Nate Hybl, Entrepreneur and Foodie
The Former NFL Player Tackling Atlanta’s Healthy Fast-Casual Scene with Gusto
After completing stints with the National Football League playing for the Cleveland Browns and the Jacksonville Jaguars, Nate Hybl found himself at a crossroads of what to do next when he retired. “I had no money; I had no direction, and I was really lost,” he says. He did, however, know he had always been a healthy eater thanks to his lifelong athletic commitment. Atlanta just wasn’t up to speed. Without any industry experience at the time, Hybl set his mind to developing a contemporary eatery. gusto! celebrates its tenth anniversary and fourteenth location this summer.
How did gusto! come to be?
There was a hole in the marketplace in the South. I traveled a lot, and the further west you go, they’re a lot more healthy options. There were only two problems. I didn’t know anything about food, and I was not a restaurant person. It was quite ludicrous to think I was going to invent something. I was even embarrassed to tell my friends, but I couldn’t shake the idea. Once I started experimenting with food, I fell in love with the world’s ingredients. My mind was blown at toasted cumin and fresh ginger and the different vinegars and fresh dill and cilantro—things that I’ve taken for granted, and been scared of, frankly, for my whole life.
How long did it take to get things off and running?
It took me four years of research and development working on the menu in my own kitchen as I bounced around from rental to rental. I worked in the restaurant business—in four different restaurants just to see what this was all about. At the end of four years, I had raised $600,000 by driving around literally hat in hand. I saw it. I wanted it. I believed in it.
How has gusto! impacted the Atlanta fast-casual food scene?
I would like to think that in the early days we were inspirational. We were Atlanta’s new fast, casual brand, and we had a vision for being bigger than the food.
Describe one of the moments that you realized, “Wow, I did it!”
I have those little micro moments often where I go, “It’s working, I’m doing it.” But I tell people that building a brand is like creating something that’s always under construction. You have to get comfortable being uncomfortable.
