In this week’s episode, I sit down with Damon Biggins for Part 1 of a two-part conversation where we discuss his amazing career, creating a culture, reproducing that culture internationally, and why culture matters.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Damon discusses his start in the restaurant business with McDonald’s and how that took him to a little known burrito joint in Austin, TX back in 2003.

We also talk about becoming a Restaurateur at Chipotle and the meeting I was in as a new Regional Director where I nominated him to open Canada as a part of Chipotle’s international expansion. From there Damon went onto open Paris and worked internationally for 7 years before returning home to the US and to the great state of Texas.

And this is just part one! You can probably see why I had to split this conversation into two parts!

I know many of you have been waiting for this conversation with Damon, so here is part one of an incredibly powerful conversation.