October 23, 2024 • 35 mins
A woman-owned and operated family business serving up legendary breakfast and lunch at three locations across the greater Pittsburgh region. Plus...Look for the Ozone Restaurant coming in 2025!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
And welcome in. This is the CEOs You Should Know podcast.
I'm your host, Johnny Heartwell, let's say hello to shawna Raider,
Lois and Kelly Oh the famous Kelly o Diners. It's
so I'm so happy to see you guys. Thank you
for coming in. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank you for having us. It's great to see you. Johnny.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
All right, so tell us everything we need to know
about Kelly Oh's.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Kelly O's Diner been in business for two decades already,
three locations, Warndale, Strip and the North Hills, which is
my original. We are getting ready to have some exciting
news in twenty twenty five. Do tell do tel O
Zone Bar and Grill coming up in Warndale, PA, my hometown.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I heard the rumor, So tell us about what's what's
the plans.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
We are right now renovating, trying to get it remodeled
and opened up. It will be your basic but with
beautiful motif and a design of the ozone and just
great food.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, bar and Grew and.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Johanna you're you're now the CEO. What's your What's what's
what part do you play?
Speaker 4 (01:16):
I love to say I keep the lights turned on,
and I keep the employees coming back, right. But CEO
is a funny term to describe somebody who's doing everything
in a business. So my current role right now is
getting the bar up and running. Okay, but yeah, I'll
(01:37):
do whatever.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
All right. So, and you you have a pretty good mentor, right.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
And amazing I say, all of the time, I've had
the best front row seat and free education from my
mom that anybody could ever ask for.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
And how old were you when you started at the restaurant?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
So I started in middle school. Was my first official shift,
and it was because I was being grounded.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
They weren't stealing the alcohol that I never drank at home.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Yeah, that's what happened.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
So I my first the girls got in trouble anywhere
around it.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Yeah, my first shift was an unpaid shift, and I honestly,
I just loved it. I loved the people that we
worked with, and I loved the customers. And obviously working
with your family is a little bit of a different dynamic.
But I would say for the longest time, I saw
my grandma at work every day. I saw my mom
at work every day. Like that's not something a lot
(02:37):
of people get. The opportunity to do in their adult years.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Right, Kelly, Oh yes, tell us how did how do
you open up your first restaurant?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
That's our history?
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Well, I had been through my children's father passed away,
and then two years later, so did a boyfriend. And
I was like, oh Lord, please put me somewhere other
than where I'm at. I need more, I need better,
I need to achieve more for my children. And something
someone nudged me and told me to go to the
(03:10):
diner that was close to my boyfriend's place. That was
the only place that I knew about actually, and I
went in and asked if it was for sale. They
told me no. The girl was kind of a little
bit short with me at the desk. It was her
mother that owned it, and so I sat back down
and I'm like, yeah, somebody told you to come here right,
(03:31):
write your number down, just give it to them. So
I did, and the next day the owner called and
said I had a slight heart attack. My daughter as
ms I'm ready to sell. And I was like, well, great,
so I don't have any money, right, I didn't. I
didn't have a dime. I didn't have any money. I
was a widowed mom, bartending. So you're living paycheck to paycheck.
(03:52):
And I figured it out. I refinanced my house. I
took the equity that I had it. I took ten
thousand dollars, gave it to her, begged. The banks wouldn't
touch me. I couldn't find a personal lender, like I
was really struggling to figure it out. So she decides
she's going to be my personal lender. I'm going to
(04:13):
pay her back with interest. Blah blah blah, nine to
eleven hits. I'm crushed. I'm like, I'm taking this place
over in October and here's nine to eleven, and what
am I gonna do? Like I was petrified. Here I
am all these years later, and.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
That's an amazing success story.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Though it truly is that.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
The first time I met you was right after nine
to eleven, where you were doing some serious fundraising.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I was.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
I was for various nine to eleven charities. I was
so in addition to launching a restaurant, you're also fundraising,
and so.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
I've never stopped fundraising. Johnny, Yeah, I know.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
I believe that you have to give to receive. If
you don't, you're not getting what you deserve. Back, and
so people that aren't as gifting and gracious, they should
really rethink that because it takes all of us to
make the world go round, and we damn sure can't
take the money with us. It might go to my children,
(05:18):
but they don't need all of you know, when you
when you die and you have life insurance and she
gets a big chunk of change, and my other children
get a chunk of change. Yeah, I can't take what
I'm earning with me, So I don't need anything else.
I have a nice care, I have a nice house,
I have nice clothes.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I'm good.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
All right. So you open up your first location over
twenty years ago? What made you expand and how did
you expand?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
So I got on Triple D Diner's Arrivings and.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Dives and I was going to ask you, but yeah,
and so I've really made a big difference.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, gave me a great push that you would never
even expect Office Hilushki, which is so funny because that's
something that just slapped together food.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
That's what we love.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yeah, Pittsburgh's taking take it for granted, and you know
that's that's that's a unique experience when you first tried
I remember the first like it's life changing.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
It is life changing, and it's a very much a
comfort food. And I have people that order that every day.
They love it.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
They love it.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
It's not the love I know. Okay, all right, So
first of all, what is Guy Fierti?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Like?
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Kuy Fierti is wonderful. I was invited to Maui next
week for a fundraiser. I've been to his house for fundraisers.
Tim McGraw had hosted us with Faith Hill. At one
of the fundraisers, I got to hang out with mc hammer,
Jason Grilly, and I drove him back from the party
to the hotel like.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
There's something on the floor. He've been dropping names here.
I think they're names all over the floor here.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
It was pretty it was pretty cool experience. But Guy
has you know? He was my real life here row.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
How did that start? Did they approach.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
They picked me? Yeah? They did. I was on TV.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
I was on commercials for just a brief period of
time with a Diner Lady campaign. I don't know if
you remember that, but my girlfriend and I I wanted
to be on TV, so we decided let's do a commercial.
So we got my sister owned a diner. Wendy and
Donna bought a diner after I did. They thought it
was great and so they did it. And then we
hooked up with Penny Fillino and Square Cafe, Square Cafe Sherry,
(07:30):
which I just saw.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Not too long ago.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Oh I'm sorry, Sherry is Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Sherry, And we did the Diner Lady campaign and it
was amazing, Johnny. It was just a great idea because
we weren't competing against each other and we just got
more bang for our buck doing it.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Sooted Hillary Clinton during that time, and ty Pennington from Oh.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yeah, we got to go to ty Pennington from Home Makeover.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
Yeah. So they were getting called on heavily.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
And then we were, you know, called for some different
show that were going to happen, and the producers would
come film us, and Wendy was a little wild, so
a little bit things happened. But right after that, I
was able to cook on Pittsburgh Today Live and I
did really well on it, and then I started getting
articles in the newspaper.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And then I don't know.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
If they googled or what how they found that little
hidden gem that it was a diner since nineteen fifty seven,
and I have proof that it was is incredible to
me that they found me.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
On old nineteen.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
When we interviewed with Guy for Triple Dy Nation because
we did a second run for the Food Network. He
had said that during that time period, they were cold
calling restaurants and it was because people in the neighborhood
were suggesting us and then they could google you and
they would see what you are. And of course, like
(08:53):
she was everywhere in the news at the time. So
but he had said that during that time period when
they called us and they were like, hey, we heard
about you.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Hold on, so who received that phone call? Well, Rich,
did you did you think it was real?
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Wait? So everybody kept telling me like when I was on,
You're going to be the next Rachel next Rachel Ray.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
I'm like, please God, I want to be that rich
I want to have I want to be able to
come up with my own cooking pans and my own
kitchen supplies food.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
And let's quickly talk about manifestation. She still to this
day has a Food Network magazine in her office with
her picture taped over top of Rachel Ray's face.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
I do I do because I am a manifestor, and yes,
I if I don't know if you guys like Snoop Dogg,
but Snoop Dogg's birthday was yesterday and he's the main
manifestor dude, and I didn't know that told yesterday and
I was like, oh, yes, there's somebody else in my
league because I have manifested every bit of this.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
We'll get back to the phone call. The initial phone call.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
It was a guy calling No, it's actually his manager
and my We had the lottery at the time, so
I had a cashier checking people out. He got the
phone call and he's like, hey, food Network just called.
I'm like what, Like, you're kidding me. He's like, no,
Food Network called and I'm like, where's the number? So
(10:22):
I called back and I think her name is Gigi
or something, wasn't it.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
I called back and she's like, Oh, we'd really love
to have you on the show. And I'm like, God,
I me be kidding me. Like I melted. I was like,
this is so what I was.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Yes, Yes, And guy said at the time when he
was cold calling those restaurants, the people were turning them down.
They were saying, well, I'm not a diner, I'm not
a drive in, and I'm not a dive.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
So would I want to have the filming going on
while they were open, Which is hard bummer for anybody
that turned that down, because that is still residual marketing
for me, and that has been since.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Thousand and eight.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Yeah, and he's come back too.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
He has came back and I have been to his
place many times, to his home for the fundraisers, which
you know were for a good cause, all of them.
I mean, he raised one point four million dollars for
first responders and veterans with the Tim McGraw event that
I went to.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
It's amazing. It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Yea.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
I wish I could go to Maui.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
All Right, So you get the call, you call back,
and then then they're planning to come to the restaurant.
What was that like? What was the anticipation of, you know,
having guy Fiada do you had did you have any
idea what would happen?
Speaker 4 (11:36):
No?
Speaker 2 (11:37):
No, we didn't know. We really didn't.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
And because I'm a guy, calls me a triple d
og because I'm his second ear of filming, okay, which
is incredible to me. What a blessing.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Yeah, we went out and saw him in Philly and
he talked about that because we spoke to that restaurant
about what happens and that guy fiery effect is intense.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
What you like, Yeah, what is it?
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Do you want us to burst into tears? Yes?
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Well so it would be awesome.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
So I received.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
I had a really good uh computer guy at the
time on my website and he was tracking the hits
and where they were coming from. I had people from
all over the world hitting my website and I couldn't
believe it.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I was like, Oh my goodness, what is going on here?
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Then you know, I'm asking my dishwasher, you've got to
come over here and help me flip omelets.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
I don't have enough hands. Like we were.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Slammed es, slip phone ringing off the hook, the computer
blowing up.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
When he came in. What did he do? And what
was the process of how they filmed it? What was
that like?
Speaker 3 (12:48):
So that is pretty simplified. It's only five people. Everything
has to be quiet as we are here in the studio.
It's kind of intense because you have so many people
in such a small place. Because five extra people in
a kitchen in a tiny kitchen, Yeah, it's not easy
(13:09):
to do and pull off and it was a little
nerve wracking. I'm not a chef, Johnny. I'm just a
home cooked food kind of girl. And so he's more
of a chef. And it was kind of like, well, kel,
don't you know you got a season a turkey. I
don't want it to taste like seasoning. I don't like seasoning.
I like my plane. I was like, oh shit, I
don't know what I'm doing.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
I have this distinct memory of her at one point
in time, and she said, if they tell me to
take this turkey in and out of the oven one
more time, like, don't they know I'm just a little
five foot tall girl. I mean she weighs like one
hundred and turkey out of the Yeah. And it was
over and over and over again in this huge pan.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yep, twenty five times they made me do it.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
We had too much like your rooms a quarter of
your weight, yes, literally much like your room's like. They
wanted it to be as quiet as possible, and a
kitchen printer if you've ever worked in a kitchen, extremely loud,
So we couldn't have any music and we couldn't have
our kitchen printer on. So the servers. I was one
of the servers that worked during it. We would meet
someone from the kitchen at the front door, and that
(14:12):
person would run around to the back of the building
and back into the kitchen with the kitchen ticket. We
have live customers at the time. They do not film diners,
drive ins, and dives like that anymore. They shut the
restaurant down and is invite only. Yeah, but we learn
yeah yeah right, well, and he's a giant celebrity now,
(14:33):
so people pack around the block. I mean when we
filmed in twenty twenty for the return for Triple D Nation,
I mean, we had people dressed up like Guy Fieri.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Walking around our lot like it was cute.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
But I just want to tell you we are getting
ready to do the back of the strip wall. I
don't know if you've ever seen my wall back there
says eat here the big mural. I'm getting ready to
redo that. Jeremy Raim is redoing that. And he is
a graffiti artist. He actually spray paints it all. He's
incredible around Pittsburgh. I don't know if you've seen his murrals, Johnny,
(15:08):
but he's putting guys space.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
But your face too.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
So my logo because I don't need my face, I'm
not as famous as he is.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
She is in our town.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
That's true, That is absolutely true.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
She's a tiny little legacy here, all right.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
So what was he like to deal with when he's filming?
Was he was?
Speaker 3 (15:30):
He he's intense, Okay, I was intense. He's intense, but
he gets the job done and he is on point.
And even when we filmed a few years ago over
in Philly the Triple D Nation, which is the revisit
because it was during COVID, So we went to Philly,
we filmed with him, then he came, his crew came,
(15:52):
he didn't even come because it was full blown COVID.
And I mean, but he gets the job done. He's
incredible about Uh. Before he would like stammer through in
the beginning, not stammer through it. But it was different
than how he does it now. It's totally different. They've
definitely clipped off some.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
Oh, they've gotten really good because they're filming three shows
a revisits, three revisits a day and one tripity show
a day or something.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
When they think about, you know, when your first experience,
you know, you're a bartender. Now you're you're running a restaurant.
And now it's probably a second major. Yeah, do it.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
It's wonderful she let me or she made me. No,
I made her, I made her well. I was sick.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
I told you about my home that I lost my
home due to infiltration of mold from water back up
from a big company in Pittsburgh. It was an accident,
and so at that time, my cognitive skills obscured from
the myotoxins in my neurosystem, and I was struggling.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
Yeah, I just had this like really seamless education. I
had seen all of these things.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
But for eluntiately I had been showing her the books
and how to do payroll. And you know, fortunately Shan
as a sponge, so I was able to you know, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
I think there was never an opportunity missed when it
came to teachable moments, right, And if everybody had that
type of education, they would be so much more well
versed in their job.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Don't get me wrong.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
There were times when we could have killed each other,
like killed each other, And anybody listening to this, if
you ever see me run out the kitchen with the spa.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
She was yelling at me.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
She deserved it. Yep.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Probably I was going to ask what is it like.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Well, Johnny, she works. My seventeen year old granddaughter works
at my Warrendale store, and she had to work with
her last week.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
You asked her what that was like. I was giggling.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
I called and I said, Mommy, I'm so sorry. I'm
so sorry because working with your child is so hard
and I don't know how you did it. And my
seventeen year old is one, you know, seventeen going on
thirty three. She's an incredible I think any restaurant.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
And actually another generation.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Yeah, yeah, I've had other restaurant tours. Be like, I
would steal her if I knew she wasn't related to live.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Told me they'd steal her too.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
You know, I interview cegos every week, and I truly
enjoy interviewing females better because the stories.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
That fall a spice you are, and especially you doesn't
fall far.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
From the tricks.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Johnny, You couldn't work in the public or be a
female business owner, especially what I do the restaurant bar business.
You could not be without spice and make You have
to have some kind of spice within you to make
it pop and make people.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Well, let me ask you when did, so, do you
have any goals as as CEO moving down the road.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Which you have boss ladies leaving, I'm going to Thailand
with my oldest son.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Yeah, what's your vision? So she expands. She's been expanding
quite a bit over the last twenty years, So what's
your vision.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
So the expansion that we've had, we've pretty much done together,
and a lot of times that's her being like, this
is what I want to see and I'm like, okay,
how do I ABCD until we hit that. So a
lot of my current expansion has been to kind of
(19:45):
bring us into the technology filled future, and then behind that, obviously,
you know, we're branching into the bar industry, which is
a completely different road for us. She oftentimes is like,
I want to be in the stadium. I want to
be in the airport, you know where one of those
(20:06):
things that people know well enough coming out of Florida.
You fly into Pittsburgh from Florida, you're like, man, I
want to eat some Kellyo's. So putting us into places
where we're more excessed.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
With Pittsburgh's really can appreciate you.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
This is it's here, it's right here, and we can
stop right here because people come straight from the airport
to the diners, and I get like, when you're going away,
you really want to you want some comfort?
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, you want comfort food?
Speaker 1 (20:35):
All right, So tell us the you know how the Ozone?
How did that all start?
Speaker 4 (20:42):
It's because she Kelly out She never stops, and she
saw this struggling business and she would tell our landlord,
you know, hey, when that goes out of business, call me.
And I would say, why would you talk about someone
else's business like that, right? And she would say, it's
a fact. It's not I see what's happening. They're changing
(21:04):
their hours. It's mismanagement, and it will go out of business.
And that was a hard lesson that I had to
learn through her watching. Every time I would ask a question,
I'd be like, what happened mismanagement?
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Right?
Speaker 4 (21:16):
So Ozone really started, I would say years ago, right
after we took over kill. The Kelly Ohs warned in space.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
That's my hometown. So yes, my dream was to own
a restaurant when I was a child.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
So here we are right in my hometown.
Speaker 4 (21:30):
Yeah, yeah, and I think the name originally we were
going to do a sports bar, so kind of like
an end zone an ozone. You know, everything in her
world is tied to the O, right, So that's where
the name came from. It was just a quick like,
I think ozone would be perfect.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
And and what's what's what's what kind of what's your menu?
Speaker 4 (21:57):
Oh, elevated bar food? Yeah, less arugula.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
You know, I've been in Yes, I've been in the
bar restaurant business for forty six years now, and I've
worked at many different places Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee. I have gathered,
you know, I've been to a lot of places. I
pay attention, and I think I'm going to have a
little collaborative, awesome bar food that people can't resist. And
(22:28):
you know, you're gonna have your wings, You're gonna have
your burgers, that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
I think for us, our goal is always food first.
So it's not a drinking establishment, despite the fact that
you can come get alcohol the right.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I agree.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
We want a scratch kitchen. We don't want you to
leave with heartburn, you know, like we want good food.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
We look good food and at a reasonable price. I
live a minute away from those two locations, so she
wants to be able to eat and I want to
be able to eat what I like. Yes, so I'm picky. Yeah,
what if I like it, it should be good to
the next person. And that's what I've lived my life
on and served my food like, you know, if I
(23:08):
liked it, if it didn't taste good, it was going.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
We weren't putting that on the menu.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
But oh and she is one hundred percent our quality control.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Yes, I am apartment continue.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
We joke often when she rolls up, We're like, oh,
corporate's here, corporate do Yeah, we should get her like
a hard hat or a vest or something.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Oh that's funny.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
All right. So we talked about the future. But let's
talk about all the things that you've done as far
as giving back to the community, because I know this
list is going to be extensive. Yes, because my relationship
with you started with the fundraising after nine to eleven.
And so what's is there any particular charities that are
(23:52):
really close to your heart?
Speaker 3 (23:54):
So, Johnny, I, because I feel like there's so many
people in our own community that need help. I try
to pick individual an individual that is in need, and
I'm going to give you a particular story. And Beth
Carleton holds very dear to my heart. She has that mess.
(24:15):
I met her twenty years ago at a sheets gas
station near my house. It was November, pretty chilly, raining
sideways and too cold to be outside pumping gas.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
It really was.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
And I saw this lady get out of her car
with a cane and was struggling to walk to get
to go pay for her gas. And I said, hey, babe,
please get back in your car.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
I got you.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
I mean, I'm little speedy Gonzalez. I'm certainly not going
to let a woman struggling. There's no way. That's my
heart though. That is who I am, and that's my
heart and soul. And she's like, no, no, she argued
with me. I said, please get back in your car.
I got you, just today this one time. She's like okay,
and she handed mere credit card. I did not charge
(25:04):
her card. I paid for her gas. I went out,
I pumped it. I gave her a card back and
my business card. I never heard from Beth. Ironically, Phil Eisley,
who has now deceased two years he was a kitchen
bath remodeler and he was remodeling her bathroom for her.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Because she has a mess and it needed modified.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
Yeah, yeah, and my name got brought up and he said,
hold on, that's my bestie.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Let me call her.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
And so he called me and he said, you're never
going to leave him with Beth Carlton and I'm like,
I don't know who that is, Phil And he said,
eighteen years ago you pumped her cast for her at
the sheets and she just wanted to say hello, and
then that was it. So now I have had Beth
as my October Fest. She was one of my recipients.
(25:59):
I have bought her a new wheelchair because I was out,
took her out to a show and was dancing with
her in the wheelchair and it felt like it was
going to fall apart. So I was like, I don't
need a new pair of shoes, let me buy her
a new wheelchair.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
You got to give back. I don't care who it is.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
If it's a stranger on the street, someone needs a ride,
someone's broke down, you have to stop and help them.
Do not walk over a person.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
Well, I think it's our communities meant or built of
a lot of different people that need someone to look
at them with love. Yes, right, And that's always been
Kelly Oh's thing. I'm not a great gift giver. I'm
not great at.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Giving backshit, is she not me?
Speaker 4 (26:37):
She has tried since I was young to enforce that,
and I've said a couple different times, not obviously, that
I don't want her to pass away, right. I want
my mom for the whole rest of my life. But
there is a thing that happens when someone leaves a
sort like everyone comes forward and they talk about all
of the great things that person did. And there are
(26:57):
probably hundreds of Beth Carleton's this world that she has
done for that on her departing day, everybody's going to
come forward and be like, your mom did this for me,
and your mom did this for me, because that's so
constant for her.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Well, I don't know if I believe in ghosts, but
I think she would.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
She will.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Spooky season, yes, well, Pittsburghers take care of.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
Pittsburgher hands down.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
Yeah. I think that's what this city is for. And
that's what we do with october Fest. We choose a
different recipient every year. It started as a party that
first year to kind of cell.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Grand opening of Warndale at.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
The same time, so we decided to throw this huge
party and buy what Yeah, hang to her.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Yeah, tell me everything we need to know about October.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
Oh, it's so fun. So this year was our fourth
year we select a different recipient every year. This past
year we selected someone who was a former ployee of ours.
She suffered a ruptured brain anurism while she was at
work on the clock. Our quick thinking like saved her life.
She ended up in the moutamental surgery. And she is
(28:14):
left bodied, so left handed, left footed, and she suffered
complete paralysis of her left side after that aneurysm. So
Kelly O. We chose her as our recipient this year
for October Fest. And so during that we pre sale tickets.
I think we raised a little bit over three thousand
dollars in tickets. So it we throw a big party.
(28:35):
We have a band party band.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Bb Steel has been my band for the last yeah,
four years.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
We had our buddy Joey p come out this year.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
He does some very mista.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
We had a mugician, We had a face painter. We
have a belief. We have character artists. Yeah, you had
a bunch of artists this year.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
PJ. Schmerto was there. Yeah. They was there with Little.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
Animal where they draw your dog, which is sound incredible
like Dogger Cat.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
It's beautiful.
Speaker 5 (29:03):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
So we had vendors this year. We do fifty fifties,
We do silent auction.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
We had a dunk tank, We had a duanang for
the kids. They played basketball and stuff.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
And then Kenny Reggett, he came out with thirty one
Sports bar and grill. He was our our beer this year. Yeah,
next year it will be our own bar, thankfully. But
it you know, it's a community event and.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
We try to include everybody.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
Yeah. So during that time we fundraise, So we pre
sale tickets and then we fund raised during the event
and all of that money, No Holds Barred goes to
the recipient. So this year we raised a little over
twelve thousand dollars for Lisaye, and.
Speaker 5 (29:40):
In that.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
A customer of twenty some years donated an angel donor, yeah, truly,
an angel donor rehab for her because insurance kicked her off.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
Yeah, and so and they've got her within three weeks
up and walking.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
Well, she's standing by herself, holding on with almost like
two ski things almost and she's able to get her
left foot, which is John Cole. But I don't know
if anybody knows John Cole if anybody that is who's
working with her directly, and he is an angel as well,
(30:16):
and I'm blessed to have these people step up and
be in our lives and change will change.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
She goes to her therapy appointments so that she can
be you know, because that's the other side of it.
Money is one thing, but emotional support as a whole
additional side, and so she's always been the person to
give both.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Yeah, I try.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
One last question for you, Shauna. What does your mother
mean to you?
Speaker 4 (30:44):
Oh, that's such a hard one. So she's my only
parent actually, so my dad is gone and we've done
a lot together, so I would say probably my best friend,
but also obviously my mom. And when I'm mad, I
(31:05):
say my daughter, you know, I'll be like like, yeah,
corporate's here, so you guys better sweep the floor right now.
But I mean she's I live next door to her,
so we're very close, like literally and figuratively. We I
think she was a single mom raising me, and I
think that that breeds like a very different relationship.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
She was a young mom, an only mom with only
my side of the family because her dad's side of
the family is from Kentucky.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Yeah, so we traveled a lot, and I mean we've
we've seen most of the world together, which is super
fun where we travel together and we do all of
the stuff, right, So I think that we're like the
perfect duo. We like to say a lot of times
like Ying and Yang. We're very different people but also
exactly the same.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Yeah, so very extremely different but the same.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
And she can like, this is how weird it is,
Like one day neither of us drink, like, especially not wine,
and she texts me one morning and was like, oh man,
I could just really have a glass of wine. And
I said, that's so weird because I've been thinking about
wine all day. So we're like the same brain split
in two.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
Yeah, it's very it's a connected spiritual just blessed.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
We're blessed, Johnny, We're blessed.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Two questions for you. One, do you do anything half asked? Oh?
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Never, I try not to, you know, isn't it isn't
it nice when you can do something right the first time,
you don't have to do it over again.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
And what what is going to be your legacy?
Speaker 3 (32:41):
My legacy, it's just my footprint of Kelly. Oh that
oh that o is everything. It's a full circle. It's
what comes around goes around. That O means a lot.
And so I don't know, my legacy would just beat
it to make a chain, just one person at a time.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Yeah, that's all. It's all weekend do.
Speaker 4 (33:04):
I think for her and our industry, she's been someone
who is willing to change the industry too, because for
the longest time, what do people say about restaurant jobs.
That's not a career. And we've got somewhere around eighty
nine employees right now, and.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Uh to the four oh one case.
Speaker 4 (33:23):
They have paid vacation.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
They have paid sick days, they have nice cars. Yeah,
they're doing well.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
She's so proud to show up and be like, did
you hear so and so just bought a new house.
And I'm like, well, yeah, because I did their verification
of employment so they could buy that house, you know
what I mean.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
But so nice.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
She she's trying to revolutionize our industry too, which is
really cool.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Yeah, okay, and you've heard what she says. She wants
her legacy to be you are going to be a
protector of doing.
Speaker 4 (33:53):
It, Yeah, which I love. I'm perfectly fine with that.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
She I couldn't think of a better person to continue
my legacy.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Yeah, and I see my granddaughter Brianna.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
She as well loves she says she's going to school
for hair, but we'll see that. We'll see because she
loves what she does. She's great at it. She's only seventeen,
which I see my granddaughter. Two granddaughters are adopted. They're
nineteen and seventeen. And Brianna is like my.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
Spit the seventeen.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Yes, she could have.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Been my own child, let alone my grandchild, adopted grandchild.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
She is so much like me.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
And it's wild how they adapt and overtake your who
you are.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yeah, it's really cool.
Speaker 4 (34:44):
Well, people even say like, oh, she looks just like you.
And my daughter has a hilarious humor. She goes, that's
funny because I'm adopted.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Yeah, she does. And even my steps on, her half brother.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
My oldest, he as well has taken over who I am,
which is really wild, wild to me to see, but
that means I've had an impact on somebody.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Yeah, that would be my legacy.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Yeah, Jna, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Thank you, You're welcome, thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
This has been the CEO. You should know podcast showcasing
businesses that are driving our regional economy, part of iHeartMedia's
commitment to the communities we serve. I'm Johnny heart Well,
thank you so much for listen.
And welcome in. This is the CEOs You Should Know podcast.
I'm your host, Johnny Heartwell, let's say hello to shawna Raider,
Lois and Kelly Oh the famous Kelly o Diners. It's
so I'm so happy to see you guys. Thank you
for coming in. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank you for having us. It's great to see you. Johnny.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
All right, so tell us everything we need to know
about Kelly Oh's.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Kelly O's Diner been in business for two decades already,
three locations, Warndale, Strip and the North Hills, which is
my original. We are getting ready to have some exciting
news in twenty twenty five. Do tell do tel O
Zone Bar and Grill coming up in Warndale, PA, my hometown.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I heard the rumor, So tell us about what's what's
the plans.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
We are right now renovating, trying to get it remodeled
and opened up. It will be your basic but with
beautiful motif and a design of the ozone and just
great food.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, bar and Grew and.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Johanna you're you're now the CEO. What's your What's what's
what part do you play?
Speaker 4 (01:16):
I love to say I keep the lights turned on,
and I keep the employees coming back, right. But CEO
is a funny term to describe somebody who's doing everything
in a business. So my current role right now is
getting the bar up and running. Okay, but yeah, I'll
(01:37):
do whatever.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
All right. So, and you you have a pretty good mentor, right.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
And amazing I say, all of the time, I've had
the best front row seat and free education from my
mom that anybody could ever ask for.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
And how old were you when you started at the restaurant?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
So I started in middle school. Was my first official shift,
and it was because I was being grounded.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
They weren't stealing the alcohol that I never drank at home.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Yeah, that's what happened.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
So I my first the girls got in trouble anywhere
around it.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Yeah, my first shift was an unpaid shift, and I honestly,
I just loved it. I loved the people that we
worked with, and I loved the customers. And obviously working
with your family is a little bit of a different dynamic.
But I would say for the longest time, I saw
my grandma at work every day. I saw my mom
at work every day. Like that's not something a lot
(02:37):
of people get. The opportunity to do in their adult years.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Right, Kelly, Oh yes, tell us how did how do
you open up your first restaurant?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
That's our history?
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Well, I had been through my children's father passed away,
and then two years later, so did a boyfriend. And
I was like, oh Lord, please put me somewhere other
than where I'm at. I need more, I need better,
I need to achieve more for my children. And something
someone nudged me and told me to go to the
(03:10):
diner that was close to my boyfriend's place. That was
the only place that I knew about actually, and I
went in and asked if it was for sale. They
told me no. The girl was kind of a little
bit short with me at the desk. It was her
mother that owned it, and so I sat back down
and I'm like, yeah, somebody told you to come here right,
(03:31):
write your number down, just give it to them. So
I did, and the next day the owner called and
said I had a slight heart attack. My daughter as
ms I'm ready to sell. And I was like, well, great,
so I don't have any money, right, I didn't. I
didn't have a dime. I didn't have any money. I
was a widowed mom, bartending. So you're living paycheck to paycheck.
(03:52):
And I figured it out. I refinanced my house. I
took the equity that I had it. I took ten
thousand dollars, gave it to her, begged. The banks wouldn't
touch me. I couldn't find a personal lender, like I
was really struggling to figure it out. So she decides
she's going to be my personal lender. I'm going to
(04:13):
pay her back with interest. Blah blah blah, nine to
eleven hits. I'm crushed. I'm like, I'm taking this place
over in October and here's nine to eleven, and what
am I gonna do? Like I was petrified. Here I
am all these years later, and.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
That's an amazing success story.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Though it truly is that.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
The first time I met you was right after nine
to eleven, where you were doing some serious fundraising.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I was.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
I was for various nine to eleven charities. I was
so in addition to launching a restaurant, you're also fundraising,
and so.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
I've never stopped fundraising. Johnny, Yeah, I know.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
I believe that you have to give to receive. If
you don't, you're not getting what you deserve. Back, and
so people that aren't as gifting and gracious, they should
really rethink that because it takes all of us to
make the world go round, and we damn sure can't
take the money with us. It might go to my children,
(05:18):
but they don't need all of you know, when you
when you die and you have life insurance and she
gets a big chunk of change, and my other children
get a chunk of change. Yeah, I can't take what
I'm earning with me, So I don't need anything else.
I have a nice care, I have a nice house,
I have nice clothes.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I'm good.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
All right. So you open up your first location over
twenty years ago? What made you expand and how did
you expand?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
So I got on Triple D Diner's Arrivings and.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Dives and I was going to ask you, but yeah,
and so I've really made a big difference.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, gave me a great push that you would never
even expect Office Hilushki, which is so funny because that's
something that just slapped together food.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
That's what we love.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yeah, Pittsburgh's taking take it for granted, and you know
that's that's that's a unique experience when you first tried
I remember the first like it's life changing.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
It is life changing, and it's a very much a
comfort food. And I have people that order that every day.
They love it.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
They love it.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
It's not the love I know. Okay, all right, So
first of all, what is Guy Fierti?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Like?
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Kuy Fierti is wonderful. I was invited to Maui next
week for a fundraiser. I've been to his house for fundraisers.
Tim McGraw had hosted us with Faith Hill. At one
of the fundraisers, I got to hang out with mc hammer,
Jason Grilly, and I drove him back from the party
to the hotel like.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
There's something on the floor. He've been dropping names here.
I think they're names all over the floor here.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
It was pretty it was pretty cool experience. But Guy
has you know? He was my real life here row.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
How did that start? Did they approach.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
They picked me? Yeah? They did. I was on TV.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
I was on commercials for just a brief period of
time with a Diner Lady campaign. I don't know if
you remember that, but my girlfriend and I I wanted
to be on TV, so we decided let's do a commercial.
So we got my sister owned a diner. Wendy and
Donna bought a diner after I did. They thought it
was great and so they did it. And then we
hooked up with Penny Fillino and Square Cafe, Square Cafe Sherry,
(07:30):
which I just saw.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Not too long ago.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Oh I'm sorry, Sherry is Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Sherry, And we did the Diner Lady campaign and it
was amazing, Johnny. It was just a great idea because
we weren't competing against each other and we just got
more bang for our buck doing it.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Sooted Hillary Clinton during that time, and ty Pennington from Oh.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yeah, we got to go to ty Pennington from Home Makeover.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
Yeah. So they were getting called on heavily.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
And then we were, you know, called for some different
show that were going to happen, and the producers would
come film us, and Wendy was a little wild, so
a little bit things happened. But right after that, I
was able to cook on Pittsburgh Today Live and I
did really well on it, and then I started getting
articles in the newspaper.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And then I don't know.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
If they googled or what how they found that little
hidden gem that it was a diner since nineteen fifty seven,
and I have proof that it was is incredible to
me that they found me.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
On old nineteen.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
When we interviewed with Guy for Triple Dy Nation because
we did a second run for the Food Network. He
had said that during that time period, they were cold
calling restaurants and it was because people in the neighborhood
were suggesting us and then they could google you and
they would see what you are. And of course, like
(08:53):
she was everywhere in the news at the time. So
but he had said that during that time period when
they called us and they were like, hey, we heard
about you.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Hold on, so who received that phone call? Well, Rich,
did you did you think it was real?
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Wait? So everybody kept telling me like when I was on,
You're going to be the next Rachel next Rachel Ray.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
I'm like, please God, I want to be that rich
I want to have I want to be able to
come up with my own cooking pans and my own
kitchen supplies food.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
And let's quickly talk about manifestation. She still to this
day has a Food Network magazine in her office with
her picture taped over top of Rachel Ray's face.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
I do I do because I am a manifestor, and yes,
I if I don't know if you guys like Snoop Dogg,
but Snoop Dogg's birthday was yesterday and he's the main
manifestor dude, and I didn't know that told yesterday and
I was like, oh, yes, there's somebody else in my
league because I have manifested every bit of this.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
We'll get back to the phone call. The initial phone call.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
It was a guy calling No, it's actually his manager
and my We had the lottery at the time, so
I had a cashier checking people out. He got the
phone call and he's like, hey, food Network just called.
I'm like what, Like, you're kidding me. He's like, no,
Food Network called and I'm like, where's the number? So
(10:22):
I called back and I think her name is Gigi
or something, wasn't it.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
I called back and she's like, Oh, we'd really love
to have you on the show. And I'm like, God,
I me be kidding me. Like I melted. I was like,
this is so what I was.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Yes, Yes, And guy said at the time when he
was cold calling those restaurants, the people were turning them down.
They were saying, well, I'm not a diner, I'm not
a drive in, and I'm not a dive.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
So would I want to have the filming going on
while they were open, Which is hard bummer for anybody
that turned that down, because that is still residual marketing
for me, and that has been since.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Thousand and eight.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Yeah, and he's come back too.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
He has came back and I have been to his
place many times, to his home for the fundraisers, which
you know were for a good cause, all of them.
I mean, he raised one point four million dollars for
first responders and veterans with the Tim McGraw event that
I went to.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
It's amazing. It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Yea.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
I wish I could go to Maui.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
All Right, So you get the call, you call back,
and then then they're planning to come to the restaurant.
What was that like? What was the anticipation of, you know,
having guy Fiada do you had did you have any
idea what would happen?
Speaker 4 (11:36):
No?
Speaker 2 (11:37):
No, we didn't know. We really didn't.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
And because I'm a guy, calls me a triple d
og because I'm his second ear of filming, okay, which
is incredible to me. What a blessing.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Yeah, we went out and saw him in Philly and
he talked about that because we spoke to that restaurant
about what happens and that guy fiery effect is intense.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
What you like, Yeah, what is it?
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Do you want us to burst into tears? Yes?
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Well so it would be awesome.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
So I received.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
I had a really good uh computer guy at the
time on my website and he was tracking the hits
and where they were coming from. I had people from
all over the world hitting my website and I couldn't
believe it.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I was like, Oh my goodness, what is going on here?
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Then you know, I'm asking my dishwasher, you've got to
come over here and help me flip omelets.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
I don't have enough hands. Like we were.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Slammed es, slip phone ringing off the hook, the computer
blowing up.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
When he came in. What did he do? And what
was the process of how they filmed it? What was
that like?
Speaker 3 (12:48):
So that is pretty simplified. It's only five people. Everything
has to be quiet as we are here in the studio.
It's kind of intense because you have so many people
in such a small place. Because five extra people in
a kitchen in a tiny kitchen, Yeah, it's not easy
(13:09):
to do and pull off and it was a little
nerve wracking. I'm not a chef, Johnny. I'm just a
home cooked food kind of girl. And so he's more
of a chef. And it was kind of like, well, kel,
don't you know you got a season a turkey. I
don't want it to taste like seasoning. I don't like seasoning.
I like my plane. I was like, oh shit, I
don't know what I'm doing.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
I have this distinct memory of her at one point
in time, and she said, if they tell me to
take this turkey in and out of the oven one
more time, like, don't they know I'm just a little
five foot tall girl. I mean she weighs like one
hundred and turkey out of the Yeah. And it was
over and over and over again in this huge pan.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yep, twenty five times they made me do it.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
We had too much like your rooms a quarter of
your weight, yes, literally much like your room's like. They
wanted it to be as quiet as possible, and a
kitchen printer if you've ever worked in a kitchen, extremely loud,
So we couldn't have any music and we couldn't have
our kitchen printer on. So the servers. I was one
of the servers that worked during it. We would meet
someone from the kitchen at the front door, and that
(14:12):
person would run around to the back of the building
and back into the kitchen with the kitchen ticket. We
have live customers at the time. They do not film diners,
drive ins, and dives like that anymore. They shut the
restaurant down and is invite only. Yeah, but we learn
yeah yeah right, well, and he's a giant celebrity now,
(14:33):
so people pack around the block. I mean when we
filmed in twenty twenty for the return for Triple D Nation,
I mean, we had people dressed up like Guy Fieri.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Walking around our lot like it was cute.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
But I just want to tell you we are getting
ready to do the back of the strip wall. I
don't know if you've ever seen my wall back there
says eat here the big mural. I'm getting ready to
redo that. Jeremy Raim is redoing that. And he is
a graffiti artist. He actually spray paints it all. He's
incredible around Pittsburgh. I don't know if you've seen his murrals, Johnny,
(15:08):
but he's putting guys space.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
But your face too.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
So my logo because I don't need my face, I'm
not as famous as he is.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
She is in our town.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
That's true, That is absolutely true.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
She's a tiny little legacy here, all right.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
So what was he like to deal with when he's filming?
Was he was?
Speaker 3 (15:30):
He he's intense, Okay, I was intense. He's intense, but
he gets the job done and he is on point.
And even when we filmed a few years ago over
in Philly the Triple D Nation, which is the revisit
because it was during COVID, So we went to Philly,
we filmed with him, then he came, his crew came,
(15:52):
he didn't even come because it was full blown COVID.
And I mean, but he gets the job done. He's
incredible about Uh. Before he would like stammer through in
the beginning, not stammer through it. But it was different
than how he does it now. It's totally different. They've
definitely clipped off some.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
Oh, they've gotten really good because they're filming three shows
a revisits, three revisits a day and one tripity show
a day or something.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
When they think about, you know, when your first experience,
you know, you're a bartender. Now you're you're running a restaurant.
And now it's probably a second major. Yeah, do it.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
It's wonderful she let me or she made me. No,
I made her, I made her well. I was sick.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
I told you about my home that I lost my
home due to infiltration of mold from water back up
from a big company in Pittsburgh. It was an accident,
and so at that time, my cognitive skills obscured from
the myotoxins in my neurosystem, and I was struggling.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
Yeah, I just had this like really seamless education. I
had seen all of these things.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
But for eluntiately I had been showing her the books
and how to do payroll. And you know, fortunately Shan
as a sponge, so I was able to you know, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
I think there was never an opportunity missed when it
came to teachable moments, right, And if everybody had that
type of education, they would be so much more well
versed in their job.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Don't get me wrong.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
There were times when we could have killed each other,
like killed each other, And anybody listening to this, if
you ever see me run out the kitchen with the spa.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
She was yelling at me.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
She deserved it. Yep.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Probably I was going to ask what is it like.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Well, Johnny, she works. My seventeen year old granddaughter works
at my Warrendale store, and she had to work with
her last week.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
You asked her what that was like. I was giggling.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
I called and I said, Mommy, I'm so sorry. I'm
so sorry because working with your child is so hard
and I don't know how you did it. And my
seventeen year old is one, you know, seventeen going on
thirty three. She's an incredible I think any restaurant.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
And actually another generation.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Yeah, yeah, I've had other restaurant tours. Be like, I
would steal her if I knew she wasn't related to live.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Told me they'd steal her too.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
You know, I interview cegos every week, and I truly
enjoy interviewing females better because the stories.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
That fall a spice you are, and especially you doesn't
fall far.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
From the tricks.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Johnny, You couldn't work in the public or be a
female business owner, especially what I do the restaurant bar business.
You could not be without spice and make You have
to have some kind of spice within you to make
it pop and make people.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Well, let me ask you when did, so, do you
have any goals as as CEO moving down the road.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Which you have boss ladies leaving, I'm going to Thailand
with my oldest son.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Yeah, what's your vision? So she expands. She's been expanding
quite a bit over the last twenty years, So what's
your vision.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
So the expansion that we've had, we've pretty much done together,
and a lot of times that's her being like, this
is what I want to see and I'm like, okay,
how do I ABCD until we hit that. So a
lot of my current expansion has been to kind of
(19:45):
bring us into the technology filled future, and then behind that, obviously,
you know, we're branching into the bar industry, which is
a completely different road for us. She oftentimes is like,
I want to be in the stadium. I want to
be in the airport, you know where one of those
(20:06):
things that people know well enough coming out of Florida.
You fly into Pittsburgh from Florida, you're like, man, I
want to eat some Kellyo's. So putting us into places
where we're more excessed.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
With Pittsburgh's really can appreciate you.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
This is it's here, it's right here, and we can
stop right here because people come straight from the airport
to the diners, and I get like, when you're going away,
you really want to you want some comfort?
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, you want comfort food?
Speaker 1 (20:35):
All right, So tell us the you know how the Ozone?
How did that all start?
Speaker 4 (20:42):
It's because she Kelly out She never stops, and she
saw this struggling business and she would tell our landlord,
you know, hey, when that goes out of business, call me.
And I would say, why would you talk about someone
else's business like that, right? And she would say, it's
a fact. It's not I see what's happening. They're changing
(21:04):
their hours. It's mismanagement, and it will go out of business.
And that was a hard lesson that I had to
learn through her watching. Every time I would ask a question,
I'd be like, what happened mismanagement?
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Right?
Speaker 4 (21:16):
So Ozone really started, I would say years ago, right
after we took over kill. The Kelly Ohs warned in space.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
That's my hometown. So yes, my dream was to own
a restaurant when I was a child.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
So here we are right in my hometown.
Speaker 4 (21:30):
Yeah, yeah, and I think the name originally we were
going to do a sports bar, so kind of like
an end zone an ozone. You know, everything in her
world is tied to the O, right, So that's where
the name came from. It was just a quick like,
I think ozone would be perfect.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
And and what's what's what's what kind of what's your menu?
Speaker 4 (21:57):
Oh, elevated bar food? Yeah, less arugula.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
You know, I've been in Yes, I've been in the
bar restaurant business for forty six years now, and I've
worked at many different places Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee. I have gathered,
you know, I've been to a lot of places. I
pay attention, and I think I'm going to have a
little collaborative, awesome bar food that people can't resist. And
(22:28):
you know, you're gonna have your wings, You're gonna have
your burgers, that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
I think for us, our goal is always food first.
So it's not a drinking establishment, despite the fact that
you can come get alcohol the right.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I agree.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
We want a scratch kitchen. We don't want you to
leave with heartburn, you know, like we want good food.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
We look good food and at a reasonable price. I
live a minute away from those two locations, so she
wants to be able to eat and I want to
be able to eat what I like. Yes, so I'm picky. Yeah,
what if I like it, it should be good to
the next person. And that's what I've lived my life
on and served my food like, you know, if I
(23:08):
liked it, if it didn't taste good, it was going.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
We weren't putting that on the menu.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
But oh and she is one hundred percent our quality control.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Yes, I am apartment continue.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
We joke often when she rolls up, We're like, oh,
corporate's here, corporate do Yeah, we should get her like
a hard hat or a vest or something.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Oh that's funny.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
All right. So we talked about the future. But let's
talk about all the things that you've done as far
as giving back to the community, because I know this
list is going to be extensive. Yes, because my relationship
with you started with the fundraising after nine to eleven.
And so what's is there any particular charities that are
(23:52):
really close to your heart?
Speaker 3 (23:54):
So, Johnny, I, because I feel like there's so many
people in our own community that need help. I try
to pick individual an individual that is in need, and
I'm going to give you a particular story. And Beth
Carleton holds very dear to my heart. She has that mess.
(24:15):
I met her twenty years ago at a sheets gas
station near my house. It was November, pretty chilly, raining
sideways and too cold to be outside pumping gas.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
It really was.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
And I saw this lady get out of her car
with a cane and was struggling to walk to get
to go pay for her gas. And I said, hey, babe,
please get back in your car.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
I got you.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
I mean, I'm little speedy Gonzalez. I'm certainly not going
to let a woman struggling. There's no way. That's my
heart though. That is who I am, and that's my
heart and soul. And she's like, no, no, she argued
with me. I said, please get back in your car.
I got you, just today this one time. She's like okay,
and she handed mere credit card. I did not charge
(25:04):
her card. I paid for her gas. I went out,
I pumped it. I gave her a card back and
my business card. I never heard from Beth. Ironically, Phil Eisley,
who has now deceased two years he was a kitchen
bath remodeler and he was remodeling her bathroom for her.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Because she has a mess and it needed modified.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
Yeah, yeah, and my name got brought up and he said,
hold on, that's my bestie.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Let me call her.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
And so he called me and he said, you're never
going to leave him with Beth Carlton and I'm like,
I don't know who that is, Phil And he said,
eighteen years ago you pumped her cast for her at
the sheets and she just wanted to say hello, and
then that was it. So now I have had Beth
as my October Fest. She was one of my recipients.
(25:59):
I have bought her a new wheelchair because I was out,
took her out to a show and was dancing with
her in the wheelchair and it felt like it was
going to fall apart. So I was like, I don't
need a new pair of shoes, let me buy her
a new wheelchair.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
You got to give back. I don't care who it is.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
If it's a stranger on the street, someone needs a ride,
someone's broke down, you have to stop and help them.
Do not walk over a person.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
Well, I think it's our communities meant or built of
a lot of different people that need someone to look
at them with love. Yes, right, And that's always been
Kelly Oh's thing. I'm not a great gift giver. I'm
not great at.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Giving backshit, is she not me?
Speaker 4 (26:37):
She has tried since I was young to enforce that,
and I've said a couple different times, not obviously, that
I don't want her to pass away, right. I want
my mom for the whole rest of my life. But
there is a thing that happens when someone leaves a
sort like everyone comes forward and they talk about all
of the great things that person did. And there are
(26:57):
probably hundreds of Beth Carleton's this world that she has
done for that on her departing day, everybody's going to
come forward and be like, your mom did this for me,
and your mom did this for me, because that's so
constant for her.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Well, I don't know if I believe in ghosts, but
I think she would.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
She will.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Spooky season, yes, well, Pittsburghers take care of.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
Pittsburgher hands down.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
Yeah. I think that's what this city is for. And
that's what we do with october Fest. We choose a
different recipient every year. It started as a party that
first year to kind of cell.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Grand opening of Warndale at.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
The same time, so we decided to throw this huge
party and buy what Yeah, hang to her.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Yeah, tell me everything we need to know about October.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
Oh, it's so fun. So this year was our fourth
year we select a different recipient every year. This past
year we selected someone who was a former ployee of ours.
She suffered a ruptured brain anurism while she was at
work on the clock. Our quick thinking like saved her life.
She ended up in the moutamental surgery. And she is
(28:14):
left bodied, so left handed, left footed, and she suffered
complete paralysis of her left side after that aneurysm. So
Kelly O. We chose her as our recipient this year
for October Fest. And so during that we pre sale tickets.
I think we raised a little bit over three thousand
dollars in tickets. So it we throw a big party.
(28:35):
We have a band party band.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Bb Steel has been my band for the last yeah,
four years.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
We had our buddy Joey p come out this year.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
He does some very mista.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
We had a mugician, We had a face painter. We
have a belief. We have character artists. Yeah, you had
a bunch of artists this year.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
PJ. Schmerto was there. Yeah. They was there with Little.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
Animal where they draw your dog, which is sound incredible
like Dogger Cat.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
It's beautiful.
Speaker 5 (29:03):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
So we had vendors this year. We do fifty fifties,
We do silent auction.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
We had a dunk tank, We had a duanang for
the kids. They played basketball and stuff.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
And then Kenny Reggett, he came out with thirty one
Sports bar and grill. He was our our beer this year. Yeah,
next year it will be our own bar, thankfully. But
it you know, it's a community event and.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
We try to include everybody.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
Yeah. So during that time we fundraise, So we pre
sale tickets and then we fund raised during the event
and all of that money, No Holds Barred goes to
the recipient. So this year we raised a little over
twelve thousand dollars for Lisaye, and.
Speaker 5 (29:40):
In that.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
A customer of twenty some years donated an angel donor, yeah, truly,
an angel donor rehab for her because insurance kicked her off.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
Yeah, and so and they've got her within three weeks
up and walking.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
Well, she's standing by herself, holding on with almost like
two ski things almost and she's able to get her
left foot, which is John Cole. But I don't know
if anybody knows John Cole if anybody that is who's
working with her directly, and he is an angel as well,
(30:16):
and I'm blessed to have these people step up and
be in our lives and change will change.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
She goes to her therapy appointments so that she can
be you know, because that's the other side of it.
Money is one thing, but emotional support as a whole
additional side, and so she's always been the person to
give both.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Yeah, I try.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
One last question for you, Shauna. What does your mother
mean to you?
Speaker 4 (30:44):
Oh, that's such a hard one. So she's my only
parent actually, so my dad is gone and we've done
a lot together, so I would say probably my best friend,
but also obviously my mom. And when I'm mad, I
(31:05):
say my daughter, you know, I'll be like like, yeah,
corporate's here, so you guys better sweep the floor right now.
But I mean she's I live next door to her,
so we're very close, like literally and figuratively. We I
think she was a single mom raising me, and I
think that that breeds like a very different relationship.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
She was a young mom, an only mom with only
my side of the family because her dad's side of
the family is from Kentucky.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Yeah, so we traveled a lot, and I mean we've
we've seen most of the world together, which is super
fun where we travel together and we do all of
the stuff, right, So I think that we're like the
perfect duo. We like to say a lot of times
like Ying and Yang. We're very different people but also
exactly the same.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Yeah, so very extremely different but the same.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
And she can like, this is how weird it is,
Like one day neither of us drink, like, especially not wine,
and she texts me one morning and was like, oh man,
I could just really have a glass of wine. And
I said, that's so weird because I've been thinking about
wine all day. So we're like the same brain split
in two.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
Yeah, it's very it's a connected spiritual just blessed.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
We're blessed, Johnny, We're blessed.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Two questions for you. One, do you do anything half asked? Oh?
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Never, I try not to, you know, isn't it isn't
it nice when you can do something right the first time,
you don't have to do it over again.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
And what what is going to be your legacy?
Speaker 3 (32:41):
My legacy, it's just my footprint of Kelly. Oh that
oh that o is everything. It's a full circle. It's
what comes around goes around. That O means a lot.
And so I don't know, my legacy would just beat
it to make a chain, just one person at a time.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Yeah, that's all. It's all weekend do.
Speaker 4 (33:04):
I think for her and our industry, she's been someone
who is willing to change the industry too, because for
the longest time, what do people say about restaurant jobs.
That's not a career. And we've got somewhere around eighty
nine employees right now, and.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Uh to the four oh one case.
Speaker 4 (33:23):
They have paid vacation.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
They have paid sick days, they have nice cars. Yeah,
they're doing well.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
She's so proud to show up and be like, did
you hear so and so just bought a new house.
And I'm like, well, yeah, because I did their verification
of employment so they could buy that house, you know
what I mean.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
But so nice.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
She she's trying to revolutionize our industry too, which is
really cool.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Yeah, okay, and you've heard what she says. She wants
her legacy to be you are going to be a
protector of doing.
Speaker 4 (33:53):
It, Yeah, which I love. I'm perfectly fine with that.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
She I couldn't think of a better person to continue
my legacy.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Yeah, and I see my granddaughter Brianna.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
She as well loves she says she's going to school
for hair, but we'll see that. We'll see because she
loves what she does. She's great at it. She's only seventeen,
which I see my granddaughter. Two granddaughters are adopted. They're
nineteen and seventeen. And Brianna is like my.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
Spit the seventeen.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Yes, she could have.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Been my own child, let alone my grandchild, adopted grandchild.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
She is so much like me.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
And it's wild how they adapt and overtake your who
you are.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yeah, it's really cool.
Speaker 4 (34:44):
Well, people even say like, oh, she looks just like you.
And my daughter has a hilarious humor. She goes, that's
funny because I'm adopted.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Yeah, she does. And even my steps on, her half brother.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
My oldest, he as well has taken over who I am,
which is really wild, wild to me to see, but
that means I've had an impact on somebody.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Yeah, that would be my legacy.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Yeah, Jna, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Thank you, You're welcome, thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
This has been the CEO. You should know podcast showcasing
businesses that are driving our regional economy, part of iHeartMedia's
commitment to the communities we serve. I'm Johnny heart Well,
thank you so much for listen.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.