As a "restaurant kid" raised in the suburbs, I was practically born into the business—eating there, working there, and hanging out with friends there. I was always at "the restaurant." To find my own path outside the family business, I took up football, which turned out to be a great fit. I played well enough to earn a spot on a college football team. However, I soon realized that football wasn’t the long-term answer I was searching for. That’s when I pivoted toward academics and discovered my passion: strength and conditioning— the art of developing myself and others through coaching. This journey gave me a profound understanding of goal-setting and discipline, which eventually landed me a role as a Strength and Conditioning Director by age 23. For a while, I thought I had found my calling. But life had other plans. Along this journey, I also found my wife, Malorie, while coaching was fulfilling, it wouldn’t provide the lifestyle we envisioned forour future family. That’s when I made the decision to return to the family restaurant business. But I was determined to do it differently—I promised myself I wouldn’t simply work in the business.Instead, I would work on it, just as I had worked on athletes as a coach. My goal was to identifyweaknesses, strengthen them, and create systems that would enable the business to thrive.At the time, we had two restaurants and were preparing to open a third. But the cracks wereshowing—there were operational challenges, scalability issues, and a lack of structure. It was clear we needed to move beyond ego-driven decisions and focus on building sustainable systems and processes. The journey wasn’t easy. There were challenges, fights, and difficult moments. But there were also triumphs and laughter along the way. Fast-forward to today, and we’ve grown into a company with 500+ hospitality leaders, seven restaurants, a catering business, a brewery, and a corporate office.Through this process, I discovered my true passion: being the "strength and conditioning" coachfor restaurants and restaurant leaders. Many business owners get stuck "working in" theirbusinesses and lose sight of working on themselves or their companies. I know that without addressing the root problems, real growth is impossible.Today, I help other restaurant leaders unlock their full potential by focusing on what matters—systems, processes, and personal growth. It’s a daily commitment, just like training for a sport, butthe rewards are worth it. Because when you start working on the business and yourself, you’ll finallyunlock your true potential