Never a Lack of Ideas

I'm excited to announce that I have accepted a job to lead marketing at Portillo's , a restaurant chain based in Chicago. It's a bit of a homecoming for me — I worked as a cashier at the Portillo's on Rt. 59 in Naperville while on summer and winter breaks in high school and college. Check out the two pictures here: the first is me in my Portillo's uniform when I was 17. The second is me outside the Portillo's in Buena Park, California the day before I accepted the most recent offer. If I had known in that first picture what I know now, I would've shown a little more enthusiasm. I am honored to be the first ever marketing employee at Portillo's. Berkshire Partners recently purchased the company, and along with the existing Portillo's team, they have a great plan for the future. I'm happy to say that we can all expect to receive the same quality service and food from Portillo's going forward. Thank You, Google It's very diff...

Edit on 11/11/14: After further consideration, I no longer agree that Portillo's should franchise. I still like my first two ideas, though. Portillo's is a terrific fast casual restaurant chain predominantly in the Chicagoland area. It's a true Chicago original, famous for its hot dogs, Italian beef, and chocolate cake. And it's reportedly for sale. Since I don't have a spare hundred million dollars lying around to make a bid, I'd like to share a few big ideas for the next owner on how to take Portillo's to the next level. I spent three summer and winter breaks from school working at my local Portillo's. I loved working there and I still love eating there. So to the next owner of Portillo Restaurant Group: here are three big ideas for you. We should chat sometime soon: Expand to Illinois' biggest college towns. Portillo's is extremely popular among young people — especially high school students. And 33 out of 38 Portillo's restaura...