Today on ‘Staring at the World’ podcast, we sit down with Marc Malnati, to discuss some of our all time favorite pizza, Lou Malnatis and how it all came to be. Marc Malnati, owner of Lou Malnati’s Pizzerias, graduated from Indiana University in 1977, eight months before his father and founder, Lou, died of cancer.  Under Marc’s leadership, Malnati’s experienced tremendous growth, going from two pizzerias to over 60 throughout the Chicagoland area, along with outposts in Arizona, Indiana and Wisconsin.   

Marc believes strongly that culture is the most critical part of a business and has built a relational business model which calls for investing time in the pursuit of personal and professional growth.  As a result, management turnover at Malnati’s is only 7% in an industry where the norm is 30%.  In addition, 2020 was the 11th year in a row that Lou Malnati’s was named one of the top workplaces by The Chicago Tribune and was named a National Top Workplace as well.   

Marc received Chicagoan of the Year award from Chicago Magazine in 1996 for his involvement in the opening of a Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria in Chicago’s under-resourced Lawndale neighborhood.  

He has appeared on many television programs, including The Talk, The Drew Barrymore Show, Steve Harvey, Food Network and defeating Bobby Flay in 2009 on his hit TV show “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” and the “Daily Show with Jon Stewart” for his attention grabbing challenge to Stewart, who criticized Chicago-style deep dish pizza.   Marc and Jeanne, his wife of 40 years, live in Chicago and have three adult children and four grandchildren.

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On this episode we sit down with world famous guitarist, Joe Satriani to discuss his new album ‘The Elephants of Mars’. Joe Satriani is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his career, Satriani worked as a guitar instructor, with many of his former students achieving fame, including Steve Vai, Larry LaLonde, Rick Hunolt, Kirk Hammett, Andy Timmons, Charlie Hunter, Kevin Cadogan, and Alex Skolnick; he then went on to have a successful solo music career.

He is a 15-time Grammy Award nominee and has sold over 10 million albums, making him the bestselling instrumental rock guitarist of all time. The band for The Elephants of Mars marries players from Satriani’s universe both past and present. Legendary drummer Kenny Aronoff (John Fogerty, Smashing Pumpkins) is back for his second consecutive tour of duty with the guitarist following his initial debut on Shapeshifting. Bassist Bryan Beller slips inside the liner notes for the first time since 2015’s Shockwave Supernova. Longtime associate Eric Caudieux has been in the Satch orbit since 1998’s Crystal Planet and also produced the album, collaborating on the mixes with Greg Koller (Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce). Rai Thistlethwayte is the newest addition, beaming in from overseas where he was splitting his time between Australia and Tasmania.

We had a great conversation and hope you enjoy it!

A special thank you to our sponsor BeBOLD Bars. Go to www.BeBOLDBars.com and use code BOLD for 20% off your order.

Check out our other great, guitar player episodes with Paul Gilbert and Steve Vai!!

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On this episode we are Staring at the World with Gerry Beckley of the band America, known for hits like, a Horse With No Name. Gerry Beckley, the illustrious singer, songwriter, performer and co- founder of legendary band America, has released his fourth album for Blue Élan Records. Aurora is out NOW and available on all streaming and retail outlets.

A special thank you to our sponsor BeBOLD bars, all natural energy bars! Go to www.BeBOLDbars.com for 20% off your order!

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