Unlocking Restaurant Success Through Technology and Leadership with Eric Cacciatore

In this episode of the Restaurant Technology Guides podcast, host Jeremy Julian converses with Eric Cacciatore, founder and host of the Restaurant Unstoppable podcast. They discuss the journey and valuable lessons learned over 12 years and 1,200+ episodes of Eric's podcast. Key highlights include the importance of having integrity, always learning, teaching others, effective communication, and collaboration in the restaurant industry. Eric emphasizes the evolution of podcasting, the significance of building relationships, and the impact of systems like EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) on restaurant operations. Together, they underline that the heart of a successful restaurant lies in the people behind it and their dedication to continuous growth and service to others.

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast

01:01 Meet Eric Cacciatore: The Podcast Pioneer

02:19 Eric's Journey: From Restaurants to Podcasting

04:24 The Evolution of Podcasting

06:23 On-Site Interviews: The Heart of the Podcast

08:48 Core Values and Lessons Learned

17:41 The Importance of Integrity and Action

20:12 Being a Student and a Teacher

23:58 Teaching and Delegating for Success

25:29 Implementing EOS in Business

26:03 Understanding EOS and Its Benefits

27:15 Real-World Applications of EOS

32:01 The Importance of Continuous Learning

35:50 Building a Collaborative Network

43:42 Final Thoughts and How to Connect

Transcript

0:02

This is the Restaurant Technology Guides podcast, helping you run your restaurant better. In today's episode, I talk with Eric Kori from Restaurant Unstoppable, uh, venture to say that the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast would not exist if not for Eric's help in the early days. He and I spent a decent amount of time kind of talking about what it takes to run a successful podcast. If you haven't already checked out his show, it's amazing. He's on episode, I don't know, 1800 or something. He's interviewed some of the best restaurateurs in the world. He and I talk quite a bit about what he's learned over that journey. He's got some really great. Um, insights that he has learned talking to chefs and business owners all over the country. If you don't know me, my name is Jeremy. Julian. I am the Chief Revenue Officer for CBS North Star. We sell the North Star point of sale solution for multi-units. Please check us out@cbsnorthstar.com and now onto the episode.

Jeremy Julian: 1:01

Welcome back to the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast. I thank everyone out there for joining us. For those that are on video, they likely will recognize the face. Uh, for those that aren't, uh, I am joined by at least the second time, and Eric and I talk about this every time I get connected with him. But, uh, part of the inspiration, even some of the, some of the things that, uh, he shared with me early on on this journey were, were based on, uh, some of the stuff that Eric had shared. So, Eric, welcome back to the show. You want to introduce yourself to the audience and talk a little bit about who Eric is.

Eric Cacciatore: 1:28

Thanks for having me back on the show. Uh, founder host of Restaurant Unstoppable podcast, 12 years over 1200 episodes recorded, I think 1,190. 1,190. Just went live recently and that was your episode. So, uh, I think we're now six months of content scheduled into the future. Never been that far scheduled into the future, but the mission of the podcast is to inspire, empower, and transform the industry, man, just a student of the industry trying to learn and, and share what I'm learning.

Jeremy Julian: 1:56

Yeah. No, and it's amazing and I know we'll dig into uh, kind of what you've learned over the last 12 years.'cause, uh, early, early on you were one of those people that I, I mean, I still look up to you'cause you're at 12, 1200 episodes and I look up to you and you're one of those people that we're so generous with your time. So thank you for that. It, you know, I'll publicly thank you for being generous with your time to say, hey. Lemme tell you how, how it's gonna go. This is what it's gonna look like. So

Eric Cacciatore: 2:17

pleasure man.

Jeremy Julian: 2:18

yeah. So bring us back to 12 years ago, or even kind of where the idea came from.'cause I know you and I have talked a little bit about this online, but I'd love, I'd love for our listeners to hear what's the inception, what's the passion, um, what makes Eric tick? And, you know,'cause you've been doing this for a long time, and it takes, it takes a level of passion, it takes a level of dedication to get there to, to where you're at.

Eric Cacciatore: 2:36

Yeah, of course. So I'll, I'll try to, to give you the fast forward version. Uh, I grew up in the restaurant industry. Parents owned a restaurant for 10 years. I had a dream very early on. I was three years old when they opened it, 13 when they got out. Around that time, I decided I loved the restaurant industry. I was pretty. Outspoken about my dreams and my, my desire to open my own restaurant someday. My parents squash those dreams immediately saying, you're crazy. Do not do it. We work so hard so you don't have to go get a real job. And I took their advice and I had no idea what I wanted to do. Uh, I mean, I, I, I did actually, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a commercial pilot. Uh, I was. Enthralled with the idea of being able to just go anywhere in the world. Uh, all the pilots I knew had nice homes, beautiful cars, beautiful wives. They were happy and they had this like, tremendous amount of freedom. So I was like, sign me up for that. Um, so I kind of committed early on by the age of 16 that I was gonna be a commercial pilot. did all the studying, you know, went to aviation school. Uh. Became a commercial pilot, uh, continued to work in restaurants, row high school and college. And then I, uh, by the age of 26 decided that aviation just wasn't for me. It wasn't what I thought it was gonna be. honestly, it's everything that I'm not, uh, in terms of personal, like strengths and, uh, interests and, I had to make a really hard decision when I was 26 to resign from aviation. I found myself looking forward to my part-time jobs in restaurant industry. I was also$200,000 in debt from becoming a commercial pilot because I went to private school to do it and I was like, well, I can't work in restaurants'cause I'll never pay my debt back. But if I can't work in restaurants, I wanna work with restaurants, maybe I'll get into sales. Went back to school from marketing and hospitality and found myself as a assistant winemaker. Um, while I was back in school to learn more about wine, I thought maybe I'd get into wine sales, and that's where I discovered podcasts.

Jeremy Julian: 4:23

I love it. And, uh, I mean, and, and as I was thinking about it 12 years ago, podcasting was very different than it is today. Is that a fair, a fair assessment for those listeners that, uh, you think about how even the technology's come about. Like, I, I mean, 10 years ago, it would've been hard to ha even have this conversation the way that we're doing it now online, right?

Eric Cacciatore: 4:40

conceptually it's the same, it's two people talking, right? Uh, the technology has come a long way. Uh, when I started my podcast, I had to educate my guests on what a podcast was. It was like, what is that? I. I'm like, just take this phone call. I'm gonna ask you questions. We're gonna record it and I'm gonna publish it. Uh, I had to educate marketers in the world of podcast or in the world of restaurant business, like tech companies, like, Hey, did you know you could sponsor my podcast? So when I started, I was literally just like, throwing anything against the wall to see what would stick. and yeah, and like the technology, the, the, the marketing around it, the, I was definitely ahead of the curve.

Jeremy Julian: 5:17

Absolutely. Well, and, and most recently, I don't know if you, uh, you caught the article by Joe Gutkowski from, uh, the Restaurant Business Online. He posted, he is like, what? know, it feels like. and he referenced you. You referenced me and a couple others. How many restaurant podcasts are now out there? Whereas 12 years ago you were probably one of maybe five restaurant rock stars, you,

Eric Cacciatore: 5:35

yeah, I mean, I think only, there was only three that I knew of before I started and that was, um, Nate Riggs had a show, I can't even

Jeremy Julian: 5:43

Yeah. He's out of the industry altogether. He was another one that I asked early on.

Eric Cacciatore: 5:46

Uh, and then there was, Paul Baron had the um, food bowl.io podcast, and then there was the restaurant guys. and they were like out in New Jersey and they weren't even producing episodes anymore at that point. And of those three, only Paul Baron is still going. So Paul Baron and I are the longest continuous running podcast that I know of. Uh, you know, he, I think he beat me by two months, so I can't say that I'm the longest consecutive running podcast thanks to Paul Baron, but you know, he's doing great work, so

Jeremy Julian: 6:15

Yeah, no, he is a, he is a good dude and, gotten a chance to, to hang out with him. Haven't we haven't done the podcast collab like you and I have, so I'll have to, I'll have to figure out how to pull that off soon. S so Eric, talk to me a little bit about kind of, you know, I guess some of even the early days of the podcast because I think, you know, you, one of the things that I, I admire so much about you is, is you really want to dig to get into the life of what restaurants are doing. And oftentimes, I mean, you're, those that are on video, they'll see your, your, um, your sweatshirt. It's not from a place that's local to where you live, for sure. And so you travel a lot to a lot of these restaurants and sit face to face. You walk the restaurants and, and those kind of things. Is that, is that, I guess, talk to me a little bit about that, because it takes a, takes a lot to get there. I.

Eric Cacciatore: 6:56

Yeah, I guess is the, at the core of the question, why am I traveling to be on site? Is that what you're

Jeremy Julian: 7:00

Yeah, well, I'd love to just kind of understand where did that come from, because, you know, and again, 12 years ago it was probably a little bit harder, but I look at now, I look at where we're at now, and we can do this, but you still get on the road, you still have a a, a very vibrant community of people that you dig into their lives. It's not just about the food, it's not just about the experience that they're creating, but it's about a lot that you do when you

Eric Cacciatore: 7:21

honestly, yeah, it's nothing about the food, it's nothing about the experience. It's about who are you and how did you get here? Like my show isn't, I believe behind every great restaurant is a great person. in terms of traveling on site, that was always the goal. It was always the dream to be in person and to, to produce this high quality audio video. I wanted to be a professional. I wanted to do the best I could do I think as, as early as 2018, which was about five years in, I was living outta my Honda Fit and I was sleeping on people's floors, and I was like, like. Pitching a tent in the backyard if, if I had to just go be able to do these interviews in person. Part of it was because of quality, because keep in mind, you know, 2015 or 13, 14, 15 trying to get people to do a phone call, they're in, they have horrible reception. There's the audio quality's garbage, and it's just like so painful to try to like have a conversation where all you're thinking about is, I can barely hear what you're saying, you know? So really it was out of, um, desire to produce a better quality. Produ produce podcasts, like with the audio quality, specifically putting these mics, studio quality mics in front of people. and then, you know, like beyond that, it was like, well, I'm missing this huge, I'm on site. I'm missing this huge opportunity to capture, the video. Like, I'm in space, I'm here. like it's just, there's oppor, there's, I'm leaving things on the table, right? So it was just like doing the obvious things, but mean. The core of what I'm trying to do. I mean, if I, it's actually really interesting that we're having this conversation now because I'm kind of, at this moment, I'm constantly evolving and you know, I'm, I've been really reflecting and asking myself, what is it that got me here? I. You know, like what is it about what I do, you know, that got me here and I used to have these core values and they were, uh, you know, we have integrity. We are students, we're teachers, we're communicators, we are collaborators, and those are my core values. And then I realized late, like recently, I'm like, those aren't my core values. Those are more guiding principles, and we'll get to those later. My core values are. You know, freedom like that has always been the one thing. That's why I became a commercial pilot. I wanted freedom. I've always looked at birds and went, damn, that looks good. They could go anywhere. They can fly away. Like, I wanna be a bird. integrity, like just doing what you say you're gonna do. Curiosity, transparency. Having an open mind in like service to others was what this podcast was all about. When I started it, I was literally a student of the industry. I wanted to find the podcast that I wanted to create, the podcast I was looking for, and that was just a way to learn from people who knew more than I did. Like I just wanted to learn. Like it was all stemmed outta curiosity. It was stemmed out of transparency. Like, I don't wanna be the person who decides who I talk to. The last question I ask all my guesses, who do you know in your community who's doing it right? I'm not chasing vanity metrics, I'm chasing word of mouth, Um. You know, and I think really at the, at the core of that too, it was just about like service to others is like, I just wanted to create this resource that I was looking for. That I couldn't find. And there was this quote that I heard like, if you help enough other people achieve what they want in life, you can have anything in your life. And I'm paraphrasing, but that was really what it was all about. It was like, I'm not in the position with my$200,000 of school loan debt to go open a restaurant, but I can serve people who are in the position by getting them access to these, like these incredible minds, these leaders across the nation. Um, not just the Michelin Star winners or the James Beard Award winners, but like. The actual bad asses that aren't out for awards, that aren't playing the politics, that are just like vicious assassin operators that like you never hear of because they're not looking for the accolades, they're just good at what they do. Like, that's who I was after. I think being able to be in person. To be able to not just have a 30 minute or 40 minute or an hour conversation and then maybe never talk to them ever again. I wanted to be able to, it was more about establishing a relationship with them. and like there's the actual interview, but then there's the two hours before the interview that you're like getting to know each other. And then there's the, the day you spend at the restaurant afterwards, like grabbing a meal and like. Talking about who else should I talk to? So it's, it's journalistic work is really what I'm trying to do. And I, and I don't want to, I wanna be influenced by the people who know that market. and I want to also, when you show up to someone's front door and you say, Johnny down the street told me I should talk to you. People in the restaurant industry are hardwired to be like, oh, like, what are you doing tomorrow?

Jeremy Julian: 11:50

much Hospi, hospitality driven, and, and I love, I mean, and one of the things that always resonates every time I watch you, I listen to a show I see your newsletter is how much of a student. Of life and how much of a student of the world you are, Eric, you constantly are inquisitive and trying to learn and trying to grow yourself and then give that back to other people. If there's any one quality that I've seen you consistently have out there, it's that, let me learn and then let me give that away to others. so in that, let's talk, I mean, I know we, we prepped and said, Hey, what are some things that are consistently you see out there? And so I'd ask you to kind of come up with some ideas of after 1200 episodes, and it's almost impossible to distill it down, but what are some things that resonate to you as, as one of the, one of those things, or, you know, a few things that continue to come up over and over as you've learned from so many different incredible business owners over the years.

Eric Cacciatore: 12:44

Yeah, I mean, behind every great restaurant's a great person. and I can say this a million different ways. It's, it's, um, don't put your energy out. Put your energy in. it's not about what you do, it's about who you are and who you do it with, so really at the core of that, you know, what I'm trying to do with my podcast is to make an example of the people behind the restaurant and really distill what their values are, what their perspective is, and also help people realize that, you know, there is no. One way to do anything. In the restaurant industry, there's no one destination. There's so many different possibilities, whether that be, the type of concept, QSR, fast, casual, full service, fine dining, or the rate of, or the level of scale, you know, and there none of those destinations is in itself success. It's success is relative. eight years into this podcast I was like. Feeling like I didn't learn anything. The more I felt more confused than when I was, when I started and now I thought I was gonna get answers, you know? and I think I just came to terms with like, it's like, this is qu, this is relativity, this is quantum physics. Like, there is no right answer there. It's, there's so much that can be true at once and there can be two polar truths. so, um, I guess what I'm trying to do with my, my podcast, um, what I've learned is that behind a restaurant's a great person. I'm more about sharing perspective and, trying to understand the complexities and to offer that perspective to the, the listener. And I think the listener has to pick and choose. What resonates with them and chart their own path that's uniquely tailored to their strengths and weaknesses and values,

Jeremy Julian: 14:23

Yeah. Which goes back to even your, your core value of freedom and you know, the, the freedom to choose what it is that makes you tick. and I love that thought that you have that. and my own team that, that works with me every day, struggles with it.'cause they'll be like, Hey, can I have an answer to this? And I can't ever give them a straight, direct answer.'cause it's like, well, help me understand where you're going. Happens with my kids as well. They're like, well, help me understand this. It's like, what is your goal? Is your goal to spend more time at home with your kids? Then automate some portion of your restaurant close on Monday so that you can hang out with kids all day, whatever that might be. If it's to grow to multi-units, you need to understand where are you going in order to understand what does success look like. is that kind of what you're hearing from people out there in the world?

Eric Cacciatore: 15:02

Yeah. You know, it's relative. Yeah. And, um, success is in the eye of the beholder. it's about self-awareness and being like understanding your, your core values. This is something. That I'm going through right now in full transparency, it's been hard for me as somebody whose sole source of income is sponsorship. And I built this business model that basically I hinged on my sponsor, supporting my show. and as the restaurant space of podcasting has evolved, it's no longer. Paying for ads, it's, oh, we want you to feature RCEO and get testimonials. And you become, you lose sight of what got you to where you are in pursuit of, you know, fiscal security and responsibility. and like, you know, back to my core values, freedom is my number one core value. And I think that, most marketers. Um, play and learn to leverage human emotion and, fear for lack of better terms. And most people are, they are emotional and fearful around money, security and time. Like, I want more time with my family. I want more time to pursue the things that I love and I need money to do that. And we focus on money and time as being the number one thing that, You know, is at the core of all marketing messaging, but I think in terms of freedom, there's also freedom of relationships that it's really important to people and freedom of purpose. And I think that if we start focusing, we, if we invert that and we say no, freedom of purpose is the most important thing. Like what do you want? Like what? Like what calls you? What is your definite purpose in life? And lean into that. What is your one thing? What is the the thing that you are uniquely designed to do and that makes you feel seen and valued and like you love doing it? And who do you want to do it with? And if you can do that. Like your core purpose, your core thing, and you can surround yourself with people that you love. You can do it forever. The endurance you're gonna have, will you make help. You outlast everybody and you might not get filthy rich, but you're gonna have a fucking blast doing it, man. Like you're gonna love life. And it's not all about money. Money isn't important, don't get me wrong. But it can't be at the, the forefront of everything.

Jeremy Julian: 17:11

Yeah, no, and, and, uh, I love that. It's funny, somebody, I was having dinner with a, with a partner that's known me for over 20 years and he said, oh, how much longer are you gonna do this? And I'm like, you know what? Honestly, I get, I feel super privileged when people ask me How am I doing? It's like, I'm better than I deserve, man, because at the end of the day, I get to cool, I get to hang out with really cool people, I get to do what I love, and I get to pour into people. And so. uh, the, those statements really resonate with me, Eric, that just, you know what, if you're doing what you love and you, you're continuing down that path, and I agree with you, I think it needs to be reevaluated on a regular basis.'cause when I didn't have any kids, my, my passions were a little bit different than now that I have kids, Um, so what are some other core things that you've learned over 1200 episodes from restaurant owners? Restaurant operators, you, you know, you talk about behind every great restaurant there's a great person. What are some other things that you've learned as you kind of distilled down and, and thought, how do I consolidate some of these

Eric Cacciatore: 18:00

you know, again, kind of thinking about what I've learned and trying to like find general truths, you know, I think that what were my core values, which were have integrity, be a student, be a teacher, communication and collaboration was at the core of, I really over time kind of realized that those are guiding principles and. Like common characteristics of people behind restaurants. So when I say things like, have integrity, it means do what you say. Do what you're gonna do. Do what you say you're gonna do. Like just, I think so often what makes people successful is that they just take action. They don't say that they don't like, they say like, this is my vision, but then they start doing something. Today they do first things first, Seven habits of highly affected people. Start with the end in mind and, you know, what's the other one? Um, first things first, right? But they have integrity and they follow through. And I think that that is the, one of the, the biggest, most common characteristics of success and anything is doing what you say you're gonna do and taking action. And then if you take action, there's this compounding effect. It kind of like one thing, there's like a, like a, it's like a, a trigger or, um, what's the word I'm looking for? It's a like a chain reaction, right? Like one thing spills, they say just make, wake up and like, make your bed right. And that thing, that one action will spill over. And then make your bed, put your running shoes on, step outside. Just do those two things and then walk to the, the, you know, the, the mailbox and ride, like, you know, go to the end of the street and eventually you're running six miles. So it's just like, just taking action over time and developing habits and routines and rituals. but just starting, it all starts with just starting. And that to me in one word is integrity. Do what you say you're gonna do.

Jeremy Julian: 19:41

Well, and I think in the integrity perspective as you're in hospitality, you've gotta have integrity with your team members. You gotta have integrity with your guests, you gotta have integrity with your vendors. Because if you don't, all of those people can end up harming your brand. You don't take care of your customers. It's gonna hurt you. Don't take care of your vendors that are supplying you food, supplying you, napkins and POS and all of those kind of things. It's gonna hurt you. Don't take care of your team members and don't have integrity, and don't pay them on time. You know, try and screw them out of hours and things like that. It's gonna, it's gonna hurt just the same. Is that, uh, is that kind of what you're seeing from those successful brands?

Eric Cacciatore: 20:12

100%. I mean, there's, there's four others and I just wanna get'em out and we can kind of like dissect them as we go. But you know, first one is have integrity. Do what you say you're gonna do. Just start. Second one is be a student. Always be learning. it never ends. Be a teacher. It's not enough for you to learn. You have to take what you've learned and and pull people with you. and then the other one is, um, communication. I think that is such a huge part of. Scaling and again, back to start at the end of mind, what is the vision? like first things

Jeremy Julian: 20:41

Where are you trying to go? What are you trying to get

Eric Cacciatore: 20:43

Yeah, first things first. Where do we start together? You know, like what are we all collectively doing today to get that to that 10 year VI vision, And then collaboration like you are only, I believe that we are designed as a species to coexist in a tribe, and we're not supposed to be good at everything. Like we're supposed to be good at one thing, and that one thing makes the tribe more valuable, Do like stay in your lane, do your one thing, do what you are uniquely qualified to do, and then so surround yourself with everybody who is better at things than you, Go further together so I can go deeper into all those if you want me to.

Jeremy Julian: 21:22

and I think, I think anybody that's listening to the show is likely gonna be a student because they wouldn't have been listening to the show if they weren't trying to grow and they weren't trying to learn. And then a lot of the same people, you know, and you see it too, is when you run into people that listen to the show, they're like, oh, I got this from you Eric, or I got this from this guest. I don't know if you, I mean, it happens to me every single time I'm out at a trade show. Somebody's like. Hey, I heard your voice, you know, around the corner, and I'm like, oh, that's the restaurant technology guy come, they'll, they'll come up and say, Hey, you know, I talked to this, or I listened to this and I grew from it. how many, you know, how often does that happen for you? I'm sure whether it's digital or or in person, you'll get ping saying, Hey, I learned something from you. Um, and that, that kind of goes back to me in a student of the game.

Eric Cacciatore: 22:01

Yeah, I mean often, not, I'm not by any means. I don't see myself being a celebrity, but like, it's cool when, um, I mean, I go into restaurants, so I'm, I'm constantly traveling. I'm usually, when I'm on the road, I'm in restaurants, there's a lot of, passionate people working in restaurants that have their own dreams. Uh, I think what really started to, what was like a surprise to me and a weird adjustment for me is when I started to interview people who listen to the show and they're like, I'm a fan of your show. Like, this is, I've always wanted to be a guest under your show. And I'm like. Really,

Jeremy Julian: 22:30

Mm-hmm.

Eric Cacciatore: 22:31

that's crazy. so it's

Jeremy Julian: 22:32

I'm not gonna lie, I fanboyed out when I saw you in Chicago a couple years ago and I couldn't get your attention, you were doing interviews. I'm like, oh my gosh, I know that guy. You know, and, and so it's kind of funny that, that we're now, collaborating and, and doing a different

Eric Cacciatore: 22:44

tunnel vision, man, when I'm on a podcast. Like, I just, like, I only see the person across from me, so

Jeremy Julian: 22:48

Yeah, no, it was funny'cause you were in somebody's booth in Chicago, it was probably three years ago, and I was like, uh oh, that's Eric. I should go say hi. And then, you know, you were doing your thing. But I totally fanboyed out, which is kind of funny, you know, 12 years in that. Uh, and, and again, I've been on your show, you've been on my shows. It's not like we haven't talked before, but I was like, I need to meet that guy in person. Then we never had a good chance to. No, I, no, it's not your fault at all. It was just kind of funny, you know, that, that happened. Uh, and, and, you know, I'm sure it's happened, uh, happened to you, you know, plenty because, uh. Again, after 1200 episodes and continuing to put that good out into the world. What else? What else do you think, you talk about, you know, communication, you talk about being a teacher. You talk about all of those things. I guess give our audience a little bit of practical advice. what do you see that, that, that looks like? what is the student mindset and the teacher mindset look like day in and day out? Because so many of the owners that are sitting out here listening are like, dude, I got 700 things to do. I don't have time for this. Help. Help'em. Help'em see what does practically that look

Eric Cacciatore: 23:44

So I think it's, it's listed out in that order for a reason, because I think it's in that order that you focus, you know, start, do what your state you're gonna do, learn like what are the things I need to learn, or how do I need to get better or what do, like, what's standing in my way from doing that thing? Learn those things. Uh, and then eventually if you want to, you have to learn the next thing. So you have to. Teach the people that you're doing things with. You gotta delegate and put layers between you and the work. And if you're not good at it, you should get rid of that thing as fast as possible. Uh, so it's about really being a teacher and creating opportunity for others. Uh, but you have to be able to communicate what that thing is. You have to be able to document it and create a process of like, this is what it done. Right. Looks like this is the picture of perfection. So, you know, like you are bringing people up, you're giving them the tools, you're showing them how you're giving them, you're the teaching is the literal communication, right? Uh, and then beyond that, it's like, okay, like this is where we're going. This is the vision. How do we work the vision into our daily routines and rituals? How do we resurface this every day? This is where we're heading. And then what's the first things first? You know, like what is the one thing that if we're heading here in 10 years, what do we have to do to get. Where do we need to be in five years to be on track in 10 years? Where do we need to be in one year to be in track for five years? Where do we need to be in a quarter to be on track for one year, and where do we need to be this week to be on track for the quarter goal, and then communicating that weekly? I. Daily, like delegating and communicating responsibility. You are responsible for this, you're responsible for this, and having a plan, a strategy, a system to get there, right? So that's communication. That compounds off of being a teacher and that compounds off of learning. That compounds off of just getting off your ass and starting right. And

Jeremy Julian: 25:29

and I know you and I talked a lot about EOS, um, in the past, and I, and you know, you've been putting the EOS thing out there for those that are less familiar with EOS. I happen to run a point of sale company for those longtime listeners. They know that that's what I do. We implemented EOS five years ago or so, and it's been a game changer. but I'd love, I mean, really you kind of almost broke down backwards. We're gonna set the vision, then we're gonna do a 10 year goal, then we're gonna do a one year goals. Walk us through, or walk our listeners through that. Don't have an operating system for their business. What is e os and how have you seen restaurants implement it in your travels?

Eric Cacciatore: 26:02

Yeah. So, um, EOS stands for the Entrepreneurial Operating System. It was first introduced by Gino Wickman, the author of Traction. And, uh, they have since rolled out, you know, what the heck is EOS? The EOS Life. I think there's also Rocket Fuel, which talks about the integrator, visionary, uh,

Jeremy Julian: 26:19

Yeah, that, that book on the top of that, uh, right over my shoulder there is the, what is EOS Life. I'm I, after our last conversation, I picked it up'cause it's been sitting on my shelf and I haven't read it in a couple years, so.

Eric Cacciatore: 26:29

I think there's another book called Process, which is, uh, Mike,

Jeremy Julian: 26:32

Process is amazing.

Eric Cacciatore: 26:33

that's Mike. oh, what's his last name?

Jeremy Julian: 26:36

I don't

Eric Cacciatore: 26:37

It's on the book. Yeah. Peyton Patton, I

Jeremy Julian: 26:39

Yep. Pat.

Eric Cacciatore: 26:40

Patton. Um, which is about systems and processes, and then there's how to be a great Boss and these, these are all books in the traction library books. But what EOS is really at the end of the day, I, the way I des when I describe it, it's a tool. None of the stuff that they share in EOS is groundbreaking, but it's a way they laid it out in a way that makes it very actionable and digestible. the way I communicate, what is EOS, it's a process for picking a destination and then a step by a, a, a process for communication on a regular basis to get there. I think that

Jeremy Julian: 27:15

And how have you seen restaurants? Uh, I didn't, I don't know any other restaurant groups that use it. But it sounds like you've run across

Eric Cacciatore: 27:21

That's how I discovered it. And that's really at

Jeremy Julian: 27:22

So tell me a little bit more about that. I'd love to, you know, how have you seen it operate within the business?'cause I'm in a white collar business. Everybody sits at their desk every day. They can get into an L 10. They can do all of those kind of things. You know, a lot of restaurants, it's pre-shift meetings and it's daily standups and all of those kind of things. I'd love to see, you know, from you, how have you seen restaurants, uh, implement this?

Eric Cacciatore: 27:41

Yeah, I mean, I can't remember. I wanna say it was in, uh, Iowa City where it was first, like on an interview set. We're an EOS company. and it was a brewery, and Ben, I think is his name, or Eric, I can't remember. There's so many people. but it, since that time, it was like three years ago, it's just been kind of resurface, resurfacing. And I think, you know, restaurateur, like, I think the theme that is missing for people. What EOS solves and fills is this rhythm of reminding everybody that this is where we're going. this is, it gives you all the things like the organizational chart, of like who is responsible for what. It helps key players know what their, like, what their, um, responsibilities are. What their obligations are to get to where we're going. And it's accountability in a, a yearly and quarterly and monthly and weekly cadence. and it's a

Jeremy Julian: 28:38

it does break down the business processes that happened. To your point, nothing is revolutionary about it. But it puts it in a distilled way that you can implement with your leadership team and with everybody within your

Eric Cacciatore: 28:49

Right. And then with, so what is EOS beyond the level 10 meeting, which is what we're talking about. It's, creating your vision. It's a, it's a scorecard. So using data to influence the decisions you're making and tracking the progress you're making. It is, what else is it? so it's, it's um, your level 10

Jeremy Julian: 29:05

it's, it's a format for one-on-ones to make sure that they fit your core values. it's scorecarding, it's the all tens, it's setting that vision, it's redefining your core values. There's so many different things that a lot of restaurants have, but they don't have a mechanism to

Eric Cacciatore: 29:18

It's a format for communicating, like basically like a very simple meeting. there's so much talking that happens in meetings and nothing ever happens. They, they,

Jeremy Julian: 29:27

Yeah. Nothing ever

Eric Cacciatore: 29:27

big part of what the success of e os is like, here's how you run a meeting like. We stay on focus, we start with like, here are the numbers. are you on track like rocks? Like what is the thing that you said you were gonna do this month? Are you on track? Yes or no? No. Drop it down. Any issues? Yes, drop it down. You go to the identified discuss solve section where like you're talking about all of your, your issues and um.

Jeremy Julian: 29:53

And making the business better every week, every day.

Eric Cacciatore: 29:55

And like, what is the thing that's in our way? Let's tackle it together and like, let's remove excuses and like, it just keeps you marching. It's a system for growth. That's what it is. It's a system for growth. And I think most of the times we don't live intentionally. We're just reacting to the world around us. And this says, no, get the hell out of our way. We're going here and we're gonna make one step progress every week, and we're gonna document it and help each other get there. that's what EOS is.

Jeremy Julian: 30:19

Yeah. I'm saying for all of those exhausted operators that are out there that are listening, it's not a have to eat it all in one, one sitting. It's one of those things that you can take piece by piece. We're four years in and we're still not, To the full pinnacle of what EOS can do. And so for those operators, it really is, from my perspective, I, I love that you have found it through the operators and through your discovery, and it's been really helpful for

Eric Cacciatore: 30:42

Yeah. And um, you know. that's really what the show is all about, is to go to people and to look for patterns. And then when there's a pattern that shows up, then I go to the source. And I've had Mike Batton on the show. I've had Gino Wickman on the show. I've had, Mark Winters most recently on the show author of, uh, rocket Fuel, which is again that visionary integrator relationship with the is huge. And, and what does that translate into the restaurant industry? It's usually like the, the chef and the general manager, right? Or like the, the CEO and the COO, like you. There's the dreamer, the person that knows what's possible and like what's, like, where the opportunity is. But then there's the person that can actually build the, and integrate the systems to make it happen, right?

Jeremy Julian: 31:22

Yep. Yeah, no, I had my same page meeting with our, with our founder and my father earlier this week. And you know what, even that there's a format for the same page meeting to make sure the integrator and the the visionary are on the same page so that you're not going home at night, exhausted, frustrated about why doesn't Eric get this? Like, it's just, I can't get it through his head that this is where I'm trying to go. Eric, I'm gonna pivot a little bit. Talk to me for those that haven't heard your show. What do they get from your show for those that maybe aren't already subscribed to the show? What, what can they expect from you, from the guests? Um, what can they expect to learn and, and kind of what would you encourage them to think about as they're trying to go through their next, um, next group of, uh, of podcasts?

Eric Cacciatore: 32:01

think, transparency, um, consistency, perspective variation, honesty, vulnerability, you know, it's, it's, my format is very, I. Straightforward. It's Who are you? Where, like basically who are you? Where are you today? Let's go back and talk about how you got here. what have you, like what were the points of evolution transformation for you? Like what were your points of like growth? Where, like back to where are you today? Let's go even deeper. What is your tech stack? What is your organizational stroke structure? Uh, and where are we going? Okay, so if this is where we are based off, off, like all the, the news we're hearing, the trends we're seeing, like, where's the industry heading and what are you doing to prepare for it? And further, like, instead of reacting to what we're being told the future is, do we like the future? Can, like, can we like, be collectively conscious and maybe influence the direction our industry is going by talking to each other and saying, we don't like this. Like, why I think the, the, the industry has historically been. Heads down and. A victim of a lot of other people's intentions, like almost never is the restaurant owner, the true beneficiary of the hard work they do. There are so many ancillary adjacent industries that sponge and just feed off of the hard work of restaurant owners, and I think restaurant owners need to pick their head up a little bit, and I'm not like pointing my fingers and saying, shame on you. I think it's just a lot of work and it's hard, but we can easily be taken advantage of, you

Jeremy Julian: 33:32

and I think there's opportunities to be better. If you go back to your core values of those things that you've learned and some of those restaurants that are so successful, it's like they're continually learning, continually growing, continually teaching, continually modifying. When you look at the most successful restaurants in the planet, They're brands that are not the same as they were in 1950. They're not the same as they were in 1990. They continue to evolve, they continue to change. The leadership changes, the people change, the consumers change, and, and they're continuing to do that. The only way is by ingesting new thoughts, new ideas, learning from other people. Is that,

Eric Cacciatore: 34:05

Yeah, 100% like it. It's like you constantly have to be evolving. If you're not growing, you're dying. But also what is growth is growth more units. Is growth a bigger team or is growth doing more of what you love to do or doing what you've been doing better? And I think that's where we can be better as a, as an industry is saying, no growth isn't getting bigger or making more money. It's about the impact you're making, starting with you. Like growth comes from the inside out. You have to have integrity in start. You have to be a student and grow as you're growing. Pick people up with you, empower your team, and that ripples out from there. Your team, your restaurant will empower your community and you'll raise the bar on your community. And I say. I feel silly every time I say it. My mission is to change the world through inspiring and empowering and transforming the restaurant industry because I believe that the restaurant industry, the second or third largest industry

Jeremy Julian: 35:02

Yeah. The second largest employer of people in the United States is the restaurant

Eric Cacciatore: 35:05

And like, if you can transform, if you can elevate the restaurant industry, you can change communities and communities can change the world. And I think it's really, I think it's, we have to kind of pull our heads where I was talking about before, we're all kind of in silos where we, our heads were down, we're just doing what we can to survive. But I think we have to start talking and seeing out further and saying like, what, what is the future? What is the future we want? And how do we collectively EOS that future of saying

Jeremy Julian: 35:31

Yeah. To help help

Eric Cacciatore: 35:32

Let's go there as like industry and say, we don't have to be the, like the, we can be the beneficiary of all the, the aspects of the restaurant industry. We don't have to make other people rich. Like we can spread out the wealth and keep it in house,

Jeremy Julian: 35:48

Uh, well thank you for sharing that. I know that it's not just the podcast, Eric, that you have. I know you've got a network. I know you've got a whole collaboration deal. Talk to our listeners about other ways they can engage with you, outside of even being on the show.'cause I think that's also an option for some of our operators that might be out there.

Eric Cacciatore: 36:03

Yeah. So, um, it all started with Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast. as I move into the future, I'm realizing that. You know, what got me here will get me there. And what got me here is, staying curious, continuing to be transparent, continuing to have integrity, do what I say I'm gonna do. And for me, that's doing honest, transparent work and existing to serve and having an open mind while we do it. And really that's at the end of the day, like that's what Restaurant Unstoppable Network is about. Where it's um, you know, what is my unique ability? What is my unique selling proposition? What is my biggest asset? If I ask you that question, Jeremy, what is your answer? Like, you know me.

Jeremy Julian: 36:42

it's, I mean, for me it's ultimately to help I, I believe everybody was created for a purpose In my job as a leader is to help them find that purpose.

Eric Cacciatore: 36:49

Yeah. you know, and I think my job is to be a, a host of this space with those core values of we're here together to learn collectively to, you know, really get at the truth and to be open, open-minded, and to learn. And then. Turn around and help our peers, right? So Restaurant Unstoppable Network is a key community for my listeners to come together to, put me to work for them. I'm not the person who is deciding who I make an example of. Really, when you join the the network, it's what are your pain points? what are your fears? What are your concerns? What are your curiosities? Well. I have a network of people that I can reach out to and, and Grant and pull them into this network to c co collaborate on content, a live event, a workshop, a mentoring session, a power hour where like I put you in the same room with these people and we learn together. So it's really my biggest. Asset. Your network is your net worth, and my biggest asset is my network of 12 years and 1200 episodes of connecting with people, meaningful relationships in person, and then trying to bring all these people across the industry together in one place where we can share information, where we can democratize knowledge, where we can decentralize information and just talk honestly. About what's actually happening without putting filters in, like, just here to learn. So like, at the core of it, like it's a community website. it's a listener supported podcast. to keep the show honest and transparent and to allow us to continue to. Pursue the core values of Restaurant Unstoppable Network. I think at the core of that is this curiosity, transparency, freedom, integrity, open mind service first, right? So it's, um, it's that those core values embodied into a community that I'm the host of, and I leverage my network to serve that community. So you tell me where the pain is. I'll find somebody to speak to it. who are the people you wanna learn from? I'll ask them to be a guest in the show using the podcast Restaurant, unstoppable podcast as a lever to. As leveraged to get access to these people that your normal one to three unit operators can't get access to on their own. So that's really what it is. It's just like, I think it's a matter of leveraging my biggest asset, my value to serve my community, and that is access to people that couldn't get access to on their own.

Jeremy Julian: 39:01

And how do people learn more? How do people get connected to that network?'cause it's a very vibrant community. And I mean, I'm saying that from experience'cause I've en engaged with the community before. But how do people learn? How do people get engaged and, and join?

Eric Cacciatore: 39:13

Yeah, I mean, I think the first level to get engaged is to start listening to podcasts and see, you know, like, is this, are these conversations a conversation I'd want to be a part of? But if you want to actually join the conversation, uh, then head over to restaurant unstoppable.com/live and it's$47 a month. I think that's a low bar to get over when you can get access and you can literally put me to work. I am now like, you're my boss. Tell me who you want to talk to. I can't guarantee that I can get Danny Meyer on the show, but like, I'll send an email, I'll at least try, Um, and yeah, and you know, I think that at the core of it, just, you know, check out the work and please sup. Honestly, please support the podcast because when you join the network, not only are you getting. You're letting me serve you, but you're also keeping the show honest

Jeremy Julian: 39:59

Yeah. No, I love that. last series of questions, Eric. Gimme one or two. podcast that you think about, that you go back to and resonates, resonate

Eric Cacciatore: 40:07

on my

Jeremy Julian: 40:07

Is there anybody that you, of shows that you've, that you've recorded where you're like, oh my gosh, this person changed my life. This person really, if you, if you've got'em and if you don't, I get it.'cause that's, uh, I'm springing it on you. But I, I think back about some of my early shows and I'm like, you even having you on early, early, early gave me confidence to, to go reach out to people because I was, I, you know, I had imposter syndrome early on, and so there's things that, that I know that I stand on the shoulders of the people before me to get to where I got to in business and on the podcast. And so if there's anybody that gave you a life lesson that, that, that taught you something that you still go back to and, and can, uh, can recollect right now, I'd love to, to hear

Eric Cacciatore: 40:48

Yeah, I mean, there's just so many. It's just hard, you know, I think one of the things that like really made, um, like an impression on me was in terms of like business success. There's a few as I'm gonna start saying things, they'll, they'll come to me. But you know, David Scott Peters, I.

Jeremy Julian: 41:04

He is amazing.

Eric Cacciatore: 41:05

he said something, he's just a really good speaker and he's really dialed in, and like the, he's was the first person I ever heard say you want to create a system dependent operation on a people dependent operation. I think that really dis distilled, you know, like you wanna put good people into good systems, but at the end of the day, you need to be system dependent, not people dependent. I think that was a great lesson and you know, I've heard that so many times since, but it was like one of the first times I heard it. I think, you know, Rudy, Mick said something that. I constantly echo, and he's another expert in my network where like, your, your job as the restaurant owner is to paint the picture of perfection. The aiming point, like that is, like, your job is to, to make it crystal clear. What's the job done Right. Look like, you know, I think of, Chris Schultz, who at the time was the COO of Voodoo donut who did a workshop on, you know, one of the, the big mysteries is. How do you scale something that's amazing? Like you get this restaurant and, you get all this attention and you get this money and you're, you know, you're cranking out, you, you're building more restaurants. Then eventually, like whatever, what, whatever it was that got you there, you start to lose the culture. And I've, I was always really curious, like, what's the secret to scaling? And he said, you know, it's really a, a matter of, finding out who. Like your culture carriers are like, you're a people picker. like who? It's finding those people who are the, embodiment of your culture and they carry the culture. You take them with you. Like, so it also like reinforced like one of my, the things I had been saying, which is people in cash flow determine your growth. And I think so often people get the cash and they just go gangbusters and they don't scale the people. I could keep going man. As I, I started talking.

Jeremy Julian: 42:51

No, I love, I love these lessons because Erica, at the end of the day, this is, this is why people should join the network. This is why people should follow you. This is not that you need to be a celebrity as much as it is one of those opportunities for you to truly make a difference in somebody's lives. So many of these people have helped you to get to where you're at. And I want our listeners to be at that place where they can pick up that nugget from A DSP or from some of these people that are out there to achieve their goals, to achieve their objectives. And, and I really love that you're able to, and again, we, we could probably go through the hundreds of life lessons that we've gotten from different people, but I love that you've just got just kind of a couple that hit, uh, real quick. So how do people follow, how do people connect? How do people, join, you know, you said unstoppable network.com, directly connecting with you at all. is that an option? And then lastly, if there's a way they could be on the show, are you still taking guests? Um, or they, they have to come from referral nowadays,

Eric Cacciatore: 43:42

I just wanna leave. the listeners with one final thought and um, or just idea or just perspective. I've gotten in my unique position of being able to talk to all these people and to see what's happening in the world of marketing and media. as we go into the future and as, content continues to be produced and it's only gonna be produced at a faster rate with ai,

Jeremy Julian: 44:00

Mm-hmm.

Eric Cacciatore: 44:00

um, what you see on the internet. Is gonna be heavily influenced by marketing and content marketing, big people, big organizations influencing the messaging. and a big part of why I'm shifting the focus on RU network is because I really want to create a platform that is solely based off of what people are saying. Not what influence is coming down from the, uh, you know, the big titans of the industry who really have enough power and money and influence to shift the narrative. So just keep that in the back of your mind. Um, be mindful of where you're getting your information. get perspective from different places. and, Part of what I'm trying to do, if you wanna support my mission to inspire, empower, and transform the industry and create an honest, transparent platform, uh, you can listen to the, the podcast, the downloads help, anywhere, podcast or play, just Search Restaurant podcast. There's a bunch of people that point to my podcast as being a great solution. iTunes, Spotify, uh, you can follow me at Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast on Instagram is probably my most active. Platform. And then if you really want to join the conversation, head over to restaurant unstoppable.com/live. We are hosting multiple live events a week, whether it be a mentoring session where we have a round table conversation with leaders in the industry, workshops where I'm literally creating workshops based off of your needs and your desire. And, uh, power hours where we're having a EOS Power Hour where we just get together every quarter. I have an integrator, the son of Mark Winters, you know, Blake Winters, who's leading those conversations. So if you're curious about EOS, you can get peer support, and learn together. And then, profit First is another one that we're doing, like you, like a Marketing Power Hour, a p and l Power Hour where Fred Langley, the CEO of Restaurant Assistance Pro, literally. We'll share your screen and he'll break down your p and l and help you find opportunity for$47 a month. I'm overselling it, but like, I seriously, like, am stoked at the level of going further together in collaboration. I'm living my core values. and then I make myself available for an hour every other week just to listen to say like, how, like, here's your opportunity to influence the show. So that's restaurant unstoppable.com/live. Did I oversell it?

Jeremy Julian: 46:09

Eric. Eric. Yeah. No, you, you killed it, man. honestly, it's, it is one of those things that uh, you know, I mean my mission for this show is this restaurant industry I've been in for 30 years has given me so much. And so how do I give back? It's by pe finding people like you to be able to introduce you to our audience. So thank you so much for what you've done for 12 years. Thank you for continuing to show up, continuing to do what you do. Um, to our listeners guys, we know that you guys have got lots of choices, so thanks for hanging out with us and make it a great day.

Eric Cacciatore: 46:36

Cheers. Thank you.

46:39

Thanks for listening to The Restaurant Technology Guys podcast. Visit restaurant technology guys.com for tips, industry insights, and more to help you run your restaurant better.