Give an Ovation: The Restaurant Guest Experience Podcast with Zack Oates
Give an Ovation: The Restaurant Guest Experience Podcast is your backstage pass to the minds of hospitality leaders, innovators, and operators who are redefining what it means to serve. Hosted by Zack Oates, founder of Ovation, each episode dives into real-world tactics and inspiring stories from restaurant pros who know how to create five-star guest experiences—both in-store and off-premise.
From fast casual to fine dining, catering to curbside, learn how to drive loyalty, empower your staff, and deliver hospitality that hits home. Whether you're a restaurant owner, operator, marketer, or tech partner, this podcast will leave you with practical insights and plenty of reasons to celebrate and Give an Ovation.
Give an Ovation: The Restaurant Guest Experience Podcast with Zack Oates
People-First Hospitality with Jennifer Dodd
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In this episode of Give an Ovation, we welcome Jennifer Dodd, a 30-year restaurant industry veteran and the CEO of Main Squeeze Juice Co. Jennifer has led in QSR, casual dining, and franchising, making her a powerhouse in restaurant operations and leadership.
Zack and Jennifer discuss:
- Why hospitality is—and always will be—a people-first business
- The power of customization and how it impacts guest experience
- How technology can enhance service without replacing the human element
- The tragedy of disengagement in the workforce and how to fix it
- The importance of employee trust, autonomy, and culture in driving success
- Innovative solutions Main Squeeze Juice Co. is rolling out to improve guest engagement
Tune in to hear how Jennifer’s insights on culture, leadership, and guest experience can help your restaurant thrive!
Thanks, Jennifer!
Creating a Five-Star Guest Experience
Speaker 1Welcome to another edition of Give an Ovation , the restaurant guest experience podcast , where I talk to industry experts to get their strategies and tactics you can use to create a five-star guest experience . This podcast is sponsored by Ovation , an operations and guest recovery platform for multi-unit restaurants that gives all the answers without annoying guests with all the questions . Learn more at OvationUpcom . And today we have a 30-year restaurant executive , QSR . She's done casual , casual dining , polished casual . She's franchising . She's currently the CEO of Main Squeeze Juice Co . Please welcome to the show , Jennifer Dodd . Welcome . How are you , Jennifer ?
Speaker 2Thanks , zach , I'm excited to be here .
Speaker 1And I had such a fun time meeting you in Vegas and was just so impressed with all of the things that you've done in your career and you've got such a great career , and I'd love to just hear someone who's getting into restaurant leadership at this point what advice would you have for them ? What advice do you wish you would have given yourself 30 years ago when you were starting out ? You have for them . What advice do you ?
Speaker 2wish you would have given yourself 30 years ago when you were starting out . I'd say a couple of things . First of all , it is always a people business . It always will be . At the end of the day , we are serving a need to people who are coming in to dine , have a meal , have an experience , and you can't lose track of that , whether we deliver that with the support of technology , which I'm grateful for , whatever the environment , if it's QSR , fast , casual , polished or even contract food service , at the end of the day , it's a human element that we're serving . And I actually go a little further than that to remember that we're feeding not only the body , but we're also nursing the soul . I learned that at an early age is what drew me into this business , because I noticed that when people order their food they're very precise , and that's gotten more precise over the years , right , because we now can customize literally everything Guilty .
Speaker 2And I think that started with the have it your way movement . But at the end of the day , the people are very precise and so when you get that order right and you watch the customers sit down or you walk by the table and you see them take that first drink or that first bite , they go through what I call metamorphosis and I don't think most people realize it . They take a deep breath , their shoulders drop and their forehead softens if we got it right . So that's really important that it meet their expectations and it is a people business and I just think that that's the best part of the job , because I love people .
Speaker 1That is so interesting . I mean like these little things , these little clues that you pick up along the way , and the problem is , isn't that so hard to train teams to get that like to pick up on those little subtleties that you understand ?
Speaker 2Yes , it can be , particularly in today's environment when staffing is in an all-time war . I think there are great technology services that are helping with that . I'll give a little shout out to Landed . We really believe in Landed . We love it . We've supported that system for our franchise owners to use because it does use AI to help you work with the talent pool to try to narrow that down to a fit for your organizational culture , and I think that's important and we've seen real success with that model . But again , it's a people business . So the owner , the franchise owner , the ops leader , the manager , has to spend time really walking through that hiring and that decision-making process , as well as the onboarding , to ensure that you help people line up with your mission and with your values for your organization , because they're going to be front front , facing face of your customer every day .
Speaker 1And that's something that I feel we often forget about , is if someone goes into a restaurant and the server is not polite to them , they don't think , wow , jennifer is rude . They think , wow , main squeeze juice is a bad brand .
Speaker 2Right , it's just they , truly are Not main squeeze juice , truly no . No , we're good .
Speaker 1Well , right , if , if you know , in some alternate universe , right , you know , I was just talking with someone who has Bobby Flay's burgers and they have someone that comes out into the lobby and they call them brand ambassadors . And really isn't that what everyone is , from the person making the juice to the person taking the order , to the person giving the order . They're all brand ambassadors making an impression of how that brand is , and so remembering about who you're hiring and how you're training them is so critical to the branding of your restaurant .
Speaker 2Yes , but it's also how you're treating them . Are you as the owner or is the leader being a brand ambassador for your team ? Because I believe we have internal and external customers . You can only put out what you are giving back . So , at the end of the day , if we are creating an environment where all people win , then certainly we're talking about our mission and values , but we're also living it . It's not just a placard on the wall . We are embracing the culture that we're trying to invite . So when you cross that threshold of our door , whether you're the employee coming to work that day , the manager or whether you're that customer , it should feel like the same experience and that's important .
Speaker 2I think a lot of people really miss that . I do a lot of public speaking and one of my favorite things to talk about is this tragedy of employee engagement that's at an all-time low , and Gallup says it's in the low 20% number , and I think that the reason why that happens is because we cannot have a transactional relationship with our staff . In many cases we do . We're busy , we're entrepreneurs , we feel like we have so much to do every day , but the most important thing we have to do during that day is look for how we're treating the people that serve the needs of the brand , whether they're running the equipment or they're the front-facing staff . Poof , I need this wish . Poof , I need this wish . That gets really exhausting . It's like , okay , I'm going to go back in this bottle and wait for my next command . No , it's releasing the employees , the staff , the partners is what they are in the culture that we're delivering to our guests .
Speaker 1That is so powerful . I love that and I love the focus on people , because you're obviously a people person and to care about people , I think , is one of the most important human attributes , not just for success in business but in life and social , with friends , with meeting people . If you can care about people and realize one of the things I like to do and this is kind of taking a weird turn , but I like to imagine that at some point that person was a toddler and was getting cuddled by their mom or their dad and it's like , no matter what the situation is , if you could imagine that person just being that little , innocent , perfect little two-year-old not throwing a tantrum . Those are just the most cuddly , loving beings on the earth and it's always fun especially if you're frustrated at someone just to imagine that .
Speaker 2I love that I want to high five you right now . This is exactly the way we should look at it .
Speaker 1So okay , Now let's talk a little bit more . We're talking upstream about the guest experience , the employee experience . Let's bring that downstream a little bit . What do you think are some of the most important aspects of guest experience nowadays ?
Speaker 2I certainly think meeting expectations again , but also technology is super important , having the right tech stack so that the customer can engage with you in a way that meets their
Enhancing Guest Experience With Technology
Speaker 2needs . I have some fans , or I'm a fan of some brands who were early adopters of that . An example would be Starbucks . I mean , I am , and I have been , an avid Starbucks fan since 95 . And so I am certainly that person that only uses the app . At the end of the day , I pretty much order the same thing Love that .
Speaker 2I don't have any friction , it's frictionless , it's you know . I don't have to worry about any payments , it's all loaded . Have my reward system in there . They know me , they get me , and my husband is quite the opposite . He also enjoys Starbucks , but he wants to get in the line , have the conversation , maybe choose a different approach each time for his order . So a technology that supports the span of what the customer needs is important , and we certainly have a great tech stack at Main Squeeze Juice Co , from our app to our reward system . It's awesome and that's important that we're constantly evolving as a brand and as an organization to meet the needs of the consumer today . I think that also helps your staff , because then they start out in a positive place with the guest . You kind of already know what the guest needs are , at least at that first level from an ordering standpoint , and then you can navigate from there along the way .
Speaker 1Amen , I love that and I think that , especially when you start with people first , technology then becomes something that enhances the experience , because you can't take the humans out of hospitality , but you can enhance , you can give them superpowers with technology so they could do their job better and focus on the people first . Now , what are some tactics that you've used to improve the guest experience ?
Speaker 2We have some that are fresh coming out of the box that I won't give too much detail on , but one of the things we're very proud of at Main Squeeze Juice Co . Seriously , it's a good answer to your question . It's not just a brand billboard here I'm giving , but our juice is cold-pressed , fresh-squeezed . It has no HPP , no high pressure , no pasteurization . So the products that goes into that juice are really giving you that nutritional punch , that great benefit that you need . Well , that's quite a big difference compared to HPP juices on most grocery shelves or even in some of our competitor restaurants . It's not that you don't get something from those juices , but it's quite a different spectrum . So it's imperative that we explain that to the guests in our environment . We must walk them through that journey and we have many levels of customers that are advocates of mains grease . Some of them are on a specific journey , like reclaiming health , targeting a specific thing .
Speaker 2Again , all the more reason we need someone to explain what's in this bottle , why you choose it and how it benefits you .
Speaker 2So we're leveraging a new technology that we're about to roll in the next six months we're testing it here . Soon it's actually going to stand in the place of supporting our great employees who are doing that , because sometimes the employee needs more time explaining that when they're also called to go make our handcrafted smoothies that are no sugar , no artificial sweeteners , no water , they need to do that too , and they work the drive-through . So we have to have a technology piece that helps us bridge that gap , and we're going to test that very soon and , like I said , expect to scale that in the next six months , after we work out some tweaks , and that'll be a new solution . So I think companies and brands just always need to be thinking about what problem am I needing to solve ? Today , I can't remove the human element on either the customer side or the employee side . So what can I do to build the bridge with proper tech that's efficient and affordable and really is a solution ?
Speaker 1I think that's so powerful . And when you're evaluating technology , what are some of the questions that you're asking to know ? Should we do this , should we not Like , as you're piloting this new technology , what's going to be the deciding factor for you ?
Speaker 2Pre and post survey of both customers your internal customer employees and your external customer right . That's important . So what was your experience like ? At MainSqueezed ? You used COBRA , 4-year-old , as tech . Now we're testing it . Now what's your experience after ?
Speaker 2I think some people get too excited about the solution itself and forget that again human element , because there are going to be talking points . What are they ? And obviously it's hard to hit 100% most of the time , but we can get close if we just make minor tweaks . So that's important . Affordability , of course , and the return on the investment always has to be considered short and long-term , because our franchise owners are certainly the heroes of capitalism and we want them to feel good about the solution . And then , what is the problem it's trying to solve when you integrate tech and is it doing that ? So in our case , we're trying to solve multiple things through this piece that I'm talking about , that we're going to roll the customer journey , the customer experience , and so that'll be very much a qualitative and quantitative ability to track that .
Speaker 2But also speed of service is important , because if I'm bogged down with me who might need more time , want more time to walk through the juices whether I might impact speed of service negatively . And then the employee experience . Are we relieving their load by having a technology piece that can support them delivering their task and feel good about it ? Having a technology piece that can support them delivering their task and feel good about it ? It's important that the tools support the employee's job , to get a big green check mark at the end of the day that says , hey , I did a good job today and I met my goals and I think oftentimes we forget about that . Matters to the employee too . They don't want to go home frustrated and come in the next day to do it again . They want to leave feeling good about themselves and hopefully our solutions support all of that .
Speaker 1That's such a great way to put it , and just this common thread of everything we're talking about boiling back to people . I would just encourage anyone listening whether you've got a restaurant or a technology or whatever it's like , think about how can we help people feel more important that work with us , because the more important they feel , the more empowered they feel , and the better we do of giving them direction on the principles of what they're supposed to do to be good brand ambassadors , the better the guest experience , the better the business . I think that you're just such a great living reminder of the fact that , yes , it's about people first , and you just exude that , and I love that . Now , jennifer , you have had such a great career and I would encourage everyone to go check out her LinkedIn because it's just so fun to read through all the things that you've done . Who's someone that deserves an ovation , who's someone that you feel like has been doing cool things that we should be following .
Speaker 2At the top of my list , particularly the state of the world today , in such challenging times , is , who is this founder and CEO of well , I think she's founder and chairman . Now for Giving Kitchen .
Speaker 1Giving Kitchen . Oh my gosh , I mean there's nobody better .
Speaker 2And we think about just in the last few months , what we've experienced with , obviously , the tragedy in New Orleans , with the attack that happened on New Year's Eve , and then the fires in California and how much that's affecting so many lives .
Speaker 2Asheville and the floods those were all beautiful hospitality cities where food service and hospitality workers are severely affected just in those tragedies alone . And so Giving Kitchen always steps up to the plate and not only helps with I don't know if I'm saying it right but micro giving . They give funds to people in need who prove their business case and that they support , and they offer that in all 50 states . But they also have I actually toured the facility to get to know them better and understand what they do and they have people there to give services that speak over 100 languages . If someone needs help finding housing or help with a child that has special needs , they can direct them to resources . So I just think the breadth and depth of what they do at Given Kitchen is such a heartfelt thing and it meets the needs of the type of environment that we create in hospitality . So Jen is a heroine in my mind for sure . That's a great example , I think .
Speaker 1I love that and she came on the podcast and she is just such a vibrant soul , love what she's doing at Giving Kitchen and she's a power house and love her mission and so , yeah , great , great , shout out , definitely people need to follow her . Well , jennifer , how can people follow you ? And Main Squeeze Juice Co .
Speaker 2I think several ways . First of all , come visit one of our amazing , beautiful stores . You'll love the vibe , super cool , and you can find our store list online on our website , which is mainsqueezedjuicecocom . If you're interested in franchising , of course , it's Main Squeeze Juice Co Franchising . We are franchising with purpose , so we have beautiful opportunities for growth and development to come in as an entrepreneur . And then , of course , instagram , twitter , facebook , linkedin , and now it sounds like you know we may be moving into the TikTok era .
Speaker 1I know a lot of Gen Zers who got their fingers crossed on that one . Yeah , that's our hope . Well , Jennifer , for reminding us that we should put pressure on fruits , not people . Today's ovation goes to you . Thank you for joining us on Give an Ovation .
Speaker 2All right , thank you .
Speaker 1Thanks for joining us today . If you like this episode , leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite place to listen . We're all about feedback here . Again , this episode was sponsored by Ovation , a two-question , sms-based actionable guest feedback platform built for multi-unit restaurants . If you'd like to learn how we can help you measure and create a better guest experience , visit us at OvationUpcom .