September 2020

LEADERSHIP
PROFILE
RYAN
SMOLKIN
Founder/CEO, Smoke’s Poutinerie
BY AMY BOSTOCK | PHOTOGRAPHY BY KC ARMSTRONG
For Ryan Smolkin, being a
good leader means surrounding
himself with great people
— and then listening to what
they have to say.
“It’s not just sitting back
and dictating, telling people
what to do and when to do
it,” says the founder/CEO of
the Toronto-based cult favourite, Smoke’s
Poutinerie. “It’s [listening to] their opinion,
because they’re way better than me in their
areas, and [encouraging them] to bring ideas
to the table.”
But, as COVID-19 forced the closure
of a large chunk of the Smoke’s network,
Smolkin was faced with the hard job of
laying off a large number of those great
people. Maintaining a positive attitude —
without appearing phony — became key
to leading his brand.
“A lot of people would try to be positive
in a fake way or by sharing the [information]
they’re hoping will make people happy,” he
says. “But you have to keep it real — stay
positive and supportive — while balancing
that with the reality of what’s going on in
the world.”
When Coronavirus upended the industry in
early March, Smolkin began holding “stateof-the-union”
meetings to open conversations
with his whole system.
“We got the whole system on board —
headquarters, franchisees and suppliers —
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keeping them in the loop. The most important
thing is that it’s consistent, continual and real
communication.”
He also used this opportunity to keep
his team abreast of what’s happening in the
world and in Canada and how those events
trickle back down to the restaurant industry.
His goal for the empire he built from
scratch is “survive, sustain and succeed so we
can start building again. But you have to be
able to accept the downside first. Make sure
you’re able to weather that storm, keep
people motivated and stay true to our brand.”
Motivation is something the serial
entrepreneur is familiar with. With three
successful multi-million-dollar businesses
under his belt, Smolkin offers advice to other
leaders. “Just because it’s downtime [during
COVID-19], doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use
that time to your advantage and still invest in
the people around you.”
And Smolkin walks the talk. While much
of the industry has ground to a halt, Smoke’s
has continued to plan for a post-pandemic
reality. Its “global domination” remains on
track, with three units set to open in the
UAE and units pre-sold in Hungary and
Czech Republic.
“We’re also looking at the Malaysian
market — it’s going to be huge for us and
we have tons of leads there already. It will get
stalled for a year, maybe two years, but the
exciting part is taking it to true global
domination — it’s not just words.”
He also recommends leaders use this
opportunity to re-evaluate their leadership
styles and strengthen their toolkit.
“You’ve got to make sure you’re staying
strong,” he says. “You have to be able to adapt
and grow.”
He says he hasn’t changed his leadership
style during the last few months, but he has
developed a new set of goals, objectives and a
strategy to get to that [successful] end point
while motivating people though the essence
of leadership — making people want to follow
you. True leaders have to be able to step it
up at a time like this. If you can’t, you’re in
trouble, you’ll go under.”
Smolkin adds a good leader can’t be afraid
to make crucial decisions — especially in
times of crisis.
“[During COVID-19], it was tough, but
hard decisions have to be made and you have
to do it quick and you have to do it decisively
or the whole ship goes down.”
SEPTEMBER 2020 FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY 35