When Alex Marks left her law career, she didn’t have a clear roadmap. Just a small payout, no restaurant experience, and a hunch that something better was on the other side of risk. That hunch became Sushi Counter.

🟣 In the latest episode of Founders With Nick, we’re unpacking how she went from a law firm in Manhattan to running Sushi Counter, an Aussie-style grab-and-go sushi brand now expanding across NYC. We talk through the early chaos, the cost of people-pleasing, and the unexpected advantages of not knowing the rules.

→ Join us as we unpack:

🍣 Why staying niche gave Sushi Counter its edge
💼 How she walked away from law without a backup plan
🧠 Leading without experience and learning to own the role
📦 The importance of keeping operations scrappy and simple
💬 What most founders get wrong about process and leadership

Messy, honest, and full of lessons for anyone building something from scratch.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Leaving law behind to start a sushi business in New York
07:33 Creating a simple spreadsheet to justify taking the leap
10:08 Why sushi and why commit to New York, not Melbourne
13:33 How being a people pleaser complicated early leadership
17:59 Learning on the job and growing into being a boss
22:53 Imposter syndrome and feeling like she got lucky
30:34 Thriving in a scrappy, unstructured environment
32:40 The Aussie-style sushi model and gap in the NYC market
36:10 Why not knowing the rules made the model work better
40:08 The long-term vision of expanding beyond New York
43:43 The one legal thing she wishes she'd done from day one
45:00 Common founder traits and what sets them apart

→ Follow Founders With Nick:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/founderswithnick
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/founders-with-nick

→ Nick Langridge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-langridge/
LNGR: https://www.lngr.co.uk/

→ Follow Alex:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sushicounternyc/?hl=en
Sushi Counter: https://sushicounternyc.com/