Fi$H Factor With Mike Ungaro

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 story about community, responsibility, and the future of San Pedro. The story begins at local meetings about redeveloping the waterfront, where Mike heard high school students sa...

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 tells a lesser-known media origin story that connects local newspapers, early Food Network programming, and the role San Pedro Fish Market played along the way. The story starts with The...

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 takes listeners inside one of the wildest promotional bets in San Pedro Fish Market history: hosting a professional shrimp-eating contest with Major League Eating. What started as a brain...

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 Carmen “Nuch” Trutanich, a San Pedro native whose life stretches from the docks of the old fish market to the halls of Los Angeles City Hall. From growing up around Starkis...

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 one of the toughest chapters in San Pedro Fish Market’s history: the COVID pandemic. While most restaurants went dark, Kings of Fi$H cameras captured the quiet harbor, the uncert...

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 John Spagnola, Founder and CEO of Ublendit Spirits, and long-time business partner Ryan Buckholdt to discuss how they’re breaking through one of the toughest industries in...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with Marc Pfenninger, CEO of Studios Architecture, the global design firm behind some of the most inventive hospitality and workplace spaces in the world. Including Eataly’s iconic food halls. Marc is drawn to the complex challenges others avoid. He shares how curiosity, coaching, a...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with John Parkhurst and Michael Bibeau from Trucordia, a fast-growing national brokerage helping restaurant operators, developers, and builders manage risk with clarity and confidence. With backgrounds in hospitality, underwriting, and real-world operations, John and Michael break d...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with Chris Lowe, a former Disney executive, former mayor of Placentia, and trusted advisor to cities and developers. Chris shares lessons from helping launch global Disney projects and explains why Anaheim’s public-private collaboration, culture of problem solving, and long-term vis...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fi$H TV series, sits down with Adam Carrillo, CEO of Partake Collective and Vice President at Sunstone Management, to talk about how innovation and community investment are shaping the next chapter of the restaurant industry. From ghost kitchens in...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fi$H TV series, sits down with lifelong friend John Bacich and San Pedro Fish Market founder Tommy Amalfitano to trace a story that began in 1956. From immigrant grandparents and kindergarten friendships to a $500 deal at Norm’s Landing that sparked...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fi$H TV series, sits down with Ron Macklin, engineer turned leadership coach and founder of The Macklin Connection. After decades of leading high-performing teams, Ron built a method to help people connect, build trust, and create results that last....

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fi$H TV series, shares the wild story behind the time they turned the Market into a full-blown cooking competition. Inspired by Guy Fieri’s Grocery Games, the Kings of Fi$H crew dropped a group of chefs into the chaos of the Market with one rule: fi...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fi$H TV series, takes us behind the scenes of one of the most over-the-top seafood spectacles ever created: the legendary Triple XL Tray. What started as a spontaneous “Super Tray” collaboration with Foodbeast turned into a full-blown PR storm featu...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market, is joined by his brother Henry Ungaro and his sister Jennifer Ungaro live on stage at the US Foods Food Fanatics Forum. Hosted by Shawn Walchef, the conversation dives into the power of storytelling, family, and building for the next generation. From sweeping fl...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market, sits down with longtime seafood partner and Blue Sea Ink CEO Thomas Jacob to talk about the business of shrimp, trust, and global supply. From humble beginnings in a shrimp-farming family in India to becoming a major supplier for San Pedro Fish Market, cruise li...

Welcome back to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro—CEO of the legendary San Pedro Fish Market and star of the Amazon Prime series “Kings of Fi$H”—revisits an unforgettable moment when the family business became the stage for Grammy-winning Mumford & Sons. What started as a declined request from the Port of Los Angeles turned into a o...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market, sits down with longtime friend and business coach Nathen Fox to explore how the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) transformed their business. From chaotic four-hour meetings and clashing leadership styles to a pandemic shutdown and eviction from their iconi...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fi$H TV series, recounts the wild story of how chasing publicity at the Port of Los Angeles Lobster Fest turned into setting not one, but four Guinness World Records. What started with a single attempt at “most seafood served” quickly escalated into...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fi$H TV series, sits down with Jonathan Williams, President and CEO of the Battleship IOWA Museum, to share the remarkable journey of relocating and revitalizing a naval legend. What many dismissed as impossible, towing a 50,000-ton battleship from...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fish TV series, shares the wild story of how his family helped turn an experimental lobster boil into the legendary Port of Los Angeles Lobster Fest. What started as a risky idea of cooking thousands of live Maine lobsters in a homemade diesel-fuele...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fish TV series, lays out a strategic 10-year plan to turn a legendary single-location seafood icon into a billion-dollar empire. From a humble 200-square-foot stand in 1956 to serving 2 million guests a year, the Fish Market has always been about mo...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Wing Lam, co-founder of Wahoo’s Fish Taco, joins Mike Ungaro to share the unlikely story of how three Chinese-American brothers built a Mexican-inspired restaurant—and became the face of a $100 million Merrill Lynch campaign. Before Wahoo’s became a household name, Wing was just trying to make rent. With no marketing bud...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro opens up about the real work behind turning a legacy seafood business into a scalable, professional organization—without losing the heart of the family. For over 60 years, San Pedro Fish Market has operated on grit, instinct, and innovation. But as customer demand skyrocketed and two-hour lines became the nor...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with Lisa Landsman, Head of Industry Engagement and SMB Success at Google, to talk about what it really takes for restaurants to thrive in the digital age. Lisa and her team are focused on helping small businesses—especially restaurants—get discovered and succeed online. From Google...