On this episode of "The CEO Series," we chat and chow down with Bob Wright, the Chief Executive Officer of Potbelly.
Have you had a Potbelly's sandwich? If you live in America, chances are you have. They're in 32 states, have over 400 locations and they're fantastic. On this episode of The CEO Series, I broke bread with Potbelly CEO Bob Wright and got his secret recipe for this national powerhouse franchise's success.
Have you had a Potbelly's sandwich? If you live in America, chances are you have. They're in 32 states, have over 400 locations and they're fantastic. On this episode of The CEO Series, I broke bread with Potbelly CEO Bob Wright and got his secret recipe for this national powerhouse franchise's success.
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00:00 Have you had Popbelly's before?
00:02 Have you had Popbelly before?
00:04 It's fantastic.
00:06 Today we are at Popbelly to talk to the CEO, Bob Wright.
00:10 If you live in America, chances are you've probably had one of their sandwiches.
00:14 They're in 32 states and have over 400 locations.
00:17 Let's go share a sandwich with Bob.
00:19 CEOs carry a lot of weight.
00:23 They manage businesses, people, expectations of stakeholders, and so much more.
00:27 I want to hear their story.
00:29 How is it testifying in front of Congress?
00:31 What are some things that you look out for when evaluating a company?
00:34 Rock and roll, yeah, I want to see.
00:36 I'm on a journey to learn and get to know top business leaders.
00:39 I think everybody thinks that they want to be a CEO.
00:42 I didn't get into this to be a CEO.
00:44 What are the risks?
00:45 I want you to hold this under your tongue.
00:47 And how do we de-risk that?
00:49 I'm Will Salvey.
00:50 Thank you for your business.
00:51 And this is the CEO Series.
00:53 Bob, thanks for having us.
00:55 Glad to be here.
00:56 By the way, we both have the same quarter zip, Ralph Lauren.
00:59 Good call today.
01:00 So I'm going to start off with a real tough question for you.
01:03 What is the best aspect of being a CEO?
01:05 I've had a lot of jobs in my career.
01:07 I started out delivering pizzas when I was 19 years old.
01:10 And I think the best part about being a CEO is bringing all of that experience together
01:15 but still focused on the same exact thing.
01:17 What would you say is something that you find challenging about the role,
01:21 something that maybe people wouldn't quite understand because they haven't been in the role?
01:26 You know, one of my mentors warned me about this.
01:28 He said it can be lonely.
01:30 And, in fact, he gave me good advice, which is try to find others in similar positions that you can connect with,
01:35 that you feel like you can turn to, that you can trust.
01:38 I trust the leaders on my team.
01:40 I love engaging with my senior leadership team.
01:42 They're the smartest and the best in the business.
01:45 But everyone is looking to the CEO to have a leadership position
01:48 and to have a thought about the vision, the strategy, or the decisions of the day.
01:53 Could you walk me through the journey from when you first started in Fast Casual or the franchise game
01:59 and then to where you are now?
02:01 Can you walk us through your journey to this point?
02:03 Sure. The summer after my freshman year in college, I started delivering pizzas at Domino's.
02:07 And the answer is kind of funny, really, now that you think about it,
02:10 is because I could not get a job as a waiter.
02:12 I wanted a job that summer that would pay me not only a wage but give me a chance to earn tips.
02:17 And I must not have been cut out for waiting tables because I tried for almost a month.
02:22 I walked into a Domino's pizza shop in Houston, asked if they were hiring,
02:26 and the guy who was working asked me if I had blue pants.
02:29 So I think that was my interview.
02:31 I told him I did, which was a lie, actually.
02:33 He said, "All right, see you back here at 4 o'clock."
02:35 So I went to the mall and bought blue pants, and I started working at Domino's.
02:38 I was there for 12 years.
02:40 I didn't realize that taking opportunities that were presented to you
02:43 could be as valuable as they could be if you were just willing to take the chance.
02:47 And oftentimes, people I trusted, too, would say, "Oh, I don't know if I'd do that."
02:52 You know, that's a big risk.
02:54 If you take that job and move to Houston, and, you know, Bob, it's a different company.
02:58 You could end up running a fast-casual company that's owned by Wendy's, and that sounds great,
03:02 but what if it doesn't go well?
03:05 You know, I always thought to myself, well, isn't that the job, to ensure that it goes well?
03:09 Or at least give it everything you've got and make sure--
03:11 - You've got a laundry power. - Yeah, yeah.
03:13 So it's served me well.
03:14 Well, let's go order a sub.
03:16 We can do that as long as we'll call them sandwiches.
03:18 - So-- - Let's do it. Let's do it.
03:20 So I know you're a pro. You told me Italian. That's your favorite?
03:23 Yeah. Let's do an Italian, but I want everything on it.
03:26 - Okay. All right. - Yeah.
03:28 - And what size? Original or-- - Original, yeah, original.
03:31 - An Italian? - An Italian.
03:33 All right, and we're going to do original on white or multigrain?
03:35 - Let's do multigrain. - Multigrain.
03:37 - With extra peppers. - With extra hot peppers?
03:40 - Yeah. - Gotta get it hot.
03:41 - Gotta get it hot. - All right.
03:43 - Popbelly has great jardinière. - Award-winning.
03:45 Yeah, it's very good. I've bought it in the cans.
03:47 Yeah, I have two jars at home all the time.
03:50 Anything else for you guys?
03:51 Yeah, I'm going to have a-- Can I get a rack on white, original size?
03:55 - Original. - And can you thin cut my bread, please?
03:58 - Oh, absolutely. - Awesome. Thank you.
04:00 - You're paying for this, right? - Of course.
04:02 - Okay, good. - Yeah, you're my guest.
04:04 You want a drink?
04:05 For those who don't know Popbelly, describe it to us.
04:08 What is Popbelly?
04:09 We are a fast, casual sandwich restaurant.
04:13 And we sit right in the sweet spot of the fast, casual consumer occasion.
04:17 But we've got this amazing, differentiated menu.
04:20 Sandwiches, hot toasted at 500 degrees, soups, salads made fresh when you order them.
04:26 Our cookies are the best on the planet.
04:28 Our sugar cookie is better than anyone I've ever had in my life.
04:31 I've been a fan of this brand for 20 years, ever since I was introduced to it.
04:35 And have always thought that it had great potential.
04:37 It's got great heritage, too.
04:39 It started in an antique shop in 1977 on Lincoln Avenue, right here in Chicago.
04:44 - I lived next to it. - You did?
04:46 - Yeah. - Oh, yeah. Well, you know.
04:48 - I do. I've been there. - You know the history.
04:50 Peter Hastings, who ran the antique shop with his wife,
04:52 was looking for a way to drive more business.
04:54 And so he went out, and his story is he went out and bought five pieces of bread,
04:58 enough meat to make five sandwiches,
05:00 in hopes that he could sell five sandwiches that day and start adding to his business.
05:04 At the end of the day, he counted the loaves of bread, he still had five.
05:08 So talk about a determined guy.
05:10 I think he was an engineer at heart, too, because he was always building and crafting something.
05:15 So do you always order the same thing?
05:17 No. You know what? I've been all over the menu lately.
05:20 I think I mentioned I've been on a chicken salad kick.
05:23 Chicken salad, plain, hot peppers, of course get the cheese on it.
05:27 And I think you heard me order thin-cut bread.
05:29 That's, you know, Potbelly pros know there's all kinds of ways you can customize your order.
05:34 So I heard you were here for 21 years. You've been here for 21 years.
05:38 That's right. Yeah, 21 years today.
05:40 Wow. Happy anniversary.
05:41 - Congratulations today. - Yes, thank you.
05:43 All right, we've got the Italian out. What are we going to have on it?
05:45 - Everything. - Everything? Perfect.
05:47 Yeah, load me up. It's a very biased interview because I'm a big fan of Potbelly, so.
05:51 - But that's okay. - Me too. We have that in common.
05:54 You said we have a great sugar cookie, which I've tried it.
05:57 No, I actually didn't say that. I said we have the best sugar cookie on the planet.
06:01 I've got to try this more one.
06:03 Oh, it's outstanding. Outstanding.
06:05 - All right. - There you go.
06:06 - Let's go have a seat. - Let's go eat.
06:08 What trends are you noticing in the industry, would you say, in the next five years?
06:11 Are you seeing certain things in the fast-casual dining experience that you can elaborate on?
06:16 I'd say some of it has its roots in the pandemic.
06:18 But fast-casual is clearly where the consumer is going.
06:20 Higher quality, more value, especially value for the money that you pay,
06:25 and more flexibility and the opportunity to use that brand in a way that fits your life.
06:30 Sure, people are going out, sitting down around a table, getting waiter service and so on.
06:34 They always will. Casual dining, fine dining, those are going to get their share of business.
06:38 And fast food, because of its convenience, is always going to get its share.
06:41 But for the last decade almost, fast-casual is where all the massive growth is
06:46 because that's where the consumer is.
06:47 They're looking for that occasion that fits that balance of what they want in their life.
06:51 So let's dive in. But first, how often do you eat at Potbelly?
06:56 Oh, probably...
06:57 And be honest.
06:58 Of course. Yeah, probably five times a week, maybe four sometimes, depending on where I am.
07:05 All right.
07:06 I actually don't care for mine.
07:10 I'm just joking.
07:12 Get out.
07:13 No, honestly, Potbelly's is very consistent throughout my life.
07:16 Can you talk about how you grew up, kind of what motivated you to be this type of person?
07:21 It seems like you work very hard at these new opportunities.
07:24 So talk about your home life and how you grew up.
07:26 Look, I am who I am because of my family.
07:29 But I grew up a lower-middle-class kid, family of five.
07:32 I've got an older brother and a younger sister.
07:34 My dad was a machinist. Mom was a nurse.
07:37 But because we didn't have a lot of money, we were resourceful.
07:41 We always had food. We always had a roof over our head.
07:44 We always had a lot of love in the family and a very supportive family.
07:47 When things needed to get done, there was no one to turn to.
07:50 We didn't hire people to do things.
07:52 I learned how to work on cars. I learned how to do body work.
07:55 If we were repairing something around the house, my dad would always include us.
08:00 I knew how to build fences and things like that when I was young.
08:03 So Dad wasn't an engineer. He was a machinist.
08:06 But we had this sort of engineering mentality.
08:08 So you had mentioned that going out to eat was a treat for you and your family.
08:13 So now you've been in the industry for about 37 years.
08:16 So has that, do you think, influenced you in choosing this career path?
08:20 I still remember growing up, Dad and Mom had a little bit of a financial break.
08:25 And they pulled the family together and they said, "Look, this is really good news for us.
08:29 We'll even get to go out to eat occasionally."
08:32 And I just loved everything about it.
08:35 I loved the experience of choosing your own food.
08:39 I loved sitting around the table and talking about the day or the week.
08:44 And so it's still one of my favorite things to do.
08:46 Some of my favorite memories of my family, even those that I've lost,
08:49 are sitting around a dinner table somewhere.
08:53 When you're on vacation, since Potbelly's is a national brand,
08:58 do you say you're the CEO of Potbelly?
09:01 Not unless I'm asked. No.
09:03 Does anyone ever tell you they don't like it?
09:05 No. Isn't that special?
09:07 That's--when I tell people that I work at Potbelly or that I'm involved in Potbelly,
09:12 I get on my jacket, which is hanging over here behind me.
09:14 I'll wear that on the plane. I've got a Potbelly lapel pin on.
09:17 And people go, "Oh, is that Potbelly?"
09:20 And I'm, "Yeah, yeah."
09:21 The first response is--I mean, literally almost universally the same.
09:26 Same thing I said, "Oh, I love Potbelly."
09:29 And then they want to tell you why.
09:31 And it has something to do with the food or it has--you know, they'll ask me,
09:34 "Have you had the cookies?"
09:36 Well, yeah, I'm the CEO. I've had the cookies.
09:39 I think I've had all the food.
09:41 But they have this connection to--
09:43 It'd be a bad look if you hadn't had it.
09:45 Yeah, yeah. No, I haven't had that food yet.
09:48 But that's what they say, "Oh, I love Potbelly."
09:50 And the best part is when they say, "What is it about your people?
09:54 How do you get such great people to provide that service on the front line?"
09:58 I love the service there.
09:59 I feel like it's a different restaurant experience.
10:03 So you get that explanation of why you love something, that is gold.
10:08 I mean, that is brand gold, and that's what we enjoy.
10:12 And we want to protect it.
10:13 What is a book that you've read that you would recommend to aspiring leaders, entrepreneurs?
10:19 I love biographies.
10:21 I like to learn through stories more than through formulas.
10:24 Look, if you will read biographies of people that have been accomplished,
10:28 have been great leaders, have been founders of our country--
10:31 so I thought David McCullough was a fascinating writer.
10:34 You know, Truman, 1776, those were awesome books.
10:38 I think you learn more from watching than from being told.
10:43 And biographies are a way for us to watch what other people have done.
10:47 Well, Bob, it's been a pleasure.
10:49 I've always enjoyed Potbelly, and it's been great getting to know you and talk to you.
10:54 So I appreciate your time and the hospitality.
10:56 Well, great to get to know you. Great to have you.
10:59 Thanks so much. Thank you.
11:02 How does that start, everybody? Was that okay?
11:05 Thank God.
11:07 And action.
11:09 You've noticed that.
11:11 No, you told me to say that.
11:14 I'm just joking. I have noticed it.
11:16 How about we go over there?
11:19 You see? You're making fun of me.
11:20 I know. Now we're stuck.
11:22 Have you all had Potbelly's before?
11:24 Yeah.
11:25 It's pretty good, right?
11:27 See, they get it. Because today we're at Potbelly.