It’s Not You—It’s Your Hospitality

Preston Lee
  • 5.0 (8)
  • Business

It’s Not You, It’s Your Hospitality is for independent restaurant owners, operators, and leaders who want to build thriving businesses without burning out their teams or losing sight of what hospitality really means. Hosted by Preston Lee, founder of The 30% Rule, this podcast dives into the systems, leadership strategies, and culture shifts that separate the struggling 90% of restaurants from the top 10% that thrive. With over 20 years in the industry and a decade spent helping major brands grow sales, Preston shares raw stories, proven tools, and hard lessons learned from the front lines. If you’re tired of high turnover, inconsistent guest experiences, and the endless cycle of training without transformation—this podcast will dive deep into the world of Hospitality and show you how to fix it once and for all. Because at the end of the day, it’s not you—it’s your hospitality.

  1. 6d ago ·  Video

    Service vs. Hospitality: How Chick-fil-A’s Strategy Changes Everything

    What separates good customer service from unforgettable hospitality? In this video, we break down how Chick-fil-A built one of the strongest hospitality cultures in the restaurant industry—and why that culture has become such a powerful competitive advantage. You’ll learn the difference between service and hospitality, why anticipating guest needs matters, and how creating a memorable customer experience goes far beyond simply being polite, fast, or efficient. We also explore how Chick-fil-A focused on hospitality as it scaled, the role culture and employee mindset play in the guest experience, and why small details—remembering preferences, showing genuine care, and making people feel valued—can have a massive impact on customer loyalty.

    Service vs. Hospitality: How Chick-fil-A’s Strategy Changes Everything

  2. Sep 9 ·  Video

    How Chick-fil-A & Hillstone Execute Hospitality Training

    What do Chick-fil-A and Hillstone understand about hospitality training that most restaurants miss? In this podcast, we break down how Chick-fil-A and Hillstone execute hospitality training to create consistent guest experiences, stronger restaurant teams, and service standards employees can actually deliver — even during the busiest shifts. Great hospitality isn’t created by telling your team to “give better service.” It comes from building the right training systems, setting clear expectations, reinforcing standards, and creating a culture where the guest experience becomes everyone’s responsibility. You’ll learn how leading restaurant brands approach: • Restaurant hospitality training • Employee onboarding and ongoing development • Guest experience and customer service standards • Creating consistency across every shift • Training employees to anticipate guest needs • Restaurant leadership and accountability • Turning hospitality into a repeatable system • Building a service culture that lasts Whether you own a restaurant, manage a hospitality team, train employees, or want to improve your restaurant’s customer experience, these principles can help you move from inconsistent service to a culture where exceptional hospitality becomes the standard. The biggest takeaway? Hospitality isn’t something your team simply knows. It’s something you train, practice, coach, and reinforce until it becomes automatic. If you’re looking to improve restaurant training, guest retention, employee performance, restaurant culture, or hospitality leadership, subscribe for more practical strategies you can implement inside your operation.

  3. Sep 3 ·  Video

    10 years of No Bs Hospitality Training in 15 mins

    Here's 10 years of hospitality training, leadership lessons, and guest experience strategy in less than 15 minutes! If you work in a restaurant, bar, hotel, hospitality business, or lead a customer-facing team, this video breaks down what actually separates average service from unforgettable hospitality. Service is a transaction. Hospitality is a feeling. The restaurants and bars that win aren't just serving great food and drinks—they're creating experiences that make people feel valued, welcomed, and excited to come back. In this hospitality training, you'll learn: • The real difference between service and hospitality • Why one bad employee can destroy years of customer loyalty • How exceptional guest experiences increase customer retention • Why every employee (not just servers and bartenders) owns the guest experience • The importance of focus, clarity, training, and innovation • How restaurant managers can create stronger hospitality teams • Why leadership is a responsibility, not just a title • How better employee development creates better customer experiences • Why consistency matters more than a single great interaction • What makes guests choose your restaurant or bar again and again Your dishwasher, host, bartender, server, food runner, barback, line cook, and manager may have completely different jobs—but they should all share the same mission: Give the guest the best experience possible. Because customers have endless choices for where to eat and drink. Your food matters. Your cocktails matter. Your atmosphere matters. But what keeps people coming back is how your team makes them feel. If you're a restaurant owner, hospitality leader, general manager, bar manager, server, bartender, or anyone responsible for customer experience, use this video as a crash course in building a stronger hospitality culture.

  4. Aug 27 ·  Video

    This Mindset Hack Separates Great Restaurant Owners From the Rest

    Great restaurant owners don’t ask, “Why can’t we do this?” They ask, “How can we make it work?” In this podcast, Preston Lee breaks down one of the biggest mindset differences between restaurant owners who stay stuck and those who continuously improve, innovate, and grow. After working with restaurant owners and hospitality leaders across the industry, one pattern shows up again and again: the difference between an “I can’t” mindset and a “How can I?” mindset. “I can’t” sounds like: • We don’t have enough staff • We don’t have the budget • We’re too busy right now • We need another manager first • That won’t work in our restaurant • The margins are too thin Great restaurant operators approach those same problems differently. Instead of immediately looking for a reason something can’t happen, they ask: How can we make it happen? That shift affects everything from restaurant leadership and hospitality to employee training, guest experience, revenue, retention, and profitability. Preston covers: • The mindset that separates high-performing restaurant owners from struggling operators • Why “I can’t” can destroy innovation inside a restaurant business • How leaders create a culture of problem-solving instead of excuses • Why great hospitality means finding ways to accommodate the guest • How owner mentality influences managers and frontline employees • Why restaurant training should be viewed as an investment—not just an expense • How better training can improve employee retention, upselling, reviews, and sales • Why cutting costs isn’t always the answer to thin restaurant margins • How focusing on increasing revenue can create a snowball effect across the business • The importance of restaurant systems, leadership development, and trained trainers • How to get your management team thinking “How can we?” instead of “We can’t” One of the biggest mistakes restaurant owners make is trying to solve every problem by spending less. Sometimes the better question is: How can we generate enough additional revenue to make the investment worthwhile? More training can create better hospitality. Better hospitality can create better reviews. Better reviews can bring in more guests. Stronger sales can fund stronger managers, better systems, and continued restaurant growth. That’s the difference between simply cutting your way through problems and building a restaurant business designed to grow. If you’re a restaurant owner, operator, general manager, hospitality leader, or multi-unit restaurant executive** looking to improve restaurant management, leadership, culture, profitability, employee training, and guest experience, this video is for you.

  5. Aug 25 ·  Video

    The Secret to Building a Michelin-Star Restaurant Team | Josiah Citrin & Preston Lee

    What does it really take to build a restaurant team capable of delivering Michelin-level hospitality? In this conversation, Michelin-star chef and restaurateur Josiah Citrin shares the lessons he’s learned from decades of building restaurants, developing teams, navigating major industry challenges, and balancing culinary passion with the realities of running a profitable business. Josiah explains the evolution of Citrin and Mélisse in Santa Monica, including how one restaurant became two distinct concepts under the same roof, how his team adapted through COVID, and why great restaurants depend on far more than great food. We also dive into the leadership and management philosophies behind his restaurant group, including: • Why Josiah hires for personality and passion over experience • How to build a strong restaurant culture • Why training and developing internal leaders matters • How “train the trainer” programs can improve employee retention • Creating career paths that motivate restaurant employees • Why promoting from within can strengthen restaurant leadership • How employee rewards can reinforce high performance • The importance of maintaining hospitality standards as a business grows • How restaurant owners can build systems that allow them to step back • Why passion alone isn’t enough to run a successful restaurant • Balancing food quality, staffing, labor, profitability, and guest experience • What Michelin-level hospitality looks like behind the scenes Josiah also shares his philosophy that hospitality means taking responsibility for a guest’s happiness while they are under your roof—with the goal of making every guest leave feeling like a king or queen. Whether you’re a restaurant owner, chef, general manager, hospitality leader, or aspiring restaurateur, this conversation offers practical lessons on restaurant management, leadership development, staff training, culture, profitability, and building a business that can succeed without the owner controlling every detail. If you’re working to build a stronger restaurant team, develop better leaders, improve hospitality, or create systems that allow your restaurant to grow, this episode is for you.

  6. Aug 18 ·  Video

    How I Increased His Restaurant's Sales OVERNIGHT: My 3-Step Blueprint

    Want to know how to increase restaurant sales in 2026—without relying on discounts, gimmicks, or simply trying to get more people through the door? In this episode, Founder & CEO of Thirty Percent, Preston Lee, sits down with Geno McWilliams, owner of Lucia’s Italian Kitchen in Effingham, Illinois, to break down the restaurant sales strategies, hospitality systems, and operational decisions that are helping his 40-seat Italian restaurant create unforgettable guest experiences. Lucia’s isn’t your typical Italian restaurant. Guests sit just feet away from an open kitchen, watching chefs prepare everything to order. There are no freezers, fryers, or microwaves, and the menu changes every three months to showcase different regions of Italy. But the biggest lessons aren’t just about the food. Gino shares how his team has turned "hospitality, culture, upselling, and customer experience into powerful sales drivers." In this eye-opening interview, you’ll learn: - How to map the entire restaurant guest experience—from the parking lot to the dining room - How Luchia’s uses a “10 for 10” accountability standard to build a culture of excellence - Why training your team on hospitality **mindset instead of just mechanics** can transform the customer experience - How “passion selling” can increase perceived value and help guests understand premium pricing - How one creative upsell achieved a **65% attachment rate** - How listening for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and other special moments creates memorable guest experiences - Why experimenting with unexpected menu ideas—like pizza topped with shaved chocolate—can create your next bestseller Whether you’re a **restaurant owner, operator, chef, general manager, or hospitality professional**, this episode gives you practical ideas you can use to increase restaurant sales while building an experience customers actually want to come back for. If you’re looking for the 2026 blueprint for restaurant growth, start with better hospitality, stronger systems, smarter selling, and an experience worth talking about.

    How I Increased His Restaurant's Sales OVERNIGHT: My 3-Step Blueprint

  7. Aug 5 ·  Video

    The Real Reason Your Restaurant Staff Aren't Bought In and How to Fix it

    Your servers’ obsession with tips may be creating a toxic workplace and quietly damaging your restaurant’s culture, guest experience, and long-term success. In this podcast, Preston Lee, Founder and CEO of Thirty Percent, explores why a “money-first” mindset causes servers and bartenders to judge guests, resent coworkers, resist management, and lose sight of what hospitality is really about. Drawing on more than 20 years in the restaurant industry and experience helping scale and turn around hundreds of restaurants. Preston Lee breaks down how leaders can shift employees from chasing individual tips to creating meaningful guest experiences. You’ll learn: • Why tip-focused thinking destroys restaurant culture • The difference between service and true hospitality • How to motivate servers beyond money • Why employees must detach performance from pay • How entitlement affects teamwork and guest satisfaction • Why genuine care often leads to better income • How restaurant managers can create stronger staff buy-in • The importance of purpose, personal standards, and emotional intelligence • How one server can completely change a guest’s day This podcast is for restaurant owners, general managers, hospitality leaders, servers, bartenders, hosts, and anyone who wants to build a healthier, more profitable restaurant culture. Stop letting tips control the attitude of your team. Teach your staff to focus on hospitality, personal excellence, teamwork, and the experience they create for every guest. Subscribe for more restaurant management advice, server training strategies, hospitality leadership lessons, and practical tools to improve restaurant culture and performance. Stop Running the Shift. Start Building the Leader. Download Our FREE Leadership Workbook: https://get.30percentrule.com/leadership-dl?el=ytotoxic Follow @the30rule on Instagram: https://instagram.com/the30rule

  8. Jul 17 ·  Video

    How to Motivate Your Restaurant Staff: 3 Steps to Get REAL Staff Buy In!

    Struggling to get your restaurant staff fully bought in? In this podcast, you’ll learn how to create restaurant staff buy-in through mindset shifts, stronger leadership, clear standards, accountability, and a deeper understanding of hospitality. Rather than simply telling employees what to do, Preston Lee, Founder & CEO of Thirty Percent, works through a real coaching conversation with Adolfo, a bartender and server with 20 years of restaurant industry experience. Together, they break down the attitudes and habits that separate high-performing restaurant employees from team members who coast through their shifts. In this podcast, we cover: • How to improve restaurant employee engagement and staff buy-in • Why restaurant culture requires teamwork and accountability • The difference between A players and C players • How to separate personal performance from tips and pay • Why employees should remove their ego from their job title Whether you’re a restaurant owner, operator, general manager, hospitality leader, server, bartender, or trainer, this conversation will help you build a more accountable, motivated, guest-focused restaurant team.

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About

It’s Not You, It’s Your Hospitality is for independent restaurant owners, operators, and leaders who want to build thriving businesses without burning out their teams or losing sight of what hospitality really means. Hosted by Preston Lee, founder of The 30% Rule, this podcast dives into the systems, leadership strategies, and culture shifts that separate the struggling 90% of restaurants from the top 10% that thrive. With over 20 years in the industry and a decade spent helping major brands grow sales, Preston shares raw stories, proven tools, and hard lessons learned from the front lines. If you’re tired of high turnover, inconsistent guest experiences, and the endless cycle of training without transformation—this podcast will dive deep into the world of Hospitality and show you how to fix it once and for all. Because at the end of the day, it’s not you—it’s your hospitality.

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