The Business of Joy Podcast
Season 8
The Restaurant Pricing Lesson We Keep Forgetting
Lane Cardwell - President, Cardwell Hospitality Advisory
We keep talking about restaurant pricing like it’s a new problem. It’s not.
Decades ago, Lane Cardwell was a young financial analyst at Steak and Ale when he spotted something in the numbers: every time prices went up, guest traffic went down.
He ran into Norman Brinker’s office to show him.... Norman took one look and said, “Oh $H!T.”
That pricing discovery became known as the Cardwell Curve.
Season 8
Building Things Worth Owning
Ellis Winstanley - Founder/CEO, Rebuild Globally, Deux Mains
Ellis Winstanley was 12 when his parents told him if he wanted his own bedroom, he had to build it himself.
He's been building things ever since. Restaurants he turned around while still in college. El Arroyo, with their famous sign that now makes a million people smile every day. A whitewater rafting route. A 58-acre resort in New Braunfels. And Axial Shift, a software platform built on the idea that hospitality people should be doing hospitality, not admin work.
Season 8
Building a Factory in a Disaster Zone
Julie Colombino - Founder/CEO, Rebuild Globally, Deux Mains
Ten days after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she was alone, no safety plan, no contacts and no evacuation plan. Julie Colombino Billingham had quit her job, sold her Florida home and landed in Port-au-Prince with only $7,000 in her pocket. Many days, she only ate an avocado and drank a single coca-cola.
Season 8
The Chaos Strategist: Fred LeFranc on Working Above Your Value
Fred LeFranc - CEO, Results Through Strategy Inc.
"I don't like mission statements on walls… they have to live in the hearts and minds of the people." — Fred LeFranc
Think about that for a second.
How many companies have beautiful words framed in the lobby and a working culture that says the opposite?
Season 8
The "Two-Minute Rule" for High-Stakes Leadership
Amy Hom - COO, Barcelona Wine Bar
How do you build a culture where employees stay, guests thrive, and profit follows?
Lisa W. Miller sits down with industry veteran Amy Hom to discuss the "Origin Story" of a fearless leader. From picking peaches in St. Louis to running some of the most iconic restaurant brands in the country, Amy reveals the unconventional strategies that drive true job satisfaction and operational excellence.
Season 8
Building the Largest Drone Delivery System on Earth
Keller Rinaudo Cliffton - CEO, Zipline
What do delivering blood in Rwanda and your Chipotle order have in common? Zipline - the largest automated delivery system on Earth! And they do it with drones, not trucks!
You may or may not have heard of this company… but with a $7 Billion valuation, you will soon!
Season 7
Joie de Vivre: How La Madeleine's CEO Is Bringing Joy Back to Restaurant Leadership
John Dillon - CEO, La Madeleine
Joie de vivre. It's a French phrase that translates to "the joy of life."
And when I sat down with John Dillon, CEO of La Madeleine, it was clear that joy isn't just a concept for this brand. The brand has been carrying joy in its DNA for 43 years. John's gift was seeing it and turning it up a notch.
Season 7
Joy is The Strategy
John Goss - President, Sally Beauty
Most executives don’t put the word "joy" in their personal brand statement. John Goss does!
As President of Sally Beauty, a global brand with over 2,400 stores in the US and Canada, John has built his career around the idea that joy and culture aren’t separate from results - it produces them.
Season 7
The CEO Who Cut Prices, Raised Wages, and 12x'd Profit Anyway
Brandon Coleman III - CEO, Cotton Patch Cafe
Gravy-powered rocket ship. 12x EBITDA.
His dad made him write a P&L for his lemonade stand, even though Brandon Coleman III couldn't pronounce the word "quarters" yet.
Same kid. Forty years later. Now he's leading major brands.
Season 7
Why Leaders Miss Potential in Their Teams
Kelli Valade - President/CEO, Women's Foodservice Forum
“That’s a really good question…” when I hear this during my podcast, it really brings me joy and reminds me why I LOVE doing these!
Kelli Valade, President and CEO of Women's Foodservice Forum, and I go off-script on this one. That’s when the magic happens, and what comes out of those moments is what makes it worth your time to watch and listen in!
Season 7
Built by 1,000 Touchpoints: How Great Restaurants Actually Create Value
Robin Blanchette - Founder/CEO, Norton Creative
There’s a misconception that restaurant brands are built by big ideas, big campaigns, or the next big menu innovation.
But the truth is much simpler and much harder. Restaurants don’t succeed because of one big home-run moment. They succeed because of thousands of tiny ones.
Season 7
Why 3rd Grade Reading Levels Matter: America’s Literacy Crisis
Carol Goglia - CEO, Catch Up & Read
This is NOT OK: If a child is not reading on grade level by 3rd grade, they are 4x LESS LIKELY to graduate high school, and if living in poverty, 13x LESS LIKELY!
From the “joyful results clubs” that make kids ask, “Is it Catch Up & Read day?” to lessons corporate leaders can borrow from the nonprofit world, this conversation is a powerful reminder that sometimes the biggest business signals start in the smallest moments.
Season 7
From Performing Joy to Living It: Why Presence Beats Performance
Chadwick Boyd - Restaurant Consultant, Celebrity Chef
What happens when you get really good at performing joy…but realize you’re not actually living it?
We reward performance in business. The ability to “turn it on.” It’s the drive, charisma and energy that fuels us. But what if the skills that build our success disconnect us from ourselves?
Season 7
Are We Measuring the Joy Out of Restaurants?
Melissa Doolin Koehne - Founder/CEO, Elevate 4
The restaurant industry is under pressure: rising costs, labor challenges, tighter margins, and more data than ever before. But what if some of the tools meant to help are stripping away what matters most? JOY
In this episode of The Business of Joy, Lisa W. Miller sits down with restaurant industry leader Melissa Doolin Koehne to explore the tension operators are facing right now: how to protect culture, people, and purpose while navigating an unforgiving business environment.