Interview with founder CEO of Craveworthy Brands Gregg Majewski about the power of being second, prioritizing hospitality, and the ongoing need for human service workers.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Welcome to Restaurant Influencers, presented by Entrepreneur.
00:03 My name is Sean Walchef, founder of Cali Barbecue Media.
00:06 In life, in the restaurant business,
00:09 and in the new creator economy,
00:10 we learn through lessons and stories.
00:13 We're grateful to Toast, our primary technology partner
00:15 and sponsor of the show for allowing us
00:18 the opportunity to share stories of the hospitality industry
00:22 all over the globe.
00:23 Today we have a very special guest,
00:25 Greg Majewski of Craveworthy Brands,
00:29 the CEO, thank you for being on the show.
00:31 - Thanks for having me.
00:32 I'm glad we were able to get this in.
00:33 - Finally. - Finally.
00:35 - In real life.
00:36 We're gonna start with my favorite random question,
00:38 which is where in the world is your favorite stadium,
00:41 stage, or venue?
00:43 - So, gotta go Wrigley Field as my favorite stadium,
00:47 by a close second to Rupp Arena.
00:49 But again, Wrigley growing up,
00:52 going to a baseball game with my dad, remembering that,
00:55 and then Rupp because that's where I went to school.
00:57 And Kentucky's the only basketball team
00:59 that anyone should ever care about.
01:00 (laughing)
01:01 - Fair enough.
01:02 So we're gonna talk to Toast,
01:04 we're gonna talk to Restaurant 365.
01:06 We're here at the Restaurant Transformation Festival
01:09 in Austin, which has been absolutely incredible.
01:11 They have 500 leaders.
01:12 What we care about on this show, why we do what we do,
01:15 is that we wanna connect with the greatest
01:18 hospitality minds on the earth,
01:20 as well as the greatest storytellers.
01:23 I want you to go, we're gonna pretend like this show
01:26 is in Wrigley Field.
01:28 And I want you to tell me what happened
01:31 in the conversation between you and Dave from Wendy's.
01:36 - So, I was very, very lucky and stupid
01:41 to get into the restaurant industry right out of school.
01:43 And I got promoted in a job that nobody my age
01:47 ever should have had.
01:48 And I walked out of IFA one night, after a session,
01:52 and there sits this man.
01:54 And he says, "Greg, do you have a minute for me?"
01:57 And I looked at him, knowing who he was,
01:59 and my mouth sort of fell down, I said,
02:00 "Of course, Mr. Thomas, I have a minute for you."
02:02 He goes, "Well, let's go have a cup of coffee."
02:04 And he took me down and said,
02:07 "Hey, I know you're in a tough position.
02:08 "I know you've sort of been thrown to the wolves,
02:11 "but I'd like to mentor you."
02:13 And I looked at him and I-- - That's amazing.
02:14 - And I looked at him and I did not know what to say.
02:17 And he came in and first thing he said, he goes,
02:21 "But, if you do this, you've gotta promise me
02:25 "down the line, you do this for everybody else."
02:28 And I go, "Okay, no problem."
02:30 At that point, I didn't think I'd ever be
02:31 in the restaurant industry for 26 years, so, okay.
02:35 And then he told me the story that back in the day,
02:40 they all did these things.
02:42 And the old timers all got together
02:43 and they all helped each other,
02:44 and they all were very, very vocal with each other,
02:47 giving each other advice,
02:48 and it was the best thing that they did,
02:50 'cause nobody understood the problems
02:52 they were going through except each other.
02:54 Because there's only so many CEOs
02:56 and there's only so many presidents of restaurant companies.
02:59 And he goes, "Make them your best friend,
03:02 "'cause one day you're gonna have a question,
03:03 "you're not gonna know how to do something,
03:05 "and you're gonna need somebody else to tell you
03:07 "what they did to fix that problem."
03:10 And he goes, "And do it for everybody."
03:12 And then he made the comic, "Except Ray Kroc."
03:14 (laughing)
03:17 - And founder of McDonald's.
03:19 - And again, for the next two and a half years,
03:24 he called me every other week to check in on me
03:26 and give me advice.
03:28 - No payments?
03:28 - No payments, no nothing, just--
03:30 - He called you?
03:31 - He called me.
03:31 - You didn't even call him?
03:32 - Mm-mm.
03:34 - Do you have any stories or any lessons
03:35 that he taught you along the way?
03:37 - It was always about, he always stressed hospitality,
03:39 and he always stressed that,
03:40 "Hey, you gotta have the best food and the best product,
03:42 "and you gotta do it different than everybody else.
03:46 "And you gotta be real and you gotta build a culture."
03:48 And that's exactly what we always talked about,
03:51 day in and day out.
03:52 Those were the things that he beat into me.
03:54 And it was no different than what Jimmy talked about too.
03:56 Jimmy said it just a little differently.
03:58 I say it a little differently than both of 'em.
04:00 But the restaurant industry is so easy.
04:03 If you do the basics, which is be hospital,
04:06 serve great food, take care of your customers,
04:08 have a culture where your team thrives, and then execute.
04:12 And if you can do those things,
04:13 any restaurant can be successful.
04:15 The problem is, is that we all miss certain points
04:17 of that at certain times.
04:18 Yeah, you're gonna fail 'cause you have a bad location
04:21 and this and that.
04:22 Your brand's bad.
04:23 But you can overcome all of that
04:24 if you put all the pieces together.
04:26 I mean, look at your story.
04:27 Look what you've had to do.
04:28 - Barbecue Media Company.
04:29 - Right.
04:29 But I mean, there's things that come out of it
04:31 that can lead to greatness for everybody.
04:33 - Yeah, I heard on a podcast,
04:35 Tim Ferriss was interviewing Danny Meyer,
04:37 and he said what they teach at Union Square Hospitality
04:40 is ABCD, always be collecting the dots
04:44 so that you can always be connecting the dots.
04:47 And if you don't go and do things like participate in this
04:50 or mentor someone, I mean, it's funny,
04:52 the mentor-mentee relationship,
04:54 because sometimes when you mentor someone,
04:56 you actually learn more than the actual mentee.
04:59 Like I'm sure Dave probably learned more
05:02 by working with you.
05:04 - Oh, I'm sure he laughed his butt off at me.
05:06 (laughing)
05:07 I mean, I was 22.
05:09 I mean, there's so many mistakes that I made.
05:11 - But he picked you.
05:12 You gotta give yourself a little bit of credit.
05:14 - Yeah, he picked me.
05:16 - He picked you.
05:16 He could have picked any other executive, up-and-comer.
05:19 There was something in you that he saw and he believed in.
05:23 - Yeah, I was crazy enough to take the job.
05:25 - You were crazy enough to take the job.
05:27 - And I mean, I loved what we did, and I was passionate,
05:30 and I knew that the only way I was gonna compete
05:33 with everybody else in this industry was if I outworked 'em.
05:36 So I mean, I was a hustler, we worked hard,
05:38 and I mean, there was nothing that we didn't do,
05:41 or would do.
05:42 I mean, hey, when I got the opportunity
05:44 to learn ops at Jimmy John's,
05:47 Bob Norman, who was the GM of the restaurant,
05:49 was training me, and we played a game.
05:52 We worked night shift, 'cause that's when he worked.
05:53 His store was busiest at night,
05:55 and he had to work night shift.
05:56 Night shift at Jimmy John's ended about 4 a.m.
05:59 And so we got there at five, like we were supposed to.
06:02 The next day, we would get there at 4.30.
06:04 The next day at four, 'cause I wanted to beat 'em
06:06 and show that I was better.
06:08 By the end of training, we were going back to the hotel.
06:11 I was showering, I was going back, sleeping in my car,
06:13 and putting the key in the door with him
06:14 at seven o'clock in the morning to bake bread.
06:16 I work open to close, 'cause I wanted to prove
06:18 that a financial guy could run a restaurant,
06:21 and that they needed to believe in me and follow me
06:24 and do the things that we did.
06:25 And at the end of training, he looked at me, he said,
06:28 "I'll do whatever you ask.
06:29 "You kept up with me."
06:30 But it was because we did something stupid,
06:33 worked open to close.
06:34 But if you don't ever work open to close
06:37 in the restaurant industry,
06:38 you've never worked in the restaurant industry.
06:39 - 100%, 100%.
06:41 It's funny, I'm fortunate that because of this crazy show
06:45 and all the content that we've done,
06:46 I interviewed Nick Hardwick, who is the provost center
06:49 for the San Diego Chargers,
06:50 and he told me a similar story of how Philip Rivers
06:53 and Eric Weddle would push him.
06:54 So Philip Rivers, the quarterback for the Chargers,
06:57 but they would always figure out
06:58 who was gonna get there earlier.
07:00 And it's something about that consistent, persistent pursuit
07:03 of your potential.
07:04 When you think about working hard, is that in your DNA,
07:08 or did you learn it from someone?
07:09 - I learned it from my dad.
07:11 My dad was a self-made entrepreneur, did a job shop,
07:15 and I remember growing up that he wasn't home,
07:19 and then he would come home then for dinner,
07:21 eat dinner with us, and then go back to work.
07:23 And that would be the only time that I saw him.
07:25 And I didn't have him coaching baseball,
07:27 I didn't have him doing those type of things
07:29 until I was older, and then he coached my first team
07:33 when I was in a sophomore in high school
07:35 or something like that.
07:36 - Really?
07:36 - But I never got that.
07:37 And then I looked at my brother and sister,
07:39 and he was always there.
07:40 And it was just a different point of his life
07:42 that he was able to.
07:43 But he worked harder than everybody else,
07:46 didn't go to college, built a company,
07:48 and is now considered one of the biggest job shops
07:50 in America.
07:51 But he did that from outworking everybody.
07:53 Didn't have the degree, didn't have any of that,
07:55 just put his butt on the line,
07:57 and said, "I'm gonna make it happen."
07:58 Had the machines in our garage when he first started.
08:02 And we have pictures of him out in the garage,
08:04 milling on a CNC machine, a little bench press,
08:07 doing a side job in the garage.
08:10 And I mean, those things have been engraved in me since then.
08:13 And I just realized that if I wanted to do it,
08:15 I had to work harder.
08:17 I'm not the smartest person, nor should I be.
08:19 But I know that I believe in people,
08:22 I work harder than anyone,
08:24 and I'll do anything that's necessary to make it happen.
08:27 No matter how hard I try, how hard I fail,
08:30 how hard it hurts, we're not gonna give up
08:32 until we get to the results that we need.
08:34 And if I can do that, then my team can do that,
08:36 and then they believe that they can do it.
08:39 And it just sort of installs a culture
08:41 that you don't give up, you don't say no,
08:43 and you drive that result every day, no matter what it takes.
08:46 - Bring us back to the Jimmy John's story,
08:49 back when you were young.
08:50 Bring us back to where you started
08:53 and what you were able to build,
08:55 and what was the key to that growth?
08:57 - The key to the growth was truly,
08:59 well, let's start back.
09:02 I mean, so I had no clue what Jimmy John's was, no idea.
09:05 And I was on my way to go to Arthur Anderson
09:07 International Tax, Forensic Accounting.
09:10 I was one of two hires that were hired for the job.
09:12 And the way they did the interview was
09:14 you got put in a room and you had to find the fraud.
09:17 - You had to find the fraud.
09:18 - You had to find the fraud.
09:19 And if you found the fraud,
09:20 you moved on to the interview.
09:21 And if you didn't, you were out.
09:23 Three people that year found the fraud.
09:25 I was one of three out of I don't know how many.
09:27 And I was one of two hires.
09:29 And it was great going, didn't wanna do anything,
09:33 this was gonna be it, cakewalk.
09:35 From there, I could take any job with any company I wanted.
09:37 And they'd go say, take the semester off.
09:40 What?
09:41 I had to pay for school,
09:42 I had to work to put myself through school,
09:44 it's all I knew how to do.
09:45 I sent my resume out and a guy by the name of Jimmy
09:48 called me, no clue who he was.
09:50 Hey, this is Jimmy.
09:51 - Who'd you send your resume out to?
09:51 - I just gave it to a couple of people
09:53 and they gave it out and somehow he got it.
09:56 No clue. - He's the old Indeed.
09:58 - Basically, handed to everybody.
10:00 And no clue how he got it and he called and said,
10:02 hey, I'd like to talk to you about a job.
10:04 And I'm like, okay, great, listened.
10:06 Yeah, no clue.
10:08 Hey, I'm Jimmy John.
10:10 Who?
10:10 And he looked and he goes, Jimmy John,
10:12 you know of Jimmy John's?
10:13 I have no clue what you're talking about.
10:15 You know, no idea.
10:17 I'm like, all right, I'll talk.
10:18 And we then talked and sort of hit it off
10:21 and he offered me an internship.
10:23 And at that time, he had 30 restaurants
10:25 when I started as an intern.
10:27 We hit it off over the course of the first three months
10:31 of the internship, not even, it was like eight weeks.
10:35 He then offered me a controller job
10:37 and I took it and told Arthur Anderson, no,
10:40 which was a great decision
10:41 'cause everyone knows what happened to them.
10:43 And after that, eight weeks later,
10:47 our operators all left.
10:49 That's when I drove to Lafayette,
10:51 became then CFO and then COO, then CEO
10:56 and sort of got from that point on.
10:59 And I mean, it was just, it was an incredible ride
11:01 and was in the right space at the right time
11:04 is what I always tell myself.
11:06 And then I'd look back and I go,
11:07 I must have done something right
11:09 to have him trust me enough with the keys
11:11 to his company like he did.
11:13 And sure enough, we did and we did great.
11:16 And it was funny, you asked about how,
11:19 what had the growth is that
11:22 because of my accounting background, we created a ad
11:25 and Jimmy always wanted to brag about how great he was.
11:29 And so we came up with an ad
11:33 that put our AUVs out
11:35 and then put our food costs and put our labor.
11:37 And we took a full page ad in Nation's Restaurant News
11:40 'cause actually back then,
11:41 everybody was still reading that thing.
11:43 And after we did that, all of a sudden,
11:46 sales started hitting.
11:47 And because we were bolder,
11:49 we knew we could kick the crap out of Subway's numbers
11:52 and everyone else's numbers
11:53 because our numbers were so good.
11:55 They actually, from what I heard,
11:58 and again, from lawyers, after we did that,
12:02 they changed the requirements for that.
12:04 - For the ad? - For the earnings claim.
12:06 - Oh, really?
12:07 - And so the next couple of years,
12:09 being what I did with the forensic accounting,
12:11 found a way around it so we continued to publish it.
12:13 (laughing)
12:14 - Yes.
12:15 - So, and we continued to grow.
12:18 - That's amazing.
12:19 - And the attorneys looked at us, go, you can't say that.
12:21 Nope, just disclose it.
12:22 It says clearly, all you gotta do is disclose.
12:25 So all we put was our corporate stores.
12:27 That's all we put in the ad was our corporate sales
12:29 and we kicked the crap out of our franchisees at that point.
12:32 And we put those sales and those results
12:34 and we drove those numbers and they were huge.
12:37 I mean, we went up, we started at 600
12:39 and when I left, we were doing over $900,000
12:42 in AUVs of a sub shop.
12:43 - That's unbelievable.
12:45 I think the courage to post something,
12:48 I mean, we always talk about building in public,
12:50 sharing your secrets,
12:51 the brands that have the human integrity to tell the story,
12:55 but on the financial side,
12:56 it's the antithesis of what anyone would do, right?
12:59 - Yeah, because--
13:00 - And it's typically like, oh, we have to vet you
13:02 before we give you any numbers.
13:03 - Yeah, I mean, because we, as franchisors,
13:07 we don't wanna get our butt sued.
13:08 - Yes.
13:10 - But what we all have to remember is that
13:12 we're asking people to invest in us.
13:13 - Correct.
13:14 - And so if you're gonna be a franchisor
13:16 and you're afraid to disclose your numbers
13:18 or be proud of what you do,
13:19 then you shouldn't be the franchisor at that point.
13:22 You know, and not all stores are gonna do good.
13:24 That's a given.
13:25 These people are coming to you
13:26 and giving you their investment.
13:28 And they're, most of the time when you get started,
13:30 they're lifelong savings
13:32 to go and buy themselves a better life.
13:35 And so it's your job to make sure they're successful.
13:37 And so many times franchisors forget that.
13:40 And it's always about me, me, me, me, me as the franchisor,
13:43 when it's really about them, them, them, them, them,
13:45 and they're your customer.
13:47 And how you make them better
13:48 is by making them more successful.
13:51 Jimmy John's, we sold to one store people
13:54 and we made them a promise
13:55 because they couldn't afford to buy multi-units yet
13:57 'cause they were not.
13:58 We won't sell anyone around you, you'll have first right.
14:01 Prove to us that you're a great operator,
14:03 you can buy another store.
14:05 These people worked their butts off
14:07 and drank the Kool-Aid and became culture phenomenon
14:10 and drove and then all of a sudden,
14:12 these people are coming back and saying,
14:13 "I want another store, I want another store,
14:15 I want another store."
14:16 And we started growing,
14:17 but we believed in these smaller individuals
14:19 that are now multi-unit guys.
14:21 - Amazing. - That are, you know,
14:23 they're multi-multi-millionaires
14:25 because we gave them that opportunity back then
14:28 to grow that way and people forget
14:30 that's what franchising was about.
14:32 Franchising was never about selling to some PE group
14:35 that's gonna buy a hundred restaurants
14:37 and just worry about the numbers.
14:38 There's no love in that.
14:40 Anyone can go, if you've got that kind of money,
14:42 anyone can go buy a hundred restaurants.
14:44 You know, it's the American dream
14:45 of putting them out there and letting them grow
14:47 and making themselves better.
14:49 That's what franchising was created for.
14:51 And that's been forgotten right now.
14:53 And it pains me when I see a group being sold.
14:57 And it's great when the group has built up from scratch
14:59 and they're getting sold for stupid money,
15:01 God bless them.
15:02 You know, but when PE groups are now building
15:04 and building and building,
15:05 and you can't get franchises
15:06 unless you wanna buy 10, 20 stores.
15:09 That's not the American dream.
15:10 That's not what it was about.
15:11 And so we're doing it the way I always have done it.
15:15 And we're gonna grow in the smaller rates
15:17 and with smaller people. - Tell us about
15:18 what the vision is for Craveworthy.
15:20 - So-- - Where did it come from?
15:22 - So Craveworthy sort of started after doing all this
15:25 and consulting for everybody in the industry
15:27 and sort of bouncing around,
15:29 just not wanting to work for anyone
15:31 after the Jimmy John's experience.
15:32 I decided and saw that these emerging brands
15:37 and these legacy brands couldn't afford to compete anymore.
15:40 And so it's real hard to go after the Rorks
15:42 and the Inspires and the Yums of today,
15:45 Focus and so on down the line,
15:47 'cause you can't get the talent that you need.
15:49 So all these emerging brands sort of flounder.
15:51 Yeah, every once in a while,
15:52 you'll see someone shoot up and do huge,
15:55 but it wasn't happening with the regularity
15:57 that it was back before or even back before me.
16:01 And what was missing was that
16:02 you were making the same mistake
16:04 and people were afraid to gamble
16:05 'cause you could go down here or a Rork or an Inspire
16:08 or somebody would go and create their own brand
16:10 or buy a brand and they sort of bring it in.
16:12 So you couldn't compete 'cause they had all the money.
16:15 I wanted to create a platform
16:16 that allowed these emerging brands that level of talent
16:20 and that they can come in and compete
16:21 against these bigger ones and not make the same mistakes
16:24 that you would make growing up.
16:25 And sort of the Dave Thomas, back to me,
16:28 you give back to the people that I'm giving you at that time
16:31 and sort of help them be more successful.
16:34 So we started acquiring emerging brands and legacy brands.
16:38 We have seven announced today.
16:40 By the end of this year, there'll be 12 announced.
16:43 Wow.
16:44 And we'll be franchising all 12 of them
16:46 by the middle of next year.
16:48 But our goal is to sell the American dream,
16:51 to allow people an opportunity to build their wealth
16:53 by doing something they love
16:55 with people that believe in them
16:56 and wanna make them successful.
16:58 And our job and our whole mantra
17:00 is we have to make our franchisees successful.
17:03 We have to make them, we wanna make them millionaires
17:08 and over and over again.
17:10 And that's such a big deal for me
17:13 'cause I mean, Jimmy, you'll hear Jimmy say it all the time,
17:15 how many millionaires he created.
17:17 Yeah.
17:18 And he did, he created a ton of them, an absolute ton.
17:21 And I was lucky enough that he can say
17:23 that he made me a millionaire.
17:25 But I want to provide that same level
17:29 of opportunity for everyone.
17:31 So we took it a step farther.
17:33 If you work for any of my brands,
17:34 any of them for three years,
17:37 you can get a franchise and not pay royalty for two years.
17:40 Wow.
17:41 And that's my gift to make sure
17:42 they can have their first step
17:44 in trying to become a millionaire.
17:46 I want that American dream to follow.
17:48 And if they're great operators
17:50 and they work for me for three years,
17:51 I know sure as hell that when they open up their restaurant,
17:54 they're gonna run it better than they ran their own with me.
17:56 And if they were still there after three years,
17:58 they did a good job, they're gonna be successful.
18:00 And then I can help them continue to grow.
18:02 How did you select the brands that you believe in?
18:05 So the brands that we've sort of found
18:07 have to have a white space,
18:10 have to have craveable food, obviously,
18:12 and that's in the name,
18:13 but have to have either a giant or white space
18:16 that I can go and be the number two guy.
18:18 So for example, with Wing It On,
18:20 there's a lot of wing players,
18:22 but there's one giant.
18:24 Wingstop is the giant.
18:25 Everybody can say that.
18:26 They've done all the work.
18:27 They've educated people on wings at home, delivered.
18:29 They've done all the hard work.
18:31 Now you just gotta go be number two.
18:32 How do you be number two?
18:34 Have a better product, have something that's craveable,
18:37 and get it in the hands and then take them out
18:39 because you're the better option.
18:41 No different than what Jimmy John's was.
18:42 Subway sucked.
18:44 Still sucks.
18:45 (laughing)
18:46 And--
18:47 - I appreciate the honesty.
18:48 - And Jimmy John's was able to be the number two sandwich.
18:52 You know, and then we offered something different.
18:53 We delivered it and we were faster.
18:55 So we became convenient to everyone.
18:57 And that allowed us to be the number two sandwich concept.
19:00 Number two's great.
19:01 Worth billions of dollars.
19:03 You know, in this industry,
19:05 you don't have to be number one all the time.
19:06 So find something that's out there that's exciting,
19:09 that people like,
19:10 and then just find a way to do it better.
19:11 But the food's gotta be key.
19:14 - Never heard that perspective to go after number two.
19:16 It's very, now that you say it, it's very smart.
19:19 It's a very smart way to look at it.
19:21 Because once you get there,
19:23 you already know the quality that you provide,
19:25 the hospitality that you provide,
19:27 and everything that you provide
19:28 is gonna put you over the edge.
19:30 - Correct.
19:30 - Huge news.
19:31 Toast, our primary technology partner
19:33 at our barbecue restaurants in San Diego,
19:36 and the primary technology partner
19:38 of so many of the guests that we have on this show,
19:41 have announced they are expanding
19:43 their business offerings with Google.
19:46 So now, if you search on Google Maps,
19:49 and you sign up for Toast Tables, or Toast Waitlist,
19:53 you will have the opportunity
19:54 to improve the digital hospitality experience of the guest,
19:58 allow them to book through the maps
20:01 into the Toast reservation system.
20:03 One of the biggest difficulties that restaurant guests have
20:07 is when they search for your restaurant
20:09 and they want a table,
20:10 they do not have an easy solution to book a table
20:14 or to get on a waitlist.
20:15 This is huge news for the restaurant industry,
20:18 huge news for guests,
20:19 and huge news for you, the restaurant owner.
20:22 Check out Toast Tables today
20:24 and find out the new integrated solution that they have.
20:27 This is something that we've wanted for a long time.
20:29 How do you integrate reservations,
20:32 waitlists into your point of sale?
20:34 Toast has done it.
20:35 Check it out.
20:36 - Tell me about hospitality.
20:38 For me, it's something that it's in our DNA.
20:41 It's something that we see everywhere
20:43 in the world around us.
20:44 We realize that every business
20:45 is in the hospitality business.
20:46 People just don't know it.
20:48 You talked about that no one travels as much as you do,
20:52 and that actually TSA agents know your name.
20:56 Explain to the audience how that came to be
21:00 and why that's important
21:01 when you're looking at the greater scope
21:03 of how a man lives his life.
21:05 - So I think in the world,
21:07 hospitality is the most important thing,
21:10 in no matter what you do,
21:11 in how you treat others,
21:12 how you interact with people.
21:14 It's our job on this to be as nice and kind to everybody
21:18 as you want them to be to you.
21:19 And if you don't want them to be kind to you,
21:21 then you're a jackass.
21:23 There's no reason for you.
21:24 If you don't want people to be nice to you,
21:25 then something's wrong with you.
21:28 And so I live my life with wanting to be as nice
21:31 to anyone that I ever come in encounter with,
21:33 because I never know what that person's bad day may be
21:36 or what they're struggling with or what their issues are.
21:39 It's my job to make sure I say thank you
21:42 or yes ma'am or yes sir,
21:44 and people who are younger than me or older than me
21:46 to the day I still use ma'am and sir when I address people
21:49 because it's the right way to talk.
21:51 And there's nothing wrong with that.
21:53 And that's the culture that if you look at the company
21:57 that does it best right now, Chick-fil-A,
21:59 and why is Chick-fil-A doing what it does?
22:02 Their food is good, not $8.8 million good per unit,
22:07 but good.
22:10 - It's amazing.
22:11 - But what's so awesome about them
22:14 and why people continue to go is the fact
22:16 that they are taken care of
22:19 and they may or left may feeling special.
22:22 And they're left with this glow
22:23 of just feeling good when you leave.
22:27 And so when I got into the industry,
22:30 Jimmy John had a saying,
22:32 you wanna smack 'em on the, say hello,
22:34 greet 'em with a grown real greeting.
22:36 And then when you walk out,
22:37 you wanna smack 'em on the ass when they walk out
22:38 so they feel that little chill.
22:40 And so they remember to come back.
22:42 And my team will yell at me 'cause I use it still
22:45 to this day, they're like, you can't say that.
22:48 I'm like, but it's exactly what you want to have happen.
22:50 There's nothing better about that
22:51 is you want them to know you truly appreciate them.
22:54 And so I use that all the time.
22:57 So as you asked, I fly every week
23:02 between six and seven in the morning,
23:03 I go through TSA at O'Hare.
23:05 And as I go in, I started to know the flight crew
23:10 and TSA and everybody.
23:12 And so going through, I started asking their name,
23:15 asking about their families,
23:16 asking about them as I was standing in line.
23:19 And just because I wanted to know,
23:20 I wanted to, hey, make them like,
23:22 'cause I'm watching everybody else yell at 'em.
23:25 And started to get to know 'em,
23:28 heard about weddings, heard about grandkids that were born,
23:31 stuff like that.
23:32 And I started bringing gifts
23:33 when I knew that they had special events to the TSA people.
23:37 And as just because I thought how great it was,
23:41 he told me it was special.
23:43 Nothing special, give them a little baby gift and toy
23:46 and say, hey, make sure this is from you
23:48 when you give it to 'em.
23:50 And because of that, I flew with my family
23:55 and one of the TSA people who worked in a different shift
23:58 and came up and told my mom,
24:00 your son is the nicest person that walks through here
24:03 because he always asks us about us.
24:06 No matter what, how's your day?
24:09 Nice to meet you, thank you.
24:10 And he goes, nobody does that.
24:12 Nobody takes the time to ask us about us.
24:14 We're all just here to be sort of yelled at
24:16 and sort of bad people.
24:17 And he goes, and he makes us feel like we're real.
24:20 And that's so important to me.
24:21 And it's what I do with my staff.
24:23 It's what I do with the people
24:24 that work in the restaurants.
24:25 I wanna know about them.
24:27 I want them to know that I care about every aspect of them.
24:30 I mean, I find out things that I should never know
24:33 about people in my job ever.
24:35 And I mean, there's, you know, Xbox is being delivered.
24:41 There's, you know, I bought a car for one individual
24:45 that couldn't afford a down payment.
24:46 I was on her, I've been on leases for apartments,
24:49 you know, and stuff like that.
24:50 And it's all bad decisions
24:52 and things I probably never tell people to do,
24:55 but it's just the way I am.
24:57 And I learned that.
24:58 And again, I learned that young
25:00 'cause my dad would always take care of people.
25:02 I saw it again with Jimmy
25:03 always wanting to take care of people.
25:05 And if you're lucky enough to have anything in life,
25:09 you can't take it with you.
25:11 And so why not make somebody else's day better
25:14 than what your day is?
25:15 Why not take that split second
25:17 just to give them something that they can never afford
25:19 and never do on their own because you can.
25:21 And I take it for granted at times, they don't.
25:24 And it's so remarkable to me when that can happen.
25:28 So we gave away operator of the year at Gingis last year.
25:33 And this individual could not afford to pay medical bills,
25:38 could not afford to do other things.
25:41 And, you know, and the gift was,
25:42 hey, we're gonna give an MVP belt.
25:44 And you know, that was what we're gonna do.
25:46 So right before knowing who we were giving it to,
25:49 I said, that's not good enough.
25:51 And they're like, okay, what do you wanna do?
25:53 I said, let's give $5,000 to her from the company.
25:56 And as we're going, going through the presentation
25:59 and all that, I'm like, shit, that ain't good enough either.
26:01 And, you know, and just me being me,
26:06 ended up giving her another 5,000 personally.
26:08 So she walked out with $10,000
26:10 'cause I wanted her to clean her debt.
26:12 And so she could afford then to buy the car
26:14 that she wanted and stuff like that.
26:15 'Cause she couldn't get her car fixed
26:16 and couldn't get to work.
26:18 And, you know, we're sitting there and afterwards,
26:20 my chief financial officer looked at me and said,
26:24 you do realize you just gave away $10,000?
26:26 I'm like, no, I gave away 5,000 from the company.
26:29 I gave away the 5, it's all good.
26:31 You know, but that's, again, she couldn't afford it.
26:34 And they work so hard
26:37 that they should not be living like that.
26:40 And it's, you know, pay them more, make them feel more,
26:43 give them to me operating partners,
26:45 let them earn the way you earn.
26:47 And that's something Jimmy was great at.
26:51 So Jimmy had a bonus program
26:53 where he allowed you to be a true owner operator.
26:57 You could earn up to 20%
26:59 of the profit of the restaurant and bonus.
27:02 And we were making so much money per store.
27:04 I mean, it was realistically,
27:06 they can make 60 to $100,000 a year in bonus.
27:09 - Wow.
27:10 - You know, we were only paying them at that time,
27:11 30 to 35,000.
27:13 So big money.
27:14 And, you know, but he always been in the head.
27:17 If you treat them the way that they're their operating
27:19 partner, they'll perform so much more for you.
27:22 'Cause then it's theirs.
27:23 And it worked, and because of that, we grew.
27:25 And that just sort of continued to stay with me forever.
27:29 And that if you take care of the people that work for you
27:31 and take care of the people that you work with,
27:33 they'll do anything for you.
27:35 And nothing will stop them
27:36 because they are actually being treated like they care.
27:39 - Why do you spend so much of your time,
27:43 not just for Dave, 'cause you made a promise to him
27:45 that you would give back,
27:46 but why is it important for you to come
27:48 to events like this?
27:49 I know you have a restaurant that is opening,
27:51 I believe today?
27:52 - Today.
27:53 - Today, and you wanted to be there,
27:55 but you came and made a decision to be here in Texas
27:58 and Austin for Restaurant 365.
28:00 You're gonna be on a panel tomorrow.
28:02 Why is it important for you to do things like that?
28:04 - Because there's so many people that don't,
28:07 are afraid to ask questions or afraid to email and all that.
28:10 And if you can give them a piece of advice
28:12 or help them to achieve something better
28:15 and make their company more successful,
28:17 I need to help them do so.
28:19 I've been lucky and been so fortunate
28:22 to have so many great mentors in this industry
28:25 that what I've learned from others
28:27 should not be just kept to me for my own good.
28:29 It should be kept to everybody to help themselves
28:32 and to learn.
28:33 So if I can help one person solve a problem
28:35 that they're facing,
28:36 then this trip was worth it 10 times over.
28:38 And I just feel that's what I should do.
28:41 I'm lucky.
28:42 - Will you ever retire?
28:44 - Never.
28:44 - My grandfather, it's funny 'cause people have asked me,
28:50 what does retirement mean?
28:51 And I watched my grandfather, I was fortunate.
28:53 I never met my father, my grandfather raised me.
28:56 But I watched him and for him, retirement meant stop,
28:59 that he would have to stop thinking,
29:00 stop developing, stop learning.
29:02 It wasn't work, he never considered anything
29:04 he was doing work.
29:05 He was always doing something.
29:06 For you, what do you see yourself doing into the future?
29:09 What's gonna make you happy to look back?
29:12 - So what has always made me happy is the looking back
29:16 and seeing the people that I worked with
29:18 and the people that I led go on to bigger and better things.
29:21 So one of my guys that I talk to regularly still
29:26 from the Jimmy John's days,
29:28 sort of gave me a coaching tree of everyone that I have
29:31 and where they are today.
29:32 And that was sort of the coolest thing gift
29:34 I've ever been given to see all these people
29:36 that were GMs or assistants and all this.
29:39 So to now be X in different companies and where they are,
29:43 how many stores they own and all that.
29:44 And that was what I wanna see, that's what I wanna do.
29:48 I wanna continue to see that happen over and over again.
29:51 I don't care if somebody leaves my company,
29:53 as long as they leave my company for something better.
29:56 And I can't provide that next step for everybody.
29:59 So they're gonna have to leave some of them.
30:01 And it's okay as long as it's the next step in their career
30:04 so they can go on to something better.
30:06 That's what my job is,
30:07 is to make sure they get to their next level,
30:10 whatever that level may be.
30:11 And that's what I take the greatest pride in
30:13 and that's what I wanna see.
30:15 And we'll continue to do
30:16 until the day that I can't do something.
30:19 - That's great.
30:20 So every single week on Wednesday and on Friday
30:22 on the Social Audio App Clubhouse,
30:24 we meet so that you, the listener,
30:26 someone that's listening to this show,
30:27 if you're watching on YouTube, we're grateful.
30:30 But you gotta stay curious,
30:32 that brought you to the podcast,
30:33 that brings you to a conference,
30:34 that makes you open up a book.
30:35 Then you have to get involved.
30:36 So come on stage, share your story,
30:38 tell us about your restaurant,
30:40 tell us about what you're building.
30:41 If you're a creator in the space, let us know.
30:43 If you're in sales, if you're in marketing,
30:44 if you're in technology,
30:45 all of these things are important.
30:47 We have digital hospitality leaders
30:48 from all over the globe that meet.
30:50 So every Wednesday, every Friday,
30:51 10 a.m. on the Social Audio App.
30:53 We also wanna give a social shout out.
30:55 Today's social shout out's gonna go to my team,
30:57 Rising Tides Creative.
30:59 They don't get enough love,
31:01 but they're always putting in the hard work
31:02 behind the scenes with Sean, Aaron, Andrew.
31:05 I'm grateful that we get to go all over the United States,
31:09 hopefully internationally soon,
31:11 but to be able to share stories like this.
31:14 Who on your team would you like to give a shout out?
31:15 This is an entrepreneur, so.
31:17 - So, I mean, right now I'd like to give the shout out
31:19 to the team opening their restaurant.
31:21 So-- - Beautiful.
31:22 - So, I mean, that entire team has busted their butt
31:25 because I sort of made them get it open
31:27 before the end of the month.
31:28 (laughing)
31:29 So-- - All gas, no brakes?
31:31 - Yeah, this one was bad.
31:32 So, and they pulled it together.
31:34 So, that entire team, starting with Lori and Juan
31:38 and them who have really shined,
31:40 and Cassie, and the list goes on and on,
31:42 and Chef Robert, who's actually there in place of me today,
31:45 serving the first ever Poke Bowl that we served.
31:48 I mean-- - So, where's the location?
31:49 - So, that one is in Oak Brook, Illinois.
31:52 So, it's a dual branded space where we have Bud Long
31:54 and our first ever Lucky Cat Poke Company opening.
31:57 - Amazing.
31:58 - With, it was important 'cause we have 55 of them opening
32:01 by the end of September.
32:02 - 55?
32:03 - Yeah, so it's gonna be actually be--
32:05 - Wait, the first one?
32:05 - The first one just opened.
32:06 - And you're gonna open 55?
32:08 - Yeah, so the first one is for true--
32:09 - What?
32:10 - True brick and mortar.
32:12 The other 55 will be dark kitchens
32:14 and our Asian restaurants.
32:15 - Amazing.
32:16 - So, it will be exciting.
32:18 Again, anything, dark kitchens get a bad name.
32:21 - Yes. - Horrible name.
32:23 But if they're your dark kitchens,
32:26 it's a wonderful way to build revenue
32:28 and help pay the G and A expenses of the restaurant
32:31 if you do 'em right.
32:31 And so many of us need that because rents are high,
32:35 labor's high. - For sure.
32:36 - If you can go and add 10 to $12,000 a week
32:39 with other brands and not have to add any more labor,
32:41 why wouldn't you do it?
32:43 - Yeah.
32:43 - You know, and shout out to Dog House
32:46 and Andre and all them.
32:47 - Yes, Andre's amazing.
32:48 - Andre's done a massively heavy lift to get his stores
32:53 and all that and the EVs are up because of the back of that,
32:57 because of the dark kitchen.
32:58 So, taking a sort of notch from him and what he's done,
33:01 we're gonna do it with our brands.
33:02 - That's incredible.
33:03 Yeah, we've been fortunate to have Andre as well as Jeff
33:06 from WowBowl.
33:08 - Yeah.
33:09 So, and that goes back to having a group of people
33:11 you can rely in and help.
33:13 - Yep.
33:14 - I mean, Jeff and Andre and Troy and all of them
33:17 and Big Chicken Group and Sam and Josh,
33:21 all of them over the last couple years,
33:23 we've all sort of developed this back to that,
33:26 what Dave had back then, we're doing it again
33:29 and that's our group and we're anything
33:30 that any of us need, we're there for.
33:32 Anything that we can help promote, we do.
33:35 And without them sort of pushing me or us pushing them,
33:39 we probably wouldn't have gotten to the point
33:41 we did so fast.
33:42 - That's awesome.
33:43 So, we're gonna ask you a couple quick
33:44 smartphone storytelling questions.
33:46 Are you an Android user or an iPhone user?
33:48 - iPhone.
33:49 - Latest version or--
33:50 - Always.
33:51 - Always the latest version.
33:52 - 'Cause the battery sucks after the new one comes out.
33:55 There's something about that damn phone
33:57 the second the new phone gets announced that just tanks.
34:00 - Do you prefer photos or videos?
34:02 - Photos.
34:05 - Photos.
34:06 Do you prefer text or email?
34:08 - Text.
34:09 - Email or Slack?
34:10 - I just started using Slack, so still email.
34:14 - Still email.
34:15 Do you prefer, how do you listen to music?
34:17 - Through the iMusic.
34:20 - iMusic, okay.
34:22 And what's your favorite app that you use on the phone?
34:25 - Favorite app that I use on the phone.
34:30 Well, honestly, I don't know if I have one.
34:32 So, if I had to say non-work related app,
34:36 it would be EA Soccer.
34:39 - Okay.
34:39 - That I play, that I compete with my kids on.
34:41 That's probably my favorite one.
34:42 - How many kids do you have?
34:43 - Two, two boys, sophomore in college
34:45 and a sophomore in high school.
34:47 - Are they gonna be in the business?
34:49 - If I had to guess right now,
34:52 the older one, yes, the younger one, no.
34:55 - The younger one, no, great.
34:57 Well, one thing I do wanna find out is,
35:00 why is it important for you on a personal branding side
35:04 to go on to podcasts, to go on stage,
35:07 to create content for LinkedIn?
35:08 Why do you find that important?
35:10 - 'Cause it's my opportunity to give back,
35:12 to make sure that I address things
35:15 that are being out there in the industry
35:16 that I either agree with or disagree with
35:19 that I don't wanna get traction.
35:20 So, the biggest one that I'm against
35:22 is the robotic elimination of how I communicate
35:27 and how I communicate with my clients.
35:29 So, I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:32 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:33 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:34 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:35 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:36 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:37 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:38 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:39 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:39 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:40 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:41 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:42 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:43 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:44 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:44 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:45 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
35:46 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:11 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:12 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:13 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:14 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:15 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:16 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:17 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:18 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:19 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:20 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:21 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:22 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:23 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:24 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:25 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:26 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:27 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:28 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:29 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
36:52 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
37:18 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
37:47 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
37:48 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
37:49 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
37:50 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
37:51 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
37:52 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
37:53 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
37:54 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
37:55 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
37:56 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
37:57 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
37:58 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
37:59 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
38:00 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
38:01 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
38:02 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
38:03 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
38:04 I'm not gonna be able to do that.
38:05 I'm not gonna be able to do that.