BIO

I come from a family business where this industry has been part of my life since birth. My dinner tables growing up were filled with stories of kitchens, customers and equipment. 2 days after my 16th birthday I applied for a job in a quick-serve restaurant in my hometown, Portillo’s. I started as a cashier working customer service; face to face interaction with restaurant patrons showed me that two things are very clear. They expect what they order to be correct and their time respected. From this I realized just how many facets of the kitchen play into giving the customer what they want. I moved from cashier to the expo line which had me playing mediator between the kitchen and the customer. Keeping a positive attitude while making sure the kitchen knew the urgency, and that my customers saw a friendly face to diffuse the always present “how much longer” conversation. This peeked my interest in cooking, I begged and pleaded with my manager to move to the kitchen, where I learned a great deal of respect for cooks and chefs. Being under the gun to make the dish, keep the standards the customer and my employer expected while maintaining a safe environment were a challenge. I had a whole new understanding of “our oven is down again and I need you here now”. I remember my time at Portillo’s every day, that sense of urgency and customer satisfaction have carried with me in my current position. After high-school I attended a local community college with the intent of becoming a Police Officer. I spent one semester in school and took a job in the family business to pay my way through. I started with CSI doing equipment installation, cleaning of customers equipment in our warehouse and in their stores, and fixing equipment on the bench in our shop. A few years later I moved into the office where I took over the task of warranty billing. I learned the ins and outs of a proper workorder, the expectations of the OEM’s and grueling process of getting paid for our work. While handling the Warranty Processing I also helped move our company into the internet age. I maintain our IT infrastructure which gives me a vantage point on operations that most do not see. For the past 10 years I have been the Director of Operations. In my position I am responsible for the process’s we use to affect the level of customer service we are known for. I have instituted both policy and technology that have made it possible to support branch operations a thousand miles away from our corporate office. During my tenure as Director of Operations I have facilitated year over year double digit growth, while maintaining a solid cash flow and keeping our efforts profitable. 

My first exposure to CFESA started at a Regional Meeting, my uncle Mike Coker brought me with and said, just listen to what these guys have to say. The who’s who of the Midwest got in a room and discussed their business like they were sitting in their own board rooms. Freely sharing best practice and trends they are seeing without a care in the world that the room was filled with their competition. This is when I knew this industry is where I wanted to be. At my first conference, there was a tiny burly man named Tony Rapanotti, who introduced me to an amazing group of people. He took me under his wing, invited me to dinners and put me in positions to meet and be seen by our industries top players. I attended the business meetings of CFESA from my first conference to present. Having spent time in Marketing, Education, Business Technology and having the pleasure of being the committee co-chair of the newly named Industry Trends Committee. I have served as the Region 2 Leader and have planned/executed two regional meetings.  I have served on the Board as a Director for 4 years and Vice President for 4, that said, my experience so far has taught me to learn from those that have come before me, embrace the knowledge they have while bringing fresh ideas to the board and membership. I believe we can continue the great work started by previous boards while engaging our membership to provide new, fresh ideas. My role as President should be to not only innovate and progress our agenda but to truly listen to the membership, hear what they say and ask them the questions that spur debate.