John Self spent 16 years in restaurant management at several restaurant chains, from general manager to vice president of operations, and owned three independent restaurants and a comedy club.

The first restaurant that I owned and opened failed within six months. This was a total shock since I had been in restaurant management before I opened it. That's when I realized that owning is different from managing.  Based on that humbling experience and learning from my many mistakes, I opened 2 more restaurants which were successful

After 16 years in the restaurant industry, I went back to school, got a master's and Ph.D., and taught hospitality management at the University of Alabama, Golden Gate University in San Francisco, and then settled in at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) where I am Professor Emeritus.

I have taught hospitality management internationally at universities in Xian and Dalian, China, and was a Fulbright Scholar in Helsinki, Finland teaching hospitality management.

I have written 3 restaurant books: The New Restaurant Manager, The New Restaurant Manager Part 2, and the Restaurant Compendium for the Curious.