The Cutting Onions Podcast

On the Cutting Onions Podcast, restaurant executives Bobby Shaw and Myles Gift celebrate leaders and organizations that build strong people cultures that develop other leaders. Bobby and Myles interview leaders who have built amazing cultures in their organizations through developing great leaders who produce amazing results, the right way.

The Cutting Onions Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Bobby Shaw, with 117 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Bobby Shaw hosts The Cutting Onions Podcast, a business show with 117 episodes published.

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  Episode #76

  116. Leadership, Vulnerability, Failure, and the Stories We Don't Tell.

  Sep 17, 202637 min

  We live in a world where everybody is building in public. We're sharing our accomplishments, our wins, our new businesses, and our successes. And that is great to do, of course. But we have been asking ourselves this question: Why are we so comfortable building in public, but we fail in private? Most leaders, including us, have failed, and in some cases spectacularly so. But rarely do leaders share that story. Which got us thinking. Are we doing a disservice to the people coming up behind us by only sharing the highlight reel? So today, we want to talk about failure, vulnerability, and why maybe the stories we're most uncomfortable telling are the stories somebody else needs to hear.

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  Episode #115

  115. Aaron Anderson, franchisor of Sunrise Social joins us today to talk about his unique point of view as a Franchisee and a Franchisor.

  Aug 20, 202642 min

  Welcome back to The Cutting Onions Podcast. Today’s conversation is one Myles and I have really been looking forward to because our guest has experienced the restaurant business from almost every angle. Aaron Anderson has been a franchisee, a multi-unit restaurant operator, a concept creator, an entrepreneur and now a franchisor. He’s operated brands including Rita’s Italian Ice and The Original Hot Dog Factory, experimented with ghost kitchens, created Brunchaholics, and ultimately evolved that concept into Sunrise Social. And we think what makes Aaron’s story especially interesting is that he didn’t just study franchising from the outside. He lived it first as the person buying into someone else’s system, and now he’s sitting on the other side of the table building one of his own and supporting his franchisees. So today we’re going to talk about restaurants, entrepreneurship, scaling, franchising, leadership, and mistakes, and what it really takes to turn a great concept into a great company. We loved this conversation with Aaron and know you will too. You can enjoy this episode wherever you listen to podcasts.

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  The Cutting Onions Podcast

  114. Carlo D'Amore, Founder of Live In Theatre, Talks about the Importance of Play and the Power of Story

  Aug 14, 202643 min

  Welcome back to The Cutting Onions Podcast. Myles and I are so excited to present this conversation with Carlo D’Amore. Carlo is an actor, playwright, director, producer, experience designer, and the founder/creative director of Live In Theater (LIT) . His professional theater career spans more than three decades and includes Broadway appearances in Summer and Smoke and Latinologues , as well as Off-Broadway, regional theater, film, and television work. We spent a great deal of time in this episode talking about the importance of play and the power of storytelling and how that works in the theater, but also how that impacts the hospitality world in powerful ways. There are more similarities than you might think. Storytelling isn't merely something Carlo does professionally. There is a very personal connection between story, identity, truth, performance, and survival in his life. We loved this conversation know you will too.

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  Episode #113

  113. Mike DeJong, Restaurateur and Author of Grow Smart joins us today for a conversation about The Operator Trap

  Aug 12, 202656 min

  What happens when the thing that made you successful becomes the very thing holding your business back? On this episode of The Cutting Onions Podcast , we sit down with Mike DeJong for a conversation about growth, leadership, systems, and one of the hardest transitions entrepreneurs and operators have to make: learning how to step out of the day-to-day without becoming disconnected from the business. We talk about what Mike calls the “Operator Trap” —when the leader becomes the person everyone depends on to solve problems, make decisions, and keep things moving. That may work for a while. But it doesn’t scale. We get into building systems without creating bureaucracy, developing leaders who can make good decisions without you in the room, understanding the metrics that really matter, and recognizing when your organization is truly ready to grow. One of my favorite parts of the conversation is the tension between letting go and staying connected . Great leadership isn’t about disappearing from the business. It’s about building people, systems, and clarity so the business doesn’t require your constant intervention. If you’re an entrepreneur, restaurant operator, or leader trying to build something bigger than yourself, I think you’ll get a lot out of this conversation. Growth shouldn’t require more heroes. It should require better systems and stronger leaders. We had a mishap with the audio last week, so it sounds like Mike and I are in a pool! But I promise you we weren’t. The convo was so good, I am sharing it as is. We hope you enjoy it!

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  Episode #112

  112. Jim Varney, co-founder of Wavelength Coffee Roasters talks Coffee, Sustainability, and Storytelling.

  Jul 23, 20261h 5m

  On today's episode of The Cutting Onions Podcast , we are excited to feature our conversation with Jim Varney. Jim is an industrial designer, engineer-minded entrepreneur, sustainability advocate, and co-founder of Wavelength Coffee Roasters . After roughly 25 years in product development and design, he made a significant mid-career pivot into specialty coffee. Alongside his wife, Deanna, they founded Wavelength in Massachusetts in 2025, officially launching the brand in November of last year. The most compelling part of Jim's story is not simply that he started a coffee company. It is that he is applying industrial design, technology, systems thinking, and environmental sustainability to an industry still dependent on many traditional processes. He and Deanna really want to show what the future can look like for roasting coffee beans. We also spent time discussing the power of storytelling and how that is central to the Wavelength brand. There is a fully integrated message from the roastery to farmers' markets, to the website, to the packaging. This was such an inspiring conversation, and we can't wait for you to hear it. Check out this episode wherever you consume your podcast content.

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