Zoup! is the Fresh Soup Company with hundreds of recipes, thousands of flavors, and really good soup. Todd Knorr is the owner and General Manager of Lincoln’s new Zoup! franchise, located at 2801 Pine Lake Road.
Tell us a little about your business. – At Zoup!, we offer hundreds of award-winning soups with 12 always-rotating daily varieties, including low-fat, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free and spicy options – each served with a hunk of freshly baked bread. Our menu also features a distinctive array of made-to-order salads and sandwiches. Customer top picks include Chicken Potpie, Lobster Bisque and Vegetarian Split Pea, but you can find your own favorite by sampling our soups before you order. In fact, we encourage it! We also cater and would love the opportunity to cater your next event.
How did you get started in the business? – At 16, I started a part time summer job with McDonald’s Corporation, which grew into a career of 32 years and ended as a Director of Operations.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced professionally? – Having to choose between relocating for an opportunity of advancement within the corporate environment or staying rooted within our community, which our families grew up in, and starting a new business.
What has been your most important achievement professionally? – Becoming a franchise owner has been a dream of mine for a long time. It is very easy to remain in a comfortable position with little risk.
Tell me a little about your family. – I have a wonderful wife of 28 years that has risked it all right alongside me and three fantastic, active children–a senior at Nebraska Wesleyan and two at Lincoln Southwest High School. Oh, and Cooper the Welsh terrier.
What do you see as one of the biggest turning points in your life? – Has to be having kids, my how your perspective changes in a hurry.
What is your favorite thing to do on a day off? – Spending time with family and friends at the lake.
What is the most unique or interesting thing about you that most people probably don’t know? – That I built a cabin from the ground up (with a little help).
What are you the most proud of? – Raising three great kids with my wife and becoming a franchise owner.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? – “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.”
If you could choose only one descriptive word to be remembered as, what would it be? – Empowering!
If you could have a super power, what would it be? – To see the future.
What is your greatest talent that you don’t utilize in your daily work life? – Being mechanically inclined.
Which talent would you most like to have? – Enough athletic talent to play a professional sport.
If you could choose any other profession to be successful in, what would it be? – Crime Scene Investigator.
What is your favorite movie? – The Shawshank Redemption.
What is your favorite TV show? – Longmire, enough said!
If you could have dinner with one famous person from the past or present, who would it be? – Any one of our founding fathers.
If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so? – Stop in and see me at Zoup!, located at 2801 Pine Lake Road, or call me at (402) 875-9779. You may also email me at tknorr@zoup.com or visit our website at www.zoup.com.