MEET THE TEAM
JILL WALSH
President
Jill Walsh founded Café Concepts, Inc. in October of 2001. Prior to this, Jill worked for a major franchise chain out of Houston, TX as the in-house VP of Equipment & Design. In coming to California, she accepted a position with an independent food service dealer where she diligently worked to provide equipment and design packages for many popular food chains.
Jill’s work within the industry has brought significant management, technical expertise, and valuable customer service experience to Café Concepts, Inc. Her experience has allowed her to build a comprehensive business platform that has afforded her access to key Foodservice manufactures and valuable insight to the industry’s market/trends. She utilizes these skills to properly guide her clients. Additionally, she nurtures long-term relationships with customers specializing in development of franchise-based companies, food halls and chef inspired restaurants.
Jill also specializes in providing proprietary design services using AutoCAD and REVIT. Thus, adding a layer of support that provides valuable insight to the operational process many clients need assistance with and brings unparalleled experience to their organizations. Jill remains the company’s greatest contributor to its base of business.
For the past 18 years Café Concepts, Inc. has been responsible for providing equipment and design packages for many dynamic foodservice entities. The company has organically grown and has 10 full-time employees. Café Concepts, Inc. has successfully completed over 1200 projects and provides services to 10 international clients.
Jill has a B.S. Degree in Business Administration from Michigan State University.
ROBERT WALSH
CEO
Robert Walsh brings extensive management and customer service experience to Café Concepts, Inc. Robert’s experience, gained throughout his career, has allowed him the insight to both manage the company’s operations but also the direction of the sales and marketing efforts. The experience he gained while holding various managerial positions in the foodservice industry has prepared him for the challenges he faces guiding the growth of Café Concepts, Inc. Robert Walsh holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from San Diego State University and possesses 28 years of experience in the food service industry.
Robert’s sales career started in Southern California. He later moved on to a Regional Sales position and after relocating to Chicago, Illinois in 1995. He managed Chain Account development in the 26 Western States with sales in excess of 15 million dollars. Robert returned to Southern California in 1998 to manage the W. Myers Company, an exclusive distributor for many foodservice equipment manufacturers.
In 2002 Robert formed Oasis Development in Orange County, California. Oasis Development was the exclusive area developer for the Tropical Smoothie Café chain in Orange County and by 2005 had eight locations. In 2007 Robert sold the Company and joined his wife Jill at Café Concepts, Inc.
SAMANTHA FLORES
Director of Purchasing & Operations
Samantha has been with Café Concepts, Inc. for over 16 years. She has demonstrated superb skills at every capacity she has worked at within the company. With over 10 years of experience in purchasing, she has developed a proprietary approach in efficiently handling all aspects of procurement and logistical operations. Samantha brings a passion for customer service and will go above and beyond to ensure the client has a positive experience, thus fostering long-term relationships. Additionally, she manages many aspects crucial to daily operations, most notably her role in working directly with clients as well as manufacturers to be the company’s service liaison. Her goal is to ensure every project is organized, on track, and financially sound for all parties. She executes these tasks with a high level of service and the utmost in professionalism.
Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her husband, son, friends, and family. She also enjoys cooking new vegan dishes and trying new restaurants. As an advocate of many non-profit organizations, she loves to donate time when she can.
Samantha attended Chapman University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts.
REID KAUFMAN
Project Executive
Reid Kaufman is a Project Executive here at Café Concepts, specializing in contract jobs. He joined the foodservice industry after beginning his career in I.T. Coming into the industry fresh, he learned how to run a contract job from the ground up; from estimating, to ordering, procurement, coordination, installation, and everything else necessary to serve an Owner or General Contractor. His most recent accomplishment was completing a $7,000,000 kitchen contract for the newly rebranded Yaamava Casino and their brand new hotel. He brings a fresh take and very ambitious attitude to Café Concepts and we’re excited to see how far we can grow with his addition to the team.
Along with a loving wife, Reid has 3 children under the age of 7. These days, the little free time he has is spent on playing basketball. Much to the chagrin of his wife, he has over 550 unique monopolies in his collection that he has been building up for over 20 years.
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