When Lauren and Chad Coulter entered their careers, working “just” 40 hours a week felt like a breeze compared to the time they’d dedicated during pharmacy school and residency. Fairly quickly, Chad began researching additional opportunities, and the couple opened two “paint and sip”  franchises in Louisville, Kentucky. After about two and a half years, they sold those businesses and founded a wine bar and restaurant concept. Then, they began developing Biscuit Belly, a now-quickly growing brunch concept with one of the boldest models in the industry. 

“Chad left the pharmacy world to be full-time with our businesses, and I went down to part-time,” Lauren said. “I ultimately ended up giving my notice to Humana in December of 2019. I was going to leave in March of 2020 to also be dedicated to the business full-time. My last day at that job ended up being the last day everyone was there — someone got COVID, and 20,000 employees were sent home. Leaving this and stepping into entrepreneurship full-time was terrifying, but having the capacity to devote 100% of my time and energy to what we were building was brand new.”

While the Coulters loved the wine bars, they came with a different set of demands. Lauren explains that, with the wine bars, the guests wanted to eat at the same time, but she and Chad wanted to eat as a family. If something went wrong or they needed to step in as owners, the demand often came at inconvenient times. The brunch model didn’t have this setup, and it allowed for better work-life balance.

“So, we sold the five wine bars and put all of our eggs in the Biscuit Belly basket,” Lauren said. 

Now, on a day-to-day basis, she serves as the integrator. Project managing through things like new roll-outs and the implementation of new systems, Lauren works with the team to help figure out which hurdles exist and what she can do to alleviate them.

“I’m into the nitty-gritty day-to-day things, and Chad is more of the visionary,” she said. “He has the ideas, and we all work together to make them happen when we can. He and I have very distinct lanes, and I think that’s how we’ve been able to work together so well. We each do what we do, we do it well, and we don’t have a lot of crossover.”

While Biscuit Belly is a warm, welcoming and sometimes whimsical brand, it is very clearly grounded in strategy and operational excellence.

“We’re way past the ‘fun passion project’ aspect of the venture in the sense that this is our life. This is what we do,” she said. “We’re all in. We want our team to feel the fun and the whimsy, and we definitely want our guests to feel that way. But ultimately, we are a business. When the rubber meets the road, clarity, consistent communications, and treating people well have helped us.”

Acknowledging that Biscuit Belly is a young brand, Lauren emphasizes just how important it has been to implement proper systems and maintain strong teams.

For example, a few years ago, she led an overhaul of sorts. Even if the team had previously invested in a tool or technology, she wanted to make sure it was providing value “now.” No matter how many insights it provided, if there was no one looking at those insights or if the insights were not actionable, they chose to stop using the program.

“We focused hard on hospitality and the guest experience. We have only added systems that will help with that,” she said. “Ovation is a platform that helps us hear from the guests and get feedback — positive or negative — before they take to Google Reviews. It also helps inform how we train our teams and what we focus on from an operations perspective. That has improved the guest experience, and it has helped our operators.”

Maintaining a balance of interest in and commitment to evolution and improvement, where possible, while recognizing and welcoming input from other leaders in various fields has helped the Coulters strike a balance and forge a path forward for themselves and the brand.

“We’re great with business and people, but we’re not food scientists or experts in restaurant operations. Our formal education is in pharmacy,” Lauren said. “What I love about what we do is that we’re both not afraid to say ‘We don’t have a clue’ or ‘We need a lot of help.’”

While this skill is important for anyone considering a career transition like the one the Coulters made, Lauren said it’s especially important — and can be especially inspiring — for women entrepreneurs, specifically.

“I’m continually so inspired by how much women are willing to share from a development perspective. I think it’s important to have a group of women to surround you,” she said. “It’s easy to get caught up in the minutia of how we are going to survive where we are right now. When you’re able to get advice from women who are older or more experienced, they really help bring the perspective. They can help you play chess, not checkers, and set you up to make your life better in the long run. I’m always inspired by women who help do that and are willing to share, and as we grow, I’m excited to do the same for other women in the space.”

To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/biscuit-belly.