The Podcast

The Restaurant Prosperity Formula

Direct conversations with independent restaurant pros and the occasional contrarian voice — on the decisions that actually move the needle. No fluff. No hustle culture. Just the work.

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The Restaurant Prosperity Formula podcast

01 · Latest episodes

Recent conversations.

If there’s one number that quietly determines whether a restaurant thrives or struggles, it’s restaurant prime cost and most owners misunderstand it from day one. In this episode of The Restaurant Prosperity Formula, I take a different approach by sitting down with my AI assistant, Alex, who asks the same real-world questions about restaurant prime…
Running a restaurant can feel like constantly trying to hold chaos together with duct tape and adrenaline. In this episode of “The Restaurant Prosperity Formula” podcast, I challenge a belief many restaurant owners have: that their business struggles because they don’t have enough systems. But I have a different take. The #1 reason why restaurant…
What if the reason you feel overwhelmed in your restaurant isn’t the hours you’re working but the decisions you’re avoiding? In this episode of “The Restaurant Prosperity Formula” podcast, I challenge the belief that being busy is the problem and instead explore how unclear priorities, avoidance and unchecked control keep restaurant owners stuck in survival…
You can’t win by trying to fix everything in your restaurant at once. You have to develop a plan, and you have to have patience. To offer you, a restaurant owner, some ways to go about it, I sat down with Lyn Askin, a certified EOS Implementer. In this episode of “The Restaurant Prosperity Formula”…
If you’ve ever started a year full of optimism only to find yourself buried under half-finished projects and mounting stress, this one is for you. In this episode of “The Restaurant Prosperity Formula” podcast, I dig into why so many restaurant owners feel overwhelmed despite working harder than ever — and why the real issue…
If you’ve ever had a powerful “aha” moment about why your restaurant feels out of control — only to find yourself right back in the chaos a week later — this episode is for you. In Part 2 of a two-part series focused on your inner game, I move beyond awareness and into execution, breaking…
Most restaurant owners spend their days obsessing over food cost, labor and sales — but what if the real driver of chaos isn’t on your P&L at all? In this episode of “The Restaurant Prosperity Formula” podcast, I pull back the curtain on the inner game that shapes every decision you make as a leader….
If you’ve ever hired someone because you needed a body to work in the restaurant and then paid for it for months, this episode will feel uncomfortably familiar. In episode 140 of “The Restaurant Prosperity Formula” podcast, I sit down with Dwight Crain, managing partner of Eleserv, to talk about the real reason turnover keeps…
You know things are bad in your restaurant when you’re so overwhelmed you forget to eat for three days and your debit card is declined at the gas pump. In this episode of “The Restaurant Prosperity Formula” podcast, I sit down with Kristi and Tracy Carter, owners of JAC’s Craft Smokehouse in West Monroe, Louisiana,…
If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing everything “right” in your restaurant and still not getting the results you want, this podcat episode is for you. In this conversation with restaurant pro and digital media legend Shawn P. Walchef of Cali BBQ and Cali BBQ Media, we dig into why “build it and they will…

02 · About the show

Same lens as the book. Different conversation each week.

Most weeks it’s me and a real owner working through what’s actually going on in their restaurant — the numbers, the team, the avoidance, the one decision they’ve been dodging. Some weeks it’s a solo episode where I work through a single idea I’ve been turning over in my own head.

If you’ve read the book, the podcast is the working session that comes after. If you haven’t, the podcast is a good place to find out whether the way I think matches the way you wish someone would think about your restaurant.

Heard enough to talk it through?

If an episode landed and you want to apply it to your restaurant specifically, book a 30-minute Profit Finder Call with Ryan James on my team. He’ll diagnose with you in real time and tell you the truth.