Derrick Hayes: From Hustling on the Grill to Billionaire Advice, 100 Franchises, and Life with ‘Pinky’
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
But D'andela yee.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm here on a Wealth Wednesday with my girls, Stacy Tuesday.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Happy Wealth Wednesdays, everybody, and we are going big.
Speaker 4 (00:10):
It's Wealth Wednesdays. We are going so big.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
We are going bigger than we've gone in a long time.
And we have mister Derek.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
Hayes for you.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
And Derek is the founder and CEO of Big Daves.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
And we're gonna talk about a.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Lot of cheese steaks. Y'all know, y'all know what I'm
talking about.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Cheese stays.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
This is not your ordinary cheesecake. This sandwich was ranked
top ten sandwiches in the world by World Food Champions.
And Derek's been honored in Forbes twenty twenty one Next
one thousand to Watch. You've done a lot since then.
You've been an naacp Immage Awards honoree. You're gonna learn
all about businesses, franchising. I know you have ten franchise
(00:53):
locations in Central Florida, now five in South Carolina. Really
one of the fastest restaurants change in the country. And
you always talk about you got there because it's about purpose. Yeah,
tell us about your purpose and about Big Dave's and
that connection.
Speaker 5 (01:11):
Well, first of all, I just want to tell y'all
thank you for having me fresh from Martha's vinyan. So
I got out his vacation mode.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Oh my god, you're not no, no, no vie. Let
me tell you my god daughter. She goes to Spelman,
but before she goes back to school, she is stopping
in Martha's vinyard. I just want to live her life
for a couple of days because she's having a time
it spoils you.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
I mean, you see, you know, a bunch of people
that look like you, people that don't look like you,
are coming together, you know, celebrating one thing, you know,
having a good time of vacation. There was a lot
of panels, a lot of information picked up. So I
challenge anybody you know who hasn't ever been to Martha's
Vineyard to get there.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
It's amazing.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
What was and what was your question?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Your why?
Speaker 5 (01:55):
Look? I still obviously my purpose was my father. I
mean that was legitimately the reason why I started the business.
I mean I watched my dad take his last breath
in front of me. But before he died, you know,
I promised him I was going to do the right thing.
I was gonna break my generational curses, and I was
gonna stay focused. Now, needless to say, ten years of
(02:17):
you know, blood, sweat, and terrors building his business a
little over ten years now. It's been a roller coaster ride.
It hasn't been easy, but I know that my purpose
was always stronger than anything of defeat. And I feel
like when your purpose is stronger than defeat, you will
never let it defeat you. So even in my hardest moments,
I always seen it end of the road. I always
knew that eventually people will start paying attention. Eventually people
(02:38):
will see what I'm doing. Eventually people will see what
I mean to the community, and not only just that,
you know, I represent everything when they say a kid
can do. I come out of a very dangerous place
in West Philly, very low income community, you know, when
they say the whole gentrification thing, I was there way
before that. So I've seen, you know, a lot of
things happen in my life, and now I'm starting to
(03:00):
see communities, you know, change today. And I'm able to,
you know, spread the word. And I'm challenging myself to
keep on going to pushing kids forward because I know
it's not the lack of like you know, household is
really just the resources. You know, a lot of them
are trapped in a box. You know. We said that
they're bad kids. We said that a lot of things.
But y'all looking at that. I got forty tattoos on
(03:21):
my body. I come from the same environment they doing now.
Rink six in the Nation and fast casual, the first
African American to ever do it.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah, well, that's so true what you say about kids too,
because a lot of times it's just where their energy
is directed to it. Yeah, those kids that y'all say
are the bad kids are the ones that actually can
be the most intelligent, the smartest. Is just who's around them,
what they're exposed to. One thing could like change your
trajectory for you. Would you say that one thing was
(03:48):
your father when he passed, or was it something a
spark in you before that that you knew that at
some point you would be an entrepreneur.
Speaker 5 (03:56):
I think it was. It was instilled in me my
whole life, because I've seen men work money through Friday
to take care of families. But my father was a
strong reason because it's like I honored this man just
as much as I honored God. You know, it's my
best friend. You know. It was a person I would
run to any situation I was in, anybody I would
ask for advice. So when he wasn't there anymore, I
(04:18):
wanted to make his name live on. So I always
told myself that, you know those blue signs on those exes,
when you see the McDonald's and all of them, you're
gonna see the Big Dave cheese steaks, because I wanted
my dad to live on in every city and state
around America. And right now I'm going to traject you
to do that. And it's really you know, I you know,
I tell people, you know, I always say online, I'm
building a billion dollar company. It's not for the financial gain.
(04:40):
I know of a kid from West Philly out to
ghetto build a billion dollar company. I'm about to motivate
kids globally, not just nationally, globally, because they're going to say, wait,
he only got a high school diplomba. Wait, he ain't
go to college. Wait how did he do this with
no resources? You know, So all of those things is
just going to motivate them to do the same thing.
And it could take the footsteps that I've taken. I
wouldn't want them to take allway the same road that
(05:02):
I've taken, because I felt like some of these steps
I've taken, you know, there was big shoes to fill.
I mean, I just never took no for an answer,
And honestly, you really just got to get out your
own way and have thick skin because when you walk
in certain rooms, the judgmental content is already at the
front door.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
How did you do this.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
With such limited resources?
Speaker 5 (05:22):
I'm a hustler, That's just really what it is. I mean,
I come from a place where you know, anybody know Philly.
Philly people are hustlers, We go getters, we grind our
demeanors from. But also I believe in myself. I believe
in myself when anybody can believe in me. You know
a lot of people wait for people to believe in them,
and they get that spark and say I feel good
(05:44):
such and such such just about me. No, I don't
care if nobody clasp for me. Nobody could word in
my soil, my battery charge, because I know me. When
you know you, you will be okay. I tell anybody
to challenge theyself, to define themselves before they define somebody else.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
You know, I'm from New York, so we're used to
driving it.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
I would literally to Philly to get cheese steaks, right,
there's a couple of times I've done that. But you
opened your first location in Atlanta. Yes, And I don't
know how popular cheese steaks were in Atlanta when you
went there and did that. But what is that process
like of bringing something that's unfamiliar to a place where
you're not from there, But now you have to get
(06:20):
people used to wanting to get something. And it was
in a gas station, right, was the first place that
you opened up an actual physical location. So tell me
how you managed to even market yourself and overcome that.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
Well, For one, I actually started in a gas station
outside of the city, which was like thirty five minutes
from Atlanta. So that was the one challenge I had
against me. But nobody wanted to lease me in space,
so I had to take what God gave me. I'm like, look,
I got the product, I know, I got the hustle.
Eventually they going to come, but it took me a
year and a half to start getting traffic, any traffic.
And that was a hard thing for me. You know,
(06:54):
I had spent many days in my car plan and
praying to God because I took my last money and
put into this business. But I always like the shot
Eve out Eve. She was shooting barbershop and she came
a bit of cheese steak, and that was like literally
the breaking point of my career because when she ate
that cheese steak, she put it on her social media
platforms and I had five hundred people in the parking
(07:14):
lot the next day. I mean more traffic now I
can handle. I tell people all the time, you can
work your butt off as much as you want. If
you're not ready for it, you will fold. So I
always be ready when when that call come. And I
was ready for that phone call. And from year to
year twenty eighteen, I ranked number seven world and sandwiches,
not just cheese steaks and sandwiches. And that gave me
(07:35):
like a big opportunity to start being able to scale
the brand because now you know, like when you a
new business, it's hard to least. Spaces like Tennis don't
want to give it to They're like, hey, well, how
many locations you got, And if you like, yeah, I
got one location in the gas station, You're like all right, well,
come see me later. You know, you get a couple
more and now I'm anchor tennis and most of the
places I'm in. You know, it's you know, I've seen
(07:56):
my whole life transition in the last like for force
of my years, just like year over year getting more opportunities.
But most of all, I ain't taking no fun answer,
Like I'm really knocking on these doors saying, listen, I
deserve this, and if you don't want to give it
to me, you're going to feel it when you see
it because I gave you everything that I was supposed to.
It's like somebody coming to you right now saying they
(08:17):
qualified to come talk on this show, and you know
that they have all the occolades and all the special
things that it takes to be on this platform, and
you don't want to give it to them. So who
wrong is that? You know? That's the way I look
at it. I say, you know, they're not going to
keep locking me out these rooms, and right now they
don't have no choice.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
You know, Derek, there's a lot of people who are
starting their own businesses and starting where you started, right
where it might not be any customers for a while,
you're still trying to like get it going. You said
it took a year and a half until that happened.
So were you the person there that was physically having
to work? Because that's also something that for entrepreneurs to
understand that a lot of times when you're launching a.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Business, you have to physically, yeah, you at.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Present and do the work, and sometimes you might not
even have other employees. So I just want you to
talk about those early days because for somebody else starting,
this could be an inspiration to them to know this
is the because they could see you now and be like, yeah,
he's doing great, he's got this, he's got this platform,
he's all over the place. I see him at invest pass.
He just came from Martha's vineyard. But to know what
(09:16):
happened before that, I think is important.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Oh man, that's actually good because that's what I really
care about. I care about people seeing the sea before
the flowers grown because it was a lot of work.
So I actually like to I'm gonna pat myself on
the back right now because I actually started in a
gas station seven hundred and forty nine square feet with
a broken fry and a broken grill, and at that time,
(09:39):
I didn't realize that I was, even in my own
life in danger the way things was hooked up and
it I just was hustling. I'm like, plugged the cording,
you know, I'm just whatever. He's just winging it. I'm like,
I don't know what's going on. But at the same time,
like you know, the people, they seen so much hustling me,
they see so much like grinding that they wanted to
see me make it. And I think I think the
people kept me strong throughout the years of it was
(10:00):
but most of all, I think it was just honestly
me wanting to get to a certain point that I
never been. I wanted to challenge myself. But in the
gas station, it was like I felt like I was
on an island by myself because I felt like nobody
was paying attention. And I'm like, I'm this young kid
from West Philly. I got all this traffic, but I
don't know what I'm doing. But I'm hustling, you know,
(10:22):
I'm just looking for that right person to come alone
and say I'm gonna help you get to the next point.
And that didn't happen for me until later on. But
I had to take all of those years and just
you know, at nighttime, I'm reading tutorials. I'm just teaching
myself so that now when I'm sitting at the table,
I know somewhat of what I'm talking about, so they
could take me serious. But those were the best years
(10:43):
of my career because those were the years where I
was challenging myself the most. Because it's easier to make
something out of yourself when the world know who you
are and you getting opportunities, But when you ain't getting
opportunities and you hustling, and nobody sees the hard work,
nobody sees the grind. And you're looking at your reviews,
every one of them, and you every time you see
(11:04):
a five star, you jumping out. You're just like, yes,
they love it, you know, and that feeling is very
hard to get back. But most of all, I was
taking care of individuals that was in that community, like
it was. It was guys who was divorced or you know,
a wife deceased or whatever, and they would come and
get you know, big days three or four times a week,
and I had partial relationships with these people, and nobody
(11:26):
cooked for me. I worked my butt off seven years,
seven days a week to build this business. I just
got off the grill three or four years ago. Wow,
so you know you can't take your hand off the wheel.
A billionaire said this to me. He said, listen, do
you want to build a famous mom and pop or
you want to scale this brand? And I said, I
want to scale this brand. That was always my goal.
(11:47):
He said, well, in order to scale this brand, you
got to learn the brand. Right now, you teaching inside
the facility, you're working with the social but now you
got to run the machine. And running the machines take
you to learn profit and lost cocks, even that, all
of these things. To know what you're doing, putting the
right c suites together, the right people, that's going to
help you scale. Because let me tell you something, loyalty
is one thing, but if you don't know what the
(12:09):
hell you're doing, loyalty don't mean nothing in scaling the brand.
You really got to know what you're doing. And I
go so hard off of loyalty. I had to say,
you know what, I got to be loyal to myself too.
And being loyal to yourself is understanding that you're paying
people in position you know that don't have the expertise
to take you to that level. The smart thing to do,
I like to say, is if you believe in somebody
(12:29):
and they going hard for you and they don't have
the expertise to get there, you pick somebody in front
of them that's can teach them and guide them so
that you provide opportunities for them. And that's what I
started doing.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Talk about that because you obviously had a great product,
you believed in, you hustled, you worked. That's very different
than running and scaling a company. Yeah, I mean completely
different skills, and a lot of entrepreneurs get caught up
in their idea but also not realizing you have to
have all those skills to run a company.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
Well, you gotta have the smart to know that. You
can't be the smartest person in the room. That's just
odd to it. I went from saying and I to we,
and when you get to we, we win. I lose.
You know I did this, I did that, And now
on your team, looking like, well what about when we
was hustling with you, doing these things we was doing
(13:14):
with you? You want everybody to feel included, you know, you
wanted to feel like a team, like my company really
run like a fortune five and your business. I got
different departments. I run a company. I'm the face of
the company, but I don't run the operations. I got
a president right now, I got a director of operations.
I got a franchise advisor with over one hundred restaurants.
So like, my team is really corporately sound and strong
(13:35):
because I know when I step in those rooms and
I'm going to the different levels, I'm getting a certain
respect I deserve.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
You know, sometimes we're so used to running our business,
like you said, it started off as a mom and pop. Yeah,
and it feels like you're giving up control in a
certain type of way because you're used to things happening
a certain way and operating on that level. How was
it for you mentally to be able to be like,
I gotta trust other people. I gotta put these people
in position, because sometimes we know we need to do that,
(14:00):
but kind of letting it go is a little difficult.
Speaker 5 (14:03):
It was the hardest thing. Honestly, It was probably harder
than anything that I ever dealt with, because it's your baby.
It's like letting somebody watch your child, and you be like,
is this person qualified to like watch my children? To
spend the night and all those things. So like your
your business, especially a business that you picture blessed, wet
and tears in and you seeing it growing, and you
gotta now, you know, put it in somebody else's hands.
(14:25):
You got to make sure that they represent the same
things that you represent. You got to make sure that
their goals are the same goals that you want. And
you also got to look at it like this, if
you were if your benefit is just a money gain
or money grab, this is not for you, because I'm
looking at history. You know, even when people you know,
you know, even in my family, like hey man, you
didn't turn into a celebrity. No I'm not. I'm legendary.
(14:46):
I'm gonna be something much bigger than any celebrity can
ever put a title one. Because that's what that's what
I believe in myself. When you're looking at the Warren Buffets,
the Elon Musk, when you're looking at the Robert Smiths,
the Rich Dennis, all these all these people that have
I've done things in their careers to get to a
certain point. They had to do something that was uncomfortable
to get there. And right now I'm going through my
(15:06):
uncomfortable stage and that's getting away from people that don't
fit me, that don't represent me and don't operate the
way I operate, and that go from family, friends, anybody,
because I'm not gonna let nobody stop me from getting
to the point I want to get to. On how
hard I work talk.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
You mentioned being uncomfortable, talk about an experience that you
had in this whole journey that that was this was
like my big learning moment.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
Well are you looking at it right now? So right
now I'm in my Series A raise. I got this
far without raising capital, So right now, you know me
saying I own one hundred percent of my company on paper,
it won't look at like that. You know that I'm
raising capital now, and that's something that I got to
live with and be okay with. So the next chapter
of my career, I gotta be okay with who I
(15:51):
allow to be a part of this journey and make
sure that I pick the right soldiers that I'm continuing to,
you know, move forward with this brand. It's very uncomfortable
because when you're looking at VC's private equity, whether it's friends, family,
anybody that wants to join around, you want to make
sure they aline to what you're doing, and I change
the culture in your business and right now, that's something
(16:12):
that I've never experienced right now, and I'm going into
that right now. But I have the experience to know
what's right and wrong for me. And I waited to
get to this point to get the right evaluation that
I wanted. I didn't want to rush.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Right And you know, you've spoken about being the face
of your brand, and I've known you for a while,
and I do want to say I've always felt like
you have preferred to stay in the background. I don't
know if that's true or not, but you are the
face of your brand, and so doing these interviews. I
saw you on Denna Kings too, so that was a
really dope space. Thank you, you know, to being and
(16:43):
I've seen you do a ton of interviews also, But
was that something that you were like because I've never
felt like you were the person that.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Wanted to be like.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
I wanted to build the business front and center.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
I wanted to build the business. I felt like the
talking would come later. I wanted to make sure that
I had what I what I had to back up.
You know, it's like boxing, you know, it's like I
can knock this guy out. But if you ain't in shape,
in your mindset, ain't there, You're not gonna win the battle.
I wanted to make sure that before you know, I
got to a certain point, I was able to deliver.
(17:14):
And it was difficult because even when I was ready,
I wasn't getting the attention that I deserved. And when
I was putting out, I mean, you know, I'm a
black kid that've been making millions and millions of dollars
a year over year, no where, no big articles, no
national headlines and any of that. I mean, how can
you not explore that and showcase that what's going on?
(17:35):
But again, I'm a weapon. I understand that. So they
got to hide me a little bit because if I
do come out, then I'm motivating every kid in the
ghetto right now that you don't want to have those opportunities.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Wow, your business really took off through the F word franchising. Yes,
And we talked to so many entrepreneurs and you know,
you're thinking about I want to start a small business.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
So I want to start a small business.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
How do we get our commuit unity to kind of
shift from starting small businesses to growing bigger businesses.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
It's particularly through franchising.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
Well, first of all, we're so we're so far behind
because it's less than eight percent of African Americans that
even own a franchise. So let's talk about the actual
part of even understanding what you're trying to build, because
most of us sell before we even get something powerful,
because we are looking for some financial gain to make
it out of our bad situations. That when we have
(18:27):
something strong and somebody says he here's twenty million, and
you take twenty million, they turn your company to a
four hundred million dollar company. It happens over and over
and over again. That's the reason why African Americans has
never taken a fast casual brand to a billion dollars
because we always sell too fast because when it gets
hard to get difficult, it get uncomfortable, and we're not
willing to fight that fight. Well, I'm going to fight
(18:48):
that fight. I'm going to do it no matter how
hard to get because i have a goal that I'm
trying to get to. And it's not because of me
just saying oh, I'm different from anybody else. I understand
what's happening to us. I'm in a rooms now, I
understand what's going on. So I'm like that that thing
you see. You know, if I could see it, I
could be it. And no matter whether it's black, white,
(19:09):
no matter if it's Asian, no matter who it is.
If I'm around the information, I know it's for me too.
I soak it in like a sponge. I can have
the same opportunity. So somebody can come right now offer
me one hundred to hundred million for my company. They
can kick rocks.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
Just know what I'm going Your.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Plan is to have one hundred franchises by the end
of the year.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Yeah, I'm on my way. I'm about to make some
big announcements soon.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Oh wow, you look so happy.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
Man. Listen, I got so much stuff that I'm about
to drop twenty twenty six. Man, it's like I feel
like I'm still dreaming. I do it because you know,
for a lot of years, man, you know, I sat
in a dark place because I felt like I was
getting annoyed with something powerful. But God say the best
for last.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
When you let's talk a little bit more about franchising.
When people think about doing it, it's a great way
to have a small business in some ways, and as
you franchise big daves, how do you still kind of
keep control.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
Well a culture. So, so I'm glad you actually brought
that up. So and anybody that's franchising, I think you
should do the same thing what I'm about to say. So,
we got something called Discovery Day. Discovery Day you find
out what the person is about there once you show
them the systems and your business, they go around your restaurants.
But the one thing I asked before Discovery Day is over,
I say, pitch your money to the side. What can
(20:25):
you do to help me and resources scale this brand?
And right now I'm a young brand. And if you
can't answer that, then that changes things for me because
if money gain is all you went out of this,
what's going to happen when the economy ever get rough
or anything like that. Are you still a rod? Are
you still trying to figure out ways of bringing the
company together? Are you going to create opportunities to help
the company scale. That's why I'm so happy and proud
(20:47):
of Derek Lewis down and Orlando, because Derek was the
ex PEPSI president, but he put his money where his
mouth is. He bought ten locations. He was able to
open up two Brick and Waters now three stadiums that
he's being represented in. I'm also in now in South
Carolina and Columbia. Amazing location, one of my best locations,
(21:09):
sixteen hundred square food box depending out record breaking numbers.
And I'm gonna go ahead and give it to y'all
on this. I'm about that an now it is Greenville,
South Carolina. Whe I'm about to do the wild break
next week.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Wow, congratulations.
Speaker 5 (21:19):
And I'm about to announce another one. That's the Georgia
World Congress Center where investmentster is health this year. So
I'm gonna be doing some amazing things for investment.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Oh wow, perfect.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
Timing, Screenville, South Carolina.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
You heard it here.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
Yes, I had to break the news. Yes I had
to give it. Oh maybe puts the hold that, but
it's all good.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Listen, well Wednesday breaking news exclusives exactly. And I want
to talk about Ahtlantha because, as you discussed, like also
knowing that when you're talking to potential franchise owners on
Discovery Day, knowing that, Okay, this is not just about money.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Let's put the money to the side.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
But also you have been very intentional on making sure
that you're involved in community as well. When you're thinking
about other people to be involved in who you're doing
business with, is that something you take into consideration also.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
Yeah, I mean because you want to know what these
people represent. I mean, you know, I wanted to be
a line. You know, community is what built me. You know,
a lot of people would like to say that. It's
like it's almost like accepting in the world. You know,
everybody'd be like, I want to thank God. It's just
the natural thing to do. But community is really the
right thing to do, because without community, you have no business.
If these people aren't standing in your lines every day
(22:28):
and supporting you, how are you actually making money to
continue to pay your payroll, scale your brand. So I
always try to give back, whether that's you know, me
helping out Carver High School a few years back, donating
twenty thousand dollars into their hub and now their hub
is named after me. Whether that's giving forty thousand dollars
to an actual business in New York City, which I'm
(22:50):
thousand miles away from, but you know, I heard the
story of it, this business being around for a long time,
or whether that's you know, feeding over forty hospitals, you
know in COVID or a thousand people in the community
doing COVID every single day, or to me partnering with
my pinky with Rashad Brooks, donating his family a car,
giving the school of scholarships, life insurance, or paying life
(23:11):
insurance on twenty five thousand black men with my wife.
So I've done so many things when it comes to community,
because the business is one thing, community is another thing.
Philanthropy is something else. That's three different businesses that I operate.
And I'm very intentional about how I move with the
community because I always want them to understand who I
am as a person first before they buying a product.
(23:31):
So like I got die hard fans like that really
loved me, you know, like really rock for me, stand
for me. Anything that happens in my business. They're always there.
And money came by that, and fake words came by that.
Real truth represents that because when we was in COVID
and we was in the middle of that pandemic, none
of us ain't enough experience it before. And I told
my account even when he was going against me. Yeah,
(23:54):
but you know why I did that, because you know,
it's easy for us to get on platforms like this
and run on them up and tell people we stand for,
but who really stand for things when it really happens.
I want to show people that's really what I stand for,
That's really who I am as a person. Not even
knowing what's going to happen the next day. Mind you,
we every business at that time taking a big hit financially.
(24:14):
I was walking in hospitals with an N ninety five
on feeding the doctors and nurses in there because I'm like,
hold on, we got the frontline workers right here. They
don't know what's going on with COVID nineteen. We've never
heard of it. But I want to stand there and
help these people so that now they know they're not
in this alone. They're giving them healthy least I could
do his feed them.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
Now.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Listen, you brought up your wife, Pinky. You know I
love me some Pinky, So I want to know and
I remember when you guys got married. Obviously you guys
have a growing family.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
Man like we like the Brady Bunch man.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
You guys are franchising, franchise right.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
Franchising kids. That's the clothe line.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
But I wanted to ask you, like if I feel
like when I talk to Pinky. When I talk to you,
it's business business. How is it for you guys? Like
how how do are y'all able to switch off, you know,
talking about things at home? And do you is there
any type of like all right, we gotta not mention things?
Or is it always like is that your bedroom language too?
Speaker 5 (25:11):
It's so normal that I don't even pay attention sometimes,
you know. Like so Pinky, she's a big part of
my motivation because she lock in sometimes when I don't
feel like locking it, you know, like she she might
be like, dude, we gotta do this, and nobody, look, man,
let's let me get some time tired. But you know what,
tired don't make greatness. And I had to learn it
(25:32):
over the years. Pinky is one of the hardest working
people I know change. She's always locked in, she's always
going for it, and I know she went the best
for me. So we motivate each other. I mean, we
sit there and we talk about business ideas, but most
of all, we enjoy each other. It ain't always easy
because we both too entrepreneurs just trying to grow. Sometimes
we get in competition, you know, not purposely, but we
(25:55):
gotta make sure that we don't let outside people try
to stare us against each other. And that's what we
do the best because we see it coming from afar.
Whether we don't care who it is. Whenever somebody says
something versus the other company, we're looking at each other like, yeah,
this person gotta go.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Some of her is rubbing off on you. She's very
health conscious.
Speaker 5 (26:12):
Oh, many got be working.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Right.
Speaker 5 (26:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
You know.
Speaker 5 (26:19):
For me, you know, my dad passed away from lung
cancer and I'm thirty eight years old. Now, my metabolism
slowed down, so you know, eating you're gonna get that gut.
So I'm like, you know, I gotta start working out.
I never had to worry about gaining weight ever in
my life. It was always a fast, fast burn every
time I eat. I used to, you know, tease my
cousins like, yeah, y'all gott to worry about that. I'm cool.
(26:40):
But when you're almost forty, you know, things changing. Honestly.
You know, we can say that we want to get
to the billion, we could say we want to get
to one hundred million, whatever your desire is, but if
your health in dare, You're never gonna get to none
of it, you know, so I had to make sure
that my health come first, and I want to see
my kids grow up. You know, my dad never seen
me make it past twenty one. You know, I want
to see my son when he gets get married. You know,
(27:01):
I got married, and that was one of the hardest
things for me, is not to have my dad there seeing,
you know, me love and cherish somebody in a moment.
So I had to keep them there in spirit. So
I actually want to see my kids go through those
moments and I want to be there. I want to
play with my grandkids. I want to give them resources
and opportunities. I want to say, hey, you know, you
can even go to college or take a trade or
(27:22):
just jumping in the business. But I want to be
the one that's there to do it. And you know
what I'm doing right now for my dad. It ain't
easy because some days I need them, you know, some
days I really need to talk to him. Some days
I wish I was there to hug him or just
have that conversation saying you know, this is hard, but
I know when it gets hired, he right there beside
(27:43):
me every single time, So you know, I'm living in faith.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Some entrepreneurs Yeah, they just don't think they have time
to take care of themselves, and they just don't make
that link between health and the success of your business,
and they think of it's almost as a luxury. And
it also takes a big mental health on them as well.
What advice would you have for them.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
It's gonna sit you down. If you don't take your
health serious, It's gonna eventually sit you down. I tell
you what. I've been working out now for about a month,
and I'm so clear, I'm so conscious. I wake up
in the morning with energy. I was burnt out, you know, literally,
I'm not afraid to say that. For years, I was
just like running off an empty tank because I'm just
always working, always trying to build, always create opportunities for myself.
(28:26):
But you're just lying to yourself. You're smiling into the world,
but you're crying inside because you're tired. And lately, I
just been taking my health real serious, eating different, and
not only that, I'm praying, praying a lot more. You know.
I was just in church with Jamal Brian from Martha's Veyarrant,
and Jamal, I'm gonna go ahead and tell you, bro
that word hit me like you know a lot of people,
(28:47):
you know, when they're in situations when we're talking about God,
they get in a shame mode because they don't want
to see people see them, you know, rejoice and feel
good about being in church and those things. But how
can you be ashamed to guy who brung you here?
You know, I had to even snap out of that
myself while I'm in church and Marthe's venyrant, everybody sitting there,
you know, looking at each other, looking pretty and all
(29:07):
those things. I'm here right now to get these sins
forgiven and give another chance in a longer life. So
I ain't here any playing around. So when you know
Pastor Brian was saying that message in that word that
he gave, I was one hundred percent of locked in
because it resonated because we was a group of African
Americans sitting at the highest high in one place in
Martha's Vinyrant, and all of us come from different places,
(29:31):
different backgrounds, whether it's the ghetto or whether you came
from you know, a silver spoon. You got to understand
what it's like to not come from it and what
it is to actually have it. And that was special.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
This is special too.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I want to say, you're only thirty eight years old,
thirty eight years young. Yes, I have to say, and
to think of everything that you've accomplished so far. I
know your dad would be extremely proud to see how
all of this has been unfolding for you.
Speaker 5 (29:55):
Yeah, I mean, you know, honestly, I'm really think I
think the Martha's vyr T I needed because I'm too
hard on myself sometimes. And it's not because you know,
I feel like I want to just keep making announcements
and keep on, you know, making things happen. I really
challenge myself so like, you know, how like you look
at your like your year over year, like what do
you want to be this year? I wanted to walk
(30:18):
into twenty twenty six just being clear. I feel like
I'm always figgy. I feel like, you know, I always
got multiple things going on in my mind. And I
finally got a point where I say, you know what,
I'm gonna take a pause and learn how to just
be clear and conscious for who I am in the world.
Going to see that later on, because when we just
running and running and running and doing things. Especially you know,
you've been in You've been in the media for so
(30:40):
long I mean think about it. Think about it, like,
you know, when do you really have time to yourself.
You go to the market, you go anywhere, Oh hey Angela.
You know, it's like every somebody always saying something to you.
You can't do nothing wrong because it's going straight to
the tabloids. So it's like, all this pressure comes with
our line of work that we want. But then we
got to understand too. We build in these massive things,
(31:01):
but we also trend set her. So you can't ask
for something and not lead the right way at the
same time, So you can't ask for to be special
and not come with the pressure. I like to say this,
you can't ask for success if you're not willing to
get hit with the bag.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
Yeah, you know what I'm saying now, you're right.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
And I do have to say, even seeing like with
Pinky and she had to, she's always been really public
and honest about things that she has to go through,
And I think that's important because if not, you let
other people tell the story for you and you have
to come forward and be like, look, I got to
tell y'all what happened, and.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
She did that so well. I mean, like, you know, honestly,
a lot of us was like not even you know,
we was giving her a different advice from you know,
from her standpoint. But that's why Pinky is who she
is because she always want to be honest with people.
She's an open book. See. The thing with people got
to stop doing even with entrepreneurs when it comes to
musicians or athletes, if you pick the money to the
(31:53):
side and just look at the work and look at
the person, then you won't get tricked out of anything.
Because you know, when we look at the wealthiest people
world and we could see something come out on the
tabloids about somebody not paying something, you're like, oh, that
person's going broke. Y'all don't understand business. You know, like
businesses is formulas and procedures on how you keep your
financial gains. If you it's like, you know, even when
(32:15):
people file bankruptcy, right, some of these people filing bankruptcy with.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
The bank, look at the president.
Speaker 5 (32:21):
Yeah, I mean shit many times. Yeah. But the thing
is that, you know, I think that from a culture,
it's a culture of our race that when we hear
anything happening when it comes to a household or a business,
we think it's over instead of coming together help uplifting
that person. Because I've seen my wife raise multiple hundreds
of thousand dollars for people while she was fighting for
(32:42):
her own life.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I've seen her go online and just be like, go
to this business.
Speaker 5 (32:46):
And by and by and listen. When she did that,
she was actually she raised two hundred and some thousand
dollars for that business while she was trying to get
millions of dollars for her for herself.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Yeah, sometimes people also assume that you have money and
they think you're in a position and you're like, the
business is in the family too.
Speaker 5 (33:04):
I mean, like right now, my family sees everything that
I have going on, and nothing against them. But you know,
I got a lot of employees. I got a lot
of bills. It takes a lot. I got four hundred employees.
It takes a lot to around my company, you know,
And at the same time, I'm building wealth. I didn't
get to a point where I can just sit still
and stagnant every day. And even if I did, I
wouldn't stay stagnant. I mean that's just not me. And
(33:25):
I you know, sitting down with Tyler Perry and Kerry
Franklin and Jeez with the dinner Kings. It was so
special for me because I got a chance to talk
to first of all, my good friend Jesus, that's my brother.
We talk about so many things on so many levels
of culture, business and relationship. Shout out to him. He
always give me good advice. But Tyler Perry just told
(33:46):
the world that he's still going through things as being
a billionaire. He's still not getting the same due as
being a billionaire. So how can I walk in the
room saying I'm not getting what's due for me when
I got a black man who's proof in himself and
still fighting and getting certain situations. And I think that
for me, humbled me and open eyes for a lot
(34:06):
of things. And Kurt Franklin just that that's soul like
he put into like you, like instilling you. He could
just he can give you a little bit of game,
but it's like you feel it. So all of those guys, Man,
I appreciate just having an opportunity on my birthday, on
my thirty eighth birthday, I got to sit with those
giants in my career. And I'm never going to forget
about that moment because that's shape in my future right now.
Speaker 4 (34:30):
Wow, last thing on with you is you. I've been.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
So touched by your father, and your father's just coming
out in every part of you. How do you when
your kids look at your journey, what do you want
them to have seen.
Speaker 5 (34:45):
I just want my kids to respect me and love me.
I feel like a lot of kids fare their parents,
not love them and respect them. It's a difference like
if you had abusive parent your whole life. You just
fear them, you know, and you hate them later on.
I want my kids to really honor me and see
what I did was really for them, for their financial game,
(35:05):
for their resources, for their opportunity. Because let me tell
you something. I don't know if you guys know, but
we're getting replaced by robots, We're getting replaced by AI.
If you ain't out here opening up a format for
your kids and your family to be able to survive,
and you in trouble and right now, you know, I
look at a lot of people's you know, spending days,
you know, partying. Nothing against that. I spent a lot
of days party. I did a lot of party in
(35:26):
my twenties. There's so much party in my twenties. I
don't care about doing it in my thirties. But I
feel like partying is okay, But what are we celebrating, Like,
what am I celebrating? I'm going out every weekend? What
the hell am I celebrating popping bottles on all these things?
And I used to do that. I used to blow
so much money. I spent millions, you know, just just
doing stupid stuff by the jetry cars, all these things.
(35:48):
But now it took me to do it, and I
gotta teach it differently because I can't sit here and
be ignorant to things that I know that's not gonna
be what's gonna take you to the next level. What's
gonna take you to the next level is do the
things that's gonna be uncomfortable, and that's staying focused, that's
staying relevant, and that's staying real educated in your business,
because if you don't learn how to operate your business,
somebody else will and you will always have to call
(36:09):
them for the answer, and guess what that does? That
always make you behind the gun.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
But we appreciate this. This has been amazing. I love it.
I'm glad you came.
Speaker 5 (36:17):
No, I'm glad that I got a chance, and I
can't wait to finally get up here on the way
up other announcements.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Which you're gonna come back to Wealth Wednesdays to break
of course.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Yes, and then when you all do Real Housewives of Atlanta,
you know you can come up here and talk about
it too.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
About that, Okay, nice try, Thank you so much, Derek.
We'll be coming by for some cheese steaks since you.
Speaker 5 (36:41):
Hopefully you know I mean being in New York soon.
Speaker 4 (36:43):
You know I'm franchising, so let us know, let us know.
But D'andela yee.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm here on a Wealth Wednesday with my girls, Stacy Tuesday.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Happy Wealth Wednesdays, everybody, and we are going big.
Speaker 4 (00:10):
It's Wealth Wednesdays. We are going so big.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
We are going bigger than we've gone in a long time.
And we have mister Derek.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
Hayes for you.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
And Derek is the founder and CEO of Big Daves.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
And we're gonna talk about a.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Lot of cheese steaks. Y'all know, y'all know what I'm
talking about.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Cheese stays.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
This is not your ordinary cheesecake. This sandwich was ranked
top ten sandwiches in the world by World Food Champions.
And Derek's been honored in Forbes twenty twenty one Next
one thousand to Watch. You've done a lot since then.
You've been an naacp Immage Awards honoree. You're gonna learn
all about businesses, franchising. I know you have ten franchise
(00:53):
locations in Central Florida, now five in South Carolina. Really
one of the fastest restaurants change in the country. And
you always talk about you got there because it's about purpose. Yeah,
tell us about your purpose and about Big Dave's and
that connection.
Speaker 5 (01:11):
Well, first of all, I just want to tell y'all
thank you for having me fresh from Martha's vinyan. So
I got out his vacation mode.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Oh my god, you're not no, no, no vie. Let
me tell you my god daughter. She goes to Spelman,
but before she goes back to school, she is stopping
in Martha's vinyard. I just want to live her life
for a couple of days because she's having a time
it spoils you.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
I mean, you see, you know, a bunch of people
that look like you, people that don't look like you,
are coming together, you know, celebrating one thing, you know,
having a good time of vacation. There was a lot
of panels, a lot of information picked up. So I
challenge anybody you know who hasn't ever been to Martha's
Vineyard to get there.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
It's amazing.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
What was and what was your question?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Your why?
Speaker 5 (01:55):
Look? I still obviously my purpose was my father. I
mean that was legitimately the reason why I started the business.
I mean I watched my dad take his last breath
in front of me. But before he died, you know,
I promised him I was going to do the right thing.
I was gonna break my generational curses, and I was
gonna stay focused. Now, needless to say, ten years of
(02:17):
you know, blood, sweat, and terrors building his business a
little over ten years now. It's been a roller coaster ride.
It hasn't been easy, but I know that my purpose
was always stronger than anything of defeat. And I feel
like when your purpose is stronger than defeat, you will
never let it defeat you. So even in my hardest moments,
I always seen it end of the road. I always
knew that eventually people will start paying attention. Eventually people
(02:38):
will see what I'm doing. Eventually people will see what
I mean to the community, and not only just that,
you know, I represent everything when they say a kid
can do. I come out of a very dangerous place
in West Philly, very low income community, you know, when
they say the whole gentrification thing, I was there way
before that. So I've seen, you know, a lot of
things happen in my life, and now I'm starting to
(03:00):
see communities, you know, change today. And I'm able to,
you know, spread the word. And I'm challenging myself to
keep on going to pushing kids forward because I know
it's not the lack of like you know, household is
really just the resources. You know, a lot of them
are trapped in a box. You know. We said that
they're bad kids. We said that a lot of things.
But y'all looking at that. I got forty tattoos on
(03:21):
my body. I come from the same environment they doing now.
Rink six in the Nation and fast casual, the first
African American to ever do it.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah, well, that's so true what you say about kids too,
because a lot of times it's just where their energy
is directed to it. Yeah, those kids that y'all say
are the bad kids are the ones that actually can
be the most intelligent, the smartest. Is just who's around them,
what they're exposed to. One thing could like change your
trajectory for you. Would you say that one thing was
(03:48):
your father when he passed, or was it something a
spark in you before that that you knew that at
some point you would be an entrepreneur.
Speaker 5 (03:56):
I think it was. It was instilled in me my
whole life, because I've seen men work money through Friday
to take care of families. But my father was a
strong reason because it's like I honored this man just
as much as I honored God. You know, it's my
best friend. You know. It was a person I would
run to any situation I was in, anybody I would
ask for advice. So when he wasn't there anymore, I
(04:18):
wanted to make his name live on. So I always
told myself that, you know those blue signs on those exes,
when you see the McDonald's and all of them, you're
gonna see the Big Dave cheese steaks, because I wanted
my dad to live on in every city and state
around America. And right now I'm going to traject you
to do that. And it's really you know, I you know,
I tell people, you know, I always say online, I'm
building a billion dollar company. It's not for the financial gain.
(04:40):
I know of a kid from West Philly out to
ghetto build a billion dollar company. I'm about to motivate
kids globally, not just nationally, globally, because they're going to say, wait,
he only got a high school diplomba. Wait, he ain't
go to college. Wait how did he do this with
no resources? You know, So all of those things is
just going to motivate them to do the same thing.
And it could take the footsteps that I've taken. I
wouldn't want them to take allway the same road that
(05:02):
I've taken, because I felt like some of these steps
I've taken, you know, there was big shoes to fill.
I mean, I just never took no for an answer,
And honestly, you really just got to get out your
own way and have thick skin because when you walk
in certain rooms, the judgmental content is already at the
front door.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
How did you do this.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
With such limited resources?
Speaker 5 (05:22):
I'm a hustler, That's just really what it is. I mean,
I come from a place where you know, anybody know Philly.
Philly people are hustlers, We go getters, we grind our
demeanors from. But also I believe in myself. I believe
in myself when anybody can believe in me. You know
a lot of people wait for people to believe in them,
and they get that spark and say I feel good
(05:44):
such and such such just about me. No, I don't
care if nobody clasp for me. Nobody could word in
my soil, my battery charge, because I know me. When
you know you, you will be okay. I tell anybody
to challenge theyself, to define themselves before they define somebody else.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
You know, I'm from New York, so we're used to
driving it.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
I would literally to Philly to get cheese steaks, right,
there's a couple of times I've done that. But you
opened your first location in Atlanta. Yes, And I don't
know how popular cheese steaks were in Atlanta when you
went there and did that. But what is that process
like of bringing something that's unfamiliar to a place where
you're not from there, But now you have to get
(06:20):
people used to wanting to get something. And it was
in a gas station, right, was the first place that
you opened up an actual physical location. So tell me
how you managed to even market yourself and overcome that.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
Well, For one, I actually started in a gas station
outside of the city, which was like thirty five minutes
from Atlanta. So that was the one challenge I had
against me. But nobody wanted to lease me in space,
so I had to take what God gave me. I'm like, look,
I got the product, I know, I got the hustle.
Eventually they going to come, but it took me a
year and a half to start getting traffic, any traffic.
And that was a hard thing for me. You know,
(06:54):
I had spent many days in my car plan and
praying to God because I took my last money and
put into this business. But I always like the shot
Eve out Eve. She was shooting barbershop and she came
a bit of cheese steak, and that was like literally
the breaking point of my career because when she ate
that cheese steak, she put it on her social media
platforms and I had five hundred people in the parking
(07:14):
lot the next day. I mean more traffic now I
can handle. I tell people all the time, you can
work your butt off as much as you want. If
you're not ready for it, you will fold. So I
always be ready when when that call come. And I
was ready for that phone call. And from year to
year twenty eighteen, I ranked number seven world and sandwiches,
not just cheese steaks and sandwiches. And that gave me
(07:35):
like a big opportunity to start being able to scale
the brand because now you know, like when you a
new business, it's hard to least. Spaces like Tennis don't
want to give it to They're like, hey, well, how
many locations you got, And if you like, yeah, I
got one location in the gas station, You're like all right, well,
come see me later. You know, you get a couple
more and now I'm anchor tennis and most of the
places I'm in. You know, it's you know, I've seen
(07:56):
my whole life transition in the last like for force
of my years, just like year over year getting more opportunities.
But most of all, I ain't taking no fun answer,
Like I'm really knocking on these doors saying, listen, I
deserve this, and if you don't want to give it
to me, you're going to feel it when you see
it because I gave you everything that I was supposed to.
It's like somebody coming to you right now saying they
(08:17):
qualified to come talk on this show, and you know
that they have all the occolades and all the special
things that it takes to be on this platform, and
you don't want to give it to them. So who
wrong is that? You know? That's the way I look
at it. I say, you know, they're not going to
keep locking me out these rooms, and right now they
don't have no choice.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
You know, Derek, there's a lot of people who are
starting their own businesses and starting where you started, right
where it might not be any customers for a while,
you're still trying to like get it going. You said
it took a year and a half until that happened.
So were you the person there that was physically having
to work? Because that's also something that for entrepreneurs to
understand that a lot of times when you're launching a.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Business, you have to physically, yeah, you at.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Present and do the work, and sometimes you might not
even have other employees. So I just want you to
talk about those early days because for somebody else starting,
this could be an inspiration to them to know this
is the because they could see you now and be like, yeah,
he's doing great, he's got this, he's got this platform,
he's all over the place. I see him at invest pass.
He just came from Martha's vineyard. But to know what
(09:16):
happened before that, I think is important.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Oh man, that's actually good because that's what I really
care about. I care about people seeing the sea before
the flowers grown because it was a lot of work.
So I actually like to I'm gonna pat myself on
the back right now because I actually started in a
gas station seven hundred and forty nine square feet with
a broken fry and a broken grill, and at that time,
(09:39):
I didn't realize that I was, even in my own
life in danger the way things was hooked up and
it I just was hustling. I'm like, plugged the cording,
you know, I'm just whatever. He's just winging it. I'm like,
I don't know what's going on. But at the same time,
like you know, the people, they seen so much hustling me,
they see so much like grinding that they wanted to
see me make it. And I think I think the
people kept me strong throughout the years of it was
(10:00):
but most of all, I think it was just honestly
me wanting to get to a certain point that I
never been. I wanted to challenge myself. But in the
gas station, it was like I felt like I was
on an island by myself because I felt like nobody
was paying attention. And I'm like, I'm this young kid
from West Philly. I got all this traffic, but I
don't know what I'm doing. But I'm hustling, you know,
(10:22):
I'm just looking for that right person to come alone
and say I'm gonna help you get to the next point.
And that didn't happen for me until later on. But
I had to take all of those years and just
you know, at nighttime, I'm reading tutorials. I'm just teaching
myself so that now when I'm sitting at the table,
I know somewhat of what I'm talking about, so they
could take me serious. But those were the best years
(10:43):
of my career because those were the years where I
was challenging myself the most. Because it's easier to make
something out of yourself when the world know who you
are and you getting opportunities, But when you ain't getting
opportunities and you hustling, and nobody sees the hard work,
nobody sees the grind. And you're looking at your reviews,
every one of them, and you every time you see
(11:04):
a five star, you jumping out. You're just like, yes,
they love it, you know, and that feeling is very
hard to get back. But most of all, I was
taking care of individuals that was in that community, like
it was. It was guys who was divorced or you know,
a wife deceased or whatever, and they would come and
get you know, big days three or four times a week,
and I had partial relationships with these people, and nobody
(11:26):
cooked for me. I worked my butt off seven years,
seven days a week to build this business. I just
got off the grill three or four years ago. Wow,
so you know you can't take your hand off the wheel.
A billionaire said this to me. He said, listen, do
you want to build a famous mom and pop or
you want to scale this brand? And I said, I
want to scale this brand. That was always my goal.
(11:47):
He said, well, in order to scale this brand, you
got to learn the brand. Right now, you teaching inside
the facility, you're working with the social but now you
got to run the machine. And running the machines take
you to learn profit and lost cocks, even that, all
of these things. To know what you're doing, putting the
right c suites together, the right people, that's going to
help you scale. Because let me tell you something, loyalty
is one thing, but if you don't know what the
(12:09):
hell you're doing, loyalty don't mean nothing in scaling the brand.
You really got to know what you're doing. And I
go so hard off of loyalty. I had to say,
you know what, I got to be loyal to myself too.
And being loyal to yourself is understanding that you're paying
people in position you know that don't have the expertise
to take you to that level. The smart thing to do,
I like to say, is if you believe in somebody
(12:29):
and they going hard for you and they don't have
the expertise to get there, you pick somebody in front
of them that's can teach them and guide them so
that you provide opportunities for them. And that's what I
started doing.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Talk about that because you obviously had a great product,
you believed in, you hustled, you worked. That's very different
than running and scaling a company. Yeah, I mean completely
different skills, and a lot of entrepreneurs get caught up
in their idea but also not realizing you have to
have all those skills to run a company.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
Well, you gotta have the smart to know that. You
can't be the smartest person in the room. That's just
odd to it. I went from saying and I to we,
and when you get to we, we win. I lose.
You know I did this, I did that, And now
on your team, looking like, well what about when we
was hustling with you, doing these things we was doing
(13:14):
with you? You want everybody to feel included, you know, you
wanted to feel like a team, like my company really
run like a fortune five and your business. I got
different departments. I run a company. I'm the face of
the company, but I don't run the operations. I got
a president right now, I got a director of operations.
I got a franchise advisor with over one hundred restaurants.
So like, my team is really corporately sound and strong
(13:35):
because I know when I step in those rooms and
I'm going to the different levels, I'm getting a certain
respect I deserve.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
You know, sometimes we're so used to running our business,
like you said, it started off as a mom and pop. Yeah,
and it feels like you're giving up control in a
certain type of way because you're used to things happening
a certain way and operating on that level. How was
it for you mentally to be able to be like,
I gotta trust other people. I gotta put these people
in position, because sometimes we know we need to do that,
(14:00):
but kind of letting it go is a little difficult.
Speaker 5 (14:03):
It was the hardest thing. Honestly, It was probably harder
than anything that I ever dealt with, because it's your baby.
It's like letting somebody watch your child, and you be like,
is this person qualified to like watch my children? To
spend the night and all those things. So like your
your business, especially a business that you picture blessed, wet
and tears in and you seeing it growing, and you
gotta now, you know, put it in somebody else's hands.
(14:25):
You got to make sure that they represent the same
things that you represent. You got to make sure that
their goals are the same goals that you want. And
you also got to look at it like this, if
you were if your benefit is just a money gain
or money grab, this is not for you, because I'm
looking at history. You know, even when people you know,
you know, even in my family, like hey man, you
didn't turn into a celebrity. No I'm not. I'm legendary.
(14:46):
I'm gonna be something much bigger than any celebrity can
ever put a title one. Because that's what that's what
I believe in myself. When you're looking at the Warren Buffets,
the Elon Musk, when you're looking at the Robert Smiths,
the Rich Dennis, all these all these people that have
I've done things in their careers to get to a
certain point. They had to do something that was uncomfortable
to get there. And right now I'm going through my
(15:06):
uncomfortable stage and that's getting away from people that don't
fit me, that don't represent me and don't operate the
way I operate, and that go from family, friends, anybody,
because I'm not gonna let nobody stop me from getting
to the point I want to get to. On how
hard I work talk.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
You mentioned being uncomfortable, talk about an experience that you
had in this whole journey that that was this was
like my big learning moment.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
Well are you looking at it right now? So right
now I'm in my Series A raise. I got this
far without raising capital, So right now, you know me
saying I own one hundred percent of my company on paper,
it won't look at like that. You know that I'm
raising capital now, and that's something that I got to
live with and be okay with. So the next chapter
of my career, I gotta be okay with who I
(15:51):
allow to be a part of this journey and make
sure that I pick the right soldiers that I'm continuing to,
you know, move forward with this brand. It's very uncomfortable
because when you're looking at VC's private equity, whether it's friends, family,
anybody that wants to join around, you want to make
sure they aline to what you're doing, and I change
the culture in your business and right now, that's something
(16:12):
that I've never experienced right now, and I'm going into
that right now. But I have the experience to know
what's right and wrong for me. And I waited to
get to this point to get the right evaluation that
I wanted. I didn't want to rush.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Right And you know, you've spoken about being the face
of your brand, and I've known you for a while,
and I do want to say I've always felt like
you have preferred to stay in the background. I don't
know if that's true or not, but you are the
face of your brand, and so doing these interviews. I
saw you on Denna Kings too, so that was a
really dope space. Thank you, you know, to being and
(16:43):
I've seen you do a ton of interviews also, But
was that something that you were like because I've never
felt like you were the person that.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Wanted to be like.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
I wanted to build the business front and center.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
I wanted to build the business. I felt like the
talking would come later. I wanted to make sure that
I had what I what I had to back up.
You know, it's like boxing, you know, it's like I
can knock this guy out. But if you ain't in shape,
in your mindset, ain't there, You're not gonna win the battle.
I wanted to make sure that before you know, I
got to a certain point, I was able to deliver.
(17:14):
And it was difficult because even when I was ready,
I wasn't getting the attention that I deserved. And when
I was putting out, I mean, you know, I'm a
black kid that've been making millions and millions of dollars
a year over year, no where, no big articles, no
national headlines and any of that. I mean, how can
you not explore that and showcase that what's going on?
(17:35):
But again, I'm a weapon. I understand that. So they
got to hide me a little bit because if I
do come out, then I'm motivating every kid in the
ghetto right now that you don't want to have those opportunities.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Wow, your business really took off through the F word franchising. Yes,
And we talked to so many entrepreneurs and you know,
you're thinking about I want to start a small business.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
So I want to start a small business.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
How do we get our commuit unity to kind of
shift from starting small businesses to growing bigger businesses.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
It's particularly through franchising.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
Well, first of all, we're so we're so far behind
because it's less than eight percent of African Americans that
even own a franchise. So let's talk about the actual
part of even understanding what you're trying to build, because
most of us sell before we even get something powerful,
because we are looking for some financial gain to make
it out of our bad situations. That when we have
(18:27):
something strong and somebody says he here's twenty million, and
you take twenty million, they turn your company to a
four hundred million dollar company. It happens over and over
and over again. That's the reason why African Americans has
never taken a fast casual brand to a billion dollars
because we always sell too fast because when it gets
hard to get difficult, it get uncomfortable, and we're not
willing to fight that fight. Well, I'm going to fight
(18:48):
that fight. I'm going to do it no matter how
hard to get because i have a goal that I'm
trying to get to. And it's not because of me
just saying oh, I'm different from anybody else. I understand
what's happening to us. I'm in a rooms now, I
understand what's going on. So I'm like that that thing
you see. You know, if I could see it, I
could be it. And no matter whether it's black, white,
(19:09):
no matter if it's Asian, no matter who it is.
If I'm around the information, I know it's for me too.
I soak it in like a sponge. I can have
the same opportunity. So somebody can come right now offer
me one hundred to hundred million for my company. They
can kick rocks.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
Just know what I'm going Your.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Plan is to have one hundred franchises by the end
of the year.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Yeah, I'm on my way. I'm about to make some
big announcements soon.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Oh wow, you look so happy.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
Man. Listen, I got so much stuff that I'm about
to drop twenty twenty six. Man, it's like I feel
like I'm still dreaming. I do it because you know,
for a lot of years, man, you know, I sat
in a dark place because I felt like I was
getting annoyed with something powerful. But God say the best
for last.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
When you let's talk a little bit more about franchising.
When people think about doing it, it's a great way
to have a small business in some ways, and as
you franchise big daves, how do you still kind of
keep control.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
Well a culture. So, so I'm glad you actually brought
that up. So and anybody that's franchising, I think you
should do the same thing what I'm about to say. So,
we got something called Discovery Day. Discovery Day you find
out what the person is about there once you show
them the systems and your business, they go around your restaurants.
But the one thing I asked before Discovery Day is over,
I say, pitch your money to the side. What can
(20:25):
you do to help me and resources scale this brand?
And right now I'm a young brand. And if you
can't answer that, then that changes things for me because
if money gain is all you went out of this,
what's going to happen when the economy ever get rough
or anything like that. Are you still a rod? Are
you still trying to figure out ways of bringing the
company together? Are you going to create opportunities to help
the company scale. That's why I'm so happy and proud
(20:47):
of Derek Lewis down and Orlando, because Derek was the
ex PEPSI president, but he put his money where his
mouth is. He bought ten locations. He was able to
open up two Brick and Waters now three stadiums that
he's being represented in. I'm also in now in South
Carolina and Columbia. Amazing location, one of my best locations,
(21:09):
sixteen hundred square food box depending out record breaking numbers.
And I'm gonna go ahead and give it to y'all
on this. I'm about that an now it is Greenville,
South Carolina. Whe I'm about to do the wild break
next week.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Wow, congratulations.
Speaker 5 (21:19):
And I'm about to announce another one. That's the Georgia
World Congress Center where investmentster is health this year. So
I'm gonna be doing some amazing things for investment.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Oh wow, perfect.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
Timing, Screenville, South Carolina.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
You heard it here.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
Yes, I had to break the news. Yes I had
to give it. Oh maybe puts the hold that, but
it's all good.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Listen, well Wednesday breaking news exclusives exactly. And I want
to talk about Ahtlantha because, as you discussed, like also
knowing that when you're talking to potential franchise owners on
Discovery Day, knowing that, Okay, this is not just about money.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Let's put the money to the side.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
But also you have been very intentional on making sure
that you're involved in community as well. When you're thinking
about other people to be involved in who you're doing
business with, is that something you take into consideration also.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
Yeah, I mean because you want to know what these
people represent. I mean, you know, I wanted to be
a line. You know, community is what built me. You know,
a lot of people would like to say that. It's
like it's almost like accepting in the world. You know,
everybody'd be like, I want to thank God. It's just
the natural thing to do. But community is really the
right thing to do, because without community, you have no business.
If these people aren't standing in your lines every day
(22:28):
and supporting you, how are you actually making money to
continue to pay your payroll, scale your brand. So I
always try to give back, whether that's you know, me
helping out Carver High School a few years back, donating
twenty thousand dollars into their hub and now their hub
is named after me. Whether that's giving forty thousand dollars
to an actual business in New York City, which I'm
(22:50):
thousand miles away from, but you know, I heard the
story of it, this business being around for a long time,
or whether that's you know, feeding over forty hospitals, you
know in COVID or a thousand people in the community
doing COVID every single day, or to me partnering with
my pinky with Rashad Brooks, donating his family a car,
giving the school of scholarships, life insurance, or paying life
(23:11):
insurance on twenty five thousand black men with my wife.
So I've done so many things when it comes to community,
because the business is one thing, community is another thing.
Philanthropy is something else. That's three different businesses that I operate.
And I'm very intentional about how I move with the
community because I always want them to understand who I
am as a person first before they buying a product.
(23:31):
So like I got die hard fans like that really
loved me, you know, like really rock for me, stand
for me. Anything that happens in my business. They're always there.
And money came by that, and fake words came by that.
Real truth represents that because when we was in COVID
and we was in the middle of that pandemic, none
of us ain't enough experience it before. And I told
my account even when he was going against me. Yeah,
(23:54):
but you know why I did that, because you know,
it's easy for us to get on platforms like this
and run on them up and tell people we stand for,
but who really stand for things when it really happens.
I want to show people that's really what I stand for,
That's really who I am as a person. Not even
knowing what's going to happen the next day. Mind you,
we every business at that time taking a big hit financially.
(24:14):
I was walking in hospitals with an N ninety five
on feeding the doctors and nurses in there because I'm like,
hold on, we got the frontline workers right here. They
don't know what's going on with COVID nineteen. We've never
heard of it. But I want to stand there and
help these people so that now they know they're not
in this alone. They're giving them healthy least I could
do his feed them.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
Now.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Listen, you brought up your wife, Pinky. You know I
love me some Pinky, So I want to know and
I remember when you guys got married. Obviously you guys
have a growing family.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
Man like we like the Brady Bunch man.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
You guys are franchising, franchise right.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
Franchising kids. That's the clothe line.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
But I wanted to ask you, like if I feel
like when I talk to Pinky. When I talk to you,
it's business business. How is it for you guys? Like
how how do are y'all able to switch off, you know,
talking about things at home? And do you is there
any type of like all right, we gotta not mention things?
Or is it always like is that your bedroom language too?
Speaker 5 (25:11):
It's so normal that I don't even pay attention sometimes,
you know. Like so Pinky, she's a big part of
my motivation because she lock in sometimes when I don't
feel like locking it, you know, like she she might
be like, dude, we gotta do this, and nobody, look, man,
let's let me get some time tired. But you know what,
tired don't make greatness. And I had to learn it
(25:32):
over the years. Pinky is one of the hardest working
people I know change. She's always locked in, she's always
going for it, and I know she went the best
for me. So we motivate each other. I mean, we
sit there and we talk about business ideas, but most
of all, we enjoy each other. It ain't always easy
because we both too entrepreneurs just trying to grow. Sometimes
we get in competition, you know, not purposely, but we
(25:55):
gotta make sure that we don't let outside people try
to stare us against each other. And that's what we
do the best because we see it coming from afar.
Whether we don't care who it is. Whenever somebody says
something versus the other company, we're looking at each other like, yeah,
this person gotta go.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Some of her is rubbing off on you. She's very
health conscious.
Speaker 5 (26:12):
Oh, many got be working.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Right.
Speaker 5 (26:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
You know.
Speaker 5 (26:19):
For me, you know, my dad passed away from lung
cancer and I'm thirty eight years old. Now, my metabolism
slowed down, so you know, eating you're gonna get that gut.
So I'm like, you know, I gotta start working out.
I never had to worry about gaining weight ever in
my life. It was always a fast, fast burn every
time I eat. I used to, you know, tease my
cousins like, yeah, y'all gott to worry about that. I'm cool.
(26:40):
But when you're almost forty, you know, things changing. Honestly.
You know, we can say that we want to get
to the billion, we could say we want to get
to one hundred million, whatever your desire is, but if
your health in dare, You're never gonna get to none
of it, you know, so I had to make sure
that my health come first, and I want to see
my kids grow up. You know, my dad never seen
me make it past twenty one. You know, I want
to see my son when he gets get married. You know,
(27:01):
I got married, and that was one of the hardest
things for me, is not to have my dad there seeing,
you know, me love and cherish somebody in a moment.
So I had to keep them there in spirit. So
I actually want to see my kids go through those
moments and I want to be there. I want to
play with my grandkids. I want to give them resources
and opportunities. I want to say, hey, you know, you
can even go to college or take a trade or
(27:22):
just jumping in the business. But I want to be
the one that's there to do it. And you know
what I'm doing right now for my dad. It ain't
easy because some days I need them, you know, some
days I really need to talk to him. Some days
I wish I was there to hug him or just
have that conversation saying you know, this is hard, but
I know when it gets hired, he right there beside
(27:43):
me every single time, So you know, I'm living in faith.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Some entrepreneurs Yeah, they just don't think they have time
to take care of themselves, and they just don't make
that link between health and the success of your business,
and they think of it's almost as a luxury. And
it also takes a big mental health on them as well.
What advice would you have for them.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
It's gonna sit you down. If you don't take your
health serious, It's gonna eventually sit you down. I tell
you what. I've been working out now for about a month,
and I'm so clear, I'm so conscious. I wake up
in the morning with energy. I was burnt out, you know, literally,
I'm not afraid to say that. For years, I was
just like running off an empty tank because I'm just
always working, always trying to build, always create opportunities for myself.
(28:26):
But you're just lying to yourself. You're smiling into the world,
but you're crying inside because you're tired. And lately, I
just been taking my health real serious, eating different, and
not only that, I'm praying, praying a lot more. You know.
I was just in church with Jamal Brian from Martha's Veyarrant,
and Jamal, I'm gonna go ahead and tell you, bro
that word hit me like you know a lot of people,
(28:47):
you know, when they're in situations when we're talking about God,
they get in a shame mode because they don't want
to see people see them, you know, rejoice and feel
good about being in church and those things. But how
can you be ashamed to guy who brung you here?
You know, I had to even snap out of that
myself while I'm in church and Marthe's venyrant, everybody sitting there,
you know, looking at each other, looking pretty and all
(29:07):
those things. I'm here right now to get these sins
forgiven and give another chance in a longer life. So
I ain't here any playing around. So when you know
Pastor Brian was saying that message in that word that
he gave, I was one hundred percent of locked in
because it resonated because we was a group of African
Americans sitting at the highest high in one place in
Martha's Vinyrant, and all of us come from different places,
(29:31):
different backgrounds, whether it's the ghetto or whether you came
from you know, a silver spoon. You got to understand
what it's like to not come from it and what
it is to actually have it. And that was special.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
This is special too.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I want to say, you're only thirty eight years old,
thirty eight years young. Yes, I have to say, and
to think of everything that you've accomplished so far. I
know your dad would be extremely proud to see how
all of this has been unfolding for you.
Speaker 5 (29:55):
Yeah, I mean, you know, honestly, I'm really think I
think the Martha's vyr T I needed because I'm too
hard on myself sometimes. And it's not because you know,
I feel like I want to just keep making announcements
and keep on, you know, making things happen. I really
challenge myself so like, you know, how like you look
at your like your year over year, like what do
you want to be this year? I wanted to walk
(30:18):
into twenty twenty six just being clear. I feel like
I'm always figgy. I feel like, you know, I always
got multiple things going on in my mind. And I
finally got a point where I say, you know what,
I'm gonna take a pause and learn how to just
be clear and conscious for who I am in the world.
Going to see that later on, because when we just
running and running and running and doing things. Especially you know,
you've been in You've been in the media for so
(30:40):
long I mean think about it. Think about it, like,
you know, when do you really have time to yourself.
You go to the market, you go anywhere, Oh hey Angela.
You know, it's like every somebody always saying something to you.
You can't do nothing wrong because it's going straight to
the tabloids. So it's like, all this pressure comes with
our line of work that we want. But then we
got to understand too. We build in these massive things,
(31:01):
but we also trend set her. So you can't ask
for something and not lead the right way at the
same time, So you can't ask for to be special
and not come with the pressure. I like to say this,
you can't ask for success if you're not willing to
get hit with the bag.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
Yeah, you know what I'm saying now, you're right.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
And I do have to say, even seeing like with
Pinky and she had to, she's always been really public
and honest about things that she has to go through,
And I think that's important because if not, you let
other people tell the story for you and you have
to come forward and be like, look, I got to
tell y'all what happened, and.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
She did that so well. I mean, like, you know, honestly,
a lot of us was like not even you know,
we was giving her a different advice from you know,
from her standpoint. But that's why Pinky is who she
is because she always want to be honest with people.
She's an open book. See. The thing with people got
to stop doing even with entrepreneurs when it comes to
musicians or athletes, if you pick the money to the
(31:53):
side and just look at the work and look at
the person, then you won't get tricked out of anything.
Because you know, when we look at the wealthiest people
world and we could see something come out on the
tabloids about somebody not paying something, you're like, oh, that
person's going broke. Y'all don't understand business. You know, like
businesses is formulas and procedures on how you keep your
financial gains. If you it's like, you know, even when
(32:15):
people file bankruptcy, right, some of these people filing bankruptcy with.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
The bank, look at the president.
Speaker 5 (32:21):
Yeah, I mean shit many times. Yeah. But the thing
is that, you know, I think that from a culture,
it's a culture of our race that when we hear
anything happening when it comes to a household or a business,
we think it's over instead of coming together help uplifting
that person. Because I've seen my wife raise multiple hundreds
of thousand dollars for people while she was fighting for
(32:42):
her own life.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I've seen her go online and just be like, go
to this business.
Speaker 5 (32:46):
And by and by and listen. When she did that,
she was actually she raised two hundred and some thousand
dollars for that business while she was trying to get
millions of dollars for her for herself.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Yeah, sometimes people also assume that you have money and
they think you're in a position and you're like, the
business is in the family too.
Speaker 5 (33:04):
I mean, like right now, my family sees everything that
I have going on, and nothing against them. But you know,
I got a lot of employees. I got a lot
of bills. It takes a lot. I got four hundred employees.
It takes a lot to around my company, you know,
And at the same time, I'm building wealth. I didn't
get to a point where I can just sit still
and stagnant every day. And even if I did, I
wouldn't stay stagnant. I mean that's just not me. And
(33:25):
I you know, sitting down with Tyler Perry and Kerry
Franklin and Jeez with the dinner Kings. It was so
special for me because I got a chance to talk
to first of all, my good friend Jesus, that's my brother.
We talk about so many things on so many levels
of culture, business and relationship. Shout out to him. He
always give me good advice. But Tyler Perry just told
(33:46):
the world that he's still going through things as being
a billionaire. He's still not getting the same due as
being a billionaire. So how can I walk in the
room saying I'm not getting what's due for me when
I got a black man who's proof in himself and
still fighting and getting certain situations. And I think that
for me, humbled me and open eyes for a lot
(34:06):
of things. And Kurt Franklin just that that's soul like
he put into like you, like instilling you. He could
just he can give you a little bit of game,
but it's like you feel it. So all of those guys, Man,
I appreciate just having an opportunity on my birthday, on
my thirty eighth birthday, I got to sit with those
giants in my career. And I'm never going to forget
about that moment because that's shape in my future right now.
Speaker 4 (34:30):
Wow, last thing on with you is you. I've been.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
So touched by your father, and your father's just coming
out in every part of you. How do you when
your kids look at your journey, what do you want
them to have seen.
Speaker 5 (34:45):
I just want my kids to respect me and love me.
I feel like a lot of kids fare their parents,
not love them and respect them. It's a difference like
if you had abusive parent your whole life. You just
fear them, you know, and you hate them later on.
I want my kids to really honor me and see
what I did was really for them, for their financial game,
(35:05):
for their resources, for their opportunity. Because let me tell
you something. I don't know if you guys know, but
we're getting replaced by robots, We're getting replaced by AI.
If you ain't out here opening up a format for
your kids and your family to be able to survive,
and you in trouble and right now, you know, I
look at a lot of people's you know, spending days,
you know, partying. Nothing against that. I spent a lot
of days party. I did a lot of party in
(35:26):
my twenties. There's so much party in my twenties. I
don't care about doing it in my thirties. But I
feel like partying is okay, But what are we celebrating, Like,
what am I celebrating? I'm going out every weekend? What
the hell am I celebrating popping bottles on all these things?
And I used to do that. I used to blow
so much money. I spent millions, you know, just just
doing stupid stuff by the jetry cars, all these things.
(35:48):
But now it took me to do it, and I
gotta teach it differently because I can't sit here and
be ignorant to things that I know that's not gonna
be what's gonna take you to the next level. What's
gonna take you to the next level is do the
things that's gonna be uncomfortable, and that's staying focused, that's
staying relevant, and that's staying real educated in your business,
because if you don't learn how to operate your business,
somebody else will and you will always have to call
(36:09):
them for the answer, and guess what that does? That
always make you behind the gun.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
But we appreciate this. This has been amazing. I love it.
I'm glad you came.
Speaker 5 (36:17):
No, I'm glad that I got a chance, and I
can't wait to finally get up here on the way
up other announcements.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Which you're gonna come back to Wealth Wednesdays to break
of course.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Yes, and then when you all do Real Housewives of Atlanta,
you know you can come up here and talk about
it too.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
About that, Okay, nice try, Thank you so much, Derek.
We'll be coming by for some cheese steaks since you.
Speaker 5 (36:41):
Hopefully you know I mean being in New York soon.
Speaker 4 (36:43):
You know I'm franchising, so let us know, let us know.
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