#185 - The BeaverTails Success Story with CEO/Owner Pino Di Ioia

Send us Fan MailToday’s conversation is with Pino Di Ioia, the CEO/Owner of BeaverTails, a one of a kind, very well-known, Canadian pastry chain. The chain started in 1978, but has spread widely throughout Canada and also has locations in 6 other countries around the world including France, Mexico, and Japan. With over 170 franchises and more opening each month, Beavertails is a massive success story that has been built on the vision of Pino and his amazing team working behind the scenes over the years. In this conversation, we’ll unpack some of the success principles that Pino has put into action over the years to help Beavertails thrive as an organization, but more importantly, we’ll take a dive into Pino’s life and learn how he was able to develop his world view from a young ago and capitalize on early strengths that he possessed that helped to give him the mindset of a champion. And I do not use the phrase ‘mindset of a champion’ lightly. To me a champion is someone who has the ability to impact those around them in a way that brings out their absolute best. Whether it be a professional athlete, best-selling author, or gold medallist in the Olympics, a champion mindset is not only about tapping into one’s own unique strengths in order to perform one’s best, it’s also about how they give back to the world in a way that helps others thrive. As you will see from this conversation, Pino, even at a young age, had a deeply entrepreneurial spirit and you will hear specifics on how he was able to consistently engage with the world in a way that tapped into his natural abilities to be curious, creative, innovative and resourceful and it’s these strengths that would later go on to help him build his hugely successful business. Pino’s capacity to put people first and focus on developing strong relationships is firmly rooted in his belief in the importance of autonomy in the workplace. Pino’s  encourages his employees in a way that not only feel supported but to contribute to the company’s success based on the strengths and abilities that they bring to the organization. You’ll learn specifics about Pino’s philosophy as we dig deeper into this episode. Beaver Tails has been enjoyed by many including former US president Barrack Obama, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, and has even been featured as a question/answer on the game show Jeopardy hosted by the late Alex Trebek. It was awesome to be able to sit down with Pino on Zoom to have this discussion. It was a fun and insightful chat and I hope you enjoy it. Connect With PinoWebsite: https://beavertails.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BeaverTailsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/beavertails/Special thanks to Bronx band Conversing with Oceans & Alex Bondarev for creating the podcast music.https://www.conversingwithoceans.com/