Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / From Dishwasher to Franchisor CEO: The 48-Year American Dream of John Gelastopoulos

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From Dishwasher to Franchisor CEO: The 48-Year American Dream of John Gelastopoulos · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:11
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:14
adversity. As you listen today, let one
0:17
idea shape what you do next. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi,
0:21
and today's guest is John. And I'm going to do my best job
0:24
here on the last name. It's a beautiful Greek name,
0:27
Yellowstopolis. How did I do?
0:29
Very good. Thank you.
0:31
So John is the owner, president and CEO of Broken Yolk Cafe, a
0:36
family owned restaurant chain serving breakfast, brunch and
0:39
lunch. It started out as a single
0:42
beachside spot in San Diego in 1979.
0:46
The brand is now a multi state franchise with more than 35
0:50
locations across California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and
0:55
Texas. Guests love its scratch made
0:58
dishes, large portions and the upbeat brunch on the Sunnyside
1:02
vibe. Under John's guidance, Broken
1:05
Yolk posts an average unit volume of about $2.7 million,
1:11
one of the best numbers in its category.
1:13
The cafe drew national attention on the Travel Channel show Man
1:17
Versus Food, and it continues to sign new franchise deals,
1:21
including a recent four store agreement for North Dallas.
1:25
John's personal story is just as inspiring.
1:28
He left Greece at 17, worked his way up as a restaurant broker,
1:33
then bought the original Broken Yolk in 1993.
1:37
Today, he runs the company with his wife Chris and their two
1:39
daughters. But before we get into all that
1:42
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2:37
All right, back to our guest today, the CEO of Broken Yolk
2:40
Cafe. John, thanks for making the time
2:42
to Share your story today. Thank you for inviting me.
2:45
Thank you. Good to be here so.
2:48
John, you arrived in the US from Greece at the tender age of 17.
2:54
What were the circumstances that brought you here?
2:57
Well, I was 17 in Greece and just finished high school.
3:02
I had a relative in San Diego and I had a long time relative
3:07
that came here in 1946 and he became a pilot, an Air Force
3:13
pilot and he brought some relatives and one relative
3:18
brought the other and that's how I came here in 1977.
3:23
Was there a big Greek community in the area at the time?
3:28
No, it was a smaller Greek community.
3:30
I would say in San Diego it was about maybe 10,000 people.
3:35
You know, Greek studies. We had one Greek church back
3:39
then. Now we have 3 Greek churches.
3:41
So it's a, it's a increasing the population, the Greek
3:46
population. And So what was your first
3:49
restaurant experience? Well, I came here, I started
3:53
going to school and I had to get a job, and I started working the
3:58
graveyard shift from 8:00 PM to 4:00 AM, being in the back of
4:05
the house, washing dishes, and there was no experience.
4:09
So that's how I started. And then I moved on, you know,
4:12
to the hotline upfront. OK.
4:16
And in the intro, did we get it correct that you worked your way
4:20
up as a restaurant broker? Yes.
4:24
Meantime, I got married and then I, I became a restaurant broker
4:29
and I started selling businesses and commercial properties.
4:34
I, I, I was in the residential side for maybe about six months.
4:39
I didn't like that side. I am a kind of numbers kind of
4:42
guy and that's why I moved over to that side.
4:46
And I've done that for about 9 years.
4:50
And he it was, it was tough. But for me, even though I didn't
4:59
make much, it was a very good school.
5:04
I learned a lot about real estate, a lot about business.
5:09
And obviously a lot about how to value restaurants and what goes
5:13
into making them profitable, you know, as you're looking at the
5:15
books and kind of helping these deals close.
5:18
I was looking at B and LS all the time.
5:21
I was given evaluations and learn how to evaluate a
5:24
restaurant and you know, helping people in that kind of aspect.
5:30
So how did you go from back of house and restaurants to front
5:34
of house to then selling businesses?
5:36
What sort of the the jump between working in the
5:39
restaurants to selling them? I was, I was working on those
5:43
two jobs and day and night and I started family very early on.
5:50
I had my first child at 20 years old and I was working in the
5:55
morning and then in the afternoon and I would work until
5:58
11:12 PMI would never see the sun go down.
6:02
And, and that's why I thought maybe if I can get a normal job,
6:06
you know. So I, I met the gentleman that
6:09
was in real estate and I, I like that and I like the real estate
6:15
and I went in for that and that's how.
6:18
But in real estate, as you know, it's Commission only.
6:23
So I had to keep a night job, you know, so office in the
6:28
morning, restaurant at night. And he was go, go, go non-stop.
6:34
But meantime, I always said that thirst for learning.
6:39
So every time you remember, I don't know if you're old enough,
6:43
but in the early 80's, the seminars have to make money in
6:46
real estate, zero money down, etcetera.
6:49
You're laughing because you know what I'm talking about.
6:51
So I would go to those, you know, to learn, you know, and
6:59
what I've done there is those seminars, they changed my
7:06
mentality as that, you know, because they are so positive.
7:12
They come with so much energy when with so much positive
7:15
energy. And, and after a while, when you
7:18
hear the same stuff over and over, it gets instilled in your,
7:23
in your head, you know, and, and that I am, I'm glad that I went
7:28
to those seminars and, and I'm going to tell you back then I
7:35
bought some of those books and cassettes, cassette tapes, and I
7:40
would go home with, you know, some books and stuff.
7:44
And my wife says, what is that? Well, I go, honey, we're going
7:47
to become a millionaires. She says, how much did you spend
7:54
$800? Just how did you pay?
7:57
I go, I put on a credit card. She says we don't even have
8:03
enough money to pay the rent. And you buy books and cassette
8:06
tapes and credit cards. You know, Anthony, I'm going to
8:10
tell you something. I've done it a couple of times.
8:13
Of course, she argued with me back then.
8:15
She still argues today, but in a different way.
8:20
I'm glad I did it. I still have those books.
8:25
I never opened them. Never leave.
8:29
I still have them in a box in the garage somewhere up there
8:32
collecting dust. And every time we organize,
8:36
organize a garage, she wants to throw them away.
8:37
I go, don't you dare, but says you never open them.
8:42
You know what? The fact that they are there,
8:46
the fact that I went to those seminars, it's a reminder of who
8:51
that mentality, they need to be you.
8:56
Like that, you know, and part of the reasons I'm smiling and
8:59
laughing is because I remember seeing TV commercials as I was a
9:02
kid. I was still young at that point.
9:04
And my father went to some of these seminars and came back
9:09
with those books of the cassette tapes.
9:12
And so I've. I've got a visual in my head.
9:14
Yeah. Yeah.
9:16
And so what's one thing that you remember?
9:20
Hey this was my mindset before the seminars and this was the
9:25
change I saw after. Well, when I was a kid, I always
9:30
wanted to do things. You're Italian.
9:34
I'm Greek. And now, I don't know if if you
9:37
know this, but in the 60s a lot of Greeks left Greece.
9:43
A lot of Italians, Turks, Spaniards, they would all go to
9:47
Germany. Why?
9:48
Because Germany's economy was booming.
9:51
So I was left with grandma at the village and I was going to
9:56
high school and one day I saw this magazine with a, with
10:03
Rolling Stones and, you know, the hippies and stuff.
10:06
And I go, wow, you know, I was amazed that I want to be a
10:10
rock'n'roll star. So I, I wrote a letter to my
10:12
father. I go, can you send me some money
10:15
so I can buy a guitar? He says never mind the guitar,
10:19
you focus on your studies. I of course I was disappointed.
10:23
To make a Long story short, I I found some wood and I managed to
10:32
build the guitar. Of course the first guitar
10:35
didn't work out well the second thing, but the third one did and
10:40
I built my own guitar at 14. So why I said that?
10:45
Because I had that determination, you know, when I
10:50
put something in my mind, I get it done.
10:54
So, and when I came here and I went to those seminars, the
11:01
combination of the determination and the combination of the
11:05
positive attitude, what, what, what a beautiful, you know,
11:10
whatever you want to call it, to me, this is what talk.
11:14
About you blossomed there. Yeah.
11:16
And so that work ethic, that determination is is you
11:20
described it. Do you think that's something
11:22
that you were just born with? Is this something that like was
11:26
instilled in you by your parents?
11:28
Do you have siblings? Are they the same way?
11:31
Well, you know, my grandmother is the one who raised me and
11:38
back then it was survival mode. We had no electricity and no
11:44
indoor plumbing. The house, six months out of the
11:48
year, she was tending the garden and we had a couple of goats and
11:54
she came and, and she would just tent the garden and grow
12:01
potatoes and tomatoes. And I remember she would take
12:05
the tomatoes, wash them, slice them, and she would tell me get
12:08
up on top of the roof of the oven and sweep and lay the
12:15
tomato slices for Sun tried tomatoes.
12:19
I'm talking about 60 years ago. I was five and six years old and
12:23
now you go to a restaurant and says Sun tried tomatoes,
12:27
etcetera, etcetera. We were doing it 60 years ago.
12:32
You know you're the. Trend setter.
12:35
So what I learned from grandma, it's she was always proactive.
12:43
She was thinking for tomorrow. So we had a bodega or, or a, you
12:50
know, a storage area and it had to be full with food because
12:55
when the cold and the snow and the rain would come, it was it
12:59
was something different. Nobody would call the house.
13:02
The snow was 1m, which is 3 feet high, maybe even higher.
13:07
So it was a survival mode. So I learned that from grandma.
13:12
What part of Greece are you from?
13:15
I'm from northern Greece, not far from Mount Olympus.
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OK as marathon right in front of our house we can see.
13:25
We can see right across it's Mount Olympus which is 10,000,
13:30
almost 10,000 feet. Must have been a beautiful view.
13:33
And that explains the snow. I think when people think of
13:36
Greece, they think of the islands in the South.
13:38
But. I'm not from an island.
13:40
Diverse geography there, right? Yeah.
13:43
So how did the opportunity to purchase the original Broken
13:48
Yolk come about? So what happened is I was in
13:51
real estate and I was working at night at the restaurant.
13:55
I was tired of that life. Things were not were not going
14:01
well and I was very active in working long hours, weekends in
14:10
real estate because, you know, it only takes one lead to make
14:14
one Commission. And I came across Broken York.
14:19
I was soliciting to get a listing to sell it.
14:23
And I sat down and I talked to the owner.
14:25
She wasn't looking to sell, but you know, she invited me over so
14:28
I can talk to him and and and I saw the hours and I go, wow.
14:36
I mean, I'm working till midnight.
14:38
I never see the sun go down. I never see, you know, the the
14:41
kids. I never enjoy the the family.
14:44
I go. That would be a great business
14:46
for me. So instead of trying to list the
14:49
place, the place, I made him an Oscar to pie and he says maybe.
14:57
So basically I was going back and forth for a year and a half
15:04
and finally he got in trouble. There was some personal problems
15:09
and I got the phone call and when I got the phone call I had
15:16
no money. So the person that was in charge
15:21
of the sale of the place, she says to me you need to come up
15:25
with $45,000. That was in 93 plus.
15:30
There's a loan of 180,000 you need to take over.
15:35
So I go, OK, when he says by tomorrow morning I need a
15:38
cashier's check, I go, OK, I went home.
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My wife says, well, what happened?
15:45
You went to that building? I go, yes, we're buying the
15:47
restaurants. She says, OK, what's the terms?
15:50
I go 45,000 cash. She says, what are you going to
15:54
find the money? I go how many credit cards we
15:57
have going back to the seminars, one of the seminars I attended,
16:04
the guy that was given the seminar, he's mentioned
16:07
something about credit and credit cards.
16:09
And since then I was accumulating credit cards just,
16:13
you know, and increasing the, the limit.
16:16
So, and here we are now I have like maybe 8 or 10 credit cards.
16:22
And I tell the wife, cash them all in.
16:28
She says, are you crazy? I go, we need to do that deal.
16:32
To make a Long story short, of course, after an argument with a
16:35
wife, you know, usually I win. I hope she's not losing.
16:39
Yeah, well. We'll cut this part out so she
16:43
doesn't. Hear it, I take the money and I
16:47
go the next day to the office. I put it down you know and the
16:51
guy gives me the keys. She give me all the contact
16:54
info, you know, and everything and here I am, I'm in business
16:58
and I, I called the place was closed for three weeks.
17:02
I called all the employees back, you know, they were glad to come
17:05
back and clean the place. I ordered the food and we're in
17:09
business. Business was scarce.
17:14
There was not much happening. Now all of a sudden I'm sitting
17:17
there thinking what did I do? And right in front of me, on the
17:25
little corner office by the store I had, I had a Rolodex.
17:35
You know what that is, right? Yeah, old style for people who
17:38
are just listening. He held up an old style Rolodex
17:41
physical one. And it's right in front of me.
17:47
And I open it up in a road This time, Dave, you know, you had a
17:50
wife and a couple of kids. Why don't I invite him to come
17:53
over? And I tell him, yeah, he's like,
17:56
no, the broken yoke. He was here already for 14
18:00
years. And I invite him over.
18:02
And then thinking I can just, I call a bunch of other people.
18:08
So I call theory or 40 people. So Anthony, the weekend comes
18:13
and the place is full. I had three servers, they
18:17
looking at me. Where do all these people come
18:19
from? They do not know that this is
18:22
all camp, you know. So I go from table to table
18:25
other day, we thank you for coming.
18:26
I take the ticket, put in my pack pocket.
18:29
To make a Long story short, I've done it for a month and a half,
18:34
two months, same thing. And we created the momentum and
18:41
the momentum ever started. There was no plan.
18:45
This came out of desperation and and it worked.
18:50
It worked. She was telling story in a, in
18:54
a, in Las Vegas at a conference, you know, and I was one of the
18:59
speakers and, and people are with a couple of 100 people,
19:01
they're looking like, you know, so there you go.
19:05
People attract people. I I love this story on so many
19:08
levels, but I want to go back and sort of recap parts of it.
19:11
So what was it about this business that you loved so much
19:16
that you stayed in touch for a year and a half?
19:18
Was it those hours? It was the hours, the hours, the
19:22
hours, yes, you know, I mean, I could have it more of my life.
19:26
No more work until midnight. So you're so convinced that this
19:31
is the right business for you, in part because of the hours.
19:34
Did you see the financials? Were you aware of what their
19:37
sales were like? I yes, I did.
19:40
But I always look at tomorrow, I look at the potential, what I
19:45
can do. So when you agreed to the
19:50
purchase terms, this was based more on what you thought you
19:53
could do with it than what the business may have technically
19:57
been worth. I thought that, you know, if I
20:00
if I can, based on the numbers that I've seen, I could break it
20:03
even. And then of course I was looking
20:07
what I could do. And remind us back then, what
20:11
were interest rates like on the credit cards that you maxed out?
20:15
Oh, back then in the 810%. OK.
20:21
I mean, that's a lot more reasonable than what it is
20:23
today. So, OK, so you Max out these
20:27
credit cards, you get cash advances on all of them.
20:29
So go ahead. Yeah, yeah.
20:31
OK. And, and, and so now you're in
20:34
business. The, the business had been
20:36
closed for a few weeks because of the prior owner's personal
20:40
issues. So you call the employees back,
20:43
but there's no customers. It's just, you know, it's
20:45
crickets in there. And so this is before the days
20:49
of social media. You're like, what can I do?
20:52
You just picked up the phone and started dialing.
20:54
You brought your friends, your colleagues, your contacts in and
20:58
when they would come in the first time you picked up the
21:00
check you paid for. Correct.
21:03
And so that left this feeling of goodwill.
21:06
You know, there's feeling of reciprocity now they want to
21:09
come back. They want to tell their friends
21:11
about it. And so after doing this for
21:13
several weeks, like now, you've just got this forward momentum
21:16
that never. Stopped.
21:18
That's correct. Exactly right.
21:21
And so how long did you have that first location before you
21:26
had the idea to open the second one?
21:27
Not the idea, but felt like you were in a position to do it.
21:31
Well, in two years I opened my own, my second one, and in three
21:37
years I was opening another one by myself in escrow again.
21:42
At the same time, the original corporate store where I am right
21:46
now, I'm buying the property next door to do an expansion
21:52
from 300 square feet. Oh I'm sorry, from 3000 square
21:55
feet to 7000 square feet. So things are happening.
22:00
Go go go. My daughter is like almost 16
22:04
1/2 years old. I just bought her a used car, A4
22:07
door used car. You know why?
22:09
Because the 2 door is considered sports car for a teenager and
22:14
the insurance is higher. But anyway, so I would call her
22:19
and tell her and, and back then we had the Nextel telephones,
22:22
you know the ones that you know, the Motorola, the big ones, the
22:25
fat ones. So I'll tell her, go to that
22:28
other store and go ahead and count the money right after
22:31
getting out of out of school at 2:30, go at 3:00, we close at
22:34
3:00 and, and count the money. Drop the money on the safe, do
22:39
the credit cards, lock the door, put the alarm and come home.
22:42
And she was like 16 1/2 years old.
22:45
I gave her big responsibility. So anyways, and I call home 1
22:49
evening and my wife is pregnant with my son, with my third
22:52
child. And I mean, I'm like, I'm at the
22:55
top of the world. Things are happening.
22:56
I'm going to start my own chain. And my wife says, what are you
23:00
doing? You're driving a school crazy.
23:05
You have your 61 year old daughter running over there and
23:08
closing the store every day after school, You know, and,
23:11
and, and I'm I'm ready to give birth to your son and
23:14
everything. It's like I was cutting.
23:19
I was, I'm sorry. I was running the marathon and
23:23
she tripped me. And guess what I did happening?
23:30
I listened to my wife. She said to me, you sell the
23:33
store, the second store, you do not go through with the third
23:37
location that you want to open, you back out and we focus on
23:43
expanding the corporate store to 7000 square feet.
23:49
And I listen to her and how. Do you feel about that decision
23:53
today? I wonder sometimes how it would
23:57
turn out, but I better not think I'm OK, you know, I'm OK with
24:05
you know. So that that was the plan.
24:08
And then after we did our expansion to 7000 square feet
24:14
business was something else. That was the only Dennis and
24:18
IHOP around. There was, you know, a couple of
24:20
mom and pop. We were it in San Diego and
24:23
being in San Diego, we're about a mile and 1/2 from SeaWorld
24:28
over here, you know, a mile away from the water and a lot of
24:32
tourist summertime. It was busy, busy, busy.
24:34
It was non-stop. And people start asking us you
24:39
franchise, do you franchise? And I'm thinking, you know what,
24:42
leave me alone. You know, I mean finally after
24:45
all these years, I got something over here.
24:49
The so-called American dream, right?
24:51
You know the wife or the white ticket fencing, 2.4 kids and a
24:56
dog. I don't know.
24:59
I don't know how the 2.4 come from, but that that's.
25:04
That you were doing better than the average.
25:06
You had three kids. So, so there you go.
25:09
So, but people were persistent and we started with one fellow
25:16
and we opened first location, you know, with a license
25:20
agreement. And then somebody else asked us
25:23
to open another and, and the first fellow, you know, we
25:29
turned that license agreement by franchise agreement.
25:32
He has eight locations right now, the second person up in 2,
25:38
and then the third person now has 6 locations and and so on.
25:45
So when was it that you first started the licensing and the
25:48
franchising? In O 7, OK.
25:53
So 18 years ago roughly, or 19 years ago now.
25:58
The franchise in what I can in in two in in 2010. 2010, OK.
26:05
And so present day, is there still just the 1 corporate
26:10
location and then how many franchise locations?
26:13
One corporate location and 40 franchise.
26:16
All right. And so there's a lot of
26:20
breakfast places out there, but at $2.7 million average per
26:25
unit, you guys are doing something different.
26:28
What's going on there? You know, let me let me share
26:35
something with you. We're in the people business.
26:42
When I was a business broker, young and energy, you know,
26:50
sell, Sell said I want to sell the gentleman to walk in.
26:54
He was a mature gentleman and and he saw how anxious I was to
27:01
sell him something. And he said to me, he said,
27:07
young man, you're going the wrong way about it.
27:10
And I'm trying to comprehend and understand what is he talking
27:16
about. There was a big question mark in
27:18
my face and of course he noticed it and he said, let me tell you
27:22
something, if you do the right thing, the money will come.
27:28
Since then, I've been practicing that same thing and that's what
27:33
I tell my kids, my employees, my friends.
27:36
You got to do the right thing. A lot of people, they are
27:39
obsessed. Money, money, money, money.
27:41
That's a given. You don't need to say that word.
27:45
That's my auditor. We're in the people business.
27:48
You take care of the people. The money will come all in its
27:50
own, you know, so anybody can give you 2 eggs.
27:54
It's how they give them to you. We have to be guest centric,
28:00
guest focused, focused on the guest no matter what it takes,
28:05
you know? So talk about the guest
28:07
experience. I've not had the privilege to
28:09
visit one of your locations before.
28:12
What? What is my experience like in
28:15
there? Well, when Dave walks in.
28:18
Hi Dave. How are you?
28:20
How's the wife? How's the kids?
28:22
You know, so we know people in in a personal, you know, way.
28:29
I have, I have a server here that's been with me for 32
28:33
years. I have another one for 22 years.
28:38
You know, when I hired her two months later, you know, we
28:43
trained her out of wings and stuff.
28:44
And she says to me, John, I'm leaving, I'm pregnant.
28:47
I'm thinking, Oh my goodness, I just wasted two months with her
28:50
and everything, not just leaving.
28:51
You know something, Anthony? She came back six weeks later
28:56
after she had the baby and she's still here.
28:59
She's told you, you know, so we're in the people business.
29:04
I, I'm, I'm very fortunate to be surrounded by good people.
29:10
I've worked in places like the Sheraton and other hotels.
29:15
And you know what, in some places I felt I was a number.
29:20
I was a number. The executive chef would come
29:23
in, she wouldn't even look at us.
29:25
She wouldn't even say good morning or anything like that.
29:28
You would know our name. But again, I worked in other
29:31
places. I worked with a gentleman, his
29:35
name is John Borg. He's in the late 80s right now,
29:38
mid 80s. And I went to his birthday party
29:41
last, last month. So there you go.
29:46
It's, it's all in the people business.
29:49
You see, I, I, I gave you the, the John Borg that I went to his
29:54
birthday party and then I give you the executive chef.
29:57
I don't want to mention his name, you know, but the two
30:01
extremes, you know, we're in the people business.
30:04
You want to, you want to feel. We all want to feel good, you
30:08
know, So we need to make our people feel good so we can feel
30:12
good it. Sounds like you had great
30:15
teachers at opposite ends of the spectrum.
30:17
You had one person showing you this is how it's done and you
30:22
had somebody else showing you this is how not to do it because
30:26
you didn't feel good in that experience.
30:28
You felt good in this other experience over here.
30:31
You're like, that's the world that I want to recreate.
30:33
That's right. That's exactly right.
30:36
And So what does it feel like to be an employee of yours?
30:41
What's the experience like for them?
30:45
I, I don't consider them employees.
30:48
I mean, now that I turned teammates, I mean, I, you know,
30:52
with my corporate team over here, I have my regular weekly
30:56
meetings and I meet with them one-on-one and, and you know,
31:00
and I always tell them, I want to hear exactly how you feel,
31:04
you know, how you feel working here, how you, how you get along
31:07
with everybody. I, I want to know, you know, and
31:12
to avoid any issues, you know, we, we live in a, in a world of,
31:16
of all kinds of, you know, things can happen.
31:19
So we need to be proactive, you know, so we, we as employers
31:26
have a big responsibility. We need to take care of our
31:29
people. And I believe in that because I
31:32
was an employer one time. And I just told you how I felt
31:35
when that gentleman would walk in there, the, the kitchen at
31:38
the big hotel and wouldn't even say good morning, wouldn't even
31:41
look at us. You didn't know our name.
31:43
So how do you think I felt like, you know, I mean, I, I, I feel
31:47
good about myself, you know, I, to me, I'm somebody.
31:52
And I think that everybody should feel the same way, you
31:56
know? So you treat your employees that
31:59
way and they in turn are treating the customers that way.
32:04
And so it reduces your staff turnover and it keeps your
32:08
customers coming back. That's exactly.
32:11
Right. So aside from the people side of
32:13
things, what are some operational practices that have
32:18
been instrumental in you really driving those high unit
32:21
economics? Well, we have, I'm going to tell
32:26
you, I have this lady that she started as an, an assistant of
32:33
mine and she was doing so well and she worked herself up to be
32:40
director of, of, of management. So, so she trains everybody and
32:49
she's, she's so good, you know, so we give our franchisees the
32:56
tools that she creates and of course we as a team approve for
33:01
them to get better and better and better.
33:04
Now let's talk a little bit more about the franchise opportunity.
33:08
What are the geographies that you guys are looking for?
33:12
What do you look for in a franchise themselves?
33:18
Well, we look for somebody who's shot and somebody who wants to
33:25
work. Our fees are minimal.
33:29
I keep the fees lower than the industry royalties, 4%.
33:36
Our market is 1%. Our franchise fees, $35,000 per
33:41
store. And now we also have an
33:43
incentive for someone who will sign an ADA, an area development
33:49
agreement with three or four stores, they will get a 50%
33:53
discount, basically 2% versus 4% for every single unit that they
34:00
open for the next two years for each restaurant.
34:04
So that's, that's something, yeah.
34:09
And So what are you looking for in terms of the personalities?
34:12
You're saying they're sharp, they want to work, but.
34:15
What else? Someone, someone who's willing
34:18
to work, someone you know, and, and of course, the positive
34:21
director, you know, I mean, when I meet people, we have a
34:29
discovery day. Basically they discovered about
34:32
us and we discovered about them and we have a meeting.
34:36
And I had this group that came husband and wife with his
34:40
grandfather, who was the franchise of Peter Piper and
34:44
Peter 13 locations and, and, and his father and his in laws.
34:52
And he was me and my wife. He was my VP of franchise
34:56
development and my daughter and I was asked a question.
34:59
They said, well, we went to this other franchise concept and we
35:05
asked them what they can do for us.
35:08
And the gentleman said, well, I'm going to give you the book
35:12
and I'm going to go every Saturday to my mailbox and pick
35:15
up the check. So they turn around to me and
35:20
they said, well, what are you going to do for us?
35:23
We'll sign up with you. That moment I said I'm going to
35:30
hold your hand until you learn how to walk.
35:35
And that was it. Next day they signed and now
35:39
they have 10 stores. Wow.
35:42
Is that your biggest franchise? Yes.
35:47
What are some of the other geographies that you would like
35:49
to grow into? I I like Texas, it's more
35:54
business plan. A lot of people are saying that,
35:58
especially people who have tasted California.
36:03
Yeah. Yeah.
36:07
Any plans for additional corporate locations?
36:12
If something comes up, I'm open. I never like to say no.
36:23
You were mentioning before a before we started recording an
36:26
entrepreneurship class at San Diego State University that you
36:29
had the opportunity to speak at. Tell me what that experience was
36:33
like for you. I was amazed by the attention
36:37
those kids were paying to me. And when the hour was up and the
36:44
the person in charge said, John, we have to take it outside in
36:48
the home because there's another session going on after this.
36:53
And I walked outside and they were all lined up.
36:56
They were shaking my hand. They're taking selfies.
36:59
I mean, wow, wow. It was like, it's nice to see
37:03
the youth that they have so much interest in being entrepreneurs.
37:08
So that's great. What is it about your story that
37:13
they you think they found so enthralling?
37:16
I think it's from zero to somewhere.
37:21
That's what it is. I'm the same way.
37:23
I mean, I love to read success stories like a given example.
37:29
And I'm not trying to be partial with the owner of the San Diego,
37:34
well, my Los Angeles Chargers, OK, it was the San Diego Charger
37:40
before Alex Panos. I mean, he was a Baker for his
37:43
father. He was a Beckett for his father.
37:46
I, I bought his book. I read the book.
37:48
I met the man, I congratulated him and he was so humble.
37:52
He passed away at 94 a couple of years ago.
37:55
But he was so humble. This is what I love about, you
37:58
know, I mean, he, he's a bionaire.
38:00
And you see this man and what he has done and and being so
38:06
humble. This is very touching.
38:10
The phrase brunch on the Sunnyside really encapsulates
38:16
the cafe's upbeat culture. I think in talking with you, it
38:21
embraces what you are all about. But we all, you know, we go
38:26
through bumps in the road. How do you stay up when you're
38:31
just you're having a bad day or a bad week or a bad streak?
38:35
It's a you know what, being fortunate having that, I came
38:41
with Connor being the director of marketing and he's very nice
38:46
emails, very positive, very encouraging.
38:50
People can feel that. Sunnyside Also, I have this girl
38:57
that's been with me, I told you earlier, 32 years, and she's
39:00
part server but part also auditor and she travels to all
39:06
the locations. She she visits 3 locations a
39:10
week, maybe even 4. And I can tell you that
39:14
Sunnyside, it's her because of that positive attitude that the
39:22
fact that people love her. And when they see her, they, you
39:26
know, that, that because I can see, because I travel with her
39:29
sometimes, you know, and I see that their, their, their, the
39:34
smile in their face when they see her.
39:36
And I go, wow, I think we need to call her Sunnyside.
39:40
Maybe I need to talk to Connor about that.
39:45
I love that. So we, you know, talked a little
39:48
bit about your wife, she's the CFO.
39:51
I've got two daughters in the business, one who leads culinary
39:55
and another who leads franchise support.
39:58
I'm going to guess just, you know, from my own experiences,
40:01
having talked with other business owners that this is
40:04
mostly a blessing. But sometimes, you know, the the
40:08
work family dynamic can get a little bit strained.
40:11
What's what's the experience like for you and your family?
40:15
When I started here, we had issues the first few months.
40:22
People would come to me and say, John, I want to hold the weekend
40:25
off and I say, well, it's busy on the weekend.
40:28
I cannot give you the weekend off and then go to my wife and
40:31
say, can I have the weekend off? And my wife would give him the
40:34
weekend off. Saturday comes and I go, why are
40:38
we short? Oh, your wife gave a day off to
40:41
that person. I go, what?
40:44
So you know what? I sat down and I said, here
40:47
we're here's what we're going to do.
40:50
I'm going to take over the operations and you're going to
40:52
take over the books. So we split it.
40:56
So you know what? And we're here 33 years later.
41:01
Once in a while, you know she puts her nose where she doesn't
41:04
belong, but it's OK. But you never do that, right?
41:08
Oh no, you never. And how about having your
41:11
daughter's work in the business? Very good, you know, might not
41:15
take to me, but they know that at the end that decision has to
41:21
be made and I got to make that decision.
41:24
They're they're very good. Let's talk about national media
41:28
attention guys were on man versus food.
41:32
How did that affect, how did it happen, and then how did it
41:36
affect the business's trajectory?
41:38
They, they contacted us because we had a big omelette, A-12
41:43
omelette. If you eat it in one hour, you
41:46
get it for free. If nothing, you pay full price.
41:49
It was like 19. I mean, I was talking about 20
41:52
years ago, 25 years ago. So anyway, so that's how they
41:58
found out and that they came here and they did that and we
42:03
went nationwide and it was a good boost in our business.
42:08
And again, being San Diego, being a tourist city, we would
42:15
get a lot of people to say, oh, we'll show you on, on the on
42:17
that show. And I would get that a lot from
42:21
a lot of people. So when you're taking a new
42:25
franchise by the hand until they learn to walk, are you still
42:30
teaching them what you did to get your business going?
42:34
Do you you tell them to pull out their Rolodex and start making
42:37
phone calls? Well, I don't think they have
42:41
Rolodex, but I, I share my stories with them.
42:46
They like, they like to hear the stories.
42:48
You know, these are true stories.
42:50
I want to share another story with you.
42:53
When I was in real estate, I was fairly new in real estate in the
42:58
mid 80s and I was still living in a 2 bedroom apartment.
43:04
My rent was for not $385 and this Asian lady came to me and
43:11
she was at least 20 years older than me.
43:13
She was a server at a Chinese restaurant and she wanted to buy
43:17
a restaurant that I had listed. It was closed and she made an
43:23
offer, you know, fully equipped and everything, and we had it in
43:29
escrow. My Commission from that sale
43:33
being the listing and the selling agent, it was 4500,
43:39
we're talking about in 85 and my rent was 385.
43:44
Basically that Commission would pay the rent for a full deal.
43:49
And now I'm thinking, this lady has no experience.
43:51
She's a server. She's going to lose her money.
43:57
So I call her. Her American name was Annie.
44:00
I go, Annie, you need to come to the office.
44:02
Something wrong? Something wrong.
44:03
I don't know. Just come in the office.
44:05
She comes in. She sits right across from me,
44:09
just with me. What's going on?
44:11
I mean, her English was not that great, but not that mine was any
44:15
better. But I go, I don't think you
44:18
should buy the restaurant. But she says why?
44:21
Why? Something wrong?
44:22
No, no, nothing wrong. Because I don't want to see you,
44:25
you know, lose your money. She realized this wasn't
44:31
talking, this was talking. And listen to what she said.
44:38
She said. John, don't worry if I fall
44:43
down, I pretend I'm looking for something I get and can walk
44:48
again. Wow, Anthony, the lady still
44:55
owns the restaurant Hot Dog. Can you believe this?
44:59
Her nephew's running it now. When I go there, I ask because
45:02
she's like the intermediate. Isn't that something?
45:06
You know how many times I've told that story because people
45:11
are afraid of doing things. That's what's holding back and
45:18
that's my experience. It's OK if I fall down.
45:22
I pretend I'm looking for something.
45:24
I get up and work again. What a beautiful thing.
45:28
So do you think she, Annie, do you think she moved forward
45:33
because she had No Fear or she had fear and she did it anyways?
45:38
I think, I think she had fear, but she did it anyways.
45:42
Someone not long ago asked me, John, are you afraid?
45:46
Ever afraid, I leaned over close to them and I told them in a
45:52
very soft way, I'm afraid right now, being afraid.
45:59
It's OK. It keeps us on our toes, you
46:04
know, if we have No Fear at all, is that, does that equate to
46:10
maybe arrogance or do you know what I'm talking about?
46:15
Not not in a in a bad way, but I think spirit keeps us in our
46:18
toes, which is very important. Why do you think it keeps some
46:24
of us on our toes and it keeps others paralyzed?
46:29
What's the difference? I I wouldn't know because I
46:33
never felt the other way. Fair enough.
46:38
I want to go back to the story, though, because the part that we
46:40
kind of glossed over was you tried to talk yourself out of a
46:43
very healthy Commission. Yes, yes.
46:46
And people didn't see it, but you said it wasn't your brain
46:50
talking. You know, you were pointing to
46:52
your head. It was.
46:53
And you pointed to your chest. It was your heart that was
46:55
speaking there. I think that says a lot.
47:00
Well, you know how we grew up. I don't know.
47:07
Some people call it DNA or, you know, whatever.
47:10
You know, I'm just thinking, I, I I cannot be a person that, you
47:16
know, pretentious person, you know, I I can't.
47:19
But I sometimes my wife, my wife says to me, don't say these
47:23
things. You're too direct.
47:24
I go. That's me.
47:26
You cannot change me now, you know.
47:29
Yeah. So in my experience, John, every
47:33
success story, there's a behind it.
47:36
There's a chapter that almost broke someone.
47:38
Can you share with our listeners a serious challenge that you
47:41
went through and how you got through that, whether it was
47:45
personal or professional? Well before broken yoke a year
47:49
before in 92 in the middle of summer, very hot and humid in
47:58
San Diego. My grandmother that raised me in
48:02
Greece passed away at one O 2. And that was a shock to me.
48:12
I, I was in real estate partially as I told you and I, I
48:17
had a bunch of escrows and I was planning to take the the family
48:21
for the treatment. And those escorts fell through.
48:25
And on top of that, all these these things happen within like
48:30
2-3 week period. And the third thing that
48:34
happened is our house got wrapped and I'm out on a on a
48:41
curb with only my shorts on. The McEnroe shorts.
48:47
You remember the McEnroe shorts? Real short shorts, yeah.
48:50
Yeah, yeah, Hot and humid and my life comes over.
48:55
Just somebody will be OK. She put one side.
48:58
She gave me some iced tea. I'm getting emotional now.
49:04
It was the, I think the lowest part of my life.
49:10
But there's always another day. So we need, just like, you know,
49:16
we need to just keep quiet. And like Annie said, if I fall
49:21
down, I get up and I walk again. So.
49:26
Had you met? Had you met Annie by that point?
49:32
I wonder if her words of wisdom were somewhere inside of your
49:35
brain cells before. This Annie happened in 85 and
49:40
the all these events from me happened in 92.
49:43
Yes, yes. Do you remember, did you recall
49:48
that her words of wisdom as you were going through the darkest
49:51
depths of that? I couldn't remember if I did,
49:54
but I think what kept me going it is the positive attitude that
50:00
let's say it's from money from other people that I met from the
50:03
seminars that positive go, go, go.
50:06
And I'm, I'm the kind of a person that sometime they come
50:11
to me with a, with a problem and they say, oh, it cannot happen.
50:16
And and I go remember what the Mexicans say.
50:19
Si SE puede, yes, it's possible. So let's find a solution no
50:26
matter what it is, you know? So I think when that happens,
50:31
when you find a solution a bit, you become stronger right up
50:35
here. And the next time there's a
50:37
problem, then you keep looking for that solution and at least
50:42
become stronger and stronger and stronger.
50:45
But it starts from somewhere. It also sounds like your wife
50:50
was a point of strength during this, right?
50:52
Coming out to the curb is going to be OK.
50:55
She's always behind me. Sounds like a good woman.
51:01
What's her name? Her name is Chrisula.
51:05
Chrisula it's beautiful. John, what is your superpower?
51:15
Positive energy solution based, always looking up.
51:21
One time I read a license plate. Oh, I went to a seminar and this
51:27
person had a license plate #2-UP number 2, BBN 2.
51:40
Up to be down. There you go.
51:45
Well, I'm going about 40 years ago.
51:47
You know you. Remember that.
51:49
Absolutely. Doesn't it that drive us
51:56
everything? I'm not a I'm a gig, but I'm not
52:01
a philosopher. Everything is a state of mind.
52:04
You are who you think you are. If you think you're nobody, then
52:10
you're nobody. But if you think you're
52:11
somebody, you are somebody. You have to think good about
52:15
yourself. Is there anything that you do on
52:20
a daily basis that helps to reinforce or to build this
52:27
positive mindset? Well, I'm a people person.
52:34
I love coming to that restaurant in Shanghai.
52:37
I mean, I walk through the back door.
52:39
The first person I say good morning is the dishwasher.
52:42
You know, he is very important to me, you know, and of course
52:46
everybody else. And, and then I work my my way
52:49
to the dining room and I come to the office and daily what I do,
52:58
other than when I'm traveling, I like to be around people around
53:02
my customers. Sometime I have my meetings
53:05
downstairs with a big private room.
53:06
And I might see a customer like Mike, he's like in his 80s.
53:12
And he waves and I go, come on, you know, and he comes over and
53:15
he shakes my hand. He gives me a hug and, and my
53:17
people say this customer is hugging you.
53:20
Well, after 30 years, you know, just like, you know, I take care
53:23
of him, you know, so, so you know, it's nice to be recognized
53:27
by Mike. You know, it's, it's, it's a
53:30
good feeling. Obviously she feels good coming
53:34
in here and I feel good at the same time or in that, in that
53:44
making people feel good business.
53:47
This is what it's all about. You know, we want to feel good
53:52
what we work, what we visit with our family, with our friends,
53:56
with everybody, because right now we live in a negative world.
54:01
Look at what's happening out there and I don't.
54:06
Having said that, I I was tempted to going to politics,
54:10
but I better not, you know, I have.
54:15
That'll change that positive mindset real fast.
54:18
I have. I'm going to say only one thing
54:22
and view on you can edit that later.
54:26
We live close to the water, our restaurant, and we have a height
54:32
limit of 30 feet. So I have a pole, a flagpole,
54:37
which is 30 feet. I wanted to be higher, but they
54:40
wouldn't allow me. The city wouldn't allow me.
54:41
So I have a flag, I have the American flag and I I change it,
54:47
you know, because it gets ripped and stuff every six months.
54:49
And my girl over here, she was taking a video and I took the
54:53
video and, and I posted it. Then I got so many positive, you
54:59
know, responses and it, it was a good thing.
55:03
And a cousin of mine, she said to me in Greece, she said, you
55:08
love America. I'm like, no, America is the one
55:11
who made to me. You know, of course I love
55:14
Greece, but I love America. I live here.
55:16
I've been here 48 years, you know, and, and sometimes I feel
55:20
I'm more American than some other people.
55:23
You know, we need to appreciate where we live.
55:26
This is a great country, you know, I mean, your ancestors
55:29
came from from Italy. You know, mine came from, from
55:32
Greece and I came from Greece. And you know, I mean.
55:36
Anyways, let's stop there. Fair enough.
55:39
I appreciate. That, yeah.
55:42
I've just got one more question for you, but before I ask it, I
55:45
want to do 3 quick things. First of all, some contact
55:49
information. If you want to get in touch with
55:51
John, the company. So their website is
55:55
thebrokenyolkcafe.com. Make sure you put the word the
55:59
at the beginning thebrokenyolkcafe.com.
56:03
And Are you sure you want me to do this?
56:04
You want me to give out your phone number?
56:06
I have no problem. You know, OK calls I get
56:10
everyday, I have no problem. All right, here we go.
56:13
This, this is your personal number.
56:16
This. Yes, OK, I've had that.
56:18
For only five years. OK, here we go, 858-232-0699.
56:25
We'll have it in the show notes, but I'll say it again,
56:27
858-232-0699. And if you want to e-mail him,
56:32
johngelas@gmail.com, johngelas@gmail.com.
56:40
And again, we'll have that in the show notes for folks if you
56:42
missed it. Also, if you are enjoying the
56:45
show today, please take a moment to subscribe wherever you're
56:49
listening. It sends a signal that helps
56:51
others discover our podcast. So thank you for taking a quick
56:54
moment to do that right now. And as a reminder, if you want
56:58
to get more restaurant employees access to therapist doctors and
57:02
prescription meds, that is paradoxical as it seems actually
57:06
increases your company's net profits, reach out to us at AD
57:09
back benefits.com. So last question for you, John,
57:13
a year from now, what is 1 very specific thing that you hope to
57:16
be celebrating? Wow, I hope my son gets married
57:24
or we can up and find stores. Both.
57:29
Why not, huh? Yes I will send this to my son
57:36
so he he can say. That's that's what would make
57:40
your dad's heart full a year from now.
57:43
Well, John, CEO of Broken Yo Cafe, I want to be the first to
57:47
thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us
57:50
today. I really appreciate you being
57:51
here. Anthony, thank you.
57:54
It was a pleasure. Thank you, folks.
57:56
That is a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
57:59
podcast. Thanks for learning with us and
58:01
if one thing stood out, put that into action today.