High-Flying Operator: Former Helicopter Pilot soars by Building his Business

Name: Talisin Burton
Title: Managing Member
Company: Burton Foods
No. of units: 14 Dunkin’, 1 Baskin-Robbins, 1 Jimmy John’s
Age: 44
Family: Wife Megan, 4 children, Talisin Jr., 13, Greyson, 11, McKinley, 10, Harley, 6
Years in franchising: 8
Years in current position: 8

Tali Burton is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who became a Marine Corps helicopter pilot and completed two tours of duty in Iraq. When he returned to the U.S. to be a flight instructor, he also started an executive master’s degree program at the University of Southern California. His thesis fit right in with some thinking he’d been doing about business: He wrote about Dunkin’ and where it might find its future. The answer was in California, and with Burton.

He was helped along the way by Bob Fox, the father of one of Burton’s longtime friends and the owner of several Wendy’s. Step by step, Burton established a portfolio of Dunkin’ locations. He made a short sidestep into ownership of a couple of other brands, but didn’t like the results.

But when Inspire Brands bought Dunkin’ and Burton saw Jimmy John’s in Inspire’s expanding portfolio, he thought the two brands might click. He also found that the San Diego area needed more sandwich shops. He started with one location in San Clemente, and that became the baseline learning experience for the 27-unit Jimmy John’s development agreement Burton is carrying out.

Eight years in, Burton is no longer a franchise newbie. He is balancing work and family and says he’s figured out what works for both. “I try to make $100 mistakes, not $1,000 ones,” he says, and emphasizes that opening more stores will never come at the cost of his family.

PERSONAL

First job: USMC officer, UH-1N pilot. After I graduated from the Naval Academy, I was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. From there I went to flight school to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming a pilot.

Formative influences/events: Bob Fox, mentor/business partner. I grew up with Chris Fox, Bob’s oldest son. I was always impressed that Bob never missed a single basketball game that Chris played in. That flexibility of schedule—while also being able to give an opportunity to so many great people at the stores—really drove me to learn from Bob and to find my way to the QSR industry. 

Key accomplishments: I have been blessed with a wonderful family, a great and patient wife, four awesome kids, and a job that I truly love. It is my dream and my best accomplishment to bring those two loves together and to have my children working with me and eventually take over this company.

Biggest current challenge: Doing business in California. The legal landscape and laws that had good intentions but have become get-rich-quick schemes for lawyers are a huge challenge to any growing business trying to employ large numbers of people in California. We have lawyers sending us legal cases for employees that never even worked with us. We have to spend time and money to prove that they didn’t work here. It’s a system that needs to be addressed—not only for business owners, but also because it hurts the individual employees.

Next big goal: Continue our growth and add 100 new jobs in San Diego in 2024. 

First turning point in your career: Understanding that hiring good people is the first step to success. I used to only hire people with restaurant experience, but what I learned is that good people who have drive, even without experience, will do more in the long run than an unmotivated person who has experience.

Best business decision: Having a mentor and surrounding myself with people I can trust.

Hardest lesson learned: You can’t trust everyone. Coming from the Marine Corps, we inherently trust those around us to do the right thing even when no one is looking. It was my expectation that such trust was a human trait, not just a Marine Corps trait. While there are wonderful people I do everything I can to surround myself with, there also are people who will cut corners or worse. You have to be aware of that to be a business leader.

Work week: Even when the stores are closed, we continually have people baking and cleaning, so we really don’t have a work week. But I do my best to block time for my family and to coach my boys in lacrosse and my girls in soccer.

Exercise/workout: Not as much as I should, for sure, but I do play old-man hockey on Thursday nights and coach a bunch of my kids’ teams. For the most part, the job keeps me on my feet and the kids at home keep me running around, so I tend to rely on that for PT.

Best advice you ever got: Celebrate the successes and don’t get bogged down by the setbacks.

Early on, it is really easy for business owners to concentrate on the issues. One major setback can kill a company, but I was told a while back that if that is all you concentrate on, you will run yourself and your people out.

What’s your passion in business? Great food, great people, great relationships. We serve the best quick-service food in the business. No one ever should leave a Dunkin’ without more joy than when they entered it. We serve products that make everyone happy. Our people are the backbone of the business, and we have some really great ones. I am blown away daily by our folks.

How do you balance life and work? I would say I’m getting better at it, but you should really ask my wife. I think early on it is really hard when your business is a newborn and takes a ton of attention 24/7. As the business matures, just like any child, it requires less and less from the parent.

Guilty pleasure: Chicken wings. Originally, I’m from Rochester, New York, about an hour from Buffalo, so I can’t go very long without a dozen wings as hot as we can make them.

Favorite book: Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss. I know it’s a children’s book, but I think in the end that the message is that you will have ups and downs. You will see a lot in your life, but it is what you do with those experiences and how you interpret those experiences that will define you.

Favorite movie: Memphis Belle and  Gettysburg. Both are historical dramas. They are what this country was built on, overcoming struggle in the defense of others.

What do most people not know about you? My first job out of the Marine Corps was writing spine surgical techniques for Alphatec Spine (now ATEC Spine). 

Pet peeve: People who want things but don’t want to work for them.

What did you want to be when you grew up? A pilot. My grandfather took me to the Wings of Eagles Air Show when I was around 7, and I knew from then on that I wanted to fly. I would draw all sorts of airplanes, but it wasn’t until after college that I had the time or money to become a pilot.

Last vacation: Last weekend, my wife, kids, and I went to Launch Pointe at Lake Elsinore, California, and rented a tent. It was a blast. We spent most of the day in the lake. That night, we had a campfire and just hung out as a family.

Person I’d most like to have lunch with: My grandmother and grandfather. They were a huge driving force in my life. But as a young kid and then young man, I don’t think I learned as much as I should have from them. I would like to have that opportunity back.

MANAGEMENT

Business philosophy: Hire trustworthy people who are smarter than I am. I can teach anyone this business, but to perfect it takes a special, dedicated person.

Management method or style: I am pretty hands-on. My partners and team do their best to give me information before I ask so that I don’t get too far into the weeds on things that don’t need my attention. If I could, I would be working the drive-thru every day and greeting customers, but that is not scalable.

Greatest challenge: The evolution from a small business to a larger business. As a small business, it is possible for someone with drive to muscle a business out of trouble. If an employee calls, then no problem—jump in and fix it. But in a large business, you can’t single-handedly plug those holes. So you need great people and processes that allow others to make decisions.

How do others describe you? I hope trustworthy, loyal, and compassionate.

One thing I’m looking to do better: Listening.

How I give my team room to innovate and experiment: With trust comes the ability for the team to try things and fail without the thought that it was negligent.

How close are you to operations? I work with the team daily to recognize successes, address challenges, and push forward on improvements.

What are the two most important things you rely on from your franchisor? We ask them to be good partners. In the end, they influence our operations and sales daily, whether positive or negative, through decisions we have little or no control over, so we rely on them to make the best decisions possible for the entire network.

What I need from vendors: Reliability. Fulfill the contract or task you have been assigned. It seems simple, but things happen. Unfortunately, if my vendors don’t do their jobs, we are the ones in front of the customer. We can’t say, “Sorry, we don’t have that. The truck didn’t come.” The customer doesn’t normally care why and will place the blame, right or wrong, on the name on the building.