About Kona Poké

  Matt is co-founder and serves as Director of Operations at  Kona Poké. Matt has succeeded in the restaurant business for nearly two decades. His passion for great food, outstanding guest service, and operations has attributed to Kona Poké's success.  His Journey began working at a high-end sports bar that did over $2M per year in revenue when he was 17 years old. While working and going to school, he was recruited by a franchisee of the up and coming Tex-Mex concept, Tijuana Flats. He partnered with the franchisee becoming an owner and operator in two locations. The locations were considered "B" markets. However, today those two locations consistently perform top three among 133 other locations while maintaining top revenue, double-digit sales growth year over year for 10 plus years, extremely high catering sales, low food cost, and low labor expenses. 

Ernie is co-founder and serves as Chief Brand Development Officer at Kona Poké. Ernie is a serial entrepreneur and digital marketing expert with a record of successful start-ups and exits. In 2001, he founded Tornado Promotions, a lead generation, and digital marketing company, eventually building a roster of more than 500 high-profile clients before exiting in 2008. Subsequently, Ernie co-founded EliteJets.com, the world's premier air charter marketplace, concluding with another successful exit in 2017. Ernie also served as President of Koneco Building Services (KBS) a general contracting company from 2010 - 2017. Ernie involvement in KBS helped the company secure nearly 1,000 commercial clients throughout the Southeast during his tenure. 

 Jesse serves as a corporate Training Specialist for Kona Poké. With over a decade of sales and management experience, Jesse has what it takes to ensure all new locations are training and upholding essential day-to-day operations.