How do you build a leadership team when your next leader might already be working for you? When Sonora Foods struggled to fill a senior operations role, two people on Francisco Luengo’s team came to him with a proposal. The finance leader would take on supply chain, the HR leader would take on manufacturing, and they’d put half the hiring budget back into the business and share the other half with the team.

In Episode 313 of Success Leaves Clues, Robin Bailey and Al McDonald sit down with Francisco “Frank” Luengo, Founder & CEO at Ask Omnio and CEO of Sonora Foods. Frank shares how a call from his father took him from tech consulting into the family business, where he helped turn a food importer and distributor into a company that made its own tortillas. He explains how he and his father divided responsibilities as the business grew and why finance and HR were two of his first major leadership hires.

Frank also shares a decision he’d handle differently today. When he hired a promising plant manager just before the pandemic, he gave him room to run. Looking back, he would have set clearer expectations, broken the work into smaller milestones, and checked in more often. That experience changed how Frank coaches his leaders and how he decides when to step in.

The conversation also explores why Frank returned to his technology roots to build Ask Omnio. At Sonora Foods, meetings meant to review progress often turned into debates about whether the numbers were right. Frank built a platform that brings operating plans, targets, and performance data together, with the goal of helping mid-sized Canadian manufacturers compete with larger companies.

You’ll hear about:

• How to build a leadership team by recognizing the talent already inside your business
• Why Frank left tech consulting to launch a tortilla manufacturing operation
• How Frank and his father divided responsibilities at Sonora Foods
• Why finance and HR were two of Sonora’s first major leadership hires
• How two internal leaders took on manufacturing and supply chain
• What Frank looks for when someone is ready for more responsibility
• What a plant manager hire taught him about coaching and setting expectations
• How Frank simplified a distributor pricing problem by identifying one missing number
• Why workplace safety became a starting point for improving Sonora’s culture
• How a reporting problem at Sonora Foods led Frank to build Ask Omnio
• Why Frank turns to CEO peer groups for candid conversations
• What a tree his grandfather planted taught him about family and business legacy

We talk about:

• 00:00 Welcoming listeners
• 01:14 Meet Francisco Luengo
• 02:29 From tech consulting to the family tortilla business
• 05:01 Why Sonora Foods started making its own tortillas
• 08:38 How Frank and his father divided responsibilities
• 12:48 Recognizing potential and building a leadership team
• 19:06 How two internal leaders stepped into operations
• 24:18 Finding the missing number in a distributor pricing problem
• 28:15 Building a culture around workplace safety
• 30:10 What a plant manager hire taught Frank about coaching
• 33:59 Why Frank built Ask Omnio for manufacturers
• 42:04 How Frank’s technology background shapes his approach
• 47:11 CEO loneliness and the value of peer support
• 51:18 Family legacy and the future of Canadian manufacturing
• 57:01 Where to connect with Frank Luengo

Connect with Frank

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankluengo/
• Website: https://frankluengo.com/

Connect with Us

• LinkedIn: Robin Bailey and Al McDonald 
• Website: Aria Benefits and Life & Legacy Advisory Group