Transcript of The Attorney CEO: How I’m Saving A 54-Year-Old Legacy Brand | Ep. 307 with Mina Haque CEO of Tony Roma

I'm excited to be with you here today, Mohaimina Hawk. You were just at Davos in Switzerland. I was also there, and I'm sad that I didn't get to listen to your panel at the Female Quotient. I've heard rave reviews, and I love the Female Quotient. They always have incredible people. We'll talk about that in a second. But first, for the people that may not know, you I have a very interesting background being an attorney with your own practice entrepreneur to then going into the corporate world as CEO of Tony Roma's. A lot of times, the people that we talk to are doing the opposite direction. So I love to understand what carried over it from being an entrepreneur and being an attorney into your current role.

I'm a firm believer of transferable skills. And being an entrepreneur, it doesn't come with any guidelines, but it trains you very well because you need to be in a problem-solving mode. You need to create, you need to build. Being an entrepreneur gave me the best training for now coming into the corporate world, running Tony Romas, and leading the transformation of this 54-year-old brand.

I mean, that's a 54 years. Most companies don't last five or even two. So what is that like coming the outside into what I guess you could call a legacy organization?

Firstly, it's an enormous privilege running a 54-year-old brand because we are living in a time when we see companies are rising at a very fast pace, but we don't see the companies building a legacy. So being part of a company that have been around for so long, went through so many different economic climate and still being able to stand tall and strong, not only in the United States, but across five continents. It is an enormous privilege, and I definitely count my blessings every day to lead the transformation. And coming into this brand, I think my task is to build that bridge, to share our story, our legacy, what we are known for. We have been known for our ribs for over 54 years. I know there are many market actors now who do serve ribs, but Tony Romus has been a leader, and being able to continue that legacy and share with customers worldwide, again, it's an enormous privilege. I am repeating myself by saying privilege so many times, but That is the strength of a 54-year-old brand. And there are just so many lessons you can just take from internally. What happened, what you can do better.

I really like that process, building on what we have and making sure that it's here for the next 54 years as well.

So when you looked at the first 90 days, you coming into this organization, and I imagine most companies, it's good many times to bring somebody from the outside in because you have a totally different perspective and you just see things differently. When you come in here and you know that it's a known brand, it's been around for a long time. However, maybe not everyone remembers it because maybe they moved on to something else. Or it's a younger generation, maybe they haven't gone out to eat. How do you look at keeping the original theme or keeping maybe what made it amazing before at the same time, bringing it up to speed to 2026?

When I first came in, I divided this whole issue into two parts. One is internally, what we have to do, where we need to pay more attention, how we can streamline and maximize our efficiency, and externally, being aware that this is a brand that people associate with nostalgia. When I was in Davos last year, many leaders who came to me and who stated, Do you know I went to Tony Wellness for my first date, so just hearing from the movers and shakers and decision-makers sharing their memories of Tony Wellness, it validates that you need to keep on serving the same product and be able to give people the same type of environment. At the same time, that doesn't mean that you need to keep the restaurant at 10,000 square feet as they remember. It can be 3,000 square feet now because the reality of economics is different. There are many revenue verticals. In restaurants, you don't only generate revenue by sit down dining anymore. Delivery has been a dominator, especially post-COVID. So making sure that you modernize the brand at the same time maintain your core identity.

I could see that being almost a challenge and a gift at the same time? Because I think when you come into something, you want to make a mark, right? Everyone wants to have almost a legacy in the place. I want to be remembered here for doing this. Did you look it that way in terms of in 50 years from now, you're most likely not still going to be there. Do you want to be remembered at Tony Romus for doing something, or is it more of I want to be remembered just overall for something not just specific to the company?

Firstly, that's a very good question. If I think of the brand's legacy or my particular contribution, I, of course, want to be remembered as someone who turned around the company at an inflection point and positioned it for growth and made it a resilient brand. We hear about the term resilient, resilient economy, resilient brand. That was a recurring theme this time in the World Economic Forum as well. And that is actually a very important discussion. We see a lot of emerging brands that come up because they went viral on social media. The success happens overnight. And then what? So when I think of Tony Roma's, I don't think of it as a short term growth. The company have been around for a very long time. There are many people before me who put in their effort, time, and energy. My work is to build on that and make sure we remain the resilient brand that we have been known for. We have had our share of challenges, but we definitely bounce back from it. And most of the brands these days, I feel the growth is fast, the emergence happened pretty fast, and thanks to technology, it's possible.

But building a resilient brand is not easy. So when it comes to my legacy and the brand's legacy, I would like Tony Ramis to be known as one of the most resilient brand.

You brought up something very interesting. It's this TikTok amplification of things where you could be... I'm just saying TikTok because it seems like the virality is greater than most social, where a restaurant can be on there, and all of a sudden, everyone goes, but I wonder how long that does last. Then they go to the next thing and the next thing. But at the same time, nostalgia, the '90s is in now. I think back to, I was not cool in the '90s, but now everyone's doing things that I was doing that I was not cool, now I would be cool. So maybe I was born at the wrong point of life. But when you look at combining the marketing of social media with also nostalgia, are you seeing a way to maybe combine all these things to reach a younger demographic?

Absolutely. Technology makes it easier now, right? For marketing, especially, you can be very creative in-house. You don't need a big splashy television ad anymore because social media allows you to connect with Gen Zs and millennials. And those are the type of interactions that actually Gen Zs and millennialss prefer. You just mentioned about the '90s. Maybe there were things or songs that we like at the time, which we're hearing again. I hear my teenager scroll down the videos. I'm like, wait a minute, how do you know that? That's something from the '90s or the late '80s. It's that revival, right? And I think social media give us that opportunity. Similarly, I want Tony Roma to bring in the Gen Zs and millennials to try our ribs, what we were famous for, and be able to give them a product that was enjoyed for so long that they can also enjoy and spread the word about.

I am shocked when I hear these songs, by the way, it does excite me. I'm like, Oh, my gosh. I forgot about that song. I need to go to Spotify and listen to that song. I used to work in the franchise world for a franchisor doing consulting, and I remembered the challenges and the great parts of working with a lot of these owners and just seeing their companies grow. It was so exciting to be in that. I did that for a few years. I know you're also looking to expand out the franchising of Tony Roma's. How do you see this not only expanding the fact that you having an entrepreneurial background, you're giving the chance to people to become business owners themselves?

Firstly, when it comes to franchising, many fear that it's a one-size-fit all, right? Whether there is a barrier to entry due to cost or due to maintaining the brand standards. It's very regulated and it's also structured in a way we also want to be, from a franchisor point of view, maintain the brand consistency. Now, if I put my entrepreneur hat on, I don't see this as a one-size fiddle, especially for Tony Ramsey. I try to understand the market. I try to sit down with the franchise partners and see, Okay, where can we save the cost so that we can redirect it to a revenue-generating department. For equipment, when I first came in and I took over, I saw the list of equipments my predecessors used to mandate the franchise partners. I have identified opportunities of many cost savings because some of those equipments were perhaps overlapping, some of them were redundant. So designing a system that actually sets franchises for success, I think that's extremely important. The goal used to be much more about designing a system that everyone will adopt, right? It's take it or leave it. I don't think we can survive in a world now, even in franchising, that could be take it or leave it.

We need to pivot. We need to adapt, we need to make sure our franchise partners in this specific market that they're operating, they can be successful.

I can appreciate that. Remembering what I used to have to deal with, and I can super appreciate that approach. Let's go to Davos, the World Economic Forum. I had such an amazing experience there. I'm still trying to process everything. I told somebody I could have made a reality TV show about so many things happened from the place we stayed, 65 people were in. I mean, it was wild. It was such an incredibly amazing and interesting experience. I want to know about the panel that you were on at Female Quoci and this. I think you said it was neuroelasticity, and I might be saying it incorrectly.

So the panel was actually called Change as a Capitalist for Growth, because Oftentimes, we are very nervous about changes. We are apprehensive, whether it's an organizational change, whether it's a change in our personal life. What I did for the panel, I brought in the concept of neuroplasticity. It's a concept, it's the ability of our brain to wire and rewire information and to learn. So this is not something you would expect a lawyer or a CEO to talk about. This is, of course, not within my expertise, something you would expect a neurologist or someone who is an expert on brain health. But the reason I specifically brought neuroplasticity into the conversation in this particular panel, because we need to understand the anatomy of our brain and what we can do when it comes to learning. Because sometimes we self-reject ourselves or we self-reject our idea because we want to be very comfortable of what we know. We don't want to challenge the learning, the pivoting. It always comes with some type of headache. So I brought in this whole concept into my discourse in this panel to say, Listen, the brain has the ability to learn, to rewire, their information, and it's called neuroplasticity.

We need to remember this when it comes to organizational design. We need to remember this when we're thinking about the work culture. Let's say we're bringing in changes for our employees. Can they adapt? What can we do to help? They may have the ability, their brain may have the ability, but sometimes work environment can impede that learning. So we need to make the work environment that's more adaptable. So that's an impetus on us, the leaders. How can we make an adaptable work environment? So these are some of the discussion that I have introduced, specifically, and I brought in science and took this holistic approach, drew from my own background, both legal and business to make this point.

I always love learning about neuroplasticity. And I wonder for you, was there something that you had to unlear when you transitioned from your law firm back to more of the corporate environment CEO? Was there something maybe you had to unlear or maybe something you had to tweak because it didn't serve you in this position?

Yeah. It's a continuous process of learning and unlear. As an attorney, it's mechanical. There are a set of rules, there are facts, and you apply the rules to the facts. It's a different process. We argue a It's very mechanical. I think for me, it was unlear sometimes what has been my blessing, which is logical thinking, can also work against me in a restaurant industry, in a franchise industry, because it's very much driven by the relationships. So one part where I think I had to unlear was those methodical way of thinking and trying to understand the human element, the human stories, how long a franchisee has been in the system. I think that has an enormous training and a blessing in a way to understand the franchise partners who have been in the system for almost 40 years. We have partners who have been around for a very long time with us.

I mean, that's amazing. It seems like the most successful people I find, like yourself, are always learning. And they never would say, I am the expert, because they feel there always is more things to learn. When you look at habits that have made made you successful or brought you to where you are now, are there habits that you've done for a long time or maybe new habits that you started that you're like, Well, this has really helped me in my career?

For me, growing up, I used to move to many different places. I went through different schools. The ability to adapt is extremely important. Sometimes you would find yourself in a new environment, and that comes with learning. The whole habit of, yes, I don't know everything. I want to learn. I do have that genuine desire to learn, which is one of the reasons Davos, for me, is great. Not because I go there to contribute in a panel because I learn so much. Even when you walk on the promenade, you hear all the conversation that comes within your ear shot and you're like, Oh, I did not know this. I just got a food of thought to think about. So learn Learning is a hobby. I always seek and learn from anyone. I make the confession that I also learn from my children every day. Sometimes they are your best teachers.

We had somebody on before. When I asked her a similar question, she said, I have a mentor who's 20 years old. And she's like, Because I don't know about the things of that generation. She didn't have kids. She's like, I didn't know, and I needed someone to tell me those things. I was like, That is what you're saying. It's not I need to learn from someone who's older than me, who's wiser. I can learn from all different people, and I can really appreciate what you just mentioned around also moving different places, learning different people. I think if more people did that, the world would be a better place. But if people want to get in touch with you, though... By the way, I had a great conversation. I'm sad that we missed each other in Davos next year. Next year, I want to learn more about all the things that you talk about. But if people want to get in to watch with you, though. Maybe they want to follow along your journey of the things that you just did at the World Economic Forum. How can they do so?

So follow me on Instagram. I have an account. It's called attorneynenadc. I try to share my journey, both leadership, legal. You can also see some personal tidbits. That would be the best way to get in touch. Connect with me on LinkedIn. I'm available on LinkedIn as well. I will also give you an email address. It's Nina, M-I-N-I. At attorneymeana. Com.

Well, attorney, CEO, Mina Hawk, I appreciate you being here so much. I was mentioning when we started how incredible your wall is. You have so many great things up there, and you said that your bar license meant so much to you, and I always wanted to attend law school. No, I want to go to school for law, but I don't want to go to law school. But amazing. I really appreciate being here today, and I can't wait to to visit Tony Roma's. I want some ribs. So bad. I'm excited. I'm excited for the expansion. But thank you for joining us on Founder's Story.

Thank you so much. And please visit Tony Roma's. You will find us in Las Vegas. We are near Disneyland in Anaheid, California. We are in multiple locations, and there are several locations all across the world. So please come and try our ribs.