Arlene Spiegel experienced the challenges of daily operations while spending her teen years working in the family restaurant. She mastered the basic principles of guest service and joined the health movement by opening her first restaurant, The Garden of Eating. Arlene was sought after for her opinion and business knowledge by industry magazines and many neighboring restaurants. She enjoyed assisting others with their operational issues and worked to implement improvements.
In this episode, we learn how Arlene decided to sell her restaurants to her partner and begin a full-time career in consulting. She tells us about her years working with Price Waterhouse and Cooper as their global restaurant expert. She shares her experiences from her days working with regional chains and national brands, and tells us how her admiration for the hard-working independent restaurant operator grew.
Arlene moved on to create Arlene Spiegel Consulting in order to focus her time and energy on independent start-ups and small growing restaurant companies. Decades later Arlene finds herself busy with a variety of restaurant, hotel and casino clients. "The recent pandemic simply exaggerated many issues restaurants were already having within their operation," says Arlene. She continues "Improving customer convenience, streamlining daily operations and improving the staff experience were issues I helped many of my clients with."
Her "Come Back Strong" program was developed to assess issues, provide direction and help implement improvements quickly and successfully. We learn how this approach led some restaurant clients to move into retail and how hotel casino buffets morphed into popular food halls. Arlene tells us "I see consulting as the process of finding solutions and providing the tools required for successful implementation!"
Episode 85: Garrett Reed with Layne's Chicken Fingers
Episode 84: Emeka Onugha and Adenah Bayoh with Brick City Vegan
Episode 83: Kelli Ferrell with Nana's Chicken-N-Waffles
Episode 82: Seek Hannemann with Seven Brothers
Episode 81: Jason Sobocinski & EtkinTekin with Havens Hot Chicken
Episode 80: Hannah McClain with Biscuit Belly
Episode 79: Tom Foley
Episode 78: Cassie Ghaffar & Sandy Nguyen
Episode 77: Brandon and Zane Hunt
Episode 76: Pete Mora
Episode 75: Bruce Newman
Episode 74: L.J. Rodas
Episode 73: Annalee Schlossberg
Episode 72: Jay Ashton
Episode 71: Iliana de la Vega
Episode 70: Ben Siegel
Episode 69: Johnny Carrabba (re-visit)
Episode 68: Eric Sandler
Episode 67: Grace Wang
Episode 66: Lauren Fernandez
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