Building Community and Connection in Business with Aaron Morfin

**SPEAKER_1** (0:04)
The Bliss Business Podcast, the show about empathy, connection, and consciousness in business. Today's episode is brought to you by Zero Company, your paid search, social media, and programmatic ad experts.

**Mike Liwski** (0:17)
Yeah, I was just going to say, Steve, this week for Aaron must have been a little bit lighter than last week. I imagine he was probably pretty busy last week.

**Aaron Morfin** (0:26)
Yep. Crazy week last week. We actually just opened up a location in Lake Zerk, Illinois, which was our, I believe, 18th location. So we're nearing that 20 mark. So we're very excited and very, very grateful.

**Stephen Sakach** (0:43)
Well, we're going to make all of our audience hungry today for lunch. So let's get to it. Welcome to The Bliss Business Podcast Show, everyone, where we explore how empathy, connection, and purpose transform business from the inside out. I'm Stephen, joined by Mike, and today's conversation dives deep into how to build real community and authentic connection in business. Our guest today is someone who doesn't just talk about community, but he builds it plate by plate with his team. Mike, introduce our guest today.

**Mike Liwski** (1:16)
I love that, Steve, plate by plate. That is fantastic. Yeah, Steve. Super excited to welcome Aaron Morfin, the CMO of Cilantro Taco Grill, which is, as he mentioned, a rapidly growing family-owned restaurant brand that has become really a local favorite for authentic flavors, warm service and a true sense of community, which we will discuss a lot today on the show. Now, Aaron, he's a seasoned entrepreneur who believes in the power of relationships, both with customers and with his team, which again, we really love to talk about here on the show. Then under his leadership, Cilantro Taco Grill has grown from a single location to now a multi-unit brand, all while staying true to his family values and customer first philosophy, which prior to the show, he was telling us it was critical to their success. Aaron, we are really honored to have you with us here today. Welcome to the show.

**Aaron Morfin** (2:17)
Thanks a lot, Mike. I'm truly grateful to be here on behalf of my family and myself. Thank you so much. Thank you both for the outstanding introduction. But I honestly can't take full credit for all of this. This was a family effort and a team effort nonetheless ever since day one. My father started this 12 years back. He started the brand here in Stone Park, Illinois, like you said, in a very small corner spot in a suburb here in the outskirts of Chicago.
Fast forward 12 years later, here we are. I'm very thankful to be here and I'm excited to be sharing a little bit about our history and how we've built our community over the past 12 years and how it ties into our success.

**Stephen Sakach** (3:00)
Yeah, let's dive into that. Especially, you kind of built your reputation not just on grapefruit, but on that sense of family and connection. Can you share the story? I think it's a great story.

**Aaron Morfin** (3:11)
Yeah, sure. Let's backtrack a little bit. The inspiration behind the brand that my father started 12 years back all came from his father, my grandfather. My grandfather brought his kids and his wife to the United States back in the 80s, like many other families did, in hopes for a better life, you know, and through overcoming many adversities over those years, having to learn English from scratch, not knowing how to communicate with others, I think really taught my grandfather and my family a lot of hard work ethics. And at the end of the day, you know, they always came together and bonded over a nice warm dinner all together every night. And through that, I think really inspired my father to one day open up Cilantro Taco Grill and to start spreading the love of our culture and spread our love through our food, which is what my family has always done.

**Stephen Sakach** (4:09)
You know, my daughter yesterday, this is how I think Gen Z is as a consumer. She went and picked up some food at a place, right? And then we were talking about the place, and she told me about the former CEO who had been replaced several years ago. She told me about the current CEO. She's not a business made or she's just a Gen Z consumer, but she was really interested in what the brand stood for. And I think there's a stat from Harvard Business Review that 64% of consumers say shared values are the primary reason they have a relationship with the brand. And I was just thinking about that yesterday. Man, these are new consumers that are thinking deeper with a brand in mind.