It's light, families love our
16:25
pizza. We have a whole line of salad
16:28
pizzas which is unique. With salad pizza.
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What is a salad pizza? Salad pizzas are are great.
16:35
So we have all kinds of different salad pizzas.
16:39
So instead of just putting salad on a pizza, we we do what we
16:42
call an elevated crust. So we built out these elevated
16:45
crusts. So for instance, we do a chicken
16:47
Caesar salad pizza. So it's a a chicken Caesar salad
16:50
on a pizza crust and originally had tomato sauce on it was a
16:55
great product. I've since evolved it a little
16:58
bit and we've elevated it to what I call these elevated
17:01
crust. So now we take our Caesar
17:03
dressing and we infuse that in the dough and cook it into the
17:06
pizza. So it gives it so much more
17:08
flavor. So you have a Caesar salad on a
17:10
light thin crust pizza and it's it's delicious.
17:13
And we've done that with our BBQ Chicken Ranch pizza.
17:16
So we have a BBQ crust, we have a Mediterranean crust.
17:19
So we took our spinach chicken pizza and made it a
17:21
Mediterranean crust where we take olive oil and and Parmesan
17:26
and we cook it into the crust and then drizzle it on the top.
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So all kinds of different salad pizzas.
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So really it's a unique offering in the pizza world.
17:35
So this thin crust pizza can be done hot and fresh.
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And we have our, we're known for our hot oil pizza, which is
17:41
unique. You know what is a?
17:42
Hot oil pizza. So our hot oil pizza.
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We take our own Peppers in our own oil and I can't get too much
17:48
of my secrets and we soak these Peppers in these in in our oils
17:54
and make a hot oil and a week we make pizzas with that.
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We also top other pizzas with that and that's unique to us.
18:01
So really, those are the kind of things that make the brand
18:04
unique. Say more about why kids love the
18:07
pizza so much, especially little kids.
18:11
It's it's amazing. It's my favorite part of the
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story. If you walk into a Rico's, you
18:17
actually see kids holding a slice of pizza.
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And when I say kids, I'm not talking about a 10 year old, I'm
18:22
talking about a 2 year old. I'm talking about toddlers.
18:25
Kids are driving families to go to Rico's because the kids feel
18:29
comfortable and confident and they love our pizza.
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It's light, it's thin, it's super crisp, no flop.
18:34
So they can really hold that slice of pizza.
18:36
So you don't see mom and dad cutting little squares and
18:39
pieces of pizza for little babies.
18:41
You see them actually holding a slice of pizza and the joy that
18:44
that brings to mom and dad. And of course the kids as well
18:47
is really exciting. So I think that's why kids love
18:50
it. It's just a unique offering in
18:52
that sense. Super crisp.
18:54
So that's it and and kids love that.
18:58
And I mean. Yeah, you're talking.
18:59
You're talking really thin and really crisp if a 2 year old is
19:03
holding a piece of pizza up and it's not flopping.
19:05
Yeah, it's amazing. It's so fun to watch.
19:08
And then just again, I, I get so much joy out of their joy.
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So I guess because I'm a, I'm a, a relatively new grandfather,
19:15
but I get so much joy out of seeing these little kids
19:18
enjoying pizza together. And, and you see it takes so
19:22
much stress away from mom and dad too, because they can get a
19:25
nice cheese pizza for the kids. The kids can hold that pizza in
19:28
their hands and mom can have a salad pizza.
19:31
You know, we also serve wings and sliders.
19:33
And so we have all kinds of cool, cool items.
19:35
But what really drives people in as the kids, and what's unique
19:39
too, is that families watch sports.
19:41
At Rico's, we have a a lot of. Sports bars set up.
19:45
Yeah, we have big sports bars set up.
19:47
So we, it's, it's a really unique environment where you
19:50
might have 3 deep at the bar and then the first row of tables is,
19:54
is 3 deep with toddlers and kids and families.
19:57
So it's kind of a fun environment.
19:59
I just love that, you know, it's, it's all the things I love
20:01
sports, pizza and kids. So it's it's like the perfect
20:05
concept for me. You're in heaven right now.
20:07
Yeah. How many locations do we have
20:08
today? So we have, by the end of the
20:11
year, we'll be out 14 locations. We have 4 under construction
20:14
right now. And probably, probably next
20:17
year, we'll have close to 20 locations between our corporate
20:19
and franchise stores. So we're growing pretty quickly.
20:22
Right now, we're under rapid growth moment movement right
20:26
now. So you were saying earlier that,
20:29
you know, when you first met Rico and you turned him down,
20:31
you know, he didn't give up. He came after he was convinced
20:34
you were the right guy. What was it you think he saw in
20:38
you? I think, I think passion.
20:42
I think he saw my passion. I think he I think he understood
20:48
how excited I was about what I do and why I do it.
20:51
And I also, he saw how emotionally attached I was to
20:55
the teams and the people because again, I think people drive this
20:58
business more than anything. So I think those are the things
21:01
that he said. This guy has a passion for this
21:03
business. He knows this business.
21:06
And I also think that we aligned a lot.
21:09
He's a good human being and and sometimes a business that's hard
21:13
to find. So and he was determined and
21:17
driven and and I'm very determined and driven.
21:20
So we had a lot of common traits.
21:22
So I think that's why we aligned well.
21:24
Can you tell us about sort of the the, the founding of Rico's
21:29
Pizza? You know, he's a passionate guy.
21:31
He figured out some stuff with his pizza.
21:33
How did this first kind of all evolve and come about?
21:36
So there's a lot of urban legends about Rico and all the
21:39
things that he did and, you know, got the ideas from other
21:42
concepts. And oh, what really happened was
21:45
Rico owned a building where he had had another business and he
21:50
was leasing out retail space in this building And a, a young man
21:54
said he had a great idea for a pizza concept.
21:57
And so he said, great, I'll lease the, I'll lease the, I'll
21:59
lease this space to you for your pizza restaurant.
22:02
And then the guy couldn't fulfill the lease and he
22:05
couldn't work it out. So he came the next day and
22:07
said, I can't get it all together.
22:09
And Rico said, I love your idea. I love your passion for what
22:11
you're doing and let's partner. So he partnered with his tenant
22:17
and that's that's how Rico's was born.
22:19
It really started out pretty much as a take out only pizza
22:22
concept. And then he started evolved it,
22:25
you know, years ago into the first full bar, bar, restaurant
22:28
and full service concept. But that started out as a small
22:31
little take out where young guy was going to lease space and
22:35
couldn't put the money together. And Rico helped fund it.
22:37
And again, Rico just taking care of another good, you know, good
22:40
person taking her hair and another good person.
22:42
And as a result, you know, goes back to you tenfold.
22:46
Now he's got this incredible brand.
22:48
And so was the idea always from the start, this super thin,
22:52
super crisp pizza crust. It's kind of a big thing in
22:55
Connecticut. There's other brands that do it,
22:57
and Tavern Style Bar Pizza was the idea, the original pizza
23:03
restaurant idea, and that's really, really how it was born.
23:08
So you touched on this a little bit before about how you LED
23:12
successful turnarounds at other restaurant chains.
23:15
What were some of the unique challenges and opportunities
23:19
that you saw at Rico's when you first came on board?
23:23
I think that a family run business has a lot of passion,
23:29
but they they lack a lot of process.
23:32
So when you have one or two restaurants, you know, I always
23:36
call it instant gratification. You know, when you have one or
23:39
two restaurants, you can kind of cowboy up and you can run it
23:42
however you need to run it. And you know, however you do
23:46
your job, that's how well the results are.
23:49
But when you want to grow a chain, you have to rely on
23:52
process because you have to have, you know, the process of
23:55
duplication has to happen. So you have to be have the
23:58
ability to build processes and systems in place so that you can
24:02
grow. And I think where Rico was smart
24:05
enough to realize that was the gap in his business, then he
24:08
needed a restaurant experienced leader that could put process in
24:13
place. So we've done a lot of that in
24:15
the first few months. As I say, you've only been there
24:18
about 9 months so far, so you're still in the early stages of
24:22
getting some of these processes in place.
24:25
From your past experience and having done similar things
24:28
before, how long do you think before you'll and you're never,
24:33
you know, you never stop, you're never done sort of evolving the
24:36
process and improving and tweaking on it.
24:37
But how long, how much longer do you think it'll be before you
24:42
feel kind of comfortable that you've got your system in place?
24:46
Well, we're getting close. I think it'll takes about a year
24:48
for us to get the basic processes in place.
24:51
And I, and I use again my 5 pillars, you know, I started by
24:55
making sure we had this right leadership.
24:57
I brought in some experienced leaders to help me, some people
25:00
I've worked with for many years. So I think it's about a year.
25:04
And then obviously I wanted to work on some of the products I
25:07
thought could be better, improve the taste and quality of the
25:10
products, really organize our supply chain and get support
25:15
from supply chain so that we're ready to grow.
25:18
Looked at the portfolio, tried to find the exact perfect size
25:21
restaurant. So there was economically
25:23
feasible not only for us to grow, but our franchisees to
25:26
grow, making sure the platform was right.
25:29
And that's where again, some of the genius that Rico and the
25:32
team built a great platform for making pizza, but how do we
25:35
build an overall platform for operating the restaurant and
25:39
then learning management systems.
25:41
So Step 4 in my pillars is, is gold process and gold standards
25:46
and gold processes. And we didn't have a learning
25:49
management system. So a way for us to make sure
25:53
that every employee understands their role or their
25:55
responsibility and how they can be successful.
25:59
So putting in a learning management system in was a huge
26:01
part of that. And we've done that and that
26:03
evolved just like you suggested earlier, that's always evolving,
26:06
but having that the basic principles of our business in
26:09
that process and it and we've done that and then now really
26:14
starting to build our marketing and build our following.
26:17
So I think the first years is is probably the big, the big push
26:22
and then it's just tweaking each of those, each of those five
26:25
pillars. Let's talk about the franchising
26:28
opportunity. What kind of folks are you
26:31
looking for? What are their backgrounds,
26:32
their personalities? What geographies are open?
26:36
Sure. So I mean, we really try to, I
26:40
believe in kind of like grow like a Bush, not like a vine.
26:43
And what I mean by that is grow where you're strong, economies
26:48
of scale come. When you grow like a Bush, you
26:50
know you lose a lot of meaning. Like let's let's just sort of
26:53
grow from the center out rather than, OK, you guys are in the
26:57
northeast, let's go to California tomorrow.
26:59
Exactly, exactly. So we, we really determined that
27:03
we needed two bushes to grow. So we're based in Connecticut.
27:06
So we're going to grow outwardly from Connecticut.
27:08
So you, you grow outwardly and like a cluster and what I call
27:12
it is fortressing. So as you grow, you go a little
27:15
bit farther and you little bit farther, but you have brand
27:17
awareness, you have a scalability from a marketing
27:20
penetration standpoint, operational support is
27:23
financially easier to do. Supply chain, it's huge for
27:27
supply chain that you use less Opcos or operating Centers for
27:32
your supplies. So there's a lot of reasons to
27:35
grow like a Bush, not like a volume.
27:37
So that's number one. So we're growing in Connecticut
27:39
and we're going to grow in South Florida.
27:41
And there's a reason for that too.
27:43
A lot of people in the Northeast spend a lot of time in South
27:46
Florida. So we have some brand awareness
27:48
there. So that's almost like an
27:49
extended Bush, you know. And then the goal would be to
27:52
grow up and down the East, East Coast.
27:55
You know, a lot of successful, historically a lot of successful
27:58
chains in the United States grew along the East Coast.
28:01
And they used, used, really used the I-95 corridor as kind of
28:04
their, you know, as their metrics.
28:06
And if you still look at a heat map of population in the United
28:09
States, if you use the I-95 corridor, 80% of America still
28:12
lives there. So that's where you want to
28:14
build brand awareness. So really building these two
28:18
bushes, one in the South, one in the north and growing kind of to
28:20
the middle of the of the East Coast and there's a ton of
28:23
opportunities for us to franchise all along there.
28:26
So we're building some corporate restaurants in Florida now and
28:29
we have a a quite a few in Connecticut, but we're also
28:32
franchising in those markets as well.
28:34
So the closer we can keep our franchisees to our existing
28:37
markets, the higher level of success they have.
28:41
And what do you look for in a franchise?
28:43
Particular personality traits or work background.
28:48
Yeah, I think, I think there's a bunch of different types of
28:51
franchisees in our industry. I think for us, the best
28:54
potential franchise today is probably somebody who knows
28:58
their market, who's an existing restaurateur, probably already
29:02
franchised another concept and they're looking for that second
29:05
or third concept. Those people usually have their
29:07
own infrastructure, they have the background.
29:11
They also have those one of the most important piece of the
29:13
puzzles, they know the real estate.
29:15
So they've already known the success and failures of their
29:17
first or second brand. So maybe it's that guy who had a
29:20
burger concept and now wants a pizza concept or so that's
29:24
that's one group and that's a strong group and that's a group
29:27
that that I think fuels your growth fastest and safest.
29:32
But I also think there's a place for those entrepreneurial one
29:35
off individuals that are just so passionate about our business.
29:39
So we're finding a way to blend both of those those groups, if
29:43
that makes sense. How about personalities, right?
29:48
What? When you sit down with somebody
29:50
who's interested in opening up a Rico's franchise, what are you
29:55
looking for in that person? Big, big personality, big
29:59
attitudes, confidence, fun, exciting.
30:05
It's fun business. It's a fun business.
30:07
You have to be passionate about it.
30:09
So if especially for those one off individuals, they're doing
30:12
their first one, if they've built other businesses, if they
30:15
have great networking, obviously the financial requirements are
30:21
there. But but most importantly, I
30:23
think it's it's personality because it you have to drive
30:26
this business. It doesn't drive for you have to
30:28
drive it. And so those big personalities,
30:31
big fun, exciting people that have built other businesses
30:34
before those are great entrepreneurs are great.
30:37
They got to be entrepreneurial because this is not easy.
30:40
You know, it's simple. Restaurant business is simple,
30:42
but it's not easy. You know it's hard work.
30:46
And you mentioned one of the things that you like about
30:47
working with folks who have owned other restaurant concepts
30:51
is that they know the real estate, they know their area,
30:54
and you've got a a bit of background in real estate
30:58
selection and construction. Talk to me about why that's so
31:01
important in the pizza business. Well, I think in the restaurant
31:05
business, it's really comes down to location, people, product and
31:08
process, right? So locations can really cover up
31:12
a lot of those other things as you kind of fine tune your
31:14
instrument. So I think it's the most
31:17
important thing. So, and I look at when I look at
31:20
locations and I've learned this, you know, I learned a long time
31:22
ago, I built a restaurant years ago and this is a failure.
31:26
So I, I'm not, I'm proud to talk about my failures and I've had
31:30
plenty because I learned from them.
31:32
You know, if you don't learn from them, that's that's the
31:34
bigger problem. And you know, when I when I was
31:38
building restaurants on my own, I picked a location.
31:40
I said, this is a great location.
31:42
It's up on the street. It's got a lot of parking,
31:44
there's a ton of traffic. You know, all the, all the
31:47
characteristics of demographics I thought were important.
31:51
But what I didn't think about was, for lack of a better term,
31:55
a real estate term called the tweener.
31:57
It was a tweener. And what I mean by that is there
31:59
was two big communities, 1 N and One South of it.
32:02
And everybody drove between those two communities, but they
32:05
drove by my spot at 60 miles an hour.
32:07
And I learned right then and there, Don't be fooled, you
32:10
know, make sure you understand your market.
32:12
Understand that's why I think franchisees didn't already know
32:15
their market at already huge advantage because they
32:18
understand those tweeners. They, they look good on paper,
32:21
but if you realize the real traffic and, and I think that's
32:25
why you have to investigate your properties before you own them.
32:27
You know, I visit, I visit a property multiple, multiple
32:31
times, day, night, weekends, different day parts to
32:35
understand traffic, understand patterns, understand demand
32:39
generation. You know, it's visibility,
32:41
accessibility, signage, traffic demographics there.
32:44
So all that comes into picking out good real estate and I've
32:48
learned from some mistakes over the years, and that's a great
32:50
example. So to me, location is, is
32:54
premier and probably, you know, right next to people the most
32:58
important thing. And if they pick the right
33:01
location, they have time because they'll do volume to learn all
33:06
the other pieces of the puzzle. So when you're visiting the same
33:10
location multiple times, is it sort of like hanging out just
33:15
sort of getting a feel for it, or is it more structured and a
33:19
formal evaluation? You've got a spreadsheet where
33:21
you're counting the number of cars that do XY or Z.
33:25
Yeah, it's funny you mentioned counting cars.
33:26
When I when I used to look at restaurants or even my own
33:29
restaurants, if weren't doing as well as I wanted to, I literally
33:33
would get in the car on a Friday night and drive to the
33:35
competitors and count the cars in their parking lot.
33:38
And then I always deduct like 15 cars for employees.
33:40
And I had a whole, whole whole process for that.
33:44
So I think it's, it's, I think it's both.
33:45
I do have a clipboard sometimes and I have AI do have a formula
33:50
or a, a real estate program that I put together that I look for
33:54
and everything. So there's some structure to it,
33:57
but I also believe there's times where I just like to sit down
33:59
and I'll sit down on on a sidewalk cafe or outside.
34:03
Or I remember I was looking at a restaurant years ago in Boston
34:06
and I sat at a bagel shop for three days, day and night, day
34:11
and night, day and night, morning lunch, dinner, to
34:14
understand who is going where, where people are eating, what
34:17
they were, where they were dining.
34:19
So I think that's part of the process too.
34:22
I think also going to your competitors, going to existing
34:24
restaurants in the market, understanding why, why people do
34:27
what they do. And The funny thing about the
34:30
pizza business is we look for a place where a lot of pizza
34:33
places are. And you think, why would you do
34:36
that? You would look somewhere in the
34:38
Gap, right? No, because if people have yeah,
34:41
that we want to go to markets where people love pizza and
34:44
where there's a lot of people eating a lot of pizza and
34:45
there's a lot of choices. And, and if we just get into the
34:48
rotation, we're going to be successful.
34:49
So I actually look for look for markets where there's a lot of
34:53
pizza places. And I know, all right, pizza's a
34:55
big deal in this. Market.
34:56
Now that's interesting. Are there markets where people
34:58
don't like pizza? I you know, I don't know, I
35:02
think they like different styles of pizza.
35:04
You know, I think, you know, Neapolitan, New York style,
35:07
Detroit style, Chicago style, Tavern style, which is what we
35:10
do. So I think there's, there's
35:12
probably markets where those are more popular than others.
35:14
So I think that's true. I think everybody loves pizza
35:17
and I think it's an American iconic food.
35:20
But but I do think different styles matter.
35:24
But I do think that you can go also into a market where maybe
35:28
your style is not the number one choice, but this gives you an
35:31
option or a change. You know, for us, it's
35:34
definitely different. I'm a New Yorker and our pizza
35:36
is different than New York style pizza.
35:39
So it's definitely different, but it's a different occasion.
35:42
So I think there's an opportunity everywhere.
35:44
Yeah, I live in Columbus, OH and I'm not sure that I'm familiar
35:48
with Tavern style pizza. Is it a thing?
35:50
Here. I haven't seen too much in
35:53
Columbus, but I haven't been to Columbus in a while.
35:55
I need to get there because I know it's one of the fastest
35:58
growing cities in the country. There is a Tavern, what they
36:02
call Tavern style pizza in Chicago.
36:04
So there's 22 big styles of pizza in Chicago.
36:07
Obviously deep dishes is is the big thing in Chicago.
36:11
But there's also Tavern style, which is that really thin crust.
36:14
But I think Tavern style or bar pie, what we call a bar pie, is
36:18
much bigger in the Northeast than it would be in the Midwest.
36:22
Any new projects or innovations that you can talk about?
36:26
Stuff that you're excited. Well, I think the learning
36:29
management system that we just evolved and it's really cool.
36:34
I don't know if I'm supposed to plug another company, but
36:36
they're so great. It's a company called Opus that
36:38
we use. And, and I think they really
36:41
clicked on something that I think was literally genius.
36:45
And, and the founder, Rachel realized they think that about
36:49
75% of restaurant employees have an e-mail, but 99.6% of them
36:56
have a phone, you know, And so it's of an e-mail based, it's
37:01
cell phone based and it's an app based learning management
37:04
system. So to me, that's been a really
37:06
exciting part of our process. So we're, we're filming videos
37:09
where we're making courses where we're creating training
37:14
materials so that anybody can learn in any language how to,
37:18
how to execute our restaurants and how to make our food.
37:20
And to me that's that's a really unique platform and it's making
37:27
a difference and I'm just thrilled by it so.
37:29
I'd like to hear more about this.
37:31
How are you? So it's great that you guys are
37:32
able to have a platform where all this content is available.
37:37
How do you actually get employees to consume the
37:39
content? Well, Opus is cool.
37:43
So we use as a training tool and we have tablets in the
37:47
restaurants or they can go on the laptop.
37:49
But most importantly it's on their phone and it's a free app
37:53
and they get, they get raided on there.
37:54
So we actually can give them a course and they get they could
37:59
track how they do and they get scores on how they perform.
38:02
So it's like a competition and they have fun with it.
38:05
So it's a it's a fun opportunity for them to learn.
38:08
So if you make learning fun and you make it exciting for them
38:10
and you make it easy for them to access, I think that's the key
38:15
to the whole thing. OK, as a parent of a nine and 11
38:19
year old boys I have to ask is there a way I can do the same
38:22
thing for them? I want to get them excited about
38:26
learning. There you go.
38:27
That's the genius. That's what we should mention
38:28
that to Opus. Like how do you start teaching
38:30
little kids at school on on these on the phones?
38:34
So yeah, that's a great. That's funny.
38:36
I, I don't know, I don't know how that would work, but I could
38:40
tell you that it's amazing how quickly people are adapting to
38:46
learning on that cell phone, you know, their heads in there, that
38:50
space anyway. So we want to grab them where
38:52
they're already paying attention and it's really working.
38:55
That makes a lot of sense. Let's shake gears for a moment,
38:59
Carl. And I'd like to hear about a
39:00
serious challenge that you've overcome, professional or
39:03
personal. How'd you get through it?
39:05
What did you learn? I think.
39:10
I think probably the biggest personal challenge in in my
39:13
recent adult life was probably during COVID, both
39:18
professionally and personally, it was challenging.
39:21
You know, running a company during COVID and keeping
39:23
restaurants open and keep people working was challenging.
39:26
But it became really even more challenging in the beginning
39:30
because of March 12th of 2020, which was what day zero.
39:35
I think it was 2 days before the, the world shut down.
39:40
I got COVID and I remember joking with my wife because we
39:43
didn't really take it seriously. Oh, I think I have that
39:46
Ronavirus thing. And the next day I'm like, Oh
39:48
my, I, I, I, I do have that. I do, I think I have that.
39:52
And I was very ill. And I remember, if you remember
39:55
in the beginning, I said, oh, 14 days and you'll get over it.
39:58
And you know, it was 2 weeks shut down.
40:00
And I remember in day 13 I felt great and I thought, all right,
40:05
I'm over it. Day 14 I couldn't breathe.
40:09
Day 14, I was rushed to the hospital and almost died on day
40:15
14. And that was I think like March
40:18
27th or something. And I remember sitting in a
40:23
hospital, in a hospital bed, waiting for a room.
40:27
Everybody's in hazmat suits and seeing the other hospital tables
40:31
around me or hospital beds around me in the room, but the
40:34
sheets pulled over because all those people had passed away.
40:38
So that was a a very tough time to deal with.
40:45
You know, I think the whole world didn't believe COVID was
40:47
real at the time. And you know, it was a hoax and,
40:51
and I was living proof. It's probably the best thing to
40:53
happen at Smashburger because it happened to me, the leader of
40:56
the company. So I was able to get PPE stuff
41:00
to all my staff and employees and no one died that worked at
41:03
Smashburger during that time. So I felt like that was our
41:06
goal, keep our restaurants open, keep, you know, money in
41:09
people's pockets and keep a roof over their heads and not lose
41:13
anybody. And we're able to do that.
41:15
So I took that very seriously. But it was a really rough, rough
41:20
couple days. And, you know, saying goodbye to
41:25
your children. What do you mean texting?
41:29
My, as a matter of fact, I started texting, but my, I
41:32
didn't have a phone charger and my phone died.
41:34
But the only one I was a really able text with my oldest
41:38
daughter and just texted her and said that, you know, have a good
41:40
life and that I love her and, and I was proud of her.
41:44
Being able to have to go through that was probably one of the
41:48
toughest challenges to really say goodbye, you know, and there
41:51
was not a lot of communication, you know, back then because of
41:54
the, of the situation. So I think that was probably the
41:57
biggest challenge. And you know, making the
42:00
decision not to go on a ventilator was a big decision.
42:05
They, the doctor told me three times that day that I was in the
42:09
hospital, I was going to die that day if I didn't go on a
42:11
ventilator. But again, this was 2-3 weeks in
42:13
and everybody was dying on the ventilators.
42:16
So I refused. And I said, you know, I want to
42:19
be, I want to be cognizant of what treatment is going to be
42:24
given to me to try to survive. So eventually luckily luckily
42:29
shift change happened and the new Doctor came in that night
42:32
and said hey we have other options and I took another
42:36
option and I got through it so. OK, I want to walk through a
42:40
little bit of this. Day 13, you felt great.
42:44
Tells me that you're coming through the other side of the
42:47
virus. What happened Day 14?
42:49
Any idea? Yeah, I, I think I do now.
42:52
I don't think I did then. But what happened when the first
42:56
strain of COVID is and you probably heard about this, but
43:00
and towards the end of the two weeks or three weeks or
43:03
whatever, you're sick. And for me, it was a lot, you
43:05
know, longer it's settled in your lungs and your end up end
43:09
up getting like double pneumonia.
43:11
So once it's settled in your lungs, that's why a lot of
43:14
people died, at least in New York.
43:17
Is it it's settled in, in your lungs.
43:19
Now, later strains of it didn't settle instead of more in your
43:21
head than in your lungs. But in the beginning, COVID was
43:24
more of like a head cold, but then it moved to your lungs.
43:27
And that's was the difference for me.
43:28
So that's why day 14, I was really sick and I remember my
43:33
wife looking at me and saying, I remember telling my wife, I said
43:37
I I'm not going to make it. I can't.
43:38
I remember it was like 2O clock in the afternoon and I had, I've
43:41
been struggling to breathe for hours and I just thought I, I
43:45
don't know what to do. I'm not going to make it.
43:46
And that's when she called 911, got an ambulance here and they
43:50
put me on full oxygen for a couple days.
43:52
But yeah, that was the difference.
43:56
And then how is it that you were?
44:00
I don't know if aware enough is the right word to refuse the
44:04
ventilator. I think I was just watching like
44:08
everybody else, all the death around us here in New York and.
44:13
Did you have access to news while you were in there or, or
44:16
was it just kind of what you knew leading up to it?
44:19
I knew, I knew going in, like if you remember, every day, I don't
44:23
know how it was across the country, but in New York every
44:25
day we watch the news in the morning and they give the COVID
44:28
updates nationally and locally. And New York obviously was the
44:32
one of the epicenters in the beginning and the amount of
44:36
death toll was just rising and to the point where, you know,
44:39
they had tractor trailers of bodies and so and they kept
44:45
saying the ventilators weren't working.
44:46
The ventilators weren't working. And they're, they're saying
44:48
there's a shortage of ventilators.
44:50
And so I just knew going in if that was the option, that wasn't
44:53
the option for me. So I was going to try something
44:55
different. So and I did.
44:58
What was the different thing that you tried?
45:00
So the, they gave me a cocktail, which I think was controversial
45:06
at the time was like hydroxychloroquine, I believe is
45:09
called, which is like a malaria medicine, a steroid and an
45:13
antibiotic, kind of a cocktail of all three.
45:16
And I had to sign waivers and all that.
45:17
And I said, you can try anything you want to do to try to save my
45:20
life, but I'm not going to be on a ventilator because I want to
45:23
be coherent and know what's going on.
45:26
And they gave me, they gave me the dose around 8:00 at night,
45:31
around midnight. I was to the point where I could
45:35
breathe and I, I really was tired.
45:38
And I remember telling the nurse who was a St. telling him I, I'm
45:43
not going to make it. And I had a full vent mask on,
45:47
but so it's hard to talk. And I just remember saying I got
45:50
10 breaths left. I got 10 breaths left.
45:53
And I guess around maybe 5 breaths into those 10, I started
45:57
hyperventilating and my heart rate started racing.
45:59
And they said you're going to have a heart attack, you know,
46:01
calm down. And then they gave me, I think
46:04
it was Ativan that they gave me to calm me down.
46:08
Ironically, I felt my eyes closed.
46:10
And I always make this joke to try to make light of a tough
46:13
situation that when my eyes were closing, I didn't see the pearly
46:18
gates, but I didn't see like, brim and, you know, fire and
46:22
brimstone either. So I said, all right, I got some
46:24
work to do still, you know, if I want to make it up there.
46:27
So. But at the time, I was at peace
46:31
at those last couple seconds. And as my eyes were closing and
46:34
I thought I was dying, ironically, I was falling asleep
46:37
because I hadn't slept in weeks, the stress of it and I just, I
46:41
fell asleep. So they Ativan or whatever it
46:43
was they gave me kind of calmed me down enough to sleep.
46:46
And I remember waking up at like 2:18 in the morning after taking
46:51
it at 8 sleep, falling asleep around midnight.
46:53
At 2:18 in the morning, I woke up and I could breathe.
46:56
Now I couldn't breathe great. And I figured I'd be on oxygen
47:00
for the rest of my life, but I could breathe.
47:01
And I remember sitting there for like 4 hours just like like
47:05
crying like a baby, but just like I'm going to live, you
47:09
know, and I'm going to get through this by by the next
47:13
morning at 10:00 in the morning, the nurse came in and said we're
47:18
going to get you off the vent vent mask and put this nose
47:21
candle in because you're doing so well.
47:24
And of course I didn't want to do that.
47:26
I was, I wanted the vent mask. I was so scared and they so so I
47:33
was watching what she was doing and then there said, I know what
47:35
you're doing. You're watching because you're
47:36
going to try to turn the oxygen back up when you leave.
47:39
But apparently if you put the nose candle in, you can only the
47:41
oxygen only goes so high. And then by I think two or three
47:46
in the afternoon, I was off oxygen all together.
47:50
And then by Sunday morning, so it was Friday night to Saturday,
47:53
Sunday morning, I was ready to go.
47:55
I was, I've, I felt the best I've felt in years.
47:58
And I was so excited, you know, to see my family and, you know,
48:04
and then ironically, I went to work on Monday, so.
48:07
Wow, how does an experience like that change you and your
48:13
approach to everything? I think it it made me really
48:18
appreciate, appreciate my family, appreciate true family
48:26
values and what's really important in life.
48:28
Appreciate man, do I appreciate servant leaders and and servant
48:34
people who serve others. You know, the first first
48:37
responders and what they do, how much respect I have for them.
48:42
So I, I, I, I, I don't know. I don't know if it changed me as
48:47
much as it just they woke me up to and reinforced how much I
48:51
believe in people and how important treating people the
48:53
way and be treated and being a servant style leaders is, is to
48:57
me is the most important thing I do and really work for the
49:02
people. They don't work for me.
49:03
I work for them. And you know, you a lot of times
49:05
you see executives or or mid level management say they work
49:09
at the pleasure of the president or CEO and I work at the
49:13
pleasure of the people that serve, serve our guests.
49:15
And I think that, you know, to bring it back to my work, I
49:19
think that reinforced exactly how I lead.
49:24
And I probably leaned into that more so than ever because of
49:26
that. So that's probably how it
49:28
changed me. I want to go back to the text
49:31
messages that you were sending or trying to send to your family
49:34
saying goodbye. You actually were able to send
49:36
one to your daughter? Yeah.
49:39
And how old was she at the time? She was what's so five year
49:45
about 30. She hadn't had her first child
49:48
yet and she's got 2 now. No, I just remember saying
49:53
something to her. I don't think she understood.
49:56
Just remember saying something about have a good life and I'm
49:58
proud of you and stuff like that.
50:00
And she, I don't think she understood I was saying goodbye.
50:02
OK. And I, and I think she called my
50:05
wife and said, what what's going on?
50:07
Because remember, she was, she's married and living away.
50:10
So she was here in New York as well.
50:13
But we were all segregated from each other, so we didn't see
50:16
each other. So I think it was a confusing
50:19
message probably for her. OK, she I have two boys that I
50:23
tried. What's that?
50:24
She didn't understand the gravity of the message.
50:26
I don't think so. And and I have two, two boys
50:29
that I went to text them and my phone died and luckily my wife
50:34
was able to get a charger into me the next day.
50:36
But so it's really hard, you know, access anything in and out
50:39
of the hospital in those early days of COVID.
50:42
So we didn't have a charger. So it was, it was amazing to see
50:47
the nurses take tablets and like do Zoom calls and show families
50:52
so people could say goodbye and those I thought I was going to
50:55
be on that list. So I'm very blessed that I got
50:57
through that and thankful. That's probably the biggest
51:01
challenge I would think maybe of my adult life.
51:05
Carl, what's your superpower? I I think it, I think it
51:13
revolves around the same thing, kind of the tone of the soul
51:15
call is it's about, you know, treat people the way you want to
51:20
be treated. Loving people.
51:23
I have so much respect for people that are kind and
51:26
considerate. And it doesn't mean you're not
51:30
accountable or you don't. Yeah, hold people accountable.
51:33
It's the exact opposite. It means that you, you, you, you
51:37
hold people up so they can succeed.
51:39
And to me, to me, that's probably, I don't know if it's a
51:44
superpower, but if it's a superpower, that's it.
51:47
And it's just generally really caring about the lives of the
51:52
people around you. What's powerful stuff?
51:58
Do you have any recommendations for our listeners in terms of
52:02
resources, A podcast or a book? Something that's been helpful to
52:06
you along the way. I read a lot of management
52:11
books, you know, restaurant people, you know, I always tell
52:15
them read the One minute manager and raving fans and, and those
52:18
books, they're just, they talk about passion for service.
52:22
I think those are good books. And these are Ken Blanchard
52:24
books. They're very old school, but
52:29
those are good as far as I don't listen to a lot of podcasts, but
52:35
I'm learning to. I've been really enjoying them
52:37
lately. But I I think opening your eyes
52:41
to other opinions to me is a great, great piece of advice.
52:46
Always learning, you know, I'm 58 and I'm learning more today
52:51
than I did when I was 57. And I hope I learned more at 59,
52:54
you know, so I know those those are things that I think are
52:57
important. I'm always learning new things.
52:59
And, and I mean, I can learn, you can learn from everybody in
53:02
your organization and in your family.
53:04
But I learned from my team, you know, all day long.
53:08
And I take the things I learned from them and I kind of
53:11
repackage them into our direction as a company.
53:14
So I think that maybe the best advice I could give.
53:19
Do you have any suggestions on how to teach that same, I'll
53:24
call it curiosity that you have to your team members to put them
53:29
in a state where they're always wanting to learn rather than
53:33
thinking they've got it figured out.
53:35
I think, I think it's how you lead, how you lead by example.
53:40
And I think the best thing you can do is be excited about
53:43
something. You know, excitement's
53:44
contagious. So if I'm really passionate
53:47
about like I get excited about a new pizza or a new recipe or our
53:52
new process or I talked about Opus earlier, how excited I am
53:55
about this process. Or you know, I think, I think
54:00
that being genuinely excited and, and open, you know, a lot
54:05
of people are closed off or very buttoned up or you know, I
54:09
purposely dress casually every day because I want to be
54:12
approachable. So I think being open minded and
54:15
excited about things and if you're going to lead people,
54:19
show your excitement, show your vulnerability, show your
54:22
passion, you know, and they'll take you where they'll take you
54:26
places you had no idea you could go.
54:28
You know, I really believe that's that's key, you know,
54:31
that's why again, the pillars, it's always people first.
54:35
You know, the reason why my career has been successful and
54:39
I've had some ups and downs, but overall very successful.
54:42
And I have the beautiful life that I have for me and my family
54:45
is the people that have worked with me.
54:48
They've, they've, they've lifted me up, you know, And so if
54:53
you're excited about stuff, if you're passionate about
54:56
something, share it. And I said excitement and
55:00
passion to me is contagious. I love that.
55:03
I love that a lot. How about any daily practices,
55:07
habits that help you get your day started or keep you going?
55:11
Well, there's a as a, as a culinary person or a restaurant
55:17
person, you always talk about chefs have his phrase and I'll
55:19
probably butcher it, but it's called Miesenplass or what?
55:22
I think that's how you say it. And it means everything has its
55:25
place. It's like an organized kitchen.
55:27
Everything has its place. And when you're multitasking, to
55:31
me, organization, which has always been a challenge for me,
55:34
like if you people who know me are going to say I'm the most
55:37
organized, but my wife will say I have like certain things I
55:41
have to have a certain way and my keys are in a certain place,
55:43
my wallet's in a certain place and you know, everything I so I,
55:48
I believe that everything has its place.
55:50
And I think that's probably, probably it.
55:55
But yeah, does that, does that make sense?
55:58
It does, sure. Yeah.
56:00
I, you know, I don't know if you're the same way, but I get a
56:02
little scatterbrained sometimes. And so knowing that that happens
56:07
to me, I've got to write everything down.
56:09
I've got to put it in the calendar, right?
56:11
My keys have to go and that special place, my shoes have to
56:15
go in the closet or I'm going to be looking for them.
56:17
My wallet has to go right on the night stand.
56:20
Like I, I know that. And I think, you know, I see
56:22
this a lot with entrepreneurs or, you know, other successful
56:26
executives. Is that one of the, it's, it's
56:28
sort of like two sides of the same coin.
56:30
One of the things that makes are so great at what we do and sort
56:34
of, you know, being able to connect the dots and lead people
56:36
and, and figure out new ideas and, and sort of, you know,
56:39
carve the, the path forward are also some of the things that
56:42
like, you know, we can be a little bit all over the place.
56:45
And so recognizing that and then sort of putting, you know,
56:48
systems and structure around our personality traits.
56:52
I I think is, is, you know, they're really helpful kind of
56:57
guardrails. Yeah, and and that's exactly, I
57:00
feel like I'm multitasking all the time.
57:04
So these basic things, if you don't have those things knocked
57:07
out, I can't multitask. So at least that's that's that's
57:11
how I feel. So you articulated better than I
57:13
did. But yes, I believe that those
57:15
little those little details give me the ability to be
57:18
scatterbrained, to do a million different things in a million
57:21
different ways, running in every different direction.
57:23
And, you know, good leaders do that, you know?
57:27
And, and good leaders hire well around them too, right?
57:30
So you've got folks around you that can kind of help to fill in
57:35
some of your gaps. You know, they complement your
57:39
strengths and you know, maybe some things that you're not so
57:41
great at. Absolutely, Absolutely.
57:45
Yeah. I always I try to hire people
57:47
have the same kind of drive, but always, always a different skill
57:50
set. Just one more question for you,
57:53
Carl, but before I ask it, I want to do 2 things.
57:56
First of all, everyone listening, pause for just a
57:58
second. Go to your podcast app, go ahead
58:00
and hit the follow or subscribe button.
58:02
That way you continue to get more great interviews like we've
58:04
had today with Carl. I'm also going to let people
58:07
know the best way to get in touch with you, Carl, which is
58:10
your e-mail address, carlcarl@ricospizza.com.
58:16
And Rico is spelled with AK, so it's RIKOS pizza.com, so
58:21
carl@ricosricospizza.com. And we'll have that in the show
58:26
notes for folks. And then the last question I
58:29
want to ask you, Carl, is you know, we've had a great
58:32
conversation here today. I hope we stay in touch.
58:34
A year from now, we reconnect and you're celebrating, you're
58:37
celebrating something big. What's that big thing that you
58:40
hope to be celebrating one year from today?
58:43
Work or life? Both give me both.
58:49
I think I would celebrate some more grandchildren.
58:52
That was from a personal standpoint, no pressure on my
58:55
daughter, but I got two boys. So eventually, hopefully a year
58:59
from now or two years from now, we we got some more
59:01
grandchildren to talk about. From a work perspective is is
59:08
kind of realizing Rico's dream for his brand and building this
59:14
national chain. You know, a lot of a lot of a
59:19
lot of guys build a chain to sell it, or they build a chain
59:22
and they flip it to private equity.
59:24
That's not Rico's goal. Rico wants to put a stamp on his
59:27
career, on his life. And he's so excited and proud of
59:30
what he's built here and what he wants to build.
59:32
So I want to be part of that and deliver, help deliver that for
59:34
him. He really pulled in my
59:37
heartstrings, like what he wants to do.
59:39
And he's like, do I have to sell it?
59:41
I said, no, you don't have to sell it.
59:42
And he's like, maybe I never want to sell it.
59:44
I said, maybe you should never sell it.
59:46
I want to grow it, you know, and, and I want to build this
59:48
something. So he wants to kind of put that
59:51
stamp on his career. And I think a year from now
59:53
we're going to be well on our way to doing that.
59:55
And that's fun. That's exciting for me, so.
59:59
I can pick up on that passion, Carl Bachman from Rico's Pizza.
1:00:03
I want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time
1:00:05
and your story with us today. I really appreciate it.
1:00:08
Oh thanks, it was great. Enjoy talking with you.
1:00:10
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
1:00:13
podcast. Thanks for learning with us
1:00:14
today.