Restaurants Reinvented - Episode 4
Jen Kern: [00:00:00] Hello everyone. And welcome to the next episode of Restaurants Reinvented. Today, I'm thrilled to be joined with Rachel Layton, who is the Vice President of marketing and growth at Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe. Welcome to the show Rachel.
[00:00:37] Rachel Layton: [00:00:37] Thanks, Jen, I appreciate you having me. I'm excited to chat with you today.
[00:00:42] Jen Kern: [00:00:42] Same here. Well, I'm, I'm really excited to talk to you. I really, through our past conversation feel like you're one of the up and coming women in the field, which, you know, as we talked about has been so male dominated. And so I was so encouraged to hear your story, and I'm really excited to share it with our listeners.
[00:00:58] So, with that, can you give our listeners some background in terms of how you made your way into marketing and into the restaurant industry?
[00:01:04] Rachel Layton: [00:01:04] Yeah, totally. So, I always joke with my colleagues that I think hospitality's in your blood. It either is, or it isn't. And I was really fortunate at the age of 16, I started in fast food and I kind of always loved serving people. I love the sales challenges of, you know, getting to the yes and, the exciting, fast paced environment kind of always appealed to me. When I got to college, I sort of shifted and I spent a lot of time as a radio broadcaster and sort of honed in my skills on how to talk to people. And, it really was a valuable time for me to just explore what else was out there and understand a little bit more about myself and what I wanted to spend the rest of my life, doing. All the while I really uncovered that storytelling was something I had such a passion for, and I really loved getting to communicate with other people.
[00:01:52] Fast forward through college, I ended up moving to Nashville, Tennessee, where I still reside today. And, not long after I was led right to business school at Belmont University. And I got an MBA from there during my time there, I dabbled a couple of different areas to specialize my MBA in and realized that it was such a natural fit being in really broadcasting and communications all of my life to marketing. I had already learned how to tell stories, tell them very concisely and clearly, and so I felt like it was a natural fit to expand upon marketing at that point. And I was very fortunate all through my time coming up in both times in school and all the times in between I worked in hospitality because it's a stepping stone industry that takes anybody who needs a job.
[00:02:42] And I really admire that. I, I feel like there's not that many industries left. It's kind of, you hear people say the last frontier of a place where anyone is welcome. Literally. It doesn't matter where you came from, what you've done. If you want to come in and learn. Yeah. Anything in a restaurant, there's a path for you there.
[00:03:01] And so I did start developing that love while I was getting my MBA and I got connected to a restaurant who's very successful in middle Tennessee. Overseas, one of the very popular brands here called Puckett's. And I got a chance to go on board with them and start telling their story and honing in on what they're really about.
[00:03:22] And I found so much passion and just working directly with the field through that. And, you know, being a marketer, getting to tell those stories was. It's such a fun time of my career. I look back and I kind of joke with people that it was the school of hard knocks because I spent so much time in the operations of what was going on.
[00:03:39] We opened several locations, you know, while I was on board there, I really got to learn about the back of house and opening process of a restaurant. So I feel like that definitely gave me a unique perspective. Having done all pretty much front of house jobs throughout my life, leading up to that, getting some education in business and learning how to run a company.
[00:04:02] And then also kind of leveling off my expertise with opening restaurants and figuring out how to run them and what it's like. And still the CEO of that brand was so kind to me. And he just kind of kept me by his side and let me just walk and make decisions with him. And that was so valuable to me.
[00:04:20] And so, you know, I spent some time there realized that it was, you know, maybe time to jump into a bigger opportunity. And I got a chance to come to Taziki's, which has since then, it was such a wonderful place for me to learn and grow. It was the first time I ever got to be, an executive for a restaurant brand, which has been a blast.
[00:04:38] And, I got to give them their first female executive in history, which was, you know, very fun thing to do. And, definitely lots of excitement around being the first. And so, you know, through that process, I've led to Taziki's through a significant rebrand and you know, kind of just realized as I've gone through this process, how obsessed I am with hospitality, that word kind of gets thrown around a lot, but it means so much more to me.
[00:05:05] It really aligns closer to me with the word service, and kind of giving. I see hospitality as a form of, you know, connection and I've loved getting to create stories around what happens in restaurants when hospitality is done right.
[00:05:22] Jen Kern: [00:05:22] Awesome. Well, quite the fun journey you've had and you have so much great energy and enthusiasm around the space, which I think is sorely needed right now in such a, you know, such a hard time. And I also know that Taziki's has been in the press quite a bit, listed on the top 100 movers and shakers and, in press a few other places.
[00:05:43] So tell us a little bit about Taziki's and the concept and how you were able to jump in there and do that storytelling. It's so important.
[00:05:51] Rachel Layton: [00:05:51] Yeah. So to Taziki's, was right for me, from day one, this is a over 21 year old brand. And, it was created in Birmingham, Alabama, for anybody who's not familiar with Taziki's , it's a fast casual, Mediterranean concept. And what we do is really elevated from your typical, fast, casual experience. We bring the food to your table.
[00:06:12] We bus your table, so you don't have to throw things away. You'll get asked if you need a refill, it's a very elevated experience, but it's not just in the dining room where it's elevated. The kitchen is actually a scratch kitchen where we make over a hundred items from scratch daily. So it's very different than your typical, you know, things coming in a bag.
[00:06:32] Everything started as a full vegetable that morning for your salad. You know, we're cutting the romaine every single morning. We are literally hand prepping the tomatoes that go on your gyro. And so those are some of the really unique points about Taziki's that made it so easy to tell the story of the brand.
[00:06:51] The founder is still running the Birmingham flagship market, and, he's still actively involved in the brand and he actually really just is so passionate about serving others and philanthropy and that aligned super well with what my heart is about. So, you know, honestly, just kind of following along with what this brand had done for 20 years and finding ways to honor certain pieces of it and pay homage to what got it to where it is.
[00:07:17] Taziki's is like I said, some incredibly high quality food, but honestly I loved finding out that this was the, the most approachable way for people to experience Mediterranean food. I mean, there is nothing really on our menu that you can get that doesn't have some kind of nostalgia attached to a flavor that you're familiar with.
[00:07:37] I mean, kind of this fusion between Southern hospitality and kind of this familial feeling going in with these fresh lean proteins and bountiful, beautiful salads. It became so clear to me that talking about that process with something that Taziki's really needed to do, I got a chance to just inform, you know, we figured out that our customer was predominantly female.
[00:08:01] So, you know, we started changing a lot of our language to align with what females are looking for. And we saw a great response from that. We started catering things to mom and understanding what does mom need. And we started filling service areas around that, and honestly, our COO and I just teamed up on what ways can we make life easier on our guests?
[00:08:22] And we innovated in that direction. And honestly, Taziki's really benefited from that.
[00:08:27] Jen Kern: [00:08:27] That's fantastic. Well, it sounds like they've benefited from your influence as well. And congratulations by the way, on being the first female executive there. I mean, someone always needs to be the first and, we need more firsts there. But you clearly are doing a great job. I'd love to ask you a little bit about your title because we talked about that last time and it's Vice President of Marketing plus Growth, right?
[00:08:52] Is essentially the way it looks and you were very stern about saying you made that title that way for you because you believe very deeply in the growth side. And a lot of times as marketers, we can get a little bit, much too much tunnel vision. yeah. And the growth ends up being beyond our reach.
[00:09:10] And that's really important. I believe to have that front and center as part of your daily responsibility. So talk to me a little bit about how you came about that title, what that was like as a first female executive and what you're doing to drive that growth.
[00:09:25] Rachel Layton: [00:09:25] Yeah. So I got really lucky. Dan, the CEO of Taziki's asked me, you know, how do you want your title to look? I mean, you're not really just in marketing, you know, you're, you're really in growth. And I was like, let's just add it on there. I mean, that's really what I'm doing. I use marketing as one of the mediums to which growing this business and growing the story and growing, hopefully the people around me, which gave me a really good opportunity to decide what type of legacy for leadership do I want to leave on Taziki's.
[00:10:00] And so, I mean, I think someone who naturally is growth minded who's been in, you know, the sales industry coming up, you know, I really think how can I maximize everything? One of the drawbacks to that mentality is not understanding the consequences of maximizing things like creating an amazing promo, but not having operations every step of the way in line, and then not being able to deliver on that promise to the guests.
[00:10:23] So for me, I think, you know, it was really of course, marketing was one of the things. I mean, that was the department that I knew I was going to be overseeing, so it needed to be in my title, but really what I took the approach to do is say, how can I improve things? And just start by being resourceful, working my way from the inside out.
[00:10:43] And that's actually the philosophy that I teach up and coming marketers now is starting your core. You use what's around you first, and once you used it up, then make an investment. Then take a jump or a leap or risk not using what's around you is one of the worst traps that business people fall into because things are bright and shiny on the outside.
[00:11:04] And a lot of times problems can be solved with what you have on board. So for me, that was really what I spent my first year doing is just refining things. figuring out what was the best path for the brand to take. I got some opportunities to do some really fun stuff like, exploring what growing a gift card program would be like for Taziki's and it's been incredibly successful. We started a, a test in Costco here in the Nashville market, and we're excited to expand that across the nation in the next, you know, 12 months. So it's a really good time to think about how can you grow unconventionally. And I do think that, that approach and that little plus sign and growth in my title, it'll kind of let us to, you know, go back to the drawing board when COVID-19 hit.
[00:11:49] And, in two days our business was destroyed. We had to revisit what is the core of our business, what do we keep? What do we slash? If we threw every idea in the middle of the ring, what can survive? And we went straight back into an entrepreneurial mindset. And honestly, I think that Taziki's did well because of that.
[00:12:10] And I think that making enough room for a company to have someone with the title that says something about growth, says something about the company. It's absolutely a path that you go on. And a lot of people think that growth is glamorous. Like it's, you know, all these sparkles and it's a really sexy thing.
[00:12:27] And, and it's really not. Growth is actually really painful. It's about refinement. And if you think about the process of, the. butterfly analogy from going from caterpillar to butterfly. There's a very big struggle that happens in the in between. Everyone likes the results that come from growth, but there's a really difficult process in the middle that sometimes is painful.
[00:12:50] It's a squeeze, it's a pulling out and pruning process that happens. And so, you know, I think naturally my skillset just lends itself to that. And, I'm also part dreamer, so being able to run models and see if they're realistic. They're not always. But putting them in practice, Taziki's gave me a place to do that.
[00:13:11] Jen Kern: [00:13:11] Wow. That's fantastic. I love that metaphor. And, and the idea of growth, you know, not always being the sparkly shiny. You know, bullet, if you will, like, you know, and you talked about how within two days the business was essentially decimated and how you all came together and just threw everything out in the middle of the table.
[00:13:31] Could you unpack that a little bit for me? Like, what did you do exactly with who, how did that process take place?
[00:13:37] Rachel Layton: [00:13:37] Yeah, so the executive team, shifted to having a daily call, which was a really high impact move for us because we are a separated team geography wise, we have three of us in Nashville and two of us in Birmingham. And so just having visibility to the financials and understanding what was happening with staff on a real time basis was really kind of getting that communication across every department and making sure we're talking about every single change we're seeing happening as it's happening.
[00:14:08] If you remember at first there was sort of this big urge, just...just stay home, stay home, stay home. And we saw that take place really. I mean, across all 17 States across almost 100 units, we saw that happen and that was really what kind of crushed the business overnight. And so for us, it, you know, in my arena it was what do we have right now that we can still communicate with guests through and how, what do they want to hear from us right now?
[00:14:38] And so, you know, we kind of started just looking inside the restaurant with completely new set of eyes, instead of what do we have right now that a guest can benefit from and how can we get it to them most efficiently? So one of the examples is we were really on the fence about third party delivery and a lot has changed in that space.
[00:14:58] I mean, you probably recently saw that Postmates is sold to Uber Eats. There's a lot of big changes happening there. I mean, almost on a weekly basis. We were really on the fence about having someone else take our food to our guests. We've always been very intimate with our guests. And so that was a big challenge point that we were wrestling with pre-COVID.
[00:15:19] Luckily COVID brought us the opportunity to reconsider that opportunity and the delivery companies gave us enough room to make it work inside of our business model. So that was one of the first things that the COO took on was how, what do we need to do to make this work and not drain everybody's bank accounts in the process?
[00:15:38] You know, another thing was because we do have so much fresh produce in house. There was a lot of people needing fresh produce and not wanting to go to the grocery store. So. You know, we experimented with this idea where we kind of put our stuff up for sale, and guests who really needed stuff from us could purchase it directly from us at almost cost.
[00:15:59] And we saw guests kind of taking us up on that offer. We rolled out a test in a handful of markets and everywhere we rolled it out we saw some success where guests were saying, yes, I want to get this curbside. I do not want to be in a grocery store right now. And I think we're going to see a return to some of that behavior as we head into fall and we see a spike in some of these cases. So, you know, those were just two small examples where we sort of just, again, got resourceful and looked around and said, what makes sense? We started urging all of our operators. If you don't have curbside on turn it on now. If you don't have delivery launched, let's launch it now.
[00:16:36] And you know, honestly I have to say our operators responded really well. Another thing that we did is be trimmed down our menu. We threw everything, the kitchen sink at what doesn't make sense. What's hard to prep, what's hard to source. And obviously the cascade of issues kind of took place, you know, right after the first issue of no sales.
[00:16:57] Now it's a supply chain issue. Now there is a surplus. Now there's none. You're keeping up with those things and that you have a menu that's optimized for success around a labor model. That's optimized for success. I mean, when you're prepping so many items from scratch every day, you have to be watching your labor and that's not unique to Taziki.
[00:17:20] So, you know, our COO reinvented our labor model in a couple of days, and that kind of kept our company really from sinking and I've got to say, you know, the whole team in general, the executive team and every team that supported, we had some really tough decisions to make, and we stayed aligned as one team through that process.
[00:17:41] And I think that, you know, when you all are throwing ideas on the table, you have to have no ego because you're making emotional decisions at that point. And making emotional decisions is really bad for business. So we were fortunate to be leaning on each other. I'm in a place with no ego that helped us come up with ideas that eventually worked.
[00:18:01] And luckily we have a lot of our marketing streams built up. We were very fortunate for that strong app user base. We had a strong online ordering base already. And so we kind of leaned into those elements that we already had working and just pushed them a lot harder.
[00:18:17] Jen Kern: [00:18:17] Right. That's great. And I believe you said that you are at 85% of same store sales.
[00:18:24] Rachel Layton: [00:18:24] Yeah. So we have, been very fortunate to have a recovery and we're in the, in the process of trying to get back to completely 100%. And that's definitely a goal that we're working very hard to meet. We're trying to respond, you know, on a daily basis to what's changing in every area, certain mask requirements, not 50% dining, not those types of things are changing on a daily basis right now.
[00:18:48] So, but our target yes. Is to hit 100% recovery. And we're about a little over 85% now.
[00:18:55] Jen Kern: [00:18:55] That's fantastic. And how many stores are open?
[00:18:58] Rachel Layton: [00:18:58] We actually have all of our locations back open.
[00:19:00] Jen Kern: [00:19:00] All open. Great. Well, I'm so glad to hear that. I'm so glad to hear that. Let's talk about digital transformation for a minute. What is your role in digital transformation and at a more simplistic level in the technology decisions that the brand is making?
[00:19:16] Rachel Layton: [00:19:16] So fortunately before I try to make too many decisions, I aligned really closely with our COO who oversees kind of like the technology development, like the operational processes of technology. We were onboarding our partner Square in that process, which gave us a lot of visibility into our guests.
[00:19:37] And I just leaned into becoming the in house guest expert. Like I wanted to know everything about our guests and marketers do have a unique opportunity to grab a hold of data and interpret it because that's, our job is to know how to talk to our guests and really honestly, to uncover what they need. So, you know, I think I had a unique position to help inform what things were going to be needed most on our app.
[00:20:01] I've been able to totally revamp the photography, which I think really helps. Everyone eats with their eyes. You know, developing strategies digitally that help us understand what guests are going after, what items and what areas of our business they're using and kind of getting access to the data.
[00:20:20] That's crunched by my team and saying, Hey, this was a high end subscriber rate. Then we can go back to the executive team and say, Hey, we don't know, you know, what has caused this? This is unusual. Let's examine this further. And so, you know, I think that. All holistically has gone into all the areas of service that we've developed.
[00:20:41] I think it's helped inform what areas of the menu would continue being leaned into for LTOs. And I think that, you know, because we do have really a track record of listening to our guests, they're very candid with us. And honestly, for the most part, they're very human. We haven't had too many people being, you know, over the top one way or the other, I think everyone appreciates how hard we're working.
[00:21:04] And I get a chance to speak into what those guests are saying. My team onboarded, some listening software that basically gives operators an opportunity to post social content, paid media, respond to reviews all in one place. And because we have that, we have a holistic view of what the customer is saying on the internet.
[00:21:24] And that gives us a ton of real time data. I mean, we're tracking keywords, we're tracking star ratings, we're tracking all different kinds of things. And that's really valuable when you're making decisions that have to do with the digital revolution. So. I really can't take credit for launching online ordering.
[00:21:42] It was launched by Taziki's before I got here, but I did, help launch the upgraded version of our app, which I think really was where everything sort of took off. And my team built the digital advertising and the strategy behind getting that information out into the world. And I think that that is really one of the biggest things that Taziki's has on its side is guests are already aware of the technology and they know that we're sort of positioned in the industry to innovate in the technology space. We're in the process of rolling out tableside, which is really cool. You just walk in, you grab a number, you sit down and you order at your table and you don't have to wait in line, which I'm personally a huge fan of. I'm very impatient. You know, you can. You can sit down in the comfort of your own table, and not have to be up against somebody waiting in line.
[00:22:30] You don't have to talk to the cashier. We bring the food right out to your table and we walk away. So, you know, there's a lot of other ways we can keep innovating for our guests that I think, you know, the, the ops team has been wonderful to let me speak into what our customer is saying and using that arm of our data to watch and see engaged success of everything that we're doing.
[00:22:51] Jen Kern: [00:22:51] Yeah, that's great. I love the table side and are guests able to order ahead?
[00:22:56] Rachel Layton: [00:22:56] Definitely the best way to skip the line, that there tends to be a pretty big line at lunch and dinner. And so that's then you know, an available option for, to Z. I mean, contactless curbside. You can, you can order curbside and pull up and pop your trunk and we'll just put it in your trunk and close it and you drive away.
[00:23:14] So, there's a lot of really handy pieces of technology that we've been able to just sort of lean into and update. And that's been great.
[00:23:22] Jen Kern: [00:23:22] That's awesome. Okay. I'm going to put you on a spot for a second. So I read this quote that you said you were recently quoted in fastcasual.com article. And you said brands must continue to reinvent ways to keep managers and staff engaged through growth and a clear vision for how they contribute to the overall mission.
[00:23:43] If you treat your staff like they're replaceable, you'll spend a lot of time replacing them. And I just love that quote. I mean, it has, there's so much in there. and of course the reinvent in the first sentence, you know, spoke to me, because the whole reason I named this podcast Restaurants Reinvented is because I love the reinvention and transformation process, not just within marketing, but within entrepreneurship.
[00:24:06] But you go on even more to talk about the growth and the vision and the purpose of the brand, and then treat, and then extending that to your team. So talk to me about that.
[00:24:17] Rachel Layton: [00:24:17] You know, I realized really quickly when I became an executive, how much the people drive everything. You can have an, a world, a world winning brand and you can have the best food and you can have the best photography and the best of everything. But I've realized honestly, It sounds cliche, but it's just true.
[00:24:38] And that's why you hear it on every leadership podcast that people are the most important thing. And honestly, the way that people respond to you will really determine how successful that you are. And I think, you know, as I've come up in an industry for over 15 years, working in the service industry, I've realized that there's a lot of people who are still kind of laggerts in their mindset about staff and personnel and, you know, diversity and all the things that go into what makes our restaurants run every single day. I mean, yeah. The restaurant industry has historically been a place that doesn't provide a 401k. Healthcare has always been a struggle. You know, technology we're the last to adopt it. Overall there's a lot of opportunities that from a personnel wise standpoint, we should be innovating and leading the charge large in a lot of these things.
[00:25:28] And as a group and as an industry, we struggle with change. And I think, you know, it's interesting because people who are operating restaurants have to respond to last minute, high pressure, high pressure situations on a daily basis on an hourly basis. So it's almost like, you know, we're so used to change at the operational level that we resist it when we become executives.
[00:25:55] And when we, you know, go beyond and for me as a, you know, a young millennial. I am very in tune with my generation. The generation that's shaping up underneath mine is very, very tied to purpose. And I resonate with that. I've definitely, always wondered why I'm doing what I'm doing. I asked myself on a regular basis, my skills come from my passion.
[00:26:18] They don't really have anything to do with my track record. And so I think the more that you can lean into people holistically, the better chance you're going to have at keeping them. And if you look at any business, one of the most expensive pieces of it is staff. So it's like if you're just using simple principles and thinking about people in a different way, we're past the days where you can just say, well, this is what you make, and this is it.
[00:26:45] Like you just show up and you. Clock in and clock out. We're way past that. I mean, visibility on the internet now has blown by those days. Now, if you have a bad experience, it's on the internet within five minutes or less. And I think that's something that kind of is creating an opportunity for accountability in our industry.
[00:27:03] And. You know, treating people like they're replaceable. They know, they know, and every person has worked at a job where they were just a number, whether it was on a team in hospitality or, you know, an intern wherever, if people feel connected to what they're doing, you know, everybody spends a lot of time saying, I want to know how loyal you are to my brand.
[00:27:26] And I have to say uniquely, I think all the time about my employees. And I think that they could look me right back in the eyes and say, I'm going to know how loyal you are to me. And it has to be mutual. I think, you know, the generations before have gotten by with a, a leadership style that's more demanding and more compliance based.
[00:27:45] And I think that that time is ending and we're seeing the shedding of that happen now where a lot of great talent gets stolen out of hospitality because we don't pay competitive wages and we don't have growth career paths, and we don't elevate the people who are the voices that make amazing things happen in our business every day.
[00:28:06] It's really, really hard for us to do that as an industry. So, you know, I hope to be a part of the change and be somebody who leads by example, but also having been in that role. I know how important it is to engage people and use influence because compliance is just really not going to cut it in the coming years, especially with the generations that are growing up to be our workforce.
[00:28:28] Jen Kern: [00:28:28] Yeah, I'm into that. I mean, let's get that done. Right.
[00:28:32] Rachel Layton: [00:28:32] Right.
[00:28:33] Jen Kern: [00:28:33] Let's get that done. Oh gosh. And we did, we did talk about diversity as well, and I know that, you're passionate in that area as am I, and there's a lot going on in the world, just from a diversity and equality standpoint. What, what is your heart saying to you there when it comes to diversity and, and the workplace and in the hospitality industry?
[00:28:53] Rachel Layton: [00:28:53] Yeah. You know, I think I have been really fortunate, coming up to see firsthand how diversity drives our business. Without diversity in the restaurant industry, it wouldn't even last a day and I don't think we've had enough conversations. I don't think we've had enough accountability for what it takes to get diversity achieved at every level.
[00:29:19] I don't think everyone's totally bought in as an industry to understand how much is brought to an industry when you invest in diversity and sadly, I do you think there's still some folks who don't understand how bad it has gotten for some of our friends of color? You know, our kitchens are made up of amazingly hardworking people and every single kitchen looks different and a lot of ethnicities are represented in each of those. And, you know, I think that, yeah, that's one of the things that has sadly gone overlooked until now. And I'm really, really proud to be at a company that is leaning in to, and trying to figure out, and listen, you know, to how we can better elevate diversity across the board.
[00:30:02] I mean, I think finding opportunities to lobby for each other and, you know, I think obviously being a female, I mean, I'm a white female. I obviously have had lots of opportunities, but even being the first female at a company, I do understand what it's like to feel like you're fighting for something that has never existed before.
[00:30:21] And that's just a very small version of what it feels like to some of these people who, you know, probably deserved opportunities and got overlooked at lots and lots of different companies. So. You know, I welcome my peers, to just sort of look upon themselves and figure out what could I be using my voice to advocate for?
[00:30:42] I mean, right now, every brand has an opportunity. Every person has a brand. I mean, I personally hire and fire people so I can absolutely find ways to do this. And I think if every person just said, okay, I am going to listen. I want to help heal the pain that's going on across multiple demographics right now.
[00:31:06] And I want to be a part of change if people did it and didn't resist it. If they just embraced it and said, let me just make one small change today. And one small change tomorrow. I mean, things would change overnight if everyone adopted a philosophy like that. And I do think there's a lot of opportunities still to continue listening and learning and elevating the voices that unfortunately have really kind of been left out along the way.
[00:31:32] Jen Kern: [00:31:32] I just got a first on this podcast. You gave me goosies. Yeah, that's good stuff, girl. Yes. So much yet to do for sure. But the listening, the admitting that we don't know the answer, but just putting ourselves in positions to be open, open, open, open.
[00:32:02] Rachel Layton: [00:32:02] And that we do food. There's nothing more intimate than what someone eats and puts in their body. And food is used to buffer everything. It's used to buffer a proposal for a wedding, it's used to get through a board meeting. It's used to celebrate a birthday. Food is a place where conversations can happen.
[00:32:25] And I think that the hospitality industry is uniquely positioned to create space and hold that space. Protect that space. So that conversations can happen and encourage them to happen, and reward the people who do have those conversations. You know, I think there's a lot of work still to be done in a lot of different areas and just like I said earlier, growth is painful, Jen. I mean, it's painful and that's where we're at. And I think we're going to come back better on the other side of it. As long as everyone keeps up, accepting an opportunity to say, I want to grow. I mean, by no means, am I sitting here saying I'm fully grown.
[00:33:05] Like I still have so far to grow in this category and I can only hope that I can just be an example for people who, you know, have the want to have the courage to listen. I'm sure I've done lots of things that I would not be happy to hear from the other side, but I think starting with a hey, I'm sorry.
[00:33:24] I get it. That you're not wanting to accept this apology right now. I don't deserve it. Let's be better as humans. Let's be connected and stop seeing everything as a personal attack on my viewpoint. Maybe my viewpoint's wrong. I'm willing to admit. You know, anytime I can learn something new. So I think, you know, again, the basis of hospitality is serving and caring for others.
[00:33:52] If we lead with that, being the ethos of why we're here. I think that we have really one of the most important voices in this conversation to hold that space open and, and cultivate those conversations.
[00:34:07]Jen Kern: [00:34:07] Absolutely. So how about a quick lightning round?
[00:34:10] Rachel Layton: [00:34:10] Yeah, let's do it.
[00:34:12] Jen Kern: [00:34:12] The biggest challenge facing marketers today?
[00:34:15] Rachel Layton: [00:34:15] I think it's getting your arms around what data is important and what data isn't. There is a lot of data existing and people have been talking about big data for a long time. But I think understanding how to use the data and how to interpret it and what parts of it are important is absolutely the hardest thing marketers are grappling with now.
[00:34:35] Jen Kern: [00:34:35] Your greatest success or achievement?
[00:34:38] Rachel Layton: [00:34:38] Oh, man, I should have totally prepared for that. Honestly, I think, you know, probably has something to do with being one of the first people in my family to go to college. I know my parents are extremely proud of that and, it makes me really happy to make my parents proud. So as cliche as it probably sounds, I, I think that's probably it.
[00:35:01] Jen Kern: [00:35:01] Your greatest failure.
[00:35:03] Rachel Layton: [00:35:03] Man I've had tons of failures, and it would be hard to leave any of them more grandiose than the other. But I would say, I mean, I've had a lot of ideas that I pitched that just didn't take off. You know, I think originally when we first started talking about how we would launch, giveaways at Taziki's, we tried one and, pretty much like no one participated in it.
[00:35:27] And I definitely thought that we were going to have a huge turnout, lots of engagement. It was going to get everybody excited and, you know, it just didn't work. And so we kind of went back to the drawing board. We realized, well, maybe this wasn't a hefty enough prize. And maybe we didn't get the information out soon enough.
[00:35:42] And yeah, and we kind of went back to the drawing board and figured out how to, and make a new plan and we relaunched it the next year and it was really successful. So it's actually shameless plug it's coming up again, national Euro Day on September 1st.
[00:35:56] Jen Kern: [00:35:56] Your advice to marketers today.
[00:35:59] Rachel Layton: [00:35:59] You know, I think getting a stronger sense of financial responsibility as a marketer is really important and it gets overlooked. Sometimes people kind of like chalk marketers up to like people who only want to have fun. And it's, it's kind of looked at like as a soft skill and it's actually a really hard skill.
[00:36:16] it's what I've always described as a fine art and a science mixed together. The art is being a good communicator, communicating to people in a way they want you to. The science is using the data to figure out how to do that, where to do that. And when. And I think, you know, one of the best pieces of advice that I can give up and coming marketers who want to just you know, hone into being more savvy, it's figure out how to use financial data to your benefit. A lot of people can create ideas. Not a lot of people can execute them and show an ROI. And so a lot of times people bring me an idea and I'm like, sure, build me an ROI model. You know, the more people can marketers can show that they're, they have that financial savvy mindset...that's already thinking through that on the front end, it shows a lot of business prowess to be able to come with an idea in hand, but also show good consequences that could happen from it.
[00:37:13] Jen Kern: [00:37:13] Where do you see restaurants in one year from now?
[00:37:16] Rachel Layton: [00:37:16] I think we'll see a lot of, driverless vehicles taking food. I think the delivery industry is going to continue to change and evolve over the coming months and even over the next year. I wouldn't be shocked to see drone delivery continuing. I think we'll see a lot of automation happen inside of kitchens, in ways that we've never dreamed of before.
[00:37:39] I know they've tested a lot of different robots to do certain tasks, and you know, you think about, could we minimize errors by doing this? I think those are gonna make their way into restaurants. And as you see on the news, everyday cost of living is just going up and that's not unique to people it's happening to restaurants.
[00:38:00] You know, the cost of buying high quality supplies is going up. The cost of rent is going up. Drastically. So, you know, a lot of rumblings in our industry about cloud kitchens, and I think finding efficiencies through those types of things are absolutely going to be topics we're talking about next year.
[00:38:19] Jen Kern: [00:38:19] Yeah. Speaking of the future, I think you have some exciting things to share with us in terms of what's next for Rachel.
[00:38:27] Rachel Layton: [00:38:27] Yeah, man. I know it's so nostalgic to like, be able to just think back on all these things for Taziki's. And, you know, it's recently come out that I'm going to be taking over the helm of a wonderful sister company of Taziki's called I Love Juice Bar and you know, it's a perfect alignment for me. Like what I'm passionate about, healthy living and high quality food and a fun concept.
[00:38:52] And it's a really good time to be a part of a juice concept. So yes, I will be at the helm of, I Love Juice Bar starting August 1st.
[00:39:00] Jen Kern: [00:39:00] Ah, congratulations. That's so exciting. how many locations do they have?
[00:39:05] Rachel Layton: [00:39:05] Just over 30 locations predominantly in the mid south. So hopefully someday, maybe we can grow, you know, some different directions and maybe even your way.
[00:39:15] Jen Kern: [00:39:15] So juices and smoothies and bowls, all that good stuff.
[00:39:19] Rachel Layton: [00:39:19] Yeah. So honestly, you know, there's some really great high quality items that we do that I think are really approachable to people. And that's kind of where I see this brand going.
[00:39:30] Juicing is a really intimidating topic and I definitely wouldn't consider myself an expert juicer by any means, but, from a flavor profile standpoint and, you know, and I Love Juice Bar is such an incredible recipe company. I mean, every single thing on the menu is delicious. And I think that that's one of the things that I can help Juice Bar to tell that story is juicing is intimidating.
[00:39:55] Let's let's make it approachable.
[00:39:58] Jen Kern: [00:39:58] Right, right. Well, I'm a huge juicer myself, not so
[00:40:03] Rachel Layton: [00:40:03] I love it.
[00:40:04] Jen Kern: [00:40:04] I tried and failed at home.
[00:40:11] Rachel Layton: [00:40:11] Tried to make it work in the blender gets caught, you know, all of the fruit I know I've been there
[00:40:18] Jen Kern: [00:40:18] Yeah. Yeah. So I, I'm one of the people that pays the $11 and, and I love it. I love it.
[00:40:25] Rachel Layton: [00:40:25] In that game.
[00:40:26] Jen Kern: [00:40:26] So that is just so exciting. I can't wait to follow you and see what you do next. You've just been such an inspiration and so much encouragement I feel like you have for marketers. So as we wrap, I mean, is there anything you want to impart, as terms of words of wisdom or encouragement.
[00:40:42] I know we've talked about the Enneagram or to get a chance to talk about that, but we can, if you want.
[00:40:46] Rachel Layton: [00:40:46] Yeah. I mean, I felt, I think we can't just tease the Enneagram. I mean, one of the things that I was really fortunate to come into when I was sort of honing in what kind of a leader I would be, I alluded to it earlier. I think of leadership very holistically. I hate when people say. Check your personal problems at the door.
[00:41:05] Here, you're on the job, those types of sayings, again, I think align with a really old mindset. That's kind of disappearing and will continue to disappear over the coming years. But I mean, so the enneagram is a personality assessment I'm so stoked you took it. You know, you're going to be on this journey with me now, but basically it determines your basic fears and your basic desires and every person has those and understanding those things about someone really help you manage them. It just helps in relationships. I mean, for me, I know what my parents are, my sister, you know, I know what my best friends are. It's a very good tool to give you empathy for a different point of view.
[00:41:47] And right now I think that's very valuable given, you know, it's also very timely. You know, the climate that's going on right now is empathy is a really powerful tool. It's a really good way to gain influences to kind of use that. And so that's one of the, my tools, anybody who's looking to grow, who hasn't had a chance to take the enneagram.
[00:42:08] That's definitely one of my things. And maybe you can put that in your show notes so people can have an easy clikcthrough link. But, you know, I just, I just want to thank you honestly. I mean, I think you're shining light on an industry that doesn't necessarily always get the publicity that it deserves. And I appreciate you kind of leaning into other voices to lift them up.
[00:42:29] I mean, I'm very grateful to have had this opportunity to just chat with you and make a new best friend. And you know, I think that the more, we sort of look around and say, how can I elevate someone else? I think that's the parting thoughts that I want to leave. You know, you're doing that for me. And, I definitely look for opportunities to do it for others.
[00:42:48] And that just, if someone's listening, I think it's so easy to be focused on how do I improve? What do I need to do today? And it's like, well, what if you took you know, 15 minutes and you just elevated someone else. It would take no effort and it would just, it would make a big difference regardless of what's going on in their world.
[00:43:06] So that would be my parting thoughts for you.
[00:43:09] Jen Kern: [00:43:09] Well, thank you. Thank you. Yes. I think that's important that we lift each other up. Always and encouragement is so key. But I, I gotta tell you I'm geeking out over that enneagram. I had heard about it from several people and I'm like, okay, I just got to
[00:43:23] Rachel Layton: [00:43:23] I love that. Like you absolutely did not hesitate. You jumped right in. I was so proud.
[00:43:30] Jen Kern: [00:43:30] I know what my niece is. I know what my nephew I'm going to know who my husband is. I think I already know. So, so much fun talking to you today and all my best wishes on your new position. I will definitely be following you, keeping tabs and happy, always here to help, however I can. But thanks for everything you've done for the industry and for blazing a path for, for the women that are going to come after you.
[00:44:01] So, thanks for coming on the show today. Rachel.
[00:44:03] Rachel Layton: [00:44:03] Thanks, Jen.
[00:44:05] Jen Kern: [00:44:05] Have a good one.
[00:44:05] Rachel Layton: [00:44:05] You too.