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
37 episodes
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...
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12:39
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...
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6:01
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...
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10:15
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,...
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19:07
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...
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8:16
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...
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17:07
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...
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13:41
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...
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13:48
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...
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9:30
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...
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14:33
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 ...
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6:42
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...
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16:47
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...
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12:52
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,...
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9:54
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...
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15:38
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...
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10:44
The Silent Killer of Successful Restaurants
If your restaurant managers are losing motivation...even the great ones...you’re not alone. After working with hundreds of restaurant brands and analyzing some of the most successful restaurants in the world, I’ve seen the same unfo...
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10:26
These Are The 3 Biggest Mistakes Restaurants Make
You’re not struggling because your food is bad.You’re not struggling because “there aren’t enough good people.”You’re struggling because the systems your team needs to win… don’t exist yet.After analyzing 1,000+ restaurants, fro...
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11:07
20 Years of Restaurant Turnarounds in 15 Minutes (Thank Me Later)
Most restaurant owners think inconsistency is a training problem.It’s not.In this podcast, I break down the real reason your hospitality, performance, and leadership fluctuate and why micromanaging, more meetings, or adding extra pa...
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14:56
The #1 Reason Restaurants Break and How to Fix It
Scaling a restaurant from 1… to 4… to 5 locations is exciting, until the cracks start showing.Most restaurant owners think their biggest problem is hiring, training, or systems.But the REAL breakdown happens in one place only:
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13:36
Hospitality Isn’t in The Training...It’s in The Selling
Hospitality isn’t dying, the way we train it is.In this presentation, I break down the hospitality mindset that most restaurants completely miss. If you’ve ever wondered why your team can smile, say the right words, follow the script… a...
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19:38
The Mindset Training That Makes your Restaurant Employees Profitable
Most people stay stuck in a paycheck-to-paycheck life because they think like everyone else. So, in this presentation, I show you the exact mindset shift top performers use, and how it completely changes your future in hospitality,...
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16:27
5 Different Billion Dollar Brands Use The Same Theory: E-ROI
Most restaurant owners completely underestimate the power of the host experience. Your host can be the #1 driver of guest retention, reviews, and sales but only if you stop running a basic, mid, average host stand like everyone else. The ...
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9:16
I Analyzed Over 1,000 Restaurants...Top 10% Do This
The Top 10% of Restaurants All Do THIS — And Now You Can TooAfter analyzing 1,000+ restaurants, we discovered one undeniable truth:The top 10% all master the experience flow.Not steps of service.Not scripts.Not gener...
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11:11
Turn Starbucks Failure Into YOUR Success (Here's How)
Starbucks is closing hundreds of locations across the U.S. but that’s not the real story. The real story is why they’re failing… and how you can use their mistakes to grow your own business.So In this video, I break down:✔️ The trut...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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8:44