Jason Hopkins

As a Hospitality professional with almost 3 decades of experience within the hospitality industry, I have been instrumental in founding, leading, and transforming organizations that range from start-ups to publicly traded companies.

As a performance driven individual with extensive, progressive leadership that works well within the high stress hospitality business environment, I have coordinated business functions, developed and implemented business strategies and been an integral part of the hiring decisions for all companies I have been a part of.  Excelling in identifying new revenue opportunities within brands and communities, I have demonstrated success in streamlining business operations including financial controls and business culture. I am also a trained Chef with a food & beverage and wine background within multiple countries. Finally, with over 35 restaurant openings in multiple states, I bring brand awareness into new areas of growth. These qualifications and qualities make me a perfect fit for this role.

Please find attached as requested my resume for your consideration, and I look forward to discussing this opportunity further.

Sincerely,

Jason M. Hopkins

As an entrepreneurial-minded hospitality professional with 28 years of operational leadership I am looking to add my expertise to a new and exciting career opportunity. With success in starting, building, growing and improving the profitability and performance of companies, I am an experienced leader and planner that has demonstrated success in streamlining business operations including budgets, financial controls, staff development and business culture. A classically trained culinarian, I have completed over 30 restaurants openings in multiple states, making me a results driven problem solver.

Core Qualifications

• Leadership & Team Building
• Business Planning & Analytics
• Brand Culture Development
• Leadership Development
• Menu Development
• Market analytics & Trends
• Strategy & Revenue Growth
• System Implementation

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

2019 - Present                                  Walk-Ons Sports Bistreaux                              College Station, TX

Operating Partner Walagator LLc. (DBA Walk-On’s)

Annual Sales Volume: $6 Million

• Responsible for development of franchise operations, strategy and direction 
• Daily operational management of 160+ employees
• Development and implementation of store controls including labor, COGS, P&L’s, budgets, forecasting and scheduling
• Collaboratively working with corporate marketing team to ensure operational alignment with brand marketing and create new plans for community marketing
• Create, build and implement marketing strategy designed to drive community involvement
• Negotiate contracts with local vendors to provide goods and services
• Develop strategic plans to help guide leadership team to meet company financial commitments 
• Collaboration and design of new restaurants in company growth including budgeting, building, and operations
• Create and build company culture through mentoring management as well as hourly positions
• Develop HR guidelines for leaders and staff to help make decisions concerning all disciplinary actions within franchise
• Build and maintain training pipeline for new leadership candidates for openings and existing restaurant
• Analyze financial data and market trends to identify business opportunities and create positive fiscal growth
• Awarded “Walk-Ons Culture Award” for 2021 for the entire Walk-Ons Corporation

2017- 2019                                         Compass Group-Chartwells HE            College Station, TX

Director of Operations- Texas A&M University

Annual Sales Volume: $150 Million

• Responsible for 8 units including National brand, new in house concepts and dining facilities 
• Daily operational management of 200+ employees
• Store controls including labor, weekly inventory and COGS, P&L’s, budgets, forecasting and scheduling
• Worked with corporate marketing team to ensures operational alignment with University and create new plans for “In House” concepts
• Analyze financial data to improve business performance
• Guided management team to drive labor and meet budgetary commitments
• Collaboration and design of new concepts on campus including budgeting, menu, and operation
• Maintained and built culture in each concept through mentoring management as well as hourly
• Analyze financial data over multiple concepts to identify business opportunities and create positive fiscal growth
• Supported other departments such as catering for formal functions that ranged from 600-2500 guests

2014- 2017                                  Chuy’s Tex Mex Restaurant                  Various Virginia Locations

General Manager

Annual Sales Volume: $6 Million

• Responsible for the daily operational management of 125+ employees
• Store controls, labor, COGS, P&L’s, budgets, forecasting and scheduling
• Responsible for fostering a team-oriented environment through development and culture-based inspiration
• Ability to plan, communicate and execute operational plans over multiple departments
• Developed a regional newsletter that promoted community within the company as well as marketing initiatives and culture development
• Creation and implementation of short and long-term sales building plans for all departments
• Mentoring and developing managers into promotable roles
• Coaching and developing hourly employees into leadership roles with clear feedback, recognition and reviews
• Establishment of yearly budget and monthly projections that drove top line sales performance
• Maintained corporate standards such as restaurant safety, cleanliness, food and labor costs
• Marketing and Community relations development
• Awarded 2016 “Con Ganas” culture award over all locations

2009 – 2014                                Cracker Barrel Restaurant                     Various Virginia Locations

General Manager

Annual Sales Volume: $7 Million

• Hired in as Associate Manager and then promoted to General Manager in 6 months
• Responsible for the daily operational management of 120+ employees
• Store controls, labor, COGS, P&L’s and scheduling
• Year over year sales growth of 5%
• Established monthly projections matching against budget

food cost to .8% and labor cost to .15%

• Hired and trained 20+ managers, 5 went on to manage their own stores
• Role model store with less than 55% turnover rate
• Responsible for management training program in Northern Virginia
• Worked with in house retail store with sales volume exceeding $1.3 million

2007 - 2009                                         JM Hopkins Corporation                                    Houston, TX

CEO/ Founder

Annual Sales Volume: $3.5 Million

• Owner of new restaurant venture in Houston, TX
• Developed and implemented operational material for new Restaurant Venture
• Created and set KPI metrics for new restaurant brand and managers
• Created budgets to meet sales growth plans
• Motivated, lead, coach and developed successful partnerships with management and my team
• Increased sales growth 200% in first 14 months through rebranding, strategic local marketing and menu development
• Sourced new vendor for venture through strong associate network
• Reduced and maintained labor costs to 13.5% through retraining and cross training staff as well as expert scheduling
• Responsible for overall brand standards, marketing and business vision
• Reduced and maintained food costs to 27% and liquor cost to 17.9% by managing purchasing, COGS, inventory controls and waste reduction 

Prior Tenures Included:

Cova Hand Selected Wines – Houston, TX

Director of Operations

Randy Gerber’s The Whisky Bar – Houston, TX

Bar Manager

he Art Institute of Houston School of Culinary Arts

Associate Degree in Culinary and Restaurant Management

St. Thomas University Houston, TX

International Business and Finance studies