🎙️ EP46: From Nando’s to Tech to Ball Pits – The Wild Ops Journey of Travis Fish
In this episode, Adam sits down with Travis Fish, Operations Director at Comptoir Group, co-founder of BabaBoom and his new baby 🔥 Ops Club.
Travis shares a candid look at his journey from traditional hospitality ops at Nando’s to launching his own brand, diving into tech startups, and bringing competitive socialising to life with Ballie Ballerson.
We explore how failing his degree opened the door to his hospitality career, what it's like to build and scale restaurant brands, and the intersection of tech and human ops in modern hospitality.
🔥 Highlights include:
- Why Travis says clarity and consistency are key to ops leadership
- The biggest lessons from launching Bababoom and how idealism meets reality
- What he learned sitting on the board of a PE-backed business
- Why tech adoption fails without behaviour change
- His experience choosing tech like Lightspeed, PlanDay, and Qdini in small vs big business
- His bets on the future of hospitality tech – hint: AI, automation, and comms
- The hilarious reality of starting out scrubbing ball pit balls…
Whether you're in ops, tech, or dreaming of starting your own restaurant brand, this episode is packed with real-world wisdom and honest reflection.
Travis’s Podcast Answers
🔥 Best Hospitality Experience: Wachca (Paddington)
🔥 Best Hospitality Tech: Youda
🔥 Best Restaurant: Bucci (Balham)
🔥 Best Burger: Honest Burgers
🔥 Best Hotel: Premier Inn Hub
🏷️ Brands Mentioned
Ops Club https://getopspeople.com/signup
Bababoom https://www.bababoom.london/
Planday https://www.planday.com
Eposability https://eposability.com
👉 Listen now and subscribe to hear more behind-the-scenes chats with leaders shaping hospitality.
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