Excessive threat usually results in excessive reward. Simply ask Damola Adamolekun.
The 36-year-old CEO behind Purple Lobster’s comeback shared throughout a latest episode of Fortune’s new vodcast, “The CEO Playbook,” hosted by Ruth Umoh, how not fearing threat—and extra importantly, failure—has been the driving drive behind his profession within the chain restaurant trade.
“Danger by itself isn’t one thing to keep away from,” he stated. “There simply must be an satisfactory return.”
“You don’t wish to take dangers for no purpose,” he continued. “But when there’s a giant alternative that might change your life, but it surely’s dangerous, relying on what the return is, I’m prepared to take these dangers.”
He added, “Investing is the enterprise of threat evaluation, and I believe you need to handle your profession the identical approach. I believe folks ought to weigh threat and return in any main profession resolution that they make.”
When Umoh requested how this philosophy utilized to him stepping as much as the plate at Purple Lobster, he stated the chance was so manifestly within the reward.
“I believe this may be the best comeback within the historical past of the restaurant trade, and to guide that may be a once-in-a-lifetime alternative,” he defined.
“Now, after all, it’s dangerous,” he continued. “I took over the corporate that was bankrupt and had plenty of issues, so there’s an opportunity it doesn’t go properly, and I perceive that, however there’s additionally the chance that we might flip it round.”
In that chance, he stated, lies “the chance and reward.”
He famous that the willingness to take threat—and one’s threshold for risk-to-reward ratio—differs from individual to individual. “Some folks refuse to set bold targets as a result of they’re afraid of failure. I’m not afraid of that. I don’t thoughts setting actually excessive targets, and I don’t thoughts going after tough issues.”
Adamolekun joined Purple Lobster in August 2024, simply months after the seafood chain filed for Chapter 11 chapter in Might of that 12 months. Since then, he’s led what many are calling one of the vital stunning restaurant turnarounds in latest reminiscence. A former P.F. Chang’s government, he’s revitalized the model by balancing nostalgia with reinvention—bringing again fan-favorite menu gadgets, including long-requested seafood boils, and responding on to buyer suggestions, generally making modifications inside days.
He’s additionally reimagined the chain’s expertise from prime to backside: modernizing décor and music, making a extra energetic environment, and reestablishing Purple Lobster as a cultural hub. Below his management, the model has hosted buzzy influencer dinners, group occasions, and even Ciara’s album-release celebration.
Throughout the vodcast episode, Umoh requested what his subsequent bold plan is perhaps.
The CEO laughed earlier than replying, “To save lots of Purple Lobster—that’s sufficient.”
