From Dishwasher to Franchisor CEO: The 48-Year American Dream of John Gelastopoulos

Anthony Codispoti (00:00)
Welcome to another edition of the inspired stories podcast where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. As you listen today, let one idea shape what you do next. My name is Anthony Cotaspodi and today’s guest is John and I’m going to do my best job here on the last name. It’s a beautiful Greek name. Yelistopolous. How did I do? Thank you.

John Gelastopoulos (00:25)
Very good.

Anthony Codispoti (00:27)
So John is the owner, president and CEO of Broken Yolk Cafe, a family owned restaurant chain serving breakfast, brunch and lunch. It started out as a single beachside spot in San Diego in 1979. The brand is now a multi-state franchise with more than 35 locations across California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and Texas. Guests love its scratch made dishes, large portions and the upbeat

brunch on the sunny side vibe. Under John’s guidance, Broken Yoke posts an average unit volume of about $2.7 million, one of the best numbers in its category. The cafe drew national attention on the travel channel show, Man vs. Food, and it continues to sign new franchise deals, including a recent four store agreement for North Dallas. John’s personal story is just as inspiring. He left Greece at 17.

worked his way up as a restaurant broker, then bought the original broken yoke in 1993. Today, he runs the company with his wife, Chris, and their two daughters. But before we get into all that good stuff, today’s episode is brought to you by my company, Adback Benefits Agency. Listen, if you run a business, you are likely stuck in the cycle of rising insurance premiums. You’re paying more, but your team is getting less. And many people can’t afford coverage at all.

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by $900 per employee per year. Results vary, but the consultation is free. See if you qualify today at addbackbenefits.com. All right, back to our guest today, the CEO of Broken Yolk Cafe, John. Thanks for making the time to share your story today.

John Gelastopoulos (02:41)
Thank you for inviting me. Thank you. Good to be here.

Anthony Codispoti (02:44)
So John, you arrived in the US from Greece at the tender age of 17. What were the circumstances that brought you here?

John Gelastopoulos (02:53)
I was 17 in Greece and ⁓ just finished high school. I had a relative in San Diego.

had a long time relative that came here in 1946 and he became a pilot, an Air Force pilot, and he brought some relatives and one relative brought the other and that’s how I came here in 1977. That’s it.

Anthony Codispoti (03:20)
Was there a

big Greek community in the area at the time?

John Gelastopoulos (03:24)
No, it was a smaller Greek community. I would say in San Diego, was about maybe 10,000 people, ⁓ know, Greeks that is. ⁓ We had one Greek church back then. Now we have three Greek churches. So ⁓ it’s increasing the population, the Greek population.

Anthony Codispoti (03:44)
And so what was your first restaurant experience?

John Gelastopoulos (03:47)
Well, I came here, I started going to school and I had to get a job and I started working the graveyard shift from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. being in the back of the house washing dishes. There was no experience. So that’s how I started and then I moved on to the hotline up front.

Anthony Codispoti (04:11)
Okay. And in the intro, did we get it correct that you worked your way up as a restaurant broker?

John Gelastopoulos (04:18)
Yes, meantime I got married and then I became a restaurant broker and I started selling businesses and commercial properties. I was in the residential site for maybe about six months. I didn’t like that site. I’m a numbers kind of guy and that’s why I moved over to that site. And I’ve done that for about nine years.

It was tough, but for me, even though I didn’t make much, it was a very good school. I learned a lot about real estate, a lot about business.

Anthony Codispoti (05:05)
And obviously a lot about how to value restaurants and what goes into making them profitable, you know, is you’re looking at the books and kind of helping these deals close.

John Gelastopoulos (05:15)
was looking at P &Ls all the time. I was giving evaluations. learned how to evaluate a restaurant and helping people in that aspect.

Anthony Codispoti (05:26)
So how did you go from back of house and restaurants to front of house to then selling businesses? What’s sort of the the jump between working in the restaurants to selling?

John Gelastopoulos (05:36)
Well,

I ⁓ was working on those two jobs day and night, and I started family very early on.

I had my first child at 20 years old. And I was working in the morning and then in the afternoon. And I would work until 11, 12 p.m. I would never see the sun go down. And that’s why I thought maybe if I can get a normal job. You know, so I met the gentleman that was in real estate. ⁓

I like that and I like the real estate and I went into that and that’s how… But in real estate as you know, it’s commission only. So I had to keep a night job. So office in the morning, restaurant at night and it was go, go, go, non-stop. But meantime…

I always said that thirst for learning. So every time, if remember, I don’t know if you’re old enough, but in the early 80s, the seminars, how to make money in real estate, zero money down, et cetera. You’re laughing because you know what I’m talking about. So I would go to those, you know, to learn, you know, and what I’ve done there is those seminars.

They changed my mentality. I started to you know, because they are so positive. They come with so much energy, so much positive energy. And after a while, when you hear the same stuff over and over, it gets instilled in your head. know, and I am glad that I went to those seminars. And I’m going to tell you, back then…

I bought some of those books and cassettes, cassette tapes, and I would go home with some books and stuff. And my wife says, well, what is that? Well, I go, honey, we’re gonna become millionaires. She says, how much did you spend? I go, $800. says, how did you pay? I go, I put on a credit card. She says,

We don’t even have enough money to pay the rent and you buy books and cassette tapes and credit cards. You know Anthony, I’m going to tell you something. I’ve done it a couple of times. Of course he argued with me back then. He still argues today but in a different way. I’m glad I did it. I still have those books. I never opened them. Never really.

I still have them in a box in the garage somewhere up there collecting dust and every time we organize the garage she wants to throw them away. I go, don’t you dare. But she you never opened them. You know what? The fact that they are there, the fact that I went to those seminars, it’s a reminder of who that mentality made me to be. You know.

Anthony Codispoti (08:52)
I like that.

You know, and part of the reasons I’m smiling and laughing is because I remember seeing TV commercials as I was a kid. I was still young at that point. And ⁓ my father went to some of these seminars and came back with those books of the cassette tapes. And so I’ve got a visual in my head. Yeah. And so what’s one thing that you remember? Hey, this was my mindset before the seminars. And this was

John Gelastopoulos (09:08)
Thank

Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (09:21)
the change I saw after.

John Gelastopoulos (09:24)
Well, when I was a kid, I always wanted to do things. You’re Italian, I’m Greek. Now, I don’t know if you know this, but in the 60s, a lot of Greeks left Greece. A lot of Italians, Turks, Spaniards, they would all go to Germany. Why? Because Germany’s economy was booming. So I was left with grandma at the village.

And I was going to high school and ⁓ one day I saw this magazine with rolling stones and know all the hippies and stuff and I go wow you know I was amazed I go I want to be a rock and roll star so I wrote a letter to my father I go can you send me some money so can buy a guitar he says never mind the guitar you focus on your studies I of course I was disappointed to make a long story short

I found some wood and I managed to build the guitar. Of course the first guitar didn’t work out well, the second didn’t, but the third one did. And I built my own guitar at 14. So why I said that? Because I had that determination. You know, when I put something in my mind, I get it done.

So, and when I came here and I went to those seminars, the combination of the determination and the combination of the positive attitude, what a beautiful, you know, whatever you want to call it. So to me, this is what’s up.

Anthony Codispoti (11:08)
It

you blossom there. Yeah. And so that work ethic, that determination is you described it. Do you think that’s something that you were just born with? Is this something that like was instilled in you by your parents? Do you have siblings? Are they the same way?

John Gelastopoulos (11:28)
Well, you know, ⁓ my grandmother is the one who raised me and ⁓ back then ⁓ it was survival mode. We had no electricity and no indoor plumbing in house. ⁓ Six months out of the year, she was tending the garden and we had a couple of goats and some chickens and she would just… ⁓

Tent the garden and grow potatoes and tomatoes. And I remember she would take the tomatoes, wash them, slice them, and she would tell me, get up on top of the roof of the oven and sweep and lay.

the tomato slices for sun-dried tomatoes. I’m talking about 60 years ago. I was five and six years old. And now you go to a restaurant and says sun-dried tomatoes, et cetera, et cetera. We were doing it 60 years ago. So what I learned from grandma, she was always proactive.

Anthony Codispoti (12:29)
You’re the trendsetter.

John Gelastopoulos (12:39)
She was thinking for tomorrow. So ⁓ we had a bodega or a storage area and it had to be full with food because when the cold and the snow and the rain would come, was something different. Nobody would go out of the house. The snow was one meter, which is three feet high, maybe even higher. So it was a survival mode. So I learned that from grandma.

Anthony Codispoti (13:08)
What part of Greece are you from?

John Gelastopoulos (13:11)
I’m from northern Greece, not far from Mount Olympus. As matter of fact, right in front of our house, we can see right across Mount Olympus, which is at 10,000, almost 10,000 feet.

Anthony Codispoti (13:14)
Okay. Okay.

must have been a beautiful view. And that explains the snow. I think when people think of Greece, they think of the islands in the south, but…

John Gelastopoulos (13:35)
It’s a mud from an island.

Anthony Codispoti (13:36)
diverse geography there, right? So how did the opportunity to purchase the original broken yoke come about?

John Gelastopoulos (13:38)
Yeah.

So what happened is I was in real estate and I was working at night at the restaurant. I was tired of that life. Things were not going well.

And I was very active in working long hours, weekends in real estate, because you it only takes one leap to make one commission. And I came across Broken York. I was soliciting to get a listing to sell it. And I sat down and I talked to the owner. He wasn’t looking to sell, but you know, he invited me over so can talk to him. And I saw the hours and I go, wow.

I mean, I’m working till midnight. I never see the sun go down. I never see the kids. I never enjoy the family. I go, that would be a great business for me. So instead of trying to list the place, I made him an offer to buy. And he says, maybe. So basically I was going back and forth for a year and a

And finally, he got in trouble. There were some personal problems. And I got the phone call. And when I got the phone call…

I had no money. So the person that was in charge of the sale of the place, says to me, you need to come up with $45,000. That was in 93. Plus there’s a loan of $180,000. You need to take over. So I go, okay, when? He says by tomorrow morning I need the cashier’s check. I go, okay, I went home. My wife.

She says, well, what happened? You went to that meeting. I go, yes, we’re buying the restaurants. She says, okay, what’s the terms? go, 45,000 cash. She says, what are you going to find the money? I go, how many credit cards we have? Going back to the seminars, one of the seminars I attended, the guy that was giving the seminar, he mentioned something about credit and credit cards. And since then I was accumulating credit cards. Just, you know.

and increasing the limit. So, and here we are now. I have like maybe eight or 10 credit cards and I tell the wife, cash them all in. She says, are you crazy? I go, we need to that deal. To make a long story short, of course, after an argument with a wife, you know, usually I win. ⁓ I hope she’s not listening. ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (16:35)
Yeah. We’ll cut this part out so she doesn’t hear

it.

John Gelastopoulos (16:42)
I take the money and I go the next day to the office. I put it down, you know, and the guy gives me the keys. He gives me all the contact info, you know, and everything. And here I am. I’m in business. And I called the place was closed for three weeks. I call all the employees back. You know, they were glad to come back and clean the place. I ordered the food and we’re in business. Business was scarce. ⁓

There was not much happening. Now all of a sudden I’m sitting there thinking, what did I do?

And right in front of me on the little corner office by the store room, I had a Rolodex. I think we know what that is, right? ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (17:33)
Yeah, old style for people who are just listening.

He held up an old style Rolodex, physical one. Yep.

John Gelastopoulos (17:37)
I still

have it. And it’s right in front of me and I open it up and I go, this guy Dave, know, he had a wife and a couple of kids. go, why don’t I invite him to come over? And I tell him, yeah, he said, I know the broken yoke because he was here already for 14 years. And I invite him over. then I thinking, why can’t I call a bunch of other people? So I called 30 or 40 people.

So Anthony, the weekend comes and the place is full. I have three servers, they’re looking at me. Where do all these people come from? They do not know that this is all a comp, you know? So I go from table to table, I go, David, thank you for coming. I take the ticket, it in my pocket. To make a long story short, I’ve done it for a month and half, two months, same thing. And we created the momentum.

and the moment that ever started. There was no plan. This came out of desperation and it worked. It worked. I was telling the story in Las Vegas at a marketing conference, and I was one of the speakers and people, a couple hundred people, looking like, know, so there you go, people attract people.

Anthony Codispoti (19:03)
I love this story on so many levels, but I want to go back and sort of recap parts of it. So what was it about this business that you loved so much that you stayed in touch for a year and a half? Was it those hours? The hours. Okay.

John Gelastopoulos (19:16)
It was the hours. It was the hours.

Yes. You know, I mean, I could have a normal life. No more work until midnight.

Anthony Codispoti (19:25)
So you’re so convinced that this is the right business for you, in part because of the hours. Did you see the financials? Were you aware of what their sales were like?

John Gelastopoulos (19:34)
Yes, I did, but I always look at tomorrow. I look at the potential, what I can do.

Anthony Codispoti (19:44)
So when you agreed to the purchase terms, this was based more on what you thought you could do with it than what the business may have technically been worth.

John Gelastopoulos (19:44)
Yes.

I thought that, know, I can, based on the numbers that I’ve seen, I could break it even. And then of course, I was looking what I could do.

Anthony Codispoti (20:05)
and remind us back then what were interest rates like on the credit cards that you maxed out?

John Gelastopoulos (20:11)
⁓ back then in the eight, 10%.

Anthony Codispoti (20:16)
Okay, I mean, that’s a lot more reasonable than what it is today. So, okay, so you max out these credit cards, you get cash advances on all of them. So go ahead. Okay. And, ⁓ and so now you’re in business, the business had been closed for a few weeks because of the prior owners personal issues. So you call the employees back, but there’s no customers. It’s just, you know, it’s crickets in there. And so this is before the days of social media.

John Gelastopoulos (20:26)
Yeah, go ahead.

Anthony Codispoti (20:47)
You’re like, what can I do? You just picked up the phone and started dialing. You brought your friends, your colleagues, your contacts in. And when they would come in the first time, you picked up the check. You paid for it. And so that left this feeling of goodwill. You know, there’s feeling of reciprocity. Now they want to come back. They want to tell their friends about it. And so after doing this for several weeks, like now you’ve just got this forward momentum that never stopped.

John Gelastopoulos (21:14)
That’s That’s exactly right.

Anthony Codispoti (21:17)
And so how long did you have that first location before you had the idea to open the second one? Not the idea, but felt like you were in a position to do it.

John Gelastopoulos (21:27)
Well, in two years I opened my own, my second one. And in three years I was opening another one by myself in escrow. Again, at the same time, the original corporate store where I am right now, I’m buying the property next door to do an expansion from 300 square feet, I’m sorry, from 3000 square feet to 7000 square feet.

So things are happening. Go, go, go. My daughter is like almost 16 and a half years old. I just bought her a used car, a four-door used car. You know why? Because the two-door is considered sports car for a teenager and the insurance is higher. But anyways, so I would call her and tell her and back then we had the next telephones, know, the ones that, you know, the Motorola, the big ones, the fat ones. So.

Anthony Codispoti (22:13)
always practical.

John Gelastopoulos (22:23)
I would tell her, go to that other store and go ahead and count the money right after getting out of school at 2.30, go at 3 o’clock, we close at 3 o’clock and count the money, drop the money on the safe, do the credit cards, lock the door, put the alarm and come home. And she was like 16 and a half years old. I gave her a big responsibility. So anyways, and I go home one evening and my wife is pregnant with my son, with my third child. And I mean, I’m like…

I’m at the top of the world, things are happening, I’m going to start my own chain. And my wife says, what are doing? You’re driving our school crazy. You have your 16 and a half year old daughter running over there and closing the store every day after school, you know, and I’m ready to give birth to your son and everything. It’s like I was cutting. I was, I’m sorry, I was running the marathon and she tripped me.

Anthony Codispoti (23:22)
Hmm.

John Gelastopoulos (23:22)
And

guess what I did? Anthony, I listened to my wife. She said to me, you sell the store, the second store, you do not go through with the third location that you want to open. You back out. And we focus on expanding the corporate store to 7,000 square feet. And I listened to her. And I did.

Anthony Codispoti (23:48)
And how do you

feel about that decision today?

John Gelastopoulos (23:52)
I wonder sometimes how it would turn out, but I better not think. I’m okay. You know, I’m okay with that. So that was the plan. And then after we did our expansion to 7,000 square feet, business was something else. was only Dennis and I hop around. was a couple of mom and pop. We were it in San Diego. And being in San Diego, we’re about…

a mile and half from Sea World ⁓ over here, know, a mile away from the water and a lot of tourists summertime. It was busy, busy, busy. It was nonstop. And people start asking us, do you franchise? Do you franchise? And I’m thinking, you know what, leave me alone. you know, I mean, finally, after all these years, I got something over here. ⁓ The so-called American dream, right? You know, the wife who…

a white picket fence and 2.4 kids and a dog. I don’t know how the 2.4 come from, but that’s the way. So there you go. But people were persistent. And we started with one fellow and we opened the first location with a license agreement and then somebody else asked us,

Anthony Codispoti (24:54)
yeah. ⁓

You were doing better than the average. You had three kids.

John Gelastopoulos (25:20)
to open another one and the first fellow, you know, we turned that license agreement to a franchise agreement. He has eight locations right now. The second person opened two and then the third person now has six locations and so on. And here we are. ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (25:41)
So what year was it that you first started the

licensing and the franchising?

John Gelastopoulos (25:45)
In 07. In 07.

Anthony Codispoti (25:47)
Okay,

so 18 years ago roughly, or 19 years ago now.

John Gelastopoulos (25:54)
The franchising started in 2010.

Anthony Codispoti (26:00)
2010, okay. And so

present day, is there still just the one corporate location? And then how many franchise locations?

John Gelastopoulos (26:09)
There’s

one corporate location and 40 franchises.

Anthony Codispoti (26:13)
Right. And so there’s a lot of breakfast places out there, but at two point seven million dollars average per unit, you guys are doing something different. What’s going on there?

John Gelastopoulos (26:27)
You know, let me share something with you.

We’re in the people business. When I was a business broker,

young and energy, know, sell, sell, sell. I want to sell the gentleman walked in. He was a mature gentleman and he saw how anxious I was to sell him something. And he said to me, he said, young man, you’re going the wrong way about it.

trying to comprehend and understand what is he talking about? There was a big question mark in my face. And of course he noticed it and he said, let me tell you something. If you do the right thing, the money will come. Since then I’ve been practicing that same thing. And that’s what I tell my kids, my employees, my friends.

You gotta do the right thing. A lot of people, they are obsessed. Money, money, money, money. That’s a given. You don’t need to say that word. That’s my attitude. We’re in the people business. You take care of the people and the money will come all on its own. So anybody can give you two eggs. It’s how they give them to you. We have to be guest-centric, guest-focused. Focus on the guest, no matter what it takes.

Anthony Codispoti (27:52)
Mm-hmm.

So talk about the guest experience. I’ve not had the privilege to visit one of your locations before. What is my experience like?

John Gelastopoulos (28:13)
Well, when Dave walks in, hi Dave, how are you? How’s the wife? How’s the kids? You know, so we know people in a personal way. I have a server here that’s been with me for 32 years. I have another one for 22 years. When I hired her, two months later.

You know, we trained her out of wings and stuff and she says to me, John, I’m leaving, I’m pregnant. I’m thinking, ⁓ my goodness, I just wasted two months with her and everything and now she’s leaving. You know something, Anthony, she came back six weeks later after she had the baby and she’s still here. She’s still here. know, so we’re in the people business. I’m very fortunate to be surrounded by good people.

I’ve worked in places like the Sheraton and other hotels. And you know what? In some places I felt I was a number. I was a number. The executive chef would come in. He wouldn’t even look at us. He wouldn’t even say good morning or anything like that. He wouldn’t know our name. But again, I worked in other places. I worked with a gentleman. His name is John Borg. He’s in the late 80s right now, mid 80s.

and I went to his birthday party last month. ⁓ So there you go. It’s all in the people business. You see, I gave you the John Borg that I went to his birthday party and then I gave you the executive chef. I don’t want to mention his name, you know, but the two extremes, you know, all in the people business. want to feel, we all want to feel good.

So we need to make our people feel good so we can feel good.

Anthony Codispoti (30:10)
It sounds like you had great teachers at opposite ends of the spectrum. You had one person showing you this is how it’s done. And you had somebody else showing you this is how not to do it. Because you didn’t feel good in that experience. You felt good in this other experience over here. You’re like, that’s the world that I want to recreate.

John Gelastopoulos (30:30)
That’s right. That’s exactly right.

Anthony Codispoti (30:33)
And so what does it feel like to be an employee of yours? What’s the experience like for them?

John Gelastopoulos (30:41)
⁓ I don’t consider them employees. mean, now that I term as teammates, I mean, I, you know, with my corporate team over here, I have my regular weekly meetings and I meet with them ⁓ one-on-one and, you know, I always tell them, I want to hear exactly how you feel, you know, how you feel working here, how you get along with everybody. I want to know, you know.

and to avoid any issues. know, we live in a world of all kinds of things can happen. So we need to be proactive, you know. So we, as employers, have a big responsibility. We need to take care of our people. And I believe in that because I was an employer one time. And I just told you how I felt when that gentleman would walk in the kitchen at the big hotel.

wouldn’t even say good morning, he wouldn’t even look at us, he didn’t know our name. So how do you think I felt? I mean, I feel good about myself. To me, I’m somebody, and I think that everybody should feel the same way.

Anthony Codispoti (31:54)
So you treat your employees that way and they in turn are treating the customers that way. And so it reduces your staff turnover and it keeps your customers coming back. So aside from the people side of things, what are some operational practices that have been instrumental in you really driving those high unit economics?

John Gelastopoulos (32:06)
exactly right.

Well, we have, I’m going to tell you, I have this lady that she started as an assistant of mine and she was doing so well and she worked herself up to be director of management. So she trains everybody.

and she’s so good. know, so we give our franchises the tools that she creates and of course we as a team approve for them to get better and better and better.

Anthony Codispoti (33:01)
Now, let’s talk a little bit more about the franchise opportunity. What are the geographies that you guys are looking for? What do you look for in a franchisee themselves?

John Gelastopoulos (33:15)
Well, we look for somebody who’s sharp and somebody who wants to work. Our fees are minimal. I keep the fees lower than the industry. Royalty is 4%, our market is 1%. Our franchise fees $35,000.

per store. And now we also have an incentive for someone who will sign an ADA, an area developing agreement, three or four stores, they will get a 50 % discount, basically 2 % versus 4 % for every single unit that they open for the next two years for each restaurant. So that’s something.

Anthony Codispoti (34:04)
Yeah. And so ⁓ what are you looking for in terms of the personalities? You’re saying they’re sharp, they want to work. But what else?

John Gelastopoulos (34:12)
Someone

who’s willing to work, someone, you know, and of course the positive attitude, you know. I mean, when I meet people.

We have a discovery day. Basically, they discover about us and we discover about them and we have a meeting. And I had this group that came, husband and wife, with his grandfather, who was a franchisee of Peter Piper and Pizza, 13 locations, and his father and his in-laws.

and was me, my wife, was my VP of franchise development and my daughter. And I was asked the question and they said, well, we went to this other franchise concept and we asked them what they can do for us. And the gentleman said, well, I’m going to give you the book and I’m going to go every Saturday to my mailbox and pick up the check.

So they turned around to me and they said, well, what are you going to do for us? We’ll sign up with you.

At that moment, I said, I’m going to hold your hand until you learn how to walk.

That was it. Next day they signed and now they have 10 stores.

Anthony Codispoti (35:37)
Wow. Is that your biggest franchisee?

John Gelastopoulos (35:41)
Yes.

Anthony Codispoti (35:43)
What are some of the other geographies that you would like to grow into?

John Gelastopoulos (35:47)
I like Texas. It’s more business friendly.

Anthony Codispoti (35:53)
A lot of

people are saying that, especially people who have tasted California.

John Gelastopoulos (35:57)
Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (36:00)
Yeah. Any plans for additional corporate locations?

John Gelastopoulos (36:08)
⁓ If something comes up, I’m open. I never like to say no.

Anthony Codispoti (36:18)
⁓ You were mentioning ⁓ before we started recording an entrepreneurship class at San Diego State University that you had the opportunity to speak at. Tell me what that experience was like for you.

John Gelastopoulos (36:30)
I was amazed by the attention those kids were paying to me. when the hour was up and ⁓

person in charge said, John, we have to take it outside in the home because there’s another recession going on after this. And I walked outside and they were all lined up. They were shaking my hand and taking selfies. I mean, wow, wow. It was like, it’s nice to see the youth that they have so much interest in being entrepreneurs. So that’s great.

Anthony Codispoti (37:08)
What is it about your story that you think they found so enthralling?

John Gelastopoulos (37:12)
I think it’s from zero to somewhere. That’s what it is. I’m the same way. I I love to success stories like, I give you an example, and I’m not trying to be partial with the Greeks. The owner of the San Diego, well, now it’s Los Angeles Chargers, okay? It was the San Diego Chargers before, Alex Panos. I mean, he was a baker for his father.

was a beggar for his father. I bought his book, I read the book, I met the man, I congratulated him, and he was so humble. He passed away at 94 a couple of years ago. He was so humble. This is what I love about, you know. I mean, he is a billionaire, and you see this man and what he has done, and being so humble, this is very touching.

Anthony Codispoti (38:05)
The phrase ⁓ brunch on the sunny side really encapsulates the cafes upbeat culture. think in talking with you in braces, what you are all about. But we all you know, we go through bumps in the road. How do you stay up when you’re just you’re having a bad day or a bad week or a bad streak?

John Gelastopoulos (38:31)
It’s a, you know what, ⁓ being fortunate having the right team.

with Connor being the Director of Marketing and he’s very nice emails, very positive, very encouraging. People can feel that sunny side. Also, I have this girl that’s been with me, I told you earlier, 32 years and she’s part server but part also auditor and she travels to all the locations. She visits three locations a week, maybe even four.

And I can tell you that Sunnyside, it’s her. Because of that positive attitude, the fact that people love her and when they see her, you know, because I can see, because I travel with her sometimes, you know, and I see the smile in their face when they see her. And I go, wow, I think we need to call her Sunnyside.

Maybe I need to talk to Connor about that.

Anthony Codispoti (39:41)
that. So ⁓ we’ve, you know, talked a little bit about your wife. She’s the CFO. You got two daughters in the business, one who leads culinary and another who leads franchise support. I’m going to guess just, you know, from my own experiences, having talked with other business owners that this is mostly a blessing. But sometimes, you know, the the work family dynamic can get a little bit strange. What’s what’s the experience like for you and your family?

John Gelastopoulos (40:11)
When I started here, ⁓ we had issues. The first few months, people would come to me and say, John, I want to have the weekend off. And I say, well, it’s busy on the weekend. I cannot give you the weekend off. And then they go to my wife and say, can I have the weekend off? And my wife would give him the weekend off. the Saturday comes and I go, why are we short? your wife gave a day off to that person. I go, what?

You know what? I sat down and I said, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to take over the operations and you’re going to take over the books. So we split it. So you know what? And we’re here 33 years later together. Once in a while, you know, puts her nose where she doesn’t belong, but it’s okay. Oh no, never.

Anthony Codispoti (41:02)
But you never do that, right?

And how about having your daughters work in the business? Yeah.

John Gelastopoulos (41:09)
They’re very good. They might

not agree, but they know that at the end the decision has to be made and I got to make that decision. They’re very good at it.

Anthony Codispoti (41:22)
Let’s talk about ⁓ national media attention. Guys were on man versus food. How did that affect? How did it happen? And then how did it affect the business’s trajectory?

John Gelastopoulos (41:34)
They

contacted us because we had a big omelet, a 12-egg omelet. If you eat it in one hour, you get it for free. If not, then you pay full price. It was like 19, I mean, we’re talking about 20 years ago.

25 years ago. So anyway, so that’s how they found out that ⁓ they came here and they did that. We went nationwide and ⁓ it was a good boost in our business. And again, being San Diego, being a tourist city, we would get a lot of people to say, we saw you on that show. And I would get that a lot from a lot of people.

Anthony Codispoti (42:19)
So when you’re taking a new franchisee by the hand until they learn to walk, are you still teaching them what you did to get your business going? you tell them to pull out their Rolodex and start making phone calls?

John Gelastopoulos (42:35)
I don’t think they have a lot of text, but I share my stories with them. They like to hear those stories. These are true stories. I want to share another story with you. When I was in real estate, I was fairly new in real estate in the mid-80s.

and ⁓ I was still living in a two-bedroom apartment. My rent was $385 and this Asian lady came to me. She was at least 20 years older than me. She was a server at a Chinese restaurant and she wanted to buy a restaurant that I had listed. It was closed and she made an offer, know, fully equipped and everything and we had it in escrow.

My commission from that sale being the listing and the selling agent, it was $4,500. We’re talking about in $85,000. And my rent was $385,000. Basically, that commission would pay the rent for a full year. And now I’m thinking this lady has no experience. She’s a server. She’s going to lose her money.

So I call her, her American name was Annie. I go, Annie, you need to come to the office. Is something wrong? Something wrong? No, no, I’m just coming to the office. She comes in, she’s right across from me. She says, what’s going on? I mean, her English was not that great, not that mine was any better, but I go, I don’t think you should buy the restaurant. But she says, why, why? Something wrong? No, no, nothing wrong, because I don’t want to see you lose your money.

She realized this wasn’t talking, this was talking. And listen to what she said, she said, John, don’t worry, if I fall down, I pretend I’m looking for something, I get up and walk again.

Anthony Codispoti (44:29)
Hmm.

John Gelastopoulos (44:49)
Anthony, the lady still owns the restaurant. Can you believe this? Her nephew’s running it now when I go there I ask because she’s like in her mid-80s. Isn’t that something? You know how many times I told that story? Because people are afraid of doing things. That’s what’s holding back. And that’s my experience.

Anthony Codispoti (44:53)
Hot dog.

John Gelastopoulos (45:17)
It’s okay. If I fall down, I pretend I’m looking for something and I get up and walk again. What a beautiful thing.

Anthony Codispoti (45:24)
So do

you think she, Annie, do you think she moved forward because she had no fear or she had fear and she did it anyways?

John Gelastopoulos (45:35)
I she had fear, but she did anyways. Someone not long ago asked me, John, are you ever afraid? I didn’t know very close to them, and I told them in a very soft way, I’m afraid right now.

Being afraid, it’s okay. It keeps us on our toes. If we have no fear at all, does that equate to maybe arrogance? Do you know what I’m talking about? Not in a bad way. But I think fear keeps us in our toes, which is very important.

Anthony Codispoti (46:18)
Why do you think it keeps some of us on our toes and it keeps others paralyzed? What’s the difference?

John Gelastopoulos (46:27)
I wouldn’t know because I never felt the other way.

Anthony Codispoti (46:33)
Fair

enough. I want to go back to the story though, because the part that we kind of glossed over was you tried to talk yourself out of a very healthy commission. And people didn’t see it, but you said it wasn’t your brain talking. You you were pointing to your head. It was, and you pointed to your chest, it was your heart that was speaking there. I think that says a lot.

John Gelastopoulos (46:41)
Yes, yes, yes.

Well.

you know, how we grew up. I some people call it DNA or you know, whatever. I cannot be a person that, know, pretentious person, you know, I can’t. Sometimes my wife says to me, don’t say these things, you’re too direct. I go, that’s me. You cannot change me now, you know.

Anthony Codispoti (47:25)
Yeah. So in my experience, John, every success story, there’s a behind it, there’s a chapter that almost broke someone. Can you share with our listeners a serious challenge that you went through and how you got through that, whether it was personal or professional?

John Gelastopoulos (47:43)
Well, before Broken York, a year before, in 92, in the middle of summer, very hot and humid in San Diego, my grandmother that raised me in Greece passed away at 102.

And that was a shock to me. I was in real estate, partially, as I told you, and I had a bunch of escrow and I was planning to take the family for the trip and those escrow fell through. And on top of that, all these things happened within like two, three week period. And the third thing that happened is our house got robbed.

And I’m out on a curb with only my shorts on, the Mark and Roll shorts. You remember the Mark and Roll shorts? Yeah, Hot and humid and my life comes over. Just come on, you’ll be okay. She put me inside, she gave me some ice tea. I’m getting emotional now. It was the, I think, the lowest part of my life.

Anthony Codispoti (48:44)
Real short shorts, yep.

John Gelastopoulos (49:06)
But there’s always another day and we need to just keep going. And like Annie said, if I fall down, I get up and walk again. So that’s what I’m

Anthony Codispoti (49:22)
Had you met

Annie by that point?

Like I wonder if her words of wisdom were somewhere inside of your brain cells before then.

John Gelastopoulos (49:28)
I don’t know.

Annie happened in 85 and all these events for me happened in 92. Yes.

Anthony Codispoti (49:41)
Do you remember, did you recall her words of wisdom as you were going through the darkest depths of that? Yeah.

John Gelastopoulos (49:48)
I couldn’t remember

if I did, I think what kept me going is that positive attitude that let’s say is from Annie, from other people that I met, from the seminars, positive go, go, ⁓

I’m the kind of a person that sometimes they come to me with a problem and they say, ⁓ it cannot happen. And I go, remember what the Mexicans say, si se puede. Yes, it’s possible. So let’s find a solution, no matter what it is. You know, so I think when that happens and you find a solution, you become stronger right up here.

and the next time there’s a problem then you keep looking for that solution and this becomes stronger and stronger and stronger but it starts from somewhere.

Anthony Codispoti (50:43)
Hmm. It also sounds like your wife was a point of strength during this right coming out to the curb is going to be okay.

John Gelastopoulos (50:51)
She’s always behind me.

Anthony Codispoti (50:56)
She sounds like a good woman. What’s her name?

John Gelastopoulos (50:59)
name is Chrisula.

Anthony Codispoti (51:01)
That’s beautiful. John, what is your superpower?

John Gelastopoulos (51:11)
Positive energy, solution-based. Always looking up. One time I read a license plate. I went to a seminar. And this person had a license plate. Number two, UP. Number two, B. The end. Too up to be down.

I’m talking about 40 years ago. You know, absolutely. Those are the drivers.

Anthony Codispoti (51:43)
Yeah, you remember that.

Is there anything?

John Gelastopoulos (51:52)
Everything, I’m Greek but I’m not a philosopher, everything is a state of mind. You are who you think you are.

If you think you’re nobody, then you’re nobody. But if you think you’re somebody, you are somebody. You have to think good about yourself.

Anthony Codispoti (52:14)
Is there anything that you do on a daily basis that helps to reinforce or to build this positive mindset?

John Gelastopoulos (52:27)
Well, I’m a people person. I love coming to the restaurant saying hi. I mean, I walk through the back door. The first person I say good morning is the discussion. You know, he is very important to me, you know, and of course everybody else. And then I walk my way to the dining room and I come to the office and. ⁓

daily what I do.

other than when I’m traveling. I like to be around people, around my customers. Sometimes I have my meeting downstairs with a big private room and I might see a customer like Mike, he’s like in his eighties and he waves and I go, come on. And he comes over and he shakes my hand, he gives me a hug and my people say, this customer is hugging you? Well, after 30 years, just like, I take care of him. So it’s nice to be recognized by him.

You know, it’s a good feeling. Obviously, she feels good coming in here. And I feel good at the same time. We’re in the making people feel good business. This is what it’s all about. We want to feel good when we work, when we visit, with our family, with our friends, with everybody.

Because right now we live in a negative world. Look at what’s happening out there. And I don’t, having said that, I was tempted to go into politics, but I better not. You know, I have…

Anthony Codispoti (54:11)
That’ll

change that positive mindset real fast. ⁓

John Gelastopoulos (54:14)
I have, I’m going to say only one thing, and if you want you can edit that later. We live close to the water, our restaurant, and we have a height limit of 30 feet. So I have a pole, a flag pole, which is 30 feet. I wanted to be higher, but they wouldn’t allow me, the city wouldn’t allow me. So I have a flag, I have the American flag and I…

I change it because it gets ripped and stuff every six months. My girl over here, she was taking a video and I took the video and I posted it and I got so many positive responses. It was a good thing. A cousin of mine, said to me in Greece, said, you love America? said, America is the one who made me.

Of course I love Greece, but I love America. I live here. I’ve been here 48 years. And sometimes I feel I’m more American than some other people. We need to appreciate where we live. This is a great country. Your ancestors came from Italy, mine came from Greece, and I came from Greece. Anyways, let’s stop there.

Anthony Codispoti (55:35)
Yeah,

fair enough. I appreciate that. Yeah. I’ve just got one more question for you. But before I ask it, I want to do three quick things. First of all, some contact information. If you want to get in touch with John the company. So their website is the broken yolk cafe.com. Make sure you put the word the at the beginning, the broken yolk cafe.com. And are you sure you want me to do this? You want me to give out your phone number?

John Gelastopoulos (56:03)
I have no problem. know, calls I get every day, I have no problem. I’m open. Absolutely. Yes, I’ve had that for only five years. Yes.

Anthony Codispoti (56:04)
Okay.

All right, here we go. This is your personal number. This rings. Okay. Okay, here we go.

858-232-0699. We’ll have it in the show notes, but I’ll say it again. 858-232-0699. And if you want to email him, John, G-E-L-A-S at gmail.com. John.

G-E-L-A-S at gmail.com. And again, we’ll have that in the show notes for folks if you missed it. Also, if you are enjoying the show today, please take a moment to subscribe wherever you’re listening. It sends a signal that helps others discover our podcast. So thank you for taking a quick moment to do that right now. And as a reminder, if you want to get more restaurant employees access to therapists, doctors, and prescription meds that, as paradoxical as it seems,

actually increases your company’s net profits, reach out to us at addbackbenefits.com. So last question for you, John, a year from now, what is one very specific thing that you hope to be celebrating?

John Gelastopoulos (57:18)
I hope my son gets married. ⁓ Or we can open five stores. Yes. I will send this to my son so he can see.

Anthony Codispoti (57:24)
Both. Why not, huh?

That’s what would make your

dad’s heart full a year from now. Well, John, ⁓ CEO of Broken Yo Cafe, I wanna be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate you being here.

John Gelastopoulos (57:49)
Anthony, thank you, was a pleasure. Thank you very much.

Anthony Codispoti (57:51)
Folks,

that is a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us. And if one thing stood out, put that into action today.