It’s Not You—It’s Your Hospitality
It’s Not You, It’s Your Hospitality is for independent restaurant owners, operators, and leaders who want to build thriving businesses without burning out their teams or losing sight of what hospitality really means.
Hosted by Preston Lee, founder of The 30% Rule, this podcast dives into the systems, leadership strategies, and culture shifts that separate the struggling 90% of restaurants from the top 10% that thrive. With over 20 years in the industry and a decade spent helping major brands grow sales, Preston shares raw stories, proven tools, and hard lessons learned from the front lines.
If you’re tired of high turnover, inconsistent guest experiences, and the endless cycle of training without transformation—this podcast will dive deep into the world of Hospitality and show you how to fix it once and for all.
Because at the end of the day, it’s not you—it’s your hospitality.
Episodes
44 episodes
Top 10 Reasons Restaurant Management Fails
In this podcast, I break down the 8 biggest restaurant leadership problems I’ve seen after working with over 350 restaurants worldwide and evaluating more than 1,000 restaurant operations, from small mom-and-pop shops to multi-million dollar ho...
Restaurant Management Training that Turns Them into Leaders (ROI time)
For this in depth restaurant management training...Preston sits down with rising restaurant leader Camille, to break down the real-world management training that transforms restaurant managers into true leaders.After leaving her photogr...
Coffee Shop Marketing and Branding That Changes Everything l with Coffee Dose founder Jeni Castro
If you think restaurant marketing is just posting pretty food photos… you’re already losing.In this in depth interview, I sit down with Coffee Dose founder Jeni Castro, one of the most disruptive and effective marketers in the coffee an...
Restaurant Manager Training: Step-by-Step to Higher Profits
Restaurant Manager Training: Step-by-Step to Higher ProfitsStruggling with inconsistent staff performance, poor hospitality, or missed revenue opportunities? In this in-depth restaurant manager training, I sat down with a general manage...
Your Host Is Costing You Thousands (Here’s Why)
Are your hosts secretly hurting your restaurant’s growth?Most restaurant owners massively underestimate the power of the host role and it’s costing them sales, guest retention, and long-term success.In this podcast, Preston Lee ...
Fix THIS or Your Restaurant Will Keep Struggling
Most restaurants don’t have a sales problem, they have a people development problem. When you break down inconsistent service, weak guest retention, bad reviews, and high turnover, it almost always comes back to the same root issue: underdevelo...
Fix Your Hospitality Training through Leadership Development
If you think your managers are a cost, you’re already losing money.After working with over 300 restaurants worldwide, I’ve seen the same mistake again and again: owners try to fix training, systems, or hospitality first… but nothing tru...
The Crazy Truth Behind Turning $12 to $100M Restaurant Empire
How do you turn $12 into a $100 million restaurant empire?In this video, I break down the incredible true story behind Carlo Distefano and the rise of the San Carlo Restaurant Group, one of the most successful luxury restaurant brands i...
I Found the #1 Mistake Killing Restaurants in 2026 and How to Fix it
Running a restaurant has NEVER been harder. Since 2020, the cost of operating a restaurant has increased by 35%… while margins were already razor thin. At the same time, competition is rising, staff expectations are changing, and co...
How One of America’s Most Profitable Restaurants Built Its Brand on a Shrimp Cocktail
Most restaurants fail.The average independent restaurant lasts less than 5 years. Profit margins sit around 3-5%, staff turnover can exceed 75%, and the industry is notorious for destroying even the most passionate owners.So how...
Hot Dog Cart to $750 Million Dollar Empire: The Untold Reason of Portillo's Success
Grab the popcorn, because in this podcast I break down one of the greatest restaurant growth stories ever: How Portillo's went from a tiny hot dog trailer funded with just $1,100 to a $700M+ public restaurant empire.I recently spent $1,...
Why Most Restaurants Fail at Training Gen Z — And What Actually Works
Why is it so hard to train Gen Z in restaurants? Why do so many restaurant owners, managers, and leaders feel like Gen Z employees don’t care, won’t commit, and walk out at the first sign of accountability?Well, in this powerful podcast...
The Insane Reason People Pay $350 JUST for a Reservation to Carbone!
People are paying $350 just for a reservation at Carbone in New York. Not for food. Not for wine. Just to get in the door.And yes, there are reservation brokers whose entire business is reselling tables at nearly impossible to get resta...
The Right Way to Upsell in Your Restaurant (No One Teaches This)
Most restaurants don’t fail overnight.They die slowly.And the two biggest silent killers I see over and over again are:👉 Inconsistent hospitality👉 Little to no 'real' upsellingSo that's why in this podcast, I...
I’ve Worked With Over 300 Restaurants… They All Have This ONE Problem
I’ve talked to over 1,000 restaurant owners in the last two years. We’ve worked with 300+ restaurants (and we’re closing in on 400). From single location mom and pop shops doing $250k a year to multi-unit hospitality groups doing hundreds of mi...
The Hospitality Mindset That Creates Top Performers (And More Money)
Whether you work in a restaurant, a private club, or any service business, your real job isn’t just to do tasks it’s to make people feel valued. In this presentation, I explain why hospitality is really about the small moments, not just grand g...
How to Increase Restaurants Sales Through Maximizing Reviews
When guests search “restaurants near me,” they’re not choosing the best restaurant, they’re choosing the one with the most reviews and the highest rating. That's why in this podcast, I break down why Google reviews are one of the b...
This Training Mistake Is Costing Your Restaurant Millions
After creating training systems for over 300 restaurants and spending more than 10 years building restaurant training programs for groups and corporations, I’ve seen exactly where restaurant training breaks down, and why so many teams struggle ...
Why the Best Restaurants Are ALWAYS Packed
Hospitality is not a soft skill or a “nice to have”, it is the most profitable marketing strategy successful restaurants use! After working with and studying top-performing restaurant owners, one thing is clear: the most successfu...
Most Restaurants Get Hospitality Wrong (They Overlook This)
Most restaurants don’t fail because of bad food, they fail because of missed details.Hospitality is NOT one big moment, but a series of small, often-overlooked details that either elevate or quietly destroy the guest experience. From di...
3 Brutal Truths That Keep Your Restaurant From Growth
"What got you here won’t get you there” isn’t just a quote, it’s the reason most restaurants plateau.In this podcast, I break down the single leadership shift that separates stagnant restaurants to ones that explode in revenue, culture,...
Hospitality Training in 15 Mins...
Most businesses say they care about hospitality, but very few actually practice it consistently.In this presentation, I go over why true hospitality is rare, why it has nothing to do with tips, pay, or recognition, and why the mindset o...
The Iceberg Method That Fixes Your Restaurant Hospitality Problem
Most restaurant owners teach hospitality the wrong way and it's why your team never fully buys in. In this video, I break down my Iceberg Hospitality Training Method, the exact framework I use when I go into restaurants to transform culture, mi...