Nick Sarillo

Nick Sarillo is a successful business owner, author, and speaker on topics such as business culture, entrepreneurship, leadership, and customer loyalty. His own businesses exemplify how embodying a company’s purpose and values leads to a world-class culture with award-winning customer service, higher margins, and an engaged, productive workforce.

Nick Sarillo is the founder and CEO of Nick’s Pizza & Pub and The Trust & Track Institute. Established in 1995, Nick’s Pizza & Pub ranks among the top ten busiest independent pizza companies in per-store sales in the United States, boasting margins nearly twice that of the average pizza restaurant. In an industry where the average annual turnover rate exceeds 150 percent, Nick’s Pizza & Pub maintains a turnover rate of less than 25 percent—a notable achievement given that more than 70 percent of his employees are under 25. The Trust & Track Institute provides hands-on experiential learning and offers both one and two-day classes as well as online training courses.

An active member of the Conscious Capitalism and Small Giants Communities, Sarillo also serves on the board of directors for San Francisco-based DABBA Restaurants. Prior to founding Nick’s Pizza & Pub, he worked in the construction business as a union carpenter and a general contractor, running a custom home building company for 11 years.

Nick Sarillo's business success is attributed to his purpose-driven culture, which he explores in his book "A Slice of the Pie: How to Build a Big Little Business" (Portfolio; 2012). He also contributes to The Business Journals Small Business Works. A two-time TEDx speaker, Sarillo frequently addresses topics like business culture, entrepreneurship, leadership, and customer loyalty at various meetings and conventions. His Trust & Track Leadership™ model, which focuses on building trust and tracking team performance, is highly regarded.

Sarillo’s insights and business methods have been featured in leading publications such as The New York Times, The Economist, Inc. Magazine, and Fast Company, and he has appeared on NBC’s Nightly News in a segment that showcased his “It’s a Wonderful Life” story. Authors and scholars have visited Nick’s restaurants to study his management style, as documented in several business culture publications.

Committed to his community, Sarillo donates five percent of all sales from his restaurants to charitable causes. His operational practices include the use of recycled barn wood in constructing his restaurants and creating "safe spaces" within his team environments. Nick’s restaurants have won the National Restaurant Association/American Express “Good Neighbor Award” four times and have been highlighted in Chicago’s Best for having “Great Pizza and [a Great] Company.”