The Power of Passion
The stepping stones of dreams and aspirations stem from passion. Sam Lundy's passion led him to become a driving force with extensive experience at leading the strategic direction and enhancing operational performances of organizations. Leap Brands had the honor of interviewing him and gaining an understanding of his expertise. High functionality between teams and creating successful performance-based business cultures are a glimpse of Lundy's operational capabilities. His business insights about executive skills gives a cohesive picture of his background as well as providing detailed insight into what characteristics operational executives are to retain. His current partner- Jennifer Erdman's creativity and innovative personality simply 'gets people to do things they said they would never do'. With an approach in both creative artistry and strategic analytics, she creates executive marketing campaigns that captivate audiences in addition to driving measurable business results; thus, benefitting both business parties. The journey of dedication, perseverance, and unhindered commitment led to their continuous success.
The Value of Diverse Experiences
As a graduate from the University of Colorado- Boulder, Lundy was able to secure positions starting from the bottom of the employee chain. Therefore allowing him to gain a full understanding of the 'ins and outs' of operational and organizational structures of a corporation and its employees. His operational journey continued until he became the Vice President of Global Operations in Keystone Foods Corporation. Due to his unwavering and extensive experience in that position for 12 years, Lundy was able to attain titles of Vice President at Marcus Lemonis LLC, President & COO at Cheeburger restaurants, President, CEO, & founder of Pinnacle foods corporation, President of ML Food Group, and COO of Airtime Trampoline & Game Parks. All of Lundy's experiences resulted in the hunger of creating something of his own, something he loves and is passionate about- Pochino Italy. Sharing the same admiration and passion, Erdman's product management, advertising, brand marketing and awareness skills perfectly go hand-in-hand with Lundy's skills; creating the perfect combination of experience and competence. Erdman was able to captivate, integrate, and cultivate many of the characteristics that she has adopted throughout her journey and utilize them to co-pilot Lundy in Pochino's success and expansion.
Building Pochino Italy
Pochino Italy is an Italian restaurant franchise concept that focuses on authenticity in cuisine and operational simplicity. The care, passion, operation, and organizational structure is evident in details Samuel Lundy and his co-founder Jennifer Erdman were persistent and cautious of including in their business. Adding to the authenticity, two of their minority partners are from Venice, Italy; thus, give first hand Italian experiences in all aspects of products and services. Attention to detail is vital in aspects such as daily made fresh pasta, kitchenless kitchen step up, and prospect planning for international expansion while maintaining quality through strategic partnerships. The founders emphasized building strong relationships, delivering ongoing value to clients, and strategically growing the Pochino Italy brand through innovative approaches. Team dynamics focus on authenticity, collaboration, aspirations of organic growth, and mutual respect. A snippet of that dynamic is captured in moments where Lundy expresses the amount of trust he puts in Jennifer when it comes to handling sales and finance. He explains that most of their collaboration comes natural to her and is always confident that she will perform better than anticipated. This synchronism creates a business that revolves around a family pointing out that their team "comes to work everyday excited" and merely doing it out of passion and love. In turn, creating solid and steady business operations. As Jennifer emphasizes "everything I do is calculated for growth, for future."
Overcoming Challenges
Conclusively, growth and transformation are difficult procedures that are often tied to challenges, hardships, and obstacles; the intelligent are those who benefit from the experience and not have the hardships negatively impact them. When asked about their personal mantras and encouraging statements by the President and CMO, Chaz Cervino, Lundy stated "I'm not a preparer of speeches," this emphasizes his authenticity in his approaches, responses, and communication with his team and clients. Additionally highlights his readiness and confidence in being able to answer any inquiries. Erdman's response was a bible verse that keeps her grounded and focused which is "Perhaps This is the Moment for Which You Were Created." Explaining that wherever she is, she's confident that this is where she's meant to be and appreciates the fact that all her hardwork and dedication drove her to live that moment. Samuel Lundy and Jennifer Erdman were indeed intelligent in their choices and utilized every resource and skill that were adopted in navigating their current passion. As in any endeavor, challenges are inevitable in and out of the kitchen.