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
57 episodes
Service vs. Hospitality: How Chick-fil-A’s Strategy Changes Everything
What separates good customer service from unforgettable hospitality?In this video, we break down how Chick-fil-A built one of the strongest hospitality cultures in the restaurant industry—and why that culture has become such a powerful ...
How Chick-fil-A & Hillstone Execute Hospitality Training
What do Chick-fil-A and Hillstone understand about hospitality training that most restaurants miss?In this podcast, we break down how Chick-fil-A and Hillstone execute hospitality training to create consistent guest experiences, stronge...
10 years of No Bs Hospitality Training in 15 mins
Here's 10 years of hospitality training, leadership lessons, and guest experience strategy in less than 15 minutes!If you work in a restaurant, bar, hotel, hospitality business, or lead a customer-facing team, this video breaks down wha...
This Mindset Hack Separates Great Restaurant Owners From the Rest
Great restaurant owners don’t ask, “Why can’t we do this?” They ask, “How can we make it work?”In this podcast, Preston Lee breaks down one of the biggest mindset differences between restaurant owners who stay stuck and those who contin...
The Secret to Building a Michelin-Star Restaurant Team | Josiah Citrin & Preston Lee
What does it really take to build a restaurant team capable of delivering Michelin-level hospitality?In this conversation, Michelin-star chef and restaurateur Josiah Citrin shares the lessons he’s learned from decades of building restau...
How I Increased His Restaurant's Sales OVERNIGHT: My 3-Step Blueprint
Want to know how to increase restaurant sales in 2026—without relying on discounts, gimmicks, or simply trying to get more people through the door?In this episode, Founder & CEO of Thirty Percent, Preston Lee, sits down with Geno Mc...
The Real Reason Your Restaurant Staff Aren't Bought In and How to Fix it
Your servers’ obsession with tips may be creating a toxic workplace and quietly damaging your restaurant’s culture, guest experience, and long-term success.In this podcast, Preston Lee, Founder and CEO of Thirty Percent, explores why a ...
How to Motivate Your Restaurant Staff: 3 Steps to Get REAL Staff Buy In!
Struggling to get your restaurant staff fully bought in?In this podcast, you’ll learn how to create restaurant staff buy-in through mindset shifts, stronger leadership, clear standards, accountability, and a deeper understanding of hosp...
How Top Restaurants Create Winning Cultures and Strong Leaders
We break down why great restaurants are built on more than food costs, labor costs, and checklists. True restaurant success starts with culture, leadership, team development, accountability, and guest experience. From reducing employee turnover...
How to Create Restaurant Training & Systems That Scales
How do successful restaurant groups scale without losing quality, culture, or accountability?In this podcast, we break down how to create restaurant training systems that scale—especially when you’re growing from one location to multipl...
Michelin-Starred Chef Reveals What Restaurant Leaders Must Do Differently Today
What does it take to build a world-class restaurant team?Well...in this video, award-winning chef Philip Tessier shares why the future of hospitality isn't just about creating great food, it's about developing great people.Chef ...
Restaurant Mogul & Top Chef Judge Reveals Training Secrets | Janet Zuccarini
Most restaurants don’t fail because of bad food, they fail because of bad leadership, weak training, and inconsistent hospitality.So in this exclusive interview, Restauranteur and Top Chef judge Janet Zuccarini sits down with Preston Le...
Restaurant Server Success System in 45 mins...
Restaurant culture is broken… and nobody wants to talk about it.In this server training I break down the detrimental mindset that is destroying hospitality and restaurant culture and instead show how to thrive in the industry. In this p...
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...