SAN ANTONIO – The latest Pickup Lines segment features Churchill High School grad and Bill Miller Bar-B-Q CEO Jim Guy Egbert, along with South San High School grad and Whataburger corporate chef James Sanchez.
Egbert enjoyed a successful corporate career at AT&T and then in real estate before being asked to run the iconic San Antonio restaurant chain.
“He (Balous Miller) told me he was thinking about stepping down and asked if I’d like to be considered for his role,” Egbert said. “He said they had been interviewing candidates and my name had come up. I had never submitted my name and never thought about getting into retail. I didn’t think it was in my plan.”
Egbert won unanimous support and approval from the board and became CEO, running the company’s 74 Bill Miller locations and six Laguna Madre properties across San Antonio and South and Central Texas.
Meanwhile, James Sanchez was introduced to sales and the food industry at an early age.
“My father had a good living, but as a kid, he worked for my grandfather’s produce business,” Sanchez said. “He picked tomatoes and went around the country, Indiana and so on. He followed that lifestyle of picking vegetables and so he did well to keep us in middle class and above.”
Sanchez later went on to attend the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and worked as a culinary instructor at St. Philip’s College before joining Whataburger. He now oversees the company’s more than 1,100 restaurants in 17 states.
Watch the full Pickup Lines with Jim Guy Egbert and Chef James Sanchez in the video player above.
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Ernie Zuniga started Pickup Lines, a digital talk show, straight from his vehicle. The segments feature a diverse range of guests, including executives, small business owners, and everyday individuals, as they share personal journeys, news, and stories.
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