Interview with Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux Founder Brandon Landry about a new type of franchise, the intersection of sports and hospitality, and creating Smalls Sliders.
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00:00 Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented by Entrepreneur. My name is
00:04 Sean Walsh, founder of Cali BBQ and Cali BBQ Media. In life, in the restaurant
00:10 business, and in the new creator economy, we learn through lessons and stories. We
00:16 are grateful to Toast, our primary technology partner at our barbecue
00:19 restaurants, for believing in the power of storytelling, for giving us this
00:23 platform with Entrepreneur to bring on guests like Brandon Landry, founder of
00:28 Smallslider. He is also the founder of Walk-On Sports Bistro. Brandon, I've
00:35 been following you. I'm a huge hospitality aficionado and what you've
00:39 been building in the last couple decades has been impressive and I'm honored to
00:43 have you on the show. Welcome. Well, thank you for having me, man. I appreciate it. Of
00:47 course, I'm passionate about this business and I love it and I'm also
00:51 smart enough to realize when it's time for me not to be the CEO. So now I just
00:55 wear the founder hat. Well, the beautiful thing about this show is that we teach
00:59 people no matter where they are in their hospitality journey how to how to go
01:03 from one position to the other and we do that through lessons and stories. So
01:08 we're gonna start with our favorite random question, which is where in the
01:11 world is your favorite stadium, stage, or venue? It's a great question. So first, I
01:18 mean, like I'm a basketball guy, right? So I was a basketball walk-on and I
01:22 got the opportunity to go to Cameron Indoor. What? I guess it was about five or
01:29 six years ago and it was Duke Carolina and they were both in the top ten and I
01:35 got to sit like three rows off the court right across from the students. I mean,
01:41 look, you can hear anything about it until you walk in there and it's a gym.
01:46 It's, I mean, if you've been there, you know, but it's a high, it's a glorified
01:52 high school gym, but there is not a better place on there, especially for a
01:57 basketball fan. And I'm not a Duke or Carolina guy, but I'm a basketball guy
02:03 and being in there and feeling that energy, can't beat it, man. I'm a
02:08 basketball guy and that's something that's definitely on my bucket list and
02:11 no guest has ever said Cameron Indoor, so I'm fired up that you kicked us off
02:16 with that. So we're gonna go to Cameron Indoor, we're gonna talk to Entrepreneur,
02:20 I'll talk to Toast, we'll talk to some other brand partners and we're gonna do
02:24 something different. You know, there's a lot of restaurant conferences out there,
02:27 but what we believe is the people that tune into shows like this is that they
02:30 want to level up. They really want information that's gonna move them
02:34 forward, not just a commercial about a product or a service, but really a life
02:38 story, you know, TEDx style, who are people and how do they move their brands
02:43 forward. But I'm gonna put you on center court. I'm gonna say, Brandon, tell us,
02:47 when did you find out you had hospitality in your blood? Man, you know,
02:52 it's interesting. Look, I grew up a sugarcane farmer's son in South
02:55 Louisiana, so I didn't grow up in the hospitality business, but in South
03:02 Louisiana, I mean, we talk about it all the time. You hear tailgating, you hear
03:06 New Orleans, you hear good times. I mean, I think down here it's more about just
03:11 taking care of each other, right, making sure everyone's having a good time and
03:15 so I grew up in a large family down here where it was just like, okay, what's
03:20 the event gonna be like? What's gonna be the food? Are we gonna have music?
03:25 You know, always making sure that the setting was right. And for me, that's
03:30 really how I got into the space. Of course, I grew up a foodie, so to say. I
03:36 mean, I love great cuisine. My grandmother's cooking and my mom's
03:40 cooking, but then, you know, it's so much more that goes into this business,
03:44 right? And of course, over the last two decades, I've learned that the good and
03:48 the bad of it, but, you know, it's truly hospitality, right? Being hospitable and
03:54 making sure that you can take care of your guests and it so happens to be
03:59 around food and drink and we're fortunate enough to be in this business
04:03 and tell these stories, man.
04:05 Well, what I love is that, you know, for me, I'm fortunate I was raised by my
04:10 grandfather. He was born in a Bulgarian village and I talk about village
04:14 hospitality. What I've heard so much about and I've been fortunate to go to
04:18 the south. You have southern hospitality. You have a special a special blend. So
04:23 that give me give me the difference. What is the uniqueness of southern
04:27 hospitality?
04:27 Yeah, and look, it's it's what we know down here because it's just you have to
04:33 make sure that everyone is enjoying the moment. And I think a lot of times that
04:40 people just know they weren't about the next thing, especially in the in the
04:43 pace of the world that we live in now. Right. And I think when you go back to
04:47 southern hospitality, it goes back to where time moved a little bit slower and
04:52 people just enjoy the moment. They enjoyed the company that they were with.
04:57 And, you know, look, there was a lot of bad things that came out of COVID. Right.
05:00 But I think if there's anything good that came out of it, it proved to us
05:05 that, look, take a step back and let's enjoy the great things that we've
05:10 always had. Right. And I just always wish for the next best thing. And so I
05:15 know for us, me as a for my family and and for my businesses, it was like,
05:21 let's just get back and enjoy each other and enjoy what we built. And, you
05:26 know, our purpose at walk ons has always been to bring people together. And the
05:29 same thing with smalls we saw with COVID, you know, like it was great to
05:33 make a few turkey sandwiches when COVID first started happening. Right. Be at
05:37 home with your family. But after a while, it was like, man, let's go up. Let's
05:41 go enjoy other people. Let's let's get back to the hospitality. Right. And so
05:48 it's just been it's been a blessing and a curse at the same time when you talk
05:52 about COVID. But I think we all learned from it.
05:55 It was definitely a big reset. I'd love to go back to your origin of of walk ons
06:02 and bring me back to the birth of the idea, the name and that that first that
06:08 first day of opening up your first restaurant.
06:10 Yeah. So like I mentioned, I was a walk on on the LSU basketball team in the late
06:15 90s, early 2000s and
06:17 point guard. I was like, all right, got cut from the team first. But that walk
06:24 on mentality, I went back out and I made it. And but I also realized pretty
06:30 early on my career that I wasn't going to play in the NBA. I played seven
06:35 minutes my senior year. If you know anything about basketball, that's not a
06:39 whole hell of a lot. And so but, you know, like I get asked the question, I
06:44 was like, would you do it again, man? And not just because of what we've we've
06:48 created after basketball. But look, I don't think there's anything better in
06:51 life than being a part of a team. Yeah. You know, being a part of a team is
06:55 being a part of something bigger than yourself. And, you know, really, in my
06:59 business today, that's the philosophy I've carried from my days of, quote
07:04 unquote, playing right in. I knew I wasn't going to play against Kentucky
07:07 and Rupp Arena when we went up to play the number one team in the country. But
07:11 I also knew that my contribution on the team that week running scout team was
07:15 just as important to get our team ready to play Kentucky. And so that being
07:22 said, you know, it was it was an idea. Like I said, didn't grow up in the in
07:26 the restaurant space and my founding partner, my former walk on teammate and
07:30 myself, we were on the way back from a game in Knoxville, Tennessee, and all
07:35 the starters were sleeping on the plane. They had played all night and we were
07:38 wide awake because we didn't play a second, had those little bev naps on the
07:42 plane. And we just started doodling on the napkin and said, man, we had to open
07:46 up this sports bar. Right. You know, and it was an idea. At first, we were 19
07:50 and 20 years old, two kids with dreams. But then, look, we did it as a school
07:55 project. We had to do a business plan and we did a project and we got to see
07:59 on the project. I see. Yeah, we got to see. Did you go back to the professor
08:03 and say, look what we built? Actually, that professor asked me to go speak to
08:07 the class for 15 years after. And come on. Yeah. There's 15 straight years
08:13 until he retired. Dr. Robert Justice asked me to go back before he did the
08:17 business plan project with his new class. I would go tell my story. And so
08:21 you lead without you got to see in the class. Yeah. I was like, look, I know
08:25 all y'all want an A, but C's not bad. It's not bad. Yeah. And so look, it came
08:33 to reality. We got some investors involved and got the original location
08:37 open September of 2003. And it's it's been 20 years now, almost to the day
08:43 that many locations, 82, 82, wow, all the country in 2018, 2019.
08:51 You know, of course, all of my concepts, I've always had a great burger, right?
08:55 I grew up a cheeseburger kid. Yeah. And look, I just saw an opportunity with
09:02 with the slider concept. And, you know, being here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
09:06 I've also had the luxury of watching Raising Cane's grow. I Graves is one of
09:11 my best friends, and he's the founder, of course, based here in Baton Rouge,
09:14 Louisiana, and and just saw what he did with doing one product, doing it better
09:20 than anybody else in the world and really putting everything, all focus,
09:25 all attention on that and a great culture. And I looked at it and I said,
09:29 man, look, there's really they got some slider concepts out there, but there's
09:33 nobody in the space that is, you know, just hand patty and cooking to order,
09:38 just putting everything into the best cheeseburger slider that that there is.
09:44 And so, of course, at the time I was the CEO of Walk-On's and so, you know, I was
09:51 kind of doing it on whatever spare time I had and coming up with a concept. And
09:56 Drew and I, Drew Brees was my partner in Walk-On's at the time. He had been my
10:01 partner since 2014. And he and I. Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees. Yeah, yeah. I like
10:06 to say between Drew and I, I think we have about 14 Pro Bowls.
10:12 82 restaurants, 14 Pro Bowls. Drew didn't log any NCAA basketball minutes,
10:18 though, at Purdue, did he? Absolutely did not. You got seven minutes on him.
10:22 It's a good point, Sean. That's the only thing I got on him. But so, yeah, I was
10:27 literally I was telling Drew, I said, man, I got this idea. We were on a plane.
10:31 We were flying somewhere and he just, dude, I love it. I said, yeah, but the
10:35 best is yet. I said, it's cheeseburger sliders. We're going to cook them to
10:39 order. It's going to be very small, modular buildings that we're going to
10:43 make to look like sea cans. And because I'm big on branding, I think, I mean,
10:49 you have to differentiate yourself, right? And you have that brand and you
10:54 see it. And so I just wanted to say, man, we see this orange container up in
10:58 the sky. You think the most craveable cheeseburger sliders that there is. And
11:03 so it was created then. And here we are, five short years or not even five
11:09 short years later. And and we're growing like crazy.
11:13 Well, the the magical thing about the pivot that you've made from a full
11:18 service concept to a quick service modular build out is in the capital
11:25 required. Can you talk about the difference between building out a walk
11:29 on versus building out a small sliders?
11:32 Yeah, yeah. Look, it's I probably should have gone the other way. Right.
11:36 Started with the smaller concept with a lot more simple menu. Instead, I
11:43 opened up a 90.
11:43 Don't take me. You don't take me as a conventional type of guy.
11:46 Yeah, yeah, yeah. I 23 years old, opened up a ninety five hundred square
11:52 foot three hundred five hundred feet. Yeah. One hundred menu items made from
11:57 scratch. Yeah. What's smart? Ignorance is bliss, though, I guess you could
12:01 say. And but yeah. So, I mean, looking at that and looking at the I mean, it
12:05 takes a special franchisee for walk on.
12:07 Right. I mean, it's their big bills, lots of moving parts and capital
12:11 intensive. And that was kind of my thinking with smalls is let's go the
12:16 other end. Right. Let's let's make sure we got this this menu that is so
12:22 focused that is nice. Got to be good. Right. If you got one item, that's one
12:26 thing I learned from Todd. If you're going to do one thing, it better be
12:29 damn good. Yeah. And so we put a lot of attention into creating the best
12:33 cheeseburger slider we could. But also understanding, look, let's let's
12:38 minimize the square footage and the operations and how we can execute and
12:44 how we can be more efficient. And honestly, this was before COVID. Now
12:48 there's a lot of concepts out there that are not doing dining rooms. Yeah.
12:52 But this was McDonald's is getting rid of their their service, their Coke
12:57 machines. Exactly. Because of declining footprints into the into the dine
13:01 in. That's exactly right. And we were there first. Right. You're ahead of
13:06 the curve. You're ahead of McDonald's. It's a big deal. I just I mean, first
13:09 part of it was for branding. Right. Because I just thought the cool outdoor
13:14 courtyards, the area was cool. But I also saw I mean, I had my my kids, my
13:21 family. I mean, we never go in inside a fast food restaurant. I say, look,
13:27 let's just once again, it goes to that that capital investment on the front
13:30 of why build these air conditioned units that people aren't going into. So
13:34 we went the other route and it's it's proven to be successful. Our franchise,
13:38 of course, they love the the model that we've created. Give me an idea. It's
13:44 less than a thousand square feet. How many employees are working per location?
13:48 Double double drive through lanes. Correct. We're we're right around 800
13:53 square feet conditioned inside inside the box. It's it's modular buildings
13:58 that come fully complete. I mean, it's it's the kitchens built in there. So
14:04 we're we're we're negotiated some modular building contractors out there
14:08 that they're building and putting them on trucks. Amazing. And it's pretty
14:12 cool. I think a stat is like twenty seven minutes from sitting on the back
14:17 of a truck to come on completely all put together. And I mean, you have a
14:22 smalls in about a half an hour from a blank canvas. Of course, they've done
14:26 the subsurface work prior to. But I mean, just the the actual boxes and our
14:31 modular units is about a half an hour. And that's incredible. Yeah. You
14:36 require are you required to have restrooms at those? Yes. Yes. We had
14:39 eight hundred square feet includes two restrooms. It does. That's amazing.
14:43 Yeah. Yeah. So we've got once again, we've been working on how do we become
14:47 really efficient with this build out and that is amazing. How much what's the
14:52 square footage of those restrooms? You're down. You're down to like no
14:56 square footage. Yeah, it's the single we have one male, one female. Yeah.
15:01 And it's just the single. Yeah, sure. What is that like? Not even ten by ten.
15:07 Probably not even I would say less than one hundred square feet for both of
15:11 them. Maybe one hundred fifty. It's still amazing. I mean, the amount of
15:15 volume that you're doing through I mean, you had you had one unit to about
15:18 two point four million. Yeah, that's that's what's crazy about it.
15:24 Are you trying to keep that a secret?
15:26 Should I know? No, no. Look, that's that's what people are loving about it.
15:30 I mean, honestly, I told Drew in the beginning, I said, man, you know, if we
15:33 could do a million million three out of these things, you know, with the
15:37 investment, it'll be good. Well, we're averaging about two and a half now.
15:41 In fact, one of our last ones, we opened up with one hundred twenty thousand
15:46 one hundred twenty thousand dollar opening week.
15:48 I mean, of course, that's opening week, but I think that's going to settle
15:54 around a three and a half to four million dollar smalls, which is which is
15:59 great. So now we're going back to the drug.
16:01 Of course, we don't we don't want to build huge restaurants.
16:05 Right. I mean, I think there's something to our model, but
16:07 we are looking at just productivity, efficiency, storage.
16:13 You know, I mean, how we're getting that many French fries.
16:16 Yeah. A restaurant, even if it's if it's meat, buns and fries.
16:22 It's I mean, I think we have 12 skews in the whole place.
16:24 But when you do in one hundred thousand plus a week, you need a lot of that.
16:28 Oh, yeah. So it's understanding where we are.
16:31 And then right now it's like if we have that much volume, we're creating a brand
16:37 that that people are loving is getting a cultish type of following.
16:40 And so we're opening these restaurants.
16:43 There's lines blocking streets and holding up traffic to get a cheeseburger
16:49 slider. But once you taste one, you'll know why, because it's pretty good.
16:53 We have a brand new show called Toast Family Style.
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17:49 I was there in lots of those meetings.
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17:55 I can't wait for you, the listener, to download the app.
17:57 Give us your feedback.
17:58 Make your Toast app unboxing video.
18:01 But check out Toast Family Style and also check out the Toast Now app today.
18:06 Bring me into the branding and marketing behind opening.
18:10 What have you learned from your 20 plus years that's helping you roll these out with such success?
18:16 Yeah, I think you got to create the bus.
18:20 Right. I think it's understanding going into these communities.
18:24 And when I say these communities, I mean, you have to get involved with the communities.
18:29 And so that's one thing we've always done at walk-ons and we're definitely doubling down at smalls is, you know, what are you doing with the little leagues and the churches and the schools and, you know, making sure that they know
18:40 we're coming. But also there's hiring events they do.
18:44 There's maybe we may bring our trailer out and cook sliders prior to opening so people can get a sneak peek at, OK, what the buzz is about.
18:53 But I think, you know, the social media aspect as well, you know, creating and getting involved in that community, understanding the influencers in that market and let them know that, hey, we're coming.
19:05 We'll give you a sneak peek at it.
19:06 And they'll in turn let our guests know.
19:10 That's very exciting.
19:11 Can you talk about investment and getting investors on it?
19:15 You know, you have you have Drew, who's a great investor, a great friend.
19:19 Obviously, you have proof of concept with him.
19:22 But how do you get somebody who doesn't know who you are, doesn't know what you're doing to buy into what you're doing?
19:27 Yeah, so we we opened up a few corporate units to start with.
19:34 And then we said, OK, will we go the franchise route?
19:37 And so it was really Drew and myself at the time and well, TenPoint Capital, who's our who is our private equity partner with walk-ons.
19:46 And they invested in 2020.
19:49 They were all all in the walk-ons, right?
19:52 Not really worried about smalls.
19:54 But as we opened the second one in the third one, they kind of started peeking over the fence a little bit.
19:59 And of course, with three units and you can imagine, I know EBITDA, you know, we're operating in the negative and private equities don't.
20:06 Invest in something that early.
20:08 Correct. But Scott Presley, the principal of of of TenPoint, he called me one day.
20:13 He's like, man, I got I got to talk about smalls.
20:17 He goes, we never make an investment this early.
20:20 But he goes, I haven't seen something this special in a while.
20:24 And he goes, I'm not just I'm not just saying this because it's you, Brandon.
20:27 He goes, let's get involved early.
20:29 Let's build the infrastructure.
20:30 Let's get a plan to really grow that.
20:33 And make this a growing throughout the country, throughout the world.
20:38 But but let's start off from there.
20:39 And I was like, you know what?
20:40 Let's do it the right way.
20:42 Let's let's start off.
20:43 And so, of course, it helps with with capital.
20:46 But I think just their strategic partnership as well, you know, with with the brands that they've been involved with, with Tropical Smoothie Cafe and Slim Chickens and you name it.
20:58 I mean, they've seen they've been there, done that.
21:00 And so for to have them as a partner, once again, not just capital needs, but also understand, OK, let's go find the best CEO that we can to build this company.
21:12 We did. And we found and we were we were able to to to get Maria Rivera.
21:19 And she joined us not even a year ago.
21:22 And I can't tell you, I mean, what I'm learning from her.
21:25 And once again, I was smart enough to realize, get the hell out of the way and get somebody with a skill set like that, that that can take this from, OK, Brandon, yeah, you created it.
21:38 But to grow it, to scale it, to attract the right talent, the infrastructure, I mean, just everything that goes into building, you know, like I tell people all the time, the next time I build a billion dollar brand will be my first.
21:50 So I don't act like you've been there.
21:53 Right. Let's let's surround ourselves with great people.
21:56 And that's one thing I've prided myself on throughout the two decades, you know, is not acting like I know everything.
22:02 You know, I feel like I'm good at building brands and understanding what our guests want.
22:06 But when it comes to to having great leadership and getting to the next level and I'll step out of the way, you know, I just I just want to be the best.
22:16 And I think we got the best with Maria.
22:19 Where did you learn how to ask for help and to step out of the way?
22:23 I think it was I mean, of course, I think I learned a lot from my family and, you know, just the way I was brought up with my mom and dad.
22:33 But also, I think it's that walk on mentality, being being a part of a team.
22:38 Like I said, look, there's you hear that cliche all the time.
22:43 You play for the name on the front, not on the back.
22:45 And if you truly if you truly believe that and do that, you can understand, OK, this is about smalls.
22:51 Right. It's not about and it's about smalls.
22:54 Let's go do what's best for smalls.
22:56 Brandon, Brandon's family, Drew Drew's that we're going to be fine because we're doing what's best for the team.
23:04 Right. And so I think it's just that that team mindset that I've always had.
23:10 And I just kind of pride myself on that and understanding that we're a lot better together than we are.
23:17 Yeah, I could have I could have taken this thing and not given any ownership up and kept this thing to myself.
23:22 But you know what, Sean? It might have taken me 30 years to get 10 of them open.
23:27 You know, now we have over 100 in development and there's there's investors, franchisees every day.
23:36 That's calling Maria and her team in Atlanta to man, we want smalls where we go.
23:41 How can we get in? I think one of the most powerful lessons for me just hearing your story is somebody that spent two decades building your original brand and then you create another brand.
23:54 And yet you quickly not even I mean, how quickly did you hire your CEO, Maria?
24:02 Yeah. Within three years.
24:05 So it didn't take you two decades to walk away.
24:08 No. Is that because you're and I'm still the chairman of the board.
24:12 I'm chairman of both boards.
24:14 And so I definitely have my finger on the pulse.
24:17 But once again, Brandon, get out of the way.
24:19 Let her do what she does best.
24:22 And I mean, the talent that she's attracting for a brand.
24:26 I mean, we have 10 units up right now.
24:28 I mean, but the type of a talent, the type of talent that she's attracting in our marketing team and in construction and supply.
24:38 I mean, it's it we're attracting talent that joins 100, 200, 500 unit brands because we all see the potential and because of her leadership.
24:48 That's very exciting.
24:50 When you look at the people that you admire, somebody that has so much affinity and love for sports, are there coaches that you've modeled your business acumen after?
25:01 Yeah, I think so.
25:03 I mean, I think it's I kind of wear a few hats, right?
25:06 I've been I wouldn't say I'm the I've been the strictest or like this hardcore coach and mainly because I'm a culture guy.
25:15 Yeah. So I think there's some of those guys out there that just a players coach.
25:21 Yeah. Right. But then there's the the the ones that the Belichick's of the world, right?
25:26 That not to say he's not a players coach, but look, you're going to be held accountable.
25:31 Nick Saban, you'll be held accountable.
25:33 And so that's I think I'm more of a hybrid of that because I'm probably culture first and foremost, which is probably why I'm not
25:45 the best CEO when it comes to scaling, because there's a culture of accountability that has to be there.
25:50 Yeah. Where is the founder had, you know, I'm I'm worried about the brand.
25:54 I'm worried about, you know, our fit and what our guests looks like and how we're attracting them.
25:59 And, you know, so that's where I think it really so well to be on the board and the chairman, of course, being the chairman.
26:08 I've got a lot of say, right.
26:10 But and they want to hear from me because of what the vision was for the brand.
26:15 But I'm also willing to adapt and, you know, what may have worked for one unit or what was on paper that Brandon wrote down five, 10, 15 years ago.
26:26 Things change. And so we need to be able to adapt to grow the brand the right way.
26:32 When you think about technology as through the lens of getting making happier guests, how do you how do you go about technology decisions for your brand?
26:42 Yeah, I think it's the key, right?
26:46 I mean, the world is completely changed.
26:48 Everything we learned in our marketing class, my class in nineteen ninety nine at LSU.
26:54 And I don't I don't think that's there anymore.
26:56 But I mean, you just have to leverage it.
27:00 Right. And on the social media channels and just online presence and everything that we're doing.
27:07 I mean, look, we're we're doing these volumes and we don't even have third party delivery yet.
27:11 Amazing. Really?
27:13 Yeah, we don't have all you know, like that's a whole logistics.
27:16 You have to figure out where those drivers are going to go.
27:18 Exactly. I mean, I've seen the lines from the social media posts, from your Instagram page, your tick tock, all the things that you guys put out there.
27:25 It's I mean, it is a bustling place.
27:28 Yeah, it is. It is.
27:29 And so, I mean, we just added Chris Douglas as our VP, VP of technology.
27:33 And so, I mean, he just joined the team recently.
27:37 And so, I mean, we're just trying to get our arms around it because, look, we want to we want to invest.
27:42 We want to do it right.
27:43 We don't want to just roll something out just to say, OK, we have we have third party delivery.
27:47 Yeah, just figure it out.
27:49 And, you know, because I mean, we started franchising early.
27:51 Right. And so we have to make sure that we can streamline operations.
27:56 We can I mean, with on premise and off premise dining, I mean, the catering aspect of it, because I mean, these things are perfect for catering.
28:04 For sure. And so there's so much that that that goes into it.
28:10 But we have to make sure we set it up to where we can scale.
28:14 Let's not set it up and set up all of our digital systems for a 10 unit chain.
28:18 Let's set it up for a thousand units.
28:21 And so if it takes a little bit longer, that's OK.
28:24 And I think our franchisees appreciate that, especially the early ones, because they know it's a longer game.
28:29 Do you how soon do you see smalls overtaking walk on in units?
28:35 Well, you know, walk on growth is still there, right?
28:40 I mean, I've seen it's impressive growth.
28:42 Walk on. I mean, anywhere from 15 to 20 units a year.
28:46 And then when you're talking five million dollar AUVs, you know, we can add, you know, almost one hundred million dollars in revenue a year.
28:53 And look, to say we want to do we want to get to 40 openings a year?
28:57 I don't know. You know, I mean, this is something our new CEO, Chris Dawson, that just joined our team recently.
29:03 You know, this is something that he's getting his arms around with with his
29:07 the addition of some new team members here is understanding
29:11 how much is too much for a walk on. Right.
29:14 Because it's a lot of moving parts.
29:16 But smalls, as far as unit counts, I mean, I think because and I hate to use the word
29:23 simple because nothing simple in this business, right?
29:26 But I think simple in this. Yeah, there's nothing.
29:28 There's nothing simple in our industry.
29:30 But I mean, when you were looking at more, you know, more modular builders
29:35 that can produce more for us.
29:38 And then when you're talking, I mean, it's a lot less moving parts rather than simple.
29:43 And so, I mean, look, next year we may get up 20 or 30.
29:47 The following year, maybe 40 or 50.
29:51 I mean, the way Maria is laying out this plan, I mean, we'll have a couple
29:56 hundred units in in four to five years.
29:59 And so and then franchisees aren't a problem because the unit
30:04 economics are speaking for themselves.
30:06 For you, how do you deal with being a leader
30:11 of these brands and also being a father?
30:14 Great question, because, look, I'm I'm all into these brands, right?
30:21 But there's nothing more important to me in my life than my wife and my three kids.
30:25 And so it's been in fact,
30:29 I've got a leadership coach now that I've just engaged with.
30:34 Thank you for sharing that.
30:35 Yeah, not long ago, but because of that, because there's a balance.
30:39 Right. And I have to make sure that that I can find that that that balance.
30:44 And look, when I'm in walk ons or in smalls, I am all in.
30:49 And I have I have a fine dining concept as well here in Baton Rouge.
30:52 That's what's it called.
30:53 It's called Supper Club Club.
30:55 And it's dinner only and it's fine dining.
30:59 And through my travels with the other brands, I saw these great spots
31:03 all around the country, all around the world.
31:05 It's like it was more of a passion project for me.
31:07 And it's really cool.
31:09 And so whether I grow it or not, everybody's long has been open
31:12 about a year and a half.
31:15 And it's it's slick.
31:17 Yeah. Check it out. Supper Club, Baton Rouge, Supper Club, B.R.
31:19 OK, we'll put we'll put a link into the into the article for sure.
31:23 Yeah. Instagram's really cool.
31:24 It's you know, every I tell people I may not grow it.
31:29 And they're like, Brandon, come on.
31:30 Everything you do.
31:33 Yeah, you've got Scott Presley is like, hey, what do you want to do?
31:37 Supper Club. It's like, Scott, you know what I tell you about it?
31:39 But look, it's it's fine in the making sure that there's a balance.
31:45 Back to the question.
31:46 And, you know, my wife is is really involved in the business.
31:51 I mean, she's so good at the branding aspect of it.
31:54 And she she kind of knows what right looks like.
31:57 And so she'll tell me a lot of times.
31:59 And then the kids, you know, they of course, they're they're custom.
32:03 They're guests now.
32:04 But, you know, I love I love telling them about the business,
32:08 not just like, oh, daddy owns those.
32:09 No, it's like, look, we're creating, you know, we're creating
32:13 great opportunities for people.
32:15 You know, there's there's thousands of teammates that we have
32:18 throughout our system right now that we've changed lives and gave them
32:22 better opportunity, not that they could have gone somewhere else.
32:25 But I can't I can.
32:26 You know, we could have a whole podcast of the stories that I hear from teammates
32:29 and, you know, how they just joined our teams and walk on small separate.
32:33 But whatever it may be, because of the vision of our brands
32:37 and we've done it the right way.
32:39 And so family will always be first.
32:43 And I've always that's the way I was raised.
32:46 And especially there's nothing more important to me right now
32:49 than me and the best husband and father I can be.
32:51 I appreciate that.
32:52 I think it's something that is difficult for hospitality leaders,
32:56 you know, me, especially in the guests that I have on the show
33:01 as men and women, we're in hospitality.
33:05 We give all of ourselves to our team, to our communities, to our villages,
33:09 to the people that we support.
33:10 And very often, very, very frequently we neglect ourselves
33:15 and the people that are closest to us.
33:18 I appreciate you for sharing that.
33:19 You know, you've got a leadership coach.
33:21 That is a that is a powerful step.
33:23 It is, man.
33:24 And look, I've got some great people that I've surrounded myself with.
33:29 And, you know, one of the best comments I've ever heard is like, look, you
33:32 that meeting is important.
33:34 There's no doubt.
33:35 But you can never get that soccer game back.
33:38 Yeah. And not being just being present for my kids.
33:43 And so that that's important to me.
33:45 And and that stuck with me.
33:47 You know, and look, we all get pulled in different directions
33:51 and all entrepreneurs out there.
33:53 We know how it is. Right.
33:54 But at the end of the day,
33:57 you can figure out a way, right?
34:00 Like there's there's especially Zoom now.
34:03 I mean, all the things that that are sometimes a pain in the butt.
34:08 It's we we find a way, but you can't find a way
34:12 to get that soccer game back or get that picnic back with them
34:16 or, you know, just a date night with your significant other.
34:20 You know, I think a lot of times that law and you work, work, work.
34:24 And then all of a sudden you miss so much.
34:26 And so, look, it's it's a struggle.
34:29 It's hard. It's hard for all of us.
34:31 And I'm not saying it's easy, but it's something that that has to be important
34:36 to you when you look back on this interview here on Entrepreneur
34:41 and you think of the a memorable story from your your time building restaurants.
34:47 So some story that sticks out, something that you can't believe that,
34:51 you know, this business allowed you to do something like that.
34:53 Yeah, I think just the relationships, I mean, Drew being one of them.
34:59 I mean, I sometimes I mean, he's
35:03 look aside from the football player.
35:05 I mean, if if you're a good if you like good people,
35:10 you like Drew Brees.
35:13 And and I mean, yesterday we had an opening in Clarksville,
35:17 Indiana, for walk ons with Derek Brooks.
35:19 I mean, he I mean, there's not many people on the planet
35:23 that have a gold jacket. Yeah.
35:25 You know, a Hall of Famer.
35:27 So I mean, just the opportunities that I've had and, you know,
35:32 and just meeting great leaders.
35:34 I think, you know, when we're able to to go and showcase our brand
35:38 and I get to meet the guys and gals that have that have done this
35:43 and meeting Jimmy John and and then just the
35:48 the great people that we have in our like
35:51 I wouldn't have the opportunity to spend time with or me
35:54 to get to know a Maria Rivera. Yeah.
35:57 You know, someone that is just a rock star.
36:01 And I'm just learning so much and how she departmentalizes
36:05 and understands like how to grow a brand, how to how to take it.
36:08 You know, she can see, OK, what's going on five days from now,
36:12 but also has a plan already for five years from now.
36:15 That's that's I can't do that.
36:17 You know, I can I can draw on a napkin.
36:20 I can come up with, OK, this is how we're going to do the smallest on the burger.
36:23 But look in five years and having a plan to the teeth like that.
36:27 That's impressive, man.
36:28 And I think that's just the cool stuff I've been able to do
36:32 and experience over the last couple of decades.
36:34 That's awesome.
36:36 So every single week on Wednesday and on Friday on the social audio app Clubhouse,
36:40 it's a chance for you, the viewer, the listener of the show
36:43 to come up on stage and tell us your story.
36:45 If you're in the hospitality business, your story matters.
36:48 If you're in marketing, if you're in sales, if you're a founder, come up on stage.
36:53 That's the chance for you to get to meet me.
36:54 Hopefully one day I will have you on this show on entrepreneur.
36:58 But we also do a social shout out this week.
37:00 Shout out goes to Justin Ulrich of Evoke, Eliz Justin.
37:05 We appreciate you showing up on Clubhouse.
37:07 We appreciate the company that you're building at a vocalize.
37:11 And I just want to say thank you.
37:13 But Brandon, give me one person.
37:15 This is the hardest question I ask on the show
37:18 because I need one person that gets a shout out on your team on smalls.
37:22 One person that you can point to entrepreneur and look back and say.
37:28 This was your shout out.
37:30 One person, well, that's interesting, I mean, I've got Maria, a lot of love.
37:35 She's got she's gotten she's gotten some love.
37:37 Yeah. Pick one other person.
37:40 You know, I'll go back to the technology piece.
37:42 I mean, when we're talking Chris Douglas,
37:44 yeah, who's on our team and he's our VP of technology and just a job
37:49 in this age in 2013 and beyond, it is everything changes so quickly.
37:55 Yeah. And there's there's so much, especially in the QSR space.
37:58 For sure. When you're looking at how much technology
38:02 goes into it, I mean, with with third party and understanding, you know,
38:06 what smalls two point three point six point is going to look like.
38:11 It's a tough job.
38:13 And just just hearing I mean him now in our presentations, in our board meetings
38:17 and understanding that that he has to understand the trends now,
38:21 but also has to has to look forward and what to expect in the coming future.
38:26 So, yeah, Chris is a rock star.
38:28 We're lucky to have him.
38:29 And he's he's on it.
38:32 It's pretty cool to see.
38:33 I'm happy to give him a shout out.
38:35 Yeah. The you know, one of the premises of this show is the four C's
38:38 that we live in, and that's content, commerce, communication and community.
38:43 All of these things interact with each other.
38:46 And for brands to succeed, we've got to do a good job on all of those things.
38:50 And if you don't have the technology that can communicate,
38:53 if you don't have the technology that can sell online,
38:55 if you don't have the technology that can create Instagram
38:58 or tick tock videos or YouTube content, you're just you know, you're
39:02 you're going to be in the yellow pages and you're not going to exist for much longer.
39:05 It's exactly right. Yellow pages is a great example. Right.
39:09 So real quickly, we're going to do our smartphone storytelling test
39:13 and get a little bit know a little bit about you.
39:16 Are you an Android or an iPhone user?
39:18 iPhone iPhone. What version?
39:21 I think I'm for is I just got a new phone, like 15 to 15.
39:26 Just come out. I think it's a 15. It's a 14, 14.
39:29 OK. And then do you always update your software?
39:31 No. How many how many emails do you get a day?
39:35 Oh, hundreds. But I cannot stand having them open.
39:39 So you have your inbox zero zero inbox emails.
39:44 I cannot stand it.
39:46 So no, no notification.
39:48 I see a red number. I got I got to go clear it or open it.
39:51 Fair enough. Do you prefer text or email text?
39:54 Do you for a phone call or a text?
39:57 Depending on who.
40:01 But I like to talk.
40:02 I mean, if it's about something with substance, I need to talk.
40:06 And honestly, I like Zoom.
40:08 I prefer in person. Yeah.
40:10 I really like like our meetings.
40:12 I mean, we try to do them all in person.
40:14 But if it's just something I need to know, text me.
40:18 Got it. Where do you listen to music?
40:20 Which platform? I'm on Spotify.
40:23 Spotify. Yeah. You got a playlist.
40:26 I do. I'm kind of more of a country old country guy.
40:30 I'm big into Morgan Wallen right now.
40:32 Nice. Cole Swindell. Awesome.
40:35 Those are my guys right now. I'm big on that.
40:37 There you go. Do you listen to podcasts?
40:40 I do. On Spotify or on Apple podcasts?
40:43 Spotify. Yeah.
40:45 And I'll go back and forth, but my one of my good friends, Ryan Rossillo.
40:50 Oh, yeah. Nice. So podcast.
40:53 And very cool. I got to meet him and SVP.
40:56 I mean, once again, through this business and it's been a great friend, but
41:00 that's really cool.
41:01 Since he's left, since he's left the ESPN with his podcast,
41:05 this is pretty darn cool.
41:06 We believe that every every business and every brand is their own media company
41:10 if they choose to be it.
41:12 We we don't have to ask for permission anymore.
41:14 If you if you have a story to tell, we have the technology to be able to tell it.
41:18 That's exactly right.
41:19 Books. Do you listen to books or do you read books?
41:23 I listen. Audiobooks.
41:25 Yeah. Usually in the air.
41:27 I put them in.
41:28 What's your favorite book that you've recommended
41:31 either to friends or to your team?
41:33 Good to great is always the the the the the perfect one.
41:38 I mean, just when you're talking about building a company,
41:41 but start with why Simon Sinek, all of Simon Sinek stuff.
41:45 I mean, the guy is just he's unbelievable.
41:49 And I mean, that game.
41:51 Yeah. The Infinite Game.
41:52 I mean, start with all the all these that that that he's done.
41:56 I love John Gordon.
41:59 Power of positivity.
42:01 John's just I mean, because our companies are
42:04 I truly believe that positive people change the world.
42:07 And and, you know, people ask me often, you know, why?
42:10 Why have we been successful?
42:11 I mean, yeah, we might have some good ideas, but we were
42:14 I was always pretty positive that that will make it work
42:17 and we're going to figure it out.
42:18 And even in times of covid and things like that, like we had to stay positive.
42:23 And so I'm big on him and understanding that and and how you start off the day.
42:28 Right. And so it's those are my go to's.
42:32 What's your favorite social media app?
42:35 Instagram, probably.
42:38 Yeah, I'm I'm a big golfer.
42:40 And so, of course, I'm always on Instagram trying to figure out my swing.
42:45 But have you figured out?
42:48 I think it's who's a better golfer.
42:49 You are, Drew.
42:50 Oh, I got drew on golf,
42:53 but Drew's just such a damn good athlete.
42:56 I mean, the guy he can he can not go for six months and picks up a club
43:00 and goes out there and shoots like a seventy nine.
43:02 So, I mean, that's it's just he's got it.
43:04 You got it. You got it.
43:06 That's impressive.
43:07 So what's the what's the best way for people to connect with you
43:10 and connect with the brand?
43:11 We'll put links into the show notes.
43:13 Yeah, absolutely.
43:14 There are, of course, small slider website or walk on websites.
43:19 And then I'm on Instagram and, you know, I'm pretty simple to contact
43:25 through email branding that walk ons dot com walk hyphen ons dot com.
43:29 You know, any any of our outlets.
43:32 Of course, our teams are always checking on them.
43:34 I'm pretty accessible.
43:36 I love connecting with people, especially other entrepreneurs out there, man.
43:40 There's one thing that that I learned just through just doing
43:45 Bid Man Paid Forward, you know, give people the time.
43:47 There's nothing there's nothing more valuable that we have is our time.
43:53 And if we can give people that, especially young entrepreneurs
43:57 that are out there and of course, you can't can't do everything right.
44:01 And then the larger you get, it's it's more difficult to do.
44:04 But I try to, man.
44:05 And that's why I go back and I speak at classes.
44:09 I go, you know, to any company that wants me to go in
44:13 or whether it be Rotary Club or anything like that.
44:16 I try to get out there and not only to tell our story and build our brands,
44:20 but I think it's it's important for people to hear stories like this.
44:25 And not everything has just been, you know, sunshine and roses. Right.
44:30 We all go through the through the grind.
44:32 And I think telling our stories and letting people,
44:35 especially young entrepreneurs, know that.
44:37 Your first step is saying, I got to go like, let's go.
44:41 Yeah. I mean, in
44:44 ignorance can be bliss, you know, whether I would I be sitting right here
44:47 if I decided at forty four to say, hey, let's let's go do this at twenty three.
44:52 At twenty two, it was like, yeah, what I have to lose.
44:54 I know I only have a dog. They can't take that.
44:56 Yeah. You know, it's a little bit different now.
44:58 But I mean, at some point you just got to like, let's go, man.
45:02 Let's go. I love it.
45:04 If you guys want to connect with me, it's at Sean P.
45:06 Welch, FSHA, WNP, WALCH, EF.
45:10 And Instagram is probably the easiest, but I'm available on all social platforms.
45:14 I'm weirdly available to listen to you.
45:16 We care about you. That's why we put on the show.
45:19 Brandon, I would be honored if you ever make it to San Diego to visit Drew.
45:22 Come on out for some barbecue.
45:24 Show you how we do Cali barbecue at our barbecue restaurant.
45:27 So I'd be honored. And that goes for anyone that's listening to the show.
45:30 It matters. They're going to take you up on that.
45:32 I can't wait.
45:34 That's going to be something that I very much look forward to.
45:37 We'll show you Southern California hospitality.
45:40 That's what I'm talking about.
45:41 And anytime in South Louisiana, you got to come see the brands here.
45:45 You got to see the smalls, of course, right here in the original walk ons.
45:49 They're they're about a half a mile apart.
45:50 Beautiful. I look forward to that.
45:52 And the original Raising Kings is here as well.
45:54 I'm definitely going to hit you up for all three of those.
45:56 That's going to happen. Absolutely.
45:59 Appreciate you. Thank you very much.
46:00 We appreciate you guys. We will catch you all next week. Thank you.
46:03 Just a reminder, you, the listener, you, the viewer, are the most important person
46:09 that consumes this content.
46:11 The only way for us to grow this show is for you to share it
46:14 with a fellow friend in the restaurant business.
46:17 Help us grow the show by subscribing and always reach out to me.
46:21 I want to hear your story.
46:22 I want to learn more about your restaurant, whether you're on toast,
46:25 whether you're looking to get on toast.
46:28 We appreciate you supporting this show, and we can't wait to see the content
46:32 that you're creating and to learn about the impact
46:35 that you are making in your communities.
46:37 Stay curious, get involved, and don't be afraid to ask for help.
46:40 (upbeat music)