Fi$H Factor With Mike Ungaro

Eric McDermott, equity partner at Pacific Advisors® and founder of NEXTpectations®, joins Mike Ungaro to share how visual storytelling can help leaders simplify complex ideas, build stronger teams, and communicate more effectively. From his three TEDx Talks and bestselling books to building an audience of more than 500,000 on TikTok, McDermott explains why making ideas easier to understand creates...

Markos Scheer, founder and CEO of Seagrove Alaska, joins Mike Ungaro to share how he went from working in seafood as a teenager to practicing law for two decades before leaving it all behind to build one of Alaska's leading mariculture companies. Scheer explains why sustainable oyster and kelp farming represents the future of Alaska's coastal economy, what it takes to launch an entirely new indust...

Dan Whittaker, managing partner of Whitaker & Company, joins Mike Ungaro to discuss entrepreneurship, leadership, family business, and the lessons learned from building an accounting firm over nearly three decades. From selling real estate to pay for college to launching his own firm while his wife was pregnant, Whittaker shares why business is the ultimate strategic game and how financial dat...

Welcome back to Fi$H Factor, where family legacy meets entrepreneurial grit. Recorded live from the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, Mike Ungaro sits down with Chris Bryson, founder and CEO of New School Foods, to discuss the future of plant-based seafood and the technology powering a new generation of alternative proteins. After building and selling a software company to Instacart...

Welcome back to Fi$H Factor, where family legacy meets entrepreneurial grit. Recorded live from the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, Mike Ungaro sits down with Diana Dumet, Senior Director of Marketing at Mowi USA, to talk about the global salmon industry, consumer trends, and why salmon continues to grow in popularity across restaurants and households alike. As the world’s largest...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets real-world strategy. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with Trent Bryson, CEO of Bryson Financial and host of the Grit Rising podcast, to talk about family business, leadership, accountability, and the role grit plays in building both successful companies and successful kids. From growing up around the family business to chasing Olym...

What happens when a single piece of content changes the trajectory of your entire business? In this episode of Fi$H Factor, Mike Ungaro breaks down why storytelling has become one of the most important tools in modern business and how a viral moment helped transform San Pedro Fish Market into a nationally recognized brand. From early lessons inside the family business, where marketing was dismisse...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets real-world strategy. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with Matt Wampler, co-founder and CEO of ClearCOGS and host of the Restaurant AI podcast, to talk about how AI and predictive analytics are changing restaurant operations. From forecasting prep and labor to reducing waste and improving profitability, Matt shares how restaurants...

Welcome back to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets real-world strategy. In this episode, Mike Ungaro shares the vision behind Kings Of Fi$H and breaks down how restaurants, media, products, merchandise, and storytelling all work together to build a modern hospitality enterprise.  Inspired by a business mind map created by Walt Disney, Mike explains how San Pedro Fish Market, Kings O...

Welcome back to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets real-world strategy. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with Scott Choppin, Founder and CEO of Urban Pacific Group, to break down what it really takes to develop projects, solve complex problems, and build in industries where timelines are long and stakes are high. From growing up in a real estate family to leading innovative wor...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets real-world strategy. In this episode, Mike Ungaro breaks down the 12-part framework that has guided his growth as an operator, leader, and entrepreneur for over two decades. Simplified into a “sketch map” by Eric McDermott, this system outlines how to design your life, build your business, and increase your income in a rapidly changing wo...

Welcome back to Fi$H Factor, where family legacy meets entrepreneurial grit. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with Alan Ruesga-Pelayo to talk about building a brand rooted in culture, connection, and the simple act of bringing people to the table, alongside the global momentum of Teremana Tequila, founded by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. What started as a simple idea, guacamole, tequila, and sh...

Welcome back to Fi$H Factor, where family legacy meets entrepreneurial grit. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with Alexis Parra to talk about turning a personal passion for wellness into one of the fastest-growing juice and smoothie brands in the country. What began with homemade green juice, acai bowls, and no formal business plan grew into a nationwide brand with more than 230 locations. A...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro takes the stage at the Restaurant Franchising Innovation Summit to share the journey behind San Pedro Fish Market and how it became one of the highest grossing independent restaurants in the country, and how Kings Of Fi$H helped change the trajectory of the business. From a 200 square foot se...

Welcome back to Fi$H Factor, where family legacy meets entrepreneurial grit. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with Jeyre Lewis, Area Manager at PCL Construction, one of North America’s largest builders delivering over $10 billion in projects annually. From iconic destinations like the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Super Nintendo World to major renovations at Dodger Stadium and first-of...

Welcome back to Fi$H Factor, where family legacy meets entrepreneurial grit. In this episode, Mike Ungaro takes listeners behind the wall of photos in his office, sharing the personal stories and business lessons behind the images that shaped San Pedro Fish Market. From childhood creativity inspired by comic books to lessons drawn from Walt Disney’s early business strategy, each picture tells a pi...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Michael Ungaro sits down with Chef Joe Gatto, a Boston-based chef, filmmaker, culinary instructor, and the host of From Scratch. Joe has built a career that blends storytelling, hospitality, and craftsmanship by taking cooking to the extreme, making ingredients, tools, and entire meals completely from th...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Michael Ungaro sits down with Kirsten Maitland, co-founder of Rebel Cheese, the Austin-based company reinventing artisan cheese without dairy. What started as a deeply personal decision to give up ch...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Michael Ungaro sits down with Hal Mooney, hospitality pro and co-founder of Mooney’s Pizza Tavern, a new neighborhood pizzeria opening inside a repurposed 1960s diner in Long Beach. Hal is building t...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with EOS Implementer Sara Stern to unpack what really makes family businesses work and what quietly tears them apart. From the complicated core value of “family” to generational...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro revisits an early and often forgotten moment in the San Pedro Fish Market story that shows just how far ahead of its time the brand really was. Long before short-form video or creator par...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with Patrick Mescall, South Bay restaurant operator behind a growing portfolio of neighborhood bars, cocktail concepts, and tiki destinations including Tiki Kai and the Hula Hul...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro shares a full-circle story that starts with a struggling restaurant in the early 2000s and leads all the way to the doorstep of QVC. A forgotten catering marketing system introduces a mai...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro breaks down the untold story behind taking San Pedro Fish Market beyond the four walls and into grocery freezers across the country. The episode traces a decades-old missed opportunity wi...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro shares the unfiltered story of the restaurant he opened on his own and the hard lessons that came with betting everything. The episode traces the leap away from the family business, the r...