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Fired, Broke & Starting Again: How Tony Kelly Rebuilt from Scratch
Description
Tony Kelly had multiple restaurants across three states.
Then one day, he walked into work and was handed a letter.
He was out.
In this episode, Tony breaks down the real story behind the comeback — the mistakes, the systems, the partnership lessons, the financial discipline, and the mindset shift that changed everything.
If you’ve ever felt stretched, betrayed, burnt out, or one bad month away from disaster…
This one will hit home.
You’ll hear:
00:00 – The day Tony got forced out of his own business
06:30 – The financial reality: personal guarantees & starting over
10:30 – Opening Rice Boy with $600 in the bank
18:00 – Why tracking numbers weekly is non-negotiable
22:00 – “Why are you forecasting to fail?”
25:30 – The real key to successful partnerships
30:00 – No reservations, controlled capacity & protecting kitchen flow
36:00 – Designing venues for profit (and experience)
42:00 – Expensive failures & $1.7M lessons
46:30 – Why personal guarantees can destroy you
59:00 – Training problem or recruitment problem?
1:03:00 – The brutal truth about “passive” restaurant investments
If you’re serious about building a profitable, sustainable restaurant — without risking your house — book a call with the Foodie Coaches team at foodiecoaches.com
Follow along behind the scenes: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld
New episodes every Wednesday.