Mohamed Jessa, who is known as Mo, was appointed President of Earls Restaurants by The Fuller Group of restaurants, which owns and operates 65 Earls Kitchen and Bar locations across Canada and the US.
VANCOUVER – The man who began his career as a prep cook over 25 years at Earls restaurant has been appointed to the top post of one of Canada’s best known franchise restaurant chain .
Mohamed Jessa, who is known as Mo, was appointed President of Earls Restaurants by The Fuller Group of restaurants in March this year, which owns and operates 65 Earls Kitchen and Bar locations across Canada and the US.
Born in East Africa and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Jessa started with Earls as a junior prep cook over 25 years ago as a summer job while attending university (bio chemistry). His chef supervisor saw potential and encouraged him to remain part time during school and return full time the following summer, which he did and continued to do throughout his schooling – an opportunity that continues for many Earls’ staff today.
While planning for a more “traditional” career, Jessa found his love for great food, the social atmosphere of the restaurant industry and the growth he was experiencing, driven by the excellent training and mentoring he was receiving, both satisfying and inspiring, and when an opportunity to manage staff presented itself two years later the spark was fully ignited and his career path was forever changed.
In 1991, while working as a senior cook opening Earls’ latest restaurant in Calgary, Jessa returned to school, this time taking his Red Seal Certificate and Journeyman Chef papers and forever sealing his fate and love of the culinary and hospitality industry. He went on to be sous chef and eventually chef of various Earls restaurants in the Alberta region and in 1995 was transferred to BC as Regional Chef, overseeing five locations.
His love of the industry and openness to learn and grow as a chef and leader lead to further studies where he earned several designations, some of which include Certified Chef de Cuisine from the Canadian Federation of Chefs and Cooks; Masters Certificate, Hospitality Management, Cornell University; Certified Executive Coach, Royal Roads University, and a number of business certificates from UBC Sauder School of Business.
In 2000 Jessa became Executive Chef of Earls Restaurants Ltd., taking over from then Chef, Chuck Currie, responsible for the quality, execution and development of the cuisine and the chefs and cooks in over 40 restaurants across Canada, and by this time locations in the US.
As a further example of how Earls has eschewed many traditional barriers and, over the years, has trained, grown and promoted their people on a merit based system from within, in 2004 Jessa was promoted to Vice President, Operations. As such, he oversaw the companies’ growth to 60 locations in Canada and 5 in the US.
During that time Jessa, working with President and CEO Stan Fuller, along with a team of chefs, steered the Earls philosophy back to its roots of creating and cooking food only from scratch, using only fresh, often local ingredients. He added the position of director of bar development, ensuring the custom, craft quality of their kitchen was reflected in their beverage selection. Under his tenure Earls introduced a state of the art leadership development program and was awarded the designation, one of the Best Employers in Canada.
Jessa will continue to work alongside CEO Stan Fuller to ensure Earls well-loved brand continues to achieve goals and culinary growth in its BC and western Canadian markets, delivering irresistible food and engaging experiences to all their guests while overseeing current and new locations in Ontario, Miami, Chicago and Boston. Earls’ next opening will be Miami, Florida in the winter of 2014.
