ARJUN:
Let's start with my excitement with your role of CEO at FUSIAN. You have incredible success putting in place team members from customers, to stakeholders, and everybody else. Could you share a little bit about the progression of success during these rough times? How have you achieved the highest-level success when so many of the rest of us are sometimes just barely surviving?
MIKE:
That's a great question. I'm very fortunate right now to have myself surrounded by a team that is very hungry and craves direction but also believes in the brand. I've known FUSIAN since its inception and stayed very close to the young men that founded it. Over the years I was known as Uncle Mike. I was a mentor. I would come and visit with them, and they were always craving attention. Along the way, we had always had the conversation about how cool it would be if I came and run the company for them. That opportunity came up a year and a half ago. The business was at a crossroads and they knew they needed external leadership. At the same time, I was winding down my position at my previous company and turning that responsibility over to somebody else.
I found three men running the day-to-day business who were incredibly disciplined and collective in individual skillsets. One was a financial wizard, another was an expert in branding and development, and the third was the people guy doing day-to-day operations. What they were looking for was a leader to set audacious goals. The experience and good decision-making were there, they were simply craving direction. They were willing to do anything. We could call it the Harvard Business Review case of people looking for leadership. These three people, and the team directly underneath them, just rose to the occasion.
The first conversation we had, which always comes first, was about culture and performance. I found they were trying to create this culture modeled after the high-tech industries where everyone was happy. They were trying to have a picnic table in a restaurant. They were trying to do all the fun stuff, but the business wasn't financially successful.
The approach that we took very quickly was setting performance goals and rewarding performance, knowing that great people want to be measured. We knew, doing that, what the outcome would be. People would be very satisfied with their job because they're very good at it and culture would soar. Just to give you a taste, we’re up 30% year-over-year sales right now. Our profitability is second to none. We have nearly 100% retention with the people we want to retain. People love their jobs. Last week, we finished off a team call with everybody talking about how grateful they were to be in such a place, both during and after COVID. They talked about the way they were treated and how they felt part of a team. You put that all together and what we have are people that are creating extraordinary results.
ARJUN:
The concept of putting performance first is so important because we all love to win. At the end of a no-win, when we are just trying to impress each other with stats, it just doesn't work. It’s a winning team that is important. I want to jump on this concept because I thought I had experienced everything, but I have not experienced 100% retention. Help me understand that a little bit more. The world needs this good news right now. What can brands do? What is your concept? How do you get to this 100% retention?
MIKE:
When COVID hit, we were 10 weeks from the end of our fiscal year. We were fortunate to have refined our operating systems throughout the fall prior to that. We had just made it a better place to work, including employee benefits and rewards. Our first focus was to make it a great place to go to work every day. We didn't know COVID was coming. When it hit, as an ownership team, we looked at it and said, "We have two choices here. One is to do what a lot of people are doing and shut down, or we can do everything we can to retain jobs.” We were very open. We had daily conference calls at 7:30 in the morning and the topic was, “What's today going to look like? What can we do to keep everybody employed?” We really looked at it as though we had no idea what was coming, but our one business objective, our mission, our vision, was to maintain jobs. We knew that if we could take care of our employees, they would take care of us.
The week of March 14th sales hit a bottom. That wasn't any fun, but we knew that people were still ordering from us. We knew employees were uncertain, but we also knew that they were telling us they wanted to have a place to go every day because they didn't know what was going on. We kept our doors open. We kept our operating hours open. We looked for opportunities. When we heard that there was no toilet paper in grocery stores, we were one of the first brands to have groceries because we went to our vendors and said, "We want to serve our customers. We want to get them what they can’t get. What do you have?" They came back and said, "We're sitting on a bunch of inventory. We'll make sure you get toilet paper and paper towels if you help us move some steaks." They knew that we had refrigerators. We made a partnership with our vendors and we helped each other. The most important part of that was that we were able to offer jobs.
To this day, our goal as a business is to create more jobs because if we can hire more people, they can in turn hire more people, and it grows the business. People say, and I believe this, that having a place to go every day, where you're proud of what you offer and that is healthy and safe, is so important. I believe that our safety practices are top-notch. We have very sparkling, clean restaurants. We're servicing and offering a food that people can't make at home. We sell sushi. It's hard to make sushi at home. We think of ourselves as fortunate, but we found what happened was, customers sensed it, and our employees sensed it, and together we have a business that is growing.
ARJUN:
What is hitting hard for me is how simple you made it and how fast you reacted. As you talked about your mission and vision, it was simply two words - keep jobs. I love the way you evolved from keeping jobs to creating more jobs. You also grew 30%. That means there was something that resonated very strongly with customers. What was it that connected with customers in a world where minus 30% now looks like the new normal? You are up 60% compared to that number. What did you do to connect with customers?
MIKE:
We never shut down every day. We all know that COVID was no fun. I don't want to live through that again. But what was fun for me was having people to talk to everyday. We relished that. We have Monica, who's one of our lead kitchen employees at one of our stores in Columbus. She would come in and talk about how her daughter who was homeschooling was losing touch. I know the girl. She's a wonderful eleven year old. Monica so wishes her daughter could hang out with her friends. She said, "I get to come in and do that. My daughter's home alone by herself. She doesn’t have what I have." We all know that story. We really reiterate that, but we also had goals knowing that we were in it to survive.
I want to share something else. I love the way you use the word win. Unfortunately, in the business world, to hear somebody say they’re winning usually means somebody else is losing. Our vision of winning meant that we all win. By us pivoting to grocery, we all won. We were taking one of our logoed vans to an apartment complex with food. We basically opened up the back doors like it was an old farmer’s market. We were winning the people that couldn't get out to get groceries, they were winning, and our employees had jobs and they were winning. It just perpetuated itself. I believe when you think about what good is and you strive for it, good things happen, but you have to work for it.
ARJUN:
Yes. I also love the way you talk about ensuring that we all win. Also, you didn’t just sit still and let the situation change around you; you pivoted. I’m glad we can share this with others, because people need to know there are simple things we can to help us all win.
I have a story to connect this to the business side. At the peak of COVID, when everything was on Zoom, my webcam died. Needless to say, there were no replacements to be had anywhere. All I did was talk about it and three people sent me webcams. I immediately put two into inventory to help others. That is what friends do for each other. None of us planned for COVID. What have you learned the most through your journey in dealing with it?
MIKE:
To stay true to what you do, to communicate quite often, and at the same time to stay incredibly disciplined. In my younger days I was a competitive athlete in ultra-endurance sports. I found there was such a transference between the training and preparation for such sports and running a business. We became very good at running restaurants. We thought we were good because of the discipline for all the safety and sanitation practices, the record keeping and just staying healthy. By being very good at that our overall performance was raised. I stick to that. Running a restaurant is staying a day out and doing the exact same thing. You've got to set up and break down, you've got to say hi and goodbye, you’ve got to make sure the restrooms are clean.
ARJUN:
I want to go back a little bit and try to get an understanding of your past experiences and how they prepared you for this amazing challenge. You have worked with big evolving names; the Halal Guys, Skewed Over, Red Robin, and Cici's. All of these are at the national level. What was your biggest takeaway working with these mega brands and some of their incredible leaders that got you ready for this big challenge?
MIKE:
It goes in this order. You set your people, goals, and expectations first. It is being very good at planning, and organizing, and forecasting. In the business approach I always ask if we have the people we need, to do what we need to do. They don't have to be the best, but they have to be the ones that want to do it the most and that want to work together. So, it starts with people, and then it is accurately and methodically planning sales. If you have the right people with the right direction, you have the accurate sales point. By sales I mean the right amount of product and the right amount of staffing. You build a store so that it can function. The net result will be a profitable business.
It always goes in that order. You build a business around the people and expectations. It’s performance first. Second is the goals to perform, which is top line. You will then know that the end result will be a profitable business. As we were growing the Halal Guys, which we grew very quickly and maintained some extreme volumes, it was all about teaching franchisees to run high-volume restaurants. It was the people first. That was the expectation on planning and organizing. Over the years I've heard people talk about how hard the restaurant business is and every time I hear that I respond with one simple statement, “Let’s make it less hard.” Once you say that, you can just peel back the obstacles that get in the way and remove them. If you know you’re going to be open seven days a week, and on nights and weekends, you don’t let that stuff get in the way. Then you identify what else it is that is hard and before you know it, you remove the hardness and it's a thriving business where people can do their jobs and you hit your goals.
ARJUN:
So, remove what makes it hard to create a thriving business. I also like your unique perspective on recruiting. Most companies will say they only want to hire the best. You are the only person I have met who talks instead about hiring the person who most wants to do the job. To me, the intent matters more a qualification, because qualification without intent is having an amazing player who doesn't fit the team, and doesn't perform, and brings everybody around them down.
So, let's go back to the brand where both of us worked - Boston Market. It had its ups and downs, but those were incredible times with incredible talent. I am so fortunate to have connected with you through that. What are some of your biggest memories and some of the biggest lessons you learned from you Boston Market journey?
MIKE:
At Boston Market, there were two businesses. There was the financial infrastructure, which has something I wasn't 100% familiar with from the corporate side, but then there was the operating structure. We were a development company based out of the Washington, D.C. area. The original development plan was to open 32 restaurants in five years. Through our performance, we were at more than 100 restaurants through growth and acquisitions in four years. We had an extremely high pride level. We had an extremely high awareness of where we were going and what we wanted to do. We were a group of people that grew up through the restaurant ranks at the single multinet level, now given a chance to grow a business to the international level. We were all excited and we rallied around it.
The other part that worked very well for our operating group was we very quickly identified that there was work to be done, and the best way for it to get done was to each have our own functional part of the business. We had to respect and admire what the other person was doing so that when we got together it wasn't a turf war. It was more, "Okay, you got it. I got it." One of us would bring it to a certain level and the other would take it from there. We had very smooth hand-offs, a very high level of trust, and a very high level of functionality. We got beyond what you unfortunately often see in the business world, the squabbling. We respected that each of us had a position of the business and together we were going accomplish more. We got our business to the point of being valuable through the buyback process.
ARJUN:
I love those concepts of high pride, respect, and sharing with people who are connected with a common past. I haven’t met a single businessperson who doesn’t talk about respect, but the challenge lies in facing challenges together without thinking that someone has to win.
This takes me to a common pattern throughout your leadership. You believe in leadership that puts everybody else on the team first. It reminds me of the college athlete in Utah who would have defined his scholarship by winning his last race but instead stopped to help his friend who was hurt cross the finish line. But you’re still winning at a high level. 30% year over year growth and 100% retention is brilliant. What's your inspiration behind winning at this high level while putting everybody else first?
MIKE:
This may sound like fluff, but it works when there's a very clear common goal, because then if people want to drive toward a goal, function with the group toward a goal, they get to play. If not, they don't get to play. They go somewhere else and work in mediocrity. A senior partner I had, who is an investor, made it very simple to me. He said, "Here's how this works. My goal is to give you restaurants to run, yours is to run them. The more you can do what you do, the more I'll be able to give you." For me, that was the moment in time where I realized, "I get what we all do here." After that point, I didn't care how he spent his time because he delivered. I wanted to be sure I over-delivered so he would give me more. I pass that down to everybody. It's so important that people get tied into why we do what we do. I create more jobs. Everybody else does come first because the question is, “What are you doing to create more jobs?” Is the way that food looks going to create jobs or not? It becomes very simple. It's yes or no. What does making sure the windows are clean do? It makes people come in. As opposed to just saying you want the windows clean, you want to take something simple and tie it to something bigger. That increases the honor and integrity with which everybody does their jobs. You have to respect people. You don't have to lie, cheat, and steal. Those are the learnings that truly make a difference to me.
I have another belief I'll share. There's an age-old assumption that there's a very high turnover rate in the restaurant industry. When I realized that was not necessarily true, that’s when good stuff started to happen. When it became evident to me that the industry turnover rate is probably only two or three percent, I saw that if somebody left my restaurant or company, it was very probable that they were going to go and work for another restaurant. In essence, that meant I had spent the time and effort training someone to work for somebody else. I didn’t want to do that anymore. We decided that if we are going to bring these people in and train and grow them, then we are going to keep them to whatever level they function best at. That's when our retention became solid. Along the way, I've been recognized by the NRA for things such as people practices or as motivator of the year, but what it really means is that my life is better because our folks are staying with us at the end of the day.
ARJUN:
Textbooks should be written on this topic in itself. Training a team member to succeed in a different restaurant, most likely a competing restaurant, is a bad business model. It connects back to what you said earlier regarding removing the hardness from the job of running a restaurant. Doing that puts you ahead because you realize there is something you can do about it instead of simply sitting back.
You have incredible experience in the restaurant industry as a franchisee, developer, in training, and now as a CEO. You talked about the turnover rate. Is there another common misconception about the restaurant industry that we haven't talked about, and that you would like to debunk?
MIKE:
Clearly the idea that it's a hard and high turnover business is a misconception. That's really just about unrealistic expectations by the person. There not being enough employees is a misconception because they have to be led. I think back to when I was in high school and college. I was hungry, and the restaurant business fed me. There is also a misconception that the restaurant industry is not a career. To me, the restaurant business is an incredible career. Number one, it presented to me something that fit my energy level and lifestyle. It gave me the chance to run a multi-million-dollar business at the age of 22. If I were in a business such as insurance, it would take me years and years to get to a place like that. It gave me the chance to work around amazing people that mentored freely. I could pick up the phone and reach out to somebody I worked with many years ago, and within minutes we could reconnect. I don't know many industries that do that. If you want to grow, the possibilities in the restaurant industry are endless. Or if you want to just continue to do what you do, that is acceptable, and that possibility is afforded to you in this industry. That is another misconception, that is a career that only offers one level. It's a career for any level you want.
ARJUN:
You talked about being a super athlete, the difference between training and performance, and the transition that makes you successful. Tell me a little about what that transition is and how you bring it into any business to achieve the highest level of performance.
MIKE:
I was what is called an ultra-endurance marathoner. Those are runs up to 100 miles. I did the same thing with mountain biking. I was also an Ironman triathlete. I hit the podium a couple times and was at the top of my age group. When I got into it, I found that it was very addicting because of the challenge, but also because of the goal setting. That has such a parallel to business. The goal was very clear. The preparation up to the goal was whatever I made of it. You don’t go out and run 100 miles right away. It started with a mile, then a mile and a half. It was very methodical. It was something I could plan for. It gave me an incredible and immense challenge, as well as the satisfaction that came along with accomplishing those goals.
It's no different than running a business. In a successful business, it is very easy to identify what winning looks like by identifying the sales goals you need, what kind of profitability you want, and planning for how you are going to get there. They are the exact same practices as training for an ultra-marathon. It's just applying the principles. Nothing happens overnight, but good stuff happens with good planning and preparation. The ultra-experiences were phenomenal. I accomplished stuff that people think is crazy, but it was fun. I've got the t-shirt to prove it. I have memories that nobody can take away from me. They are similar to the memories I have of the first time I promoted someone to management. That's the satisfaction that is exciting every day.
ARJUN:
To me, Mike Speck is defined by humility and is also defined by never having a bad day. What keeps you grounded, humble, and focused on keeping yourself out of the way to put everybody else first? Your humility shined through when you glossed over your mention of podium places in your races to talk about handing out your first promotion. How can you always put others first? What's the secret? How do you stay happy all the time?
MIKE:
When I was much younger, I knew what bad looked like and I never want to be that. I always wanted to see what else was out there. I'd been given a chance to learn and grow. I know that if I am having a bad day, that means others are as well because I impact others. Arguing makes no sense to me. Why do people argue? It makes no sense. I just look at things that way. I come home and the dog wags her tail. That is perfect. That's the way it should be. If something breaks, you fix it. If something doesn't come to your favor, tomorrow you can handle it different. If somebody gets promoted, that sucks for you but what else can you do?
I’m pretty fortunate. What I've got is pretty good, more than I had many years ago. I appreciate that. The more I can do and share with others, it perpetuates. There's not a 100-step process. I used to hate it when I was a kid and I’d say, “I'm not mad,” and my mom would say, "Well, get happy." Mom was right. I'm responsible for myself and we all should be.
ARJUN:
I love that. Now let’s get to the fun section of our conversation. It’s the rapid questions part, with three-to-seven-word answers. If you were not in the restaurant industry, what would be your advice to anyone in any walk of life to be successful?
MIKE:
Do what you want to do. Don't just take something because you have to.
ARJUN:
How do you define a big win?
MIKE:
Moving forward, getting better.
ARJUN:
What's the one reason companies fail to win big?
MIKE:
They set unrealistic expectations, or they do not paint a clearer picture.
ARJUN:
Brilliant. Because you’ve trained me so well now, I was also expecting you to say that people just write down how hard it is instead of doing something. Top athletes and leaders I've worked with simply remove words like no or impossible from their dictionary. What's the word you would remove from your dictionary, and what is the word you like to use most often?
MIKE:
If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. Going back to when people say something's hard, my comment is, "Heck, if it was easy, you wouldn't be here, somebody else would be here." Let's be grateful for what our problems are and let's solve them.
ARJUN:
Awesome. Let's say you could package all these things and go back in time and meet a young Mike Speck coming out of college, ready to change the world, and you could give him one piece of advice, what would you tell him?
MIKE:
Don't be afraid to have a tough conversation.
ARJUN:
Why is that so important?
MIKE:
People bottle up stuff and worry about what's going to happen before it happens. They've already created the demons of how bad it's going to be and that makes it very hard instead of just having that tough conversation upfront and moving forward much faster.
ARJUN:
That reminds me of a piece of advice my grandmother gave me. She told me, "If you and I are friends or work together, and you bottle yourself up and don't share, that is disrespectful. You undermine the other’s ability to deal with facts.” You talked about sharing and you talked about process. Your success is not random. What is your process? And if you feel comfortable sharing, what are the first and last things you do every day?
MIKE:
Number one is, without process there's chaos. In the midst of chaos, good stuff doesn't happen. I used to think process was a bad word. Process and procedure are very good words. If everybody used their own recipe, everything would taste different. If everybody counted money differently, that wouldn't work.
I have a routine I stick very closely to each and every day. When I wake up there are a couple of things I do. I talk to the dog and let her out. I go through my business recaps first thing so I catch any comments that I want to hold to myself. I then exercise and then I start the debrief with my team. I always take the time to be aware of where we are from the business side, and where we could be. I don't necessarily react yet, but I get my head clear, and then I get to do what I want to do because I know my team's looking at the same thing. I'm informed and I feel better about the day. Having a routine is important. It really is. My family knows what to expect from me, the dog knows what to expect from me, and my team members know what to expect from me. The folks that work directly for me know what they are getting, and they know what's coming.
ARJUN:
Now if you could step into my shoes, what would be one question you would have asked Mike Speck that I didn't ask?
MIKE:
What am I most appreciative of?
ARJUN:
So, Mike, what are you most appreciative of?
MIKE:
The people that I'd gotten to know over the years, the relationships. I hope everybody takes value to know that while you and I met each other 20 years ago, when you reached out a few months ago we picked up right where we left off because we shared something in common. That's the way life ought to be. We should be appreciative of every person that we have a relationship with.
ARJUN:
Thank you, Mike. After all these years of knowing you, I was so happy the night we bumped into each other and I told my wife, "Can you believe my buddy Mike has not changed, he has only gotten better to a wow-level." That, to me, was such a huge validation of mankind and human relationships. Thank you!