Serial entrepreneur, award-winning restaurateur, millennial whisperer are just a few ways to describe Mike Knapick. Someone who truly needs to be seen in person to appreciate the myriad of skills he brings to the table, Knapick is a whirlwind of energy, enthusiasm and leadership qualities which draw people to his contagious personality.

Foregoing a successful career in finance and insurance, in 2003 Knapick embarked on a journey into an industry he had little experience with, and over the next 16 years, built a multi-unit, multi-concept, multi-market restaurant operation which included 14 Jimmy John’s and 12 Dunkin’ Donuts spread between northern Indiana and southern Michigan, as well as three Bar Louie gastropubs in Mishawaka and Indianapolis, Indiana. Liquidating his Jimmy John’s operation in 2018, Knapick signed development agreements with CoreLife Eateries in Columbus, Ohio and Pedal Pub Party Bikes in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale markets to continue to expand his portfolio. . . there is no end in sight for the Chicago native.

Having earned the rare distinction of being named Franchisee of the Year with two different national brands (Jimmy John’s 2008 & Bar Louie 2018), Knapick’s entrepreneurial passion still lies in developing future leaders for his teams. Finding ways to develop talent, passion and enthusiasm in people who never knew they possessed those skills, Knapick measures success not by the number of sandwiches, coffees or martinis he sells, but by the success, both personally and professionally, of the people he surrounds himself with.

A father of two (Melissa, 24 & Danny, 21), Knapick recently celebrated 25 years of marriage with his wife, Pam.

Mike’s Presentations and Unique Style

Mike’s presentations include:

• How to Build a Business from Scratch with your People
• Millennial Whisperer

As his audiences can attest, success has not gone to the down-to-earth Mike’s head. Rather, what he brings to the table is not just food for thought but a genuine desire to touch other people’s lives so he can share with them the lessons he has learned. A very visual and physical person as a speaker, Mike is dynamic, engaging, passionate and humorous, and he occasionally makes his points in delightful and unexpected ways, bringing a three-dimensional aspect to his talks and allowing him to speak with his audiences rather than to them.

“Decoding the Millennial Language”

Mike’s featured presentation focuses on a journey in analyzing differences between the active generations, understanding what events created the Millennial generation, and how to maximize the energy and optimism of new entrants to the current workplace.

Key Learning Objectives:

• Downloading other generations to Millennials
• Decoding the Millennial language
• Tools to harness Millennial energy and enthusiasm
• Utilizing techniques and understanding how to get the most out of our Millennial coworkers

As the end of this session attendees will be able to understand today’s unique workforce, which for the first time in history features three different active generations. Attendees will understand how to decode the language, talents and skill sets of Baby Boomers, Gen X’ers and Millennials, an essential skill for success in today’s diverse workforce.

Praise for Mike

“Deciding to have Mike Knapick speak to our team earned me instant credit with our CEO! We had Mike visit us for one of our quarterly meetings. He is an instant crowd connector and had our management staff hanging on each bullet-point during his presentation. Mike has real-life successful experience in the industry which, when combined with his skillful storytelling, allowed our group to leave with several takeaways which dramatically improved our company performance. We hope to have Mike back for another conference in the future.” – Bill Adams, Director of Operations, Qdoba

“Mike Knapick is a lot of fun to work with, adapts well to his audience, and has a compelling story. I recommend working with Mike if you are looking for someone with extra energy and a bit outside of the norm.” – Amy Schmidt, Director, Corporate Training, Kalamazoo Valley Community College

See Mike: “A People Development Business”