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Have you ever had a Potbelly’s sandwich? In case you dwell in America, chances are high you will have. They’re in 32 states, have over 400 areas and so they’re unbelievable. 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.
Beneath 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 number of jobs in my profession, and I feel the very best half about being a CEO is bringing all of that have collectively, however nonetheless targeted on the identical precise factor. One among my mentors warned me that being the CEO could be lonely, and in reality, he gave me good recommendation to seek out others in related positions who you may join with and switch to. I belief the leaders on my group. I like participating with my senior management group. 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 concerning the imaginative and prescient, the technique, or the choices of the day.”
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On his enterprise beginnings
“The summer season after my freshman 12 months in faculty, I wished a job that summer season that will pay me not solely a wage however give an opportunity to earn suggestions. And I need to not have been lower 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 feel that was my interview! I advised 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 purchased blue pants and began working at Domino’s and I used to be there for 12 years. I did not understand that taking alternatives that had been introduced to you possibly can be as worthwhile as they might be if you happen to had been simply keen to take the prospect.”
The key of Potbelly’s success
“We sit proper within the candy spot of the fast-casual client with this superb differentiated menu of sandwiches which might be sizzling and toasted at 500 levels, in addition to soups and salads made recent whenever you organize them. Our cookies are the very best on the planet. Our sugar cookie is best 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 developments 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 buyer goes. Larger high quality, extra worth for the cash, and extra flexibility and alternative to make use of that model in the best way that matches your life. Certain, persons are going out, sitting down round a desk, getting waiter service and so forth. However quick informal is the place all the large progress is as a result of that is the place the buyer is.”
On studying
“I like to learn biographies of individuals which have been achieved, have been nice leaders, have been founders of our nation. I assumed David McCullough was an interesting author — Truman, 1776, these had been, these had been superior books. I feel you study extra from watching than from being advised. And biographies are a approach for us to observe what different folks have carried out.”
Take a look at extra profiles of revolutionary and impactful leaders by visiting The CEO Collection archives.