Eddie Maalouf Interview: Scaling an 8-Figure Agency, Scoville Hot Chicken, and Life in Alpharetta
As the founder of BAD Marketing, Eddie Maalouf has scaled his digital marketing agency into an eight-figure business. Now he is applying those same aggressive growth strategies to the restaurant industry, having acquired Scoville Hot Chicken and expanded its footprint across the country, including a brand-new location on Windward Parkway in Milton.
Today, Eddie continues to grow both his agency and Scoville Hot Chicken while living and working right here in the local Alpharetta community.
The Alpharetta.com team had the opportunity to speak with Eddie about his transition from top salesman at Lifetime Fitness to eight-figure agency owner, the common mistakes local businesses make when trying to scale, and bringing Scoville Hot Chicken to Alpharetta.
What originally motivated you to start your own digital marketing agency, and can you talk about the early days of running your agency?
“I was actually doing sales at Lifetime Fitness, and I was the number one sales guy in the entire company. I realized my time was capped because I had to sell one-on-one, and I physically could not sell more than that.
I started noticing sponsored ads on Facebook and realized I could reach a hundred people with a single ad instead of selling to them individually. That was the moment I asked myself how I could translate my ability to sell into digital sales.
I was tired of selling one-on-one, and that curiosity is really what got me into digital marketing in the first place.”
You can run a global digital marketing agency from anywhere in the world. What was it about the Alpharetta/Milton area that attracted you to live and do business here?
“I grew up here. I’ve been in this area since I was a kid, and I went to Pinecrest Academy and Bridgeway, which is now called Valor Academy, on Kimball Bridge.
Since I’ve been here my whole life, staying in Alpharetta was just easy. I built a house here right next to my parents and my family.
I wanted to be close to the gym, so I built a house from scratch nearby and found an office about half a mile away. I basically built my entire life, and my own little community, around the gym.”
In terms of local businesses, what do you see as the most common bottleneck these companies hit when trying to scale online with paid ads or social media?
“I think most local businesses are just scared to spend money on marketing, especially digital marketing. A lot of them think everything has to produce an instant return, but unless you have a crazy offer or you’re giving things away for free, your business isn’t going to flood with people overnight.
They don’t understand that it’s a long-term game, and that marketing is a necessary expense to grow the business. Too many business owners are saving and protecting their money, thinking that’s the way to grow.
The way you really need to grow is by investing money into getting attention. That gets you more customers, which gets you more revenue and more cash, which then lets you do the same thing again with even more money.
Too many business owners end up playing defense. They’re so protective of their money and scared of running out of it that they never get aggressive enough to actually grow the business.”
You run an 8-figure digital marketing agency with clients in various industries. What made you decide to enter the restaurant industry and purchase Scoville Hot Chicken?
“When you have the skills to do marketing, you can really run any business you want as long as you know how to market it. Scoville was the best chicken sandwich I had ever had, even before I bought it. My friends and I would go eat there all the time after flag football on Sundays.
As the brand grew, they went from one location to nine, but they lost quality control along the way and dropped back down from nine locations to five. At one point I actually wanted to open a Scoville franchise, but that fell through before they hit their decline.
Franchising in general is one of the best business models to get into, but I was already past that point in my career, with a lot of employees and a lot already built. I wanted to own something that was entirely mine.
Once Scoville started declining, I reached out to the owner, since I already had his contact information from my earlier franchise attempt. I told him it looked like the business was struggling and that I would be open to buying it and turning it around. He said no at first, but about two weeks later he came back and said they were open to entertaining an offer.
From there I bought Scoville and spent a year fixing it. We just opened a new location last week, another one opens in about a week, and a third opens two weeks after that, so we’re expanding quickly.
We’re not just focused on North Atlanta. Right now, we’re looking at Tampa and Miami, and we’re opening two locations in New Jersey and New York, one in Michigan, and another in Charlotte, with the rest currently concentrated in the Atlanta market.”
For the locals who haven’t yet visited Scoville Hot Chicken, how would you describe the food and experience?
“First of all, we’re not fast food. We’re a category above called fast casual, and it’s a much different experience.
Our chicken is all organic, never frozen, halal, and raised without antibiotics. It’s about as clean as chicken can get, and each fillet is seven ounces, compared to a Chick-fil-A fillet, which is about three ounces, so ours is roughly two and a half times the size. Everything is organic, with no chemicals or preservatives and none of the shortcuts that many fast food chains take.
The chef who created the concept runs Michelin-rated restaurants, so he really knows how to make food. He developed the original recipe, and we’ve focused on sourcing higher-quality spices so we can maintain that same quality as we scale.
The first Chick-fil-A was probably better than the hundredth from a pure quality standpoint. We’re able to maintain that quality since we’re just trying to get to a couple hundred locations.”
You are officially opening a brand-new Scoville location on Windward Parkway in Milton. What was it about that specific location and demographic that made it the perfect spot for the next Scoville?
“About a third of our customers at the Sandy Springs location already come from Alpharetta, Cumming, and Milton. This whole area is really missing a good hot chicken concept.
This area also has a very diverse market, with a lot of people from Southeast Asia, India, and other spice-forward food cultures. Many people here want spicy food, but no one has really offered something with truly high-quality spice.
We source our spices from other countries, and right now everything is coming from South Korea. No one else is using what we’re using, which lets us make food that’s genuinely hot while still having real flavor.
It’s a really strong market for us to be in, which is why we’re opening two locations here.”
When you look at the fast-casual restaurant landscape as a whole, what is the biggest disruption or change you predict will happen in the near future, and how is Scoville positioning itself to lead that charge?
“AI isn’t going to hurt this industry, and that’s honestly a big part of why I’m all in on Scoville. A lot of industries online are going to be heavily affected, but nothing is going to replace people going out to a restaurant and eating.
The only thing that could really replace that is delivery, and we already have that covered. We’re actually benefiting from it as a brand, so I don’t see a world where AI or robotics hurts the restaurant business. If anything, it only helps it.”
Looking at the brand as a whole, what is your 5-to-10-year vision for Scoville Hot Chicken?
“On the surface, we’re trying to change the hot chicken industry as a whole by offering something higher quality and less fast food. There’s a real segment missing in the market right now. There’s plenty of fried chicken fast food, but almost nothing one step above that.
The equivalent of a premium burger experience just doesn’t exist yet in the chicken world. A lot of people need it, want it, and are actively asking for it, so filling that gap is our short-term focus.
Longer term, we’re building this brand to eventually be acquired by a bigger company. A lot of large restaurant groups own a portfolio of different concepts like a sub sandwich shop or a burger brand, but many of them have a real shortage of chicken concepts in their portfolio.
That’s why the Dave’s Hot Chicken sale was such a big deal, since there just isn’t much competition in that specific space. Compare that to the sub sandwich or frozen yogurt markets, where there are plenty of larger acquisition targets. In hot fried chicken, there aren’t many brands big enough to be an attractive acquisition, and that’s the gap we’re trying to fill.
We’ve already had conversations with well-known celebrities and NBA players who are interested in opening their own locations, investing in the brand, or taking on equity. We’re at a point now where I think we’re going to scale pretty quickly, and I think people are going to be shocked by how fast it happens.”
When you’re not working, what are some of your favorite spots in the Alpharetta area to enjoy with your family?
“I love The Green at Halcyon and Avalon. I love taking my family there, ordering a bunch of food, sitting on the ground, and just hanging out. It’s always a fun time.
Downtown Alpharetta is a blast too. I love going there at night with friends, drinking on the lawn, and then walking around to some of the restaurants and rooftops to hang out for the rest of the night.
Those are probably my top spots overall: Avalon, Halcyon, and downtown Alpharetta. When you have kids, you really need space for them to run around, so all the parents hang out on the lawn while the kids run around.
Honestly, I love this place. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”