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Have you ever had a Potbelly’s sandwich? Should you stay in America, chances are high you will have. They’re in 32 states, have over 400 places and so they’re incredible. On this episode of The CEO Collection, I broke bread with Potbelly CEO Bob Wright and obtained his secret recipe for this nationwide powerhouse franchise’s success.
Under are some highlights of that dialog, which have been edited for size and readability. Watch the complete video above.
On being a CEO
“I’ve had a whole lot of jobs in my profession, and I believe the very best half about being a CEO is bringing all of that have collectively, however nonetheless centered on the identical precise factor. Considered one of my mentors warned me that being the CEO may be lonely, and in reality, he gave me good recommendation to search out others in related positions who you possibly can join with and switch to. I belief the leaders on my workforce. I like participating with my senior management workforce. They’re the neatest and the very best within the enterprise. However everyone seems to be trying to the CEO to have a management place and to have a thought in regards to the imaginative and prescient, the technique, or the selections of the day.”
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On his enterprise beginnings
“The summer time after my freshman 12 months in school, I needed a job that summer time that might pay me not solely a wage however give an opportunity to earn ideas. And I have to not have been reduce it ready tables as a result of I attempted for nearly a month. I walked right into a Domino’s in Houston and requested in the event that they had been hiring. The man requested me if I had blue pants. So I believe that was my interview! I instructed him I did (which was a lie really) and he mentioned, ‘All proper, see you again right here at 4 o’clock.’ So I went to the mall and acquired blue pants and began working at Domino’s and I used to be there for 12 years. I did not notice that taking alternatives that had been introduced to you could possibly be as precious as they might be for those who had been simply keen to take the possibility.”
The key of Potbelly’s success
“We sit proper within the candy spot of the fast-casual shopper with this superb differentiated menu of sandwiches which are scorching and toasted at 500 levels, in addition to soups and salads made recent if you get them organized. Our cookies are the very best on the planet. Our sugar cookie is healthier than anybody I’ve ever had in my life. I have been a fan of this model for 20 years and have at all times thought that it had nice potential. It is obtained nice heritage, too.”
On traits in quick informal eating
“I would say a few of it has its roots within the pandemic, however quick informal is clearly the place the patron goes. Greater high quality, extra worth for the cash, and extra flexibility and alternative to make use of that model in the way in which that matches your life. Positive, individuals are going out, sitting down round a desk, getting waiter service and so forth. However quick informal is the place all the huge progress is as a result of that is the place the patron is.”
On studying
“I like to learn biographies of individuals which were completed, have been nice leaders, have been founders of our nation. I assumed David McCullough was an enchanting author — Truman, 1776, these had been, these had been superior books. I believe you be taught extra from watching than from being instructed. And biographies are a means for us to look at what different folks have finished.”
Take a look at extra profiles of revolutionary and impactful leaders by visiting The CEO Collection archives.
