About
The Story Behind Craft & Counsel
Our story begins like many in this industry - from the bottom up. Angela started serving tables while Vaughan was washing dishes, both of us learning the business from the ground floor. Fast forward through decades of experience, and we've built something pretty special together.
That journey took some interesting turns. Angela went from server to designing backstage experiences at Disney's Animal Kingdom, then creating digital training solutions for LVMH's luxury cruise line division. When she applied for a corporate trainer position at Vaughan's rapidly growing Pizza Fusion concept in 2006, neither of us knew we'd end up building not just restaurants, but a life together.
What We've Built
Our restaurant journey unfolded in two chapters that reflect what's possible with vision and persistence. In 2006, Vaughan launched Pizza Fusion in a tiny 880-square-foot space, pioneering farm-to-table organic ingredients when sustainability was barely on the radar. We delivered in hybrid cars, built with reclaimed materials, and even engineered heat exchangers to capture oven heat for our hot water systems. That eco-friendly rocket took off in 2007—the same year Vaughan met Angela, who became instrumental to our success as she led expansion as head trainer, bringing her educational design experience from Disney's Animal Kingdom to restaurant operations from Miami to Dubai. By the time of our acquisition in 2011, Pizza Fusion had grown to 50 units across 13 states and 3 countries.
The second chapter began when we ventured out together to create Kapow Noodle Bar, a modern Asian concept that started in just 1,500 square feet but generated nearly $5M annually. We eventually expanded to three South Florida locations with combined revenue of $23M, with two more locations under contract at the time of our exit. Along the way, we developed El Segundo (our SoCal-inspired taqueria), Penelope (a French-meets-Southern brasserie generating $4.5M from a cozy footprint), and Shaker & Pie (under construction when we stepped away).
Beyond restaurants, our entrepreneurial spirit led us to build and exit several diverse ventures—from an athletic brand in the CrossFit space to Dugan & Dame, our artisanal cocktail garnish and bitters company. We've managed a successful 3PL operation serving emerging brands and continue to run our non-profit, Kula Cares, "Providing the supplies underserved schools need for teachers to teach and learners to learn." This breadth of experience across B2B, B2C, manufacturing, and importing gives us unique perspectives on scaling businesses of all types.
We've been in your shoes—starting small, scaling thoughtfully, and navigating the challenges that keep you up at night. Every concept we built began with the same mix of excitement and uncertainty you might be feeling right now.
The Team Dynamic
Angela's the systems guru. She takes big ideas and makes them actually work, creating training programs, HR frameworks, and operational tools that turn chaos into clockwork. Oh, and she crafted award-winning beverage programs and even launched Dugan & Dame, a successful craft cocktail brand, because apparently sleep is optional.
Vaughan brings the creative vision and operational know-how. As a certified Sake Sommelier with a stack of certifications from Meta, Google, HubSpot, and LinkedIn, he bridges the gap between artistic vision and business reality. From concept creation to lease negotiations, menu design to marketing strategy, he makes sure all the pieces fit together.
Why We're Here
After turning multiple restaurant concepts into multimillion-dollar successes, we achieved the entrepreneurial holy grail in 2024—a strategic exit that let us leave on our terms. With our son Bassil at the perfect age of 9, we seized the opportunity to trade South Florida's fast-paced restaurant scene for the quieter pace of the mountains of Asheville's, North Carolina. Angela immediately established Sacred Hill Farm with 25 hens, 1 rooster, 6 goats, 2 dogs, and a tortoise named "Soft Shell" (because slowing down isn't really our style), but we quickly discovered that our restaurant industry knowledge was too valuable to shelve completely.
That's how Craft & Counsel was born—allowing us to balance family life while helping fellow operators achieve their goals. Whether you're fighting for profitability, expanding to new locations, or positioning for an eventual exit of your own, we bring family values and business expertise to your table. Because after our 20-year "overnight success," we know exactly what keeps restaurant owners up at night—we've had those same sleepless nights ourselves.