Ep 05 Part 1 Restaurant Industry Insights with Kep Sweeney, CEO of PDQ and Former Wall Street Analyst

Ep 05 Part 1 Restaurant Industry Insights with Kep Sweeney, CEO of PDQ and Former Wall Street Analyst

In this episode of the Instant Payments podcast, host Tal Clark, CEO of Instant Financial, interviews Kep Sweeney, the CEO of PDQ Restaurants. Kep shares his extensive background in the restaurant industry, from working in kitchens as an executive chef to transitioning to an analyst role on Wall Street and ultimately leading PDQ restaurants. The discussion covers PDQ's business model, its focus on quality, workforce management, and current challenges in the restaurant industry. Kep also provides insights into the quick-service restaurant (QSR) space and how businesses can navigate market pressures. Tune in for part two, where Tal and Kep will discuss tipping etiquette, restaurant trends, and AI applications in the industry. To learn more, visit instant.co/podcast.

00:00 Welcome to the Instant Payments Podcast

00:39 Introducing Today's Guest: Kep Sweeney

01:40 Kep Sweeney's Journey in the Restaurant Industry

04:00 Transition to Wall Street and Analytics

07:56 Joining PDQ Restaurants

10:15 PDQ's Business Model and Employee Focus

15:07 Current Challenges in the Restaurant Industry

20:51 Conclusion and What's Next

Learn more at www.instant.co/podcast.

Check out www.eatpdq.com.

Episode Transcript

Tal Clark (00:05):
Hello everyone.
Welcome to the Instant Payments podcast.
I'm your host, Tal Clark.
I'm the CEO of Instant Financial,a FinTech company that modernizes
payments and payroll for hourlyworkers and their employers.
I've worked in the paymentsindustry for 30 years at companies
like Fiserv, a Money Network, andI'm glad you're tuning in today.
If you like what you hear, pleasedo us a favor and subscribe.

(00:26):
Leave a review or suggestedfuture guests for us to talk to.
This podcast features industryleaders to discuss some of their
challenges and the technologiesthey've used to improve their workplace
and the lives of their workforce.
Today's guest is truly seeing therestaurant business from every angle,
from being in the kitchen, to being inthe boardroom, and even on Wall Street.

(00:47):
Ke Sweeney as the CEO of PDQRestaurants, which stands for
people dedicated to quality.
With more than 30 years of experiencein the restaurant industry, Kepp has
worn just about every hatch you canimagine from Wall Street analysts
covering the restaurant sector tobeing an executive chef in some of
the nation's finest restaurants, toexecutive roles leading financial
turnarounds, and restructuring some of thenation's largest fashion casual brands.

(01:12):
He's also the author of theNew Restaurant Entrepreneur.
And it's been featured as an expertcommentator on major outlets.
Kelp, welcome to the show.
Where are you joining usfrom today and how are you

Kep Sweeney (01:21):
I'm doing great.
I'm from, um, I'm in Tampa.
I live in Tampa at theheadquarters of PDQI.

Tal Clark (01:30):
Super great spot to be.
I'm in Pensacola.
We're getting a little bitweather up for a change.
Uh, cool, cool.
Being 75.

Kep Sweeney (01:38):
yeah.
Yeah.
It's getting better.

Tal Clark (01:40):
So moving forward a little bit, well look, I gave a little bit
of your background in the intro, butwe'd love to sort of hear in your own
words, your journey, if you don't mind.
Um, sort of your journey from, from, fromwhen you got in the restaurant industry
to sort of where, where you are today,and then we can pick it up from there.

Kep Sweeney (01:56):
I started off in kitchens and then I was uh, um, kind of my,
my big break after college was I,Jeremiah Tower, who had stars and.
He was a, um, a legend at thattime and he really, um, created the
foundation for New American Cuisine.
He was, uh, on a book tour and Ifollowed him to a number of places

(02:19):
and would talk to him after.
And I said, I'd like to work there.
And I said that, um, he didn't respond.
He didn't respond, he didn't respond.
I sent a letter saying, I'm sending,uh, I'm moving to San Francisco.
I have no job and I have no money.
And my intention is to work at Stars.
And I did it and I, after threeinterviews, I was, I got the

(02:41):
right to peel garlic there,peel garlic, and peel tomatoes.
So it was, uh, um, yeah,it was great though.
It was great to be in that environment.
And then I was able to, uh, kind of movethrough kitchens and, and I, I did, well,
I, I got an award from Julia Child, um,went to court on Blue in London, and I
was, uh, executive chef of 21 Federal.

(03:02):
Yeah, that was, um, it was interestingthough because it, during that
time I was, uh, building with afriend outta San Francisco, uh,
software for food cost management.
And I, I always had like a, a bias onthat side of the business, on, on the
business side of the, um, the businessside of the restaurant industry.

(03:27):
So I liked, uh, I, I likedworking over on that side.
I think, I think I was bettersuited for it than as a chef.
I like being a chef, as a, a manager, butyou know, I see some of the things out
there and some of these people, and I, I'mreally amazed and how they think of that.
And I, I, I don't know thatthat was So I'm glad where I am.

Tal Clark (03:50):
Yeah.
Well, that's great.
That's great.
So when did you, uh, what year did youmake the transition from executive chef?
I guess to, to more on the

Kep Sweeney (04:00):
I, um, went to MBA school at University of North Carolina, and
then I was hired as a restaurant analystat Solomon Brothers, uh, on wall.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Okay.

Kep Sweeney (04:11):
So that was the, that the, the transition.
And that got me, you know, intothe analytics side, modeling
side of the, the industry.

Tal Clark (04:26):
Well that's, that's really interesting.
And, uh, for those that thatdon't know and, and I don't know
as much detail in that area.
So as a, as a Wall Street analystin the restaurant space, really,
what was your focus as far as.
The type businesses you were focusedon, and then I guess some of the

(04:47):
data you were focused on as well,what was always interesting to
you and important as an analyst.

Kep Sweeney (04:52):
Uh, let me.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
You're okay?
Can you still hear me
okay?
I.

(05:47):
Yeah.
Uh,

Speaker (06:00):
okay.
Well, that's super.
Well, and tell us what afew of those things were.
That's, that would be great toknow and great to share, I think.
What were some things that stoodout to you about what they did or
what they were doing at the timethat made them so successful?

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Okay.
Okay.

Speaker (07:43):
Well that's great.
Well, and so you were there for.
At, um, you were as you worked as ananalyst for a bit, when did you, when
did you make the transition from being anan analyst into what you're doing today?
And I guess talk a little bitabout what you do today and
how you got involved with PDQ.

(10:06):
Okay, I got you.
That's good.
Well talk a little bit more about,we talked about how you arrived at
PDQ and what your role is there.
Tell us just about PDQ.
Tell us about, for peoplethat aren't familiar with the.
Brand or the restaurant or the concept.
Tell us a little bit aboutwhat PD Q's all about.

(11:13):
Well, that's great.
That's great.
And, and how many locations is PDQ today?
Okay.
Well good.
What is, uh, where's the business today?
I mean, I know you've been there.
At how long have you been at PDQKepp and where would you describe,

(11:35):
how would you describe the businesstoday, in the next couple of years?
What are the goals and path forward?

(12:24):
All right.
Well that's great.
And I know that PDQ stands forpeople dedicated to quality.
We mentioned that when we started.
How is that representedin the environment?
What are, what is your focus in regardsto assuring that your employees.
Are dedicated to quality and,and making sure they're in
a good position to do that.
What is some of the focuses?

(12:46):
Your focus from a, froma personnel perspective?

(13:47):
Got you.
And that is very similarto the Outback model?
Is that what you're Yeah.
That's what you're referencing.
Okay.
Is that also similar tomaybe a Chick-fil-A model?

(14:09):
I.

(15:00):
Okay.
That makes, that makes a lot of sense.
And I can imagine they enjoyworking there because of that.
Let's, let's talk just, uh, brieflyabout the headwinds that, that
we're seeing in some cases in therestaurant industry today, maybe
specifically for you in the QSR space.
Um.
With your analyst background, I'd loveto hear just a little bit of a commentary

(15:22):
on where do you think we are in therestaurant, restaurant space, specifically
the QSR space, and what do owners andmanagers need to be planning for or
are looking at as ways to, you know,be successful in their business today?

Speaker 3 (17:31):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (17:49):
Yeah.

Speaker (18:38):
Oh wow.

Speaker 2 (19:16):
Okay.
Yes.

Speaker (19:23):
Okay.
Well that's interesting.
And do you think you're talking, itsounds like you're talking a little bit
about some price compression, I guess.
Well, not compression in the,by that I don't mean decreasing
prices, but because of some of theinflationary things we've seen.
A lot of the pricing has ended upessentially in the same place except for

(19:43):
your table service, high-end restaurants.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
Okay.
Okay.

Speaker (20:51):
Well that's very interesting and I think, uh, you know, that's
a, that's a great place ke forus to wrap up this session.
It's been a great discussion.
We'll wrap here from now and say therest of the conversation for later
and pick up some more of what wewere talking about for our listeners.
You can learn more about PD [e-mail].
Please tune back in for part twoof our podcast where we'll dive

(21:14):
into tipping, etiquette, distress,restaurant trends, and even kept
thoughts on AI in the restaurant space.
As always, thanks for joining uson the Instant Payments Podcast.