Shaker Unfiltered: Ep. 8 – Preston Sharpston

All right everybody, we are back with another episode of Shaker Unfiltered live at the Vision Lab and we are live at Recfest 2025. I am joined by a uh by a gentleman who is part of an organization that is expanding rapidly. Uh if you have not had the pleasure in your region yet, don’t worry, you’ll get your shot. Uh, I’m joined by Preston Sharpston of What a Burger. Sir, welcome. >> Thanks for having me. >> Hey, thanks for stopping by. So, look, you are in the the throws of expansion, which means you need a lot of people fast, high volume. >> Definitely. >> Yeah. Talk to me. So, I let me let me back up. Let’s start with where where are you based? Uh, and what do you do with Waterburg? So, I am based in Knoxville, Tennessee. Um, I am with the franchise MWB Restaurants, which stands for Mahogany Water Burger. >> Um, we have 16 locations and we’re the franchise for sort of North Alabama, Huntsville, uh, kind of north of Birmingham and then Chattanooga and Knoxville. >> Gosh. Okay. So, you you get around >> I do. I’m the road warrior. >> Got it. Okay. So, you’re logging the miles. Um, what are you seeing cuz I mean this is a high competition space especially for talent. I can imagine you’re looking I won’t I won’t I won’t lead the witness again. I tend to do that. What are you looking for and what are the challenges aside from everybody else wanting the same? >> Well, no. I think that’s the biggest challenge is everyone wants the same people. Um, but I think >> you know when it comes to restaurants, different concepts are different. you know, you have burgers, chicken, Chinese, whatever the the food is, but people have options and they know they have options. And oftentimes we find that the people who work in our restaurants as our entry- level team members may just because we’re the closest location that pays a little better than the others. >> Okay. >> Um so we have to meet people where they are. >> Sure. >> You know, we have to um understand what our candidates are looking for. You know, they’re looking for that flexibility, that job security for a established concept versus maybe like a mom and pop. Um, and we have to figure out how to stand out, you know, in terms of finding the right people and filling the right positions. >> Easy tasks. Uh, clearly >> very easy. Yeah. That don’t need me at all. >> So, what are you seeing out there that’s maybe and and I’ll let me ask, how long have you been in the space? >> I’ve been in talent acquisition for just over 10 years. I’ve been with MWB for two years. >> Okay. And were you in uh food service or hospitality prior? >> I was briefly. I was a consultant with a chain called Jacks Family Restaurants. >> Okay. So, with a 10year plus tenure, what are you seeing today that you didn’t see 10 years ago? >> Well, besides AI up there, it’s definitely more AIdriven. >> Okay. On both sides or on the on on just the uh recruitment side? >> I mean, both sides really. Yeah. Um I mean, I think there’s more AI tools for candidates. There are more attitudes for candidates. There’s definitely some for companies. >> Um I think the biggest thing that I’m seeing is 10 years ago, you know, recruitment was more simple in a way. Sure. >> Um it’s definitely I mean it’s good thing and a bad thing, right? Because you could go into a restaurant and say, “Hey, here’s my resume. I’d like to apply for a job.” And >> then you could apply for a job and interview. And now you have to apply in an ATS filter through that. So there’s more of a process to it, I think, than there once was. But I also think that gives companies better tools to really get people who maybe wouldn’t have walked in the door of the restaurant previously. So kind of a you know win-win situation and it’s a lose- win situation too. >> For sure. Sure. So let’s let’s dig into a little bit of the strategy then. Um what what kind of growth plan if you can share you looking at for 2025 2026? >> Well we are in the throws of expansion. >> Yeah >> we have 16 restaurants. Um when I joined we had six. So we’ve opened a lot of locations in the past couple years. >> Okay. >> Um >> yeah, >> we are set to open several more locations this year and then we’re probably going to continue expanding kind of through our market. >> Um but you know when we started we had when I started we had like 400 employees. Now we have over 800. Um so we are we are hiring. We are growing for sure. >> Sure. That’s good news. Um >> very good job security. >> I I’d say I’d say. So then what kind of strategies are you deploying now? Uh maybe around uh programmatic job distribution is there uh have you worked on employer branding? What kind of tools and tactics are serving your strategy? >> Well, I think we have bit of an advantage because we have the waterburger brand. Sure. >> You know, it’s not as prevalent in our markets. We’re kind of the the new fish in the pond, but >> um you know, waterburgers got longevity, so we have that going for us. But um I think really what we’re trying to push now is more grassroots recruiting. >> Okay. >> So we’ve been relying on like our job boards, our Indeeds, our LinkedIns, our glass doors, whatever it is. Um which yields most of our candidates, but we’re finding that we’re not speaking for the people who are locally in our communities as much >> and we’re trying to get our operators more in the field and you know visiting other concepts and seeing what they’re doing to engage people and maybe borrowing permanently one of their employees every now and then. um you know and trying to find better opportunities for partnership with local schools and colleges and just getting out and about and outside of the restaurant in the four walls. So would you say that that’s more so because the the talent pool that you’re trying to connect with may not be on those digital platforms or is it just a better approach to be more handson more amongst people? >> Both but I would say you know what one thing about restaurants is we have a very diverse employer population. >> Sure. >> So you know we have folks who are high school students we have people who are retired. Uh we have one person in our restaurants who is formerly a physician and he’s now a host. >> Come on. >> Um so it’s you really never know what you’re going to find. So you know a lot of these people may not be on Indeed. Is this physician on Indeed? Probably not. >> That’s a good point, >> you know. So we’re trying to get better about approaching social and just finding the people where they are, you know, being out there. >> Yeah. And and I can imagine from a from a content standpoint, right? You’ve always got something going on that’s worth telling the story about. How are you capturing those stories? How are you getting those out to uh prospective talent as well? >> Well, we can we there’s a lot of room for improvement. You know, I think that we have a lot of people who share the stories and they give the information and they’re excited, but we don’t collect that as well at the moment as we could. >> Okay. >> So, we are working on a system for kind of consolidating that and getting it in one place. >> Um I sit next to our marketing leader who is fantastic. Can’t say enough things about her. Shout out to Chrissy. >> Come on, Chrissy. um wherever you are. So, you know, we have a really good partnership to figure out how can we blend marketing and recruiting. >> Um, one example I like is we opened a new location in Owens Crossroads, Alabama. >> Um, which is kind of near Huntsville if you don’t know where that is. >> And we have a waterburger food truck that corporate uses that we borrow sometimes. And who doesn’t like a food truck, right? >> Um, and we gave out free samples, right? >> So, we use that also as a job for opportunity. you know, we brought out food and we handed out recruiting cards and applications or maybe not paper applications, but digital applications. >> Sure. >> Um, and we actually I think we hired like 10 people from that event. Um, Oh, wow. >> I may be over exaggerating, but I think we hired around 10. >> Um, so we’re trying to figure out how we can organically do it, not just like force jobs down people’s faces. I >> I think that will be a differentiator, right? In a in a world where everybody is inundated with, you know, in in emails and texts from people they didn’t give their number to, like >> Yeah. >> meeting somebody at the food truck and just having a conversation can go a long way. >> Yeah. I mean, there’s there’s always people who are going to take their sample and their their swag and say, “Okay, bye. >> Thank you.” >> But they may know someone, right? You know, they may have a niece or a nephew or a doctor, you know, someone looking for a job. >> Sure. So, I I heard high school in there. Um, how are you, uh, what is the growth trajectory? I heard you say job security and stability. Talk to me about the growth path. What does it look like for somebody just coming in who’s in high school? Maybe they uh maybe they’re working from uh, you know, for the summers in college. What What does it look like for a long-term career? >> I love that you asked that question because I have put a lot of thought into this. >> Good, good, good. >> Um, you know, I think one thing about restaurants is we have a lot of opportunity that people don’t realize. >> Okay. you know, restaurants, we have the reputation of being the industry people kind of go and there’s no other option or maybe when they’re retired, something like that. So, you know, if you start as a team member, you can become a team member trainer. You can become certified in all the stations and train others. >> Um, so that gives people, >> especially students who maybe haven’t had that experience before, leadership exposure. >> Uhhuh. >> Um, they can become a shift supervisor and they can start to direct kind of the flow of production and shifts and really mentoring others and training trainers. Um once they turn 18, they be they can become a manager. Um a manager is really where you kind of get to the thick of things, you know, now you’re you’re you’re the real deal now, right? You’re managing production, you’re leading leaders, you’re building schedules, helping with recruiting. >> Um and then you can become a general manager where of course you run the restaurant. >> Successful general managers can also become operating partners. Um >> their own franchise. >> Well, sort of. It’s kind of like a general manager on steroids for us. So, it’s someone who’s really established themselves as they can lead a team, they can drive a business. >> Um, you know, because waterburgers we typically are more high volume. >> You know, our units in the core markets like Texas, you have more, but you know, you could see anything from 3 to six million for a single restaurant. So, it’s a massive business >> and we’re 24 hours and you’ve got like 70 team members. So, there’s just a lot of opportunity to grow and learn that you might not get elsewhere. >> For sure. For sure. So, all of that said, it sounds like there’s a lot of great opportunities. Why Water What a Burger versus any of your competitors. I won’t name names. >> We won’t name names off. >> I mean, I think honestly the biggest reason is just the opportunity. >> Okay. >> You know, um our franchise specifically, we are big enough to have resources and systems and tools and we have infrastructure. >> Sure. >> So, you’re not like a franchise where maybe there’s an owner and then you have like a district manager and that’s it. you know, you have myself on people and talent. We have marketing, IT, uh, payroll. You’re going to get paid on time every single week by direct deposit. Um, our CEO and CO are in the field every week. So, you get to meet our executives. Um, and we’re all the time getting ideas from people that we then implement, what we try out. So, >> okay. >> You know, it’s not easy to do that in a lot of different environments. Um, you know, even if they don’t join our franchise, which is growing, Waterburger Corporate, I think they’re, if you count franchise stores, they have over,200 restaurants now, maybe more. >> Yeah. >> Um, they’re growing in like South Carolina, you know, all across the Southeast. So, there’s just lots of opportunity if you want to get leadership exposure. >> Even if maybe restaurants aren’t quite near jam long term, it can be a good starting point. >> Absolutely. And how would you how would you quantify not quantify what would you say the culture is at Waterburger if you had to uh I don’t know make it a TV show TV show >> TV show. Okay. Let’s see what I can say on podcast. Um >> that’s fine. We have edit buttons. >> Okay. Fair. We’ll hide this from our CO. Um >> he didn’t say a thing. >> No, I I think um I think what makes us unique is every restaurant has its own culture. you know, we can we set the values as a company. Sure. You know, things like we trust one another, we show respect. >> Um things that may seem like, okay, well, duh, that’s your value, but it’s good to kind of frame it, >> but every restaurant you go into is slightly different. >> You know, they’re going to have their own leadership team, their own norms, their own ways of working. >> Yeah. >> Um you know, some restaurants you go into and you can hear laughter in the back and it’s not like overwhelming laughter like what are those people doing in there, but like people genuinely seem happy and they’re having fun. >> Sure. um other restaurants you go into and there’s like dead silence, but when you go in the back, people are like moving and things are happening and they’re super efficient and it just works. >> Okay. >> Um so, we don’t really have a set culture, you know, we just try to make sure we set overall the values and then just make sure that those are lived and, you know, people want to come to work and they have a good time. >> Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s so important and and I love that you’re honest about hey we’re not offering this uniform experience store to store and and that’s no knock to the to the companies that do right because there’s some value in getting a similar experience so you know what you’re getting where you go but but I think having that identity and that personality >> depending on where you go >> uh can be good because then you can find your fit too right you may not mesh well with this culture here and >> absolutely Maybe down the road I could, right? I still might want to work for the company, but maybe this this space was not it. >> Yeah, absolutely. You know, it’s definitely a differentiator. You know, especially in more corporate restaurants that are not franchised, you find that a lot. >> Sure. >> Where there’s there’s there’s a a larger HR team and they’re kind of present and building a culture and it’s just me out here. >> Well, so we can’t be in all the places. So, we have to make sure our leaders have the right attitude and the right knowledge to be able to deliver that culture. >> Absolutely. What’s um what’s like most pressing for you right now? Like what’s the thing that I won’t say that keeps you up at night, but wakes you up at night? >> Oh, okay. Um I would say that um we do a very good job of finding the talent. Um I think we could we could always get better at identifying the right people in the interview process and improving that, but I would like to see us um grow our bench strength a little bit. >> Um you know, we actually promote a lot of people I think we’ve promoted like 20 25 people into leadership roles as operators since I’ve been with the company. >> That’s awesome. >> Um, so there’s definitely the growth opportunity, but you know, when we promote all these people, then we have like a backlog of there’s no one to fill the manager jobs that they just vacated. So >> trying to put more emphasis on building those leadership capabilities. Um, for some of our newer operators, I also would like to do more around intentionally setting how do you build a culture because I don’t think a lot of people get training on how do you actually do that. >> It’s not intuitive either. >> Exactly. For some, >> well, for some it is. Yeah. But to your point, you know, a new person who’s like in their early 20s who’s never let a restaurant before, like building a culture is probably not the first thing on their mind. >> That’s right. >> So, you know, how do you go about it without even trying? How do you train people to do that? So those are some of the things that wake me up in a cold sweat. >> I Hey, listen. Thank you for sharing. >> Sweat is involved. Um what is So where would you say that you need the most help? I guess uh where tech might be a solution or is it process? >> Keep your your eyes peeled, vendors. >> Yes. Yes. We might know somebody. >> We might know some. Um you know, we we we actually are really efficient when it comes to our recruiting process. Okay. I brag on our team because we are very cost effective. >> Okay. >> Um I think our metrics are like we’re two and a half times more efficient on Indeed, for example, versus our competitors locally. >> I might have messed that up by saying it out loud, but um I think we can >> we’ll fact check this. >> We’ll fact check it. Yeah, >> I think um well, there are definitely some opportunities to leverage AI. Maybe not so much in recruiting, but more people management. >> Okay. Um, so one thing that comes to mind is obviously you want to be careful about what you put in like chat GPT, but there are tools out there where as a leader I can say, “Hey, I have this situation.” Not naming names, Bob. Um, or whoever. Um, >> sorry. >> Yeah, there’s not actually a Bob. Um, but you know, how do I approach this? How do I deal with this? And obviously, I’m available to help with those, but sometimes they may not want to go to the director people and ask a question or I may not be available or something like that. So, >> sure. um you know getting tools to do that and have those conversations just knowing what to ask I think could be an opportunity. >> So that sounds more uh along the lines of engagement retention. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Gotcha. Because I can imagine also though that’s probably a bigger bigger issue as well. I know in QSR it’s like 80 90% turnover >> more. I think like 130 was the last I checked. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, so you’re constantly dealing with the shuffle. So, that means you have to keep people coming in when typically what we see is the it’s the time to hire challenges. So, first they’ve applied, but now they’re sitting for two weeks. >> Meanwhile, they just went down the street because somebody answered faster. So, >> Exactly. Yeah. >> So, how are you approaching that challenge if that’s a challenge? >> No, I mean I think both retention and then the time to hire are both challenges. Um I mean we again we we do pretty well in terms of it we hire quickly because we we have to hire quickly. >> You have to. >> Um you know we have a lot of automations in our process where if I apply and I check all the mandatory boxes um which they’re entry level roles so they’re not very stringent. >> Sure. >> Um then the system will automatically set me up for a job interview if I’m a team member. >> So automatic scheduling then. >> Yep. And you can pick your time, your date based on what the hiring manager has. Um if it’s a management role, we don’t do that because we want to make sure we’re vetting our leaders a little more carefully. >> Sure. >> Um but once they’re, you know, applied to schedule, they can also schedule their own conversation there as well. >> Um from retention, again, I’m bragging on our operators more than me, but you know, our our turnover rate over the last year was 57%. >> Which amazing, >> you know, if you look at tech or something, it’s like, oh my gosh, 57% restaurants, it’s fantastic. >> It’s unheard of. you know, so our leaders are doing a really good job with their people of getting the right people in position and keeping them there. >> Good. Good. >> Um, you know, there’s always going to be kind of that churn and that turnover because of our industry and it’s not for everyone. >> But I think for the right person, they could do really well with us. >> Yeah. Look, we I’ve tried to stay away from AI as long as possible. I can’t do it. I knew it was coming. It’s here now. >> But I think in your industry, AI is, how do I phrase is probably not the leading technological advancement that’s going to impact your industry. It’s more the automation, right? Seeing yeah, restaurants now deploying fully automated models, right, in testing where there’s like one person, >> that’s me, >> right? And and it’s really I mean the food is being prepped and, you know, made and you have somebody delivered. some cases I think uh overseas you’re seeing goes you know from cooked to delivered no on assembly lines in the restaurant. So >> we might be far off from that in what bers model but is that something that’s on your radar? >> No that’s a good question. Um I would say >> it’s definitely not going to happen anytime soon for us. Okay. Um >> we um we have a waterburger convention every year that a lot of the operators go to that talks about new technology and happenings and things like that. And okay, >> one at one of the previous conferences, I believe there was a robot that they had like a school kind of testing out um and it was flipping hamburger patties and it was flipping the patties, but it would flip it and then wait a second and then move to the next patty and flip that patty and then it might go to the fryer and do like the fryers, but it was just not efficient, right? So, when you think about quick service, people don’t want to wait 30 minutes for Bob the robot to, you know, make their fries, right? So also one thing we have to consider is people like our brand because our food is made to order. >> Got it. >> So we don’t kind of have that ready and sitting there for people to kind of move through and the robots can pack it and give it to the customer. >> Sure. >> Um and also just the way we operate tends to be more complex than some other concepts. So I just don’t foresee that happening anytime soon. >> Okay. >> Um I will say that I do use some AI >> in my recruiting process as you know GMs things like that. I use like Metaview >> to name drop a tool there. Okay. Um and there you know there’s definitely other tools as well we could use. >> Yeah. Last questions for me too. First and foremost, how are you leveraging data and insights to inform some of the decisions you’re making around growth and expansion or even process >> question? Listen up Aaron. Um >> Aaron, this one’s for you. >> Yeah. So we are very data centric and I think we have our CEO to thank for that. Um our CEO is very numberrain. >> Okay. >> I’m glad he is because I’m not. So So >> yeah, he is very um analytical in the sense that we have tools that our operators can go into and they can look up their restaurant metrics. >> Okay. >> You know, what products are selling the most, what uh they can even see when they have the least engagement based on who’s managing that shift. >> Um so it gets very granular. It’s really good information. >> Okay. >> Um from a recruiting lens, we have of course we have our ATS workstream. We have Indeed um that provide that information to us and we’re looking at that often. >> Okay. Um, we’re trying to get better about being more uniform in our approach to things because we have all the systems and the tools, but not all the operators do it the same way. >> Sure. Sure. >> Um, so we’re just kind of keeping an eye on are we moving people through our system, you know, are they kind of hanging out in application for three days and then getting hired by McDonald’s or Crystal or somewhere else and um, you know, how are we actually acting upon these folks? So >> yeah, >> we definitely have the data and the information. >> Okay. Um, I look at more reports and more forms than I care to think about, but at the end of the day, it’s making us better. So, the numbers show it’s working. >> Good. Good deal. All right. Well, look, I’m going to end on a on a vision uh question for yourself. So, indulge me by dreaming out loud with uh we’re five years in the future. What is going to be true then that isn’t true now in your world? question. >> Well, I know for a fact we’ll have more restaurants. >> That is a fact. >> We’re going to have more restaurants. >> Yes, I am. >> I think at that point in time, what I want to be true, what we’re going to what we’re going to manifest to be true. >> Yeah, we’re dreaming. >> We’re dreaming. >> Um, we have we have training programs in place for all of our folks to kind of go through the different positions. Um I envision that becoming more people centric as we move on. Um we’ve already done a recruiting workshop this year that I live with our operators of how do you actually go out and find people instead of just waiting on applications. >> Okay. >> I want to do the same thing with culture. So specifically again how do we build the culture but like let’s actually walk through this as a group and do it all together they can then take back to their teams. And I would like for them to do things like that with their teams organically because we can set it as a company but you know again if they go to their restaurant that may not do a whole lot. Um so I want culture to be more of a focus. >> Yes. >> And I think right now it’s still a focus but we’re still in growth mode. So we have to think about what builds the business and what set us up to be sustainable and then once we’re in that position then we’ll be able to go back what can we make better? What is kind of a nice to have that we haven’t had before we can input into >> I love it Preston. Listen, I I I look forward to your vision becoming reality. >> Me, too. >> Uh we hope Shaker will be part of that vision and bringing it to life with you. So, thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time. >> Uh and hope that y’all who have listened uh definitely let Preston know when you see him uh or when you step into one of his restaurants that you heard it here first. He set the vision here, folks. This has been another episode of Shaker Unfiltered live at the Vision Lab here at Recfest 2025. We’ll see you on the next episode.