Meet Jim Lawlor | C.O.O.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jim Lawlor and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jim, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Charlie (President of PPF) and I had done restaurant business together in the past, and he had kept this 100+ year old family recipe book from where he grew up, and still lives (N. Alabama area). He HATED pickles but when his wife had followed a recipe and made sweet gourmet pickles from that family book, he tried them… and LOVED them. He thought to himself, “If I like these pickles and I really can’t stand pickles, maybe others will too”… I used my extensive 25+ years of experience in the restaurant business to formulate the recipe (remember back then it was “a pinch of this, and some of that” when recipes were written) and we found a small artisan packer here in the N. Atlanta area to make some jars for us. We then contacted a local design school that I was familiar with and provided a scholarship to them in Pickled Pink Foods name (Charlie’s wife ended up naming the company). TWe then began to work with the school on label design, website design, photography, and a few other items. 3 months after conception we found ourselves as a vendor at the July Atlanta International Home and Gift Market (2013), and at that show with just 1 product, we were able to sell to almost 100 regional gourmet stores around the country. After that, we were off the ground running.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Originally from the New York CIty area, I went to Florida State University and earned a degree in the Hotel and Restaurant management program graduating in 1990. I came to Atlanta to work for the Peasant Restaurant Group as a kitchen manager out of school, and from there was promoted to Assistant General Manager at age 24. After that, I became the General Manager of one of their locations by age 27. Ultimately a co-worker and I purchased 2 of the locations from the parent company in 2001 and over the next 12 years continued my journey in the restaurant industry. After getting out of ownership in 2008, I then helped open a fine dining Italian Restaurant in Atlanta, and subsequently also went on to become Director of Operations for a fast-casual concept based down on the Florida Gulf Coast. Ultimately I met Charlie when I was General Manager of a restaurant that he owned, and after a year or so of work/friendship, he sold out his part, and the Pickled Pink Foods journey began.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Atlanta has certainly changed in the 32 years I’ve been here (the Olympics had a lot to do with it)… The new “hot spot” is what we call the beltline in Midtown so we’d start there: Lot’s of breweries, bars, and unique restaurants are along the path you can walk, or ride a bike for many miles and the skyline and scenery is unmatched. As a sports fan, a trip to the new Braves stadium (opened 3 years ago) home of the World Champion Atlanta Braves would be a must if in-season, or maybe a Falcons game at Mercedes Stadium or Hawks NBA game at State Farm Arena would be in line. We’d also need to finish off a night at one of the great Steak Houses in Atlanta such as Bone’s, Little Alley’s, NY Prime, or Hal’s just to name a few.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We want to shout out to our families who allowed us when starting out to travel to and attend as many shows as possible to get our product into the consumer’s hands. Fall of 2014 found us between September and mid-December becoming a vendor at some 10 shows from Raleigh, Richmond, and Nashville down to Jackson (MS), Montgomery, and Birmingham… 10 shows in about 14 weeks, we were “on the road” from Wednesday to Sunday most of that fall. Then the following year we went to more national shows even at just 1 1/2 -2 years old as a company…. From NYC to Anaheim and San Francisco, Chicago to New Orleans and Baltimore, we were doing all we could to get in front of whomever we could! There were many birthdays, holidays and anniversaries either missed or cut short due to the mission. Without their support, we wouldn’t have been able to continue this course.

Website: www.pickledpinkfoods.com

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