Ever wondered how serving in the military and law enforcement might influence one's approach to restaurant ownership? The answer lies in the inspiring journey of Ryan Walters a former police officer turned successful business owner. Ryan, the owner of Drifter's restaurant, reflects on how his previous background honed his leadership skills for the hospitality industry. His unique story takes us from his beginnings as an aspiring bartender to running his own thriving business.
Enliven your leadership style with insights from Ryan on fostering a positive team mentality in a typically high-turnover industry. His recipe for success is seasoned with positive energy, humility, and unfiltered honesty with customers. Explore the transformative power of leading by example, as he shares the invaluable lessons learned from his own mentor, our own Blind Bill!. This episode not only offers fresh perspectives on attaining success in the restaurant industry but also serves up motivation for any budding entrepreneur or those intrigued by journeys of profound personal growth. Tune in and let Ryan’s story inspire, motivate and enlighten your entrepreneurial spirit.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Bill Thornton (00:01):
Hey, Barney Gen, Welcome to the Bar Ninja Podcast
, where we talk about everythingfrom trials and tribulations,
from life behind the bar to tipsand tricks to making a better
bartender and a better drinker.
Join your host, Bill Fortun,Kayla Rood and yours truly, Mike
Garrison.
Let's go have some fucking fun.
Ryan Walters (00:21):
And we are going to start with Alright, let's
talk about, because it was on mydeck when you asked for the job
at my house.
Was that correct?
I think it was your house.
Yeah, went to my house.
We'd been somewhere doing somekind of shenanigans.
It wasn't just us, we had agroup of people around, I think
it was post shift of blind bills.
And we got off one.
(00:42):
Oh, that's right, therestaurant was open and you
can't ask them.
You wanted to work there and Isaid, okay, fine, and I asked
you to go make me a margarita atthe house.
Yeah, so actually.
So this was when you and ourbuddies prior to me working at
your restaurant Correct theinfamous Moosey's bartending
moment that we met.
So I came back from federal lawenforcement at Iquanico and I
(01:03):
needed something somewhere to go.
You and I were already buddies,so you invited me over.
We're just hanging out at yourhouse bullshitting.
You're like Ryan you've gotwhat it takes to be a bartender,
but tell me how to make amargarita.
And you led with Podcast.
Not a good podcast, not a goodpodcast.
Completely unaware of how amargarita actually should have
been built.
You know, I tell you what man,what they got about, where I was
(01:25):
back then, coming from such amilitary defense contract law
enforcement background to cominghome to be closer to my
daughter and honor that side ofthat agreement with my ex-wife,
because that's what wasimportant to your life as family
.
Always you said, ryan, you havethe personality, but tell me
how to make a margarita.
I completely feel.
But you said you got it anyway.
So you stuck with me.
You gave me the opportunity andactually brought me to where,
(01:47):
ultimately, we're about today,which, as we speak, we're
sitting in your restaurant,drifter's, at beautiful Smith
Mountain Lake, where you havewent from, and it speaks volumes
because dear friends love youto death.
It's something we all learn inthe industry, like there's a
bond that goes beyond it andmentioning family and everything
you're talking about, it's alllike that.
But knowing that you'repersonality, you're zest for
(02:10):
life, your dedication toeverything you've ever done,
that you put into it, that'sjust how it accidentally began.
That moment I'm sure youweren't thinking I'm going to
have my own restaurant, yourentrepreneur, your go-getter and
everything.
The thought might have beenthere, but it's amazing how the
evolution can.
It really explains how anyonecan do anything If they put
their mind to it.
(02:30):
You can learn something new.
You can go from wanting to goodvodka and a margarita to have
in arguably the best restauranton the pond here.
I appreciate it.
Well, it's, it's.
It's a well done.
I tell you what, yeah, so, so gowith that.
I tell people here all the timewe meet a lot of people who are
a seasonal restaurant.
We meet a lot of people fromdifferent industries, different
backgrounds of life, differentstates, and I never I told them
(02:53):
all the time I never thought I'dbe in the restaurant industry.
You know, coming from thebackground, that I did to where
I'm at now, you know, taught meso much and you know restaurant
industry is so much more basedon how you can interact with an
individual, the impacts you canmake on your team, the impacts
your team can make on yourguests, and it's really taught
me a lot and you do.
My prior experience actuallyhelped out a lot into getting me
(03:14):
to where I'm at today.
But I'll tell you right now,like I did not think that I was
going to be part of therestaurant industry, you gave me
that opportunity to start outand be like I kind of fell in
love with it, because I'm kindof doing the same thing from a
completely different level andcan you expand on that though?
Because you are, and I know whatyou mean, but when you're doing
the same thing from acompletely different level?
We talked about it before howleadership is the key, because
(03:36):
we have to manage the stress andwe have to be that positive
influence.
So it's it's it's very uniquefrom your perspective that you
can truly compare the two.
So I think you know one thing wetell our team all the time is a
lot of our team comes frombackground, of a restaurant
experience and where thedifference between management
and leadership, and that's onething I was able to bring to the
table as far as where I camefrom, to bring it into this
(03:59):
world today, and you know themilitary and all that kind of
stuff in it is everything sostructured right.
So coming to the restaurantindustry, it's a lot less
structured.
You've got a people whocomfortable a lot of different
backgrounds to where you know.
You go to boot camp and you'regoing to be told what to do here
, Like they can leave in aheartbeat without any kind of
repercussions.
They're going to find a new jobin heartbeat.
This taught me a lot morepatience to deal with the people
(04:21):
that actually probably need awhole lot more impact than they
did in the military or thedefense contract side of things.
And you know, honestly, it'sreally humbled me as a man and
as an individual and as a fatherand as a fiance, to just
understand, like humans ingeneral, everybody needs help,
everybody needs something intheir life to just step forward,
and I think that some of ourbiggest things we just ended our
(04:43):
season a week and a half agoand biggest compliments ever
come to me and Jacqueline andLucas and some of our core
leadership is you guys have noidea the impact you guys made on
our life.
So those people we don't care.
We're not going to be mad atyou if you leave.
We have people that have goneto law school.
We have people have gone on tobe in our ends to people who are
law enforcement officers.
Now.
That used to be leadership hereand we will never hate on you.
(05:06):
And all of a sudden we're goingto their weddings here in the
next few months.
Yeah.
Yeah, you know, it's like thepeople you meet and the impacts
that you make are so key.
I think here's the differencebetween management leadership.
I think a lot of managers willbe like, oh man, you're going to
leave us, okay, whatever, dude,and then we'll just not worry
about that person's future.
Me and Jacqueline and ourleadership team is much more
(05:27):
worried about where you're going, for Like you could leave us
tomorrow to say you have a muchbetter opportunity.
We're going to be clapping onthe way out there.
Yeah.
Hugs in a going away party andcan't wait to see you again, to
hear about your success andcould see.
Humility is a good point inthis industry that you learn
from so many different it takes.
Last year, I think it was I washere and had a fantastic
(05:51):
cheeseburger and I was like thisis one of the best
cheeseburgers I've ever had atthe lake.
It was absolutely amazing.
You're like Bill, come with mefor a second.
And we ran to the back becauseyou had a new guy that had kind
of transitioned to grill, Ibelieve, and I just did my thing
.
It's all about positive energy,it's about love and it's about
and just gave my you know kindof at a boy and and then when I
was leaving I kind of caught himat the fence when I was leaving
(06:11):
and you could tell just thatlittle bit of positive energy to
him changed kind of where hewas in the, in the, in the
preparation and everything hewas doing and the cooking and
that at the moment.
So it's immensely stressful tolead such a big team, but it's
also immensely rewarding.
It's a big responsibility,especially when you actually
when your mission is above themoney side, we're about the
(06:33):
experience side.
You know, we really strive forour team to have a great
experience to where they cantranslate that to the guests,
obviously, but as owners,operators myself and Jacqueline,
and then Lucas, who has really,after you, has trained me as
bartender as well it isimmensely personable and all
those kind of things is where wecan translate that to our team.
That can translate that to theguests.
Everybody's leaving withsomething positive when they
(06:55):
walk through that door, whetherit's our team or a guest, all
like it.
I think that's what makes thisrestaurant immensely successful.
Yes, it comes with a lot ofstress, but it comes with a lot
of reward.
And you know I was taught at anearly age from Kevin Happen and
champs and the crew and everyoneI've worked over the years.
I could go into all of it.
But wow, boys, you know, yeah,the crew, all of which will be
(07:15):
on the Ninja Mike soon.
We're gonna get Lucas on theNinja Mike soon, jacqueline will
be on, ryan and I are juststarting this out on the road
session that we're doing here.
You know it has been and youknow this from working at the
restaurant with me and even fromwhen we first met at Moosey's.
It humbles me every single daybecause our guests, when they
leave, they're leaving on such ahigh, they are so happy they
had such a great experience.
(07:35):
That's goosebumps.
That's what we love to do andtraining our team to do that
with us.
I mean, we have people thathave started as teenagers
hosting and in the dish pit andall these other different facets
of the restaurant industry, andthen they work their way up to
more of a service standpoint andall of a sudden you're seeing
that glow on their face at theend of the shift.
(07:56):
You know where people reallytruly enjoy to be able to just
go out, have some drinks, havesome snacks, have some great
food and have some laughs andwalk away smiling, hugging.
it's a lot of love, you know, Ithink that one thing that we do
great here, based on what you'resaying is, the most valuable
people we have are the peoplethat are able to move into
different areas.
(08:17):
I swear the most difficultpositions of this restaurant is
the host stand and the expowindow.
So we have several people andactually this season, more than
any other season, we've hadservers who are back there doing
dishes on a regular basis.
We have people jumping in inevery position to make sure
everybody walks out of here asmuch as we can with the biggest
smile on our face and justfeeling like this camaraderie
(08:38):
with each other and you know,it's so beautiful to watch.
As long as we can sit back andguide them through the process
and make them understand theimportance of the camaraderie
and teamwork and jumping inwhere you can, they will get so
much more out of this experiencethan just being a server and
just being host.
Just being host oh yeah, man,because man, there's like so
(08:59):
many things that is.
Another thing I say at everyinterview is that the service
industry will teach you a wholelot more than probably any other
industry.
This will translate to anyother job you do, whether you
wanna be a lawyer, whether youwanna be a leader in military,
whether you want to any service,any industry altogether.
You're gonna learn somethingout of this industry because it
starts with teamwork, startswith cross training, stress
(09:20):
management, team mentality,multitasking.
Multitasking, and I've I meanrecruiters over the years that
have set across the wood for meat multiple places, and I'm
talking law enforcement,government, fortune 500
companies.
They love apartheid, they lovepeople that have been in the
restaurant industry because theyknow of all those points, the
stress management that Mighthave started with that.
Yeah, and I mean, you know it'sa absolute amazing thing and I
(09:45):
just wanna bring up it was thefirst time I was here this year
and I don't know their names,but whoever was on point at the
hostess station busy, busy,energy boom, just happy.
Oh, my goodness, yes, we gotyou and I was doing the typical
bill thing.
So I was managing a group thathad to go and we went from five
at the bar but two other peoplecame in that joined us, so we're
(10:05):
seven.
So I went to the host's standto say, hey, we're gonna take a
table as soon as it comes, openit almost feels like you're
working again.
Yeah, well, I love it, though,and people that know me know
when I'm in the environment Iautomatically click into.
You know everybody's alwayslike.
You know bill's working, butI'm just trying to help the and
granted, we're family, so here.
But you know me, I'm like thateverywhere I go.
(10:26):
That shows a lot of respect tounderstanding the people around
you from the host's stand at thebar and they recognize it and
the team that you're at the hoststation because I went from,
you know it was two locals fromthe lake that are regulars, that
are well known, and then myfive crew which was somewhere
visiting, and then we're tryingto get to a table that
(10:46):
everybody's busy and of courseyou know it's Herden Cat, so I'm
getting everybody going so.
I'm just going back and forth,and they were so cause they
didn't know me.
None of those people know me.
You know there's no oh, it'sBill.
It was a oh.
It's just so nice that you'rehelping, and na na, na, na, na
na.
And we finally get to the tableand everybody sat down in order
and appetizers, and I'm stillshaking hands, kissing babies
(11:07):
and doing the whole thing, andit was just the absolute
positive energy that flowed allthe way through the room, all
the way out to the waterline.
And this hour that you know andthis is not an extended period
of time that was just us in ourtransition.
It wasn't a long wait at all.
It just took, you know, 45minutes to an hour to get
everyone where they needed to go, with people showing up 25
(11:28):
minutes after we got here.
Nothing but positive energy,nothing but that energy to where
?
When you're walking away, andwhen I was leaving, I was
talking to one of my friends whowas down from DC, who's been in
the restaurant industry, and hehad no idea of our connection.
He's like this place is runninglike they're always supposed to
run, and I'm like, well, youknow these family.
we go way back.
It's amazing, it's.
I can't go on and on enoughabout how amazing you are doing
(11:51):
here From your standpoint too.
You know, walking to therestaurant, what you described
it's hard to break away from it.
So once you start getting intoit what you see the process,
what you see the systems it'salmost like natural for you to
just get yourself involved.
Yeah, it's a beauty to watchwhen it's running smoothly.
So I really appreciate that.
Oh, I love it.
It's just very sincere and itdoesn't matter where I am.
I could be in Turkskeko, Icould be at Blacksburg, I could
(12:14):
be at West Virginia.
I could be anywhere, and whenI'm in the middle of an
operation with amazing energy,I'm always like, well, I'm kind
of clocked in now, you know, andI'm enjoying myself.
But I'm so excited and proud ofthe feeling that I'm watching
the staff enjoy and that's oneof the key things that we really
like to focus on it with BarNinja and the Nigerian Empire is
(12:35):
that the new bartender's comingup, the new server's coming up,
but everybody in the kitchen,everybody at that host's stand,
it's all part of enjoying yourjob.
The money's great and that'salways gonna be there for you,
but there's so much fun to haveand so much to learn to take
with you moving forward.
It's an absolute, it's ablessing to be able to do what
we do.
Back to the humility side too.
(12:56):
Man, I tell people all the timeit's a team that makes it
happen.
The team is absolutelyoutstanding that we have.
Obviously, you know, it doesstart from the top, but they
really do support everything inthe process to make this place
operate the way it does.
Yeah, I'm beyond blessed.
I know and I guarantee that Iknow it's happened to you, it's
happened to all of us.
We lead from the top, we leadby example.
Everybody has bad moments.
(13:16):
Everybody has.
We all have challenges.
There have been plenty of timesand this is why I'm sure this is
happening.
This is happening, this isstacked and all of a sudden this
is staff.
Oh, my goodness, we're out ofthis.
But we're not supposed to beout.
And all of a sudden youinteract with anybody on the
staff one of the servers,somebody behind the woods,
somebody in the back of thehouse and they're energized and
they're happening and they'rerolling and you know they're
busy but they're just enjoyingit and that gives us the energy
(13:41):
and the kick to kind of bring usback into the focus.
You know, that's that teammentality of the family, like we
feed off of each other, weunderstand each other.
You know, whenever I seeanybody kind of going negative
because something's happened,because it stacks doesn't matter
if it's behind the wood or onthe line or wherever it is you
give them that positive energyand all of a sudden it's and
you're back up and you'rerocking and rolling and you're
(14:02):
just getting done and enjoyingit.
So Well, that's why yeah, Imentioned I mentioned going back
to my experience.
I think that led me to thepersonal side, the leadership
side.
But I will say one of thebiggest things that you taught
me have blind bills.
You gave me probably more thanI probably could have handled at
that time, but it taught me alot.
This is go back to systems is Iwas bartending, I was taking
tables, I was taking orders.
(14:22):
I used to challenge myself aslike, okay, I got a table of
five.
Right now I'm gonna see howmany things I can, I can
remember on this one right here.
But you know, if you're alwayshonest with the customer, maybe
I remembered four out of thosefive orders I could always get
back like man, I suck.
Well, that is so true.
Did you go back and you allowedme to handle the bar, the
tables?
I had to go run my food for aton of time, give side sauces,
(14:45):
seating.
There's like a whole realm ofthings that I learned from your
restaurant.
That translated to where I'm attoday too.
That's why I always call you mymentor.
You know going forward.
You know like we started thispodcast.
Now you told me we do startedwith like how do you make a
margarita, but it's come a longway, man, and I really
(15:07):
appreciate you for that processtoo.
Well, we're going to.
We're going to switch on theface later, so I want you to
prepare yourself for thatTouching on the.
You know you're rememberingstuff, but you forgot something.
You can always be honest with acustomer.
I think a lot of people don'trealize this and there are
certain realms Gordon Ramsaydoesn't want to hear this.
The five star doesn't want tohear this.
But you got a five top and seat, four wanted fries and you
(15:30):
brought a macaroni salad andyou're like I'm just going to be
honest with you.
I was trying to remembereverything and I kind of forgot
that Some of you, right backwith your fries, they would
rather hear the honesty and youadmitting that.
You're like I mean, I'm kind ofa dumbass.
I made my mistake.
You know that it's.
I don't like the use the wordself deprecation because I think
it's a little too much of anegative connotation, but it
really is just the truth.
(15:51):
That's all it is.
It's like it is a.
it is a gift to be able tohandle certain tables, but I'll
tell you what.
One of the biggest things I'velearned is being honest with the
table and what I'll do it froman operator, you know, going to
talk on the tables.
When something's messed up withone of the servers or
something's about somethingkitchen is going down, getting
on their level, just kneelingdown and saying, hey, I'm really
(16:12):
sorry about this, like how canwe fix this?
There's always an opportunityto change a bad experience into
a good one.
It only takes very little tomake that happen, as long as you
know how to do it and thefoundation is honesty.
Like, literally, it is the okay.
Accidentally it didn't get rangin, that's just how it went
down.
It's being made right now, buthow about I bring you out of?
(16:32):
You know, little appetizers?
You know you, just you.
Just I'm here to help and I'mgoing to be completely honest
with you and you know we're justgoing to move on.
There's been a lot of times thatI've been for my table with
something messed up an appetizeror a burger and I will go back
to the kitchen and make it onthe fly and personally deliver
that with gloves on and say hereyou guys go, apologize, for it
is still on me.
Are you listening?
America?
(16:53):
That is a huge thing, that is abig deal.
Those, little things right theremake a huge difference.
When you talk about returningcustomers, you want that return
customer to return guests.
How many?
owner operators and I know thereare plenty of you out there.
But how many owner operators gointo the kitchen, wash their
hands, put the gloves on, put ittogether, bring to the table as
fast as possible, just, andthis way you're not interrupting
(17:15):
the service of your guys.
Your team is doing, you're just, you're, you're fixing the
problem yourself and you're alsoshowing that ridiculously high
level of customers.
Not that stars matter, but thatturns it one star to a five star
.
Oh, a hundred percent, yeah, Ialso.
It also helps him leave happy.
I mean, you know, our menu isnot cheap, so I don't want
anybody walking out of hereunsatisfied.
(17:36):
And sometimes it's unavoidable.
You got that one percent.
You can't make everybody happy,you just cannot make everybody
happy.
You know, I think that we do apretty good job here and we got
Lucas and Jacqueline on thebackend not actually, no, not
the backend, the front end thatactually had to make this happen
, because her, myself and Lucasare floating between front of
the house, back of the house,between all the servers, talking
to people, buildingrelationships.
(17:57):
This is why this place works.
And then you also have to dealwith, you know, the gas stop the
minute, parking.
There's a slew of complicationsand challenges that constantly
evolving, all the time.
And you just have to roll withit.
If you know how to roll with it, man, you're going to make it
work, and some people just won'tbe okay with it.
You know you.
Sometimes you just have tobrush it off.
You can't let it like sit onyour shoulder too long.
(18:19):
One percent of your people giveyou 99% of your problems and you
just Is that a biggie song?
Do don't drop rhymes right now,but you know it's you were
always going to have we couldtalk about.
You know the carrots and allthat crap.
But that negativity within ourindustry and within our flow is
not the stuff that keeps usawake at night, it's not the
stuff that affects our team,it's the positive always
(18:43):
outweighs the negative.
And when you're prepared intraining and you know you cross
train you have everybody thatknows what they can do.
I mean, and literally talking,you know, as a you know I've
been an operations manager overresort with my tie off in the
dish pit for two hours and Ilearned that from one of my
mentors who once walked up andyou know you're always willing
to get your hands dirty andyou're always willing to do
(19:04):
anything and that really trendssends across your staff, because
you train them that way and youlead by example.
And it's just a beautiful thing.
We lead by example all day.
That's what I was talking about.
All day, every day.
We have servers just floatingback to the dish pit because
they know they need help backthere.
I mean we have a small kitchen,a big front of the house.
So you know, yeah, it's tinykitchen, we love it.
(19:25):
We have a lot of food out ofthat kitchen.
So you know, I love the teammentality when our servers are
in front of the house is willingto step back and be able to
help them out.
I mean, the relationships thatare cultivated here that I've
seen over the past four seasonsis incredible, man.
It's really great.
Yeah, well beyond happy for you, proud of you.
You know we could go on and onabout just the love for each
(19:49):
other and the respect, becauseit is just mind blowing to me.
I mean it's I don't say itlightly and I say it to others,
you know I know everyone aroundthe pond, but your brand, your
operation, I mean it is just thebest at the lake.
It's just, it's from hard work,it's from dedication, it's from
love, it's just amazing.
It really is.
Thank you so much.
Bill Thornton (20:09):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the
Bar Ninja Podcast.
Please be sure to subscribe tous on our favorite podcast
player Enjoy the Bar NinjaNation that has over 7000
bartenders in it by going towwwbarninjacom and you can enter
your email till next time.
See you then.
Hey, Barney Gen, Welcome to the Bar Ninja Podcast
, where we talk about everythingfrom trials and tribulations,
from life behind the bar to tipsand tricks to making a better
bartender and a better drinker.
Join your host, Bill Fortun,Kayla Rood and yours truly, Mike
Garrison.
Let's go have some fucking fun.
Ryan Walters (00:21):
And we are going to start with Alright, let's
talk about, because it was on mydeck when you asked for the job
at my house.
Was that correct?
I think it was your house.
Yeah, went to my house.
We'd been somewhere doing somekind of shenanigans.
It wasn't just us, we had agroup of people around, I think
it was post shift of blind bills.
And we got off one.
(00:42):
Oh, that's right, therestaurant was open and you
can't ask them.
You wanted to work there and Isaid, okay, fine, and I asked
you to go make me a margarita atthe house.
Yeah, so actually.
So this was when you and ourbuddies prior to me working at
your restaurant Correct theinfamous Moosey's bartending
moment that we met.
So I came back from federal lawenforcement at Iquanico and I
(01:03):
needed something somewhere to go.
You and I were already buddies,so you invited me over.
We're just hanging out at yourhouse bullshitting.
You're like Ryan you've gotwhat it takes to be a bartender,
but tell me how to make amargarita.
And you led with Podcast.
Not a good podcast, not a goodpodcast.
Completely unaware of how amargarita actually should have
been built.
You know, I tell you what man,what they got about, where I was
(01:25):
back then, coming from such amilitary defense contract law
enforcement background to cominghome to be closer to my
daughter and honor that side ofthat agreement with my ex-wife,
because that's what wasimportant to your life as family
.
Always you said, ryan, you havethe personality, but tell me
how to make a margarita.
I completely feel.
But you said you got it anyway.
So you stuck with me.
You gave me the opportunity andactually brought me to where,
(01:47):
ultimately, we're about today,which, as we speak, we're
sitting in your restaurant,drifter's, at beautiful Smith
Mountain Lake, where you havewent from, and it speaks volumes
because dear friends love youto death.
It's something we all learn inthe industry, like there's a
bond that goes beyond it andmentioning family and everything
you're talking about, it's alllike that.
But knowing that you'repersonality, you're zest for
(02:10):
life, your dedication toeverything you've ever done,
that you put into it, that'sjust how it accidentally began.
That moment I'm sure youweren't thinking I'm going to
have my own restaurant, yourentrepreneur, your go-getter and
everything.
The thought might have beenthere, but it's amazing how the
evolution can.
It really explains how anyonecan do anything If they put
their mind to it.
(02:30):
You can learn something new.
You can go from wanting to goodvodka and a margarita to have
in arguably the best restauranton the pond here.
I appreciate it.
Well, it's, it's.
It's a well done.
I tell you what, yeah, so, so gowith that.
I tell people here all the timewe meet a lot of people who are
a seasonal restaurant.
We meet a lot of people fromdifferent industries, different
backgrounds of life, differentstates, and I never I told them
(02:53):
all the time I never thought I'dbe in the restaurant industry.
You know, coming from thebackground, that I did to where
I'm at now, you know, taught meso much and you know restaurant
industry is so much more basedon how you can interact with an
individual, the impacts you canmake on your team, the impacts
your team can make on yourguests, and it's really taught
me a lot and you do.
My prior experience actuallyhelped out a lot into getting me
(03:14):
to where I'm at today.
But I'll tell you right now,like I did not think that I was
going to be part of therestaurant industry, you gave me
that opportunity to start outand be like I kind of fell in
love with it, because I'm kindof doing the same thing from a
completely different level andcan you expand on that though?
Because you are, and I know whatyou mean, but when you're doing
the same thing from acompletely different level?
We talked about it before howleadership is the key, because
(03:36):
we have to manage the stress andwe have to be that positive
influence.
So it's it's it's very uniquefrom your perspective that you
can truly compare the two.
So I think you know one thing wetell our team all the time is a
lot of our team comes frombackground, of a restaurant
experience and where thedifference between management
and leadership, and that's onething I was able to bring to the
table as far as where I camefrom, to bring it into this
(03:59):
world today, and you know themilitary and all that kind of
stuff in it is everything sostructured right.
So coming to the restaurantindustry, it's a lot less
structured.
You've got a people whocomfortable a lot of different
backgrounds to where you know.
You go to boot camp and you'regoing to be told what to do here
, Like they can leave in aheartbeat without any kind of
repercussions.
They're going to find a new jobin heartbeat.
This taught me a lot morepatience to deal with the people
(04:21):
that actually probably need awhole lot more impact than they
did in the military or thedefense contract side of things.
And you know, honestly, it'sreally humbled me as a man and
as an individual and as a fatherand as a fiance, to just
understand, like humans ingeneral, everybody needs help,
everybody needs something intheir life to just step forward,
and I think that some of ourbiggest things we just ended our
(04:43):
season a week and a half agoand biggest compliments ever
come to me and Jacqueline andLucas and some of our core
leadership is you guys have noidea the impact you guys made on
our life.
So those people we don't care.
We're not going to be mad atyou if you leave.
We have people that have goneto law school.
We have people have gone on tobe in our ends to people who are
law enforcement officers.
Now.
That used to be leadership hereand we will never hate on you.
(05:06):
And all of a sudden we're goingto their weddings here in the
next few months.
Yeah.
Yeah, you know, it's like thepeople you meet and the impacts
that you make are so key.
I think here's the differencebetween management leadership.
I think a lot of managers willbe like, oh man, you're going to
leave us, okay, whatever, dude,and then we'll just not worry
about that person's future.
Me and Jacqueline and ourleadership team is much more
(05:27):
worried about where you're going, for Like you could leave us
tomorrow to say you have a muchbetter opportunity.
We're going to be clapping onthe way out there.
Yeah.
Hugs in a going away party andcan't wait to see you again, to
hear about your success andcould see.
Humility is a good point inthis industry that you learn
from so many different it takes.
Last year, I think it was I washere and had a fantastic
(05:51):
cheeseburger and I was like thisis one of the best
cheeseburgers I've ever had atthe lake.
It was absolutely amazing.
You're like Bill, come with mefor a second.
And we ran to the back becauseyou had a new guy that had kind
of transitioned to grill, Ibelieve, and I just did my thing
.
It's all about positive energy,it's about love and it's about
and just gave my you know kindof at a boy and and then when I
was leaving I kind of caught himat the fence when I was leaving
(06:11):
and you could tell just thatlittle bit of positive energy to
him changed kind of where hewas in the, in the, in the
preparation and everything hewas doing and the cooking and
that at the moment.
So it's immensely stressful tolead such a big team, but it's
also immensely rewarding.
It's a big responsibility,especially when you actually
when your mission is above themoney side, we're about the
(06:33):
experience side.
You know, we really strive forour team to have a great
experience to where they cantranslate that to the guests,
obviously, but as owners,operators myself and Jacqueline,
and then Lucas, who has really,after you, has trained me as
bartender as well it isimmensely personable and all
those kind of things is where wecan translate that to our team.
That can translate that to theguests.
Everybody's leaving withsomething positive when they
(06:55):
walk through that door, whetherit's our team or a guest, all
like it.
I think that's what makes thisrestaurant immensely successful.
Yes, it comes with a lot ofstress, but it comes with a lot
of reward.
And you know I was taught at anearly age from Kevin Happen and
champs and the crew and everyoneI've worked over the years.
I could go into all of it.
But wow, boys, you know, yeah,the crew, all of which will be
(07:15):
on the Ninja Mike soon.
We're gonna get Lucas on theNinja Mike soon, jacqueline will
be on, ryan and I are juststarting this out on the road
session that we're doing here.
You know it has been and youknow this from working at the
restaurant with me and even fromwhen we first met at Moosey's.
It humbles me every single daybecause our guests, when they
leave, they're leaving on such ahigh, they are so happy they
had such a great experience.
(07:35):
That's goosebumps.
That's what we love to do andtraining our team to do that
with us.
I mean, we have people thathave started as teenagers
hosting and in the dish pit andall these other different facets
of the restaurant industry, andthen they work their way up to
more of a service standpoint andall of a sudden you're seeing
that glow on their face at theend of the shift.
(07:56):
You know where people reallytruly enjoy to be able to just
go out, have some drinks, havesome snacks, have some great
food and have some laughs andwalk away smiling, hugging.
it's a lot of love, you know, Ithink that one thing that we do
great here, based on what you'resaying is, the most valuable
people we have are the peoplethat are able to move into
different areas.
(08:17):
I swear the most difficultpositions of this restaurant is
the host stand and the expowindow.
So we have several people andactually this season, more than
any other season, we've hadservers who are back there doing
dishes on a regular basis.
We have people jumping in inevery position to make sure
everybody walks out of here asmuch as we can with the biggest
smile on our face and justfeeling like this camaraderie
(08:38):
with each other and you know,it's so beautiful to watch.
As long as we can sit back andguide them through the process
and make them understand theimportance of the camaraderie
and teamwork and jumping inwhere you can, they will get so
much more out of this experiencethan just being a server and
just being host.
Just being host oh yeah, man,because man, there's like so
(08:59):
many things that is.
Another thing I say at everyinterview is that the service
industry will teach you a wholelot more than probably any other
industry.
This will translate to anyother job you do, whether you
wanna be a lawyer, whether youwanna be a leader in military,
whether you want to any service,any industry altogether.
You're gonna learn somethingout of this industry because it
starts with teamwork, startswith cross training, stress
(09:20):
management, team mentality,multitasking.
Multitasking, and I've I meanrecruiters over the years that
have set across the wood for meat multiple places, and I'm
talking law enforcement,government, fortune 500
companies.
They love apartheid, they lovepeople that have been in the
restaurant industry because theyknow of all those points, the
stress management that Mighthave started with that.
Yeah, and I mean, you know it'sa absolute amazing thing and I
(09:45):
just wanna bring up it was thefirst time I was here this year
and I don't know their names,but whoever was on point at the
hostess station busy, busy,energy boom, just happy.
Oh, my goodness, yes, we gotyou and I was doing the typical
bill thing.
So I was managing a group thathad to go and we went from five
at the bar but two other peoplecame in that joined us, so we're
(10:05):
seven.
So I went to the host's standto say, hey, we're gonna take a
table as soon as it comes, openit almost feels like you're
working again.
Yeah, well, I love it, though,and people that know me know
when I'm in the environment Iautomatically click into.
You know everybody's alwayslike.
You know bill's working, butI'm just trying to help the and
granted, we're family, so here.
But you know me, I'm like thateverywhere I go.
(10:26):
That shows a lot of respect tounderstanding the people around
you from the host's stand at thebar and they recognize it and
the team that you're at the hoststation because I went from,
you know it was two locals fromthe lake that are regulars, that
are well known, and then myfive crew which was somewhere
visiting, and then we're tryingto get to a table that
(10:46):
everybody's busy and of courseyou know it's Herden Cat, so I'm
getting everybody going so.
I'm just going back and forth,and they were so cause they
didn't know me.
None of those people know me.
You know there's no oh, it'sBill.
It was a oh.
It's just so nice that you'rehelping, and na na, na, na, na
na.
And we finally get to the tableand everybody sat down in order
and appetizers, and I'm stillshaking hands, kissing babies
(11:07):
and doing the whole thing, andit was just the absolute
positive energy that flowed allthe way through the room, all
the way out to the waterline.
And this hour that you know andthis is not an extended period
of time that was just us in ourtransition.
It wasn't a long wait at all.
It just took, you know, 45minutes to an hour to get
everyone where they needed to go, with people showing up 25
(11:28):
minutes after we got here.
Nothing but positive energy,nothing but that energy to where
?
When you're walking away, andwhen I was leaving, I was
talking to one of my friends whowas down from DC, who's been in
the restaurant industry, and hehad no idea of our connection.
He's like this place is runninglike they're always supposed to
run, and I'm like, well, youknow these family.
we go way back.
It's amazing, it's.
I can't go on and on enoughabout how amazing you are doing
(11:51):
here From your standpoint too.
You know, walking to therestaurant, what you described
it's hard to break away from it.
So once you start getting intoit what you see the process,
what you see the systems it'salmost like natural for you to
just get yourself involved.
Yeah, it's a beauty to watchwhen it's running smoothly.
So I really appreciate that.
Oh, I love it.
It's just very sincere and itdoesn't matter where I am.
I could be in Turkskeko, Icould be at Blacksburg, I could
(12:14):
be at West Virginia.
I could be anywhere, and whenI'm in the middle of an
operation with amazing energy,I'm always like, well, I'm kind
of clocked in now, you know, andI'm enjoying myself.
But I'm so excited and proud ofthe feeling that I'm watching
the staff enjoy and that's oneof the key things that we really
like to focus on it with BarNinja and the Nigerian Empire is
(12:35):
that the new bartender's comingup, the new server's coming up,
but everybody in the kitchen,everybody at that host's stand,
it's all part of enjoying yourjob.
The money's great and that'salways gonna be there for you,
but there's so much fun to haveand so much to learn to take
with you moving forward.
It's an absolute, it's ablessing to be able to do what
we do.
Back to the humility side too.
(12:56):
Man, I tell people all the timeit's a team that makes it
happen.
The team is absolutelyoutstanding that we have.
Obviously, you know, it doesstart from the top, but they
really do support everything inthe process to make this place
operate the way it does.
Yeah, I'm beyond blessed.
I know and I guarantee that Iknow it's happened to you, it's
happened to all of us.
We lead from the top, we leadby example.
Everybody has bad moments.
(13:16):
Everybody has.
We all have challenges.
There have been plenty of timesand this is why I'm sure this is
happening.
This is happening, this isstacked and all of a sudden this
is staff.
Oh, my goodness, we're out ofthis.
But we're not supposed to beout.
And all of a sudden youinteract with anybody on the
staff one of the servers,somebody behind the woods,
somebody in the back of thehouse and they're energized and
they're happening and they'rerolling and you know they're
busy but they're just enjoyingit and that gives us the energy
(13:41):
and the kick to kind of bring usback into the focus.
You know, that's that teammentality of the family, like we
feed off of each other, weunderstand each other.
You know, whenever I seeanybody kind of going negative
because something's happened,because it stacks doesn't matter
if it's behind the wood or onthe line or wherever it is you
give them that positive energyand all of a sudden it's and
you're back up and you'rerocking and rolling and you're
(14:02):
just getting done and enjoyingit.
So Well, that's why yeah, Imentioned I mentioned going back
to my experience.
I think that led me to thepersonal side, the leadership
side.
But I will say one of thebiggest things that you taught
me have blind bills.
You gave me probably more thanI probably could have handled at
that time, but it taught me alot.
This is go back to systems is Iwas bartending, I was taking
tables, I was taking orders.
(14:22):
I used to challenge myself aslike, okay, I got a table of
five.
Right now I'm gonna see howmany things I can, I can
remember on this one right here.
But you know, if you're alwayshonest with the customer, maybe
I remembered four out of thosefive orders I could always get
back like man, I suck.
Well, that is so true.
Did you go back and you allowedme to handle the bar, the
tables?
I had to go run my food for aton of time, give side sauces,
(14:45):
seating.
There's like a whole realm ofthings that I learned from your
restaurant.
That translated to where I'm attoday too.
That's why I always call you mymentor.
You know going forward.
You know like we started thispodcast.
Now you told me we do startedwith like how do you make a
margarita, but it's come a longway, man, and I really
(15:07):
appreciate you for that processtoo.
Well, we're going to.
We're going to switch on theface later, so I want you to
prepare yourself for thatTouching on the.
You know you're rememberingstuff, but you forgot something.
You can always be honest with acustomer.
I think a lot of people don'trealize this and there are
certain realms Gordon Ramsaydoesn't want to hear this.
The five star doesn't want tohear this.
But you got a five top and seat, four wanted fries and you
(15:30):
brought a macaroni salad andyou're like I'm just going to be
honest with you.
I was trying to remembereverything and I kind of forgot
that Some of you, right backwith your fries, they would
rather hear the honesty and youadmitting that.
You're like I mean, I'm kind ofa dumbass.
I made my mistake.
You know that it's.
I don't like the use the wordself deprecation because I think
it's a little too much of anegative connotation, but it
really is just the truth.
(15:51):
That's all it is.
It's like it is a.
it is a gift to be able tohandle certain tables, but I'll
tell you what.
One of the biggest things I'velearned is being honest with the
table and what I'll do it froman operator, you know, going to
talk on the tables.
When something's messed up withone of the servers or
something's about somethingkitchen is going down, getting
on their level, just kneelingdown and saying, hey, I'm really
(16:12):
sorry about this, like how canwe fix this?
There's always an opportunityto change a bad experience into
a good one.
It only takes very little tomake that happen, as long as you
know how to do it and thefoundation is honesty.
Like, literally, it is the okay.
Accidentally it didn't get rangin, that's just how it went
down.
It's being made right now, buthow about I bring you out of?
(16:32):
You know, little appetizers?
You know you, just you.
Just I'm here to help and I'mgoing to be completely honest
with you and you know we're justgoing to move on.
There's been a lot of times thatI've been for my table with
something messed up an appetizeror a burger and I will go back
to the kitchen and make it onthe fly and personally deliver
that with gloves on and say hereyou guys go, apologize, for it
is still on me.
Are you listening?
America?
(16:53):
That is a huge thing, that is abig deal.
Those, little things right theremake a huge difference.
When you talk about returningcustomers, you want that return
customer to return guests.
How many?
owner operators and I know thereare plenty of you out there.
But how many owner operators gointo the kitchen, wash their
hands, put the gloves on, put ittogether, bring to the table as
fast as possible, just, andthis way you're not interrupting
(17:15):
the service of your guys.
Your team is doing, you're just, you're, you're fixing the
problem yourself and you're alsoshowing that ridiculously high
level of customers.
Not that stars matter, but thatturns it one star to a five star
.
Oh, a hundred percent, yeah, Ialso.
It also helps him leave happy.
I mean, you know, our menu isnot cheap, so I don't want
anybody walking out of hereunsatisfied.
(17:36):
And sometimes it's unavoidable.
You got that one percent.
You can't make everybody happy,you just cannot make everybody
happy.
You know, I think that we do apretty good job here and we got
Lucas and Jacqueline on thebackend not actually, no, not
the backend, the front end thatactually had to make this happen
, because her, myself and Lucasare floating between front of
the house, back of the house,between all the servers, talking
to people, buildingrelationships.
(17:57):
This is why this place works.
And then you also have to dealwith, you know, the gas stop the
minute, parking.
There's a slew of complicationsand challenges that constantly
evolving, all the time.
And you just have to roll withit.
If you know how to roll with it, man, you're going to make it
work, and some people just won'tbe okay with it.
You know you.
Sometimes you just have tobrush it off.
You can't let it like sit onyour shoulder too long.
(18:19):
One percent of your people giveyou 99% of your problems and you
just Is that a biggie song?
Do don't drop rhymes right now,but you know it's you were
always going to have we couldtalk about.
You know the carrots and allthat crap.
But that negativity within ourindustry and within our flow is
not the stuff that keeps usawake at night, it's not the
stuff that affects our team,it's the positive always
(18:43):
outweighs the negative.
And when you're prepared intraining and you know you cross
train you have everybody thatknows what they can do.
I mean, and literally talking,you know, as a you know I've
been an operations manager overresort with my tie off in the
dish pit for two hours and Ilearned that from one of my
mentors who once walked up andyou know you're always willing
to get your hands dirty andyou're always willing to do
(19:04):
anything and that really trendssends across your staff, because
you train them that way and youlead by example.
And it's just a beautiful thing.
We lead by example all day.
That's what I was talking about.
All day, every day.
We have servers just floatingback to the dish pit because
they know they need help backthere.
I mean we have a small kitchen,a big front of the house.
So you know, yeah, it's tinykitchen, we love it.
(19:25):
We have a lot of food out ofthat kitchen.
So you know, I love the teammentality when our servers are
in front of the house is willingto step back and be able to
help them out.
I mean, the relationships thatare cultivated here that I've
seen over the past four seasonsis incredible, man.
It's really great.
Yeah, well beyond happy for you, proud of you.
You know we could go on and onabout just the love for each
(19:49):
other and the respect, becauseit is just mind blowing to me.
I mean it's I don't say itlightly and I say it to others,
you know I know everyone aroundthe pond, but your brand, your
operation, I mean it is just thebest at the lake.
It's just, it's from hard work,it's from dedication, it's from
love, it's just amazing.
It really is.
Thank you so much.
Bill Thornton (20:09):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the
Bar Ninja Podcast.
Please be sure to subscribe tous on our favorite podcast
player Enjoy the Bar NinjaNation that has over 7000
bartenders in it by going towwwbarninjacom and you can enter
your email till next time.
See you then.
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