Anthony Valletta (Bartaco, Birdcall, Del Frisco's) The Cost of Travelling 240 Nights a Year and What It Cost Him to Come Back Home #40

In this episode of CEOs & ABCs, Kevin sits down with Anthony Valletta, CEO of BarTaco, to explore what two decades in hospitality taught him about making people feel like a priority, and how long it took him to bring that same thinking home. Anthony has built his career across Michelin-starred dining rooms, fast casuals, and everything in between. Today he leads BarTaco with a single filter: does this decision make the guest feel like we're thinking about them first? It is a deceptively simple question that runs through every menu decision, every hire, and every conversation in the business. But getting here cost something. Anthony spent two years as a COO living in hotels 240 nights a year, missing his son's first steps, and coming home to a five-year-old who had learned not to get too excited when dad walked through the door. He describes standing in his own driveway on the verge of tears before driving back to the airport, knowing something had to give. Kevin and Anthony trace what it actually took to rebuild that connection, one blocked calendar entry, one bedtime affirmation, one bouquet of flowers at a gymnastics meet at a time. They get honest about the Disneyland Dad trap, the impossibility of disciplining kids you barely see, and why presence is not about volume of time. It is about not being in two places at once when you are in one of them. This is a conversation about career ambition, the cost of getting it wrong, and the small rituals that quietly add up to a life. In This Episode, You'll Learn: Why the guest-first filter works as a decision framework in business and why a version of it belongs at home What 240 hotel nights a year actually does to a family and how long repair takes Why the Disneyland Dad dynamic is unfair to everyone, including you How to use your calendar as a values document, not just a logistics tool Why Anthony deletes and rebuilds his entire calendar every three months What it means to coach your own kids and what six-year-olds in full lacrosse pads will teach you about leadership Why the five minutes before a child goes to sleep are the most impressionable of their day How working for someone who does not share your values about family will quietly shape the choices you make Why time is not something you find, it is something you design What return on time means and why it matters more than return on investment Top Takeaways: Every yes is a no to something else. The clearer you are about that trade-off, the better your decisions get. Your kids are going to grow whether you're present for it or not. That window does not wait. Being physically home is not the same as being present. If you are on your phone, they see it. The moments that matter most are not the big ones. They are the repeated small ones your kids start to expect and protect. Working for someone who does not value what you value will cost you more than a better title or a bigger salary is worth. Discipline is not punishment. It is teaching. And you cannot teach a child you are not connected to. Return on time is the only metric that actually compounds in both directions. About Anthony Valletta: Anthony Valletta is CEO of BarTaco, a fast-casual hospitality brand known for its guest-obsessed culture. He has spent two decades in the industry spanning Michelin-starred dining to fast casuals, building a career around the belief that a guest-first business is the only sustainable kind. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and three kids, coaches all three of them across multiple sports, and is still working on leaving the calendar blank long enough to think. Chapters (00:00:00) - Career Journey in Hospitality(00:03:09) - Traits of a Successful CEO(00:05:55) - The Challenge of Leadership(00:08:18) - Guest-First Philosophy in Business(00:10:53) - Balancing Family and Career(00:13:48) - Coaching and Parenting Dynamics(00:16:18) - Navigating Career Demands and Family Life(00:21:44) - Navigating Parenting Challenges(00:24:41) - The Shift from Executive to Parent(00:29:42) - Balancing Work and Family Life(00:34:38) - Intentionality in Parenting(00:38:48) - The Importance of Reflection and Adaptation(00:43:06) - Valuing Time with Family(00:45:17) - Creating Memorable Moments with Kids