Scaling Hospitality with Chaos & Control with Marcel Khan, Caroline Ottoy, Matt Bigland and Gemma Glasson

🎙️ LEADERS SERVICE: Scaling Hospitality with Chaos & Control

A live panel from BrewDog Waterloo featuring hospitality leaders sharing raw insights on growth, culture, and operations.

🎤 HOST:Phil Street - Founder, Hospitality Meets Podcast

🎯 PANELISTS:

• Marcel Khan
• Caroline Ottoy
• Matt Bigland
• Gemma Glasson

⚡ KEY TAKEAWAYS:

On Managing Complexity:

• Vision clarity beats speed every time
• 10-15 core processes are enough - don't overcomplicate
• "Automate the boring, focus on guests"
• Red lines create space for creativity within structure

On Scaling Systems:

• EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System)
• 90-day planning cycles with quarterly "rocks" (goals)
• Weekly structured meetings: on track = move on, off track = solve it
• Watch House achieved 26% turnover and 14% 90-day turnover using intentional culture

On Culture Under Pressure:

• Clarity > Speed. Always.
• Right people, right seat - track it weekly
• "Calmness is a competitive advantage" - Marcel
• Never compromise on product or people, even when cutting costs

On Leadership Philosophy:

• "Done is better than perfect" is BS - aim for perfect pizzas (Marcel's hot take)
• Hire slow, fire fast - but have difficult conversations early
• The gift of silence: let people fill the space with their own solutions
• Accountability charts prevent chaos

On Protecting What Matters:

• Stay true to core focus (Watch House example: stopped chasing matcha trends)
• Platform over personality (Blend's brand accelerator model)
• Communication platforms are critical at scale
• Annual festivals to reconnect everyone to the vision (Wahaca's "Wahaca Fest")

💡 STANDOUT QUOTES:

"The unreasonable person adapts society to themselves. Therefore all progress is due to the unreasonable person." - George Bernard Shaw (via Matt)

"If the CEO can't have a conversation during service, that's the beginning of the end." - Matt

"We scale platforms, not personalities." - Matt on food halls

"Chaos is fun - but without control, it's carnage." - Gemma

"Done is better than perfect? I flipping hate that phrase. I want perfect pizzas." - Marcel

📚 RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System)
• "People Dare to Build an Intentional Culture"
• Insights Discovery
• People Analyzer

🎯 BIGGEST MISTAKES SHARED:

• Not hiring the right people at the right time (being too tight on salary)
• Ignoring values misalignment when too busy
• Not creating clear accountability charts early enough
• Getting lost in detail instead of hovering above the business

🔥 FINAL WISDOM:When asked what matters most - people, systems, or purpose?

• Caroline: People. Vision is irrelevant without the right people.
• Gemma: All of the above (but especially people + purpose)
• Marcel: Purpose underpins everything else
• Matt: People and purpose together

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Recorded live at Service, BrewDog Waterloo, February 10th