Hawaii: Restaurant Trailblazer & CEO, Elisia Flores Shares How She's Leading the Global Expansion of L&L Hawaiian BBQ
This week on the Titans of Food Service podcast, Nick Portillo speaks with Elisia Flores, the CEO of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue. Elisia discusses her remarkable journey with her family-owned restaurant chain, which has grown into a global brand with over 200 locations. Elisia shares her unique perspective on managing a large business while maintaining the authentic flavors that define Hawaiian cuisine. Nick and Elisia delve into the challenges and triumphs faced during the pandemic, highlighting how L&L adapted and thrived amidst the chaos.
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Intro to Titans of Food Service
(01:37) Hawaii's Unique Food Scene
(02:21) Meet Elisia Flores, CEO of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue
(08:29) The Founding Story of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue
(20:12) Navigating the Pandemic as a Restaurant Leader
(25:53) Future Goals: Expanding to 500 Locations
(27:15) Conclusion and Final Thoughts
RESOURCES
CONTACT
Transcript
There are a million ways to make money in the food service industry.
Nick Portillo:You just have to find one.
Nick Portillo:On the Titans of Food Service podcast, I interview real life movers and shakers in the food game who cut through all the noise to get to the top.
Nick Portillo:My name is Nick Portillo, and welcome to the Titans of Food Service podcast.
Nick Portillo:Let's jump right into it.
Nick Portillo:Welcome back to Titans of Food Service.
Nick Portillo:This is season three, and on the season, I'm doing my across American 50 weeks tour where I interview one titan of food service from every single state in the country.
Nick Portillo:And on this episode, I'm going to be traveling to the beautiful islands of Hawaii.
Nick Portillo:And to welcome the state of Hawaii, I'm going to be joined by Alicia Flores, who's the CEO of L& L Hawaiian Barbecue.
Nick Portillo:Now, L and L Hawaiian Barbecue has grown into a global brand with over 200 restaurants worldwide, making it the most successful restaurant franchise to expand outside of Hawaii.
Nick Portillo:You'll see in our conversation between Alicia and me, she's managing a very, very large business and she gives some great nuggets and tidbits on how she does that and what her day to day life really looks like and some of the things that she learned throughout the pandemic.
Nick Portillo:But L and L has been recognized as one of America's top global franchises by Entrepreneur magazine.
Nick Portillo:It's been named a Top 400 restaurant chain by Restaurant Institution magazine and honored as one of the top 50 regional powerhouse chains by Nation's Restaurant News.
Nick Portillo:Alicia has continued to grow L&L's legacy while maintaining the authentic flavors that bring a true taste of Hawaii to the world.
Nick Portillo:Before I dive into the conversation with Alicia, let's take a little look at Hawaii's unique food service scene.
Nick Portillo:I like to do this every episode, give like a quick one or two sentence, quick tidbit about the state.
Nick Portillo:So Hawaii, it's a melting pot of cultures and its cuisine reflects its influences from Polynesian to Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Portuguese traditions, among others.
Nick Portillo:The iconic dish plate lunch featuring rice, macaroni salad and a protein like teriyaki chicken or kahlua pork is a beloved staple across the islands.
Nick Portillo:And we touch a little bit on that in the conversation.
Nick Portillo:Now, without further ado, let's go ahead and welcome Alicia.
Nick Portillo:All right, Alicia, welcome to the Titans of Food Service podcast.
Nick Portillo:I appreciate you taking time out of your day to come and meet me.
Alicia Flores:Aloha.
Alicia Flores:Appreciate you having me here today.
Nick Portillo:Yeah.
Nick Portillo:So what island do you live on?
Alicia Flores:So I'm on Oahu in Honolulu, probably the most well known town in Hawaii.
Nick Portillo:Yep.
Nick Portillo:So my day job is actually I'm a food service broker.
Nick Portillo:So I represent different products and sell them into food service operators and distributors.
Nick Portillo:And we actually have an office in Honolulu.
Alicia Flores:Oh, fantastic.
Alicia Flores:Well, we should meet up in town sometime.
Nick Portillo:Yeah, yeah.
Nick Portillo:So we.
Nick Portillo:I'm based here in Orange County, California, so we have offices in California, a couple in California, one in Nevada, and then one in Hawaii.
Nick Portillo:We've got a general manager out there and another sales rep as well.
Nick Portillo:So we've been in Hawaii now for over a year.
Nick Portillo:And it's a beautiful place and a great market, too.
Nick Portillo:And I've learned so much about the islands, at least the food part of it.
Alicia Flores:Yes.
Alicia Flores:We are always a very enviable account for our vendors to try to win because they like that they have to come out here to meet with us.
Nick Portillo:Yeah, I'm sure.
Nick Portillo:I'm sure.
Nick Portillo:So how did you get into the food business?
Alicia Flores:So that's the easy one.
Alicia Flores:I was born into it.
Alicia Flores:So I'm the CEO of L& L Hawaiian Barbecue.
Alicia Flores:And it was actually founded by my father, Eddie Flores, and his business partner, Johnson Cam.
Alicia Flores:And it was founded almost, you know, a little over 45 years ago.
Alicia Flores:And so it existed before I did L, and L was a part of my life, my whole life.
Alicia Flores:Didn't always expect to be in the business, but also maybe kind of always expected to be in the business.
Nick Portillo:Yeah, I feel that my.
Nick Portillo:So my business, I work with my dad.
Nick Portillo:He had been a food broker his whole career, so.
Nick Portillo:My whole life, yes.
Nick Portillo:And coming out of college, I was like, I want to be in finance.
Alicia Flores:Yes.
Nick Portillo:I want to help people with their money problems.
Nick Portillo:And never thought I'd be in the food business, but here I am, and it's a great career.
Alicia Flores:It is.
Alicia Flores:And so my background is finance as well, corporate finance.
Alicia Flores:And never once I was away.
Alicia Flores:I never wanted my dad to be my boss my entire life.
Alicia Flores:So the intention for our family was that I would take a job elsewhere.
Alicia Flores:And I actually really enjoyed my other job and thought about not coming home, not being back in the business for a long time.
Alicia Flores:But eventually I made the decision to come back into L and L.
Alicia Flores:And it's been fantastic.
Alicia Flores:It's the best industry to be in, I think.
Nick Portillo:Absolutely.
Nick Portillo:Did you.
Nick Portillo:Have you always lived on the islands or did you ever leave the island?
Alicia Flores:So I left for.
Alicia Flores:Yeah, I was born and raised here.
Alicia Flores:Left for college.
Alicia Flores:I went to college in Southern California, and then after.
Alicia Flores:After my undergraduate, I worked for General Electric.
Alicia Flores:At the time, they owned so many more business units.
Alicia Flores:So I had the chance to work the United States and in a couple other countries.
Alicia Flores:So I really got to get, you know, off the island and explore a lot.
Alicia Flores:And now that I'm back home again, nothing better than being in Hawaii.
Nick Portillo:Yeah, I'm sure.
Nick Portillo:I'm sure.
Nick Portillo:Where did you work abroad?
Alicia Flores:Yeah, so I worked.
Alicia Flores:I was a corporate auditor for a couple years and one of my assignments was at a bank, an Italian bank.
Alicia Flores:So I worked in Milan and got to travel to different places.
Alicia Flores:I worked in Canada, we count that as international.
Alicia Flores:So it was fantastic.
Alicia Flores:You know, I was living kind of this very exciting life of a corporate life in different and fun business units, banks.
Alicia Flores:At the time, GE owned NBC Universal.
Alicia Flores:Very different from the restaurant industry.
Alicia Flores:But I have to say I think the restaurant industry has its own things about it that make it so unique and exciting.
Alicia Flores:Even compared to things like entertainment or banking.
Nick Portillo:Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Nick Portillo:I've.
Nick Portillo:I lived in Florence only for four months.
Nick Portillo:I didn't study abroad.
Nick Portillo:When I was in school, I went to Chapman University, which is.
Nick Portillo:I don't know if you're familiar with that.
Nick Portillo:It's a small little school in Orange County.
Alicia Flores:Yeah.
Nick Portillo:When I had the opportunity to go out there.
Alicia Flores:Yeah.
Alicia Flores:When I lived in Milan, I was.
Alicia Flores:My apartment was on top of a bakery and on my way to work was a gelato store.
Alicia Flores:So I gained so many pounds in my time living there because I had a croissant every morning and a gelato every night.
Alicia Flores:It was a fantastic life.
Nick Portillo:I love that.
Nick Portillo:That's so cool.
Nick Portillo:So when you get into the family business, when you get into L and L, Hawaiian barbecue, it looks like you start in finance as the chief financial officer.
Nick Portillo:Is that correct?
Alicia Flores:That's right.
Alicia Flores:So I came in as a cfo again, my background being finance, and we didn't really have any financial leadership in the company at the time.
Alicia Flores: then after five years, so in: Nick Portillo:Nice.
Nick Portillo:Is your dad still involved in the business?
Alicia Flores:He's still involved.
Alicia Flores:So as a founder, as an entrepreneur, I don't know if your dad's the same.
Alicia Flores:You know, he's going to work till the day he dies.
Alicia Flores:So he's our chairman now.
Alicia Flores:Comes into the office every day.
Alicia Flores:He's sitting in the office across from me right now, and he loves it.
Alicia Flores:And I'm grateful for the privilege of being able to work with him and learn from him.
Nick Portillo:You know what's so interesting about family owned businesses or working with family is I'm sure you've probably told others like, yeah, I work with my dad and.
Nick Portillo:And they're like, oh, how is that?
Nick Portillo:I feel like when it comes to family business, it's like you have two extremes.
Nick Portillo:It works really well or it doesn't work at all.
Nick Portillo:And, you know, for the dynamic with my dad and me, what has helped us is, you know, he has far more experience than I do being in this industry for so long, but he takes my advice and he lets me take risk and he likes.
Nick Portillo:Lets me make decisions and do things like that.
Nick Portillo:And so I feel like, hey, this actually feels 50, 50 here.
Nick Portillo:Like it's an actual partnership and it really works for us.
Alicia Flores:Yeah, I agree with your analysis.
Alicia Flores:Family business is a very, very tricky thing.
Alicia Flores:I think when it works, there are so many synergies that make it even more special than just a normal sort of organization.
Alicia Flores:But it has its own challenges as well.
Nick Portillo:Absolutely, absolutely.
Nick Portillo:So let's go back to the very beginning.
Nick Portillo:How did L and L even come to be Right?
Alicia Flores:So again, founded by my father, Eddie Flores, and his business partner, Johnson Cam, Both were immigrants to the United States, you know, had very different paths.
Alicia Flores:My dad actually bought L and L Started as a dairy by Korean immigrants to Hawaii.
Alicia Flores:And they eventually created L and L Drive in, which is a.
Alicia Flores:In Hawaii, we have maybe, you know, the state food of Hawaii, we like to say, is the plate lunch, which is what L and L serves, which is two scoops of rice macaroni salad and your entree, protein entree.
Alicia Flores:So L and L Drive in was, you know, one location restaurant on Liliha street here in Honolulu.
Alicia Flores:My dad, as an immigrant, moved here with his parents.
Alicia Flores:Both of his parents had just a sixth grade education, and when they came to the United States, English was not their first language.
Alicia Flores:They worked very hard, though.
Alicia Flores:My grandmother was working at a restaurant, and my dad at the time was working in real estate and thought, wouldn't it be wonderful if my mom, his mom could have her own restaurant?
Alicia Flores:So she bought her the first L and L drive in and she worked there.
Alicia Flores:And after a couple of months, I think she realized, my gosh, her dream is not to own a restaurant.
Alicia Flores:It is so difficult to run.
Alicia Flores:You know, being part of the restaurant community is really fantastic, but running a restaurant is very, very difficult.
Alicia Flores:And that's when they brought in, I call him Uncle Johnson, but Johnson Cam.
Alicia Flores:So that was the beginning of L and L.
Alicia Flores:It started as a.
Alicia Flores:As a one location kind of, you know, American dream sort of situation.
Alicia Flores:And it just grew and grew and grew.
Alicia Flores:Nobody expected it to get as big as it did.
Alicia Flores:We started franchising, and then we eventually, you know, hopped the ocean and started franchising on the mainland.
Alicia Flores:And it's been wonderful.
Alicia Flores:And we have 230 loc now, but again, it just started as the one store with no expectations further than that.
Nick Portillo:What an incredible story.
Nick Portillo:When your family immigrated here to the United States, did they go to Hawaii first or did they start here on the mainland?
Alicia Flores:Yes, they landed in Hawaii.
Alicia Flores:And part of the reason.
Alicia Flores:So we're still headquartered and based here, and as long as I'm in charge, that's the intention to stay in Hawaii.
Alicia Flores:We wouldn't have.
Alicia Flores:Our company is rooted here.
Alicia Flores:The food that we serve is based out of Hawaii.
Alicia Flores:And there's no way our company, our family, would have had the success it did were it not for the Hawaii community that embraced us when my family moved here.
Nick Portillo:Yeah.
Nick Portillo:And of the 230 locations you have, are they.
Nick Portillo:How many are in Hawaii?
Nick Portillo:Sure.
Alicia Flores:67 are on the Hawaii Islands, and we're on the four main islands, and the remainder are in 14 other states across the country.
Nick Portillo:Were you part of the company when it started to get into the franchise model?
Alicia Flores:I was not.
Alicia Flores:I can't remember if I was still in high school or if I was in college, but for a large chunk of time, I briefly worked as a cashier in L and L.
Alicia Flores:Other than that, until I came back in the business, it was kind of just around, but I wasn't involved.
Alicia Flores:So I don't remember when we started franchising, but I think it was fairly early.
Alicia Flores:Maybe within 10 years of the founding.
Nick Portillo:Okay, yeah, that makes sense.
Nick Portillo:When the company did jump and come here to the mainland, you know, what is that like?
Nick Portillo:Is the business different here on the mainland versus in Hawaii?
Alicia Flores:Absolutely.
Alicia Flores:So, you know, our food, we call the comfort food of Hawaii.
Alicia Flores:And I think somebody.
Alicia Flores:People can always understand comfort food wherever you're from, but our food is very different than what you normally would see on the mainland.
Alicia Flores:We're not pizza, we're not subs, we're not burgers, we're not Mexican.
Alicia Flores:And so, you know, in Hawaii, we can open up a store and we don't have to explain to anybody what a.
Alicia Flores:What chicken katsu is, what barbecue mix is, what a spam musubi is.
Alicia Flores:But when we opened our first stores on the mainland, we had to.
Alicia Flores:We had the new challenge of educating customers what a plate lunch is, what Hawaiian barbecue is.
Alicia Flores:And, you know, our first stores were in California.
Alicia Flores:And the great thing about California is that we have a lot of people who have visited Hawaii are used to a variety of Asian food.
Alicia Flores:So it wasn't challenging.
Alicia Flores:It wasn't, you know, it was challenging, but not insurmountable.
Alicia Flores:We have since opened in different, in different places such as Texas, Atlanta, Florida.
Alicia Flores:And in those places where there, you know, as get further away from Hawaii, people are less familiar with Hawaiian, Hawaiian food.
Alicia Flores:You know, even to this day we have the challenge of educating folks what, what a plate lunch is.
Alicia Flores:The great thing is once people try it, they love it, but it's just getting them to take the first bite.
Nick Portillo:Yeah, that makes sense.
Nick Portillo:That makes sense.
Nick Portillo:And what about for you, what does your day to day look like as the CEO of the company?
Alicia Flores:Yeah, so it's always exciting.
Alicia Flores:So right now, you know, we're in September.
Alicia Flores:Our fourth quarter is going to be crazy.
Alicia Flores:For whatever reason, all of our store openings pushed into the fourth quarter.
Alicia Flores:So for the remainder of the year, we're looking to open to seven to 12 stores.
Alicia Flores:So for example, right now we have franchisees in for training in Hawaii.
Alicia Flores:We're working on the pipeline for the remainder of the stores.
Alicia Flores: I'm working on our: Alicia Flores:So it's always exciting.
Alicia Flores:We're in a growth mode, so that makes it even more exciting.
Alicia Flores:But certainly it's busy days.
Nick Portillo: now, you're building out your: Nick Portillo:You know, what are you, you're, you're looking for growth.
Nick Portillo:It seems like, you know, what are you looking for when you're looking to add more units?
Nick Portillo:Is it, you know, is it certain operators you're looking for or is it locations?
Nick Portillo:What goes into that?
Alicia Flores:Yeah, you know, I think it's, it's certainly both.
Alicia Flores:You know, we want growth, but we want, we don't want growth just for the sake of growth.
Alicia Flores:One of the core values of L and L has always been around the franchisee.
Alicia Flores:And if our franchisees are successful, then the corporation and the whole brand will be successful.
Alicia Flores:So I don't want to bring on franchisees who are not a right fit.
Alicia Flores:And by right fit it could be they don't have, they don't have enough capital to open their store without, you know, pulling out their entire bank account or they don't have the right passion for coming into the industry.
Alicia Flores:Food service is so challenging.
Alicia Flores:Running a restaurant maybe is the most challenging that it's ever been right now.
Alicia Flores:And so, you know, I don't want people leaving their careers, pulling out their 401ks and this not working out for that for them.
Alicia Flores:And so part of that is location as well.
Alicia Flores:You know, people want to open up in certain places and we have a pretty good feel of locations that will be successful and try to steer people towards that.
Alicia Flores:So the whole key is, you know, we want growth, but we want successful franchisees and so making sure we have the right fit with the franchisee and the best location for them to be successful.
Nick Portillo:You know, one thing that's interesting about food service is let's just take the restaurant part of it, right?
Nick Portillo:There's so many operators out, there's so many entrepreneurs, there's so many people in it.
Nick Portillo:And which is great, but I would imagine there's also, especially on your side when it comes to the franchise model, is vetting out people.
Nick Portillo:Can they run their own business under your umbrella?
Nick Portillo:You know, can they manage a P and L and all of these different things and manage people?
Nick Portillo:Managing people is not easy.
Alicia Flores:It's the most challenging part of it.
Nick Portillo:Absolutely.
Nick Portillo:I mean, you see AI coming everywhere.
Nick Portillo:It makes it so much easier.
Nick Portillo:But, yeah, managing people is not.
Nick Portillo:It's not easy.
Nick Portillo:So I would imagine on your side, trying to go through and determine is this person or maybe, I'm sure maybe there's groups as well that you work with that buy up maybe multiple locations, are they well equipped to be able to handle the expectations and what it takes to run a restaurant.
Alicia Flores:That's right.
Alicia Flores:And I think entrepreneurs are amazing folks and that we get to work with entrepreneurs every day.
Alicia Flores:Our franchisees are entrepreneurs.
Alicia Flores:Right.
Alicia Flores:And they have so much energy and ideas and passion for the business, and that's really fun to be around.
Alicia Flores:But at the same time, when they join a franchise organization, we need to make sure we're providing the guardrails and the systems and the resources for them to be successful.
Alicia Flores:So it is a unique kind of a challenge finding the right person who is entrepreneurial but also wants to plug into a system.
Nick Portillo:Why would a franchise, a potential franchisee, choose L and L over other franchises maybe out there that they could join?
Alicia Flores:Yeah.
Alicia Flores:I'll give you maybe the three main reasons why I think franchisees choose us.
Alicia Flores:The number one reason this is not everyone, but this is a lot of at least 50% of our prospects, I say, is that they have this deep love for Hawaii.
Alicia Flores:So we either have people who were born and raised in Hawaii and are now living in another State or have spent time in Hawaii, they always come here for vacations or they have family here, and now they're living somewhere else.
Alicia Flores:And they so miss Hawaii.
Alicia Flores:They miss the community, the field, you know, whatever it is that's special to them about Hawaii, they miss that.
Alicia Flores:And they want to bring that to the place they are.
Alicia Flores:And L and L is a way that they can do that.
Alicia Flores:That is one reason why many franchisees are attracted to us.
Alicia Flores:A second reason is that we have really, really great fee structure.
Alicia Flores:So our franchise fees range from total royalty and advertising from 4 to 6% total, which is very low when you consider kind of the landscape of franchise organizations.
Alicia Flores:Again, our key focus is the success of the franchisees.
Alicia Flores:So the more successful they are, the more successful I will be.
Alicia Flores:But I don't need to raise my franchisees for corporation to be successful.
Alicia Flores:And I think that's attractive from a financial perspective.
Nick Portillo:Yeah.
Alicia Flores:The last reason is that we give our franchisees flexibility to really be entrepreneurs.
Alicia Flores:You know, like I said, we put in guardrails, but our guardrails are pretty wide.
Alicia Flores:And, you know, I think people want to own their own business, and when they own their own business, they want to have some amount of autonomy to make decisions, to decide how they want to build the community in their area to decide.
Alicia Flores:Maybe they have a great recipe, they themselves or one of the chefs they have have a great recipe they want to feature.
Alicia Flores:At L and L, you can do, you know, we have the key things that you have to participate and follow, but we also give you your flexibility to be your own, to be a business owner.
Alicia Flores:So, you know, I think that's unique to L and L as a franchise organization.
Alicia Flores:And I think it's something that our franchisees truly enjoy.
Nick Portillo:Going back to point two around the financial aspect of it where you're, you know, essentially all in your fees are 4 to 6%.
Nick Portillo:When you look at the other, you know, competitors, let's say, is that where does that stack up in terms of, you know, the overall going rate within the industry?
Alicia Flores:My guess is that the average total for the industry is.
Alicia Flores:Is at around 8 to 10%.
Alicia Flores:And it can.
Alicia Flores:And so we.
Alicia Flores:I'm so confident that we're in the bottom 10% kind of, you know, of the belt curve of where the fees would be.
Alicia Flores:We are very low.
Alicia Flores:We have discussions all the time about should we raise it, and we always decide against it because, again, it's key to our founding and to our values to be to have a model that's successful for franchisees.
Alicia Flores:And in the last couple of years, everyone in food service, I don't need to say this, but our margins have been chipped and chipped away.
Alicia Flores:And again, I don't want the franchise fee to be a reason why the business can't survive.
Nick Portillo:Yeah, that completely makes sense.
Nick Portillo:You know, food service is, it's a tricky one and you got your ups and downs and you just got to kind of ride through those things, especially during the pandemic.
Nick Portillo:How was that for you having, you know, I would imagine at that point you may not have had 230 locations, but you had to have over 100 at that point.
Nick Portillo:How was that navigating through the pandemic?
Alicia Flores: cause I became CEO in July of: Alicia Flores:And honestly, one of the first selfishly thoughts in my mind was, oh my gosh, less than a year as CEO and I'm going to completely ruin the company.
Alicia Flores:It's all downhill.
Alicia Flores:I would say for us at corporate and for our restaurants, the first couple months of the pandemic were very challenging.
Alicia Flores:As a business, that was considered an essential service.
Alicia Flores:Restaurants remained open, but the rules about how you could operate your restaurant changed daily and you often wouldn't know what they are.
Alicia Flores:For example, in Hawaii, employees had to have vaccination cards.
Alicia Flores:Okay, very briefly, you had to check customers to make sure they were vaccinated.
Alicia Flores:To come in, okay, you had to put the stickers and make sure people were distanced.
Alicia Flores:Okay, you know, these rules came out and you try to follow them, but at the same time, you weren't 100% sure what the rules were today?
Alicia Flores:And were you going to get shut down if you didn't follow the rule that just got announced yesterday and you know, you weren't very sure about.
Alicia Flores:So plus, you know, everything in how you operate changed and sales in the, in the start were slow and your employees were, you know, not there.
Alicia Flores:Anyways, the first couple of months were challenging.
Alicia Flores: I will say though,: Alicia Flores:I don't know if it was because we are takeout organization, we're takeout restaurant.
Alicia Flores:And so with many other restaurants having to close during those periods, our volume picked up.
Alicia Flores:If our stores were not already on third party delivery, they entered third party delivery and third party delivery.
Alicia Flores:I have a lot of views on it, but it for sure pushed up revenues.
Alicia Flores: as a franchise organization,: Alicia Flores:My feeling is a lot of people during this time, because it was a scary time, because their jobs were maybe at risk, they decided, you know, I've always wanted to be an entrepreneur.
Alicia Flores:I've always wanted to own my own business.
Alicia Flores:This is the time to do it.
Alicia Flores:So after the first couple of months of being very scary, it just, you know, things kind of went into overdrive for L and L.
Alicia Flores:And it turned out to be a good time for us.
Nick Portillo:Yeah.
Nick Portillo:Isn't that interesting how that works?
Nick Portillo:You know, I remember.
Nick Portillo: I remember I got married in: Nick Portillo:And I remember there was different.
Nick Portillo:You know, I live in California.
Nick Portillo:We were pretty strict on the rules as well.
Nick Portillo:But, yeah, I remember Hawaii.
Nick Portillo:I can't remember exactly what we had to do, but there was definitely different things.
Nick Portillo:And it was kind of changed.
Nick Portillo:If you remember back, it's like changing every week with the.
Alicia Flores:Yes.
Nick Portillo:With the amount of infection and whatnot.
Nick Portillo:So it's just kind of navigating that.
Nick Portillo:Which was not easy.
Alicia Flores:Yes.
Alicia Flores:Yes.
Alicia Flores:I'm glad we're through it.
Alicia Flores:But it was.
Alicia Flores:Even from a leadership perspective, it was.
Alicia Flores:We came out of it stronger.
Nick Portillo:What do you think you learned about yourself in that time?
Alicia Flores:Yeah, you know, I think.
Alicia Flores:I think during the time the power of communication became.
Alicia Flores:It was already clear to me, but it became even more clear.
Alicia Flores:I'm convinced now.
Alicia Flores:You know, every.
Alicia Flores:Almost every challenge that we face in a business and personal, you know, anything is.
Alicia Flores:And in a family business, you know, even more so.
Alicia Flores:Communication is at the core.
Alicia Flores:And being able to.
Alicia Flores:Being able to communicate with people, again, the rules during COVID being able to understand the rule and disseminate that out to our franchisees as quickly as possible.
Alicia Flores:When PPP came out, being able to understand that and disseminate it out to franchisees as quickly as possible.
Alicia Flores:During COVID people were scared.
Alicia Flores:They didn't know what was going on.
Alicia Flores:So being able to take people's phone calls and talk to them and just being either an ear if they needed or advice if they needed, the power of communication was so important.
Alicia Flores:And that's.
Alicia Flores:That.
Alicia Flores:That was reaffirmed during COVID Yeah, I'm sure.
Nick Portillo:What about in present day, you know, going with.
Nick Portillo:With communication?
Nick Portillo:How do you get communication out to all of the franchisees?
Nick Portillo:Over 230 locations across all of the employees.
Nick Portillo:That's quite a bit.
Alicia Flores:It is, and it's challenging.
Alicia Flores:It's.
Alicia Flores:It's honestly, you know, one of the things that we're working on here in L and L is how do we improve franchisee engagement?
Alicia Flores:Of course we have, you know, email communication or email newsletters.
Alicia Flores:But honestly, any franchisee that wants my cell phone number can have it.
Alicia Flores:I can't say I appreciate them calling me all the time, but I appreciate that I can give it to them and they can call me if they have any issues and I will take.
Alicia Flores:Any franchisees call if they want to talk to me as a CEO of the company.
Alicia Flores:If it's a matter that urgent to them, I will take the call.
Alicia Flores:Because this is, you know, when you come into L and L, you're not just franchisee number, you know, 157, the florist family and you're part of the L family now and again.
Alicia Flores:My whole job is making our franchisees successful.
Alicia Flores:And if they have a concern that they want to share with me that I can try to help take care of, I want them to have that access.
Nick Portillo:Amazing, amazing.
Nick Portillo:You know, people, they stay for, you know, those types of things.
Nick Portillo:They, they like the company.
Nick Portillo:You know, I could speak for my own experience of having a company culture where people like to be and they feel respected and they feel heard, especially having your cell phone.
Nick Portillo:I mean, you're a very busy person.
Nick Portillo:I would imagine managing would seem probably a very large P and L if you put everything together.
Nick Portillo:So I think that's really cool.
Nick Portillo:That means a lot to, you know, people that work within your organization.
Nick Portillo:What about looking into the future?
Nick Portillo:What is something that you want to achieve that you've not yet achieved?
Alicia Flores:So that's a great question.
Alicia Flores:And you know, one of the things that I put and it's, it's a, it's a pretty lofty goal, but I feel like the more I say it, the more I have to make it happen.
Alicia Flores:But I want L and L to get to 500 stores.
Alicia Flores:So we set a 10 year goal a couple years ago.
Alicia Flores: So we've got until: Alicia Flores:This is more than doubling our footprint.
Alicia Flores:And we've always grown, but we've never grown at the rate that we would have to to get to 500 locations.
Alicia Flores:So that's my big, that's our big company goal.
Alicia Flores:And quite frankly, the reason, you know, 500 is a huge number.
Alicia Flores:It's a big number for us, but maybe it's a big enough number as well for L and L.
Alicia Flores:We again, I love that I know all the franchisees that I can give everyone my cell phone number and that they can feel really part of a family.
Alicia Flores:And I think 500 if we can do it.
Alicia Flores:It'll be a great time to pause and celebrate and make sure collectively what we want to do next.
Nick Portillo:Amazing.
Nick Portillo:Well, Alicia, I want to say thank you so much for taking your time to come on here and sharing your story.
Nick Portillo: know, here on the mainland is: Nick Portillo:It's almost time for lunch.
Nick Portillo:Maybe L and L might be a great choice.
Alicia Flores:I hope you do get a plate lunch and then get a little kanak attack or nap to take afterwards.
Alicia Flores:So thank you so much for having me.
Alicia Flores:I love being part of the food service.
Alicia Flores:I'm going to retire from it, and it's such a joy.
Alicia Flores:So thank you for letting me share a bit about our story.
Nick Portillo:Of course.
Nick Portillo:I appreciate it.
