In 2009, Kamal Singh, a young entrepreneur and aspiring restaurant group owner purchased his first unit - a Lenny’s Subs. That first unit quickly grew into many more units and his acquisition journey began. After gaining much experience acquiring, turning around, transforming and transitioning 23 different units and 6 different brands, a strong team was built to support the growth and in July of 2016, the Emerge! brand was born.
As the Emerge! restaurant group became an expert in the industry with 93 transitions and so much experience gained (often doing the dirty work many others wouldn’t do), the team discovered that Emerge!’s true calling is in building, cultivating, and sustaining growth. The dirty work of turnarounds and the thrill of the transformation, was no longer the drive. Emerge! became experts in acquiring intelligently by carefully selecting brands and markets. However, they discovered that their greatest strength is cultivating organic growth through a focus on people.
The most valuable lesson and the banner of the Emerge! identity is the need to focus on people first before anything else. This lesson has been reinforced over and over again throughout the years as committed people became the reason Emerge! stood strong in front of uphill struggles such as hurricane Harvey, the Texas winter storm, tired and jaded owners, demotivated employees, pandemic related government-mandated shutdowns and of course, the death of friends and family members such as their beloved Senior Market Director Freddy Ortiz.
Realizing that their number one priority was their people is what led them to create a strong company culture, and a well established identity that would inspire others to join their ranks and join them on their mission. The image they want to give to the world is that they grow units by growing people! By providing opportunities for professional growth through top-quality training and recognition, they build a solid foundation for their people to become leaders and inspire others, and create a lasting legacy for generations to come.
Emerge! takes pride in the teams they have built, in their growth and in all they have achieved.
HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY, EMERGE!
This is just the beginning of a legacy-building journey in the QSR industry.