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Perry Rogers, CEO and founding father of sports activities administration and company consulting firm PRP, has managed each famous person athletes and Hollywood stars. He additionally constructed a profitable restaurant firm, JRS Hospitality, with many sizzling spots on the Las Vegas Strip.
These experiences ready him to associate together with his shopper Shaquille O’Neal to create a really larger-than-life restaurant model. Huge Rooster is a testomony to collaboration, imaginative and prescient and enjoyable.
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Constructing a legacy for Shaquille O’Neal
The story of Huge Rooster started with a query. “Shaquille got here to me in 2017 and stated, ‘You’ve got constructed this massive restaurant firm. What have you ever constructed for me?'” Perry Rogers informed Shawn Walchef, host of Restaurant Influencers, on the 2024 Huge Rooster franchisee convention in Las Vegas.
O’Neal wasn’t simply searching for an funding—he needed a legacy. Rogers and his crew started working, creating an idea that actually mirrored O’Neal’s character.
“We thought of what matches Shaquille, what displays his values, his persona and got here up with Huge Rooster,” Rogers says.
The primary launch was in Las Vegas in 2018. They spent two years refining the idea earlier than increasing additional. Regardless of his in depth expertise, Rogers admits the early days of Huge Rooster had been a studying curve.
“Our [other] eating places had been all full-service, big-volume operations. This was completely different,” he explains. Quick-casual eating was an entire new ballgame.
Even with meticulous planning, the primary location was filled with surprising challenges. “We obtained a variety of issues fallacious — an excessive amount of house, too many seats, even the design,” Rogers says. However these hurdles turned alternatives for progress. “When you have a look at life as a steady enchancment journey, it isn’t an enormous threat to fail.”
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Embracing new media
Rogers and his crew knew from the beginning that Huge Rooster was greater than only a restaurant. It was a stage meant for storytelling.
Impressed by O’Neal’s fearless method to enterprise and branding, they launched a Fb Watch collection referred to as Constructing in Public. Followers might watch the behind-the-scenes means of constructing Huge Rooster in real-time.
“Shaquille is all about being genuine and clear,” Rogers says. “Whenever you’re prepared to point out the ups and downs, it builds belief along with your viewers. Individuals can see that you simply’re not afraid to fail, and that creates a robust connection along with your prospects.”
Spreading your model on each precious media platform is a full-time job. The Huge Rooster crew needed to study the nuances of a fast-casual idea, together with its dimension, house, theme and product combine. Nevertheless, they remained dedicated to fixed enchancment and iteration.
Constructing in public taught them about themselves and the model, in addition to how one can use social media successfully. By the point they had been able to scale, they felt assured that they’d a product prospects actually beloved.
For Rogers, collaboration is vital to Huge Rooster’s success. He credit O’Neal’s daring imaginative and prescient and authenticity because the core of their id. “Shaquille appears at life like, ‘If my intentions are proper, I needn’t fear,'” Rogers stated. Finally, issues did fall into place, however they wanted assist.
Hiring Josh Halpern as CEO was an enormous turning level. “We wanted somebody who knew what they had been doing,” Rogers says. Halpern’s experience allowed Huge Rooster to scale responsibly, guaranteeing the model stayed true to its mission whereas increasing the enterprise.
Huge Rooster has grown considerably since its first location, with home and worldwide expansions on the horizon. “We simply opened our first outlet within the UK, in Manchester, and we’re constructing in Honduras in 2025,” Rogers says.
On the coronary heart of Huge Rooster’s success is its deal with hospitality. “The shops that do effectively are those the place the homeowners are greeting the shoppers,” Rogers says. “If the shoppers do not feel that Shaquille love, there is a disconnect.”
For Rogers, the restaurant business is about greater than enterprise — it is a calling. “If you do not need the ball of internet hosting folks, do not get on this business,” he says. However for individuals who love creating pleasure by meals and hospitality, the rewards are unmatched.
As Huge Rooster continues to develop, Rogers stays targeted on honoring O’Neal’s imaginative and prescient and crafting that legacy. “My job is to construct the enterprise that Shaquille desires to have,” he says. With every new restaurant, they are not simply serving meals — they’re creating moments of connection and group.
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