Restaurant Leadership Podcast: The Show for Multi-Unit Operators Ready to Scale

Christin Marvin
  • 5.0 (23)
  • Management
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to the Restaurant Leadership Podcast...the show for independent restaurant owners who are done surviving and ready to scale.Your host, Christin Marvin, founder of Columbine Hospitality and creator of the Independent Restaurant Framework (IRF), has spent over two decades in the industry...from line cook at 15 to managing partner by 30. She knows what it takes to build a restaurant group that runs without you in it.Each week, Christin brings you real conversations and straight talk on the three things that actually move the needle in a multi-unit restaurant group: People, Process, and Profit.This podcast is for you if you're ready to stop putting out fires and start building a business that scales with intention.This podcast will help you answer:How do I build a leadership team I can actually trust?How do I create systems that run without me?How do I scale to multiple locations without burning out?How do I increase profitability as I grow?How do I go from operator to CEO?Grab your copy of Multi-Unit Mastery at irfbook.com and follow Columbine Hospitality on LinkedIn.Voice Over, Mixing and Mastering Credits:L. Connor Voice - LConnorvoice@gmail.comLconnorvoice.comArtwork by Solstice Photography, Tucson, AZ. https://solsticephotography70.pixieset.com/

  1. Jul 20

    119: How to Deliver an Exceptional Dining Experience in Today's Market

    You can feel it when a restaurant cares, and you can feel it even sooner when it doesn’t. I took a trip to Santa Fe and had a dining experience that stopped me in my tracks, not because of flashy gimmicks, but because every touchpoint was intentional. From a single phone call that offered me options and made me feel welcome, to a dining room designed with purpose and comfort, the team proved that excellence is built long before the first bite. If you want a clear, trainable playbook for guest experience and restaurant leadership, hit play, share this with your team, and leave a review so more operators can find it. What’s the one touchpoint in your restaurant you want to improve first? P.S. Ready to take your restaurant to the next level?  Get the Independent Restaurant Framework that's helped countless owners build thriving multi-location brands. Grab your copy at https://www.IRFbook.comHere is my calendar link so you can book time with me:  https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/bookings/christin-marvin-personal-calendar-r1jjarmnw Podcast Production: https://www.lconnorvoice.com/

  2. Jul 6

    118: Stop Saying Yes, Start Leading

    The people pleaser saboteur is one of the most common — and most costly — patterns in hospitality leadership. In this episode, we break down why saying yes to everything is burning you out, what boundaries actually look like at every level of your organization, and how to start protecting your time and your team today. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN: The people pleaser saboteur thrives in hospitality — and it's costing you in burnout, turnover, and inconsistent culture. Boundaries start with clarity: schedules built in advance, expectations in writing, and a culture where "no" is respected. You can't expect your team to set boundaries if you don't model it yourself — it all starts at the top. Get the book — Multiunit Mastery: www.irfbook.com Connect + learn more: www.columbinehospitality.com P.S. Ready to take your restaurant to the next level?  Get the Independent Restaurant Framework that's helped countless owners build thriving multi-location brands. Grab your copy at https://www.IRFbook.comHere is my calendar link so you can book time with me:  https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/bookings/christin-marvin-personal-calendar-r1jjarmnw Podcast Production: https://www.lconnorvoice.com/

  3. Jun 22

    117: Succession Planning

    Guests: Jeff Keesel (Outgoing CEO, Restaurant Technologies) & Alyssa Partee (Incoming CEO, Restaurant Technologies) Episode Summary This episode tackles one of the most requested topics from restaurant operators: succession planning. Not the glossy version, but the real one where founders have to look in the mirror and ask, "Am I still the right person to lead this business?" Jeff Keesel shares his 21-year journey building Restaurant Technologies and the intentional process of transitioning leadership to Alyssa Partee, who spent four years building the people and culture infrastructure before stepping into the CEO role. Key Takeaways 1. Don't Fall in Love with Yesterday What got you here won't get you there. Change readiness and adaptability are essential. The business that worked last week might need a different approach this week. 2. Start Succession Planning Before You Think You Need To Jeff began thinking about succession before their 2022 sale process concluded. The first question from the new board: "Are you going to continue as CEO into your late 60s and early 70s?" That conversation accelerated everything. 3. Look Inside Before Looking Outside They spent 18 months interviewing external candidates before realizing the right leader was already in the building. Internal successors bring institutional knowledge, cultural alignment, and established trust that external hires can't replicate. 4. Develop Leaders by Treating Them as They Should Be Jeff's philosophy: "I'll treat you as you should be, not as you think you are." The most talented people rise to higher expectations. Throw them in the deep end with a safety net. 5. Collaborative Tension Builds Better Decisions Jeff and Alyssa want the same outcomes but often disagree on how to get there. That healthy tension, grounded in trust and transparency, produces better decisions than constant agreement. 6. Hire for Grit Jeff's go-to interview question: "What's the hardest thing you've had to overcome? How'd you do it? What'd you learn?" People who have overcome real struggles bring resilience that can't be taught. 7. The Transition Should Be Invisible When they announced the change internally, the response was cheers and excitement. No surprises. The team had watched Jeff and Alyssa work side by side for years. Where Jeff was, Alyssa was. The handoff felt natural because it had been happening gradually all along. Timestamps [00:00] Introduction: Why succession planning matters for independent restaurant owners [03:15] Jeff's story: When succession planning became real [08:42] The external search: 18 months of interviews and what they learned [14:30] Alyssa's journey from CPO to operations to CEO [21:15] Collaborative tension: How healthy disagreement builds better leadership [28:00] Identifying grit in the hiring process [35:45] How to know when your organization is ready for change [42:30] The emotional side of stepping back as a founder [48:00] Advice for restaurant owners: What Jeff and Alyssa wish they'd known earlier   Questions for Reflection Who are you developing right now? And do they know it? If you stepped away tomorrow, would your business survive without you? Are you building something that can outlast your daily involvement? When was the last time you had healthy tension with a leadership partner that led to a better decision? Resources Mentioned Episode 90: Alyssa Partee on "Do You Know Your Business Well Enough to Change It?" Book: Multi-Unit Mastery by Christin Marvin (free copy at IRFBook.com) Connect Christin Marvin: christinmarvin.com/contact Restaurant Technologies: restauranttechnologies.com About the Podcast The Restaurant Leadership Podcast coaches independent multi-unit restaurant operators to build systems that drive profitability and reclaim time, so they can scale with confidence and spend their energy where they want to, not where they have to. P.S. Ready to take your restaurant to the next level?  Get the Independent Restaurant Framework that's helped countless owners build thriving multi-location brands. Grab your copy at https://www.IRFbook.comHere is my calendar link so you can book time with me:  https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/bookings/christin-marvin-personal-calendar-r1jjarmnw Podcast Production: https://www.lconnorvoice.com/

  4. Jun 8

    116: How to Grow a Successful Consulting Business

    Ever hit that five-year itch wondering what's next after restaurants? You're not alone. In this episode, I sit down with Jim Taylor, founder of Benchmark 60 and creator of the Blueprint program—a framework designed specifically for restaurant professionals who want to transition out of operations and into consulting, coaching, or advisory work. We get real about: Why your experience alone won't generate business (and what actually does)The mindset shift from "hire me based on my resume" to "here's the result I can get you"How Blueprint members collectively signed over $1 million in consulting engagements last year—most starting from zeroKey takeaways: → Imposter syndrome is a signal you're leveling up. Lean into it instead of running from it. → There's no magic bullet. Business is an experiment—content, conversations, workshops, podcasts—you won't know what lands until you try. → Independent consultant is now the 7th fastest-growing entrepreneur title in the US. The market is there. The question is: are you positioned to capture it? → Fractional roles are exploding. Rising restaurant costs mean owners need expertise without full-time payroll. We also announce that I'm taking over the Blueprint program—bringing it under Columbine Hospitality with Jim's continued partnership. If you're considering the leap: Grab a free copy of Jim's book at BoldConsultingBook.com or reach out at ColumbineHospitality.com/contact to explore the program. P.S. Ready to take your restaurant to the next level?  Get the Independent Restaurant Framework that's helped countless owners build thriving multi-location brands. Grab your copy at https://www.IRFbook.comHere is my calendar link so you can book time with me:  https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/bookings/christin-marvin-personal-calendar-r1jjarmnw Podcast Production: https://www.lconnorvoice.com/

  5. May 11

    114: Stop Repeating the Same Meeting

    Your manager meeting keeps circling the same issues because nobody leaves with a real commitment that can be measured, owned, and finished. We tackle one of the most expensive leadership gaps in restaurants: goal setting that actually gets executed, not just discussed. We walk through the SMART goals framework, where it came from, and why it matters so much in high-pressure restaurant operations where urgent tasks crowd out important work. You will hear exactly how vague statements like “improve communication,” “reduce turnover,” or “work on training” quietly kill momentum, waste meeting time, and chip away at manager credibility.  Then we rebuild those intentions into clear SMART goals with a defined owner, a number, and a deadline that creates accountability. You will also get a practical meeting framework you can use immediately: reserve the last 10 to 15 minutes to set one commitment per person, write it down, and open the next meeting by reviewing what you said you would do. We explain how this simple habit turns firefighting into root-cause problem solving, strengthens strategic thinking, and helps multi-unit restaurant operators build systems across labor, training, and the guest experience. If you found this useful, subscribe, share it with a restaurant leader on your team, and leave a review with the SMART goal you are committing to before your next meeting. P.S. Ready to take your restaurant to the next level?  Get the Independent Restaurant Framework that's helped countless owners build thriving multi-location brands. Grab your copy at https://www.IRFbook.comHere is my calendar link so you can book time with me:  https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/bookings/christin-marvin-personal-calendar-r1jjarmnw Podcast Production: https://www.lconnorvoice.com/

  6. Apr 27

    113: How Leadership Alignment Makes Scaling Possible

    If you co-own a restaurant group, try one question today: “What does success look like in three years?” If you’re not 100% sure your partner would answer the same way, you’re not alone and you’re not stuck, but you are exposed. I share two real scenarios I see constantly in the independent restaurant world: a fast-growing family business held back by an unspoken succession plan and murky owner roles, and a 15-year partnership that realizes they’ve been building the same company toward two different destinations. When owners aren’t aligned, everyone feels it. Leaders get mixed signals, teams fill in the gaps with their own version of “success,” and the guest experience turns inconsistent across shifts and locations.  We dig into why leadership alignment is the single most important work a multi-unit operator can do, and how misalignment quietly drains profitability, time, and traction even when sales look strong from the outside. Everything we talked about in today's episode — the systems, the leadership structure, the framework that makes quarterly planning actually work — it all lives inside the Independent Restaurant Framework. Want the full blueprint? Pick up your copy of Multi-Unit Mastery at IRFbook.com. This is the book I wish every multi-unit operator had in their hands before they started scaling. P.S. Ready to take your restaurant to the next level?  Get the Independent Restaurant Framework that's helped countless owners build thriving multi-location brands. Grab your copy at https://www.IRFbook.comHere is my calendar link so you can book time with me:  https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/bookings/christin-marvin-personal-calendar-r1jjarmnw Podcast Production: https://www.lconnorvoice.com/

  7. Apr 13

    112: Turn Reactive Operators into Intentional CEOs

    Most multi-unit restaurant operators don’t have a growth problem, they have a focus problem. When your leadership team doesn’t know what matters most for the next 90 days, everything turns into a fire, your ops meetings drift into venting, and you become the decision bottleneck for every location. We walk through the most underused tool in a multi-unit operator’s arsenal: the quarterly planning meeting, and why it’s often the difference between a restaurant group that scales and one that stalls. We share what a great quarterly planning meeting looks like in the real world, including how to start with an intentional check-in that builds trust, how to review the prior quarter using wins, losses, P&L, guest feedback, and a simple scorecard, and how to spot trends your team keeps repeating without connecting the dots. From there, we get into the part most teams skip: true problem identification that goes beyond symptoms, so you stop putting band-aids on issues and start fixing root causes across people, process, and profit. Everything we talked about in today's episode — the systems, the leadership structure, the framework that makes quarterly planning actually work — it all lives inside the Independent Restaurant Framework. Want the full blueprint? Pick up your copy of Multi-Unit Mastery at IRFbook.com. This is the book I wish every multi-unit operator had in their hands before they started scaling. P.S. Ready to take your restaurant to the next level?  Get the Independent Restaurant Framework that's helped countless owners build thriving multi-location brands. Grab your copy at https://www.IRFbook.comHere is my calendar link so you can book time with me:  https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/bookings/christin-marvin-personal-calendar-r1jjarmnw Podcast Production: https://www.lconnorvoice.com/

  8. Mar 30

    111: Danny Meyer

    I walked into a talk with Danny Meyer expecting a few good notes on hospitality, and walked out with four leadership reminders I’m still thinking about as a restaurant coach. Hearing him reflect on the 20-year legacy of Setting the Table, alongside Bobby Stuckey in Denver, made the ideas feel even more relevant for independent restaurant owners trying to scale without losing their standards or their sanity. We dig into why scaling restaurants only works long term when the motive is bigger than ego. Danny shared how long it took him to expand from Union Square Cafe to Gramercy Tavern, and how fear can quietly stall growth until you connect expansion to something meaningful, like creating opportunity for your team. From there, we talk about excellence versus perfection, and why perfection is a trap in restaurant operations. I also unpack a simple debrief tool he uses that helps leaders balance pride with improvement without beating the team down. If you lead a restaurant team, run multiple locations, or care about hospitality leadership, you’ll take away practical standards you can apply immediately. Subscribe, share this with a fellow operator, and leave a review with the one behavior you’re no longer willing to tolerate. P.S. Ready to take your restaurant to the next level?  Get the Independent Restaurant Framework that's helped countless owners build thriving multi-location brands. Grab your copy at https://www.IRFbook.comHere is my calendar link so you can book time with me:  https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/bookings/christin-marvin-personal-calendar-r1jjarmnw Podcast Production: https://www.lconnorvoice.com/

See All (118)

5
out of 5
23 Ratings

About

Welcome to the Restaurant Leadership Podcast...the show for independent restaurant owners who are done surviving and ready to scale.Your host, Christin Marvin, founder of Columbine Hospitality and creator of the Independent Restaurant Framework (IRF), has spent over two decades in the industry...from line cook at 15 to managing partner by 30. She knows what it takes to build a restaurant group that runs without you in it.Each week, Christin brings you real conversations and straight talk on the three things that actually move the needle in a multi-unit restaurant group: People, Process, and Profit.This podcast is for you if you're ready to stop putting out fires and start building a business that scales with intention.This podcast will help you answer:How do I build a leadership team I can actually trust?How do I create systems that run without me?How do I scale to multiple locations without burning out?How do I increase profitability as I grow?How do I go from operator to CEO?Grab your copy of Multi-Unit Mastery at irfbook.com and follow Columbine Hospitality on LinkedIn.Voice Over, Mixing and Mastering Credits:L. Connor Voice - LConnorvoice@gmail.comLconnorvoice.comArtwork by Solstice Photography, Tucson, AZ. https://solsticephotography70.pixieset.com/

Information

You Might Also Like