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North Fulton Business Radio

Joe Summerour and Eric Williams, Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe

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Joe Summerour and Eric Williams, Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 735)

On this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray spoke with Joe Summerour and Eric Williams, both of whom work for Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe in the Metro Atlanta region. They reflected on the company’s 25-year history, its growth from its inception after founders Keith and Amy Richards returned from an inspiring trip to Greece, up to its current 114 locations nationwide, and plans for further expansion. The conversation also covered Taziki’s emphasis on fresh, healthy Mediterranean-inspired food, commitment to excellent customer service, and investment in its staff. Details of new menu items and news about a new location in Johns Creek were also shared.

Joe Summerour, Atlanta Area Manager, and Eric Willliams, Atlanta Area Marketing, Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe

Eric Williams and Joe Summerour, Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe, Metro Atlanta — **Eric Williams and Joe Summerour, Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe, Metro Atlanta**

Joe Summerour is the Atlanta Area Manager of Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe, and Eric Williams handles Atlanta-area marketing for the company.

Keith and Amy Richards founded Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1998. After a trip to Greece a year earlier, Keith put his culinary skills to work, recreating some of the cuisine and experiences from the region. With a menu patterned after dishes traditionally served in Greek homes, Keith and Amy grew their dream restaurant from one to three locations and then began franchising in 2013 after partnering with Fresh Hospitality. Now at almost 100 units, Taziki’s continues to grow while serving many of the same dishes curated by Keith and Amy’s initial trip to Greece.

From hand-cut meats served with signature sauces to healthy salads filled with fresh fruits and veggies, Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe has mastered the art of creating Mediterranean-inspired dishes that are destined to become your next familiar favorite. At each location, dine-in, carry-out, and catering are available. Please check out their locations and menus here.

Topics in this Interview

00:05 Introduction
01:17 Welcoming Guests: Joe Summerour and Eric Williams
01:39 The Origin Story of Taziki’s
03:29 The Philosophy and Accolades of Taziki’s
04:28 Exploring the Menu of Taziki’s
10:44 The Impact of the Pandemic on Taziki’s
19:14 The Growth and Expansion of Taziki’s
21:16 Franchise Opportunities and Final Remarks

North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.

RenasantBank

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

High Velocity Radio

Special Edition: Dunwoody Chamber of Commerce

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Lynn Bring / Kelly Bring, Inc.

Kelly Bring, Inc. is a consulting firm focusing on process improvement designed to assist businesses expand their existing models and solve pain areas with validated solutions by utilizing Six Sigma methodology with a rigorous organizational change conditioning program. We identify the shared need for change, build the organization’s Strategic Process Framework, baseline existing processes, analyze data findings and provide a conditioning action plan and implementation which includes mechanisms to ensure the change process is controlled and measurable.

Lynn K. Bring is a process and productivity professional that has expertise in project management, information technology, facilitation of high performance teams and operations with experience in consumer products marketing. Lynn is certified in Six Sigma and has utilized the methodology and techniques to drive successful programs to completion over a 20+ year career with the General Electric Company.

Lynn is a member of the National Association of Professional Women and Dunwoody Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, she has volunteered her time mentoring students with Jackson High School in south Atlanta. She is an active member in her church community and enjoys the beauty of Georgia’s great outdoors through cycling and hiking.

What makes Lynn unique is her ability to transition best practice enterprise-wide solutions to fit any size operation. Lynn believes in the economic turnaround of America and focuses her time and talent into helping this growing segment of the market to refine, re-tune and refresh their processes enabling growth and sustainability through the future.

I would like to make a special offer: one-hour free consultation for listeners who mention my interview!

Eric Williams / UFC Gym Perimeter

Prior to opening UFC Gym Perimeter, Eric worked in the retail industry, leading individual stores, company divisions, Human Resources, and Sales & Marketing departments for RaceTrac convenience stores. Jenny is a consultant in the talent management industry with Korn Ferry, and has prior experience in investment banking.

Besides their overall passion for fitness, they decided to get into the fitness business for two reasons: 1) to positively impact people’s lives and 2) they felt that the fitness industry is currently more focused on sales than helping people and they would like to help change that model (similar to how CarMax changed the perception of used car sales).

Though he’s a Georgia State University alum, Eric grew up in Alabama and is a huge University of Alabama sports fan. Jenny grew up in New York and is a Cornell University alum. They have lived in Atlanta for over 10 years and currently reside in Midtown with their dog Luci.

Beth Summers/Dunwoody Chamber of Commerce