The Pre-Shift

7shifts

Great teams make great restaurants. On The Pre-Shift, restaurant operators and industry experts dive into what it takes to build great restaurant teams. We explore their stories, the strategies they use, and valuable lessons on running restaurant teams. Hosted by D. J. Costantino. Presented by 7shifts.The Pre-Shift Podcast is taking a hiatus. Thank you for listening and being part of our restaurant community!

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The Pre-Shift

Episodes (81)

Today Letting go of the day-to-day: Tom Schmidt's journey from busser to leader | 073
Feb 5th An update on The Pre-Shift podcast
Nov 5, 2025 The QUESO Framework: how Condado Tacos built a culture-first restaurant empire | 072

The Pre-Shift

Jun 3, 2026
28 minutes
19 MB

The Pre-Shift Podcast is back! Tom Schmidt, co-owner of Salt + Smoke BBQ, talks with host D.J. about shifting from hands-on restaurant work to leading an eight-location, 550+ employee business, a transition he says truly began around the fourth location and felt like a “phantom limb” loss of how he measured success. He explains how delegating to partners and leaders—especially co-owner Haley, a director of operations, and later hospitality, HR, finance, and catering roles—enabled growth while preserving culture and “magic,” in part by creating advancement paths for ambitious managers and chefs. Schmidt describes systematizing communicatio...

The Pre-Shift

Letting go of the day-to-day: Tom Schmidt's journey from busser to leader | 073

7shifts

00:00 -28:00