What does it actually take to grow a business from one location to four without losing quality, culture, or control?

In this episode, I sit down with Nick Kossayan, owner of Stephano's, to talk about what scaling really looks like when the stakes are real. We get into delegation, hiring, leadership, systems, consistency, customer experience, and the pressure that comes with being responsible for over 100 employees and their families.

This is not a conversation about theory. It is about what happens when growth gets real and you can no longer do everything yourself. Nick shares what changed as the business expanded, how he learned to trust other people, why standards have to be documented, and what it takes to keep multiple locations operating at a high level.

We also talk about:

Letting go without lowering standards
Hiring people who care
Building systems, playbooks, and structure
Protecting consistency across multiple locations
Using technology to reduce chaos
Staying connected to the customer experience
Creating time for family without disconnecting from the business
Why growth without the right people can break a company

A big part of this episode is something I care deeply about myself: you cannot scale a serious operation by trying to control every little thing forever. At some point, growth requires trust, better people, clearer systems, and the discipline to step back so the business can move forward.