Finance Monthly CEO Awards 2019 Edition

ERIC PARTAKER CEO of Chilango When asking Eric to tell me a bit about himself and his career, he proceeds to quote John Lennon - “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans”. It is a quote he can relate to as his career has taken more twists and turns than he could have ever imagined when he first left university in 1999, armed with a degree in finance. 20 years later and Eric’s advised Fortune 50 CEOs while at McKinsey & Company, helped build Skype’s multi-billion dollar success story, and co- founded the Mexican restaurant chain Chilango, which Elite Business Magazine has described as “arguably the most exciting fast food company of the decade”. “The common thread through my varied career has been an obsession with high performance, and the realisation that our ultimate aim in life is to become the best possible version of ourselves – to reach our fullest potential”, Eric tells me. Aside from championing this way of thinking, and “being”, at Chilango he also helps others outside of his company. Through his personal website www. ericpartaker.com , he helps high performing entrepreneurs and leaders realise even greater levels of success in both their business and life, drawing on his experiences at McKinsey, Skype, and Chilango, as well as a collection of cutting edge research and coaching certifications. Eric is one of 300 people worldwide certified as a High-Performance Coach by the High-Performance Institute and he’s also completed a coaching certification and apprenticeship with Professor BJ Fogg, who leads Stanford University’s Behavior Design Lab. “The last 20 years have been a thrilling ride, to say the least”, says Eric. Along the way, he’s been recognised as the “CEO of the Year” at the 2019 Business Excellence Awards, and as one of the “Top 30 Entrepreneurs in the UK” by Startups Magazine, with several mainstream TV and press features including The Economist, CNN, and The Wall Street Journal. Over the next few pages, we hear more about Chilango, what it’s like to be an entrepreneur in today’s environment and Eric’s obsession with high performance. FINANCE MONTHLY CEO AWARDS 2019 www.finance-monthly.com UNITED KINGDOM 29

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