What Makes Persian Jews INCREDIBLE Entrepreneurs? Sweetgreen’s Jewish CEO Jonathan Neman

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The Persian Jewish story is a classic Jewish story of a community in Iran that was, you know, that was a vibrant community that all of a sudden one day, and I, I think about this 'cause, you know, m- my, my mom was 16 years old, my dad was like 27, and imagine in one summer you just have to pick up and leave

And so I think there's just something about this having everything and then losing it all overnight, and then having to rebuild it again that is one created, a- again, this a Jewish story for many, many generations, right? Yeah

For centuries this has happened, and I think it's what's created this, this self-starter attitude, this community that helps each other

Like, so much, you know, of what, what Pers- one of the reasons these Persian Jews are successful, they're always helping each other This podcast is brought to you by Birthright Israel Foundation

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Hello, my sweet, sweet friends, and welcome to Being Jewish, the world's number one Jewish podcast, and your home for deeply candid conversations on identity, culture, and current events

I'm your host, Jonah Platt, and my guest today started his climb to the top of the food pyramid from a concrete box with no plumbing in Georgetown during his senior year of college

In the 19 years since, that little shack has grown into nearly 300 restaurant locations and a publicly traded company

He's the child of Iranian immigrants who fled after the revolution, he's a glutton for Shabbat dinner, and he's married to a girl I kissed in second grade

What? Please welcome the co-founder and CEO of Sweetgreen, Mr

Jonathan Neman

Jonathan, welcome

Surprise

Great to be here

Yeah

Uh, learn something new every day

Yeah, we were also in, uh, a production of The Secret Garden together

Where she, uh, your wife, Leora, shout out to Leora, was, uh, dressed as a man, if I recall

Like, I could see her in like- … what looks like a safari uniform or something

Very f- I have video footage somewhere

I've, I've heard she used to, like, dress up as a tomboy quite a bit

Yeah

So you're the CEO of Sweetgreen

You obviously have a major platform a- as a business leader in this country

You're here on Being Jewish, so obviously being Jewish means something to you

What level of responsibility do you feel as a Jewish leader to utilize that platform, especially in the post-October 7th world that we're in? You know, being Jewish to me has always been such a huge part of my identity

I've so much gratitude for the community and the values that it's taught me, and I think so much beautiful gifts and the richness of my life has come from that

And so I've always felt like it's an important part of my identity, and to speak up, speak about it, it hasn't only been post-October 7th

Right

My whole life it's, it's been a huge part of it, but when I started speaking up, it was probably closer to, like, 2020, 2021

I saw while researching for this a LinkedIn post that you put up in, in 2021, so yeah, you're definitely- Yeah, so- … not new to the game

Yeah, no, and, and so I started understanding it more, and for me it was, it was just important

So we, you know, as socially conscious business, we talk about a lot of causes, but this one was this, like- This like third rail that you weren't allowed to talk about

Yeah

And for me, it's not to talk about the politics about it, it's just to talk about me, myself, my identity, why, and why it matters to me personally

And I think we all have that responsibility to, to say those things and, and to stand up for our community in those moments

And so for me, it's… I hon- I honestly haven't had to think twice about it

You know? It, it, maybe, you know, maybe it comes with business risk, I'm sure it does, but for me, at the end of the day, what's most important is being authentic to myself, my family, my community, and m- my, my identity

How have your two co-founders, who you built this company with, how have they supported or responded to you whenever you wanna use your platform in this way? Overall, really supportive

Um, I think in general, uh, they, they wanna make sure how I say things comes across the right way

Mm-hmm

But for the most part, very supportive

I've two co-founders I've been working with for 19 years

Interestingly, uh, but neither of them are Jewish, but both have married Jews

So- How about that? So both, uh, are, you know, now have, uh, in, in a way Jewish, Jewish children

Yeah, got some skin in the game

Technically have Jewish children, and I think over that time have seen, and have become part of my family, too, so they, they see what's going on

That's amazing

You mentioned, you know, y- you think there's a business risk maybe for talking a certain ways

Have you experienced that? Have you… W- has there ever been any, any dent anywhere or, or pushback, whether it's from consumers or investors or within your company? Yes

Yeah

Over- o- overall, the, the, there's always, there's always some risk in terms of what we say, what you say

I try to always frame what I say from an authentic place

Yeah

And again, not to get into the politics of it and how I, how I say it and where I time it

There's times where I've gotten it right, and there's times where I've gotten it wrong, and so I'm much more careful about how I say things today

Um, it's hard to quantify any impact that I've felt, but for me, uh, I think my team, my consumers, I think appreciate just the authenticity from a leader

I'm a human

This is who I am

Yeah

This is my authentic story and what I believe in

I always believe that so much of my success is being authentic to myself, so I, so I, I just have to be that way

I can't pretend to be someone else

One of the sort of more noticeable times when, when you spoke out was, you know, a- uh, after October 7th, on October 8th, uh, 30 Harvard groups sign a letter blaming Israel entirely for the events of October 7th

Uh, hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, who said no to coming on this show, by the way, we'll get you someday, Bill, posts on X for Harvard to release the names of the students of those groups, and you jump in, "I would like to know so I know never to hire these people

" Take me back, if you can, to sort of the feeling in that moment of- You know, I gotta jump in here and say this I'd say that was one of the examples of maybe not being so thoughtful about what I'm saying

Okay

Interesting

And for what, for what it's worth, it was a comment on a tweet, uh- Right … that, and who knows, who knew a, someone with so few Twitter followers could go so, you know, have a tweet go so viral

Mm

Um, commenting on a tweet, not even putting something out

In retrospect, it probably would've been more clear in explaining my position versus a comment that could've been taken out of context

However, I think you have to take yourself back to that moment

That moment was October 8th

Yeah

The rawness of feelings that we were all feeling

Like I was re- I was just started watching Faudas, the Faudas seasons this week, and you're like bringing, bringing me back to those feelings of like what that felt like when your, you know, your other homeland of Israel is being attacked in such a way and there's, at this point, no counter-attack, nothing else going on

It was just, you know, an, a, a terrorist attack

And It was just the rawness of emotion and almost this disbelief that highly educated students, maybe misinformed, but highly educated, would support such a thing

Um, and so I wish I had said, said it differently because I think I could have gotten my point across in, in a different way, in a, in a more positive way that explained why, and maybe helped educate people instead of just saying like, "I don't wanna hire these people

" Hmm

Um, and so what I've learned is every moment is an opportunity to educate

And what I found, what I find is that everyone may not agree on the history and again, the, the politics and all of those things, but each conversation can help us bring each other closer to seeing the other side of things

I'm surprised and not surprised to hear that there was Clearly, there must have been some sort of reaction to that comment that had you then think twice about it

But, you know, if I was running a business, I certainly wouldn't wanna hire people who are so uncritically thinking that they would do what they did on that day

Like, to me, that's a perfectly legitimate reason to not wanna hire somebody

Uh, take the, take the Jewish part out of it

Like, you don't want Hamas terrorist supporters working in your business, I don't care if … what you're selling

So it, it, it doesn't seem very outlandish to me

But then I also hear your point, your very magnanimous point of, well, as someone with a platform, even if I was right, or even if I don't wanna hire those people, can I get something educational across, and really use that moment of spotlight to accomplish something? Educate and explain

Yeah

You know, I, I love long-form podcasts because you can sit and talk and hear what people think

Right

Exactly

But what's happened now? Clipping

I know

Whatever we talk about today, most people, you know- Yeah … some people will watch- And most people will get about three minutes of it and, and most people are gonna find one clip of this segment today, and whether it's a good clip or a bad clip, that's what they're gonna see

Yep

And unfortunately, that's the way the media works today

That's the way social media works, and I think the more opportunities we can have to explain things more fully and explain our positions, uh, in a more comprehensive way, and try to educate people versus kind of just saying like, "Hey, screw you

" Yeah

So that's, that's what I learned from that moment is, you know, instead of just commenting on a tweet, maybe I should have put a tweet out and explained why I believe that they're uninformed, and, you know, offered a conversation about it

Yeah

Um, what- what's, what's happened that, that is sad in this moment around a lot of these things is it's pushed people away

People are having fewer conversations with people they disagree with instead of more conversations where they disagree with

And so we're mo- everyone's moving more and more into their echo chambers, and I think there's just value in having conversations with people you don't agree with

100%

We talk about that all the time on this show

I will say, and, you know, feel free to disagree, I feel, you know, i- in terms of this specific conversation, the, the Israel-Palestine of it all, part of the anti-Zionist sort of platform is do not engage

I mean, that's literally part of how that works

And I, I know a lot more people on the, you know, pro-Jewish side who try to have those conversations, but you're supposed to literally do not engage with Zionists

You, you don't give them the time of day

And I don't think it's even… You know, I know it's not even really a freely chosen position

It's part of that platform that's, you know, pushed down the same as all that misinformation is by design, right? To get us further away, to keep us not talking, to create the rifts, and it's, it's really sad to see

My number one advice for Jews right now in this moment is just to be the light Is, is to lead by example to show the world where our values and traditions, how beautiful they are, and how they can lead to us giving back and cr- you know, in- investing in our communities, and being a positive force on the world

When I get really upset when Jews show the worst of Jews, it makes me really sad

Sure

'Cause it makes it kind of pr- all of the conspiracy theories and the stereotypes and the things that people wanna say about them, it brings us to life, and people can be like, "Well, look

You see they did that

" Yeah

And so my number one advice in all of these moments is just to lead by example and be the light

I think that's so important, and also even beyond it being the right and important thing, it's something we can control

Yeah

We… You can't change everybody's mind

You can't make every person unlearn disinformation, but you can make sure you're living the right way and, and setting that example, so I think that's important

Yeah, we had a, we had a c- I had a conversation with, uh, a bunch of, uh, Jewish, uh, leaders that are about, you know, 20 to 23 years old yesterday, and it was fascinating

They were young Jewish leaders- What kind of… Sorry, what kind of leaders? So it was part of, uh, it was ADL brought together a group of what they called, like, Gen Z leaders in this advisory board, and we had a conversation of what are they seeing in their communities, what are they seeing on college campuses, what are their ideas for, you know, changing the narrative and fighting anti-Semitism from, like, a Gen Z perspective, a lot of where we're losing- Yeah l- losing that, losing that fight- Big time … um, with, with the younger generation

You know, so much of it was focused on the activism side

You know, this group gets, you know, one group gets a lot of people to their protests, and we can't get anyone to come to our protests

And I asked them, I'm like, "Well, what about just hosting really fun Shabbats, and inviting Jews and non-Jews, and playing great music, and having a beautiful potluck, and drinking some wine, and showing the beauty of Jewish culture, and not it all being about the activism around it?" Mm-hmm

And that was my advice

Like, that, let's, let's bring people in to see the beauty of it, and I gave the example

Like, you know, one of the most popular things at Burning Man r- uh, you know, the past few years has been Shabbat

Yeah

Everybody wants to go to the Burning Man Shabbat, Jews and non-Jews

It's this beautiful ritual and tradition that we have

And so again, you know, how do we lead with that, not with you are wrong and where we disagree? How did that advice land on the, on the kids? Overall really well, and they, they said that the Shabbats have been, uh, the most successful thing that they do

Everybody loves Shabbat

Everybody, everybody loves Shabbat

So there's something we talk about on this show, the, the idea of going full Jew, meaning leaning into your Jewish identity, trying to allow yourself to participate, whether it's ritualistically or spiritually or in some way more than you are and, and recognizing the times where you ha- you, you don't even know that, but you've got this voice in your head going, "Oh, that's too Jewy," or, "That's, that's too weird," or, "That's too lame

" And when you examine it you're like, "No, I actually wanna do that thing

" So you know, I, I noticed online our, our mutual buddy Yossi Farrow, shout out to Yossi, came over to Sweet Green HQ and helped you put a mezuzah up on the office door

What, what prompted that? Well, first of all, I got a text from my dad immediately after being like, "You didn't have a mezuzah on your office door?" Yeah

Yeah

What, what, what was the hold up? He's like, "We, we, we have one on the front of the building-" There you go … but we didn't have one in my office

Um, fair enough

Um, so, uh, I've known, uh, you know, I love what Yossi does

Again, talk about just celebrating- Totally … celebrating, you know, Jewish accomplishment

And just going around and wrapping tefillin, such a simple, beautiful act

And first of all, I, I, I love when people stop me to ask me to wrap tefillin

Pretty much, you know, unless I'm, like, really in a rush and I can't make it happen, I will always do it with them

Totally

I, I think, I think it's awesome

It's like one minute- Yeah … one minute- Easy peasy … and it's just a beautiful thing

And every time he's in town, he reaches out- That's awesome … and he comes and wraps, and he was in town last week, and I said, "Why don't you come to the office?" And he came to the office, and, you know, we wrapped there

My brother happened to be, uh, working out of my office, so he joined, and then he looked at the door and he said, "You don't have a mezuzah

" And so we put a mezuzah up, and it- Did he, like, have one in his pocket? He had one in his backpack

Wow

That's like the- Yeah … the Jew utility belt

Yeah, totally

The Jewtility belt

Totally

And then he explained why- Trademark it … why it was a very special day in, in, in the Chabad calendar

Um, I'm gonna get it wrong

I think maybe the 2nd of Elul

It was the day that the two founders of Chabad were born

Hmm

So a very, you know, auspicious day for, for, for Jews

Beautiful

So it was, yeah

That's so cool

So it was a beautiful thing

I love that

All right, so let's talk about the meditation piece a little bit

Yeah

What does that look like for you? Is it Jewish meditation? Is it… What… Well, I'll let you tell me

Yeah, so it's something I got into maybe 10 or 15 years ago probably, um, and I took a course on transcendental meditation, and it just was really powerful for me

It was partially spiritual, partially performance enhancement practice

Mm-hmm

And with the stress of job and family and everything else, it just became this, like, one grounding thing

And so I've had a practice now for I'd say about 15 years, and then it, it was about three years ago, you know, every year I would do goal setting

I would do, you know, write my goals, personal, professional, health

I'd have a list of, you know, the 30 goals of things I wanted to do

Wow

And then one year I said I'm just gonna do one goal, and the goal is going to power all the rest of the goals in my life

And that goal is just I'm going to meditate no matter what every single day

I'm not gonna miss

And then there's the power of gamification, 'cause I have a meditation app on my phone that now has a streak that's at, like, 975 days or something

Wow

Can't blow the streak

Can't, can't blow the streak now

You're going for the record

Uh, yeah, so I just … So but it's, it's been beautiful

Now just having that, that just that anchor in your life every morning, sometimes also in the afternoon, sitting down, you know, 15 or 20, usually 20-minute meditation just before I start my day

It just … It, it almost feels like brushing my teeth in a way

Hm

And there's times where it's more spiritual, and it depends what's going on in my life where I feel it more in my heart

There's times where it's literally just clearing my head and getting all the thoughts out and trying to get the swirl and the spin out of my head

But it's been, uh, really powerful

And ever since, uh, I started rapping with The OC, there's occasionally I will actually, you know, I will, I will do it with, uh, with the tefillin on

Cool

And there's, like, a power to that of … And, and, you know, now I just when I watch … I have a, I have a real appreciation for prayer

You know, when I go to temple now, it's, it's, it's helped me tap in in a deeper way r- with prayer 'cause I kinda bring the meditation practice and the prayer together, and I think about the prayer

You know, it used to be like, okay, read the words, and it's … You're so bor- you're kinda bored of reading the words

But if you think of those words as like a mantra- Mm-hmm … and the repetition of them, and it just takes you to this place It can be really, really beautiful

And so it's been a really great practice for me, and I, you know, f- I highly… I just highly recommend it for spiritual and professional, professional reasons

I think it really helps you just with clarity in your life in all forms

Help me understand, like, what it looks like for you

Like, where are you? What are you… What's actually… Are you listening to something, or is it, you know, is it zen and you're just silent, eyes open, eyes closed? Eyes closed

It's, um, usually first thing in the morning

Um, oftentimes I'll, like, brush my teeth, a, not, no, before coffee, before looking at my phone

What about your kids? It's usually at 5:00 in the morning

Oh my God, okay

Or, you know, my- So you're up before they are

Oh, yeah, yeah

I'm a my, my new wake-up time with my kids and my kids new school drop, my kids drop off at 7:40, my new wake-up time has been four, 4:30 in the morning

It's- You are insane … it's, it's, it's a little brutal

It's like you're hosting the morning show

Yeah, you know, yeah, 'cause I gotta get my meditation in, have my coffee, do my workout- Wow … do a little work, take the kids to school

It's a- That's impressive … it's a busy morning

Uh- And what time do you go to sleep? I try to go to sleep definitely by 10:00, 9:00, 9:00 to 10:00

Yeah

Wow

I'm, I'm in bed early

I'm, I'm impressed

Uh, are you aware of the, like, ancient deep well of, of Jewish meditation, that there's like… It's, like, a core part of Judaism and Jewish mysticism? No, t- tell me more

Well, I thought you maybe weren't aware, so I actually brought you a book called- Oh Jewish Meditation

Oh, I l- This is sort of the, the practical guide to the, to Jewish meditation

It goes back to, like, Abraham and has taken a lot of different twists and turns

But so much of what people sort of search for out there in the world of meditation, we actually already have

So- I love it

Thank you this is for you

This is my copy

Thank you

So there's some writing in there

I appreciate that

You're welcome

But yeah, my meditation is, it's just, it's transcendental meditation

I use a mantra

I sit there in silence, no app, no nothing

Mm

I either sit, you know, on a chair in my room or in, in bed and just close my eyes for 20 minutes

Same mantra every time, or different mantra? Same, same mantra

Um, it's a mantra that was given to me 15 years ago, and just like- By whom? Um, by a meditation teacher, yeah

And, and, and was it personal? I'm not gonna make you- Yeah … reveal it, but was it personal to you? I think there's a handful of them out there, but they give you a personal mantra, yes

Mm

I like meditating

My problem is I'm, I'm, I'm like part narcoleptic

You fallin' asleep

I fall asleep all the time, or at least I spend most of the time trying to remain awake

That's not bad

You know? I mean, part of it is just, it's rest

It, you know- Yeah … they say that the meditation, if, when you, when you go into that deep meditation, it's like many times more restful than the deepest sleep

I've messed around with a lot of different kinds of meditation

I've done mantra meditation

Interestingly, I, um, I went on a trip with a bunch, I've talked about on the show, with like 25 Muslims to Germany and Poland, and one of the guys on this trip was a, a sheik from Morocco, and he and I really connected

He's like the youngest sheik

People come from all over the world to, like, pray at his feet

It was very, very interesting

And he gave me a mantra, Yabeseer And so I have my like, my Muslim mantra, I have my Jewish mantra, which, uh, I use when I do that as a Ribono shel olam, which is like master of the universe

Mm

And I have my, uh, like Hindu, uh, Rama

Mm-hmm

Uh, different medi- mantras

So, I, you know, I like it, and, and I like knowing it's there, but I just, I have a hard time finding the time and the space- Yeah … and staying awake

I do always end my meditation with a Jewish, the just the Modeh ani lefanekha

That's m- probably my favorite prayer

It's just every, like that, every, when I'm finished, like the bell goes off and I just repeat that, just like before I like start my day

I love that

Modeh ani lefanekha

And for those who don't know, the Modeh ani is basically, you know, grateful am I that, that my soul has returned into my body, that I'm awake, that I'm here

And I follow that just with a moment of gratitude for all of the things

I can see why it's helpful

Yeah

It's beautiful

In the summer of 2008, I went on my Birthright trip to Israel, a free 10-day excursion to the Holy Land with a bunch of excited fellow college kids

You think it's gonna be a standard vacation, soaking in the Dead Sea, parties in Tel Aviv, and it was that

But what I didn't realize was how on top of having a great time, it could actually change your life

There's an indescribable comfort of being in a place that's for us, our Jewish family from all over the world, and the magic of seeing thriving Jews living peacefully alongside other Israelis of all races and religions

There's the wonder of the land itself, the Negev, the Galilee, the old city, and the clubs of Tel Aviv, the Western Wall, and Masada, the tunnels, and the kibbutzim

Returning to America, it's staggering to realize how strong your bond to Israel suddenly is

One trip really does change everything

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Now, back to the show

All right, so I wanna talk a little bit about the Persian side of your identity

Uh, LA, as we've discussed on the show before, largest Iranian population outside of Iran

In Iran, I learned this, uh, Jews were less than 1% of Iran

They're about 10% of the Iranian population here

The Jewish Persian community he- in LA is remarkable

I mean, the story of immigrant success in this country is I mean, it's really, like, top of class

The, uh, the speed and, and level to which this community came and immediately began building and succeeding is really amazing

I saw this stat: nearly 60% of Persian Jews in LA are self-employed

Yeah

Which is incredible, right? So can you speak to me a little bit about that entrepreneurial mindset? Clearly, you're living proof of the same

It, it, it's, it's in the water, so, like, h- how did you c- how did that come to you? How was that given to you, and where do you see that within the community? I d- never knew that stat, but- Yeah … a lot of p- you know, a lot of people ask me, "When did you know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?" My answer is, "My whole life

" Yeah

Because when I looked around, I didn't know anybody that wasn't an entrepreneur, you know? Y- It's crazy … everyone you knew, whether they were hugely successful or not, in some way worked for themself

They owned one little beauty shop or, you know, sold rugs or were, you know, in real estate or whatever it was, but pretty much everyone we knew, unless they were a doctor or a lawyer- Right was an entrepreneur

The Persian Jewish story is a classic Jewish story, right? Of a community in Iran that was, you know, that was a vibrant community that all of a sudden, one day, and I, I think about this 'cause, you know, m- my, my mom was 16 years old, my dad was, like, 27, and imagine in one summer You just have to pick up and leave

Mm

You know, we, we joke with my mom because when she came here, it was summer b- it was summer break

It was summer of '79, and her sis- uh, her sister was about to give birth, and so they decided to come, come to LA for the summer

She never went back from her summer vacation- Yeah … and didn't see her father for years

Wow

Because, you know, he was put in prison, and had to, you know, sneak out, and had… You know, I remember as a kid doing those, those, like, stories where you interview your grandfather, you know, or your grandparents, and it was these incredible stories my grandfather would tell me about being in jail and having to be smuggled out

And so I think there's just something about this having everything and then losing it all overnight, and then having to rebuild it again, that is one created… A- a- again, this a Jewish story for many, many generations, right? Yeah

For centuries this has happened, and I think it's what's created this, this self-starter attitude, this community that helps each other

Like, so much, you know, of what, what Pers- one of the reasons these Persians are successful, they're always helping each other

You need a job, you need an investment, you need a loan, everybody is helping each other and supporting each other, and not s- not so much competing with each other

Mm-hmm

And I think that is one of the reasons that got them to come here and be successful

I also think Persians have, you know… Persians, uh, you know, I, I joke, there's a, there's a term, like, bazari

Like, you're kinda like a man of the bazaar

Mm-hmm

You know, they're good at negotiating, they're good at sales, they're pretty commercial- Right … and, and crafty and clever in that way

And so I think you combine a lot of, you know, the resilience and grit with the commercial nature, and you get a, you get a society of entrepreneurs

What I find sort of the most fascinating in that is, you know, they hadn't been tested in this way until 1979, and then they got here and it was like, boom, we're built for this

Yeah

So it, I don't know, like, i- if it's just this, this ancient thing that had always been part of the community or, or, you know, what you can attribute it to

Obviously, once they get here, they're displaying that grit, they're displaying that do it yourself

But they didn't necessarily have to to the same degree in Iran, right? You know, Jews have always buil- uh, believed in education

Right

So the, the Persian Jews in, in Iran were, were very highly educated

Right

Many of them even came to America for, for education, or they went to England or places like that

So they had that base

And so you, you have that, then you have this, like, commercial, you know, bug of, like, knowing how to make money and take ideas and make money with them

Mm-hmm

I think what I've been so impressed with with the Jewish community really coming r- you know, right away is- You know, there's the, there's the ones that have went into businesses that they were already in

Mm-hmm

But you've seen success in technology, biotech, engineering, like so, you know, the, the, the broadness of industries where these Persian Jews have come here and been successful is really remarkable And I think there's just a risk-taking gene- Hmm … in it where they've lost it all before, not afraid to lose it again, and know that it's all, all these material things are kinda temporary

And I also think there's a little bit of a, the e- again, the ecosystem of healthy competition

Like, you know, other people are successful, so there's inspiration

You know, you look in your community, you look around, and like I said, when I was a kid, looking up and saying, "Oh, well, like, look at these people and what they've done

" Not looking at people and being like, "Oh, they're a VP at a… You know, they're a mid-level executive- Right … at some company

" It's like, whoa, they started that- Right … with their bare hands

Mm-hmm

And I think that's always been valued

That work ethic has also been s- is, is also really driven into us from the time we're children

Like, from the time I was… As long as I can remember, I'd go… I had a day off, summer, anything, it was like, "You're going to the, you're going to the office with your dad

" Wow

And I do that with my kids now, too

You know, we, we, we talk… You know, some people don't like to talk about m- money with their kids

I… We talk about money

We talk about how you make money and how hard it is to make money, and how you can make money through capital or labor and all of those things

Like, when we were, you know, starting three years old, we started doing lemonade stands

Yeah

And it's so… I think it's so powerful of teaching them that grit and resilience and that entrepreneurship, you know, s- those entrepreneurial skills from a very young age

I think it's one of those things that if you're not being intentional about it the way it sounds like you and your family and community are, you sort of assume, "Oh, my kids will learn this, like, in school or some-" Like, it feels academic, but it isn't

Yeah

Right? Like, you, you don't get taught in math class, like, how to be an entrepreneur

Either you… Maybe you end up studying it i, in grad school or undergrad or something 'cause you're, you have that interest

But otherwise it, it sort of does get left aside unless you're really intentional about it

So I, I think that's powerful

The reason I wanted to be an entrepreneur from day one is I wanted to just build

I wanted to create things

Create goods or services that people would want

And I think that's part of the culture, is like create something that people will love and want and are willing to pay for, and that's what I tell 'em, that's what I tell my son all the time

I'm like, "That, that's all that matters

" Like, when it comes to work is, is if you can come up with something that someone is willing to pay for, you are creating value

If you're down, I would love to, to get a little deeper into your family's specific story

You mentioned your grandfather and, and, you know, you told us a little about your mom, but would love to hear sort of, you know, what you're carrying of their journey from Iran to America

Sure

Actually, Jonathan, hold that thought because we're gonna save this part of the conversation exclusively for the Kehillah, my insider subscriber community

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All right, here comes the transition

As I said, to sort of kick off this segment of our conversation, y- the, the, the community has done so well

Do you feel like Persians get included in the American story? And that they're such a, an immigrant American dream success

Although, I mean, they didn't come here necessarily for a dream, they came 'cause they had to

Yeah

But it is such a, a, a prototype, but do, do you feel like that's, that's recognized? Generally, yes

Um, I think the Per- I mean, Persians, Persian Jews love America

Like, they're so, uh, they, they love what America stands for, they love the f- you know, the freedom that it affords, especially f- coming from where they did, and they love that they were able to come here and, and build

Yeah

There's the stories of the founder of eBay, and the CEO of Uber, and there's, like, all of these stories of really successful Persians

Um, so I think more and more people are starting to talk about, you know, the success of so many Persians and Persian Jews

Yeah

Um, but I think growing up, it was not the same

Like, today I'm very proud to be a Persian Jew

If I'm honest It did not feel that way growing up

Like, when I was, you know, in elementary school, I did feel like an outsider

Mm

And, you know, coming, living in LA, and it was like, oh, we, the Per- I, I don't think the Persians had built the respect of the community the same way, still felt like, you know, first generation immigrants- Right … in a lot of way, and I felt that

And may- may- in a lot of ways was maybe not as proud to be Persian and would not, you know, lean into that as much as I, as I do today

I feel like that's probably a very typical reaction for a lot of second gen immigrant families

Yeah

S- Like, we just wanted to assimilate

Right

We wanted to assimilate s- so much, and that is, I think, what, again, what Persians have, have done well

They really have assimilated

They really do see- Oh, yeah … it as a, as a melt spot

Like my, you know, my… Both, both in marrying n- you know, there's a lot do marry within the, within the community, but so many don't

Um, most Persian Jews, they care, you know, they, they really care about marrying anoth- marrying Jewish, but less so about marrying another Persian person

Do you feel like that's anecdotal, or you really feel like that's widespread in terms of people marrying out of the community? In, at least in, in my family, in my, with my, my wife and her two sisters, two Persian Jews that both married two non-Persian Jews

Um, so we're s- I think we're seeing more and more of it

It's, you know, h- I was never told to marry Persian

My parents were very s- pretty strict, like, "Y- I, we really expect you to marry a Jewish first," someone Jewish

Hmm

But, but it was never expect- I actually never thought I, I would marry a Persian person

Wow

I was very lucky I found my unicorn, my unicorn in Leora

Amazing

Shout out to Leora again

Uh, and shout out to my wife, Courtney

Weekly shout out to Courtney, just because you're the best

Let's talk about Sweetgreen

Yeah

It's been a challenging time for Sweetgreen

You've been in the midst of a, a pretty major turnaround, changing menu items, marketing, operational strategies, and then in the middle of all that, there's this cyclospora outbreak

Sweetgreen doesn't even serve iceberg lettuce, and there's a major consumer downturn anyway

So my first question is, like, how are you doing? How are you? You know, I am good

I am great

Um, I think, again, the meditation, the family

Business is business, and it, it is very personal when it's your baby

Sure

But I go home every day, and I see my beautiful kids, and my beautiful wife, and my, the life that I have, and I'm very grateful for it

And so I try to not let it, business challenges, uh, destroy my personal wellbeing 'cause I've been- You know, I've been flying high in business, and I've had down, and I know it c- you know, I've, I've been doing this n- 19 years, enough years to know that resilience is the key- Mm-hmm … and that things go up, you know, things go up and down

Of course, it's been a really, really challenging year on the business side, but in a lot of ways it's grounded me more in the things that really matter

What, if anything, can you learn about consumer behavior from the illogical, you know, uh, uh, step back from Sweetgreen based on a product they can't even get in your restaurant? Well, it's really unfortunate what happened this summer around the panic around cyclospora

What I would say is that cyclospora Did get some people sick, and I do feel, you know, my heart goes out to those people that were impacted by it

However, cyclospora is something that has happened every year as long as we remember

Hmm

It has never been reported on, ever

Hmm

More people died in 2024 and 2025 in cyclospora than they did this year

Interesting

This year, sometimes the media picks a story, they decided to pick this story

There were more cases

We don't know if the more cases are because it was being reported on, but there was more than double the cases than there typically has been

Okay

I think it's unfortunate that the way the news was spread did not have… And, and we've, we have this issue all the time as Jews, right? It's like the New York Times will put on the front page, and it'll say, "Jews bombed a children's hospital," and then they'll put the retraction on the last page in the corner somewhere

Right

That's what happened this summer with cyclospora

They put out a big scare saying, "Don't eat lettuce

" They even said, "Don't eat produce, don't eat blueberries, don't eat anything

" And then when they realized that it was a single farm in Mexico with iceberg lettuce, they didn't bring that same attention to sharing that

Hmm

So could have government officials have done more around clarity? Could the media have done more to educate people? Anyone who said, "Cyclospora is here, stop eating lettuce," should also say, "Cyclospora is over, go ahead and read it

" Yeah

I wrote an op-ed a few weeks ago, um, about it, and I think what would upset me most about the situation… Of course, listen, of course I'm biased

I'll put this out there

Sure

It, it impacts my business

Yeah

But what upset me most about the situation was the fact that we have this huge fight to try to make people eat healthier food, and we're, we're making progress

Not just Sweetgreen, but as a nation, we're, we're educating people on the importance of eating real food

And all of a sudden we scared people, instead of saying with clarity, "Don't eat iceberg lettuce from Taco Bell"- Right … which is where it came from, we scared people wholesale, and now you have the mom in the supermarket that's there about to buy some produce, that drops it down and instead decides to go buy a bag of Cheetos because it's packaged and quote, "safe

" But the reality is, is it safe? Imagine if the media reported every single day when someone died- of diabetes

Mm-hmm

Imagine if the media reported every day when someone died of opioid or a car accident

And so I think it was ir- irresponsible

I wish that people would say, you know, would, would speak the truth

It's fun

It gets people clicks to say, to wrote, to write, and it was, it led to really great memes

So, you know, fine

Right

Like, it was, it was, it was funny

Right

It was, it was at least people were able to make fun of it

But I, I, I think it was unfortunate that it pushed people away from eating real food and more towards ultra-processed food

Yeah

But luckily, it's been declared over

Um- Baruch Hashem

Baruch Hashem

Sweetgreen is, was never impacted

We never served anything that was impacted by Cyclospora

Um, no reported cases

We also have a different kinda supply chain

I think it was actually a moment for us to tell people that we don't source the way others do

The whole company was built on this idea from sourcing from farmers we know and trust

Yeah

So we know where we source our food from

We are able to trace it back directly to those farms

We visit those farms

We understand their farming practices, and that's k- really, like, the whole idea of the company is, is the provenance around where the food comes from

And so what I'm hoping, you know, and seeing the opportunity and everything, this is a moment for us to tell that story and tell people that, you know, next time this happens, yes, you should be concerned about your food safety, but Sweetgreen is not where you should be concerned- Right … because we know where our food comes from

It's sort of the opposite

Yeah

If there's any place that's gonna be safe- That's right … it's gonna be the one that tells you exactly where we got it from

Yeah

And lettuce is only part of what we sell

Right

Right

How different is running Sweetgreen for Wall Street than it is building a business with your buddies? For yourselves even if… You know, I read your origin story

Yeah

It was like, "We needed somewhere to eat

We got nowhere healthy

" It's, it's gotta be a very different experience since going public a number of years ago

It, it's different

I mean, the scale is different

You know, when you started, couple stores, we're doing everything

We're building it for… We are the customer

We're 20-something years old, and we're building

It's, it's all gut, all art, no science

As you scale, it's sci- it's structure, systems, tools, um, and scale

You know, today we have about 9,000 employees across the country and 300 restaurants

Um, we're a publicly traded company, so it, it definitely brings a different level of challenge

But I think what I always, especially you mentioned kinda this turnaround moment- The, I, I remind the team, the fruit is in the roots

Get, go back to basics, and going back to what would we do if we were just building this for ourselves? That creative expression, the, the, the soul and creativity we bring out in the world, that's what made Sweetgreen special

And do I think being public, and, you know, I wouldn't say we ever ran it for Wall Street, but the pressures of Wall Street- Yeah … of course, you know, you have, you're, you're thinking about those things

Do you have the freedom to bring that OG creative expression to things? Or do, do you have mandates and, you know? No, I do, and I think that's the beauty of a founder-led company, um, is that we, we can do those things, and that's what we're now doing, is getting back to the roots, bringing back those, the things that made us special, continuing to innovate, and just focusing on, on execution

A lot of what we do is just driving consistent execution and consistency in the experience, and then, and then innovation around the food

And so it's, uh… Things have obviously, have definitely changed, uh, from being a 22 years old, actually run- making the food myself in the restaurant to leading a team

But what I always remind the team, my team, is all the answers are in the restaurant There's nothing more valuable than being there side by side with my team members, my store team leaders, or what we call head coaches, talking to customers directly

That's where I get the, the greatest insights and all of the answers

And so in these moments of, you know, challenge, I always try to go back there

Go back, what made it… what made Sweetgreen special, and, like, let's not try to view Sweetgreen on a spreadsheet or a PowerPoint deck, but getting in there and talking to, to our team members and consumers, that's where all of, like, the, the, the insights and answers come from

What I'm hearing is that you need to do an Undercover Boss- I- … and go work the line in the Sweetgreen

Well, I do it quite often

Do you really? Yeah, of course

We make everyone at the, uh… everyone at the company do it at least- But not in a secret way

Everybody knows it's you

Not in a secret way

Well, no, I visit stores a lot, and I do what I call planned and unplanned visits

Uh, sometimes they're planned

They know I'm coming

Sometimes it's with an entourage, and it's a whole thing

But oftentimes I'll go unplanned, and there's times where I go unplanned, and I'll show up in a city, and they don't know me

Mm

I mean, I have 300… If there's 8,000 people- Right … like, a lot of them don't know me

Some may… You know, sometimes they may recognize me, but there's a lot of times where I'll just go into a restaurant- As a customer? … as a customer, and not tell them anything and… until the very end

You'll tell them before you leave

Before I leave, I'll say something

But I'll order

I want, I want to see what it's like just as a customer

Sometimes it's great

Sometimes it's really frustrating

And then at the end, I either say, like, "Hey, by the way, this is who I am

" "Hey, by the way- "This is me

Great to s-" "… I'm the CEO

" "Great to see you

" I, I usually say, "Hey, I work at the support center

My name is Jonathan

" We all talk about our values and just use it as a coaching moment

Wow, that's cool

What I've learned, especially in this world of AI, where you're gonna be able to measure and optimize everything, the magic is in the, is in the art

It's in the creativity, the soul, the craft

And of course, you need the, you need the science to scale

You need the tools and the systems

But the magic, the alpha, what makes you special, is the art Why not make Sweetgreen kosher? You know, after, uh, the Yosi video l- last week, um, my DMs, my emails, my texts, and my LinkedIns have been, my voicemails have been full of people asking if we can make Sweetgreen kosher

Yeah

So what I'll say for those listening, um, Sweetgreen is very kosher friendly

Um, you can eat vegetarian, uh, very easily, and we have very many vegetarian options

Very hard to make it pure kosher, um, just because of the other things that we cook there, and the fact that we do cook unkosher chicken, and with our scale, it would be very hard to do

So could we have a single kosher restaurant? Yeah

Probably

What about, like, you know, in a specific market- Yeah … or two where you've got the- So I think, you know- the community … it's, it's something we would look at when we open in Israel one day

We, uh, we, we, we will, we will make sure to be kosher

Um, so I, I, I heard the request, and I think I, I think, uh, it's something that we would like, we would consider

Right on

But for now we're very kosher friendly

All right, so we're getting towards the end here, and we're gonna do something a little new that you're, you're gonna pilot for us here, Jonathan

All right

We've got the BJJP swag bag

Uh, this is full of sort of limited edition, uh, Being Jewish merch, like single-run stuff, plus some extra goodies from our friends at Birthright Israel

Amazing

So take a look and, and whatever one thing you wanna grab from here is, is yours to take home, along with your book

We're going Jews Are Sexy

Jews Are Sexy socks

Can't get those anywhere else

It's all yours

Thank you

Okay

To finish off, as I like to do on the show, we're gonna just play a little game, and we're gonna have a little lightning round

Kale or arugula? Arugula

I really don't like kale, actually

And maybe that- Oh

Maybe that's, that's the controversial statement

Okay

I'm, I'm just not a fan

Well, I, I like cooked kale

I'm not a- Yeah … I don't eat the raw kale in a salad

A lot of people love kale

I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm not a huge fan

It's, it's also a lot of, it, people don't realize how labor-intensive the prep, the kale is in our restaurants

We spend more hours prepping kale than anything we do

Well, say more

Oh

First it has to be de-stemmed by hand

So we de-stem the kale by hand in the restaurant, washed, chopped, and massaged

It's a lot of work

Well, everything has to be washed and chopped, right? But it's the, it's the massage and the de-stemming? It's the way that you have to wash and chop it, and the sheer amount that we have to do

And then the de-stem- it just, it ends up taking, the average store spends, I think, like two to three hours

Just get rid of the kale

Is it, is it that popular of a salad base? You know, it's in our most popular item, the harvest bowl

Otherwise, I probably would

No one would know

Just swap it

Chicken pesto Parm or Shroom Ami? Chicken pesto Parm

That's, that's one of my go-tos

Hummus crunch or guacamole greens? You know, it's hard 'cause the guacamole greens, I actually had it for lunch today, and it was the first salad we ever put on the menu

That was num- uh, like, store number one salad number one? It was, it's the salad we made in our college dorm room

Wow

Um- That's cool … but the hummus crunch is my go-to

I mean- Yeah … how do you say no to hummus? It's just… Spicy cashew or hot honey mustard? Gotta go with the spicy cashew Same

All right

We have similar palates here

I'm definitely like a dunking the potatoes in the, in the spicy cashew guy

Uh, bread or no bread? I'm a no bread

Same

Yeah

Fork or chopsticks? We should s- we should bring chopsticks into the restaurant

It's a good idea

There you go

Yeah

Y- you're welcome

Yeah

DoorDash or Uber Eats? Oh, you don't wanna get me in trouble here

Maybe we do a little bit

Uh, well, I'll say DoorDash today is, uh, is, uh, partners with us on our first-party delivery

Um, but both are, have, have been wonderful partners

Wonderful

So thank you, DoorDash

Thank you, Uber

Nice

Salad or tahdig? Oh, you know how hard I've been trying to make tahdig happen on our menu? Yeah, like, h- what would it be? Like a bowl just with the rice's tahdig style? Like, just imagine, like, crispy ri- like really good crispy ri- We do like a, a crispy rice, but it's more of, like, a puffed crispy rice

Mm-hmm

But imagine if you could do, like, tahdig crunches- Oh … on a bowl

It'd be amazing

Sweetgreen

We're talking about weed, right? I feel like I, I feel like I saw some subtle nod to a late night college conversation

It's, uh, if, uh, if it all, if it all doesn't work out, the turnaround plan, we'll have to, we might have to go there

You go to dispensaries

Perfect

Jewiest Sweetgreen order

I don't know

I'm, we're, we're about to come out with a chicken salad, which I feel like is kinda Jewy

Yeah

What do you say? Like chicken salad, like, like with the mayo kind of- And the pickles and the whole thing

Okay

As, as a wrap or a salad? We're doing a wrap and a salad

Oh, both

Yeah

I mean, maybe dip it in the hummus- Yeah

and then you got a winner

Uh, what's your favorite Jewish holiday? This may sound crazy

I really like Yom Kippur

That's actually not crazy, and, and it's become of… You know, I've done 100 of these episodes

I'd say it's probably now the most popular answer

Really? It's either Passover or Yom Kippur

And, and it doesn't surprise me for you because you're somebody who meditates- Yeah and I imagine you feel very connected

And it's just such a healing, beautiful day

If you could have any Jewish celeb be a spokesperson for Sweetgreen, who would it be? I don't know

First one that came to mind is Sacha Baron Cohen

That's, that's a funny pairing

I don't know

I don't know why he- As, as himself or as a character? I don't know why he, I don't know why he came to mind

I need to think a little harder

And the, the last question that we ask of all our guests, challah, rip or slice? Rip

I figured

Yeah

You know, the Persians rip

All right, Jonathan

Thank you so much

Pleasure

This has been awesome

Pleasure to be here

Thank you

My pleasure

Another huge thanks to Jonathan for making time in what is clearly an urgent moment for him and Team Sweetgreen

Go support him

Grab a new seasonal bowl, a wrap

Tell him Jonah sent you

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All right

That's it for me

I'll see y'all right back here for the next chopped, mixed, and dressed episode of Being Jewish with me, Jonah Platt