ASIA CEO Community

In 1989, Ravi was asked to join Hungry Jack’s as a Team Leader for late night trade, while studying a Bachelor of Education at Western Sydney University. Although his desire was, in fact, to study medicine and become a surgeon, circumstances shifted his focus to education instead. Working his way up the ladder at just 19 years of age, Ravi was promoted to Restaurant Manager, where he began to apply his educational knowledge to manage a team of 80 employees, initially, which grew over time.
With the right coaching and guidance from his mentors, Ravi was given the accountability of opening new restaurants and took on the Learning and Development portfolio for Hungry Jack’s, along with training new Franchisees for the brand. By age 21, Ravi was not only running the State of NSW, but engaged in expansion of the business. He also took full accountability of developing and presenting all leadership courses at Hungry Jack’s, working alongside Burger King corporations’ leadership program in the USA, where he spent some time.
Ravi’s passion for people and leadership led him to complete a Master of Commerce degree at WSU, majoring in Industrial Relations and Business, and venturing further to achieve an MBA. Simultaneously, Ravi was also promoted to Competitive Foods Australia, the mother company of Hungry Jack’s; where he headed the national strategic role, looking after systems, training, people and strategy for growth. Upon the successful completion of an MBA, Ravi was asked to take on Research in Science, focusing on a research thesis on people behaviour and culture at work; piloting CFAL as a case study, which took over five years to complete. Immediately following the research, Ravi was requested to enrol in the PhD program, which he respectfully declined due to work and travel commitments. His in-depth networking, communication and academia did, however, see him nominated for Justice of Peace for NSW in 1995, which he gladly accepted.
With years of leadership experience, academic acumen, combined with international exposure, Ravi was requested to work with the Business Faculty of WSU. He ran leadership and business programs at the Bankstown, Parramatta, Hawksbury and Campbelltown campuses for all new cohorts of WSU. As part of program development, Ravi also presented major classes and tutorial sessions, frequently marked university exams upon request and attended graduations – which he continues to do to this day. He also grew to great heights within CFAL, progressing to an executive role developing the brand processes, and ear marked for the CEO position.
In 2007, Ravi was head hunted for a Director of Strategy, People and Systems role for a home fashion company in Dubai. Taking on this position, he not only navigated the company through an incredibly challenging financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, but successfully expanded the brand all across the middle east. Ravi also attended Harvard Business School, completing Consumer Dynamics in the 21stCentury training. He also introduced Great Place to work in the middle east, winning best company to work for in the Middle East and Asia Pacific, six years in a row. Ravi’s time in the Middle East also saw him teach many Universities from Middlesex to SP Jain. His extensive leadership exposure saw him frequently called upon to coach and mentor MBA and PhD students. Ravi was also nominated as a key note speaker by Informa, one of the largest public speaking platforms in the Middle East, as well as appointed the chair of THE P-World, one of the largest public speaking platforms in Europe. Both key organisations led Ravi to frequently travel around the world, making appearances in over 60 countries. He has appeared in many think tank panels around the world and also released his first book, titled C For Choice.
Due to very high demand and endless requests by CEOs for his time, Ravi launched his own private company, Bluefin Consultancy, in 2013. The objective was to provide support to CEOs that wanted to enhance and develop their leadership teams to create working culture. The business went from strength to strength, amassing over 100 clients at one point. This led to the decision to split the company into Strategy and Coaching. The company continued to excel in growth and Ravi’s eyes were set to expand in Australia. Ravi has been engaged in many philanthropic initiatives around the world that has been part of his entrepreneurship journey.
In 2014, Ravi was approached by a company called Exotica, who launched a fruit-based beverage and wanted help moving the product through the market. The board requested Ravi to join as a Consultant CEO to expand their portfolio through the Middle East, Asia and Europe. The success of the brand was astounding and Ravi was approached to do the same for a pharmaceutical company, and many more companies after that.
2014 Ravi was approached to expand Bluefin in Sydney. During the transition, Ravi reunited with a good friend, Sami Karras, who he had initially trained as the first franchisee of Hungry Jacks many years prior. It was then, where the idea of a restaurant concept was first discussed. Ravi disbanded Bluefin in Sydney, sold off the Middle East and started working on the Kickin’Inn concept, while in Dubai. In 2015, Ravi decided it was time to move back home and continue the design of the concept. Three years later, Ravi and Sami opened the very first Kickin’Inn restaurant in Petersham. The journey of love for people and business continues.