Hospitality Mavericks Podcast Show

In this episode, Michael interviews restaurateur and consultant Josh Eans about escaping owner dependence by building systems and leaders so a business can run without the founder.
Josh describes a 2019 Christmas-morning moment when his wife told him “you’re here, but you’re not here,” highlighting how restaurant stress follows owners home and drives burnout, which he argues is a design problem, not a character flaw.
He shares his path from early multi-unit success with a gourmet burger concept to buying and operating the daytime brunch spot Happy Gillis, learning to shift from “firefighter to architect” through simple, disciplined tools like order guides, prep lists, inventory updates, and training that lives in people.
He explains hiring help (notably accounting) and using strengths-based leadership, enabling a 2022 move to Valencia while the team ran operations until the restaurant sold, and leading to his current work helping operators keep more profit and reduce reliance on the owner.
Connect with Josh:
https://whatatreatconsulting.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-eans/
Book: Freedom Was the Whole Point: How restaurant owners can unlock hidden profit and build a business that runs without
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HNR3WKH2
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A big thank you to our episode sponsors, Monotree and Sideways.
Both are helping the industry unleash its potential via its people
Head to their websites here:
Monotree.com and
Sideways.ai

In this episode, Michael and Jon discuss burnout and mental health in the restaurant industry, challenging the “be resilient” culture and arguing that broken systems—not individuals—often cause collapse.
Jon recounts nearly two decades in kitchens, reaching executive chef before severe physical breakdown (degenerative disc disease, herniation, surgeries) alongside worsening coping behaviors including alcohol and heavy pain medication, compounded by escalating expectations and little support.
After leaving the industry and struggling with loss and depression, he studied engineering and applied “change the inputs to change the outputs” thinking to hospitality.
He founded Kanned Heat (kannedheatkitchen.com) to share actionable resources on building personal and workplace systems—boundaries, clear expectations, communication channels, cross-training, scheduling with redundancy, and management accountability—to protect health and careers, address substance abuse and suicide risks, and reduce predatory staffing pressures.
Connect with Jon:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sargentjon/
https://kannedheatkitchen.com/
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Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter
Tune in via your favourite podcast platform - here
More episodes for you to check out here
A big thank you to our episode sponsors, Monotree and Sideways.
Both are helping the industry unleash its potential via its people
Head to their websites here:
Monotree.com and
Sideways.ai

In this episode, Gina discusses her nearly two-decade hospitality journey from starting in hotels at 15 to leading people and culture at Flat Iron, explaining how operational experience translated into learning, recruitment, HR, and culture leadership.
She defines culture as what a business tolerates, walks past, celebrates, and rewards, emphasizing a strong feedback culture and the importance of nipping issues early through coaching and one-to-ones.
Gina shares Flat Iron’s Sunday team breakfast ritual, created by the founder, as a non-negotiable example of togetherness, and describes how “movements” are built from repeated moments, highlighting Flat Iron’s listening cycle (engagement surveys, roundtables, forums, action plans, and follow-up surveys) and the Flat Iron Forum of non-manager reps.
She also covers the value of coaching, mentoring, networking, reflection time, and supporting early careers through work experience.
Connect with Gina:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginamarieknight/
https://flatironsteak.co.uk/
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Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter
Tune in via your favourite podcast platform - here
More episodes for you to check out here
A big thank you to our episode sponsors, Monotree and Sideways.
Both are helping the industry unleash its potential via its people
Head to their websites here:
Monotree.com and
Sideways.ai

Michael interviews Klaus Thomsen of The Coffee Collective about building a Denmark-based coffee company rooted in direct trade, transparency, and barista craftsmanship.
After Thomsen won the 2006 World Barista Championship, he and co-founders Casper and Peter started the company in 2007 to address unfair farmer compensation by cutting middlemen, contracting directly with producers, and sharing costs openly, including listing origin payments on labels.
They began with a small roaster and long-term relationships with farms in Brazil and Guatemala, and continue origin visits with a team to maintain trust and feedback. The company expanded organically to eight coffee shops and a bakery (mostly Copenhagen, one in Aarhus), ~160–170 employees, and about one million cups annually, selling to wholesale, shops, and a global webshop in 45 countries.
They discuss scaling quality through written standards, a staff app for onboarding and communication, hiring an external CEO for leadership expertise, balancing ambition with work-life balance, learning from mistakes, and sustaining motivation through continual learning and working with young staff.
Connect with Klaus:
https://www.instagram.com/klausthomsen/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/klausthomsencoffee/
https://coffeecollective.dk/
A big thank you to our epsiode sponsor Sideways. Head to their website hospitality.sideways.ai or email them directly at john@sideways.ai
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Michael hosts Christian to discuss how voice AI can solve a persistent restaurant operations problem: missed phone calls that cost revenue and damage guest experience.
Christian shares his early experience working front-of-house in a busy Southern California restaurant where calls were often ignored, then explains how a 2024 voice AI demo led him and his cofounder to build Loman, now used by 1,500+ restaurants.
They cover key stats (30% of restaurant revenue comes via phone; 40% of calls are missed), how Loman answers 100% of calls, takes orders and payments, books reservations, answers questions, supports multiple languages, handles up to 50 concurrent calls, and integrates with major POS and reservation systems to pull menus/pricing and push orders into the kitchen.
They also discuss customization, continuous learning from call data, adoption best practices, AI’s future impact, and practical AI tips for operators.
Lodgify is the headline sponsor for the Hospitality Mavericks Podcast Show.
Lodgify is an all-in-one hosting platform built on one promise, minimum hassle, maximum independence. We help independent vacation rental hosts and small-scale property managers run and grow their business with 0% Lodgify booking commissions, an AI Co-Host (COMING SUMMER 2026, early access open now), and direct booking websites built to get found by AI.
For Mavericks listeners, there's a special offer: 20% off all yearly and bi-yearly plans - Use code MAVERICK20.
Learn more at https://lodgify.com/
Connect with Christian:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianwiens?skipRedirect=true&miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_miniProfile%3AACoAABQkpesB4RRaowtsUCQDK-LpDtxIsyEdwfk
Website: loman.ai
Instagram: instagram.com/loman.ai
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More episodes for you to check out here