Ep. 6 - Phil Casse: Genuine Customer Service | Who Did You Impact Today? - Miracles in Meat

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Music.

(00:12):
You're listening to the Miracles in Meat Podcast. I'm Shane Thibodeau,
a fourth-generation butcher at one of the oldest meat markets in the world.
My great-grandfather started this business by slaughtering one cow or pig at
a time and selling the cuts door-to-door on horse and buggy.
Today, our products are enjoyed across the globe. I will attempt to give you
some insight as to how we got here and explore the challenges we've had along the way.

(00:34):
At Bourgeois, our mission is to preserve our heritage generation after generation
through legendary Cajun flavors and the development of relationships, not customers.
Since 1891, Bourgeois has maintained age-old culinary traditions that fuel the
South Louisiana lifestyle.
Over the past 133 years, our Cajun products have gained global recognition,

(00:55):
and for tens of thousands of
folks around the world, the Bourgeois Cajun Lady logo is a symbol of home.
Today, the fourth-generation butchers sit at the nine-foot maple block with
loyal customers to discuss the adventures, skills, and passions that guide each of their legacies.
These conversations will become priceless resources for future generations of any industry.

(01:16):
This is our way of maintaining the spirit, purpose, and traditions of our lost
arts in a world of change.
133 years, four generations. We're just getting started.
Music.

(01:47):
I always cross a thin line. All right, here we go. Episode number six of the Miracles Meet podcast.
Today, Bo and I sit down with Phil Kass. Phil is our customer service manager
at the new location in Gray.
And Phil's also the lead guitarist for a
local original band called Coma Knights and

(02:08):
that song you heard on the podcast intro that
is that is Phil that's Coma Knights all original
everything they write is original really great
group of guys all very talented all very creative I mean if you ever see them
coming to a show maybe in Houma or New Orleans or Baton Rouge or maybe Bayou

(02:28):
Crab go check them out and go chat with them they'd love to hear that and yeah
we just wanted to show our support for the band and,
we switched the whole podcast intro and I think it sounds awesome I think it
fits us well so over the years Phil has made his mark on this place and everyone inside of it and.

(02:49):
In business, there's adders. Those are people that you want on your team,
your good hires, people that add value to your company.
You have subtractors, the people you don't want on your team,
the people that you probably need to fire, people that bring everyone down and cause problems.
You have dividers. Those are the people that get into the team.

(03:11):
Those are the cancerous people.
You know, the people that can really destroy a company.
And they can really destroy everyone's motivation and get into the interior
workings of a team and crumble it, all right?
And then you have multipliers.
Those are people who can build everyone up individually, not just the team,

(03:38):
not just the business, not just them.
They bring everyone up. They bring the customers up. They make everyone happy. They add value.
They teach other people how to add value on their own without them.
Those are multipliers. And that's what Phil is. And that's why we have him on this podcast today.
And I want everyone to hear a little bit about what Phil has to say.

(04:00):
And I want everyone to learn from Phil because I've learned a ton from Phil over the years.
I feel lucky to be able to have those conversations with him.
We've had several and we've had hour-long talks about this stuff.
It's fun and it's really interesting.
It's something that we're passionate about and something that Phil has a lot of experience with.

(04:24):
I really think it can help. If you listen to this thing from start to finish,
I think you'll see what makes him special and what his mindset is and how that
allows him to succeed and why we as a company are really lucky to have Phil
as our friend and as part of our legacy. Here we go, Phil Cass.

(04:46):
All right, Phil, let's start off with your earliest memories of the meat market
or bourgeois or a product or the brander.
First memories, man, I tell you, I don't have many. I will say this.
Growing up in Thibodeau, I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't shopped there,

(05:07):
but it was very common to hear things like, hey, come to my birthday party.
My dad got bourgeois patties.
Hey, and that was a thing.
When you heard that, you wanted to go. I thought, I didn't know then what that meant.
I know now, but then I didn't know what he was talking about.

(05:31):
Which is weird, which is weird growing up in Thibodeau, right?
I guess we just never, we never shopped there.
My parents, I never had anything on a, on a personal level. It was always third
party stuff, but I did have a fair burger before.
So we raved about that. I, I didn't make any connections until 2018 when I started.

(05:52):
It's kind of been a secret along the years.
It's not something we've really pushed.
Sorry, Ben, that's on us.
But the, uh, the fireman's fair, Patty. Even the fireman's fair,
dude, I think for years and years, a lot of people never knew that those aren't burgers.
Yeah. And still, I really think still, they don't know it's the same,
but they don't know, they don't know it's the same Patty.

(06:13):
Mm-hmm. I think they think it's something, something different about it.
You can tell that because the customers that want that Patty think they have
to order something special.
Mm-hmm. And it's, it's not, it's a conversation to have when,
yeah, we have that. Yeah. Always.
It's, it's, yeah. Yeah. So now that we know that patties are your favorite,
do you have any other favorites?
The ground meat is on the top. Of course, our jerky, for sure.

(06:39):
Really fond of the andouille. I think it's the best andouille on planet Earth.
I'm partial because it's where I go for the training purposes.
I always ask some of the people up front what andouille sausage is because it is,
it seems sort of complicated on the surface but it
is the most delicious thing that i

(07:00):
think we make it is so good if you're
if you're leaving for the weekend and you're going to paul tim's camp and you
got one grocery bag to fill up with stuff what you're bringing oh jerky for
sure that's that's coming first patties man i guess summer sausage turkey cheese

(07:21):
it's all it's all crowd favorites everybody Everybody loves to see that slice.
And stuff you can bust out around a fire or while somebody's cooking dinner. Yeah.
That's all good stuff. And it's so fun. It's so fun to see.
They know the, they know the wrapper, like what's in there, you know,
it's a, it's, it's a gift.

(07:41):
It attracts some attention. I love that feeling and that look you get from people
too, when you bust out the paper.
You got to work it too. You can't just come out and open it.
You got to kind of linger it around for a little while, put it on a table,
don't open it, make sure people know it's on the table and then maybe move it
somewhere else for a little while, get them talking about it.

(08:04):
How does it sound for me to say that the first time I ever came into Bourgeois,
like the first time I ever walked through the door was for an interview to work here?
Through the back. Nope. You came through the front? Stacy let me in.
It was right at close. I think that, like, I remember the lights being turned off. Yeah, it was dark.

(08:26):
But I'd never seen the inside. it it's a
it's a situation when you're on the highway to look at the
building yeah there's not a lot of time it's ominous it's it's
it's a scary it's people say it's
very intimidating it is extremely intimidating i felt it it was one of the things
i wanted to curb for sure but you still have to get through the door and that's

(08:52):
scary before your interaction with anybody that's weird Is it weird that you
know everyone inside can see you?
You can't quite see them yet? You don't really know where to look?
Yeah. That's what intimidates people. You know what a lot of people do?
I noticed this. I don't know if you noticed this.
I see a lot of people get on fake phone calls when they walk in the door.

(09:14):
God, that's brilliant. Why didn't I think of that? I think it's to relieve some of that pressure.
They don't want to be asked a question right when they walk in,
so they just pretend they're on the phone. And I'll watch them do it for a while
until they see what they want and they'll hang up They're on the phone call.
Not really, but what looking at yeah, they're reading a menu. Oh.
Brilliant. So let me give a little bit of backstory. In 2018, dad retired.

(09:38):
I took over and one of the first things I did, or well, Shane obviously was
involved in this too, but one of the first things we did was we needed a customer service guy.
And I had seen Phil around town most recently at Jimmy John's.
And I immediately knew that this had to be our guy.

(10:00):
So we hunted him up and we got him in for the interview. So what I think is
super interesting is hearing, obviously we grew up here.
We can never kind of see it from an outsider's perspective.
So I love hearing Phil's perspective about the first time he walked through
the door. And I think he was a little bit scared.

(10:23):
Oh, for sure. So tell us more about that first experience.
You came in for the interview. Who was here? Just me and Shane?
It's right after close it was it was you and shane
the crew was there they were they were
on their way out the door they i think this is funny they anticipated they must
have known maybe you told them that i was coming so they they were ready hey

(10:46):
all eyes were on me when i i opened the door it's after close i maybe i might
be making this up but i think it would you were closed so the The door is locked.
And so maybe you told me to come through the back. Maybe. But I came through
the front and she had to open the door.
And I was in Jimmy John's gear. I had just closed the restaurant there down.

(11:09):
But it was intimidating. All eyes were on me.
And, yes, they knew I was hiring a manager because we were having some issues.
Yeah, that didn't. And they knew all that that entailed and were not happy.
That didn't go well. Do you know that? I do. And do you know, do you know that,
I want to say, sometimes I'll search for your emails through there because I just need something.

(11:35):
And I'll see the first correspondence that we had. Like, I'll see them. It's fun to look at.
It was such a pivotal point in my life. But I'll see the emails and I'll see,
hey, well, you responded through Indeed,
which is a story in itself because you might not know this, but I put my resume
on Indeed. You know, I was working for a family.

(11:58):
We, we opened two Jimmy Johns's and I sort of just wanted to put myself out there.
And the week, the week that I put my resume out, well, I didn't apply anywhere.
You can, you can make a resume on a deed and it will, if you have an account,
it will alert you if people match kind of what you need, I guess.
And that, I guess that's what happened to you.

(12:20):
But the same week, the week I put my resume out is the week I got an email from you.
And so which i thought was just the
stars aligned i guess in hindsight yeah it
was amazing it couldn't have been better and in
fact i almost i almost took another
job there was there were maybe i say i almost took another job i considered

(12:43):
just for a second lays was the potato chip company was hiring just a like a
driver but things were things are tight so i needed to make a call,
but that was really cool.
But the first email that you sent me and the second email follow-up,
I think I responded to you, but it was a long time.

(13:05):
I came to the first interview with you and Shane, and it was a while.
Do you know that? I didn't respond immediately. You can see that I didn't. Because...
It was it was a big decision well
yeah no listen i came in that
day i came in for the interview was oh let

(13:25):
me give let me give a tiny bit more let me give a
tiny bit more background listen you i'd never
been in there ever in my life i was 38 37
who knows 37 38 what 2018 and i'd never been in the building in a town where
i grew up so that was already hard you know and i i've i come from a corporate

(13:49):
background so going to a mom and a truly true at its core,
family-owned mom-and-pop shop was it it rang some alarms like it's risky you know,
i and i worked for a family that owned a franchise and i
understand that there's some but there's no corp there's no
corporate entity that to communicate with is

(14:12):
there was just a lot of things flashing you
know and and coming in that day and just seeing just the i i mean i got a glimpse
of the vibe and it was it was just something i needed to just figure out you
know like because i i remember going in i remember going in the office and you were just.

(14:37):
He was slouched down shane had his hands crossed like this and and you and i
said dude i'm pumped up i'm just feeling like i can conquer life and i walk
in the office and i think i think you were just like,
you think you can help us our customer service you got any ideas.

(15:03):
And that's pretty much how it went we shared I gave you some things that were
going through my head and I guess the rest is history but that was so you were scared,
I was really scared and I thought that maybe,
maybe you would have been more excited for me

(15:24):
to come in for an interview you little did
you know that was my excited yeah it was
it was okay so yeah the background i was going to give is phil comes from only
massively corporate jobs and sort of yeah we're not super professional but can

(15:45):
i'm going to tell you this from my perspective so me and shane met with phil.
And Phil's an interesting guy.
So you have to kind of understand him a little bit, which I didn't at the time.
And he is smiley and happy the entire time, which he just permanently is.
Which doesn't come off as genuine.

(16:07):
Yeah, I thought there might be drugs involved, if I'm being completely honest.
Heard that before. Or I kind of felt like I was being trolled.
Hey, can I tell you? There's no way he's actually this excited or this happy. I thought that too.
And from my experiences with him at Jimmy John's and wherever,
but so yeah, after, so after the interview, I, I said to myself,

(16:30):
I don't know if I ever told you this, Shane, but I said, that's our guy. He's, he's coming.
I, I had no doubts, no doubts whatsoever that you were going to be here.
And apparently you had plenty.
But I knew you were coming. You know that that's fair, right?
Oh, it's super fair, especially in hindsight.

(16:51):
Well, if it helps, my... Like, we never interviewed people for jobs, really.
It was like, hey, what's your name? How old are you? You can work?
All right, let's go. Do you remember Lone Star?
Yeah. I worked there for a while. They had good baby back ribs?
Yeah, sure. You're thinking of Chili's, which he also worked for.
Hey, well... No, no, no. I never had him there. We had... It was a...

(17:12):
There was a little crew that worked at Lone Star that moved to Chili's in Thibodeau
when Chili's in Thibodeau opened.
But I remember interviewing for the Chili's job because driving to home to Lone
Star wasn't an ideal scenario, but I remember interviewing for Chili's, and they liked me.

(17:32):
How old were you? Well, it was 2003, something around there.
I must have been 22, 23. Okay.
And, well, I learned this later. Later, there was a guy, Joel,
really cool guy, and then Chris, who became a close friend of mine.
Robinson? Yeah. Okay, good. So he interviewed me, and Joel interviewed me,

(17:56):
and maybe one other guy, and then they called me in for a second interview because
there's no way somebody is this happy. Yeah.
And I heard that. That was the second time that that's affected me.
Like, that wasn't good. Hey, it wasn't a good thing that I had.
Well, not only were Chris and Chris, he was, they were higher,

(18:20):
high up at Chili's, but there was the regional director or somebody,
there was four people there when I interviewed before because they liked me,
but I wasn't who I said I was.
I don't, you know, just like you described. How weird is that?
But how weird is that? But the great part is that that's genuinely you.

(18:41):
You are this happy all the time. I feel great. If you're not,
you're so good at faking it that six years later, I still can't tell.
It's almost like you need to pretend to be a little less excited and a little
less happy just to get people to trust you first.
Like, okay, this is normal.

(19:02):
There's a normal level of excitement and enthusiasm. You remember what,
maybe I shouldn't say any names, but some of the people that
worked at the market when i first started didn't buy
in until they were on their way out do
you know that yeah i didn't there was no i
know i didn't strong it was tough it was just like hey
i wish i'd have given that guy a chance he really

(19:24):
does he really does back up how he behaves yeah with empathy and genuineness
and and i he really does care i i feel like that's what i think it took people
a while all to figure out he really cares this much this isn't an act i think i care about so much,
that it seems like i don't care about anything that's a good way to put it it

(19:49):
might be true well phil give us like some family background maybe younger years
whatever you got sure Sure.
I grew up in Thibodeau. I was born in 82.
You know, went to E.D. White when my dad taught.
And then shortly after high school, maybe even a week after high school, moved out of state.

(20:15):
I lived in my uncle's basement. It was an experience. It wasn't finished.
So I remember I remember just, I wanted to go to college.
I had all these ambitions and I was, I thought I knew what I wanted.
So I moved to save some money because I needed a vehicle. What did you want?

(20:35):
You said you thought you knew what you wanted. Yeah. What did you think it was?
Well, I had this path laid out with college and a job, like any 17, 18-year-old kid has.
And that if you don't adapt, it falls apart on you pretty quick.
But I didn't have any money. I needed a vehicle. My uncle invited me to live in his basement.

(20:58):
Save some money. And this was in Atlanta? This was in 2000.
Yeah. So, 99, 2000, lived in his basement, swept out the leaves and dirt,
put a mattress in the basement and slept.
I mean, it wasn't finished. It was just concrete and wood.
And I remember at night, the only thing I could see was they had like the central vacuum cleaner.

(21:21):
That was the little red light on there was because the basement was partially underground.
So, it wasn't even air conditioned. It just stayed an idea. It was nice.
They really did feel nice down there. It was 72 degrees all the time.
I stayed there for about a year.
My uncle Byron, my idol, he was everything to me at that age.

(21:46):
He set me up with an interview at a chicken place right up the road.
Like small business? Small time. Well, sort of. The business was born in Atlanta.
It was a rotisserie chicken restaurant.
It was unique. You could get a half of a rotisserie chicken and some sides for

(22:07):
lunch. It was really a good little.
So I think they expanded that.
Too quickly. Almost a similar story to Lone Star.
If you don't know anything about Lone Star, they expanded 700-something restaurants
within a short, that might be making that number up, but in a really short time.
And they spread their talent too thin and it collapsed.
So the same thing happened to this guy. His name was Rip Tanner.

(22:31):
So the restaurant was called Tanner's. and I he expanded and the company went
bankrupt I guess I'm not sure but in an in an effort to save his name he bought
that one restaurant back that I got a job at so it was the only,
one left that was a true Tanner's restaurant and I my uncle took me he drove

(22:52):
me there I wrote a bike to work but he drove me there the first day it was my
first real I've had jobs but it was my first real interview moment,
he took me, kind of prepped me for it, gave me the application and got a job
in a full service restaurant.
And I remember just my first couple of weeks there that that was, that that was it.

(23:16):
Like I knew, I knew that that was my calling.
Like I needed to be in a customer service, retail food environment from that moment.
It really did change my life. I excelled there.
Of course, I was from South Louisiana, so that helped.

(23:37):
How would that help? I think I may have sounded different. Whoa.
Listen, this is where I got this a lot. You don't sound like you're from South
Louisiana, but I like it.
And so so it i mean so from that moment on i i you know my my whole time in

(24:00):
atlanta was spent working at this restaurant that served chicken and i i enjoyed
waiting on customers and it,
paved the way for everything that happened from there. Let me ask you a quick
question. You said you rode your bike to work.
What's your most memorable thing about riding your bike to work that would you say?
If you don't mind my asking. I hope my aunt doesn't listen to this because my

(24:23):
uncle Byron passed away, but I hope you hear this because I may have lied about it.
One, because it was a very expensive bike and it got demolished.
How do you explain that away doesn't matter
if you've been to swanee or
lawrenceville or any in the any of those areas in

(24:46):
atlanta or a little north of atlanta it's hilly it's it's a lot of your time
spent for me was uphill it was tough you know you know the first gear on the
bike like every 15 revolutions will send you one inch you know yeah you didn't
want to be sweaty when you got to work,
it was, it was a challenge. I did it for, I did it for a while.

(25:09):
But, but once you got closer to the restaurant, it was downhill.
It was nice. You had to get there, you know, like especially if you're running late. Yeah.
Yeah. Especially if you're running late. And, and, uh, just one time I,
I crest over the hill and lost control.
I was, I was going way too fast. I didn't stop in time and I tried to turn into the parking lot.

(25:35):
It was a plaza. So there was a bank and maybe like eight other businesses in this big thing.
And you had to turn into it and I would park in the back and man,
the front wheel is not even making traction on the ground, dude.
It's not good. You're doing like 50 or 60?
Seven. Hey, a motorcycle. I was going 120.

(25:57):
Bike. Bicycle. Downhill, though. Okay, fast. Well, they don't go 50,
Phil. I was going 80, Shane. No, they go 80.
Okay, and then what? Yeah. Obviously, you can't turn when you're doing 95 on a bike.
And I absolutely annihilated the curb in the bank parking lot.

(26:21):
The front tire, I mean this, was folded in half. It was in half.
It didn't break. The tire, of course, popped, but the rim...
If you've ridden a street bike, you know that those tires and those rims are
finicky. You can't really...
You can't hit a curb doing 95. Yeah, they're meant to ride long distances,

(26:42):
right? So there's not a lot of friction on the road.
And when you need to make a 90 degree turn going 80.
And I flew off the bike, I hit the curb, turning, I'm sliding the front tire.
But I mean, you slid or you went airborne?
I anticipated the turn coming. I'm trying to remember, this was in 2000.

(27:05):
I see the turn coming. I can't stop. we're going
downhill i there's no stopping and i
tried to turn and i think i barely missed the entrance
to the parking lot but right in the drive-thru to go to the teller is a maybe
like a crepe myrtle tree yeah that's actually a good tree to run into i hit
it i hit it hey and what what sucks is that i think i was turning i was turning

(27:31):
as i hit you hit it hard film yes yeah Yeah, Shane.
I complete, I was tossed off the bike, bent the frame around the tire. The tire folded in half.
I think maybe the brake handle or something had gotten kind of gnarly.
And I just. Were you wearing a helmet?
We're talking. No, I was not. And, and it was full lunch hour traffic. So they laughed at you.

(27:57):
I didn't. I was so quick getting up, Shane.
Really was those moments that the embarrassment takes a backseat to the pain.
You know what I mean? I did that once on spring break.
Hey. Same thing. I hit the curb. I hit the tree. The bike is folded in half.

(28:18):
I mean, I could have lifted 600 pounds at that moment. My adrenaline's flowing. I'm alive, whatever.
And you have a concussion. And I have a concussion.
I bent the rim back as best as I could. So you were riding out of there. No, I wasn't, Shane.
And I walked the bike to work and parked it in the back and kind of made it

(28:40):
seem like somebody tried to steal it.
I'm sorry. How else did you dress it up? Whoever's hearing this story for the first time,
i'm really sorry i crashed it was not stolen boy
poor my poor uncle rest in peace he doesn't know i told
him that somebody tried to because i needed
i tried to steal it by running over with a car like somebody really tried to

(29:03):
steal it you know so where was this what city swanee georgia so if anyone's
in swanee and they have that footage send it in yeah i don't please it wasn't
it was It was kind of like a local bank that they had there in that old parking lot.
I might call them because you know if they saw it, they looked at the video
and saved it. Hey, it was on the corner of... It'd probably be on a VCR tape though.

(29:25):
It's on Chive or something like that. Hey, it was on the corner of Peachtree
Industrial Boulevard and West Point Boulevard. There we go.
So if you have... Maybe that's a street name.
Well, let's get into some... What do you do for fun when you're not here?
Wait, I need to hear what he did after Atlanta.

(29:45):
You moved back home at some point. I did. And then where'd you work?
I did. And then who'd you meet? I enrolled at Nichols. But you have kids.
Sure. We're skipping ahead. I did get a job at Doug's. Oh, yeah.
Which your papa. Your hojo's, yeah. Your papa loved hojo's.
Every Sunday. And I helped him every time he came in. You knew who he was? Mm-hmm.

(30:09):
I said, I asked him about it. I said, I mean, that was 20 years later.
But I said, hey, Papa Lester, I helped you at Doug's a lot.
I poured your coffee a lot.
And he was tickled. He didn't remember me, but it was nice. I remembered him.

(30:29):
Dude, that was another little mom and pop sort of coffee spot. Yeah. It was fun.
I went from restaurant to restaurant for a little while. Just tried different things.
So you said Chili's. I didn't know that Chris, I didn't know that's where you
met Chris. I thought you met him at Raising Cane's. Chris interviewed me for Chili's.

(30:50):
How did y'all both wind up at Raising Cane's then? Chris left Chili's for Cane's maybe in 2006.
I want to say maybe 2005, 2006. And then was the general manager of the store in Mount Luther King.
There wasn't the other two yet. We have one in Thibodeau and on the east side
of Houma now, but it was only that one. He worked there.

(31:12):
He got a job there, and they needed management.
So he poached you from Chili's? He did. Nice. I was working as a, I guess, a pool boy.
What? I was a pool boy for just a short minute. I worked at Chili's on occasion.
I remember that. You got electrocuted to death. We did saltwater conversions.

(31:34):
If you had a chlorine pool and you wanted saltwater, I think we did a lot of
that stuff. And I got a call from Chris saying that,
but he got a new job and they need leadership. And he liked my work ethic. We were friends.
We hit it off right away. Chili's was something.
And so he called me for Canes. I interviewed, I met with a guy,

(31:57):
Clint something, and he hired me on spot.
So is that when you and Chris got tight at Canes? Uh, no, we were tight already.
We were, uh, no, you're right. And we weren't, we weren't tight.
We were, you know, we, when you work at Chili's,
there's a saying that people say it's
it's zero appreciate this if you've never

(32:19):
worked at Chili's and it shows and what that means is and we toss this around
a lot in the in the full service business that we wish that everybody could
experience that a little bit it is the most stressful environment.
And it's funny because I still have dreams about Chili's.

(32:42):
It's 20 years. I'll still have dreams that there's six tables sat and I'm bartending
and the drinks are backed up and somebody, it's crazy.
It's a really high stress environment. So that breeds friendships.
I think like you really do learn camaraderie. And so Chris and I,

(33:02):
and of course Z came from Do you remember when we had a ground patty?
Yeah. So ground patty was there. And within a month after Chili's opened,
ground patty, of course, couldn't hang.
And if you know anything about when Chili's opened, maybe it was probably our
first chain big deal restaurant in Thibodeau, I want to say. And I remember...

(33:26):
I remember it being six people deep. Hey, on the bar top in Chili's.
And you can smoke in there at the time, which is weird to think about.
But it was six people all the way around for weeks, months after we opened.
It was really great. We cried a lot.
It was hard. We made some, a lot of my friends, Kyle from Community Coffee and

(33:48):
Corey Stein and all those guys are really good friends of ours that we hold
dear still from the Chili's days.
But, yeah, no, it's crazy. It's crazy. So Chris left Chili's,
called me up, and I interviewed and got hired.
And it was a good deal.
And what was it like working for Chris, with Chris?

(34:10):
Chris. Chris is one of those people that really does make you feel, again,
I should have heard this from multiple people, but when you talk to Chris,
he really does make you feel like you're the only person on planet earth.
It really is a genuine interaction with him.

(34:32):
And he behaves that way at Canes for me my my whole time there it was really
something he taught me so much he was a mentor he he was rooting for me the
whole time of course things didn't work out at Canes but.
It was nice it was really nice that he
reached out to me it spoke a lot I I

(34:53):
felt good I dude I Chili's was tough and
to have I remember getting the call
from that I got hired I mean I went
to the interview at Keynes yeah because it was uh
it was an a fit you know uh it
was an official management position like I need you to
operate my restaurant sort of and getting

(35:15):
the call that you made it Keynes is a competitive environment it's it's tough
it's it's not it's not easy to move up and and so getting that getting that
invite to to come to work was was really awesome And I was really looking forward to working with Chris.
It was short, I would say, because they opened the Thibodeau and Eastside markets

(35:37):
really within the first five years.
I was at Canes for over seven years. So it was, they opened the Thibodeau and
homeless stores and I moved and moved around.
I ended up working in Laurel, Mississippi for a while.
But working for Chris was great, man. He really did teach me about making people
feel important. It's good. That's awesome.

(35:58):
Well, I have something to play for you. I want you to listen to it and just listen to it.

(36:21):
Oh shit Hey Chris What's up,
First Dude First is RGX For sure,
For sure Man Hey Chris Good to hear from you man That's exciting You put him
up to that So you played Y'all Y'all gamed out together Dude Yes we did,

(36:43):
Hey You stayed up late Yes,
What a great time To be alive,
don't you get a kick out of that i did so phil has introduced us to chris we've
had him come talk to the team and he's definitely a special guy we we'd love
to have him on the podcast too but but yeah man chris is cool yeah chris uh

(37:07):
married z and i i know y'all know that but,
he's that he's that important to us
he's he's sort of i would say he's seen me
at my lowest points you know and my best
that's awesome so no it is it is great
so yeah that is that's really great what's up so you mentioned z a few times

(37:30):
who's that uh z is my wife who i actually met bartending at julie's and we we
worked together for would she would she order.
Or was she working with you she we worked together yeah
we worked we worked together started around
the same time no she was at ground patty

(37:52):
i remember she was at ground patty of course chili chilies came to town and
ground patty lost 90 of their business that sucks chilies was popping so he
applied he came to work with us and i remember you know when you work with a
crew crew like at Chili's or anything.

(38:12):
Just like my first date and interview here, that's how we looked at Z.
Like, hey, who's this, you know, coming in.
But look, we had no, we had no real, it wasn't, there wasn't a vibe.
We just worked. It was, we bartended together.
We worked a few shifts. It wasn't until Chili's does this softball tournament

(38:35):
and it's serious. We didn't know.
Look, we didn't know it was serious. It is serious. It's a big, huge deal.
In-house? Or like, to Chili's? A bunch of Chili's. Okay. And so...
I think it was a regional thing. Oh, so it's like your Chili's versus another Chili's. That's right.
So all the regional Chili's would go to Lafayette and play in a softball tournament.

(39:00):
And if you won that, you went to the Nationals.
Hey, listen, I'm not joking. Chris, maybe you can chime in on this.
But I think if you won the events, your team from your store got a full paid trip to New York.
To play in like this chilly softball.

(39:22):
Hey, this is wild. But listen, we were probably, I mean, I must've been 24.
He was probably 20, 19 or 20 at the time. And, and Chris is our,
I think Chris might've been our GM.
I'm not sure at the time, but we, we, we got a team together and we said,

(39:45):
Said, let's go. Let's go play in the tournament.
And so we are. And Z played high school softball. No, Z's the most athletic person I know for sure.
She was going to excel at it. I have no doubt in my mind. Although there was
one moment. Now we're going to talk about it.
But let's just say Z was playing left field and I was playing third base and
things did not go as planned. And it's Z's fault.

(40:08):
Just to be clear. For the record. Can't wait to hear it after mass.
But listen. Listen, hey, we get our crew from Thibodeau Chili's goes to the
softball tournament and we are in sandals and T-shirts and we're hungover.
Some of us still drunk and it is a major thing.
And everyone else got cleats and uniforms. Hey, cleats, uniforms.

(40:30):
Bats, catcher's gear. They coach on the field. It's a legit thing and we're
just embarrassed. And the other Chili's, hey, bums.
His name was Dale. He, I don't know where he is these days, but he made fun
of us. He, he even said in our dugout, nice uniforms guys.
Nice. And it was, and we lost 9,000 and nothing, you know, like we even,

(40:51):
we even found out, nevermind.
Maybe one of the teams had a professional player on the team, but they were juicing.
Hey, listen, Hey, this is, this
is the best part about the tournament was that
z and i ended up riding together it was an accident the cars were filled up
oh everybody was driving and and listen we were we you know i tell the story

(41:15):
we worked together it it was we worked together so we there was never romance
i guess in the picture she was
pretty she was super hot okay but all
the cars are filled up and i remember i've told
this story so many times i it was even maybe a little bit of my vows when we

(41:38):
got married let's hear your vows speaking of my vows i told z i'm like hey your
vows better be awesome because mine hey we had it we're very competitive we still are.
My vows are awesome i owned her but hey
all the cars were filled up and we
ended up riding together to the chile softball tournament

(42:01):
and i think there was just this
instant connection we had
we had an instant connection it was just so great and
i would say we've sort of been together ever since
there were some rocky times but i think we've
been and man i i have to have to
give kudos to that tournament like if i hadn't driven

(42:23):
there and she hadn't been in the car we wouldn't be
married today it's funny no hey it was crazy shane it was crazy so you look
at those as the good old days yeah the chili's days you know it's got to have
some some vibe of that the good old days right you know sometimes we play poker
at hemes and some of the chili's guys are there like Kyle and Corey,

(42:45):
and it's weird to think that there was a time where we would stay at somebody's
apartment until it was time to go to work.
Like, could you imagine doing that today?
I mean, I'm old now, but just the thought
of going to work from somebody's apartment in the morning is yikes.

(43:08):
But we were living the life. I guess everyone's been there. Hey,
it was exciting. We didn't have kids. We really did.
You really did take advantage of a lot of a lot of free time.
Well, you got some kiddos now.
I do. What's that like? I have a 16 year old son named Sully and a 13 year old daughter.
Sully's like driving already. Sully is driving. He's got jobs.

(43:30):
He's officially, well, sort of officially employed here.
So he's got his minor work permit. He's coming to work at bourgeois.
Yeah, no, it's really great.
Finny, my daughter's, yeah, it's great. I have a question.
And it's perfect for you because do you catch yourself trying to not be involved

(43:53):
with his work or with his job since he's here?
Or are you involved? Are you telling him what to do? Do you kind of like pass
him on to everyone who's here? And like, this is between you and them.
That was the goal, Shane.
That's what I would try to do. This is Brett. This is Justin. Here's Jamin.
Good luck. Don't come to me. Yeah, please. Yeah.

(44:15):
Yeah. I think that's important. So the first couple of times he's worked here,
it's been, it's been like that.
It's been, it's been a good, it's been good. I, and I really do.
And I think in a, in a way he values that.
That yeah he's growing he's he's a sharp sharp
kid i'm really rooting for him he really

(44:36):
does acknowledge that this is he sees
how hard i i work and how much i care and i think he wants to have that and
he wants to experience like i remember one of his first couple days here i i
remember this he was vacuum packing and i said hey sully we got to roll out
and he goes dad i I have to finish this too.

(44:57):
Like I'm done. Give me a few more minutes. I was on cloud nine, Shane.
I really did feel so proud of Sully for feeling like that was an,
and I remember telling him like,
Hey, you're going to start in this little medial task or what it seems like
a medial task, but man, this is going out.

(45:19):
This is getting shipped out. You don't know who's going to get it.
This is, this has to be perfect.
This is our life. This is dad's life on the line how good you make this London
and how well is vacuum sealed? How crazy is that?
And I think he took it seriously and he, and he was like, dad,
I have to finish this tote. I can't leave yet.

(45:40):
And nobody, he, he could have said, boom, let's bounce. You know, dude, it's hard.
I think about it all the time. How do you instill, how do you instill the work
ethic like that, that my dad instilled in me, for example, and I,
I don't, I can't name a single thing that he did to do it. It just,
how do you, how do you do that? it.
I think that you really do hope that they watch you.

(46:04):
I think that that's what a dad hopes, is that their kids watch how much he cares
and how much he works. That's good.
No, yeah, it is. And I think they do.
I think my kids see that there's passion, you know, and I try to tell Sully,

(46:26):
you know, because he's 16 and it's hard to come to work and he wants to play
video games and it's summertime and he works hard at school.
And I try to tell him like, Sully, this is like, what dad does is not meaningless.
Like we, you, you can really have an impact and you can really make a difference
and you can really make connections with people that,

(46:50):
dude, I say I say this all the time, that if you hadn't seen me at Jimmy John's
making your sandwich, that I wouldn't be here.
And I try to communicate that to everybody, how important it is that you don't
know who's watching you, right?
But how important it is to think about who's watching you.

(47:14):
And that the owner of bourgeois might like Jimmy John's and he might want a sandwich from you and,
and That it can lead to things It's hard for young people to hear that because it's a grind.
It is hard. It's it's.
It's hard to communicate that because they don't know. I can say it because I've experienced it.

(47:39):
I'm like, hey, you know, the only reason I got a job here is because I was super
excited to make a sandwich. Do you know that's why I work here?
That's it. So that person or that salesman or that business owner that sees
you work in the front counter, that might be your future.
I mean, again, that's rare. You never know.

(48:00):
But it does. Yeah, it doesn't matter. It could have just been,
well, we're ordering Jimmy John's for the crew for lunch today.
It could be as simple as that. And that's still a win for you.
Yeah. But my question is, do you worry that your kids didn't grow up with the
same hardships and things that made you you?

(48:22):
Like you did things differently.
Is that something you think about ever? Yes.
Yeah, for sure. My childhood was a whole lot different than theirs.
I think about that a lot. For sure. And in fact, Z and I made a commitment that

(48:47):
our kids would grow up in an environment that was just wildly different.
Yeah. And it's nobody's fault. But yeah, yeah, for sure. Sure.
I think I'm worried that the world's not a great place right now. You know, it's scary.
I think that the mentality of.

(49:13):
Well, just like leading by example is really, really true. Not at work, but everywhere.
Like nice for your, for Sully to see me, that should be inspiring to him. I think it is.
He really does. He he's cute.
I love him to death. He's super sharp, but I think he sees that this is the

(49:36):
deal, you know, and that, and that, I know you say this a lot,
Shane, you say, but, well, I guess everybody says this, But how you do anything
is how you do everything,
you know, and, and I behave that way at home. I behave that way with the kids.
It's good. I'm really rooting for Sully, man. I hope he, uh,
I hope he sees what hard work is like and I'm rooting for him.

(50:01):
Finney, my daughter is going to do great. Look, Finney is, my daughter is just,
she will get whatever she wants from me. I can't help it. I know, dude. Girls are hard.
Hey, how do I say no? You just got to say no. Shane's lucky because he only
has girls. Just say no. I just say no. Teach me.

(50:22):
There's a quick story. This is funny. Finney and I went to Academy and she pointed
at a, do you know the mugs, the Stanley cups that everybody wants? Yeah. Dude.
The hockey trophy. She pointed at one and she said, dad, that's a really cool cup or something.

(50:42):
I'm like, fucking get it, you know? Hook it up. And so we're in the car.
You like this? You want it?
We're in the car, and she's laughing in the car in the ride home.
And I'm like, Finney, what's up? And she goes, I've been asking mom for this for three weeks.
And she's been telling me no. And she goes, ask you one time, and we get it.

(51:02):
And, of course, I'm just, don't tell mom, you know?
But I said, Finney, hey, please don't take advantage of dad.
And she goes, I'm your baby girl.
It was cute. That's perfect. It was. Yeah, dude. It's hard to tell girls no.
I don't even. Did I answer your question? Yeah.

(51:25):
I don't remember what it was, so you probably did. You spoke a little bit about,
or a lot of it about passion and being passionate about what you're doing.
What else are you passionate about outside of here?
I have some hobbies. Beast. I do really enjoy playing music.
I'm in a band, Coma Knights. You've probably heard of them.

(51:47):
What is it? Coma Knights. C-O-M-A N-I-G-H-T-S. You can find us on all major streaming platforms.
You're going to have to cut that out. Formerly known as and I really.
Yes, we rebranded. It's a new name. So Phil is the lead guitarist.

(52:09):
The best guitar player I've ever heard. He's the only guitarist.
He's the only guitarist of original band hereabouts in the Thibodeau, Houma area.
They play at the Boxer and the Barrel and where else?
Baton Rouge, New Orleans. Yeah. Ace of Clubs, where else? Yeah.
Yeah, we got to show the Ace of Clubs. They wish they could get a show at the

(52:29):
Ace of Clubs. We're not good enough for the Ace of Clubs. Anywhere. They're great.
And if you ever hear of them stopping at a bar near you, go check them out.
They're awesome to listen to.
And it can be found on Spotify and everywhere.
Go check them out. Yeah. It's a good, it's a passion project.
Me and my really close friend, Heamer, he's a bass player.

(52:51):
We write all the music. It's all original.
We really do enjoy it. It's fun.
I'm in a few music projects. So that's my main thing outside of bourgeois,
I guess, is that I like to pretend I'm a musician.
So we do enjoy writing and creating music. It really is. I recommend it to everybody.

(53:15):
Watch this. Listen, Phil, what kind of music do y'all play?
It is. Tell me in as many words as you can.
Man. man it's alternative rock
it's it's 90s influenced modern do this a mixture of who and who and who and

(53:37):
who oh shit he doesn't like that i don't like that at all he doesn't like that
i'm gonna say sure i'm gonna say maybe clown core oh god i'm gonna throw up.
But you did hear him say it's influenced
by 90s rock right also modern yes

(53:59):
which is the 2024s it's that's a contradiction i like keep going no it's great
tell me what kind of music it's really great i know it is i've heard it it's
awesome i spent i spent a lot of time i spent supposed to be like.
And it really is unique. Phil has a tone, a recognizable tone.

(54:22):
I do. I have a tone. He's told. I have a tone. I have a...
When you hear Phil's guitar, you know it comes from Komenites.
Yeah. Or previously well aware.
Yeah. Or any of my other bands. Seven or eight other bands.
Yeah, sure. You actually, I know this, I know this, and maybe you can talk about
it. You actually played in a band with Jason Deruin.

(54:44):
AKA the Cajun Ninja. I think Jason and I may have jammed a couple of times with
our buddy Ryan Parfait back in the day.
Yeah. Heem, the bass player in Koma Nights, was active with Jason for a while.
So that's our connection.
I was just affiliated with the crew at the time.

(55:06):
And so back in the, I don't know, 2006, 2007.
Chili's days. yeah there was a lot of original live music there was a lot of
cover bands that did unique things it was a really good time to be in the bar scene and see unique,

(55:28):
acts we i was in the bar scene around that time too but i was doing shots of,
red snappers at the goose sure we we were at the brick house and we were at the what,
yeah i guess the brick house that there was another place called the garage,
there was these places that were the that you that's where you would go to see

(55:52):
original live music right that didn't exist where they had cover bands homo
was always bigger and better about that than Thibodeau, right?
Jason was a part of some projects and he was just active in the community at the time.
There was this band called Like 85.
They played, they were super popular.
Do you remember, gosh, it was some bars downtown. The Clowns.

(56:18):
The Clowns? No. Who were they? Not a clue.
But Winfields and all those bars in the early 2000s,
i think it's sinclair now but that area
down to the library the library or before
the library right but i mean for my time i
played i played in the original band at

(56:38):
the library which was weird i played in the
original band at last call too which is traditionally a cover band spot so for
a club a club even right so for us to play there was a is a thing it was a thing
i was it was was a different time i was in a high energy band but you ever played at the old la casa.

(57:02):
No. For an event or something? I remember they had live music back then.
Steve Juno, that was his. That was his, yeah.
That was at the new Lacoste's. Oh. Hey, let me ask you this.
You ever play at a wedding?
You ever play for a like that? Is that offensive? Yes. Any more questions, Bo? It's not offensive.
No, we can skip that. I don't mean that to my musician friends that play.
No, we can skip that part. I really don't know any.

(57:25):
Sure, I can play you some. I can play some collective soul for you on my guitar,
but it's not something that I do at home.
At home, when I have my guitar, I'm creating and writing music for the couple of projects I'm in.
You don't want to play even your original show at a wedding and have people

(57:45):
come up and say, play me this, play me this, play me this.
That's why you don't. Well, they do that at my original shows.
Phil takes offense. offense he doesn't
look look he doesn't want to play other people's music
he wants to play no it's not fun listen i love playing other
people's music i only play other people like i

(58:07):
think i played higher by creed and z will attest for every day for probably
a month straight in my house singing at the top of my lungs i didn't know that
about you but but my music my musicianship is spent jamming and creating some sounds.
To be clear, I'm not sure if this is something you're trying to avoid and we

(58:29):
can cut it, but I want to know about you playing at a wedding.
Well, you think I did? Oh. I know you did.
Well, it wasn't a wedding. It was, I guess, the bridal party.
What do you call that? The dinner.

(58:50):
Oh, the rehearsal dinner.
Yes. Okay, didn't know that. I thought it was the wedding. No,
we played- That makes it better. We played a rehearsal dinner.
That makes it a little better.
Sure. Because there was no wedding after. I'll make this quick. I'll make it quick.
I'll make it quick. Because there's not much to tell, but we played it.
I was in a band called In Response to the Stars.

(59:12):
And what type of music was that? It was, I call it thrash pop.
So no sludge? No. No grunging? No. No metal?
It was high energy, screamo.
Pop music it was very different

(59:35):
we were ahead of our time we really did hey listen
we really did have something going and the groom
requested y'all personally the groom loved our set asked us to play and it was
a disaster it was it was not good and now but i'll say this it was the best

(59:59):
show we We've never played.
And y'all didn't quit. We did not quit. We played to the last possible song.
We played our entire catalog of songs.
It was... Name everyone at the rehearsal dinner that loved it. The groom.
Now name everybody that didn't absolutely hate it.

(01:00:19):
I remember I knew that things weren't going well when the guys at the beer keg
said, I said, well, this is before we set up my guitar.
I'm strapped. I'm strapped in. We're ready. My microphone, we did mic checks.
We're checking. And the guys at the beer keg go, they yelled out a country song,

(01:00:41):
like play some country kind of like that.
And Nigel, my dear friend, Nigel says, we got you.
Let's do it. Let's go. Yeah, we'll play the most country song we got.
And it was the most just in
your face screaming song that
we had in our whole song list and i remember it went well i listen me and him

(01:01:06):
killed it it was really good but just one by one people just left hey until
it was just the groom and the wife well the his future wife and then she left.
And it was just him. Oh, my.
Hey. What a time. And we had a tip cup, and there were no tips in there.

(01:01:30):
Dang. Y'all gave it to the groom? Shane, I remember.
Shane, I remember. I remember me feeling a certain way about this.
I felt a way about it. I didn't want.
I didn't think that that was a move for the band.
Because at the time we were talking about getting a a van we were we were going

(01:01:53):
to take our music now that's a band we were gonna we were gonna make some sacrifices
and take our music on tour,
because we had something unique and it was really great
was this a turning point yeah i
don't think we played another show there's still time for
that there's time there's still time for the the the van phil there is
no listen they went from full-time to dissolving

(01:02:16):
the band because i moved on one wedding i moved on i
joined another band i thought we're gonna take over the world i joined another
band thought we're gonna take over the world you really do you get a guitar
when you're young and you figure out these chords and these shapes and it sounds
cool and you write music and you think you have it you really do convince yourself

(01:02:36):
that you're gonna make Make a move.
And that you're going to make noise. And that people are going to know you.
And appreciate what you're doing.
And you exhaust the resources into that. And it's not a good idea.
Man, I say that. No regrets. But man, I really did waste a lot of my early 20s

(01:03:01):
into thinking that that was the move.
Like I really did think that. But what's the move if you love to play guitar?
And you love to make music. No, listen, that's why it's difficult.
And if you don't have a support system,
You just need to know why. You don't know why you're doing it.
Listen, I think it's all about having somebody that has your back,

(01:03:21):
though. Like, hey, try this out.
Try it. I got you. And if it doesn't work out, you can come back.
But if you don't have that, you lose.
If you don't make it, you lose everything. And it is a risk.
And we never took that leap. We never bought a van. We never did that.
But I was ready to. you know it was it was

(01:03:42):
there was a moment where i thought like hey this band's
gonna make it let's let's do it and we
just didn't and it's okay i'm happy with it i'm coma nights is a really awesome
project i get to express myself in it you know it's for anybody that's played
original music they know how
important it is to have those moments with a group of guys or girls that

(01:04:08):
you can mesh with on a musical sense and really create some unique sounds and
stuff that, that are really from your heart. It really is. It's really something.
So where are you at now with it? Where was that?
Like, I don't know, call it whatever young and dumb, like you're doing this to get famous.
Is that, is that still a possibility, a goal?

(01:04:32):
Or is it now like I'm doing this for me and for fun. and I don't care if people
don't like it. I don't care if I ever get famous.
I'm doing this because it's all these things for me. Listen,
I can't care if I get famous.
Because that's not cool? No, because it's just such a random series of events.

(01:04:53):
It's not something that is purely in your control.
You know? Like the right person has to hear you. You have to play the right bar.
It really isn't something you really have to... you really have to adopt this
self-indulgent mindset that you're playing that the music that you create.
Is yours independent of what you think people want to listen to.

(01:05:18):
So then why get- Because it's art. So, but then why get on a stage and showcase it for other people?
Is it because you think, is it because like, hey, I think this is awesome,
I created this, let me show it to you and see if you like it?
It is, it is that, it is some of that, but it is, it's- It's the experience.

(01:05:40):
If you've written a song, Before, from start to finish, it's exhausting and hard.
And when you have the product, you really do want to share it.
You really do feel like, listen to what we did.
That is a mindset. And of course, you get to have those moments with the band.

(01:06:02):
We get that rush too, being on stage, like the anxiety and the nervousness and that spike.
You still get that? that i do get that you gotta
get it right and it's deep and and i
i struggle with that only only recently in the last few shows have and again
i've played hundreds of shows i think i probably played 150 shows and i still

(01:06:26):
i feel scared about it and only recently have i sort swayed from that.
But yeah, people are paying to see you.
There is another element that there is a show involved.
You're putting on a show. You can listen to our music on Spotify,

(01:06:50):
but you pay $10 to get in a bar.
I hope that we can entertain you on top of that.
And maybe the music isn't enough. you know
so all those all those things kind of rush through and are
you going to play the chords right we made changes to a
the pre-chorus to song and
a you know like it's difficult it's

(01:07:12):
hard it i imagine being a cover in a
cover band it's hard but the songs
are written already so to play your own stuff and to really present it it's
it's hard it's hard to dig in is it a little bit of a cop Because if I'm playing
Freebird and somebody doesn't like the song, then that's Leonard Skinner's fault.

(01:07:35):
Is it harder to put it out because that's you, that's a part of you that you put out there?
And now if they don't like it, shit.
Yeah. Well, it would be ballsy for someone to tell you that they hated your set, you know?
I haven't gotten that. Yeah, but you can feel the crowd with what they're thinking.

(01:07:56):
I can. Like at that wedding.
You know what they thought of your set. Yeah, they weren't ready.
Yeah, they liked it just fine. They just weren't ready. Listen, it was good music.
They weren't ready for it. yeah hey
you know and it's playing shows
is a really fun thing to do it

(01:08:17):
it's exciting you get to showcase what you've been working on okay phil as nervous
as you are to get on stage to play in front of a bunch of people phil has also
been doing brazilian jiu-jitsu for For four-ish years. Yeah? Five?
And he competed as a white belt and got double gold. No.

(01:08:41):
Triple gold. Double champ. Double champ. Triple champ. I think I got gold.
I got gold. Yeah. I got gold and silver. Okay. But listen. Listen,
Phil's really good at what he does.
And my question for you is, what made you more nervous? Jiu-Jitsu.
The the jiu-jitsu tournament i've never felt pressure

(01:09:03):
ever in my life than being
at the jiu-jitsu tournament in the drive there and
waiting for the ref to call your name which you know it's coming right
yeah like your shoes are off and you're dressed out and you
know it's time in the match before you finished and you're next
and you you just think they're going
to call my name now you know but do

(01:09:26):
you remember that same situation when you
were playing shows like maybe your second third
first gigs where you know it's about to
be time to go up someone's gonna announce you yeah is it it's not comparable
yeah sure now that i think about it yeah but you have a crew with you and you're
feeding off of them if they're confident you're confident but jujitsu is just

(01:09:49):
you all your guys are up in the stands it really is like mono you're the only guy down there.
It's different. I wonder how the music gigs and stuff prepared you for that.
How would you have handled it if you have never been on stage?
I think I reached the apex level of nervous energy. Like, I don't think.

(01:10:09):
And to sort of lay this out, it is a month of training.
You know, like, Coach Scotty, I want to do it. I'm going to head to the AGF tournament.
I'm going to have three-stripe, two-stripe right belt at the time.
And then from that moment, it is a just boot camp of, I remember,

(01:10:30):
I remember this one moment where we did drills in class.
And so I was just an open guard person on top pass and he didn't let me move.
So even if I lost the pass, stay down. And the whole end of class,
like those moments of just like my muscles failing me and having nothing left

(01:10:53):
prepared me for the tournament.
And I get that now, but it's hard.
It's really just like playing music and showing people what you're working on.
It's the same thing, only, yeah, you're right, no one else is there.
Although I would say that I trained really hard for the tournament,

(01:11:17):
and I really wanted to represent the gym,
and I always, I will take this to my grave, we had these black shirts with the
Next Generation logo on the front, they were cool, and I remember my first I
remember everything about it.
I remember everything that happened. He tried to pull guard on me.

(01:11:38):
I had his lapel and sleeve and he tried to pull guard and I passed knee on belly to mount.
I just know everything that happened, but that's it.
Like that match, my first match is all I can tell you about the whole tournament.
I don't know anything else.
But that one moment where I caught him in an Americana from, from high mount.

(01:11:59):
And it's over. And the ref raises my hand.
And there was like 20 black Next Generation shirts lining the top of the stands.
Just fist pumping.
And it was just such a unique. We went nuts.
Hey, we were screaming. It was just something I will take to my grave. It was.

(01:12:24):
And dude, unlike the band, it was my own accomplishment.
Yeah. And I worked really hard for it. I really, doing jujitsu was already out of my wheelhouse.
It was not something I ever dreamed of doing in my life.
And I signed up for this tournament. And it sort of went my way for a few rounds.

(01:12:46):
And it was... For all the rounds, Phil. You crushed everybody.
I remember, I do remember one other moment. It was in the challenger division,
which I guess is up to a weight class. So we did like 169 to 190, I guess, whatever.
It's people heavier. Yeah, it's all the weight classes.
It's people heavier than you. So I won gold in that. Yeah.

(01:13:07):
That's the harder one. Yeah. And I remember I was with this guy and we were just, hey, listen.
When the match is over, right, your adrenaline is just, your body's going 300%.
It really is.
Like it's going above its means and you cannot, I dude, I cannot make a fist.

(01:13:33):
I literally could not make a fist with my hands.
My muscles were spent coaches rubbing my forearms like, and I,
I went against this guy and we're, we're going and the ref blows the whistle.
I don't even know what happened. I don't remember the grapple.
I don't remember getting grips. I don't I don't remember taking him down, nothing.

(01:13:53):
I really don't remember. And
the rep blows the whistle. And I say to the guy, I'm like, hey, who won?
Who won? And he goes, you won. And it was just cool, you know, like, all right.
But yeah, jujitsu changed my life for sure.

(01:14:19):
I remember I might need to cut this but remember.
Do you remember how it was before? like what are you talking about?
Do you remember I would say things like are you going to put on your costume?
Yeah are you going to the session tonight?

(01:14:41):
Or the function you'd call everything a function everything was a function yeah
are you going to the little function or something this weekend?
Like where are you going?
The function Yeah, but you're still like that. Jiu-jitsu tournaments are wild.
And yeah, if you've never done one or if it's your first one,
the adrenaline you dump that you get from your first match sometimes is too much.

(01:15:04):
I can remember my early tournaments, and yeah, I would have no recollection
whatsoever of the first match except that it's over and I can't move.
Can't make a fist, can't grip. Everything is spent. and it was,
you know, a five-minute match.
So what's even harder is if you did screw up and win, now you got to do it again,

(01:15:27):
sometimes with very little rest. And that happened to you.
So what was your second match like?
After your body feels like it can't go. I'm going to say this.
I'm going to say this. I learned this afterwards.
That there is a minimum time that you're supposed to get a rest.
There is a time limit that you're supposed to get a break if your match is the

(01:15:50):
next one. And I didn't get that.
I know. I think they gave me three and a half minutes.
So three and a half minutes. And
I remember going back in the ring and not caring. Like I really didn't.
I really did not care. I could not move.
This guy was going to just have his way with me for five minutes straight. I could not make a grip.

(01:16:13):
And so I just haphazardly tried to get maybe some lapel grip.
It's just muscle memory at that point. I just ended up on the ground in a guillotine,
which, to be fair, I didn't tap.
So he didn't win by guillotine because I was going to die before I tapped.
He can win, but I will have to die first. like this guy

(01:16:33):
will have a murder on his record before i did
i didn't tap so he sat there in a guillotine for
five minutes while i just sat there i sat
there but i couldn't to be fair i couldn't do anything i
was spent yeah but i guess people don't
realize people don't do enough things to realize that
what happened once you started on the second

(01:16:56):
match and you didn't have anything left in you couldn't move and you
were just like whatever well now the your
decision making is out the window you're not really making decisions you're
relying on your training reflexes right
so once you once you slapped everything that
happened after that just happened your body just did
it without thinking right shane correct me if i'm wrong

(01:17:18):
but like that's what the marines taught
you right like isn't that their goal with all the the
msg stuff and all when you're getting shot it's like
there's no thinking it's just put put rounds back on the target yeah even if
you're dying it's just constant repetitions of as many different situations
as you can all right sorry about that had a little bathroom break speaking of

(01:17:42):
bathrooms phil i got a joke for you how many needs do you have huh how many knees do you have.
Have three three knees you have three knees you have a left knee a right knee
and a weenie get it bo told you that yeah he texted it to me while you're in all right i'm pause.

(01:18:03):
He takes it to while you're in a bathroom all right so what i was saying was
at that moment you you're relying on your training and the repetitions you got
in and you're just your body's just doing what it's most comfortable doing you
don't have time to make decisions or
do the right thing, or make up for errors.
Whatever happens, happens. It's like autopilot.

(01:18:26):
It's autopilot, which is going to lead us into training, and training your staff.
How do you make customer service a part of employees' autopilot?
How do you take that someone who doesn't have the repetitions and get them there,
and get them trained up to where when- When it's complicated. Yeah.

(01:18:48):
When they're not feeling great and they, whatever, their dog died and everything's
going wrong, you still expect a certain performance or a certain product to
offer to the customer, you know, because our employees are also products.
We're offering a product and a service.
So what's it like? What's the steps you take?

(01:19:09):
And I don't know, what do you think about when you try to replicate your passion
for service in someone else? Sure.
You know that we've worked really hard on like a mission and vision statement,
which needs maybe some slight revision, but it's something to hold on to.

(01:19:29):
It is a foundation for me.
And if I can get people to grab on to the idea that our vision is real, you know, or.
You know, that I can say that we're the fourth generation, 130 years strong,

(01:19:53):
and we're just getting started, that moves me.
It really does make me feel like I'm part of something great.
And i want everybody to feel
that genuinely i want a part-time counter
person to feel that that
they are part of a history and

(01:20:16):
they can really shape the future
okay and with that without any words from
them what do you how do you know when you
see that do you recognize that in someone and
you say boom there's my person listen that's that's hard that's that soft skills
that not everybody has not everybody understands i i was fortunate i bought

(01:20:40):
in you know not to talk about my past employments but but this is this is a true statement bow bow.
Saw me at Jimmy John's, saw me because I bought into Jimmy John's.
Yeah. I'd like to think we're special, but you've bought into every place you've been. I have.

(01:21:00):
It's part of your personality. I have. Yeah. I really did drink that proverbial
Kool-Aid. Is what makes you special, though?
Well, I attach to things that move me in that direction.
You know what I mean? Like, I'm sensitive to that.
I want to make a difference. It's my personal goal.

(01:21:23):
It's my dream to just have had an impact and to make a dent and to push people
to understand that those nuanced, I would say maybe trivial interactions,
right?
That customer that comes in the front is everything.

(01:21:43):
That guy or lady that you, that person is everything.
That you really have an opportunity to shape that person's experience. You do.
And that's a powerful sentiment. I took that from my very first time I ever
waited on a table ever in my life.

(01:22:06):
I won't tell you about the time I spilled drinks on a five-top table. It was a sweet tea.
It was a sweet tea. Stinky. Oh, it was pitchers of sweet tea.
Perfect. Hey, it was a mess. I gave the lady my shirt, my work shirt.
So she left in my work shirt.
But I think especially what I want to communicate to my son and people that

(01:22:29):
are young that work here is that you get to take that home. like leaving work and feeling.
Like self-affirmated like that that you
can put your stamp on the day that you let that you really
did make an impact like but it's hey
that's complicated and hard it's a part-time job you're not you're not making

(01:22:53):
a it's hard the economy's trash it's hard in every twist and turn it really
is and it's hard for me to say that it is for me too it is for me too but i still
show up and I still want that person that comes in here and it's their first

(01:23:14):
time here to feel what I feel, like to feel how attached I am to this idea.
Do you know, you feel that, you, you feel that yourself.
You might not. Yeah, I do. And, and Bo and I come through this place and we
have a little more to work with there than, than someone else.
But you, you know, Maybe at Chili's or before then. You weren't making much, right?

(01:23:40):
No. It was tough. You were sleeping in your uncle's basement,
but you still had that. Pre-Chili's. You had the self-affirmation.
You could feel good about something you did that was good for the customer,
for whatever purpose you were shooting down, right?
You felt that back then. That's what led you to here. That's what...

(01:24:02):
You know, you can attribute that to your successes along the way.
Can you imagine any other way?
Could you imagine just showing up and not giving a crap?
I can't. I've never done it, man. Nowhere, you know. I know.
This isn't the only thing I've done and I've never felt that.
So I don't know what it is. Is it okay for you to imagine that this scenario

(01:24:24):
maybe is someone can identify with is that you don't have to?
You like imagine if you didn't have
to care i think i think you
don't well i yeah you listen some people are
in trouble sure but they don't understand
how good it is to feel self-affirmated they

(01:24:45):
don't understand that it's something they can they can create
with their mindset is one more good thing they can put in
their life if everything else is bad if
you could just teach someone to do that hey i have a skill
i can take a situation and i can make
myself feel good from the situation i don't need parents i don't need a pat
on the back i don't need money don't need a new house when the customer comes

(01:25:09):
in i make them happy they leave makes me feel good yeah and i get that hey it's
hard and no one can take it it's hard we're in that the society these days It's
instant gratification.
It's tough.
I worry about my kids in that regard.
They have everything they need.
You know, I hope I can communicate that sentiment to them.

(01:25:33):
That they can feel good about
hard work and showing up and
being reliable and and knowing
look knowing that someone relies on you how like yeah that's deep it's deep
to me that somebody relies on me that goes deep to me it doesn't it's not that's

(01:25:58):
not for everybody it can be.
They have 20 minutes with me. They'll figure it out, hopefully.
Because I really do try to communicate that.
Do you know? Yeah. It's tough to reach young people.
It's really, really, really hard.
Money's tight. Families are tight.

(01:26:21):
And, you know, yeah. We do a lot of one-on-ones and just kind of career progression stuff.
And Phil handles a lot of it. and how often do you do something like that?
How often do you pull it in?
You know, maybe an employee that's been working here for a month,
three months or 10 years and you sit down and you're getting them to the next step. What is that?

(01:26:45):
For a company that doesn't do that, first, why do they need to do that?
And then how do you do it? What do those conversations need to be like?
That's complicated. Because it needs to be happening, right?
For sure. Because we weren't doing that before.
You didn't, yeah. I guess we didn't have to. We had a room full of people that were self-reliant.

(01:27:08):
We had a room full of five people that had all worked here for more than 10 years. Right.
But they, no, actually they needed it. They weren't getting it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So you sit down and they're nervous and they're saying, what did I do wrong? And what's it like?
How do you? it's it's really hard for

(01:27:28):
a young manager to find things
going right and that is the
bane of leadership i think is that you think that you're supposed to correct
things all day long but generating really interpersonal relationships with people
and attaching them to the company Like, it really is.

(01:27:52):
I remember when I first started here.
Hey, and Shane and I, you know this, we worked.
That mission and vision statement was not easy.
You didn't have one. It was really like, hey, you know, we want to go another 130 years.

(01:28:12):
Sure. But let's write something down. Let's get something that moves people and gets people moving.
I really do enjoy working with people.
I got that from Canes and Chili's. It's really like adopting a working manager
mindset that you're not immune to work. Work like I will scrub the fryers.

(01:28:37):
I'm gonna sweep the floors.
I'm gonna mop under the stove All those things are not i'm not escaping that
i'm gonna work with people and I i'm gonna show And lead by example that I believe
in this company And you can you can climb aboard like you can get on board with
me or or not But I think that's the first,

(01:28:58):
Like initial mindset I had when I started here,
What does bourgeois want to do?
Where do we want to be? And how are we going to get there?
And once we figure that out and get it in writing, I can get people to...
I mean, I look at Lacey when I first started, and she was not in a great place.
It was a difficult environment. It was not...

(01:29:22):
It was a lot of things, but man, look at her now.
I really did put all my cards in her basket, and she, is that the right saying, or eggs?
You put some tools in the shed. You put some things in a basket, okay?
I made a basket, and I put some shit in it, and she believes that bourgeois

(01:29:45):
is a calling, and it is. It is really a, I don't want to say cult.
It's a cult. Everything's a cult. It's such a beautiful, like precious thing to me.
And I wanted everybody that worked with me to feel that attachment.

(01:30:07):
And how do I do that?
Because it was already 130 years old.
Like how do, imagine that that's a burden.
And I'll say this, I've never felt more free at a job.
I really do. No one's breathing down my neck. I can really feel like my ideas,

(01:30:28):
like, do we talk about this often? Everything is new.
Everything that we imagine and want to implement is new because we've never
tried it. It's how beautiful is that?
You really, you fail a lot. Some things don't work. work but what does work
is is creating like relationships with those tenure people and and really.

(01:30:53):
Holding them accountable and getting them to buy in to
the vision and mission statement that that that is
the key is to get to get key
people in on your mindset and
your goals and then they attach to that and then it spreads right those influential
people spread it's hard shane yeah you know you can you can imagine that that's

(01:31:18):
a different it's a challenge especially when you come into a company that's
so tenure and you have people that know everything.
Yeah. So let me ask you this question because, well, it's something we've kind
of both been through, I guess, in a little bit different sense.
But so I started working for my dad full-time in 2011, and then he retired,

(01:31:41):
I don't know, for eight years or so.
And when I started, there were not a whole lot of employees,
maybe 10, in, but they had all been here for a long time.
And I gradually had to become like a leader, a manager, like these people are
going to be my employees and I'm the boss at some point, right?

(01:32:01):
That was really hard to do.
I was able to do that gradually and it was still really hard.
You got hired and got put in charge
of these people. Some of them had been here for 25 years on day one.
How was that is my first question. I already know the answer,
but I want you to tell everybody.

(01:32:22):
Number two, have you done anything like that before?
Like when you got hired at Kane's as a general manager, had that store been established already?
And so now all of a sudden you're their new boss or were they just trained up better than that?
And then, yeah, number three is just how would you advise other people that
are coming into management,

(01:32:44):
maybe with people that have been there for a long time under you now,
having to deal with that situation?
Okay. People don't like change.
And a lot of the people here were operating for years in that mindset.

(01:33:10):
Yeah. Pretty independently. Like Shane just said is, yeah, we had 10 people
here or however many that had been here for 10 to 25 years, they all knew how to do everything.
They were semi-independent, but they still needed those one-on-ones to improve and get them goals.
Imagine that for them though.

(01:33:32):
We can be sympathetic to that. Yeah.
And I remember hearing that from them directly. And I remember having these
awkward conversations.
I remember one moment, there was just somebody that had been with y'all for

(01:33:54):
a long time that just would not give me a second and just said stuff like,
I don't need to be managed. inched.
I've been here and all I want to do is just say, man, you're costing this company. Really?
Do you care about Beau? Because I can't tell. I can't tell. Do you care about bourgeois?

(01:34:20):
I can't tell. And you shouldn't be able to tell.
You're acting like you don't care. You're costing
this company everything and that's
hard that's hard i i felt i
felt the vibe my first week like okay
let's let me learn everything let me let me just try and i'll tell you my my

(01:34:45):
first month there i remember telling my wife z that i didn't know i look like
hey hon this place is I did not make the right choice.
This is not, there's too much work to do.
This is too, this is so far beyond, I can't do it.

(01:35:06):
And I came back and I came back and look now, it's really, it's really been
a, it's really been an experience.
It's really been fun. that was the
most challenging granted 90 of
that staff isn't here anymore but the ones i mean today but back then when when

(01:35:33):
they stick the ones that stuck around learned that this isn't fake like like.
I know what you're saying. You know, I hear you that there's no way somebody
is this happy or excited, but they got it.
I think like after a couple of months, even Miss Karen and them saw like, like, let's go,

(01:36:01):
you know, this is, let's, this is it, you know, and they felt those, they felt that passion.
Yeah yeah i i think you know you helped turn the culture of this place around,
but is it almost single-handedly it was a tall it was a tall it was a tall it

(01:36:22):
was a big ask i would say from me this might but i but to be clear i wouldn't
let you quit look i had an I had an opportunity at Cane's.
I took like an interim GM position in Laurel.
I was the operations manager at Thibodeau, feeling good, feeling like I was on the up and up.

(01:36:46):
And I went to Laurel. They needed a GM.
And so I filled in that position.
They ended up offering me the restaurant permanently. Indiscriminately,
I declined, and my family, we were just not interested in moving to Long Mississippi.
It just wasn't in the cards.
But to answer your question, I think you may have asked me what that was like.

(01:37:10):
You had to do it there. Yeah. You had to step in and be the boss to a bunch
of people that had been there forever.
But they asked you to go there, why?
Because the GM retired? Because the school was struggling?
Struggling they they lost a gm in a
neighboring restaurant and so the gm
of the laurel restaurant needed to

(01:37:33):
fill in there which was my initial plan i i was actually supposed to go to hattiesburg
i was supposed to fill in there they made some last minute changes i needed
to fill in until they permanently replaced the gm and that i understood that
look it's an opportunity that You have to take those things when you work in
those corporate environments.
Like if something comes up, you hop on it. They sent an email.

(01:37:57):
It was a blast. It went to all the operations managers.
We're looking for a GM level OM to fill in a spot.
Yes, I'm in. Send me. I spent nine months there. It was hard.
Sully was young. It wasn't easy.
They stayed home. They did.
They did. I drove home when I could. It was difficult.

(01:38:20):
I had an older Nissan Maxima. Bless that car. It was awesome.
I stayed there for for nine months i they
they needed me for a length of time i stayed but yeah
the culture isn't mine i didn't
get to create anything there just like here it was already there yeah and so

(01:38:40):
that takes time and then you can layer on not being at home or you've got all
these kids at home yeah you've got your own set of problems it was extremely
stressful i lost all my hair.
It was, it was the most stressful time in my entire professional life working there.
But I met some great people. I made a move.

(01:39:04):
I did some things. They offered me the restaurant, which if you have,
like, if you have, if you have, if you have these dreams of working in quick
service, like if, if that's your calling, Cane's is the place to work.
It really is. they have everything. It really is a great place to work. But I said no.

(01:39:28):
I said no to the restaurant. They moved me back to Thibodeau,
where I resumed my position as an OM under someone that ruined my life.
I really did learn everything not to do from the person I worked for.

(01:39:48):
And then my family opened the
jimmy jones a family his name's
nick owens he's a really good
friend of mine we we're still in touch we talk
often he's brilliant their family he was an er nurse i guess i'm sorry if i
got that wrong it's a nurse rn we'll make sure he listens he and his family

(01:40:13):
decided to open a jimmy jones franchise and somebody recommended me he asked around,
like just his his crew of hey anybody
know someone that can run a sandwich shop or help us is that the first time
you met him i thought you had known him before okay he was an acquaintance i
think he might know chelsea i think i think we know nick well nick and nick's

(01:40:35):
41 i think he's we're close in age. I think we interacted.
There was this coffee shop in Tibeto called the Demi Toss where I worked.
So I mingled with him and his crew.
I think, maybe not on a personal level, but when they were opening the restaurant,
somebody that ate at Cane's said, this is your guy.

(01:40:58):
Just like what happened with Bourgeois.
Just like that somebody said, hey, you gotta get Phil. He's your guy.
And Nick called me and they him and his family made me an offer and I took it.
I guess the rest is history. I'm glad you liked it. Was that a new store?
It was. That opened? Yeah. So the new Bourgeois is not the first new store you

(01:41:22):
opened. It's not even the second.
It's not even the third. Because you opened the one in Thibodeau, too.
The Jimmy John's. I helped open the Jimmy John's in Houma, the Jimmy John's
in Thibodeau, and the Raising Cane's in Thibodeau. God.
What would we have done without you, Phil?
Just, who knows? Me neither. either
phil i have one more one more little something for you to listen to please no

(01:41:46):
i gotta get to bowling if you would define your leadership style and how you
like to impact the team you work with every day to help them feel motivated
and accomplished oh lord.
Chris again but i'm so happy he played along it was super last minute and And

(01:42:06):
he was, I mean, right on time.
Hey, you don't know what it's like for Chris to ask you something, you know?
You better have an answer now. Hey, will you need me to play it again?
Hey, one more time. Play it one more time. Picture him standing in front of
you, staring you in the eyes when he says this. No, no, no, no. This isn't new.
Picture you're in the drive-thru at the Canes in Thibodeau, and the window opens.

(01:42:31):
If you would, define your leadership style and how you like to impact the team
you work with every day to help them feel motivated and accomplished. Okay.
My leadership style is very interpersonal.
I do develop personal relationships with people.

(01:42:55):
I think it helps. I think that when someone imagines working here that has been
here, they imagine how I feel like I play the influential role.
I feel like I have an impact in that regard.
And that's that maybe, you know, some, some of the styles of management that

(01:43:20):
I've seen before, like, maybe, maybe you don't want to, maybe you don't want to hear from your boss.
So that motivates you to do a good job. Like, man, I really don't want anybody
to ask me about the freezer. So I'm going to make sure it's right. Right.
I think I think more of my mindset is that like somebody might do a task and

(01:43:46):
feel good about it because they don't want to let me down.
And and it I got that from from from the first time I ever had a management
position that I was different, that I wasn't that dictator. I wasn't the military presence.
I wasn't disciplined, but my patience level was really high.

(01:44:09):
It connects to my parenting. My wife will say today that I am the most patient
person she's ever met as a dad.
And I love that. I really do feel like I've been in the pits.
I've done the job.
It's been hard. And I'm here now because of the time and the effort I put in.

(01:44:35):
And you can get And I'm here with you every step of the way.
Like we are going to achieve these goals that I present to you together.
And it's been working out.
You know, I want people to feel like they leave here every day making a difference.

(01:44:57):
And I ask, and I truly inquire about those moments.
Who did you impact today? What customer was impacted by you today?
You know, those little moments are everything to me.
So patience is tough, man. The military style leadership or the dictator style leader,

(01:45:21):
I think it comes from, I never thought about it until you just said it,
but really stems from a lack of patience is I see the problem and I need it fixed this second,
but you really don't, you know, really have more time than that to fix, to fix every problem.
And probably it's probably better to be a little more patient and fix it the

(01:45:42):
right way rather than rush through a fix that's going to piss everyone off, you know?
Well, in parenting, parenting, that, that really strikes a chord with me because,
Because I don't remember my mom or dad yelling at me very often.
Yeah, my main motivation was I didn't want to let them down.
I did not want to disappoint them.
And how did they do that? How do you do it? Because that's the kind of parent I want to be.

(01:46:06):
It's hard. All right, perfect.
Can you just tell us everything we need to know? Hey, it comes from...
It's just that I'd be a good dad, too.
You know this, that DISC profile analysis? I think it's...
So, D is for discipline, which you can imagine as a military sort of environment.

(01:46:28):
The I is influence, which is me.
Like a person that can influence people to achieve goals. The S is for steady, which that's patience.
And then the C is, what is the C?
Compliance. So that's your rule following, sort of.

(01:46:55):
Your ability to adhere to standards, I guess.
And so, so when you mark mine out, I'm really low discipline,
but my influence and steady are really high.
They're just, that's all I have. So my patience and my influential range are

(01:47:17):
really high and my discipline and compliance are really low, faulty low.
Like i think most people hearing
that would think that that's really strange
and not what you want a manager and they're
all wrong yeah i think it's important that i'm part of a team like i i don't

(01:47:39):
think i can exist independently of the astronomical minds that are here today
but yeah it's it's hard It's hard. It's hard.
Even Chris, if he listens, will say that Phil shoots from the hip,
right? There is no planning.

(01:47:59):
Nothing is involved prior to showing up and making calls when things go wrong, right?
But it's good calls, you know? Like, I don't like that about you.
I don't like that you don't do these things that I want.
But what you're doing is working, and I don't know how. I don't know how you're succeeding.

(01:48:22):
I'm here for it. I'm going to try to watch from a distance. Dude,
it's all intangibles. It is.
Dude, I said this right when we started.
And you know this. I've never been left to my own devices as much as here Do you know that like?
It's hard to work at those corporate places. They are literally breathing down your neck.

(01:48:44):
They are watching your every maneuver And here I feel like I can fail And move
on like that didn't work. What's next? What's next?
What's next over and over again until we find something that works and it works
and if it doesn't work We'll move on together and say that didn't work.

(01:49:06):
What's next? And now have something, you know, we'll have something and it may
or may not work, but it's exciting.
And it keeps like the entrepreneurship alive,
you know, like we're really testing waters here and it's a new building and
we have a new staff and it really is exciting to be to pull the trigger on some

(01:49:29):
things that you aren't sure about.
Phil was so excited about the new store and I was so scared.
It's weird coming from somebody a place that has 20 years of trial and error
you do this this works don't sway to hey Phil we need help with customer service you hired good luck,

(01:49:56):
there's a customer right there and here's a lot of rope So do what you want with it.
I'll talk to you in a month and you can tell me how it's going.
You know, how weird of a, dude, that's a shift.
This is interesting, Phil. What if you, I'm not going to say would reverse the
order, but say you would give a seminar for a big franchise company,

(01:50:19):
a big corporate structure.
What are some things that you living in this world, in this kind of wild west
mom and pop shop environment?
What are some things that you could take and you know if you implemented some
of these ideas that maybe the corporate world doesn't have? That they would be more so shit,
Hey, listen, Shane, you know they call me Corporate Phil, right?

(01:50:43):
Yeah, we told them to call you that. Did you? That was you?
Hey, you know why? Because I was appalled.
The just haphazardness of wrapping some burritos.
I just, like, hey, how much does that weigh? I don't know.

(01:51:03):
How much is in there? I don't know. Like, what do you mean?
Mean how what do you mean you don't know that's hard
that was my deconstruction i'll
use that that term we had to we had
to break you down in order to build you back up they don't call me corporate
phil anymore i think i've assimilated into like the it's a good you would have

(01:51:26):
a tough time going back to corporate life i would have a hard time and so and
so with that man Man, Shane, I don't know.
It would be really tough for me. I know what makes us tick. Isn't it weird? I know, yeah.
Like, I see the passion from you and Bo.

(01:51:49):
Imagine being in those corporate environments and not getting this. On purpose.
It's not an accident. They really are not... They do not... Dude, it...
It's hard to imagine someone that's really high up in the company mandating change.

(01:52:13):
And I mean mandating, like incorporating these life-changing litigation,
whatever you want to call it, to a restaurant that you operate on a daily basis
that they have no ties to. Like, you're in the pits.
You're working with people every day. You're struggling. You're making labor.

(01:52:37):
And all these things are piling up on you.
And somebody from corporate that doesn't work in a restaurant thinks that they know everything.
And it's really, really hard.
It's a really tough competitive environment to be in.
I appreciate Chris for everything he's ever taught me. I know it's probably hard.
I hit the jackpot. I will never.

(01:53:02):
I'll say this. How important it is for somebody to attach to the mission and
vision of a company, especially this one, especially one that's so old and on the fourth generation,
how invaluable it is to feel that.

(01:53:22):
Would have trouble communicating that to a corporate regional director.
Like you, you make me believe in you and in your company.
That's hard. They might, it might be lost.
Well, something you've told me so many times that has taken me a long time to

(01:53:43):
understand is you've told me,
do you know how lucky I am
to come to work every day with the owner
of the the company oh yeah yeah i
said that to see often but i never understood that i'm like well i don't i don't
really i don't know what that means where where else would i be or where else
would the owner of the company be but i guess hearing you talk about some of

(01:54:07):
the things you just talked about it's kind of starting to make a little hey
i said that to him he runs uh she was a concrete here and.
I've told him these things he's he's in the same boat but how beautiful it is to work with,
the owners and the owner of the
company every day that i don't have

(01:54:28):
to there's man it's a
direct path i hope that i don't annoy
you no i but no it's it's something that i never had i worked at canes for seven
years and met todd once and i work in the same state as the owner of raising and I met him once,

(01:54:52):
and it didn't feel right.
I felt, I felt, and maybe I'm not over it yet. Be careful, maybe he's listening.
But I didn't feel, you know, Chris, Chris introduced us. And Chris is pumped.
Chris is in my corner, dude. And he said, Todd, this is Phil.

(01:55:16):
He's been running the Laurel store for you. Hi, Phil.
Okay, we'll see you. And I built this moment up. forever in my head.
I thought it was going to be something glorious and it wasn't,
but it was just what it is.

(01:55:36):
That is, that is a true representation of working for a company that has 700 restaurants.
You know, it's hard. I don't, it's not his fault.
You got any stories about dog canes good stories yeah just good ones please
good story don't tell us about the time you know.

(01:55:57):
You know good story there's there's
one there's there is a good story i remember this
one moment maybe i hope chris
remembers this if he's listening there was
a huge group of people that
came in shortly before close and they
you know it was to be clear this is the homestore and

(01:56:20):
shortly before close means 4 a.m no no it
was a weeknight i think we closed at 11 i might be making that up maybe 10 or
11 big group comes in they all order it's it's a it's a good deal we it was
awesome we're closing up we're cleaning and then there's ruckus there's,

(01:56:41):
there's shit flying in the front lobby.
Cane sauce, chicken. The food fight? Boxes. Yeah.
Lovely. There is cane sauce on the fans, on the windows and I'm scared.
The crew members are scared. We have young people. They don't know what's going on.

(01:57:02):
It's rowdy. People are fighting and throwing food up front. It was not good.
It was one of the worst moments I've had in, in the business.
And they were all running outside and getting in their cars and peeling out
in the parking lot and trying to leave.

(01:57:23):
And I got in the only exit that the parking lot had and didn't let him leave.
And Hey, I was, Hey, that's bold. Hey, I was a brick wall. they were going to
have to kill me to leave. Hey.
That's how much I bought into the mission and vision statement.
Any, anyway, I stood there, I was yelling. I,

(01:57:47):
didn't let him leave i was gonna call the
cops in the parking lot you're gonna have to
kill me they're coming right now you have
one second or you can just go clean yeah you have one second to turn around
and every single person grabbed a towel and or a broom so it's badass it was
it was in it was really something that i will never forget it it was on camera it was a weird.

(01:58:14):
There's a weird thing it was one of
the weirdest moments i've had in it working but
the lobby got cleaned and they apologized and
had a good night and so did i was it
weirder than when the car crashed into the building no
and there was mustard and
syrup and pepper jelly

(01:58:37):
and god knows what else you think that's what i think about when
i think about the car crash on everything thing and how come
you let that guy leave without cleaning well yeah
we didn't have the mission vision statement hey when
i made the corner after the sound i saw miss
jenny's head in your lap you're cradling her like in the

(01:58:58):
movies but can i tell you something and my
first thought is oh god jenny's jenny's dying
right now listen she flew 10 feet way
more yeah i thought it was it the table's
nine foot hey it was just like the movies you had
her head in your lap she threw 14 feet if you
if you look if you look at the crash if you're

(01:59:22):
if you're one of the lucky people that have seen the car you know that it's
like whatever you're imagining it's way worse but you know i dude this is real
some some people think that a car idled through the front door i don't It was going 50.
The entire car hit the office wall in the building, in the back of the building.

(01:59:48):
And so if I was... I think me and Stacy were kind of collectively helping a
customer, and it happened.
And Stacy was simultaneously cleaning the saw. So we were kind of getting close. And it was like...
Never been hit by a concussion grenade, but It was instantaneous.

(02:00:10):
It was this loud, concussion style fogginess and ringing in my ears because
it was loud, loud, loud, loud.
It's a fog of war, bro. And then you kind of, and then your vision,
because you've been jolted, I guess, you see it, and then I see Jenny in,

(02:00:33):
that part of the cabinet that I guess took the worst blow, had all the tools
and, and they were on top of her.
They were, she was literally covered with equipment, like from the, from the counter.
She had been leaning on that front counter that the car hit and it sent her
to the back of the building. Yeah.

(02:00:54):
And, and along with everything else. So I, I was fortunate enough to have been on the other side.
I was up front, but I didn't get crushed, you know?
And I mean, you, you can watch me like just aim my vision on Jenny because she's
a delicate, sweet old lady, you know?

(02:01:16):
And I, and you can see me just the line like, Hey, holy shit, please be all right.
And I'm literally great like you described it was just such this is ordeal that happened so quick.
So happy everybody turned out okay it could have

(02:01:38):
been i don't know how her or lacy didn't die much
less sustain she had a sprained ankle
yeah if a missile would have came in the building in the same spot the building
wouldn't have looked any different that's true that's true hey same speed hey
all i remember it was this dude this young guy opening the door and going i didn't do

(02:02:03):
it oh my what you didn't
do what this how else did it get in here
what did right huh man
hey how amazing was the aftermath it was awesome it was a combination it was

(02:02:25):
a lot of vomiting i'll be honest i do remember mostly the good things I'm glad.
Like the Quill eggs? I mostly remember the Perkles coming and patching.
No, I mostly remember the Perkles being there before the cops and starting to
put up plywood to cover the hole.
I remember the fire department. They came in a golf cart, right? Or a four-wheeler.

(02:02:48):
Yeah. Like four of them on it. And they just pulled up and said,
what you need? Yeah. I think it was Jude, Buckwheat. Buckwheat.
Two other guys. What y'all need? and i remember
dude checking on everybody and they
were fine and i couldn't understand but i'm still like getting the ambulance
to make sure hey you know you know i remember very clearly you coming coming

(02:03:13):
in there i remember very clearly i like i mean you described to me
holding Jenny and I was like, call 9-1-1 right now.
Yeah. That's all the first thing that I saw. And that was the only thing that
I focused on for the first minute.
Like I didn't even look around. I'm like, Jenny's dying. Yeah.

(02:03:35):
Fine she's perfectly fine yeah no injuries but the way you had her head credited
on your lap i've seen movies man that's not how dude it always ends bad like
that you know you know what i mean,
i wish i wish i i know i want her to maybe tell me what happened the 14 feet you know between,

(02:03:57):
hey she was there she was airborne it was it was just really something and no one appreciates it
until they watch it yeah and and
dude the people that i showed that to like chris
what they were flabbergasted like
what like yeah
the car isn't in the building and everybody's fine and then it's all the way

(02:04:21):
in in a snap yeah the camera doesn't have enough yeah because it's going so
fat yeah and in the video like you see lacy so she's on the other side of the
counter i think She was restocking the shelf or something.
But at the time she was facing the counter and talking to one,
to somebody on the other side of the counter and the car came in and she disappears.

(02:04:44):
It passed inches from her, but she disappears in the smoke and debris.
And then when it clears, she's just standing there. She got pelted in the back
of her head and back by that entire shelf of stuff.
Syrup and. But dude, we had girls with like legitimate PTSD for months.
Lacey had headaches and, dude, girls were, like, they had to go home because they were scared.

(02:05:09):
Do you know, do you know, I started in 2018.
Yeah. Yeah. There was a car crash. There was a hurricane. There was COVID. Yeah.
And I was fine. Hey, I was fine coasting at Jimmy John's.
Jimmy John's didn't have no car through the building. Yeah. They probably did all right for COVID.

(02:05:30):
I know. Yeah. They got the drive-thru. You know, my first, my first like three
or four years here were just, yeah, it was a lot of, a lot of thinking about
if you made the right decision.
And it's funny. I, I listened to the, I listened to the pot, your, your podcast.

(02:05:50):
And I think right towards the end, you mentioned that.
I think when I came in for the interview, you had mentioned within a year you
wanted a new store opened.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you said that. Yeah, 2018. I was like, we're about a year
out. Yeah, I know. I said, okay, let's, okay, I'm in.
And it was, yeah, it was way later. Four to five years later, yeah. Yeah.

(02:06:14):
Okay, you were also there for the Pawpaw crash in the building.
It was just me, you, and Shane. Not into the building, into the body.
Yeah, that was something. What else, dude?
Give us some good bourgeois stories or Chili's or Jimmy Jam's or whatever you got. Shucks.
What's the best thing to order at Jimmy John's? We already know that.

(02:06:36):
The Beefy Crunch. Is that a number? No, they don't have it anymore.
Okay. God. Golly. Nick, get the Beefy Crunch, man. Come on, Nick. The Beef Crunch.
Hey, it was, yeah, hey, I'm a fan. I go to Jimmy John's often.
I've been on the BLTs lately. The number one is ham and cheese,

(02:06:59):
and it is amazing. I get that every time.
All right, Phil, how about maybe some things you've learned along your journey,
starting back way back when, up until now, that maybe you feel like you need to pass on?
And I know you mentioned some things you want to pass on to Sully,
but maybe not to Sully, maybe just to everyone.

(02:07:21):
I know we talked about this the other day at our little meeting in the office,
and this is deep. I really do want to make a difference.
I really do want to have a positive impact in the world.
I want to be remembered for my contributions to,

(02:07:48):
I guess, I don't want to say altruism, but looking out for other people in a selfless sense.
But that I truly feel
a connection and that the life is hard and it's it's filled with disappointment

(02:08:08):
and triumphs and ups and downs and that we're here together and that I've been there,
especially to the young people that I work with and my kids,
that I understand pain and suffering.
And maybe more than someone should.

(02:08:29):
So, and I contemplated this earlier, Shane.
I thought about who would I be if I grew up different.
And I'm not sure that I want to be.
I'm happy with the way I turned out. I have things to share.
I have, I really do feel like I can lift people up. And I want to pass down,

(02:08:55):
especially to my kids, that you can make a difference.
And that your attitude and positive mentality can change everything.
Is that fair? Sure can. It can. And it has, dude. But thanks. It has.

(02:09:16):
Thanks, Shane. But look, you can use your powers for evil too, Shane.
Somebody that's negative and can't find the good things, they can bring people down.
Yeah. You know, your thoughts and emotions don't live in a bubble.
They affect everybody around you. All right.

(02:09:38):
Bo, got anything else? This is awesome. If you didn't learn anything from listening
to this, you can walk right down the street.
You can go somewhere else. Hey, I was really nervous to do this podcast.
If you didn't know no this is really awesome you did amazing
dude i i learned a lot listening to us talk even though we do it all the time

(02:09:59):
you're a brilliant and good person good father great manager and a huge asset
to this company so maybe i don't tell you enough but we really depend on
you and we love you bud it's good well what
what next hey hey anything's next hey really thanks anything's next i feel like

(02:10:27):
i i feel like my life has changed since i started here it really was, it really,
things changed for me at home, at work.
My entire outlook of what should drive a company and everything changed.

(02:10:48):
It was a paradigm shift of, it was, hey, I'm here. It's a ride.
It's hard. We're stressed sometimes, but we're in it and we can put our
heads together and really figure out what's what the next steps are isn't that
great yeah it's really great i really do appreciate really do appreciate it

(02:11:11):
you know thanks for having me.
Yeah but can't wait till the next one will be yeah all right guys good one bye.
Music.

(02:11:40):
You think needs to hear it um you know if you got
a little something from it you got some little goose pimples or it just
gave you some feel goods um you know send
it to someone else let them let them feel that too and if you loved it please
leave us a five star review that'll really help out and if you only loved it
like four stars or so please do not leave a review same thing with the one through

(02:12:02):
three not interested in any of those only five stars um if you have any personal
questions or comments about the episode, shoot them over to bourgeois meat market
on Facebook or Instagram and we'll reach back out.
And if you have any ideas for any cool future guests, please shoot those over
to, we're all always interested in hearing, um, who else is out there and what

(02:12:25):
kind of cool stories we might be able to bring into this place.
See you next time. Thanks for listening.
Music.

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Ep. 6 - Phil Casse: Genuine Customer Service | Who Did You Impact Today?

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