The Importance of Purpose-Driven Leadership, Investing in the Youth and Community Impact
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Joe Weber knew he always wanted to own his business, but it wasn't until the age of 40 that he decided to bring his dream to life.
His career began with a degree in hotel restaurant management followed by a 17-year career in corporate hospitality.
"One day I decided that if I'm going to stay in hospitality, I wanted to try to have a bigger purpose than making somebody's stock price go up. I thought, "Hey this isn't what restaurants are about. Restaurants should be about serving people, serving community, creating leaders from within and providing opportunities."
The next chapter of his career presented itself through a Chick-fil-A franchise.
"I don't know if I chose Chick-fil-A or if it chose me. I was a raving fan of Chick-Fil-A. I had young kids at the time and it was our favorite place to eat. My kids always wanted to go there. I was in full service restaurants and Chick-fil-A would impact our sales anytime they opened up a restaurant. So somebody you wouldn't consider your competition coming in and hurting you is, there's gotta be something about this company."
Joe started exploring the Chick-fil-A business model, learning more about how their business operates and the opportunities available for opening his own franchise.
"The average length of time from the time you would fill out an application and start to engage Chick-fil-A until the time that you became an operator is between two and a half and three years. So it's basically a three year interview."
Joe started with one restaurant in the small town of Castle Rock, honing his leadership skills in the process while growing the business.
50% of employees are under the age of 18, most of whom work their first jobs.
"I end every one of our New Hire Orientations with a LIVE A GREAT STORY photo!"
Joe takes immense pride in providing these kids with a great first job and an opportunity to grow.
He is passionate about creating leadership opportunities for his employees, teaching them valuable life lessons, and investing in his community.
Side note: this stat still blows me away. In this episode, we dive deep into this element of his business. This topic was one of my favorite parts of this episode.
Joe's love for his job and the restaurant industry is really inspiring for anyone looking to make an impact through their work. He believes that restaurants should be about serving people and the community, creating leaders from within, and providing opportunities for people to learn valuable life lessons.
Joe had a very cool real world LIVE A GREAT STORY run in!
Here's the story from LIVE A GREAT STORY Ambassador and podcast guest Robyn Horton:
"As we boarded our flight today, the man behind us, Joe Weber, noticed the sticker on my phone. He jumped up and said, I have a bigger sticker if you want it!
He went on to share that he was a Chick-fil-A operator south of Denver and has adopted the LIVE A GREAT STORY motto for his entire team at both of his stores. He shared pics and stories about how it has impacted his team. We went on to share about Bobby and our adventures.
Long story short, two organizations are headed to Rwanda with plans to share “LIVE A GREAT STORY” with the people there."
