In this Restrocast episode, Ashish Tulsian sits down with Jil Assaf, COO at Shawarmer, to trace a career built on grit and reinvention. Jil recalls launching a teenage snack counter in a Beirut billiards hall, the Lebanese hustle shaped by instability, and operating across the Middle East. He describes building the hospitality arm of Qatar’s Pearl Island, why a policy shift forced an exit, and how founding a 15-country consulting firm led to burnout, a reset in Saudi, and a renewed focu...
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In this Restrocast episode, Ashish Tulsian sits down with Jil Assaf, COO at Shawarmer, to trace a career built on grit and reinvention. Jil recalls launching a teenage snack counter in a Beirut billiards hall, the Lebanese hustle shaped by instability, and operating across the Middle East. He describes building the hospitality arm of Qatar’s Pearl Island, why a policy shift forced an exit, and how founding a 15-country consulting firm led to burnout, a reset in Saudi, and a renewed focu...
What It Takes to Scale a Food Business: People, Purpose, & Leadership | Sherif M. Unfiltered
Restrocast
1 hour 12 minutes
3 weeks ago
What It Takes to Scale a Food Business: People, Purpose, & Leadership | Sherif M. Unfiltered
In this episode, Ashish Tulsian sits down with Sherif M., Managing Director at Olayan Group, to unpack his extraordinary 30-year journey shaping some of the world’s most iconic restaurant brands from Wimpy and KFC at Americana to Burger King, Texas Chicken, and Buffalo Wild Wings today. Sherif shares powerful lessons from 25 transformative years at Americana, where a people-first culture, with employees prioritized above shareholders, has built a fiercely loyal workforce and achieved industry...
Restrocast
In this Restrocast episode, Ashish Tulsian sits down with Jil Assaf, COO at Shawarmer, to trace a career built on grit and reinvention. Jil recalls launching a teenage snack counter in a Beirut billiards hall, the Lebanese hustle shaped by instability, and operating across the Middle East. He describes building the hospitality arm of Qatar’s Pearl Island, why a policy shift forced an exit, and how founding a 15-country consulting firm led to burnout, a reset in Saudi, and a renewed focu...
