The Joy of Ops
By Service Physics
Categories: Business, Management
The Service Physics Podcast breaks down what actually makes service businesses run, the systems, operations, and human behavior behind great customer experiences. Each episode digs into how restaurants, retailers, and hospitality teams design better operations, train their people, and turn everyday service into a competitive edge. Conversations with operators, founders, and frontline experts who've done the work. If you build, run, or care about service at scale, this one's for you.
12 episodes indexed on PodSearch.
Recent episodes
- The Joy of Ops at the Future Food Equation Round Table, with Cornell's Vince Slaugh
Steve sits down with Professor Vince Slaugh of the Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration after the Future Food Equation Round Table in New York City, where the theme was rethinking growth, value, and survival in food and beverage.They talk about what came up in the room: price volatility…
- The Labor Death Spiral, with Will Stewart of Rightwork
Most brands manage labor with a weekly target. Hit the number by Sunday. Will Stewart thinks that's the problem.Recorded live at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, Steve Crowley sits down with Will Stewart, founder of Rightwork and a former Starbucks data scientist who worked…
- Your Cameras Already Know Why the Line Is Slow, with Brock Weeks of Savi
Every restaurant already records what happens inside its four walls, all day, every day. Then the footage sits on a server as an insurance policy and nobody looks at it.Recorded live at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, Steve and Rebecca sit down with Brock Weeks, co-founder and…
- The AI Fluff Is Gone: What NRA 2026 Really Signaled (Dustin Mares, Meal Outpost)
Recorded on the floor of the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, Tim talks with Dustin Mares, co-founder of Meal Outpost, about what actually changed at NRA 2026.A year ago, Dustin counted 52 booths with "AI" on the backdrop and found almost none could explain how they used it. This…
- Marc Chappron (Salesforce): Cutting Through the AI Hype to Build Customer Joy
Marc Chappron (Salesforce): Cutting Through the AI Hype to Build Customer JoyMarc Chappron of Salesforce joins us at the National Restaurant Association 2026 show to talk about where technology actually helps restaurants, and where the hype gets ahead of reality.From starting out as a server at…
- Coping: What Recent Years Have Taught Restaurant Brands | Seth Temko, nCentiv
Seth Temko, co-founder and CEO of nCentiv and a three-time restaurant tech CMO, sums up 2025 in one word: coping. We get into inflation, labor, oversaturation, and why culture beats technology every time.Then the real question. VO2 max predicts human lifespan better than any other single metric…
- "Create Space for Joy" with Karyn Ross, Karyn Ross Consulting
Hosts: Steve Crowley and Rebecca AndersonWhat if the hardest job in the world is also the most joyful? Karyn Ross, coach, consultant, artist, and author of The Toyota Way to Service Excellence and The Kind Leader, joins The Joy of Ops live from the National Restaurant Association Show 2026 in…
- Live from NRA with Joseph Saliba, Strop
Can a winning concept survive contact with the kitchen? Joseph Saliba, Partner at Strop, joins The Joy of Ops live from the National Restaurant Association Show 2026 in Chicago to talk about the space where consumer insight meets operational reality.Strop works at the top of the innovation funnel…
- The Joy of Ops: At NRA with Tammy Hanson (Restaurant Technology Network) - Creating a "Safe Space" for Restaurant Tech Decisions
Steve Crowley and Rebecca Anderson recorded live at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, this episode features Tammy Hanson, Membership Experience Manager at the Restaurant Technology Network (RTN).Tammy makes the case for something restaurants rarely get on a show floor: a place…
- Data, Waste, and the "VO2 Max" of Restaurants with Jay Fiske, Powerhouse Dynamics
Recorded live at NRA 2026, Steve Crowley talks with Jay Fiske, President of Powerhouse Dynamics, makers of the Open Kitchen IoT platform for multi-site food service.Jay's team runs on one belief: love efficiency, despise waste. He and Steve dig into how connected kitchen data turns tribal…
- The Joy of Ops at NRA 2026: Cutting The Conference Floor, AI Hype, and more (Ep. 1)
Welcome to The Joy of Ops. This is the first conversation we recorded live on the floor of the National Restaurant Association Show 2026 in Chicago, where we met a ton of smart, interesting people over a few packed days.In this opener, Ellis McCue sits down with Brian Reece and Steve Crowley of…
- Service Physics Podcast is coming!
Service Physics
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