All Episodes

Shawn Askinosie left a successful career as a criminal defense lawyer to start a bean-to-bar chocolate business – Askinosie Chocolate. It is a small batch direct trade chocolate maker in Missouri, sourcing 100% of their cocoa beans directly from farmers. Shawn’s commitment to fairness, sustainability, minimal environmental impact, and community enhancement is undeniable. It was great catching up with Shawn to learn more about his work ethic and advice on leading purpose-driven initiatives. Tune...

Today we are joined by the co-founder of a mission-driven fashion brand Thumbprint, as well as Strategy and Brand Consultant for a number of great hospitality brands – Edward Francis. We explore how Ed and his co-founder Evgenia Baydikova have launched a fashion brand that, from the outset, is helping the world become a better place. Thumbprint Apparel breaks the mold of the fashion industry, by building a business around the people who make your clothes: young women from low income communities ...

Today’s guest, Dan Simons, co-created and co-owns Farmers Restaurant Group, which includes seven restaurants in DC, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, including Founding Farmers, Farmers Fishers Bakers, Farmers & Distillers, and their distillery, Founding Spirits. The company supports over 1,500 employees and continues to grow. Dan blogs regularly @Dan Simons Says about restaurants and hospitality, personal productivity and time management, developing partnerships and brands and environmental...

Want to build a brand that people rave about? Dan Nash is the founder of SixEight, an agency that helps food brands turn their customers into a cult of superfans. As a Brand Strategist, it’s Dan’s mission to make food brands become a force for good, behave more like humans and generate the same intense love as the best brands in the world. He works with brands like Dishoom, Flat Iron, and Tonkotsu who have a story worth fighting for. We talk about how you tell and scale your story so it has a h...

Many companies are communicating 30 - 40 years out of date. But by bringing more emotion and humanness to your language, your company’s values and ‘soul’ can be brought to the center stage. To learn more about telling stories, I am joined by Anthony Tasgal – Trainer, Author, Speaker, Strategist and Lecturer. In this conversation, Tas talks candidly about what drew him to the art of storytelling and what we can learn from some of the great masters of communication like Pericles and Nelson Mandel...

As you know, I’m a big fan of checklists, so it was great having a like-minded guest on today’s show – Tommy Yionoulis – to explore all things Operations Management and ticking things off your list. Tommy is the founder of OpsAnalitica, a platform that helps operators manage their daily operations and identify issues in their businesses, so they can address these before they escalate elsewhere in the business. Join us as we discuss how to avoid “business death by a thousand mistakes”, what is a...

Joining me on the show for the second time is Ari Weinzweig, the co-founder of Zingerman's Community of Businesses. You have probably heard me reference Zingerman’s on the show about how they are true trailblazers when it comes to building a business that make sound financial results as well as a positive impact on people, society and the planet. Ari has written a range of books and pamphlets including ‘The Guide to Good Leading Series - Part 1, 2, 3 & 4’ – and today we will be diving into the...

Peter Georgiou is the Founder and CEO of Supper, a platform which delivers exceptional food in London, from quality casual to Michelin starred, straight to your home or office by their custom-built fleet. They are now known as the luxury delivery company of choice for London’s finest restaurants and retailers. The idea started with a poor restaurant delivery experience one night with a friend, and Peter realised he could bring his previous expertise and insight to offer a better solution to the ...

With over 30 years of innovating and leading, Mats Lederhausen has a strong belief and commitment to a more long term and more impactful capitalism. Born in Sweden, Mats began his career with McDonald's and worked for The Boston Consulting Group. Now based in the US, he is now the CEO and Founder of Be-Cause, a platform for investing and building businesses with a purpose bigger than their products. I am a huge fan of his weekly blog and newsletter called In Pursuit of Elevation, which is a gre...

Paul Hargreaves is the CEO at Cotswold Fayre and Flourish, and author of two inspirational books – ‘Forces for Good’ and ‘The Fourth Bottom Line’. As a B Corp Ambassador, he often speaks to leaders who want to change the world through better business. It was powerful to learn more about his personal and professional journey that’s taken him to where he is today. Paul joins me today to share what we can learn from his businesses – they are great examples of how you can build a financially sound ...

What does winning look like for you this year? Today’s guest, Matt Rolfe, invites you to reflect on how you can work on yourself before you work on your team. Through his leadership coaching, Matt helps hospitality leaders and leadership teams achieve the results they want and deserve. His latest book, ‘You Can't Do It Alone: Focusing on People to Scale, Develop, and Lead Your Restaurant’, is a great read with some great insights about navigating the post-pandemic world. What stood out to me fr...

Creating a green and equal world needs to be a mission for all companies, not a side project. But it’s a courageous mission that can feel overwhelming, so there is a great book that can give you that much-needed direction –‘Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take’ by Andrew S. Winston (Consultant on corporate strategy) and Paul Polman (ex-Unilever CEO). The authors show business leaders how to take on humanity's greatest and most urgent challenges—climate chan...

Our guest today shares how hospitality is at the foundation of many great businesses. James Geier is the Founder and President of 555 International, an interior design and specialty manufacturing firm. With over 40 years in launching and running businesses, it was never his original intention to even own his own business, so it was refreshing to learn more about his mentoring approach to leadership. A big theme from our conversation is about hospitality entrepreneurship, and how he is developin...

I’m super excited to speak with Thom Elliot co-founder of Pizza Pilgrims, who makes authentic Neapolitan pizzas in Central London and beyond. Pizza Pilgrims started life in 2011, after Thom and James drove a three-wheeled Piaggio Ape back from Italy on a 6 week ‘Pizza Pilgrimage’ of discovery to learn everything there is to know about pizza. I love their latest venture, the Pizza Academy, which is designed to inspire young people to choose hospitality as a career and be a center of excellence f...

Roland Horne’s approach to the pursuit of mastery is fascinating. He entered hospitality because he was a disgruntled customer. Fast forward to today, he is the founder and CEO of the Central London specialty coffee chain WatchHouse. From day one it has been the company’s vision to grow and offer great coffee to great communities. This was a truly remarkable conversation where we find out how businesses should give more than they take. If you want to learn more about growth, then this one's for...

Mark Cribb is the host of Humans of Hospitality podcast and Director of Urban Guild – a local, independent hospitality company based in his hometown Bournemouth, UK. From his travels on the road, it’s been his mission to bring an inspired, energetic, creative environment to his hometown where the wonders of people and the world could be embraced and shared every day. 17 years on, Urban Guild is now made up of the Urban Beach hotel, The Wood Oven & Urban Reef, Jenkins & Sons restaurant and Urba...

What makes a place ‘special’ to work at? I’m excited to share with you a conversation I had with an expert in this field. David Dressler is a leadership coach, strategic advisor to purpose-driven entrepreneurs, author of ‘Ten Year Plan’ and one of the co-founders of Tender Greens – a successful and purpose-driven restaurant chain in the USA. In this candid interview, David shares how to form a ten year business plan, making a difference in your community, the current restaurant ‘Renaissance’, a...

How can you involve your people in building a better culture? Find out from Mel Miller, Director of Marketing & Business Development at Pathfinder Hospitality, about how they do this by operating as a people-first company. The organisation develops hotels and also manages hotels for third-party investors by leveraging its talented workforce, relationships with major hotel brands, and buying power with major hospitality-focused vendors. Join us as we discuss their philosophy around growth – an...

Today’s guest is obsessed with solving business problems and helping organizational leaders rethink the connection between employee and customer experiences. He is the co-founder and COO of Nudge, an employee communications platform. Their recent report, The Deskless Report 2021, gives some fascinating insights into the state of the ‘deskless workforce’, which we uncover in this episode. Jordan also shares what they have learned working with tech that amplifies frontline employees’ engagement a...

Hawksmoor is a British steakhouse and cocktail bar chain founded by Will Beckett and Huw Gott in 2006, after they set out in search of the perfect steak. Fast forward to today, they run nine steakhouses based in London, with a recent new opening in New York City. Will joins the show to share how they have built a business that they are proud of. This is a truly enlightening conversation where we explore how Hawksmoor makes their customers feel special. We also discuss prioritising your staff, h...

I love speaking with guests who find different ways of building a business, and today’s guest is no exception. Carly Trisk-Grove is the Co-creator of OPOP (One Plate One Price), a social enterprise restaurant that offers a new model for casual dining. Carly is on a mission to find out how restaurants can be run for the benefit of the community they serve. Carly shares how restaurants can be a catalyst for change in society through three ways: health, work and combating loneliness. Tune in as we...

Today’s guests – with no prior experience in hospitality – have excelled in their food business. Born and brought up in rural Tibet, Yeshi Jampa learned to cook nomadic food outdoors at a young age. He found his way to Oxford via India, picking up exciting new flavours along the way. They cook the finest, freshest, most authentic Tibetan food this side of the Himalayas. After first being a market stall, they now serve at festivals and private events, and have their own brick and mortar. Julie K...

“We don't need to be as busy as we need to be” – Anese Cavanaugh makes a great point in this episode to be conscious of where we spend our time and energy. Anese is the CEO of Active Choices, Inc., and author of several highly impactful books, which we explore more about on the show. Anese is also the creator of the IEP Method® (Intentional Energetic Presence®) and the Positive Energy Workplace™ Initiative, a strategist and advisor to leaders and organizations around the world and a keynote spea...

Calling in from India, Ashish Tulsian is the co-founder and CEO of POSist – the first company to provide a complete online POS solution for restaurants. Ashish kickstarted his entrepreneurial journey in 2007 by founding a telecom company right out of college. POSist came up when Ashish and co-founder Sakshi Tulsian started hunting for a software solution to automate their own restaurant but ended up creating one for themselves. They now help more than 10,000 restaurants across the world. Ashish...