JUSTIN AND THE [FOOD] ENTREPRENEURS

About JUSTIN AND THE [FOOD] ENTREPRENEURS

Free Podcast. No Advertisements. The stories of Food, Beverage, Farming, Hospitality, and Nutrition Entrepreneurs and how their failures led to the successes in their lives and in their business. What does the future have in store for the food, beverage, and nutrition entrepreneur?

Publisher

Better with Bacon Fat Studios / Justin Bizzarro

Category

arts · business

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

21 Jan 2019

Latest episode

28 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

14 of 527 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   28 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 528: Mark Hartmann of HartmannRhodes - Morristown, NJ. The "Kidnap Test". SWEAT EQUITY PAYDAY. Why 8 out of 10 Businesses Fail to Sell Smart. How to Build + De-Risk.+ Create Value + Invest.

   How sellable is your food business really? If you were kidnapped for two weeks with zero access to your phone or email, would your operations survive, or would they crumble? In this incredibly tactical episode of the JUSTIN AND THE [FOOD] ENTREPRENEURS Show, Justin sits down with Mark Hartman—author of Sweat Equity Payday and a seasoned Mergers & Acquisitions advisor. Mark brings decades of experience, starting from scaling and selling his own medical claims business to now helping other entrepreneurs secure their ultimate payday. This conversation strips away the romanticized idea of an easy, walk-into-the-sunset exit. Mark drops a staggering statistic: 8 out of 10 Main Street businesses never sell. They simply close their doors. To ensure you fall into the 20% that actually cash out, Mark explains why "exit planning is simply good business planning." He details the "Five D's" that force a sudden exit (Death, Divorce, Disability, Disagreement, and Downturn) and why you must be "deal-ready" long before you ever plan to leave. Justin and Mark dive deep into the specific steps you must take to de-risk your company to make it attractive to buyers. From eliminating "owner dependence" (passing the Kidnap Test) to avoiding the fatal mistake of hiring "Cousin Vinny" as your transaction attorney, this episode is a playbook for securing your family's financial legacy. They also touch on the power of separating your corporate entities, standardizing operations to survive crises, and how AI can be leveraged to buy back your time as a leader. If you are grinding 80-hour weeks in your food business without a clear exit strategy, this is the reality check you need to transition from working in your business to working on your business. Key Takeaways The Kidnap Test: If you vanished for two weeks with no communication, what would happen to your operations? If the answer is "chaos," you don't have a sellable asset—you have a demanding job. You must systemize your business to run without you. Build Your "Deal Team" Early: Do not use a general practice or divorce lawyer to sell your life's work. Months before you plan to sell, assemble a specialized team: a deal advisor/broker, a transaction attorney, a tax-savvy accountant, and a financial advisor. De-Risk to Drive Value: Buyers heavily discount businesses that have high "dependencies." You must structure your operations to eliminate dependence on the owner, a single massive customer, a single key employee, or a sole vendor. Self-Capitalize and Separate Entities: Justin shares a hard-learned lesson on the importance of legally separating your business divisions (e.g., real estate, operations, supply). This protects your assets, limits liability spread if a crisis hits, and allows you to sell off pieces of your business cleanly. Exit Planning = Good Business Planning: Don't wait until you are burned out to plan your exit. Building a business that is structured to be sold forces you to build a healthy, highly profitable, and scalable operation today. Connect with Mark: Website: www.hartmannrhodes.com Book: Sweat Equity Payday by Mark Hartmann (Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Audible) Entrepreneur interested in being on the show: https://calendly.com/justin-bizzarro/podcast Hosted By: Justin Ryan Bizzarro (IG: @justinbizzarro and LinkedIn: FOLLOW ME ) Who is Justin Ryan Bizzarro? Justin Ryan Bizzarro is a multi-dimensional entrepreneur, mentor, and strategist whose career is defined by the intersection of legacy, leadership, and human growth. With a journey that began in his family’s basement in 1998, Justin helped scale a 24-year-old ecosystem of food and technology enterprises into a global benchmark for vertical integration and lean manufacturing. While his professional foundation is built on complex supply chains, restaurant development, and brand acceleration, Justin’s true north is development—whether it’s a startup, an elite athlete, or

2. 

   21 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 527: Jamie Brown and Jeff Tonidandel of Tonidandel-Brown Restaurant Group - Charlotte, NC. From 11 Tables to 6 Restaurants. Crepes, Donuts and Fried Chicken = Adapt, Pivot, and Thrive.

   How do you walk away from safe corporate jobs during the height of the 2009 recession, open a tiny 11-table creperie, and organically grow it into a multi-million dollar, Michelin-recognized restaurant empire? In this powerhouse episode of the JUSTIN AND THE [FOOD] ENTREPRENEURS Show, Justin sits down with Jamie and Jeff of the Tonidandel-Brown Restaurant Group. This husband-and-wife powerhouse duo left lucrative careers in NASCAR hospitality and corporate snack foods to travel the world, ultimately returning to Charlotte, North Carolina, with a vision to build something of their own. With zero commercial kitchen experience but armed with MBAs and an unshakeable work ethic, they launched Crepe Cellar Kitchen and Pub in Charlotte's eclectic, artsy NoDa neighborhood. What started as a single 11-table gamble has since exploded into six distinctly unique concepts—ranging from a walk-up sandwich window to a $100-a-head steak and seafood house—maintaining a staggering 25% to 30% year-over-year growth for a decade and a half. This episode is a masterclass in hyper-local scaling and operational ingenuity. Jamie and Jeff break down their unconventional growth strategies, like knocking a hole through a brick wall to run a craft beer bar out of their existing creperie kitchen, and transforming a literal storage closet into a wildly successful walk-up donut shop (which they recently pivoted into a thriving neighborhood deli). Listeners will get an inside look at what it takes to manage over 330 employees while fostering a culture of excellence that recently earned three of their restaurants a nod from the prestigious Michelin Guide. They also dive into their broader media footprint, sharing the inspiration behind Jamie’s book, 11 Tables, and their Emmy-nominated television show, Fork and Hammer. If you want to learn how to build an unstoppable community-centric brand, pivot fearlessly, and turn operational hurdles into your ultimate superpower, this conversation is an absolute must-listen. Key Takeaways The Hyper-Local Strategy: Why clustering multiple distinct restaurant concepts in a single neighborhood (NoDa) built an incredibly loyal community and streamlined operations. Operational Hacks: How sharing a single kitchen across multiple concepts and turning a storage closet into a revenue-generating walk-up window maximized their real estate footprint. Demanding Excellence: The leadership philosophy required to manage 330+ employees and elevate line cooks to six-figure General Managers, ultimately catching the attention of the Michelin Guide. The Power of the Pivot: Why realizing when to walk away from a profitable concept (like shifting their 7-year-old donut shop into a deli) is crucial for long-term survival. Community Over Competition: Embracing the "rising tide lifts all boats" mentality to turn neighborhood competitors into collaborative allies. Eleven Tables Book: Eleven Tables Address: https://www.tonidandel-brown.com/new-home/ Entrepreneur interested in being on the show: https://calendly.com/justin-bizzarro/podcast Hosted By: Justin Ryan Bizzarro (IG: @justinbizzarro and LinkedIn: FOLLOW ME ) Who is Justin Ryan Bizzarro? Justin Ryan Bizzarro is a multi-dimensional entrepreneur, mentor, and strategist whose career is defined by the intersection of legacy, leadership, and human growth. With a journey that began in his family’s basement in 1998, Justin helped scale a 24-year-old ecosystem of food and technology enterprises into a global benchmark for vertical integration and lean manufacturing. While his professional foundation is built on complex supply chains, restaurant development, and brand acceleration, Justin’s true north is development—whether it’s a startup, an elite athlete, or a community. As the founder of GorillaBrave, he has transitioned from building businesses to building humans, utilizing his "Troop" philosophy to empower the next generation of culinary and agricultural entrepreneu

3. 

   14 Sept 2026

   Episode 526: Jason Wright of WILDE Brands - Boulder, CO. Turning Chicken into [PROTEIN] Chips. Inside a USDA-Certified Snack Revolution. [ANIMAL] Protein CRACKER orders for COSTCO for DAYS. CHIX SNAX.

   How do you take the humble potato chip and completely reinvent it using chicken breast? In this episode of the JUSTIN AND THE [FOOD] ENTREPRENEURS Show, Justin sits down with Jason Wright to uncover the gritty, complex, and highly regulated journey of building WILDE, a trailblazing animal-based snack brand. Jason’s entrepreneurial path is a testament to the power of pivoting, relentless problem-solving, and the willingness to take manufacturing into your own hands when the industry cannot support your vision. From his early days launching a low-sugar granola brand to navigating the intense scrutiny of the USDA, Jason shares the hard-earned lessons of scaling a first-of-its-kind protein snack. The Origins: From Granola to Chicken Chips Jason’s journey into the food industry was born out of personal necessity. During his twenties, while working as a model in New York and Europe, he adopted a low-carb diet to clear his "brain fog" and improve his health. This led him to launch his first food business in 2004: Feed, a low-sugar, nearly grain-free granola. While Feed helped blaze the trail for healthier granolas, it ultimately closed in 2010. Still craving his favorite snack—potato chips—but wanting to avoid the heavy carbohydrates, Jason had a radical idea while staring at the bottom of an empty chip bag: What if he replaced the potato with chicken breast? He took this concept to the meat science professors at Colorado State University, utilizing their labs to develop the initial prototypes for WILDE. The Power of a Marketing Pivot One of the most critical turning points for WILDE was mastering product messaging. In the early days, Jason spent countless hours doing live grocery store demos. He quickly discovered a massive hurdle: consumers associated the term "Chicken Chips" with pet food. Listening to consumer feedback, Jason pivoted the brand's packaging in 2019 to proudly highlight the ingredients—chicken breast, egg whites, and bone broth—and rebranded the product as "Protein Chips." This small but essential shift in language instantly clarified the value proposition for health-conscious shoppers and fitness enthusiasts. Additionally, by formulating the product without tahini (sesame), WILDE accidentally unlocked a massive allergen-friendly market. The USDA Challenge and Manufacturing Commercializing an animal-based snack proved to be exponentially more difficult than Jason's previous experience with FDA-regulated granola. Regulatory Scrutiny: Unlike FDA facilities which have periodic inspections, a USDA facility requires an inspector on-site every single day. Labeling is also strictly governed, requiring specific "Statements of Identity" (e.g., "Crafted from real ingredients"). The Co-Packing Struggle: Traditional co-packers could not handle the unique process of turning chicken into chips. Early attempts to split production—making the raw "WILDE potato" in Chicago and shipping it to Virginia for crisping—yielded terrible profit margins. Taking Ownership: Realizing they had to control their own destiny, Jason and his partner Philippe leased a facility in Lexington, Kentucky. They built custom, state-of-the-art production lines, eventually scaling from 25 employees to a team of 180 across multiple massive facilities. Scaling the Team and Retail Expansion To manage this rapid growth, Jason knew he had to surround himself with industry veterans. He hired a Technical Director with 30 years of meat industry experience to handle the USDA compliance and a flavor scientist from Pepsi to elevate the product profiles. By locating their plant near an existing Nestle facility, WILDE successfully recruited a workforce already highly trained in USDA manufacturing environments. This foundation set the stage for their latest triumph: the WILDE Protein Cracker. Featuring nostalgic flavors like Classic Cheddar, Buffalo Cheddar, HOT HONEY, and Smoked Gouda, the cracker was an immediate smash hit, securing permanent shelf spa

Inside a recent episode

Episode 528: Mark Hartmann of HartmannRhodes - Morristown, NJ. The "Kidnap Test". SWEAT EQUITY PAYDAY. Why 8 out of 10 Businesses Fail to Sell Smart. How to Build + De-Risk.+ Create Value + Invest.

Published 28 Sept 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] And if you start with the end in mind, which is you're going to have to eventually exit your business, it only leads to natural idea that you're going to have to sit down and have a serious conversation at some point with yourself about, well, where am I taking this to, right? You know, is this just a really great job and I'm going to run it all over the end and shut the business down? Happens all the time. Two out of 10 businesses in the small business world will not transfer to the next owner. They'll just shut down. Or excuse me, only two out of 10 transfer. Eight out of 10 don't. I had those backwards. […]

Who has been a guest on JUSTIN AND THE [FOOD] ENTREPRENEURS

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Stephen Le
• Brian Youngblood
• Zhamilya Koshmambetova
• Matthew Kosoy
• Barry Levine

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.5 / 5

15 ratings

Spotify

4.7 / 5

24 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 65 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

96

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

85

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