From Intern to the Helm of a Popular Southwest Chain

“I’m pretty much a career restaurant nerd,” says Joseph Ortiz, MBA ’06, president and chief operating officer of Farmer Boys restaurants. The Whittier native completed his undergraduate degree at Cal State Long Beach. But it wasn’t until Ortiz entered the UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business’ MBA program that he felt serendipity at play.

“I got accepted into several other business schools, but I went with UCI because it was smaller,” Ortiz recalls, noting that he believed he’d benefit from a more intimate program. “Plus, I was paying for school on my own, and they offered me a good financial package, which told me that they really wanted me there.”

At UC Irvine, Ortiz connected with a mentor who recognized his talent and eventually recommended him for an important internship at the corporate headquarters of Southern California-based Panda Express. From then on, Ortiz’s career path was set.

This is not to suggest that the food industry was an obvious choice. “Going into the restaurant industry from business school is probably not a traditional path,” he says. “But for me it was a strategic choice. Maybe it’s not as glamorous as tech or some other industries, but it’s where my skill set really stood out.”

Ortiz worked at several restaurant and food companies, mostly in finance positions, for 14 years before accepting the role of Farmer Boys vice president of finance and accounting five years ago. A little over two years ago, he was offered the top spot of president and chief operating officer. The chain, which is still held by five brothers from a farm family in Cyprus, operates more than 100 restaurants serving breakfast, burgers, salads and sandwiches in Arizona, California and Nevada. (Ortiz recommends the Hog Heaven breakfast burrito or, on the healthier side, the Cobb salad with house-made ranch dressing.)

Ortiz says his UC Irvine MBA training not only set his course but also exposed him to many of the decisionmaking processes he uses today. “Sometimes as a student you don’t always have the perspective to understand why you’re doing every assignment,” Ortiz says. “But now I often come across a problem and remember certain tasks we did in business school, and I’ll think, ‘Ah! That’s what that was for.’”

At work, he has two primary focuses: his restaurant employees and the customers.

“I always say that as a company, we make our money 10 or 15 bucks at a time,” Ortiz notes. “The person who is serving that meal, the person who is cooking it – those are the most important people in our system. That’s who is making direct contact with the customer, and that’s who is determining the customer’s experience.”

As a kid, Ortiz overcame a stutter with hard work and speech therapy. He credits his parents for encouraging him to not let anything hold him back. His mother’s and father’s families emigrated from Mexico, and Ortiz was a first-gen college student. He says he comes from the same background as a lot of his restaurant workforce.

“I wear my UCI sweatshirt and hat often so that kids who might be from the same place where I started will see that there are possibilities out there if you work hard, remain curious and focus on your goals,” Ortiz says.