Staffmark Group

• Led preparations for unclaimed property audit, saving the company over $100,000.
• Journalized and booked over 500 Million in cash transactions per month.
• Reconciled key accounts to ensure accuracy and compliance.

Senior Accountant

I love playing with data!

Google Certified Data Analyst

Order Up Profits

Founder

Pinnacle Biologics, Inc.

Specialist

You want to get your groove back, right?   That feeling that you really enjoy walking in the door of your restaurant, that you want to rush through your opening activities so that you can start welcoming guests for lunch ASAP?  I'm here to help you get that back.

Why?  It all comes down to a dollar.   

When I was 12 years old my parents sold their restaurant for a dollar.  Why, because it was pushing them into bankruptcy and it was the only way they could get out from under it all.  

Fast forward 25 years and I realized why.  I was sitting in an accounting class and realized that my parents didn't get the business side of running a restaurant.  They didn't know all the stuff I was learning in business school.

Today I focus on ensuring that my clients are on sound financial footing (and do not have to sell their restaurant for $1!) by providing accounting services strictly to restaurants.  That includes bookkeeping, financial statement preparation and review, and payroll services.  For our just the right client (you, perhaps?) we even throw in cost and profit center analysis.   

Just imagine the stress of having to get payroll done, A/P out the door, and knowing there is enough money to pay for those things, and yourself!  That is the service I offer my clients. 

Shoot me a DM.  

I’ll send you a free report on how to close the three biggest holes I find on most P&Ls.  

Then you can get that feeling back that has been slowly slipping away.

Tim O'Rourke 🧮

Most restaurants rely on heroics. That’s why they break.
Chef calls out—everything collapses.
Staff turns over—culture disappears.
Owner burns out—nothing changes.

After 33 years in the kitchen, I’ve seen it all.
I’ve run high-volume operations, trained green teams into machines, and led groups through chaos and culture collapse.
And here’s what I know:

Culture eats talent for breakfast.
Systems beat talent when talent doesn’t have systems.

Today, I help restaurant leaders build kitchens that don’t rely on superheroes.
I work with chefs and operators to:

→ Define their way of doing business
→ Build leadership systems that teach it
→ Create operations that run consistently—even when they’re not there

It’s not theory. It’s not fluff.
One client cut turnover by 60% and grew profit by 15% in 90 days.

If your team is talented but inconsistent…
If your culture changes depending on who’s in charge…
If your restaurant falls apart when one person is out…

Let’s talk.

On the CULINARY MECHANIC podcast, I host candid conversations with hospitality's most innovative leaders. From kitchen culture to tech innovations, we blend battle-tested wisdom with modern insights that challenge 'the way it's always been done.' It's where restaurant wisdom meets real systems that work.

🎙️ Host: CULINARY MECHANIC
📩 DM me or visit culinarymechanic.com

Simon Zatyrka 🔥🥄

Most Executive Chefs Never Planned to Lead 50 People

I watched a 28-year-old sous chef get promoted to Exec last month. Best sauté cook I'd seen in years. Could run circles around anyone on the line.

Six weeks later? Half his team was updating resumes.

Here's the brutal truth nobody tells you: Being great at your job is exactly why you'll fail at the next one.



That sous chef? He got promoted because he could cook. Not because he could lead. Nobody taught him the difference between managing tickets and managing people.

So he managed the only way he knew how—the way he was managed. Through fear. Through pressure. Through "shut up and cook."

**The erosion happens fast:**

Week 1: Natural talent carries them. Energy is high.

Week 3: First blow-up. "Why can't they just do their jobs?"

Week 6: Best line cook quits. "I don't get paid enough for this."

Week 8: Labor hits 46%. Food cost creeps to 34%.

Week 12: Owner's asking what happened to their "rockstar."

I tracked 23 chef promotions over 18 months:
• 78% had zero leadership training before promotion
• Average time to first resignation: 47 days
• Total turnover cost in first year: $67,000+

Meanwhile, the 5 who got actual leadership development?
• 85% staff retention after one year
• Labor running 4 points lower
• Actually home before midnight

**Here's what they weren't taught (but should have been):**

Respect isn't automatic with a title. It's earned through consistency, not screaming.

Communication isn't barking orders. It's explaining the why behind the what.

Pressure reveals character. If yours is built on "I survived it, so should you," you're already losing.

Your best cook doesn't need another cook above them. They need someone who can teach them to think beyond their station.

That 28-year-old sous chef? He's now working at a chain restaurant. Not because he couldn't cook. Because nobody taught him that leadership isn't about being the best cook in the room.

It's about making everyone else better.

**The real tragedy?** 

We keep promoting our best workers into roles they're not prepared for, then blame them when they fail.

Your next sous chef doesn't need to be your best cook. They need to be your most teachable leader.

What leadership skill do you wish someone had taught you before your first management role?

I help chefs build their leadership skills so they can develop their people and deliver their financial results without forgetting they have a life outside of the kitchen | Bacon Addict | Podcaster

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I watched one of my chefs cry in the walk-in.



Not because I yelled. 

Not because service crashed. 

But because she finally understood what she was capable of.

Three years before, she was a prep cook who could cook and produce, but didn't think more was possible. 

I witnessed her run a 500-cover service while I stood in the corner doing nothing.

Here's what hit her:

She wasn't just cooking anymore. 

She was teaching. 

Leading. 

Building other cooks the way I'd helped to build her.

>>The prep cook she trained? Now teaching the new guy proper knife cuts.
>>The grill cook she mentored? Running specials better than I ever did.
>>The dishwasher she encouraged? Just asked about culinary school.


That's when it clicked for her. 

The tears weren't weakness. 

They were recognition.

"I never thought I'd be the person others looked up to."

But here's the brutal truth about mentorship:

You already ARE that person. Right now. Today.

• That new hire watching how you handle the rush? You're teaching them resilience.
• That burned-out cook seeing you show up early? You're modeling dedication.
• That nervous extern afraid to ask questions? Your patience changes their trajectory.

You don't need a title to be a mentor.
You don't need permission to lead.
You don't need to be perfect to impact lives.

You just need to realize that someone, somewhere, is watching you and thinking: "If they can do it, maybe I can too."

The moment you see what you're truly capable of - not just in the kitchen, but in lifting others - everything changes.

That chef gets it now. 


After that day she had the opportunity to open her own bakery.


She's not just making food. She's making futures.

And the beautiful part?


She was doing it all along.

She just finally saw it.

What impact are you having that you haven't noticed yet?



P.S. she's killing it at the bakery.


P.P.S. repost this for someone you know that needs to realize the impact they have on others ♻️

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