Give an Ovation: The Restaurant Guest Experience Podcast with Zack Oates

Send us Fan Mail Tim McIntyre is the former EVP of Domino's and current Founder of T/M Communications LLC. McIntyre has 35 years of experience under his belt in communications and public relations. His expertise in communications enables him to advise on optimizing internal and strengthen external communications.  On this episode, you'll learn from Tim about:  How to humanize a brand Est...

Send us Fan Mail Ray Titus is the CEO of United Franchise Group and its affiliated companies. Ray has elevated franchising from a career to a calling. His philosophies on growth, positive attitude, and family, influence the core values that have driven success within the brands he has developed from conception to international expansion. Tune if to hear his keys to success and how they apply to yo...

Send us Fan Mail After 27 years of delivering restaurant tech transformations for iconic brands including Friday's, Applebee's, Potbelly, CrunchTime, US Foods, Main Event, and Le Duff America, Tamy Duplantis is now the Founder and CIO of Return on Information. Return on Information helps to define and implement integrated technology stacks catered to your brand that enables you to excel...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode welcomes on Christine Staley, Founder and CEO of Magic City Hoagies. Magic City Hoagies is all about bringing a new and exciting approach to sandwiches. Christine does so effortlessly with her passion for spreading positivity and creative eye. One of her many strengths is her ability to align clients with the most suitable promotion/entrepreneurial campaig...

Send us Fan Mail This weeks episode of Give An Ovation welcomes on our very own Chief Experience Officer (CXO) and Co-Founder, Derek Morgan. Derek's expertise in product engineering and customer success enables him to speak as to why Call-to-Text is the most requested feature addition and how it helps our customers continue to win in the restaurant tech space.  On this episode, you'll le...

Send us Fan Mail Ed Baklor is a former Disney/WestJet/JetBlue Executive with a solid business foundation focused on Operational Excellence and Guest Experience. Ed is skilled at curating an excellent guest experience from very little. Learn from his experience as a service expert in taking whatever is given you and crafting  an experience that will leave your guests wanting more. On this episode,...

Send us Fan Mail Amir Hudda is a technology entrepreneur who has founded and grown four startups in the past 20 years. Amir’s passion has been to create and bring new technologies and products to market, his technology depth and business skills have helped launch innovative solutions that address critical business problems. Currently, Amir is the CEO of Qu (formerly Gusto POS), an enterprise-scale...

Send us Fan Mail Sterling Douglass is the Co-Founder & CEO of Chowly, a leading restaurant technology company helping restaurants optimize off-premise sales and operations.  Sterling began his career in data analytics as an actuary before founding Chowly.  His entrepreneurial spirit drove him to make it simpler for small and mid-sized restaurants to leverage best-in-class technologies. Sterlin...

Send us Fan Mail On this week's edition of Give An Ovation, Carl Orsbourn and Meredith Sandland join us for another forward thinking and innovative episode. With the publication of their second book in the Delivering The Digital Restaurant series, The Path to Digital Maturity, Carl and Meredith impress the importance of taking your tech seriously. From interface to optimization, their experti...

Send us Fan Mail Nick Bogacz is the President/Founder of Caliente Pizza and Draft House. With over 20 years experience within the restaurant industry, Nick has held many positions has grown a business from the ground up. If you are an entrepreneur who enjoys the restaurant industry and are looking to build an enterprise, this episode is for you. On this episode, you'll learn from Nick about: ...

Send us Fan Mail Jeff Fenster is the Founder and CEO of Everbowl, a superfood bowl that encourages consumers to "unevolve™" - to live actively and eat "stuff that's been around forever™".  Fenster is serial entrepreneur whose expertise in curating real relationships has driven a strategy for success across his many business ventures/industries. Not afraid to fill the gaps...

Send us Fan Mail Mike Bausch is Owner at Andolini's Worldwide Restaurant Group, a Guinness World record holder, and Author of Unsliced. Mike Bausch strives to keep giving back within the restaurant industry and has accomplished just that through his experience as a restauranteur, thought leadership, and more! Tune in to this week's episode to discover how to apply his experience as a res...

Send us Fan Mail Blaine Hurst, former CEO of Panera Bread, has an extensive 40 year long career working with the likes of Boston Market and Papa John's. Now as an advisor, Blaine believes that a strategic mindset is developed rather than inherent. Blaine helps restaurateurs to develop the ability to see what needs improvement and how to execute such improvement.  On this episode, you'll...

Send us Fan Mail Jeremy Julian is the COO of CBS Northstar, an industry leader in hospitality POS technology, helping restaurants maximize efficiency and profitability. With its software, hardware, and portfolio of services, CBS offers thousands of restaurants the peace of mind that comes with a smooth POS experience.  Jeremy is  in touch with the challenges and issues facing restaurant operators...

Send us Fan Mail Ryan Thorman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Bango Bowls, a growing health food and quick services chain. Ryan knows how to develop the fundamentals of your business, bur more importantly, maintaining a "bigger picture" perspective. Ryan's expertise on transitioning from a business to an organization is something you won't want to miss on this week's episode....

Send us Fan Mail Carolyn Walker has curated an esteemed and well rounded career having worked for the likes of Fritos Lays and Saatchi & Saatchi advertising.  Now at Response Marketing, Carolyn started as a freelance consultant but quickly advanced to her current position as CEO and Managing Partner. Carolyn has an eye for internal and external development and has proven her ability to help sm...

Send us Fan Mail Andrew Glantz is the Founder & CEO of GiftAMeal, a local marketing program that helps provide a meal to a family in need each time a guest takes a photo at a partner restaurant. Over 500 restaurants currently participate and over 1,300,000 meals have been given so far! Andrew believes that profit and purpose can be consistent goals hence his expertise in brand alignment. On th...

Send us Fan Mail Audrey Hogan in the COO of TimeForge, a single dashboard service capable of mainstreaming and optimizing HR and Operations. Audrey is a Swiss army knife of talent that can teach you how to optimize labor management and boost your team. With an eye for and education in technical communication, Audrey is an expert on the crossroads of software and insights. On this episode you'...

Send us Fan Mail With over 15+ years experience as a CPA, Anne Gannon is now the Principal and Founder of the Largo Group. The Largo Group provides clients with a clear understanding of the dynamics of their business to achieve lasting growth and success based on an innovative accounting model. Anne strives to look beyond balancing books and deliver actionable insight s to restaurant owners. On th...

Send us Fan Mail Yazan El-Shalabi and Yasser Ali are the Founders of Shelby's, home to legendary shawarma, poutines, falafels, and more! Their journey began as two young college students and now they run a multi franchise brand. Tune in to hear Yazan and Yasser's rise to the top and how they've mastered growth pertaining to social media advertising, franchises, and more! On this epi...

Send us Fan Mail With over 24 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, Gregg Majewski has developed an expert eye for growth. To highlight his incredible experience within the space, Gregg has invested in restaurants and worked as former CFO, COO, and CEO of Jimmy John's (where he grew stores from 33 to 300). Now, Gregg is the CEO of Mongolian concepts AND Craveworthy Brands. Tu...

Send us Fan Mail Matt Vance is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mobrium, a platform aimed to streamline your employer reputation on sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, Comparably and InHerSight. Furthermore, Matt Vance is the author of The Review Cycle, a book which outlines a disruptive new consumer behavior model. Tune it to hear Matt's expertise on generating and managing more reviews.  On this episode...

Send us Fan Mail On this week's episode of Give An Ovation we are flipping the mic around and welcoming on Ovation's very own, CEO and Founder, Zack Oates. Having started as a soda jerk at Friendly's and then transitioning into tech startups, Zack brings his expertise within the restaurant industry, hospitality, and tech to the table as  we flip the script. With over 200+ podcast ep...

Send us Fan Mail Flint Finlinson, Co-Founder and CEO of Propaganda Inc., is a brand and marketing expert specializing in strategy development. Propaganda, Inc.  is an agency dedicated to "Brand Transformations" and helping to develop your higher brand purpose. Having transitioned from retail to restaurants, Flint understand what it means to position your brand not just to guests, but to...

Send us Fan Mail Euripides Pelekanos is the CEO of Bareburger, a kitchen and bar that offers big flavor in a big bun. With over 13 years experience with Bareburger as the CEO and Co-Founder, Euripides knows what it takes to learn from the past and apply hindsight to the future.  As someone who has grown his brand into an international business, you're going to want to tune in to his advice. ...