Building a 'Live Fire' Experiential Brand from Scratch скачать в хорошем качестве

Building a 'Live Fire' Experiential Brand from Scratch

Welcome to the Brand to Table Podcast — the show where restaurant owners and hospitality leaders learn how to stop guessing and start growing real revenue through proven branding and marketing strategies. In this episode, Henry sits down with Alexandra Donnadio (aka Zandge), the owner of Iron and Oak Catering and a fierce competitor on Fox’s Next Level Chef. Henry first met Alex when she saved him with a plate of bacon at a food festival, but he stayed for her incredible business model: Live Fire Experiences. Alex shares how she built a brand that disrupts the "sea of sameness" in the catering world by combining elegant charcuterie with the primal art of whole animal butchery. She opens up about overcoming the "bougie" tri-state palate, why she dug her own content patio by hand, and how she shed her ego to build a personal brand that is unapologetically authentic (mom banter included). What You'll Learn: Experiential Dining, Authenticity, and Differentiation 1. The Pivot: How Alex turned cooking from a stress-relief escape into a career that took her to Ireland for Next Level Chef and competitions in Macau, China. 2. Brand Differentiation: How Iron and Oak breaks the mold by offering "Live Fire" experiences—dismantling whole hogs and grilling tomahawks in front of guests. 3. Marketing Psychology: The strategy of using familiar "gateway" foods (like charcuterie) to make guests comfortable before introducing them to primal open-fire cooking. 4. The Follower Myth: Why restaurant owners need to look past vanity metrics and hire talent based on their resume and work ethic, not just their Instagram count. 5. Social Media Authenticity: How Alex grew her brand by stopping the "perfect chef" act and showing the behind-the-scenes chaos, including digging her own patio. 6. The Future of Events: Why 2026 will see a massive shift away from stuffy venues toward experiential backyard weddings and pop-up collaborations. 7. Ego vs. Growth: The importance of admitting what you don't know and collaborating with others instead of viewing them as competition. Episode Timestamps 01:54 Iron & Oak: Combining fine dining hors d'oeuvres with primal live-fire butchery 02:51 Next Level Chef: How a DM led to cooking for Gordon Ramsay in Ireland 07:05 The Brand Vision: Creating a "fancy backyard party" vibe vs. traditional catering 10:10 Marketing Strategy: Overcoming the "bougie" palate by bridging familiar food with new experiences 14:54 The Follower Trap: Why talent and work ethic matter more than Instagram numbers 16:14 Authenticity: How showing personality (and shedding ego) exploded her personal brand 29:50 The Content Patio: The story of perseverance (and digging a hole by hand) to build a set 32:31 2026 Trends: The shift toward experiential, private estate weddings over traditional venues 💡 Alex's Insight: "I want you to have an experience when you're eating... you're watching an entire hog and engraved tomahawks being cooked in a very primal way, but you're elevating it." CONTACT & RESOURCES: Email: [email protected] Website: www.brandtotable.com Message the word “Social” to use our free AI Social Media Post Idea Generator. FOLLOW HENRY ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram: instagram.com/h.kaminskijr Youtube:    / @brandtotable   Facebook:   / henrykaminskijr   LinkedIn:   / henry-kaminski-jr   TikTok:   / henrykaminskijr   📢 If you got value from this episode, subscribe to the channel, leave a comment or review, and share it with someone in hospitality who needs a smarter way to grow. 💥 🔖 #brandtotable #restaurantmarketing #marketingfunnel #restaurantbookings #guestloyalty #hospitalitymarketing #socialmediastrategy #emailmarketing #smsmarketing After listening, what is the one uncomfortable element of your business (like social media or leadership) that you need to address to achieve your next level of growth?