Introducing NAVIGATOR, The Community for Restaurant Leaders. Sign up early for preferred benefits. Learn more.
Reasons 1, 2, and 3 to join our education community: Learn from industry experts, when it's convenient to you, and engage with live 1:1 consulting.

Knowledge creates success, and this library makes it accessible.

Learn from industry experts at your own pace, in the areas of leadership development, operations, restaurant development, product development, franchising, brand, people, and finance.

Chalkboard with Full Course game plan written on it

Education is the Core of Who We Are

So much so, we turned our education platform—the Full Course Learning Center—into a 501(c)3 to make education and support accessible to all.

Fundraising Is Not Created Equal

With various fundraising options available, entrepreneurs should carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages of each before choosing a financing strategy.

Crowdfunding

In this first interview in our "How to Get Money For Your Restaurant" series, Rebecca Kacaba, Founder and CEO of DealMaker, describes crowdfunding.
Full interview
introducing

LAUNCH

The community for restaurant industry leaders, offering peer-to-peer community, live coaching, early access to live training and group coaching, and lifetime access to our library of current and upcoming online training videos.

What's included:

All 12 modules designed to take you from concept to Grand Opening of your first restaurant.

  • Interactive modules and live Q&A with restaurant business experts
  • LAUNCH community of aspiring owners and operators
  • 1:1 consulting and mentoring with our content experts
  • Tools and resources to guide you on a journey to opening your first restaurant
bite-sized webinars

Focused Video Trainings

$99

Monitoring the Bottom Line, Inventory and Ordering

Improve profits through focusing on processes, including inventory management, tracking costs, and proper ordering.

$99

Designing Your Dream Team

Discover what makes your business unique then use it to plan, attract, source, interview and hire the best talent. 

$99

The How: Operations Once You're Open

Set goals and measure progress in specific areas in order to measure, iterate and improve.

$99

Developing Your Sales Strategy

Develop your sales strategy using segmentation, menu efficiencies, LTO, catering, delivery, and other revenue streams.

$99

Find Your Why

Your “Why?” is the north star for all your business decisions. In this lesson, we teach you how to articulate yours.

$99

Lease Agreements 101

A bad lease agreement can set you up for disaster for many years. In this lesson, we teach you how to understand lease agreements and manage costs. 

$99

Your Why in Action

L you how to document your Why? in a way that resonates with your team and customers.

$99

Start-Up Legal, Banking + Accounting

As a business owner, it’s important to understand best practices in legal, banking and accounting.

$99

Developing + Executing Your Marketing Strategy

Best practices to market your business in a way that resonates with your audience.

$99

Building Your Dream Team

Build your team by prioritizing the employee experience through onboarding, training, and retention. 

$99

Ramp Up to Opening

Learn about inspections leading to CO, training your new team, soft launches, and Grand Opening preparation.

$99

The Grand Opening

Get a detailed breakdown of your Grand Opening Calendar, starting from 3 months out all the way through your opening week.

focused trainings

Focused Deep Dives

$29

Five Ways to Improve Your Food Cost

Learn some ways to improve your food costs that you may not have thought of.

$29

Guest Recovery

Join the Full Course team to learn how to turn guest complaints into positive experiences with loyal guests.

$29

Elevate your Shift Meetings

Discover why shift meetings matter. Learn how to run better shifts to accomplish your goals by elevating your shift meetings.

$35

Create Positive Culture

Learn 5 simple ways to help improve your culture at work.

$10

Employee Value Proposition

Discover why your employees work for you and how you can use that insight to keep them.

$29

Sourcing Top Talent

Discover best practices through Manpower Planning, Job Descriptions & Postings, and Sourcing Top Talent.

$29

Interviewing 101

A beginner’s guide to improving your recruiting process to select and attract the best talent.

$59

Talent Bundle

A bundle of 3 of our talent courses: Employee Value Proposition, Sourcing and Interviewing.

custom workshops

Live Training Designed Around You

In addition to our standard webinar offerings, we offer fully customizable workshops to support your team's growth and needs.
varies

Interviewing for Retention

Learn interview techniques that create a great experience for your candidate.

Varies | purchase
varies

Leadership Development

Leadership training solutions for your manager's development.

Varies | purchase
varies

Multi-Unit Leadership

Start newly promoted mulit-unit leaders off on the right foot!

Varies | purchase
varies

Unconscious Bias

Learn how to help employees recognize, understand and manage hidden biases.

Varies | purchase
varies

Communication Effectiveness

Learn how to build a highly communicative and productive team.

Varies | purchase
industry trends

Rising Tide

March 2023

free

A Founder's Journey with Naan Stop

Join Full Course's Lissa Bowen as she talks with Neal Idnani, co-founder and chief operating officer and Samir Idnani, Chief Financial Officer of NaanStop, Atlanta's favorite fast-casual Indian concept. They'll be discussing their founders' journey and the lessons they learned along the way.  

February 2023

free

The Only 3 Things that Matter

Join Lissa Bowen from Full Course and AJ Baird, former President of Southern Rock Restaurants for a lively discussion about the three things that matter most in getting exceptional results with integrity.

January 2023

free

Level-up your Staffing

Join Full Course Chief People & Culture Officer Lissa Bowen and Kyle Gerstner, CEO of KMG - Freddy's Frozen Custard and Rock & Roll Sushi as they discuss best practices for keeping your restaurant staffed and satisfied.

June

free

Employees Abandoned Us. But It's Our Fault. Now Let's Fix It!

Full Course CPO Lissa Bowen and Erin Wenttang with Custom Learning Solutions discuss what restaurant industry leaders can do to attract the best and keep the great people they have.

February

free

Boost Employee Retention

Robert Snyder from Hourwork, tackles tough topics in the industry with actionable tips from the pros.

March

free

Financial Resources for Restaurant Workers

Sheila Bennett, Executive Director of Children of Restaurant Workers (CORE), and Alison Anne, founder of Alison Anne Coaching, discuss everything from creating personal budgets to financial resources and more.

August

free

Get More Guests More Often

Olga Berkovich Lopategui of OLLO Restaurant Loyalty Specialists shares attracting repeat guests by building your restaurant's loyalty program.

May

free

You Need a Virtual Brand

Carl Orsbourn and Meredith Sandland, authors of Delivering the Digital Restaurant, discuss adding a virtual brand to your business.

April

free

The Digital Divide

By tracking data from more than 7,000 restaurants, PopMenu shows how online and on-premise tech usage directly influence guest volume, revenue and competitive standing.

Browse free resources

Read, Watch + Listen

Listen

Unity, Drive, and Diversity with Lauren Fernandez

with
Lauren Fernandez
see more
Listen

LENZ on Business

with
Lauren Fernandez
see more
Watch

GLEAM Network

with
Industry Expert
see more
Read

Mentorship Program ebook

with
Lissa Bowen
see more
Watch

citybiz CEO Interviews

with
Lauren Fernandez
see more
Watch

On positive affirmations, work life balance, and entrepreneurship

with
Lauren Fernandez
see more
Listen

Growth is About More Than Money

with
Lauren Fernandez
see more
Listen

Know Yourself, Be Aligned, and Grow

with
Full Course Team
see more
Listen

Who Comes First: The Employee or Guest?

with
Lissa Bowen
see more
Listen

Restaurant Trends

with
Lauren Fernandez
see more
Listen

Creating Systems for Restaurant Growth

with
Lauren Fernandez
see more
Listen

Getting the Most out of Your Restaurant

with
Lauren Fernandez
see more
Listen

Coming Into Your Power

with
Lauren Fernandez
see more
Listen

Who's That Lady

with
Lauren Fernandez
see more

In the Press

August 17, 2022

Good Impressions: How to Simplify Restaurant Openings

A solid plan for your grand opening is critical to the future success of your restaurant. Don't let the key details that can make or break a successful opening get lost in the shuffle.

read More
July 25, 2022

Meet Full Course’s Lissa Bowen

Lissa Bowen has been in the restaurant industry for nearly 30 years and feels the current retention practices do not always meet the real needs of the employees the industry is serving.

read More
July 5, 2022

Want to Start a New Concept or Expand Big Time?

Everyone with the dream of starting a restaurant also has a dream of money falling from the sky to get those doors open. Lauren Fernandez, founder and CEO of Full Course, an Atlanta-based restaurant development and investment firm, knows her job is to shake off some of the stardust.

read More
July 5, 2022

Restaurants Are Moving Toward a Fast Casual Model and Why Investors Love It

“Our restaurants have certainly taken many hits these last few years,” explains Fernandez. “The COVID-19 pandemic has presented hurdles that our restaurants continue to overcome. As a result, they want to operate smarter and contribute to their overall guest experience in the very best way.”

read More
June 29, 2022

Why Restaurants Are Moving Towards a Fast-Casual Model

One trend is many restaurants are moving toward a fast-casual model. Lauren Fernandez, Founder and CEO of Full Course, is a veteran of the restaurant and beverage industry and offers her expertise in why this trend is important to the future of the industry.

read More
June 17, 2022

Full Course Founder Lauren Fernandez on positive affirmations, work life balance, and entrepreneurship

The Female Founder is a show all about helping women grow their businesses and reach their full potential. Each episode will highlight inspiring stories and advice from female entrepreneurs to help you build and grow your business.

read More
June 14, 2022

4 Qualities Restaurant Franchisors Look For in a Franchisee

Good restaurant franchisees have "an aptitude towards service to others," says Lauren Fernandez, founder and CEO of Full Course, "because you can train anyone to run a restaurant, but it's very hard to coach somebody to be a nice person."

read More
May 31, 2022

What's Hot in Restaurant Franchising Right Now? Two Industry Experts Weigh In

"I have worked with brands where there was no online ordering, but you no longer can get away with ignoring technology in restaurants," says Lauren Fernandez, founder and CEO of Full Course.

read More
March 29, 2022

Lissa Bowen and James Kahler Join Full Course

Full Course, an innovative restaurant investment firm dedicated to growing emerging brands through education and resources, is expanding its executive leadership team by welcoming Lissa Bowen and James Kahler.

read More
March 14, 2022

How to Create Positive Restaurant Employee Culture

“A positive company culture is one where employees feel valued and supported,” says Bowen, a recruiting expert with nearly 30 years of experience in acquiring and retaining restaurant industry talent.

read More
March 1, 2022

Full Course Introduces LAUNCH: The Playbook to Successfully Open, Own and Operate Your First Restaurant

Full Course, an innovative restaurant investment firm dedicated to growing emerging brands, introduces LAUNCH: The Playbook to Successfully Open, Own and Operate Your First Restaurant, a 12-module workshop designed to help entrepreneurs opening their first location.

read More
January 18, 2022

Lauren Fernandez named to Nation's Restaurant News Power List 2022

Selected by the editors of Nation’s Restaurant News, the 9th annual Power List is the definitive list of people who are evolving the restaurant industry through fresh ideas and game-changing approaches.

read More
December 22, 2021

4 Keys to Retaining Restaurant Talent During ‘The Great Resignation’

In today’s competitive market, employers should make sure they are educating prospective hires about their employee value proposition—the rewards and benefits employees receive in return for their contributions to the business.

read More
November 4, 2021

Restaurant Investment Group Launches to Support Restaurateurs

Full Course is a restaurant investment group dedicated to changing the way new and emerging restaurants grow their brands. The company focuses on the people who make restaurants successful, by taking a hands-on approach to business.

read More
free resources

A rising tide lifts all boats.

That's how we chose the name Rising Tide for our free, monthly conversations with industry experts. Don't miss the latest industry news. Sign up today!

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