Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
iHeartMedia Presents CEOs you should know.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
I'm John Dinkle, founder and CEO of Dinkele Business Development
and former publisher of the Baltimore Business Journal. This is
iHeartRadio CEOs you should know. I'm here today with Keith Goldman,
CEO of California Tortilla. Welcome Keith, and thanks for being here.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, thank you, John. It's a pleasure to be with
you this morning.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Yeah, looking forward to our conversation. I thought we'd get
started by just getting to know the organization a little
bit and then then we'll get into talking about you
and your leadership role. But so, for those who may
not be familiar, could you tell us about California Tortilla.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Sure, be happy to so. I guess the elevator pitch
would be that when a fast casual California, Mexican concept
specializing in best in class food quality, innovative chef inspired creations,
and our famous wall of Flame featuring seventy five hot sauces.
Bob as my business partner and I formed two entities
(01:03):
in two thousand and three. One entity sells and supports
franchise operations and the other builds, opens and operates company
managed restaurants, and kind of to back up a little bit,
the precursor to us starting our growth in two thousand
and three was kind of we stumbled into a small,
independently run restaurant and be Says of Maryland in two
(01:25):
thousand and one that we thought had great potential. The
restaurant was operating as a fast casual concept before you know,
fast casual was even coined as a sasion in the industry.
And you know, we saw lines out the door every day,
and the sason was great, the atmosphere was great, and
after getting to know the owners by virtue of being
(01:48):
frequent customers, we convinced them and it's let us open
a unit in Potomac, Maryland. So it's a long story store.
We actually opened a two units, one in Potomac and
another and only and these things are just successful beyond
our imaginations.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
So awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
So the next step was we struck a deal with
the original owners and we to buy them out essentially,
and we you know, the divertue of opening our two stores,
we developed a complete operating system. We standardized all the processes, procedures,
we honed recipes and the menu offering and he basically trade,
a fast casual concept we feel is perfectly suited for franchising,
(02:30):
and that's kind of what we did. In two thousand
and three, we published our first FTD, which is a
franchise disclosure document and trademark the brand. And since then
we have you know, selectively added franchisees as well as
opening up to several other company restaurants.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Awesome, Awesome, appreciate sharing that. What would you say is
your mission?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Well, our mission is clearly to be a great franchise
or and I think the two biggest deliverables on that
and are to provide a great brand the tranchise ese
can be successful with, and to provide great training and
support and all the disciplines of owning and operating a restaurant.
And you know, so prior to embarking on this opportunity,
(03:13):
I had experience managing many different ownership structured operations. I
own my own place for several years, I managed restaurants
for several others. I was actually a franchise e of
other concepts, and I kind of, you know, concluded that
the best opportunity for most people who wanted to get
into the restroom business was to buy into a great
(03:33):
franchise concept and because you know the best opportunity for
lasting success because you're really what you're doing is as
you're buying into a combined experience and success of the
leadership team.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
So yeah, and would that would that would you say
kind of it sets you apart in your franchise model?
I mean, does that what makes it attractive for entrepreneurs
is you know, the leadership team there, the proving concept,
like what are what are some other things that make
that at your active for entrepreneurs?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Well, yeah, definitely. You know, I think people who have
worked in the business, the restaurant business, you know, have
a few of the necessary disciplines to be partially successful, right,
Very few people are experts in every discipline. I mean
you have to have you know, operations, you have to
have marketing, you have to have supply chain, you have
(04:25):
to have finance, you have to you know, you just
have to hit on all cylinders. It's not enough just
to know how to cook. You know, how to be
a good cook and provide uses. You know, it'll do
that easy.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Everybody would do it, right, Yeah, And what what states
do you have locations in?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Well, we currently have twenty units in you know, the DMV,
which is a Maryland Virginia d C. And we have
six units in Pennsylvania, one in New Jersey, one in
West Virginia, and one in Charleston, South Carolina. We are
registered and thirty five states total are currently we're just
(05:02):
stop bringing those states.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Okay? Great? And do you have any company stores or
are they all franchise stores.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I know we have nine company stores that were on
and twenty one franchise chants.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
That's great. And from the franchise perspective, are there particular
states that you're looking to you know, kind of start
growth first or like or doesn't really matter. What's kind
of the plan there?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Well, we kind of like the wheel and spoke model
where we build off build out from a center. And
this is because I think when you do that, you
have brand recognition. For one, people are familiar with your name,
they've heard of you, and you also have the benefit
of a tighter supply chain. It's easier to get everybody
(05:48):
the products that we need for them to use to
actually the brand properly all of our proprietary items.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Gotcha? That makes sense? What would you say? And you know,
if I'm a interested in franchise like you. What would
you say sets you apart from other kind of fast casuals.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
It's definitely the food. I am very passionate about how
good our food is. I mean, I after twenty three
years of doing this, I still go into our restaurant
and order food and eat it, and I'm almost almost
surprised at how good is this is really good? More
people need to taste this food. I mean, it's just good.
And it's really because we have a scratch kitchen. We
(06:31):
make very fresh recipes every day. Some we make several
times a day. We have no freezers in our restaurants,
and we have a variety of flavors that you just
won't find in a typical Mexican restaurant. You know. But
the buzzword is cravable. You got to create things that
people crave and the only way they can get those
cravable items is to come to your place because you're
(06:52):
the only one that offers it. So we kind of
focus on that. I think we have a great value
proposition operating fast casual category. I think for like a
buck or two more than you would pay at a
fast food restaurant, we provide a much healthier, much higher
quality and taste your food, and an environment it's cool.
(07:13):
And we're also considerably less money than you would pay
at a casual, sit down restaurant, and we still provide
a fresher product and a quicker delivery system. So I
think we're really in a sweet spot.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Awesome, Yeah, sounds like it now. Now you had mentioned
before you co founded the company in twenty or two
thousand and three, and you're now in a fairly I
guess a new role as the CEO. Are there any
new initiatives that planned for twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
You know, I think one of the key to sustaining
brand success over time is your ability to change and
adapt to environmental changes, and you know that. I think
the desks of many brands is complacency. You know, you
got to keep moving forward and being inovative. So I
think what we did we kind of find tuned during
the pandemic years, is a new evolution of our brand,
(08:07):
which we call the ACE model. The ACE is an
acronym that stands for Accuracy, Customization, and Engagement. After doing
a lot of market research and studying the current trends,
we identified three opportunities we wanted to address. One was accuracy,
which is a common problem across the industry, not getting
(08:28):
what you order, and you know, how could we improve that.
The second is a growing trend toward customization. It seemed
like the millennials and other generations really wanted to customize
their meal choice, you know, the ability to easily change
add the lead ingredients from your menu item. And the
third was, you know, customer engagement. We wanted to improve
(08:51):
the experience and the engagement between our crew and the customers.
So they call it ACE. And in addition to changing
the format, we have completely new look, new finishes, new
furniture package, new interiors, sign package, We initiated digital menu boards,
and we flipped the service system to make it a
(09:13):
pay lass model what we call it. So, you know,
if you kind of combine that with the outlook for
the industry right now, which is very good. Yeah, I
think a lot of indicators are showing that as fast Casual,
as I mentioned, is in a sweet spot. It's the
projected to have steady growth over the next twenty years,
and it's projected to be the largest growth segment of
(09:34):
the restaurant category. And so you know, we have a
new version, and I forgot to mention, but this version
is outperforming the traditional version a lot, so AUVs are
much higher, and so it's a great time to match
the current environment our new brand and start to grow.
(09:55):
So growth is really our major initiative right now. You know,
we would like to grow. We'd like to find multi
unit operators. We'd like to be in non traditional spaces
such as airports, travel plazas, universities now, as well as
looking for independences who want to start their own business.
We're always open to bring them aboard as well.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
That's awesome, awesome, I appreciate you sharing that, but doesn't
switch gears a little bit. I'd like to talk about
leadership on the show. How would you describe your leadership style?
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Well, first of all, I said, I think philosophically, I
try to embed this and the organization is that I
always like to look in the mirror, not out the window,
meaning focus on what you can control and don't waste
time on what you can't.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
So, you know, if our.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Team is not achieving a goal or an objective, you know,
I think let's assume the problem is us, you know,
and there's something we need to fix and change, maybe
a change of tactic and this get back on track
instead in blaming the environment. There's there's things that there's
nothing we can do about. But style wise, you know,
I would say a cross between coaching and democratic. You know.
(11:05):
I have always in a hands on, lead by example type.
I love if I'm having a stressful day, I go
across the street to our restaurant and I hop on
the line for an hour and I feel great. And
I love to work with the crew. And you know,
we love to collaborate with the team members from top
through the bottom of our organization chart. And I think
sometimes if you really want to know how to solve
(11:27):
a problem, you go right to blind cook so the
prep people and they ask them. They know exactly how
to fix a problem. Sometimes that's overlooked. They do it
every day all day, so that you know they're smart.
They know they know how to fix and stuff. I think,
you know, I like, I say, I like to coach.
I like to collaborate, get people a chance for input,
(11:48):
you know, But once we decide on something, and I
kind of see myself as a facilitator and a coach
to help them get from a to z and complete
a task.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
That's great. Oh man, lot good nuggets in there. I
love what you said about look in the mirror not
out the window. That's that's also that's a that's a
really good takeaway as a really like what you said
on the collaboration side. I think in a lot of senses,
when you're you're in a leadership role and even though
maybe in the past you've done that, you know, the
(12:19):
you know, whether it's the line cook or a sales
role or you know cash here or whatever that role is.
You even though they've done that years ago, you kind
of you kind of forget, like and you get you
get kind of out of that day to day thinking,
you know, in that leadership role. So I do. I
love the I love you know, your idea or style
(12:40):
of you know, asking them, I mean, what's what's working,
what's not. And I'm a big I was a big
believer in that as well and running the BBJ and
always wanted to, you know, ask employees like what you know,
what they thought, and be transparent and understand what they're
going through each day. So that's great. I appreciate sharing.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Yeah, I think you got to get buy in these days.
Is the long gone of the days where you just
say do it because I told you to do it.
It doesn't work anymore. People want to know why, how,
and when you know exactly?
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Uh? Yeah, And you mentioned earlier about the about the pandemic.
I know we're kind of you know, past that and everything.
But if looking back on that experience, what would you
say you learned about managing or you know, communicating with
employees during that time.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Well, yeah, the pandemic was certainly a challenging time for
everyone in Yeah, you know, there was a lot of fear, uncertainty,
and emotion to manage when the pandemic first hit. I
think I learned that, you know, in times of crisis,
you really have to put your people first, above the
business and kind of address their fears and concerns and
put them at ease. But as a company, now we
(13:50):
have a plan to survive this ordeal and to take
care of their needs. So, you know, the first thing
we did is kind of implement programs that made people
feel safe coming back to work and even you know,
going forward. And then you know, from there, we implemented
several new programs that adapted to the new world order
of you know, carry out delivery, curb side pickup, family needs,
(14:12):
you know, all the new things we had to implement
and execute to stay you know, stay alive. And yeah, simultaneously,
we helped all of our franchisease that needed help applying
for the government assistance that was available, and we even
sourced a bank that agreed the process all of our applications.
So that was a big part of it, you know,
because I think many of our franchisees and as well
(14:35):
as the company so as we needed that money to
keep our people employed and move forward. So it was
we also learned how to become very proficient using zoom
and teams to communicate with our franchise These two things
I'd never heard of before.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
So I know, well, it's funny, like you know, that
was coming down the pike, you know, and I think
that if there's anything that good that came out of
the pandemic was and from a communications standpoint, it was
that everybody knows how to do zooms and and you know,
teens and all these other those other ways to communicate
(15:10):
because you know, the workforce has changed, you know, there's
more hybrid you know jobs these days, so that kind
of communication that's needed anyway. So yeah, yeah, at least
we got that out of it. But I think that
fast forward to that technology by gosh, probably five or
ten years and things. But what what what gets excited
(15:32):
about the future of California Tortilla.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Well, yeah, I just think we're finally I'm excited that
we're finally past the pandemic, We're past the supplied chain
issues that followed it. And you know, I think it's
affordable again to build a restaurant and to run a restaurant,
and you know, the profit margins are falling back in line.
So I'm just excited for growth. I think it's a
(15:57):
good time too, and we're in a good position to
grow and that's yeah, we're looking forward to.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Yeah. On the other side, what what keeps you up
at night?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Well, you know, if you're in this business, you're always
up at night. That's when you thought pops into your
head and it's just like it. You know, you're always
you can never rest, you can never rest, You're always
trying to figure out how to do better than you
did the day before. You're always feeling it. You know,
what challenges are going to come my way? He what
competitors who I have to deal with, what changes in
(16:28):
the demographics. So I need to understand, you know, how
do you continue to evolve the brand so that you
stay relevant and then you stay on top of the
on top of the curve. I mean that's we that
to our franchise ease, that's what they rely on us for.
And it's a big responsibility because you can't, like I said,
there's no rest for the wear. You have to keep
(16:48):
moving forward.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
That's great, that's great. Well to wrap things up, you know,
is there anything else you'd like Our listeners said about
you in California Tortia.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Well, come on out and and give u the food
a try as you're close to one. It's a great concept,
it's a great brand where you know, we really want
to get out there and be more Marcus and more
people can taste the difference. And yeah, that's about it.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Great And tell us how to find more information about
California Tortilla, whether to go you know, find the location
or even look at the franchise opportunity.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Yeah, you to our website which is www dot California
Tortilla dot com. We do have a franchise page on
our site. And it kind of walks you through the
opportunity along with any contact information you would need to
get in touch with us.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
That's great. Well, thank you so much for your time today.
It was really I really enjoyed our conversation and look
forward to seeing more California tortillas around the d m V.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Oh great, John, Thank you appreciate it coming.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
This has been iHeartMedia CEOs.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
You should know
iHeartMedia Presents CEOs you should know.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
I'm John Dinkle, founder and CEO of Dinkele Business Development
and former publisher of the Baltimore Business Journal. This is
iHeartRadio CEOs you should know. I'm here today with Keith Goldman,
CEO of California Tortilla. Welcome Keith, and thanks for being here.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, thank you, John. It's a pleasure to be with
you this morning.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Yeah, looking forward to our conversation. I thought we'd get
started by just getting to know the organization a little
bit and then then we'll get into talking about you
and your leadership role. But so, for those who may
not be familiar, could you tell us about California Tortilla.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Sure, be happy to so. I guess the elevator pitch
would be that when a fast casual California, Mexican concept
specializing in best in class food quality, innovative chef inspired creations,
and our famous wall of Flame featuring seventy five hot sauces.
Bob as my business partner and I formed two entities
(01:03):
in two thousand and three. One entity sells and supports
franchise operations and the other builds, opens and operates company
managed restaurants, and kind of to back up a little bit,
the precursor to us starting our growth in two thousand
and three was kind of we stumbled into a small,
independently run restaurant and be Says of Maryland in two
(01:25):
thousand and one that we thought had great potential. The
restaurant was operating as a fast casual concept before you know,
fast casual was even coined as a sasion in the industry.
And you know, we saw lines out the door every day,
and the sason was great, the atmosphere was great, and
after getting to know the owners by virtue of being
(01:48):
frequent customers, we convinced them and it's let us open
a unit in Potomac, Maryland. So it's a long story store.
We actually opened a two units, one in Potomac and
another and only and these things are just successful beyond
our imaginations.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
So awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
So the next step was we struck a deal with
the original owners and we to buy them out essentially,
and we you know, the divertue of opening our two stores,
we developed a complete operating system. We standardized all the processes, procedures,
we honed recipes and the menu offering and he basically trade,
a fast casual concept we feel is perfectly suited for franchising,
(02:30):
and that's kind of what we did. In two thousand
and three, we published our first FTD, which is a
franchise disclosure document and trademark the brand. And since then
we have you know, selectively added franchisees as well as
opening up to several other company restaurants.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Awesome, Awesome, appreciate sharing that. What would you say is
your mission?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Well, our mission is clearly to be a great franchise
or and I think the two biggest deliverables on that
and are to provide a great brand the tranchise ese
can be successful with, and to provide great training and
support and all the disciplines of owning and operating a restaurant.
And you know, so prior to embarking on this opportunity,
(03:13):
I had experience managing many different ownership structured operations. I
own my own place for several years, I managed restaurants
for several others. I was actually a franchise e of
other concepts, and I kind of, you know, concluded that
the best opportunity for most people who wanted to get
into the restroom business was to buy into a great
(03:33):
franchise concept and because you know the best opportunity for
lasting success because you're really what you're doing is as
you're buying into a combined experience and success of the
leadership team.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
So yeah, and would that would that would you say
kind of it sets you apart in your franchise model?
I mean, does that what makes it attractive for entrepreneurs
is you know, the leadership team there, the proving concept,
like what are what are some other things that make
that at your active for entrepreneurs?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Well, yeah, definitely. You know, I think people who have
worked in the business, the restaurant business, you know, have
a few of the necessary disciplines to be partially successful, right,
Very few people are experts in every discipline. I mean
you have to have you know, operations, you have to
have marketing, you have to have supply chain, you have
(04:25):
to have finance, you have to you know, you just
have to hit on all cylinders. It's not enough just
to know how to cook. You know, how to be
a good cook and provide uses. You know, it'll do
that easy.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Everybody would do it, right, Yeah, And what what states
do you have locations in?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Well, we currently have twenty units in you know, the DMV,
which is a Maryland Virginia d C. And we have
six units in Pennsylvania, one in New Jersey, one in
West Virginia, and one in Charleston, South Carolina. We are
registered and thirty five states total are currently we're just
(05:02):
stop bringing those states.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Okay? Great? And do you have any company stores or
are they all franchise stores.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I know we have nine company stores that were on
and twenty one franchise chants.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
That's great. And from the franchise perspective, are there particular
states that you're looking to you know, kind of start
growth first or like or doesn't really matter. What's kind
of the plan there?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Well, we kind of like the wheel and spoke model
where we build off build out from a center. And
this is because I think when you do that, you
have brand recognition. For one, people are familiar with your name,
they've heard of you, and you also have the benefit
of a tighter supply chain. It's easier to get everybody
(05:48):
the products that we need for them to use to
actually the brand properly all of our proprietary items.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Gotcha? That makes sense? What would you say? And you know,
if I'm a interested in franchise like you. What would
you say sets you apart from other kind of fast casuals.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
It's definitely the food. I am very passionate about how
good our food is. I mean, I after twenty three
years of doing this, I still go into our restaurant
and order food and eat it, and I'm almost almost
surprised at how good is this is really good? More
people need to taste this food. I mean, it's just good.
And it's really because we have a scratch kitchen. We
(06:31):
make very fresh recipes every day. Some we make several
times a day. We have no freezers in our restaurants,
and we have a variety of flavors that you just
won't find in a typical Mexican restaurant. You know. But
the buzzword is cravable. You got to create things that
people crave and the only way they can get those
cravable items is to come to your place because you're
(06:52):
the only one that offers it. So we kind of
focus on that. I think we have a great value
proposition operating fast casual category. I think for like a
buck or two more than you would pay at a
fast food restaurant, we provide a much healthier, much higher
quality and taste your food, and an environment it's cool.
(07:13):
And we're also considerably less money than you would pay
at a casual, sit down restaurant, and we still provide
a fresher product and a quicker delivery system. So I
think we're really in a sweet spot.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Awesome, Yeah, sounds like it now. Now you had mentioned
before you co founded the company in twenty or two
thousand and three, and you're now in a fairly I
guess a new role as the CEO. Are there any
new initiatives that planned for twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
You know, I think one of the key to sustaining
brand success over time is your ability to change and
adapt to environmental changes, and you know that. I think
the desks of many brands is complacency. You know, you
got to keep moving forward and being inovative. So I
think what we did we kind of find tuned during
the pandemic years, is a new evolution of our brand,
(08:07):
which we call the ACE model. The ACE is an
acronym that stands for Accuracy, Customization, and Engagement. After doing
a lot of market research and studying the current trends,
we identified three opportunities we wanted to address. One was accuracy,
which is a common problem across the industry, not getting
(08:28):
what you order, and you know, how could we improve that.
The second is a growing trend toward customization. It seemed
like the millennials and other generations really wanted to customize
their meal choice, you know, the ability to easily change
add the lead ingredients from your menu item. And the
third was, you know, customer engagement. We wanted to improve
(08:51):
the experience and the engagement between our crew and the customers.
So they call it ACE. And in addition to changing
the format, we have completely new look, new finishes, new
furniture package, new interiors, sign package, We initiated digital menu boards,
and we flipped the service system to make it a
(09:13):
pay lass model what we call it. So, you know,
if you kind of combine that with the outlook for
the industry right now, which is very good. Yeah, I
think a lot of indicators are showing that as fast Casual,
as I mentioned, is in a sweet spot. It's the
projected to have steady growth over the next twenty years,
and it's projected to be the largest growth segment of
(09:34):
the restaurant category. And so you know, we have a
new version, and I forgot to mention, but this version
is outperforming the traditional version a lot, so AUVs are
much higher, and so it's a great time to match
the current environment our new brand and start to grow.
(09:55):
So growth is really our major initiative right now. You know,
we would like to grow. We'd like to find multi
unit operators. We'd like to be in non traditional spaces
such as airports, travel plazas, universities now, as well as
looking for independences who want to start their own business.
We're always open to bring them aboard as well.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
That's awesome, awesome, I appreciate you sharing that, but doesn't
switch gears a little bit. I'd like to talk about
leadership on the show. How would you describe your leadership style?
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Well, first of all, I said, I think philosophically, I
try to embed this and the organization is that I
always like to look in the mirror, not out the window,
meaning focus on what you can control and don't waste
time on what you can't.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
So, you know, if our.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Team is not achieving a goal or an objective, you know,
I think let's assume the problem is us, you know,
and there's something we need to fix and change, maybe
a change of tactic and this get back on track
instead in blaming the environment. There's there's things that there's
nothing we can do about. But style wise, you know,
I would say a cross between coaching and democratic. You know.
(11:05):
I have always in a hands on, lead by example type.
I love if I'm having a stressful day, I go
across the street to our restaurant and I hop on
the line for an hour and I feel great. And
I love to work with the crew. And you know,
we love to collaborate with the team members from top
through the bottom of our organization chart. And I think
sometimes if you really want to know how to solve
(11:27):
a problem, you go right to blind cook so the
prep people and they ask them. They know exactly how
to fix a problem. Sometimes that's overlooked. They do it
every day all day, so that you know they're smart.
They know they know how to fix and stuff. I think,
you know, I like, I say, I like to coach.
I like to collaborate, get people a chance for input,
(11:48):
you know, But once we decide on something, and I
kind of see myself as a facilitator and a coach
to help them get from a to z and complete
a task.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
That's great. Oh man, lot good nuggets in there. I
love what you said about look in the mirror not
out the window. That's that's also that's a that's a
really good takeaway as a really like what you said
on the collaboration side. I think in a lot of senses,
when you're you're in a leadership role and even though
maybe in the past you've done that, you know, the
(12:19):
you know, whether it's the line cook or a sales
role or you know cash here or whatever that role is.
You even though they've done that years ago, you kind
of you kind of forget, like and you get you
get kind of out of that day to day thinking,
you know, in that leadership role. So I do. I
love the I love you know, your idea or style
(12:40):
of you know, asking them, I mean, what's what's working,
what's not. And I'm a big I was a big
believer in that as well and running the BBJ and
always wanted to, you know, ask employees like what you know,
what they thought, and be transparent and understand what they're
going through each day. So that's great. I appreciate sharing.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Yeah, I think you got to get buy in these days.
Is the long gone of the days where you just
say do it because I told you to do it.
It doesn't work anymore. People want to know why, how,
and when you know exactly?
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Uh? Yeah, And you mentioned earlier about the about the pandemic.
I know we're kind of you know, past that and everything.
But if looking back on that experience, what would you
say you learned about managing or you know, communicating with
employees during that time.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Well, yeah, the pandemic was certainly a challenging time for
everyone in Yeah, you know, there was a lot of fear, uncertainty,
and emotion to manage when the pandemic first hit. I
think I learned that, you know, in times of crisis,
you really have to put your people first, above the
business and kind of address their fears and concerns and
put them at ease. But as a company, now we
(13:50):
have a plan to survive this ordeal and to take
care of their needs. So, you know, the first thing
we did is kind of implement programs that made people
feel safe coming back to work and even you know,
going forward. And then you know, from there, we implemented
several new programs that adapted to the new world order
of you know, carry out delivery, curb side pickup, family needs,
(14:12):
you know, all the new things we had to implement
and execute to stay you know, stay alive. And yeah, simultaneously,
we helped all of our franchisease that needed help applying
for the government assistance that was available, and we even
sourced a bank that agreed the process all of our applications.
So that was a big part of it, you know,
because I think many of our franchisees and as well
(14:35):
as the company so as we needed that money to
keep our people employed and move forward. So it was
we also learned how to become very proficient using zoom
and teams to communicate with our franchise These two things
I'd never heard of before.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
So I know, well, it's funny, like you know, that
was coming down the pike, you know, and I think
that if there's anything that good that came out of
the pandemic was and from a communications standpoint, it was
that everybody knows how to do zooms and and you know,
teens and all these other those other ways to communicate
(15:10):
because you know, the workforce has changed, you know, there's
more hybrid you know jobs these days, so that kind
of communication that's needed anyway. So yeah, yeah, at least
we got that out of it. But I think that
fast forward to that technology by gosh, probably five or
ten years and things. But what what what gets excited
(15:32):
about the future of California Tortilla.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Well, yeah, I just think we're finally I'm excited that
we're finally past the pandemic, We're past the supplied chain
issues that followed it. And you know, I think it's
affordable again to build a restaurant and to run a restaurant,
and you know, the profit margins are falling back in line.
So I'm just excited for growth. I think it's a
(15:57):
good time too, and we're in a good position to
grow and that's yeah, we're looking forward to.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Yeah. On the other side, what what keeps you up
at night?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Well, you know, if you're in this business, you're always
up at night. That's when you thought pops into your
head and it's just like it. You know, you're always
you can never rest, you can never rest, You're always
trying to figure out how to do better than you
did the day before. You're always feeling it. You know,
what challenges are going to come my way? He what
competitors who I have to deal with, what changes in
(16:28):
the demographics. So I need to understand, you know, how
do you continue to evolve the brand so that you
stay relevant and then you stay on top of the
on top of the curve. I mean that's we that
to our franchise ease, that's what they rely on us for.
And it's a big responsibility because you can't, like I said,
there's no rest for the wear. You have to keep
(16:48):
moving forward.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
That's great, that's great. Well to wrap things up, you know,
is there anything else you'd like Our listeners said about
you in California Tortia.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Well, come on out and and give u the food
a try as you're close to one. It's a great concept,
it's a great brand where you know, we really want
to get out there and be more Marcus and more
people can taste the difference. And yeah, that's about it.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Great And tell us how to find more information about
California Tortilla, whether to go you know, find the location
or even look at the franchise opportunity.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Yeah, you to our website which is www dot California
Tortilla dot com. We do have a franchise page on
our site. And it kind of walks you through the
opportunity along with any contact information you would need to
get in touch with us.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
That's great. Well, thank you so much for your time today.
It was really I really enjoyed our conversation and look
forward to seeing more California tortillas around the d m V.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Oh great, John, Thank you appreciate it coming.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
This has been iHeartMedia CEOs.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
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