VSAG - Key Persons
Joining our team in the spring of 2013, Amanda arrived to us from her role as a line cook for longtime hospitality partner, Founding Farmers, quickly becoming a highly valued culinary team member and our in-house research and development specialist.
After receiving a degree in Kinesiology from the University of New Hampshire, Amanda was based in Orlando where she worked as an entertainment industry marketing manager before relocating to Washington, DC to continue her marketing career at a local DC metro area promotional company.
Looking to take her career to the next level and follow her passion for F&B, Amanda enrolled in one of the nation's top culinary schools, L'Academie de Cuisine. A culinary arts internship brought her to the kitchens of Founding Farmers and within six months, Amanda was working side by side with Chef Joe Goetze assisting with menu development, training, and kitchen operations concepts for our hospitality partners across the globe.
Amanda enjoys every aspect of the F&B industry, working one-on-one with our partners, and guiding them in developing innovative, successful culinary concepts to help build their restaurant and hospitality business. Her experience, culinary creativity, and discipline serve her, and our partners, well in the vital role she plays within our company.
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner & Vice President of Restaurant Operations
Pursuing a career in the restaurant and hospitality industry wasn't as much of a choice for Amber, as it was a birthright.
As a child, Amber loved accompanying her mother to her grandmother's restaurant and to observe from the busy sidelines as her parents built their service business, which included a gas station and convenience store, which they still own as a family today and are expanding to include a full-service restaurant, under Amber's guidance.
Translating her early industry experiences to a degree in Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Management from Penn State University was a natural fit for Amber. In addition to her formal studies at Penn, she simultaneously held her first managerial hospitality position at the renowned Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa in nearby Farmington, PA.
After graduation, Amber went to work for a prestigious, national restaurant group and quickly rose to general manager, a position she thrived in for 13 years. Immersing herself in daily, high-volume restaurant operations and familiarizing herself with varying market landscapes, branding, team-building, and superior guest services from New York City and Los Angeles to Scottsdale, AZ, Boston, and later Washington, DC, gave Amber the industry know-how and diverse expertise we were looking for.
After almost two decades of full-scale operational management and hospitality leadership experience, Dan co-founded VSAG in 2004 with business partner and mentor, Michael Vucurevich. VSAG is rooted in our team of owners and operators who expertly guide our hospitality partners worldwide to F&B success.
In 2008, Dan and Mike V joined VSAG's longtime partner, the North Dakota Farmers Union, to form Farmers Restaurant Group. Under their collective direction, this award-winning, sustainable, farmer-owned, and LEED Certified brand of restaurants has grown to include Founding Farmers, Farmers Fishers Bakers, and Farmers & Distillers, as well as an innovative in-house distillery, Founding Spirits.
Dan believes that failures, past and future, are where character is formed and seen, where convictions are solidified, and where we learn.He blogs regularly @Dan Simons Says about finding success and lessons learned about owning and operating restaurants, personal productivity and time management, developing partnerships and brands, environmental and mental health issues, and a wide range of other topics. In addition, he teaches at his alma mater, The George Washington University (GW) in Washington DC, where he established GW's Scholarship for Sustainable Hospitality to help a GW School of Business student further their studies. Dan also dedicates his time and experience to causes close to his heart like DC Central Kitchen's training center. Recognized as an industry leader, Dan was named Ernst & Young's 2018 Entrepreneur of The Year Mid-Atlantic for his business acumen, novel approaches, and success.
As founder of Our Last Straw, a non-profit company devoted to eliminating the use of plastic straws, Dan is committed to raising awareness about the environmental and health hazards of single-use plastics. In the ongoing work of Our Last Straw, Dan, along with the coalition of like-minded restaurant and hospitality industry leaders he assembled, partners with government leaders and NGOs to lead the charge for change.
Lara's versatility, creativity, and dedication are just a few of the qualities that make her one of our principal players.
Central to our design and development team, Lara works tirelessly to get results. Leading new unit concepts, build outs, construction, permits, licensing, inspections, and more for our global hospitality partners, Lara remains involved and engaged with each project, and all the moving parts and players, every step of the way.
As a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional, Lara works side by side with contractors, architects, designers, engineers, local building officials, and our in-house team to develop sustainably built, designed, and outfitted spaces. Her passion for adhering to sustainable building standards, and always staying one step ahead of global construction and design benchmarks, Lara's concepts have garnered our partners coveted LEED and Green Restaurant Association (GRA) certifications.
"Lara stands out," says Dan. "She simultaneously masters the intensity of restaurant openings and remodels, all the while becoming the most incredible boss and developer of people."
Michael Vucurevich has made a career of leading complex, high-volume restaurants to success. His track record in hospitality building and evolving restaurant brands puts him in a select group of industry leaders. His passion for his team and for operational systems that deliver sound financial success, combined with his unmatched creative abilities, make him one of the most respected concept developers in the world.
Known affectionately as "Mike V" to his team, and the countless managers who have worked for him over the years who are now owners, operators, and hospitality leaders themselves, his industry relationships run deep.
From running his first high-volume kitchen at age 19 to operating some of the country's best-known restaurants, including 11 years as EVP of operations at The Cheesecake Factory where he opened more than 100 restaurants across the U.S., Mike V brings his hands-on approach, decades of experience, and unique vision to every hospitality brand he touches.
Joining forces with Dan Simons in 2004, Mike V continues to dedicate his expertise and passion for the hospitality industry to transform good ideas into great businesses for our global partners.