All great teams need a strong utility player; a player with the versatility, aptitude, creativity and flexibility to take on any new process, program, or task with a true can-do spirit and hard-core determination. VSAG has that in Lara Hardcastle. Lara graduated cum laude from New York University in 1992, then moved out to Los Angeles for law school. While in Los Angeles, she worked for one of the country’s busiest Cheesecake Factory locations where she successfully ran the front desk. Within a couple of months she became an in-store trainer and then went on to open new locations and participate in Management Development. Lara found that within the fast-growth environment of The Cheesecake Factory she could stretch her talent bandwidth in many directions.
During her four year tenure, she helped open 10 new restaurants, developed staff level training materials, participated in the development of an integrated Management development program, and taught Guest Schmooze and Service classes to MITs and KMITs.
In 1997, Lara was recruited by eatZi’s Market and Bakery to become their Opening Units Manager. She was responsible for all facets of new unit openings. Lara quickly became the go-to for everything from construction layout and equipment selection to specialty goods purchasing. In 2001, Lara was promoted to Manager of Facilities and R&M. She was responsible for budgeting, sourcing, purchasing and executing all ongoing facility care. She was key decision-maker for local and national contract negotiation. She managed several remodels including a quarter million dollar re-model of eatZi’s flagship store in Dallas, Texas.
In 2003, Lara spearheaded a two million dollar systems and network infrastructure implementation. Reporting directly to the CFO and COO, she successfully implemented the JD Edwards system. This involved full integration between the accounting system, a full-range integrated food management program, which included order entry, purchasing, inventory, and manufacturing. She selected the point of sale system. She designed and implemented the network infrastructure to work with all systems including payroll, labor management and business intelligence. The Company was tasked with an extremely aggressive timeline in which Lara was responsible for juggling the needs and resources of accounting, culinary operations, information technology, and operations. Nine months later, Lara was promoted to Director of Information Systems where she supported Company profitability by streamlining operations through technology.
In 2006, Dan Simons and Michael Vucurevich recruited Lara and put her talent and extensive knowledge to work for their clients. Lara is our go-to for all things construction, technology and systems, and a top-notch Project Manager for VSAG. With her amazing wing span, she can do everything from run the Front Desk on a busy shift to manage a ten million dollar construction project from inception to completion!
