Savory Fund announces a significant leadership transition, promoting Shauna Smith to Managing Director and appointing industry veteran Klay Dover as CEO, signaling an acceleration of their growth strategy and platform development.
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Welcome to our kickoff episode of
Restaurantantology 2026.
This is a special edition for us uh and
I gave it an [music] appropriate title
for us and it is the next chapter at Savory.
This is the one of the most important uh
announcements in Savory's history. Uh
and I want to be very clear from the
beginning that we're not changing uh
anything. We're not changing direction.
We're actually accelerating.
And today we have a major announcement.
First, we are promoting uh my partner
and co-founder Shauna Smith to managing
director of Sabry Fund. And second, we
are welcoming uh an industry veteran and
proven builder, Klay Dover, as our new
chief executive officer to lead our
platform and to support our brands
through the next phase of growth. Welcome.
Welcome.
>> Thank you. So excited to have you here. Congratulations.
Congratulations.
>> Thank you. We're so happy you're here.
Double congratulations to the two of
you. It's a double win.
>> Yeah, it's a double win for us. It's
It's definitely uh two major
announcements. It's one unified strategy
uh here between the three of us. And uh
we're excited. We're excited to have you
here with us, Clay. We know that this
was a big decision for you. It was a big
decision for us. And uh I really wanted
to start with Shauna since we think
about all of the years that we've been
in this industry, Shauna, you and I, and
we go back to the early days of Savory.
What makes you most proud of what we've
accomplished here at Savory?
uh at Savory. Well, when I think about
eight years of Savory, um we've been
doing this now for eight years. And
before that, I was just an operator, an
operator of of brands in I think we had
150 units in about eight states. And um
there was this moment, it was like a
burn the ships moment where we decided
we're going to uh sell all of these
restaurants and start our own private
equity fund. And that's what we did
eight years ago. And that's when I was
named CEO. in this seat. So much has
happened in between then and now. I to
say what I'm most proud of. I would say
it always goes back to the people. The
people are the best part, the highlight.
And and I've said this before many
times, but we talk about our why a lot
here. And our why um back in the day in
starting in 2008 was um creating jobs
and creating opportunity. And uh it
continues to be. So I would say that's
my biggest um highlight. 10,000 jobs I
think we've created over uh these eight
years. And um and then I had to put down
some stats. We now have 13 brands, three
funds. Uh we've raised over I think six
well a half billion um dollars and then
now we're at 370 restaurants in 25
states. It's pretty remarkable.
>> That's a little bit of growth.
>> I mean that's a lot of it's a lot of job
creation. That's a lot of opportunity
creation. And that's the that's the
stuff that really keeps me going.
>> Yeah, it's crazy when we blink. It's
happened really really fast. Although if
you think about the last eight years of
Saver, I I feel like the the the
lifetime before Savory, it feels like a
different chapter of our lives. Totally.
>> Because we were really we were in the
throws of of operating restaurants on a
daily basis, you and I. and our teams
that were with us then. Many of them are
still here with us here at Savory, which
is something that we
>> we hold very dear to uh to the team and
to the to the name Savory and to what we
do on a daily basis. And I'm excited to
keep a lot of those those team members
here with us um in the future as well.
Um talk to me about when you had first
had the first idea at least of replacing
yourself. Like when did that happen? I I
can say that I was there. So, I remember
when you had that conversation with me,
it was like, "Okay, hold on a second.
Say that again. [laughter] I need to
hear that one more time."
>> Even when I told you, it had been in my
mind for a couple months already,
>> which I wish I could have read your mind
cuz I didn't know that it was in your
mind. So,
>> go ahead and tell us when it was like
the first idea of replacing yourself.
>> So, this year, 2025, my Well, I choose a
word of the year instead of I do set
goals. I do, but um I set a word of the
year that is kind of my theme for the
year and I filter all decisions. I I
pushed myself uh through that word of
the year and uh 25 was elevate and uh so
I started thinking at the beginning of
the year, you know, how do I elevate
myself personally? How do I elevate the
savory team, our practices, our
performance and all of that and you know
got real cute with KPIs and all that.
Um, but we talk a lot about uh
intellectual honesty here at Savory. And
I don't think I would have been very
intellectually honest if I didn't
actually think about um myself. And part
of part of the intellectual honesty is
self-awareness. And so thinking about my
role and how we're doing here at Savory.
And Savory is was then and still is in a
great place, but it was just an
opportunity to think about what could be
better. And as I started entertaining
that, I started really thinking about
the founder CEO versus the executive
CEO. And the founder CEO is the one that
is the fire starter. They're the
original visionary. They're the ones
that put in the late nights and the uh
the long days. They put in that time.
They built the team. They got it to
where it is now. But then there's the
executive CEO that comes in with a
proven playbook who comes in with skills
that maybe that founder CEO is um could
be better and it also comes in with
fresh eyes and fresh perspective um that
proven playbook always has the ability
to uplevel team performance and so many
so many elements of that. So um as I
started thinking about founder versus
exe executive CEO I started thinking
about well who would that person even
be? I had one name in mind one and I was
like this guy will never leave what he's
currently doing. I already knew that.
We'd had many conversations before that
and so I was like, "It's never going to
happen." So I kind of filed that away
until we got a call that was just like,
"Hey, I'm just talking about what my
future looks like." And the moment we we
uh moment I heard that, I was like,
"Andrew, I need to tell you this crazy
model of thought."
>> Let's go ahead and pull the curtain back
just a little bit. So I have a call with
Clay and Clay's telling me he's like,
"I'm thinking about maybe making a
change." And like, "Wow, that's cool."
and he's like, "Is there maybe some
opportunity we could work together?" And
I'm like, "Well, yeah. I've always
wanted to work with you." And so I
remember walking into our bedroom and I said,
said,
>> it was a late night call.
>> It was a late night call. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> And uh I said to Sha, I said, "Yeah,
Clay might be leaving Velvet Taco. Might
be looking at doing something
different." And she like shut up in bed
and she's like, "Hold [snorts] on a
second. Let me just tell you a little
bit of a thought that I had."
>> No. I was like, I don't know if this is
the universe telling me that this is the
thing we need to do, but let me just
tell you these thoughts that have been
bumbling around in my brain for almost
two months at that point.
>> So, what happened from there then? We we
of course invited Clay up uh from Dallas
cuz been in Dallas for a while and
>> we've taken this very slow obviously. Um
Velvet Taco is an incredible brand and
uh it's
>> one of our faves.
>> It is. It's one of our favorites and uh
didn't want to do anything that would
disturb the great work that Clay had
done, but just started the conversation
of what's next. What would let's
entertain this and uh thinking about
that and having conversations and
seeing, you know, how I I wanted to
understand how Clay sees the world and
how he feels about the team and people
and work and all of that. And so just
really got to know Clay over a long
period of time and yeah it's been it's
been good. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> Overall tell
>> I mean we're here so obviously it's been
good. [laughter]
>> It has talks went well.
>> It has gone very well. The talks have
gone well. Uh tell me what excites you
the most to work with Clay. >> Um
>> Um
to learn from Clay. I think that's what
I'm most excited about. There's so many
components of things we've talked about
where I'm asking him questions and
picking his brain already. And I'm sorry
to use that term. I know that's like a
terrible term, picking brains, but um I
just Clay has so much great experience.
So I'm I'm most excited about learning
from Clay and to see what to see the
world through Clay's eyes. I mean, you
only get fresh eyes once. And so I I'm
excited to see uh what Clay sees and
what our opportunities are because I
know I I I know we have opportunities
here at Savory. I can say we're doing
great, but there's so many things that
could be better. And that's where Clay
comes in. And and I keep saying about
Clay that he is going to be a force
multiplier. That is that is what Clay is
going to do. That's how I mean it's the
Steve Jobs approach. He would take
something that's was proposed to him and
he would overlay his vision on it and
then it became even that much better.
And that's what Clay's going to do here.
>> Oh my gosh, [laughter] the pressure is on.
on.
>> No pressure.
>> No pressure there. No, I feel the same
way though as far as a force multiplier
though. I think about all the people
that we have around the table here at
Savory now. And like you said, Savory's
in a great place. We're doing great
things still now, but I always feel like
having, you know, outside eyes. We we
put together a board um of adviserss to
Savory this last year and we had our
first meeting at the end of last quarter
and man we all left that meeting and we
were just like man that was so great to
just get other people's perspectives on
things cuz you're so close to things
sometimes in your business in your firm
that's nice just to have some outside
eyes come in so we're really excited
about that u with Clay you joining us
you know one of the things that I want
to make sure that we are are clear about
though here at Savory is that this is a
promotion for Shauna this is not a
transition in any way um and one of the
things that's really cool, especially in
the private equity world. You know,
there's 10,000 private equity firms and
VC funds uh in America and and less than
5% of them have managing directors as
women, number one, and two um less than
4% were actually co-founded by women. So
Shauna was a co-founder of Savory, still
is a co-founder, um is my partner, and
we're just excited to have her in the
seat of managing director, still working
on portfolio construction, really
managing the focus of of the actual
performance of the portfolio brands,
working with the leadership, and really
working handin-hand with you, Clay, um
on the execution of the portfolio and
the and the vision that we have for each
brand. So super excited, very excited,
very excited about that.
>> I wouldn't have done it any other way. I
mean, the fact that Shauna is here and
can transition and all the knowledge
that exists there for eight plus years
to have a founder, I mean, it's amazing.
I mean, it's a huge advantage to have
versus being thrown into the deep end.
Uh, which is usually the case as a CEO
that comes in. It's generally a
distressed opportunity or, hey, you
know, here you go. Here's the keys.
We'll we'll check in with you quarterly.
um this is a a very unique opportunity
where uh the predecessor is here, you're
here, like it it's a perfect scenario. So
So
>> yeah, it's a good point you make, too.
When you go into be a CEO of a company,
there's all these high expectations from
the board of that one CEO. And it's it's
different for you, and I've never done
it, so it's going to be fun for me to
watch how you do it because I think it
would be very very hard, but also very
exciting to come into a company where I
I've said this before, it's like a
speeding bullet train, right? There's
just a ton going on already. But to have
someone as well-versed as you with your
experience and your playbook, Clay, to
be able to jump on that speeding bullet
train and be able to apply things that
you've learned throughout your career
immediately immediately,
>> that's very very unique, right? If we
were to add a lot of people here at the
at the firm or even in our brands, a lot
of times those people have to speed up
to that train moving.
>> Um, and they can't add a lot for the
first 6 12 months. You know that when
you add an executive to a company, it's
like, well, I'm not going to get much
out of them for 3 to 6 12 months.
>> We just are excited. The first week,
we're already like, well, we should
probably have Clay look at that because
I'm sure he's going to have something to
say about that because you have that
proven playbook. I I'm really excited
about having you here as well because I
think that you have a really good sense
of when to invest and when to pause and
perfect. You've been part of brands
where you you lace on the the the fuel.
There's times you have to pull off the
fuel, push the brake a little bit, and
perfect a brand. And that's part of
portfolio construction in a private
equity firm. We have brands right now
that it's like, wow, we've added a lot
of growth. We got to pause and perfect.
And for some people think that's just
growth, growth, growth, growth. And for
Shauna and I and for the Savory team, we
know when to invest and when to slow
down. And we feel like you have those
those abilities and that skill set as
well. And the thing I'm really excited
about because we've built so many
restaurants. We built hundreds of
restaurants across America. So have you.
It's a skill set that you can't get
unless you've done it right. Like real
estate's a definite skill set that's
completely separate than just running a restaurant.
restaurant.
>> And to to pick real estate, to develop
it out, to get good cash and cash
metrics on investments, that's something
that's a skill set that's hard to find
and you've got it. And I'm really really
excited about that as well.
>> Yeah. No, I appreciate it. I mean, thank
you. First of all, I'm I'm humbled and
extremely grateful to be part of the
team and this is a winning organization.
This is a class act. And um you know I
look at this I always I always think of
like a head coach of a pro team like wow
there's only 30 NBA head coaching jobs
there there's less than that of of a
company like this. I mean this is a
lifetime opportunity and I look at that.
So I appreciate the opportunity and um
I'm super excited and can't wait to get started.
started.
>> Yeah. So let's jump into your background
then too because when people say well
why is that a match and why have we
looked at you and your career and said
we like what we see and we want that to
be applied you know to the savory
portfolio and to the savory team. Tell
us just a quick highle background
because your background really is
unique. You not only been in the
restaurant industry like a lot of people
start off in the restaurant industry
whether it's in high school or college
like we all did having a busting job or
dishwashing or cook like I was at Olive
Garden. But at the end of the day,
you've been in early, but you've also
been in the leadership roles early on,
too. So, give us a quick for the
listeners that don't know your
[laughter] background.
>> Yeah, I mean, look, I I started as a bus
boy at 15, put myself through college
waiting tables, was in restaurant
management, uh worked for big
corporations like Chili's. Um jumped on
the corporate side in a marketing role.
My degree is in marketing. Uh was an
executive early on uh in my in my early
years. Uh I was made CEO of a multi-
multi more than a billion dollar company
at the age of 36. Thought that that's
what I wanted to do. And along came a
founder uh that had 60 restaurants, a
little company called Raising Canes.
Todd Graves said, "Join me in uh Baton
Rouge, Louisiana, and we're going to
build a brand." And uh so at a very
young age, I joined uh over as president
and CMO of Raising Canes. I learned a
ton. And I thought for sure I was going
to walk in and and teach them all about
running a company and instead they
taught me. Uh so I learned all about
disciplined. I learned about culture. I
learned about brand. Um and I get
goosebumps now just thinking about it. Um
Um
>> because of what it's become too. I mean
you were part of that early
>> No, it was 62 restaurants. It was 62 restaurants.
restaurants.
>> Thousand plus
>> thousand restaurants. Uh look, it'll
have restaurants all over the world. I
mean that was the mission and the vision
early on and Todd is still a friend now. Uh
Uh
>> I want to know though, was Kane ever
involved? the dog. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I've
got pictures with my kids at his house
with the dog.
>> With Kane? Okay.
>> Kane, too. I mean, they're on like the
fourth version, but Oh, yeah. No, I mean,
mean,
>> you have to tell real quick the story.
You come in into the airport, though,
cuz it's hilarious with Kane.
>> I told you that story.
>> Yeah. It's hilarious.
>> Yeah. I mean, look, I I I knew Todd. We
were friends through the industry. I was
I was running 750 restaurants,
multibrands. He had he would go to these
conferences with his backpack and he
would talk to people and he was just
starting his concept and and you know 60
restaurants and we would text each other
and and he said hey you know I want to
build this brand you know and and I was
very disillusioned with corporate I was
working for a private equity group some
legacy brands and he said well you know
why don't you come out to Baton Rouge
and spend the weekend at my house I I
didn't think anything of this you know and
and
>> but you said yes
>> I said sure and um he said you know I'll
pick you up at the airport in Baton
Rouge I'd never been to Baton Rouge
Um he pulled he said I'll meet you at
the front. I said well what terminal? He
said I'll just pick you up at the front.
>> It's Bat Rouge. There's four four there
were four terminals at the time. Um
pulled up. He says I'll be in the black
Suburban. And Kane was in the front
seat. So I got in the back seat. I
didn't know like this is the namesake to
the brand. He said what are you doing? I
said I I I don't know. He said get in
the front. Told Kane get in the back.
And and so we started driving and we
started talking about the brands and you
know like I'm like wow like he's like
you know I just did this show Secret
Millionaire and I want to grow these
brands and I don't know what to do and I
said I guess you're a millionaire aren't
you? I mean, he's so down to earth and
just, you know, at that at that point,
you know, he's just like, "Look, I we're
trying to build a brand." And I want
your help. And so, we spent the weekend
kind of mapping it out, whiteboarding it
out and spent like
>> couple of nights and we just kind of
mapped it out and I joined as the
president CMO and laid out the
foundation of what today is.
>> Yeah. I mean, look, they they've got an
amazing team, but >> amazing.
>> amazing.
>> Yeah. I spent six and a half years there
as the as the president and the CMO.
opened the restaurant sport office in
Dallas and and learned a ton. Uh look, I
I learned so much about not only
culture, but disciplined. I mean, that
company is extremely disciplined.
>> Yeah, they are above all. I mean,
they're disciplined cuz even others that
are are super disciplined have started
to lose their way a little bit. They're
starting to add more, make it more
complex, chasing dollars
>> and raising canes, man. They just stay true.
true.
>> Stay true. Does that menu discipline
translate to other things?
>> Yeah, everything. >> Everything.
>> Everything.
>> Everything. I mean, me wearing a logo, I
mean, you will generally see me in a
logo all the time. I picked that up from
Amazing Kes. I mean, and they're so
disciplined. Um, the shoes were slip
resistant so that you could go in a
restaurant any given time. I mean, I
mean, there it was. So, and we look, we
merged Dallas and Baton Rouge together
and and we I I and the team, like,
there's a ton of people that were all
part of it. um we had to merge that
together and and determine what would
set that out as we grew exponentially.
We took almost a year and opened two
restaurants the first year and then
after that it was just off to the races
and again this is oh wait so this is a
financial crisis during that time. I
mean it was not the greatest of times
but um never had negative sales. Um look
they're they're amazing and
>> yeah it's an amazing it's an amazing brand.
brand.
>> It's something to to aspire to be. Any
brand looks at brand goes that's what we
want. But it but it really set kind of a
a a basis and a and a track record for
me of continually working with founders
and private equity. Um that's the basis
of my career and that's really set.
>> So what pulled you away from raising
canes because it was such a great
opportunity. I mean obviously you had an
idea of I have more to learn. So you went
went
>> Yeah. I went from there to to Payway. Um
I I had equity that had vested. Um I had
family that lived in Arizona. Uh, I had
a vision of what Payway was and and what
it could be. Uh, went to Payway and did
a brand refresh in which we prepped the
brand for a sale. Um, my my negotiation
there was that I wanted ownership of
Culinary. I thought that Culinary had
gone a different way. And so, um, we
repositioned the brand and set it up for
a sale to a different private equity
group. um at Payway in my mind and I
think that I was a little disillusioned
from the Payway of the past probably
when it first started with Paul Fleming
and and some of the original u you know
like it was the first fast casual
restaurant with open walks and flames and
and
>> I liked it. We went there all day.
>> I remember taking my kids there and just
like wow they were staring at the glass
and so um it was great. um was able to
really expand, went over to Asia, came
up with some new flavors, uh
repositioned the the menu with some uh
real talented folks from the Culinary
Edge and um and position the brand for a
sale. Um and uh you know, enjoyed living
in Arizona for a couple of years and
then I got a call from a founder out of
Dallas, Randy Dwit, and he says, "I've
got a brand," which of course I knew
living in Dallas. Uh it was four units.
Uh, and he said, "I just sold to
Elcaterton, a private equity group, and
I need someone to run it." And I said,
"Okay. I've never done anything that
small before." He says, "Well, come out
and meet with them." Uh, and uh,
>> and what was the intrigue the most at
the beginning? I mean, four units,
that's smalls, right? Tiny. Great
product. Obviously, you saw the lines
around that building, so you was hot.
>> Uh, I went on my own dime. I didn't tell
them. I actually went and sat in a
restaurant for a weekend. Um, one not
that I was So, there was in Dallas, Fort
Worth, Houston, and one proof of concept
in Chicago. I went and sat in one
unbeknownst to them and just watched and
it was amazing. I went from a 200 unit
payway in which I was the number two guy
and was you know trying to beg borrow
and steal people to get in there and um
I went to this 4 unit and people were
pulling their friends in and explaining
them like look at this brand and try
this food and the people were excited.
The restaurant was open until 4:00 a.m.
in the morning and it was packed and I'm
just like there's something here. There
is some magic here. uh and uh met with
the Elcaterton guys. Uh it was in the
growth concept and they just said,
"Look, we just want to grow. It's all we
it's all we want to do. We want to grow
it. Um we'd love to have a transaction
in five years is our goal." And they
said, you know, here's the keys. Um
didn't have anything. Um I
>> I mean literally four four units. Yeah.
You have nothing [laughter] store. Yeah.
>> No, no support. Uh it was just here you
go. Um so yeah I mean
>> so very different coming from Payway
full office team
>> full team I mean even raising canes I
mean gaines we built out a giant
infrastructure to build out when I left
raising kids I joined at 62 left at 232
um with you know a massive support
structure. So yeah went totally opposite
direction but really got to enjoy
getting back in restaurants. Um I mean
I've got scars unfortunately from not
wearing cutting gloves. Um you know
dropping uh
>> we've all made that mistake. made that
mistake. Um, you know, but like back
into restaurants. Um, look, restaurants
change lives. Uh, when you look at what
restaurants are, it's a fabric of our
lives. Um, you meet family whether you
work there or not. Restaurants are part
of our everyday lives,
>> friends, family, business. Um,
regardless, it's just part of who we
are. Um,
>> when when you say, "Let's get together,"
it's like, "All right, where are we
going to eat? What do you want to do? Do
you want to grab food? You want to meet
somewhere?" It's just part of who we are
nowadays. And so it continues to be more
and more important. And whether you work
there, whether it's part of your
everyday, you know, like you said,
whether you eat there, it's just
restaurants are in ingrained into our
lives. And so that's what's special
about our industry. We provide food.
It's a it's one of the basic necessities.
necessities.
>> It's a staple.
>> It's a staple. And so, you know, that's
the magic of our industry. And that's
what Bobaco allowed. I got back into it.
Um, I sold my fancy Mercedes and got a
4ERunner and drove around to restaurants
because I didn't want to be rolling up
into restaurants in a Mercedes
>> in a Mercedes. And so, um, and just
started laying out a strategy.
Whiteboarded it out, got a desk once we
started opening restaurants, but I
worked out of the restaurants. Once we
started opening a few restaurants,
started building out of a wei work.
>> Had we work for several years, um, it's
>> the right way to do it. And just as we
needed to add staff and added resources,
we would grow. Um, built out to 30
restaurants. And five years and one day,
one day later, we had a transaction to
another private equity group. One day was
was
>> five years and one day. I like to remind them
them
>> that's executing the whiteboard right there.
there.
>> It's five. There's I have a picture that
I sent uh to Randy Dit and Jack Gibbons,
the front burner guys. Great restaurant
tours out of Dallas. Awesome. They're
one of the best.
>> Yeah. One of the best. one of the great
great uh you know idea uh guys out of
Dallas. They come up with amazing
concepts. Look, Velvet Talk was an
amazing concept and is and continues to
be an amazing concept and will continue
to be amazing with great people, great
leaders in it. Um and they had a great
idea. There is a difference between you
know creating an idea and scaling it and
you know having the discipline to be
able to scale sometimes is a different
skill set. Um, and so that's what we
did. And, you know, it takes discipline.
It takes um, you know, it takes, you
know, knowing when to, like you said,
when to accelerate and when to back off.
And look, we made mistakes. Um, you
know, there's a little thing called
COVID right in the middle of that. We
accelerated during that.
>> So did we. Yeah. I remember laying a
sleep awake in bed at night sweating
because there were people's lives and
you know income online and you know were
we going to make it. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> That was a real question. We were all
thinking the same thing. Yeah.
>> Yeah. I mean anyone in the industry at
that time were going man were we going
to make it? But we made some decisions
and pushed forward fought some fought
some battles and came out stronger. And
so we had a transaction yeah 5 years and
a day later.
>> And who bought it?
>> Uh Leonard Green Partners, great private
equity group. >> Amazing
>> Amazing
>> giant uh private equity group out of uh California.
California.
>> Shake Shack investors.
>> Shake Shack Original Investors. Great
group. Great uh great group. Yeah, great
PE group. Uh great partners, continued
to grow, continued to invest uh and are
partners and majority owners today. So
they're they're continually growing it
and uh are great partners and uh I spent
eight and a half years there. started
with four restaurants and left at 54. Uh
>> just a little bit of growth.
>> A little bit of growth. Uh yeah. Um a
kagger of about 17 18% every year.
Continued to grow. Airports uh started
in um you know couple of states and now
they we because I'm still a shareholder
are in uh nine states. Uh international
just opened in London. Airports. Uh
yeah. No, it's a great story. Um,
>> so then, so then what what happened for
you to say, "Okay,
>> I'm on this trajectory where
everything's going great and it's a
great brand that you took from four to
54, right?
>> Um, that's amazing growth for us."
That's what we try to do. We did it our
sweet spot.
>> We just barely did that with uh with
Mobas. We had done it prior to that with Swig.
Swig. >> Um,
>> Um,
>> what pulled you to a different way of
thinking of doing something different? I
think when you look at it and you say
where can your impact be best felt and
where can you um you know give the most
back um I looked at where my skill set
and where can you make the most impact
and um I started looking at you know how
long would I be at Velvet Taco and you
know could it be forever I mean it could
be um but I also felt like there were
challenges that I wanted to take on and
um I started talking to folks including
you. Um I looked at ways in which I
could apply some of those learnings and
and quite frankly wanted to be
challenged. Um there are challenges that
um I wanted to look at and and start
started to explore and um we had a
conversation yeah late at night and uh
you as well as a few other folks that I
knew and trusted in the industry. I
started talking to and realized that
there were lots of other things out
there in the industry and and some
challenges and look this is a challenge.
This is um a unique company that you
guys have built as founders. Um, Savory
has brought together
um a collection of brands and um people
and um awardwinning
um founders that it it you're not
building a collection of of companies.
This is a community of of founders. And
when you know, look, we just were having
a conversation and then um you invited
me and my wife Rebecca to come out and
we spent uh an afternoon chatting and
then Shauna hit me up with the
opportunity and I tried to keep a
totally straight face because that was
not what I was expecting. Um I think I
was trying to stay as
>> I wish I would have taken a picture of
your face because that was awesome. [laughter]
[laughter]
>> I was trying to stay as straight faced
as possible because that was not what I
was expecting. Um, and it took some time
after that as I kind of molded over and
and thought about it. Um, but look, this
is a once in a-lifetime opportunity. Um,
this is a career-defining opportunity to
take the learnings I I've been in the
industry now for over 30 years and to be
able to take the learnings of both
culture and um, and discipline and to
apply all the things that have brought
together and to impact 13 brands. um is huge.
huge. >> Huge.
>> Huge.
>> I I mean to be able to um take it not
just in effect one brand but 13 brands and
and
>> and more to come
>> potentially more to come without
stealing any thunder. Um but to be able
to spread those and the people that you
have brought together under the
collection of savory um I know some of
your founders uh I mean uh without
naming some of the brands I mean like
you and I have had conversations where I
said hey you really should look at this
brand and you went uh I'm meeting them
tomorrow. I mean we are aligned on some
of them because some of the brands that
you have collected I think are amazing.
I mean, I think they're all amazing
brands that you've now that I've seen
under the covers, I'm like, "Wow, these
are even better than I thought from just
in an industry look where I go, "Wow,
that's a great brand." Now I look at
some of the stats, I'm like, "That's
even better than I thought."
>> So, how was it finally decided that
Savory was going to be your new team
that was going to be your new home? What
was the the deciding factor? Because I
know that you were looking at other
opportunities. Listen, recruiters in our
industry, when we have great leaders in
some of our brands, as you know, you get
calls all the time. When you're a CEO of
a of a thriving brand, you get you get
calls by recruiters and I know that you
had other opportunities. We had talked
about those opportunities and honestly
any of those brands would have been
lucky to have you, Clay, but you decided
to come to Savory. We were honored that
you decided to come to Savory. We're
excited about the future like you are.
But but why Savory? What was the final
deciding factor?
>> Yeah, there were three things. Um I
called it the three Ps. Um the first one
it was people. So first of all, the
founders, you you guys. Um, look, when
when you see the founders at the end of
their own conference breaking down the tables
tables
>> Oh god. [laughter]
>> Yeah. No, there's things like that. Um,
>> that's true. That's us
>> through your cleaning up at the end of
your own conference. Um, that says
something about the founders. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> The level of people that you have
brought into your team, uh, your
managing your your directors, your vice
presidents, the analysts. Uh, I've been
here talking to you at 7:00 and half
your team is still here working. Yeah.
>> Um, you you've got a dedicated group of
people here at Sabry supporting your
brands. Um, the the platform is here to
support the the the brands like it's
very clear. Um,
>> so the people
>> um and they're all dedicated
>> and they care.
>> They care.
>> Yeah. And sometimes those people I have
to fire them every night and say,
"You're rehired tomorrow morning, but
you have got to go. You got to go home." Yeah.
Yeah.
>> We don't require them to be here until 7
or 8. They were just here till
>> No, your your people, it's very clear
that they're dedicated, they're excited,
they're happy, they're hardworking, like
they're doing it for the right reasons.
>> Yeah, they are.
>> Um, you know, purpose is the second P.
Um, everyone is aligned around why why
they're here, why we're why they're
working so hard. We're here to support
the brands. The restaurants are
successful. Um, you know, we've worked
here um on a Friday night. um you know
these are operators supporting operators
um it's not just lip service um this is
um the the the values the integrity
those are some of the core values that
you guys have um
>> you know the character the the things
that are important um you know the th
those things mean something so the
purpose the the why why you're here it's
not just about a transaction or a sale
it's about building enduring brands
Um, and that's important to me. Uh, it's
not just about, hey, we're going to flip
this and, you know, and and sometimes
that that
>> with a whether it's a private equity or
portfolio and look, that's okay. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> That's part of the equation.
>> It's part of it,
>> but it's not the equation.
>> Exactly. Um, you know, uh, and then the
last one is is is the platform. I mean,
you've created a unique platform here
with multiple brands in various degrees
of their life cycle. um whether it's two
units or a 100 units, you know, and so
this will enable us to um leverage
synergies that'll allow us to look at
ways in which we can help each other. Um
and it's very unique. It's uh unlike any
other platform company in the industry.
Look, this will allow us to um amplify
the energy. It'll allow us to do more.
It'll allow us to bring in more. will be
um yeah the platform itself is amazing
and the ability to touch more brands and
to bring uh the experience that we
talked about before to 13 plus and more
brands. This will allow Savory to do
more to be more. Um it it it's going to
be huge
>> and that's what we're excited about the
most. I think with Savory first of all
we're in Salt Lake City, Utah and I
think that in the food and beverage
industry for years Salt Lake City, Utah
has always been a oh do people eat
there? Are there even brands there? It's
like, what are you talking about? I
mean, this is a thriving metropolis. The
economy here has been one that's been
one of the fastest growing on the Forbes
list for eight years running. Um, it's
>> we've built a few restaurants here.
>> It's thriving. We've built 145
restaurants here in the state. No one's
done that in the state of Utah other
than uh Sean and I and our team. And as
you look at it now, some amazing brands
have come from this market, too. Mhm.
>> And so I'm excited to have Savory be
part of the ecosystem that's grown great
brands out of here. Before us though,
before our time, the Cafe Rios of the
world, the Cafe Zupas, the
>> Crumble Cookies, Costa Vita, now we have
Mulettas, now we have Swig. There's just
some incredible brands that have come
out of the state. So, it's fun to be
established here. You know, the
difference between Savory versus all
other private equity, too. I don't know,
Clay, you you have a career working with
private equity. So do I. before I was
actually in this industry, I was a tech
CEO, had been backed by venture capital
and also private equity. And I always
remember them telling me, well, we're
going to do all of these things for you.
And when I was in this industry, which
by the way, that never came to pass.
Whenever they gave you money, they
didn't really come with much more than
just the money. And I remember in this
industry when we were doing really
really well at the beginning of our our
career building our bakery and cafe
concept out um as franchises, we had all
these private equity guys coming to us
saying, "Hey, can we give you money? Can
we give you money?" We're like, "Well,
yeah, sure. We'll use your money instead
of our only our own. Um what does it
come with? Is there anything else you
can help us with because we're just
learning this industry." And they're
like, "Well, you know, we have this, you
know, hot shot that's been part of, you
know, XYZ brand for 10 years and you can
call them and ask them for advice." I'm
like, "Advice? I I need help. Like I
don't know what I'm doing. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> And nobody existed that way. And so just
like all the other businesses I had
created in the past, I saw an
opportunity to make something that was
kind of stupid in my mind better. And
that's why I think that this is such a
persistent thing way beyond Clay Dover
or Andrew or Shauna. I believe that
Savory will exist for decades to come
because there's always that new cool hit
brand that needs what we have to offer
and that is the playbook for success.
the team, the people, the platform, and
the capital, right? Like, you need the
capital because it's a capital intensive
business um and segment, but um it just
doesn't exist, and I don't see anybody
else that's standing in our way. So,
Savory is not going to go uh stagnant.
We're going to be growing 10 times over
the next 10 years. Well, I think it's
also um look, I've worked with founders
and private equity throughout my career,
and the fact that we have both under the
same roof makes the decisions um so much
more critical, so much more thoughtful.
Um you know, I'm we're in the office
here now and, you know, we can run
across the the room and go, hey, what
about this, what about that? and the
ability to to learn frankly um more
about the capital side to be able to
have the conversations about how are we
allocating our capital you know are we
getting the best cash on cash for these
resources um that it's so unique um a
lot of times with private equity it's
just like okay here's this investment
now go on your way and you know make us
more money. Yeah. Um this is a
partnership in which we are going to go
out and go is this the best way you know
you're you're going to be going hey you
know we're looking at this brand and you
know hey how are we allocating this
capital like this is a it's all under
one roof uh savory has both the capital
has the platform the resources um it
it's it's an amazing thing that you guys
have built and um it's just it's just so
unique um it it is a one-of-a-kind
opportunity And you know, I think if if
I'm a founder out there, there is no
better place to to house a brand. No. Um
because from from you know, from a
founder standpoint, uh we're going to
care about your brand and growing it together
together
>> a lot more than most. I can tell you I
can tell you that firsthand.
>> Um you know, I've seen it. I've been
there. Um and you know, look, we're
going to have skin in the game. We're
going to want to make sure that we're
putting the right resources in the right
places. Um this is going to be a
founder. I mean it is being led by
founders. Um and the the fact that you
guys are um founders yourselves, you
operators yourselves. I mean this is a
first class organization where if I'm a
restaurant operator out there um and I'm
want to grow a brand and my brand, this
is where I would come. OB obviously.
>> I appreciate that. I was going to say
one of the things that my LPs or our LPs
have have asked me in the past is, you
know, where do you spend most of your
time? What is your focus? And I said,
you know, for for 29 years now, I've
woke up in the morning thinking, I've
got to go grow my business from this
level to the next level today. Even if
it's just by a centimeter, millimeter,
or mile. And I still think that way. As
a private equity GP, managing director
of the fund, I still think in my mind
every day, I've got to go work on that
brand to grow it because I'm an
operator. That's just how it is. when
most private equity firms they wake up
and say I've got to go and get this
board deck prepared or come up with this
financial metric so we can review it and
figure out what follow on financing is
we do that here but that's not where my
mind naturally goes to it goes to of
course growing a brand so we are true
operators have always been that way and
I don't think I ever get it out of my
blood I'm I'm an operator um another big
announcement for 2026 we we did our
first large close to fund three for
Savory $110 million you know our last
fund was 100 the previous fund before
that was 00. So, we've matched and
exceeded all expectations of Fund 3 in a
very difficult fundraising uh
environment in years. So, we're excited.
We have money to to spend. We're looking
for new brands and and founders to
partner with. We're continuing to raise
we'll be raising uh throughout the mid
mid part of this year. And so, we expect
to have a very successful fund three and
a very successful future in the next
couple of years as we deploy out
capital. So, another big announcement
for Savery here coming into 2026. Um,
so, uh, moving forward, I think that the
the the the key takeaways I think for
all of us, and I'd love to hear what you
think, you know, in 2026, what you
expect to have happen, like what you
foresee happening. For me, we're going
to take much bigger swings. Um, Sabry is
going to be swinging much bigger. It
doesn't mean that we're going to go buy
bigger brands. We're just going to be a
little bit more loud. Um, we're going to
be swinging a little bit harder and, uh,
we're going to be making some some real
strategic investments into not only our
our staff, our team, our platform, but
also into brands. Um, and of course more
support overall. This is an
institutionalized platform, but we're
disciplined around keeping it founder
led. Like you had said earlier, that's
something that that uh appealed to you
when you came over. And I I just want to
make sure that that sticks uh uh very
clear in people's minds that we are we
are founder um these brands are founder
and savory supported.
>> We say we're founder centric.
>> Founder centric. So what what do you
feel in 2026 is something that you're
excit most excited about? And then
Shauna, you two. Most excited about
>> most excited about. Okay, I'll go first.
Clay, give you a second to think on
this. I I
>> Well, so 2026, my word of the year. I I
I don't know if I'm ready to announce
it, but I think I have decided. [laughter]
[laughter]
>> You're announcing the word of the year.
>> Um, is welcome. And what I am most
excited about for 2026 is welcoming Clay
to the team. uh welcoming new ideas. I I
think a sign of intelligence is when you
can um change your mind and I love when
my mind can be changed or when my mind
is changed and I have a feeling Clay's
going to do that this year a lot and I'm
excited about that. I'm excited for Clay
to challenge the status quo and to help
us elevate borrowing from my word of the
year last year. Um and there's so many
other things I'm excited to welcome
challenges too. 2025 was a challenging
year and what I know for sure is
challenging years make for great
operators and our brands have felt it
but they've never been better operators
than they are today because of the
challenges since co and all of the
unpredictability since then. U so I'm
excited for 26 and welcoming hopefully
the tailwinds.
>> Bring on the tailwinds. >> Yes.
>> Yes.
>> I'm welcoming the tailwinds. That's
awesome. [laughter]
No, I think uh 2026 I'm excited about I
mean obviously joining and and um
getting involved and and being immersed
100%. I'm excited about joining a a
Speeding Bullet brand. Um that's going
to be obviously fun. Um I I think that
what I'm looking forward to is merging
culture and discipline together. I think
that a lot of times brands think that
they cannot be successful
um with with just you know metrics and
KPIs etc. I believe that culture is a
big part of successful brands. When you
look at the brands, some of the brands
that we talked about earlier, um culture
is part of it. Um and you can be
successful. Now, it doesn't mean that
it's just all culture, but it's culture,
discipline, and performance. Um, you
know, I think that each of our brands
here at Savory, while we leverage the
efficiencies and the synergies and we
find the areas in which we can, you
know, obviously why we have a platform,
each brand is going to be unique. You
know, I had a chance to sit down with
Brandon, one of the founders of VIA 313,
one of our brands, and like he told
>> he told me the story and it was amazing.
Like I'm getting chills just like
thinking about like spent an hour with
him in Austin and like
>> him telling me that story changed my
perception of that brand like it was
cool. Like I'm literally getting chills
right now like like totally different
and I've been to the brand. I've been to
this like toward and that but to have
the founder sit and tell me the story
about him and his brother and his mom
and Detroit and Austin like now I've got
a totally different perspective on that
brand. And I think that to unearth some
of those stories and to integrate them
into each one of our brands and make
them unique and whether it's Bon Rue
down in St. George, like I'm super
excited about that brand. Amazing branding.
branding.
>> Uh or Hawkers Caleb and that team
amazing. uh Sicilian like like Chef Joey
if you've met him. I mean we've got
amazing people within the platform
within the brands and how do we unear
them and bring that um culture out and
integrate those into the brand. Those
are traffic driving stories that will
translate into sales which which
translate into profits which will just
flow all the way through and create
opportunities to grow the brands even
more. So so it's exciting. Oh, I just
added to my list storytelling from Clay.
More storytelling. [laughter]
>> Storytelling I think is definitely one.
Yeah. I mean, look, if you if you think
about the brands, what you know, with
Velvet, it was intentional that it was a
rebellious brand. And you could
[laughter] rebellious. Think about that
brand like a a international rebellious
kind of attitude around tacos. Like, we
leaned into that day one. And I can show
you the the map that has said this is
how we're going to grow this brand. Same
with Raising Canes. I mean, like when
Todd laid out to us, here's what what I
want to do, and I'm going to have
restaurants all over the world,
>> you know, you're kind of like, okay,
this is just chicken fingers. No, this
is what we're going to do. And to have
people buy into that and believe, I
absolutely believe they will be the
largest restaurant concept one day.
>> I I believe so. I believe it.
>> I I believe that they'll surpass
Chick-fil-A. Personally,
>> they will. They will. They will. So,
it's like, yeah, when people say like,
"Oh, can you believe it?" I'm like,
"Yeah, absolutely.
>> Of course, I was there.
>> I was there. I I helped lay out the
original website. Yes. The story, the
pictures. Yes. So, yeah, I think that
once you lay those things out and and
put that brand, that personality around
it, and then you have the discipline and
you have the operators and you've got
I've seen the discipline that Savory
brings like like the metrics, the KPIs,
the operators. You've got great
operators. Uh I've toured some of the
restaurants. They are spotless. They are
clean. They are tight. Like I'm excited
about just expanding and like you said,
force multiplying some of these brands
are going to be amazing.
>> So my my word of the year is excellence. >> Yes.
>> Yes.
>> Um I want to do better work with fewer
things that I'm focused on at at Savory.
And one of the main things I was looking
at was leadership. Leadership in our
brands to make sure that they're ready
for the growth and and ready for the
storytelling and the marketing and the
playbook that we're going to apply. But
excellence. I'm I'm excited about an
excellent year in uh in execution across
the board with Savory.
>> So, moving to um some fun. So, I just
want to ask you a couple quick
questions. Um and I'm going to actually
actually include you too, Sean, on some
of these last ones because I want people
to know your answers, too.
>> So, things you're going to miss the most
about Dallas because Dallas, listen,
when people go there, they're like, "Oh
my gosh, it's amazing. I want to move
there." Well, you just moved away from
there. [laughter]
>> So, [clears throat] what's one thing
that you're going to miss the most about
Dallas? Uh 23 years of experiences and
memories of raising a family and kids.
I'm an empty neester now. So yeah, just
it's the memories. Yeah, the memories.
What are you most excited about here
living in Utah now?
>> Creating new memories. Um create
creating a legacy here with Savory. I
mean, it's all it's an empty page. It's
it's an adventure to be written.
>> It's a little bit more mountainous here.
>> Oh, it's beautiful. I mean, I'll tell
you, it's there's these giant mountains
everywhere. You you can't get lost.
>> No, you can't get lost. I go that way.
Yeah. I mean like you can totally find
your way around and all the streets are
numbered so you know where you are.
>> Can you go to Dallas? You're like I
don't know where anything. Am I going northwest?
northwest?
>> Yeah. No, you just get lost. It's just
all flat. [laughter]
>> One word to describe savory from your
perspective in 2026. One word.
>> World class. Um I mean world worldass.
Um unique. Um I I think of Yeah. I mean
it's just it's
>> those are two good words. I'll take
those. World class unique. Early
mornings or late nights, Clay?
>> Oh, late nights. Late nights for sure.
You know that I was on
>> for sure late nights for me. Shauna,
>> for sure late nights.
>> She is both. She is both.
>> It drives me nuts, too. She'll go to bed
when I go to bed immediat like at
midnight. She'll be up at 5:00 and I'm
like, I can't even see straight.
>> Yeah, that's crazy.
>> She is both.
>> I mean, I catch up, you know, the
weekends. That's what we
>> grief. I can't keep up. Uh, mountains or ocean.
ocean.
>> I grew up in Southern California. I'm
going to say oceans, even though I'm
moving to the mountains. Um, but it's
close. Okay, it's a close
>> ocean. Sea >> mountains.
>> mountains.
>> Mountains. Okay. I was actually
surprised by that. I grew up down there.
>> South on the beach, too. And there. It's
so charming. But I love these mountains.
>> What's your favorite long drive snack in
the car?
>> Baked Lays and a Diet Coke or a Monster
if it's a long drive.
>> Bake. Yeah. Monster if it's late night drive.
drive.
>> Baked Lays.
>> Baked Lays.
>> Baked Lay. Okay. You know, baked Lays
though, it's kind of it's it's false
marketing because you think that you're
eating them, they're healthy. They're
just as caloric.
>> They just taste good.
>> They taste good.
>> They just taste good.
>> Oh, I like those. Yeah. Yeah.
>> What do you like?
>> What's the taffy thing that has the peanuts?
peanuts?
>> Oh my. It It's awful. Big hunk. I feel
like I feel like you're going to break
all your pretty teeth out of your mouth
every time you're eating that. It's awful.
awful.
>> It's so good.
>> It's so good.
>> Favorite movie of all time. >> Gladiator.
>> Gladiator. >> Wow.
>> Wow.
>> Oh yeah.
>> I haven't heard that one for a while. >> Gladiator.
>> Gladiator.
>> Yeah. Well, Noah is like their favorite.
That's amazing. You
>> We ask that question a lot in our
culture interviews and
>> we're just making sure the culture is
going to fit here. It's fitting so far,
so it's good.
>> Yeah. And uh we don't get gladiator
much. That's what I'm saying. Gladiator
muscle pro.
>> Yeah, I know. That's a good one.
>> Oh my god. Um you know, it's a classic.
You've got mail.
>> You've got mail. That is on TV quite a
bit. That's pretty insane.
>> It's the happy It's the happiest movie
you put on in the background and you
immediately have like this mood lift.
It's great.
>> Mine throws people off. Mine's a Meet
Joe Black.
>> Yes, that's a great one. And if you
haven't seen it, everybody should just
stop and watch that one
>> because it's a good one. Uh, dream vacation.
vacation.
>> Anything where you can go and be
integrated into the culture. Like we
took a family vacation to Jamaica with
the kids when they were younger and we just
just
>> immerse yourself.
>> Yeah. We actually I mean stayed at a
resort but every day. [laughter]
No, but every day we went with a guide
and just said take us to wherever. It
worked out well until he took us to the
marijuana fields to which my son was
very intrigued by that. >> [laughter]
>> [laughter]
>> Yeah, like eating on the docks, like
pulling up lobsters, like just Yeah, it
was like very
>> So, anywhere you can be immersed. I like
that actually. I like that answer. You
>> um anywhere warm with delicious food and
my people. >> Okay,
>> Okay,
>> I'll go there. Yeah. Not cold.
>> And then lastly, what is your last meal
if you had to pick?
>> Ah, pizza. I love
>> Yes, that's mine, too.
>> I love pizza. I mean, pizza everyday.
Pizza, lunch, pizza, dinner, snacks, all pizza.
pizza.
>> I [laughter] love pizza.
>> I would eat pizza every meal.
>> It's so hard to choose. Um,
probably Italian. Good bowl of pasta,
something good.
>> My wife's new favorite is uh Via 313. I
took the family there the other night
and I'm supposed to stop on the way
back. So,
>> Very good.
>> Yeah, she's
>> It's so good.
>> Awesome. Well, this is the first of many
conversations that we're going to be
having with Clay and with Shauna um in
the future. But uh congrats Shauna.
>> Welcome Clay.
>> Thank you.
>> We appreciate you joining us. >> Yes.
>> Yes.
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