Heroes in Business - Bert Thornton, former President and COO of Waffle House, Inc, 1.3Billion Revenue, Co Author High Impact Mentoring

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

Bert Thornton,  former President and COO of Waffle House, Inc ($1.3B revenue) and co-author of High-Impact Mentoring, joins David Cogan, renowned host of The Heroes Show and founder of Eliances, for an exclusive interview.

Up in the sky, look, it's captivating. It's energizing. It's Eliance's Heroes. Eliance's is the destination for entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs, inventors, leaders, celebrities and startups. Where are heroes in business aligned. Now, here's your host flying in, David Cogan, founder of Eliances. That's me, and again, I couldn't be more excited

and I'm honored and honored by all of our listeners and viewers and guests that have come on to have the opportunity to be able to interview people of all various backgrounds. And I thank you so much again when I head on the co-founder of LifeLock so make sure that you check out past interviews by going to alliances.com as you know alliances e l i a n CES com it is the only place where entrepreneurs align. Now I promise you

during this interview you are going to get hungry. I'm hungry just thinking about this interview. You know why? Because we have, I mean this place is iconic. It is in so many places. It's 24 hours. You can have breakfast 24 hours a day there. They're famous for their waffles and more. And we have with us Bert Thornton. He is the Vice, former Vice Chairman Emeritus, former President and CEO of, are you ready for this? Waffle House. We're talking the Waffle House,

which has now over $1.3 billion in annual revenue. That's a lot of waffles. And so welcome to the show, Bert. Hey David, it's just great to be with you, sir. All right, so like how many waffles have you been, how many waffles have you probably eaten in your life? Probably whole like, I mean, what like, I couldn't even imagine. If I was there I'd be eating waffles every day. Well there's no telling how many waffles I've eaten.

I've eaten a lot more hash browns, scatters, mother cover, chunk, dice top, pepper, cap and country than I have waffles. But we serve millions of waffles a year. It's just a phenomenal number. And how long were you with Waffle House? So I started back in the early 70s. I was with Waffle House for 40 years, president for about the last 10. And actually got the business, my fraternity brother, I was an ATO at Georgia Tech. I was there on a football scholarship played for Bobby Dodd back when the earth was still cooling. And my fraternity brother, Joe Rogers Jr. called me one day, much

later in life and said, Pop founded Waffle House and we're getting into it to try and take this seat of the pants entrepreneurial effort to a different level. Will you come up and talk to me about it? And I said sure and I went up there in Atlanta and the next thing I knew I was flipping eggs and turning hamburgers. So that's how I got started. And you were with them for how long? 40 years. 40 years. Did you like ever imagine ever imagine in the world that you would be there for that long? No we had we had uh under 100 I think the number 45 sticks in my head, but it may have been a couple of more than that 45 50 restaurants when I Started I think waffles. I think coffee at that time was 25 cents waffles may have been I remember when waffles went over a dollar and I thought we might as well close the doors

Nobody's gonna pay a dollar for a waffle, but that was back in the late 70s, the mid to late 70s. So I never really imagined, I never really had time to imagine as it, but yeah, it was a great ride. I mean, truly amazing. And the growth of it has been just phenomenal. And I mean, the locations, how in the world are they able to stay open 24 hours a day? Well, it's a struggle. I mean, particularly in today's environment where you have the government

paying people to stay home and you've got the great resignation going on we have a core group of people Waffle House is actually employee owned most people don't know that what you would call waitresses and cooks we call the grill operators and salespeople they are actually stockholders as our maintenance techs and staff and so when you're talking to owners about what needs to happen in the business, it's a little different than talking to someone who is just there for a week trying to make some money.

But we still have after that core group that we have, it's difficult to staff restaurants sometimes with this kind of mishmash that's going on in America today where people are just thinking that work is not important and there's a different lifestyle that we ought to lead. Right, right. And Bert, you know, you have the famous first name there. Everybody knows your first name when they walk into a Waffle House. Isn't that crazy? Why is that?

Well, back in the... if you were dumb enough to order chili in a Waffle House in the late 70s and early 80s, we would scoop it out of a Heinz or Gebhardt can and heat it up for you So I was out in Dallas, Texas right in the restaurants basically west of the Mississippi and my fraternity brother Who then was president came out and he said we've got great Products Bert, but we were using this canned chili. You're in the chili capital world here in Texas, will you come up with a great recipe? And I said, sure.

And it took about a year to develop it. It was an overnight home run. We actually sell about 11 million bowls a year of chili right now. And the next thing I knew, he had put my name on the menu, Bert's Chili. And I called him and I said, what in the world have you done, Joe?

And he said, well, you know, this is just for a job well done. But I know he just wanted somebody to supervise the quality of the chili for the rest of his life. Cause if your name's on it, you will taste it everywhere you go. As I did yesterday at Waffle House number 586 in Pensacola, Florida.

And it was terrific. That's amazing. I mean, what a dream to have your something named after you on the menu. Like that's when you know you've hit star status. It's a blessing it occurs. I'll tell you that. Now, one of the things that our listeners and viewers,

by the way, again, you're also to your listening and watching me, David Cogan, host of the E-Lion's Hero Show. Make sure that you go to elliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-S.com. We have with us the former vice chairman emeritus and president and COO of Waffle House, 1.3 billion dollars in annual revenue with us, Burt Thornton. Now Burt, we're gonna talk about creating value in other people's lives. In fact, your latest book, you're the co-author of A High Impact Mentoring, A Practical Guide to Creating Value in Other People's

Lives. We'll have the link below and stuff. You can get it at Amazon. Again, it's High Impact Mentoring, A a practical guide to creating value in other people's lives. Bert, share with us some of the secrets. How do we create that value in other people's lives? Sure. Here's the way I got started on this. It's my firm belief that a successful life is about adding value, and where better to add value

than in someone else's life I looked around and I saw that we've got this ironic Crazy thing going on in America today On one hand we have this multitude of rising high achievers who would benefit greatly By the experience and wisdom of a skilled mentor. And on the other hand, we have this legion of savvy organizational and business leaders out there who could, would, and should fit that bill,

but they're not getting together. And I tried to figure out why is that? One of the reasons is most, some of the rising stars that I've met don't even know that there is a mentoring resource like that out there. And if they were, they think they either weren't ready Some of the rising stars that I've met don't even know that there is a mentoring resource like that out there. And if they were, they think they either weren't ready or they didn't qualify

or they'd just be afraid to ask for help. The other side is that this legion of savvy organizational leaders can't find these mentee candidates. And if they do randomly run into one, they're not really sure where to start or how to pursue that in an impactful successful way. So that's why Dr. Sherry Hartnett and I wrote this book, High Impact Mentoring, a practical guide.

That's the key word. It's a practical guide to creating value in other people's lives. This is not a lecture on mentoring. This is a guidebook for successful mentoring. I wrote the micro piece, the across the table piece, do this, don't do that, say this, don't say that, be sure to cover these points, don't leave this out. Sherry wrote the macro piece, the how to take this singular effort and scale it up into a small, medium, or large organization. Her seven-step program that she followed when she put in the ultra-super successful executive mentor program at the University of West Florida and in Pensacola, she has 120 business and organizational clergy leaders mentoring West Florida junior seniors

and alumni, it is a magical program. So that's what needs to happen in America today. We need to get these mentors and these mentees together so that they can create value in each other's lives. What kind of tips though do you have for the mentees? Because many are nervous, scared, not sure what's gonna happen and how do they even go about asking somebody

to be a mentor? There's just not a comfortable conversation of, hey, would you mind mentoring me? Yeah, David, you have come right to the most important point and that is, and this is actually the number one question I'm asked when I talk to people around the country that the the number one question I'm asked is Bert is there a silver bullet to success is there one thing you can tell me that would lead me down that road to success

and the answer is actually there is a silver bullet if you want to be successful hang around successful people. Who you hang around early in life and at all stages determines where you end up in life. So if you want to be rich, hang around rich people. If you want to be respected, hang around respectable people. Who you hang around determines where you end up in life. So that's the silver bullet. But the bigger, better, faster, stronger bullet, the gold bullet, the one that is critical to success is while you're hanging around the right people, find a mentor. Find a mentor is someone who will guide you through the social, political, cultural aspects of your life

and business and it is essential to your success. So I tell them that and they say well thank you very much Bert, how do I find a great mentor? And the answer is first thing you need to know is what a great mentor looks like. A great mentor, your great mentor first of all has this underlying desire to give back. First of all, has this underlying desire to give back. They would, my happiest friends are not the ones who play the most golf and take the most cruises.

They're the ones who live a life of gratitude for what they have and reciprocation, being willing to give back and help other people become as successful as they can be and deserve to be. So that's the underlying theme. But beyond that, a great mentor has to have a sincere interest in your personal success, a demonstrated track record of success. I mean, if not, why would you listen to them? They'd have to have knowledge or expertise in your particular area of interest. And fourth, peer respect.

This seems to be the ultimate litmus test. The greater the respect by his or her peers for your mentor, the greater your chances of success. The question then comes after that. They say, okay, Bert, I've found what I think is going to be my great mentor. What do I do now? How do I start? How do I engage? And the answer is you simply walk up and ask. You say something like David, I have some ideas, I've been thinking about some things, I've been working on

some stuff. You seem to be the expert in this particular area. This is right in your wheelhouse. I wonder if we could have a cup of coffee and just talk for a second. And of course, you know as well as I do, great mentors are always on the lookout for emerging talent. They never say no. They always relish the chance to climb in and create value in somebody else's life. Let's talk a little bit about more about that too, is, is let's talk about the benefits of being a mentor, how, you know, there's people out there going, Oh, you know, I, I don't have all the time in the world to sit and to talk to someone and to teach them and do everything and give, give, give, give, give, give, give. And that's, you know, for someone maybe who has not been a mentor might be thinking

and they are thinking. So what, talk about the benefits of what happens to somebody who is a mentor, mentor. Well, they're actually, there's a double benefit because there's something called reverse mentoring. If I'm mentoring a much younger person about what it takes to succeed in life and business because I've got all the scars but I'm having trouble with my computer or my iPhone who do you think I go to

for answers and that's called reverse mentoring when the mentee starts mentoring the mentor. But there's you know there's just no it's just such a special feeling to watch someone, your someone, go from start to finish in a very successful career in life and you sit back and you say I helped him create or I helped her create all of the success or most of the success that they have in life. So the most important thing about this is that both sides want to be there. Sherry talks about in her half of the book, conscripted mandatory mentoring and mandatory attendance does not work.

So you were talking about someone who says, well, I just don't really have the time, then don't spend the time. If you don't have the time, you can help somebody succeed with a kind word or You know, here's somebody you need to call maybe some networking some contact Mentoring is not just sitting down Over a cup of coffee in the Waffle House and saying what do you think? How do you feel?

Mentoring is a full-time job. It requires a deep dive into the mentees' backgrounds so you can determine exactly what you need to bring to the party to help this person succeed. So don't come to the show if you're not ready to play hard. Right. And again, we're talking with Burt Thornton, former president, vice chairman emeritus

and CEO of Waffle House. Now $1.3 billion in annual revenue. You can reach him by going to highimpactmentoringbook.com, highimpactmentoringbook.com. And of course we'll have it on our website at alliances, E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. Alliance is the only place where entrepreneurs align. So Bert, talk about just, can you give us some,

I mean, have you had a mentor and have you done mentoring? Can you talk to us a little bit eye level on that? Surely, early in my life, just like you, David, my mentors were the people who had seniority and in terms of age and business background later in life. They were people that said things that resonated with me that they either shared beliefs or I had a belief and they had an alternative belief and they were so persuasive that they convinced me that my belief was either incorrect

or needed to be altered. So those are the people that have been my mentors. Early on, certainly I played high school and college football coaches. Later in life it was people I worked for and people I worked with. Kind of parallel mentoring. You can find a mentor anywhere and you can be a mentor to anyone who needs a helping hand to lift down and pull them out of the fog and school them on what they need to be very successful. And Bert, for most people who are starting to work and getting into the whole career aspect,

it's my belief that people wanna be rich, they wanna be happy. They wanna be happy first, they wanna be rich, they want to be happy. They want to be happy first, they want to be rich. And maybe those two do go hand in hand. Here's what I tell people, and I learned this from a guy named Jim Roan. You're familiar with Jim Roan, he's the great author and motivational speaker, but I actually met him and he told me, he said, Burt, he said, you cannot chase happiness and success. You cannot chase happiness and success. You acquire it by becoming the person who

attracts happiness and success. You can't chase it. You have to, you have to become the person who attracts happiness and success. So that's when I mentor people. I don't just lecture them. I try and turn them into the person that attracts or can attract happiness and success. I'll tell you a mentoring, a very successful mentoring story. It's actually kind of a peek behind the Waffle House curtain. It's a story about a young man named Dave Rickle. First met Dave when he was a bright, fresh, young, brand-new, still in the crate, Waffle House unit manager. He ran the Waffle House on Northside Drive just off the Georgia Tech campus in

Atlanta. I'd heard about Dave for some time. This bright young guy, college athlete, premium college, Cornell University, great core values, great people skills. I knew I had to meet him. So I went to his restaurant early one evening when I knew he would be working the supper shift. And I walked in and there was Dave right where he should have been right behind the counter taking care of business. And he rushed out to shake my hand and meet me. And we talked for a few minutes and then we got behind the counter and do what Waffle House people do,

taking care of business, taking care of you, washing dishes, busing tables, cooking, cleaning, whatever we needed to do. And then I took him in the back room to get to know him a little better. And that's when David asked me the question that would change his life and his career forever. He said, Burt, how do I get promoted? I said simple Dave, you make yourself the obvious choice. You make yourself the obvious choice. He said great, how do I do that? So what

ensued there and over the next 15 or so years was a conversation ongoing about what it takes to succeed in life and business. So the end of the story is I ran into Dave about five weeks ago at the Waffle House corporate office in Atlanta and I asked him the question I'm fond of asking folks that I raised in the business but haven't seen for a while. I said, Dave, what have you learned since I saw you last? He said Bert I've learned you were right. I said great answer Dave, great answer. Right about what? He said do you remember the first time we met? I told him I remember it well. He said you

looked me in the eye and you said Bert you can succeed if you care if you try if you learn if you stay. If you care, if you try, if you learn, if you stay. He said, you told me I had to care. You said, Dave, if you don't care, nothing else matters. But caring alone is not enough. Caring will get you into the starting gate, which you have to try hard to get out on the field and beat the competition. And you told me I had to learn. You said I had to read something every day and a half. And you told me I had to stay.

You said, Dave, there'll be a hundred reasons every week for you to do something different, but you need to stay and bloom where you plan it. So Dave did stay and Dave's done well. Dave is one of three operational executive vice presidents. Dave's top annual revenue line, the top line on his P&L is in excess of one billion with a B dollars and on any given day Dave has between 30 and 35,000 people working for him. So Dave's done well, but he hadn't done any better than any of us can if we care, if we try, if we learn, if we study. You got to care

the most, you got to try the hardest, you've got to learn something every day. If your job or your company is growing faster than you are, you're falling behind and you have to stay. I tell people all your life, other folks will try to convince you the grass is greater on the other side of the fence. But here's what you need to know. Everybody's grass has dirt on the bottom. You just have to be standing close enough to see it.

Phenomenal advice, Bert, absolutely phenomenal. And I need to ask you this too, is what about the students that are out there now those that are in high school if there were and you gave a lot of core excellent information and stuff but if you had to do it all over again right now and in high school freshman year you're approaching high school so you're starting to build up perhaps going to college after that, whatever.

But what would you say to, and maybe it's some secrets you share either if you have children or grandchildren, or you would share with those that are freshmen in high school? I have three daughters, all Georgia Tech girls, by the way. And so I have spent a lifetime mentoring them and their friends at all ages and stages. And my advice to them is Abraham Lincoln famously said, nobody gets lost on a straight road. Take the straight road. Take the high path.

Do things right the first time, and always put other people first and try to find a great mentor at every stage in your life. And you don't, not just one, but one, two, three mentors at a time, and listen to their great advice. Phenomenal. Well, put other people's first. Burt Thornton, you co-created the Guide for the Guides,

helping coaches work effectively with their mentees. That's a hero. Former president and COO of a Waffle House, now $1.3 billion in annual revenue, co-author of High Impact Mentoring, a Practical Guide to Creating value in other people's lives. You can get it on Amazon, go to his website, highimpactmentoringbook.com.

This has been David Cogan with the Alliance's Hero Show. And I'm gonna have to go right now after this to Waffle House. Bert, will you please join me? I'll be right there with you, David. Thanks a bunch, it's been great. Thank you.