Panera Bread Body Surfing
Ron Shaich, founder and CEO of Panera Bread, compared building his company to body surfing. “You have to jump in and go where the waves take you,” he said.
Shaich’s journey started 30 years ago. He dove in to create a campus convenience store in college. After school, he started with a single 400-square foot cookie store and showed micro-ambition. He acquired Au Bon Pain and fixed it.
Au Bon Pain grew. Shaich had the presence to sense new opportunities and the guts to act on them. Dramatically, he sold Au Bon Pain to focus on Panera Bread because he sensed saw a blue ocean opportunity that pioneered the fast-casual restaurant market.
Today, the fast-casual market is a $125 billion; Panera Bread is the largest company in the category.
This series tells the Panera Bread story using Shaich’s body surfing metaphor. Images from the best surf photographers in the world form the foundation of each post. The first lesson, Dive In, is inspired by photographer Tim McKenna.
Thank You to These World-Renowned Artists
I had a blast choosing these images. These photographers are among the best in the world according to Surfer Magazine and Surfer Today. Each graciously granted me permission to share their work in this article. Please visit their sites if you find them as inspirational as I do!
Tim McKenna inspired Dive In, The Panera Pandemic Pivot and Too Many Fields of Dreams
Sarah Lee inspired Fight Through Barriers and Decisive Moments
Christa Funk inspired Keep Trying the Next Wave
Mike Coots inspired Entrepreneurial Tribes and Failure Builds Growth, Mastery, and Trust
Paul Surf inspired Be Micro-Ambitious
Jeff Divine inspired Fix It
Amber Mozo inspired Blue Ocean Strategy
Luki O’Keefe inspired The Panera Blue Ocean
Hugh Macleod at Gapingvoid inspired Innovation is Culture, Not Technology.
This is the master post of a daily series about Panera Bread. Subscribe below to receive an email as each new post is shared.
