Nemanja Golubovic is the Founder and CEO of the vastly influential vegan restaurant chain “Kale My Name”   was born and raised in Montenegro. From the inception of his career Nemanja worked in the hospitality field. Commencing his career as a host Nemanja began to grow his zeal for the hospitality industry. He then advanced through diverse stages in his career. As the multifaceted entrepreneur he is, Nemanja, found himself prevailing as a server, bartender, and floor manager. He perfected his craft in the food industry and was promoted to the general manager at one of Chicago's most engaged establishment's. Graduating with an impressive degree in public relations in addition to speaking four languages Nemanja is an ambidextrous traveler. He lived in several diverse countries where he was educated on international cuisines; that he would later implement to his brand. Prior to him rooting his entrepreneurial foundation in 2015 in the United States.

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Q. Welcome, Nemanja. Can you tell us about your career shift from bartending to now owning one of the most popular vegan restaurants in Chicago and L.A.?

Hi, Thank you for having me. I actually started out working as a host giving out menus and showing guests to their tables. I knew nothing about bartending and I learned how to serve and then started learning a little bit about mixology and drink and how to bartend. That experience gave me a lot of customer service experience with a lot of face to face interactions. After gaining all this knowledge and experience I was then offered the position of a floor manager. I was operating that role for a while and then finally became the general manager. I didn't think that there was going to be any more progression in my career not knowing of all the other ways I could grow. I could never imagine myself opening up my own restaurant, especially having 2 locations within 2 years.

Q. Kale My Name opened in April 2020. Did the pandemic affect your business? If so, in what way?

Kale my name opened exactly when the world pandemic started and I immediately needed to improvise and shift from what I imagined it to be, to the way I needed it to be operating. We started with only take out and deliveries. I did not plan to start with takeout and delivery but that's what the pandemic forced us to do. It was a very good start and I think the pandemic affected us in a more positive way. We needed the experience and we needed to learn. It all worked in our favor and considering we are a 100% plant based restaurant it also worked in our favor. With all the health scares and going on around us people began to be more conscious about what they put in their bodies and changed to plant based diets.