Inside Potbelly's Recipe for Fast Casual Success
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.
Transcript
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.