Buddy Valastro, celebrity baker and business owner, inherited his father's bakery-Carlo's Bake Shop of Hoboken, New Jersey-at the age of seventeen. He had willed the shop to survive and gone on to fame through his television show, "Cake Boss"-the name most people now called him. Its popularity allowed Valastro to launch many additional ventures in the worlds of TV and food, including additional locations of Carlo's Bake Shop. Valastro's businesses had remained profitable throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and he and has team had learned a great deal while managing through the crisis. Valastro felt like he was at a turning point and could build upon the lessons of the pandemic to scale his business. Moving into the future, how could Buddy leverage data and digital offerings? Did he even need brick-and-mortar bakeries? Did he have the infrastructure and team necessary to operate his company now and realize his vision for the future? Was Valastro overextended? How important was Valastro to the brand and to the company? Could they outlast him in the long-run?

As world-renowned chef Franck Giovannini contemplated his future and the future of The Hôtel de Ville Restaurant, he wondered how would he handle the transition of leadership at the restaurant when it came time for him to step down. The Hôtel de Ville Restaurant was the first restaurant ever to earn three Michelin stars under four consecutive chefs. How did Giovannini and his three predecessors manage to maintain the restaurant's status through these transitions, which were both planned and unplanned? What steps could Giovannini take to give his eventual successor the best chance for continuing the restaurant's legacy of excellence?

Chef Joan Roca, sommelier Josep Roca and pastry chef Jordi Roca were three brothers based in Girona, Spain whose complementary skills, collective ability, and relentless drive for innovation had brought worldwide fame and awards to their restaurant, El Celler de Can Roca. In 2020, their innovation skills were tested as they strategized ways to manage their restaurant and a growing list of other projects in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook had begun to wonder whether it might be time to rethink their opportunistic approach to the expansion of their small restaurant empire in Philadelphia, CooknSolo. The pandemic, however, caused an abrupt and intense change of focus-the goal was no longer expansion, but survival. Solomonov had overcome much in his life, including addiction and the death of his younger brother; these experiences had given him the perspective to take on great challenges in his career, the COVID-19 pandemic being the greatest challenge yet. As the economy cautiously started to reopen in June 2020, how should Solomonov and Cook proceed? How should they think about their business in terms of survival through the duration of the pandemic and set themselves up to come back even stronger in the post-pandemic world?

After the establishment of his critically-acclaimed upscale vegetarian restaurant, King's Joy, in Beijing, chef and entrepreneur David Yin must decide whether or not to expand to other locations or continue to invest in his existing location in order to fulfill his mission of promoting vegetarian cuisine.

NBA Superstar Dirk Nowitzki was unsure whether the 2018-19 season would be his last as an NBA player. He had not faced such uncertainty since 1998, when he had navigated a difficult decision regarding the timing of his move to the NBA. He also did not know what he would do when he ultimately retired, as playing basketball was all he had known for his entire adult life. His foundation in Dallas and in Germany provided grant money and strategic support to youth programs; he could become more directly involved in the foundation's work. The Dallas Mavericks had made it clear that they would be open to Nowitzki transitioning to a role as some type of executive or coach, helping the Mavericks make decisions and/or develop their young players. Nowitzki was also intrigued by the idea of becoming an independent mentor for young, amateur players; after all, his mentor, Holger Geschwindner, had been instrumental in his development, and he liked working with young people. Keeping his various options in mind, how should Nowitzki plan for the next phase of his life and career?