February 25, 2024 • 9 mins
Ever slept in a truck while your house is earning you Airbnb cash? Ryan has, and let me tell you, it's just one of the wild slices of life we're unpacking as we chat about the deeper side of hospitality with our special guest. This episode isn't just about pouring drinks; it's about pouring your soul into every connection—those five-minute friendships that bloom across the bar and the kind of service that turns a one-off visit into a "welcome back!" Join us, Bill, Kayla and Mike Garrison, as we swap tales that reveal the heart behind the art of connection, from the personal to the professional.
Now, let's get real about happiness—no, not the kind padded by zeros in your bank account. We're sharing the ups, downs, and upside-downs that have taught us how joy comes from inside, not your income. Our guest opens up about transforming negatives into unforgettable positives, making sure every customer leaves with a story to tell. And if you're curious about just what happiness truly means, we're laying it all out on the table. No spoilers, but it involves cold tuna bites, sleeping in trucks, and yes, a whole lot of being blessed. Tune in for an honest, laughter-filled journey through the highs and heart of what makes our lives behind the bar—and beyond—genuinely fulfilling.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, Barnagination, Welcome to the Barn Ninja
Podcast, where we talk abouteverything from trials and
tribulations, from life behindthe bar to tips and tricks to
making a better bartender and abetter drinker.
Join your host, Bill Fortun,Kayla Rood and yours truly, Mike
Garrison.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Let's go have some fucking fun this is an
incredible gift of whether it'sstaff or guests.
He has this innate ability tomeet people where they're at,
and I told him.
One thing I'm so jealous of himwith is like he can walk to a
(00:39):
table, spend five minutes at atable and build a meaningful
relationship, and it's like thenext time those people come in
they're like, oh man, I love himso much.
He's amazing.
No, no, you're not allowed to.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
You're not allowed to .
No, you're not allowed to.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Babe, you're a part of this, come on.
But for me I'm like you know.
It takes me a lot longer to getto that level and it's
different people, differentgifts, but he is just like man.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
he can find things in people and just connect and
just click in instant and he's avery genuine handsome double.
But when we were talkingearlier about how we go to
restaurants, and it could beVegas and it could be Arkansas,
it could be anywhere, and wewill make friends like a real
friend with a waitress orbartender, like a real friend,
(01:24):
you know, and it obviously it'sa brief period of time because
we recognize that energy andothers.
You know you end up comingfriends on Facebook and
messaging them they're visitingus at the lake or we're going to
see them out there.
That's a great point.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
So picking up an energy and also meeting people
where they're at that's where isthat you can pick up on?
A body language you can pick upon like some kind of like I or
something I feel the energySomebody knew something.
Yeah, yeah, you pick up on that.
I'm going to kneel down next toyou Like how you doing, man,
your tinderbites are probablycold and probably not coat
properly.
Yeah, let me know what I can do.
You know what I mean?
(01:57):
Oh yeah, we talked about that?
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Yeah, that, literally that.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
So you can turn a negative experience into a super
positive one to where to comeback, not only come back here
from a business perspective, butalso leave with some kind of
impact.
They're going to be thinkingabout drifters in the back end
because they have Rhonda orGrace or Faith or somebody like
serving them at the bartender,like Lucas, making their
experience super, super positive, to where they can walk away
(02:23):
saying, man, I wish my life waskind of like more like that Set
back.
And that's why I feelconflicted and convicted on a
regular basis.
We are stressed out but at thesame time we are so blessed.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I'm going to go ahead on a limb and say a thousand
and fourteen.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Oh yeah, I said it a lot.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
But it's.
You know, I was going to sayfourteen and a half.
We can't overstate happiness orbeing blessed, or all that
positive, positive energy.
That it's why we do what we do.
You want to say blessed ninehundred and forty eight million
times.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
People don't want to say what the happiness actually
is, because we are alreadytalking about happiness.
What is happiness?
What is happiness?
What are the happiest times ofmy life?
Is meeting her and Iron Ale inLynchburg and I was renting my
house out Airbnb.
I was sleeping in my truck inthe process, but I was still
buying drinks for the staff andall I kind of showed on the back
end we would overnight.
(03:14):
I promise every single one ofy'all, whoever listens to this,
what he's not going to defineyour happiness.
I will give you five milliondollars right now.
I promise you you're going tohave a great time for maybe six
months to a year and you'restill going to be fulfilled.
So there's a lot of things thathave to happen in the process
internally to make sure that youare happy.
You have to make sure you'reokay with yourself to make sure
(03:36):
that you're happy going forward.
One of my biggest blessings issleeping in my fucking truck and
making a lot of money overseasand doing all the things I've
done and all that kind of shit.
But there's also the biggestblessing being divorced, going
through all the fucking hardtimes I've been through making a
lot of money to making next tonothing and sleeping in my
fucking truck.
It's the biggest blessings I'veever made in my life.
So make sure you're okay withyourself and you're gonna be
(03:57):
okay going forward Guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
You rally around people in need, you rally around
your family, like it's likebeing there for one another is
more fulfilling than money willever be, so small thing or a big
thing, whatever it may be, I'lltell you one of the most
fulfilling moments that I hadthis entire season.
One of the girls on our stafflost her grandfather this year
and her grandfather was like adad to her and she's talking to
(04:21):
me and she's just and you know,thank God, that she felt like I
was a safe space for her, towhere she could just cry and my
arms didn't just allow me to bethere for her.
So in the process of that,she's sobbing and she's just
like talking about everythingshe is going on.
And in the midst of that shemade a comment about how she has
this car payment and she's laidon and I literally just felt
the Lord like to give her somemoney and I didn't know how much
(04:42):
her car payment was.
I didn't ask and I just handedher some cash.
So she was like what, why areyou doing this?
And she's a person she's kindof like that hardheaded,
prideful type, like she doesn'twant handouts.
So she was super uncomfortableand I looked her in the eyes and
I said listen, I don't know howmuch your car payment is, I
don't know if this will evencover it, but all I know is that
right now you shouldn't beworried about a car payment.
You should be giving yourselftime and space to grade your
(05:05):
granddad.
And I told her cause, like Isaid, that's the kind of person
she is.
She doesn't like handouts.
So I told her, I said if youwant to pay us back, that's fine
, but grieve first and then wecan talk about that later if
that's what you feel like youwant to do.
But I don't need that from you.
I was like this is about takingcare of you and what you need
right now.
And her reaction to that wasthe most fulfilling thing ever,
because it's like I wasn'ttrying to like get any credit or
(05:27):
anything.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah, you weren't, it was just a literal giving.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
But that was just like the most beautiful reaction
, cause she was so taken abackby that and it honestly actually
, you know, thinking about it,it kind of bothers me.
She was so taken aback by thatbecause it's like we want to be
there for people.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I mean that's the thing like-, but independence is
a strength, for-.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Money is money, and the thing is is that, in our
reality, taking care of peopleis more valuable to me valuable
to me than money you'll ever be.
That one specific employee likeI would have paid her quadruple
what I gave her that day, justto know that she's okay.
And that was where my concernwas at is like I don't want her
to sit here while she.
Her granddad just died.
He was basically like a dad toher and she's stressing out
(06:06):
about a car payment Like are youkidding me?
Yeah, she has a lot of healthissues in and of herself, but
the thing is is that it's somuch more important to care for
people in and of themselvesfirst.
If you start there.
Everything else comes out ofthat and yeah absolutely.
But that's not even just withinDrifters, that's in life, I
mean like-.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Is it in life If more people do that the world would
be a better place, if morepeople could do that, and from
the restaurant perspective, ifyou want to keep building that.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
I think that we could speculate and guess and predict
for two years from now a lot ofthings, but I guarantee it's
going to be beautiful.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Well, so you know what.
You know what's kind of coolabout what.
I was kind of going there.
So we have a vision board owner, a refrigerator at the house
and I would say probably about85% of that is probably
completed.
Yeah, All right on, and thatwas that was two years before we
owned the restaurant, soeverything is like kind of
coming into fruition.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
You know what I mean.
I mean, I've seen it, I felt it, I have been privileged to be
beside it, around it for most ofthe time, and you can call it
manifestation or whatever youwant to.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
It's a comfort, it's a comfortable sweatshirt.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
Yeah, I like that, once you get the good energy you
get the good energy All right.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
So what are we drinking here?
Speaker 5 (07:18):
So this is a this is kind of a take on a candy I had
in Arizona growing up, so itused to be a mega flavored
sucker, or cantaloupe orwhatever fresh fruit they had at
the time.
They'd cover with their chimoi,which is a fruit blend hot
sauce, and then tahini, which ischili powder with salt, lemon,
lime, all that.
(07:39):
So this time we paired it witha fresh shot of lima-zul
straight up, with a tahini bator a rim, and then this is fresh
muddled cantaloupe, reallyMuddled down into fresh juice,
and I added just a little bit ofchimoi.
So that little bit of fruit hotsauce.
So what you're going to do isyou're going to a little lick on
(08:00):
the rim, take the shot, chaseit.
So this is my version of pickleback.
This is going to be the new oneof the year.
It'd be fresh melon instead ofpickles, or more whatever.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
I like that.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
So hit the tahini, hit it back, take the fruit
juice and then end it with therest of the rim.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Well, to drifters, to family and to loving each other
and just having a great timeeverybody Cheers.
Cheers.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Oh man, that finishes .
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Oh my gosh Whoa.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
So good.
I appreciate it.
A lot of different realms sogood.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, I feel like my taste buds just went on a roller
coaster.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
I know what you're talking about.
Yeah, it was like suckers fromMexico.
That reminds me exactly of likeit.
Oh my gosh, that was good.
My heart to y'all.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Your heart drank my heart.
Well done, well done, sir.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Oh, blonde guy with no scars, how dare you?
Yeah, and you just stole thathandshake from them.
All right, log it out.
Coming back on, love y'all.
Out there, ninjas out.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Barnage
Podcast.
Please be sure to subscribe tous.
We're your favorite podcastplayer in the barnage nation
that has over 7000 bartenders inthe world.
One of wwwbarmangercom.
You can enter your email tillnext time.
See you then.
Thanks for watching.
Hey, Barnagination, Welcome to the Barn Ninja
Podcast, where we talk abouteverything from trials and
tribulations, from life behindthe bar to tips and tricks to
making a better bartender and abetter drinker.
Join your host, Bill Fortun,Kayla Rood and yours truly, Mike
Garrison.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Let's go have some fucking fun this is an
incredible gift of whether it'sstaff or guests.
He has this innate ability tomeet people where they're at,
and I told him.
One thing I'm so jealous of himwith is like he can walk to a
(00:39):
table, spend five minutes at atable and build a meaningful
relationship, and it's like thenext time those people come in
they're like, oh man, I love himso much.
He's amazing.
No, no, you're not allowed to.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
You're not allowed to .
No, you're not allowed to.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Babe, you're a part of this, come on.
But for me I'm like you know.
It takes me a lot longer to getto that level and it's
different people, differentgifts, but he is just like man.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
he can find things in people and just connect and
just click in instant and he's avery genuine handsome double.
But when we were talkingearlier about how we go to
restaurants, and it could beVegas and it could be Arkansas,
it could be anywhere, and wewill make friends like a real
friend with a waitress orbartender, like a real friend,
(01:24):
you know, and it obviously it'sa brief period of time because
we recognize that energy andothers.
You know you end up comingfriends on Facebook and
messaging them they're visitingus at the lake or we're going to
see them out there.
That's a great point.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
So picking up an energy and also meeting people
where they're at that's where isthat you can pick up on?
A body language you can pick upon like some kind of like I or
something I feel the energySomebody knew something.
Yeah, yeah, you pick up on that.
I'm going to kneel down next toyou Like how you doing, man,
your tinderbites are probablycold and probably not coat
properly.
Yeah, let me know what I can do.
You know what I mean?
(01:57):
Oh yeah, we talked about that?
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Yeah, that, literally that.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
So you can turn a negative experience into a super
positive one to where to comeback, not only come back here
from a business perspective, butalso leave with some kind of
impact.
They're going to be thinkingabout drifters in the back end
because they have Rhonda orGrace or Faith or somebody like
serving them at the bartender,like Lucas, making their
experience super, super positive, to where they can walk away
(02:23):
saying, man, I wish my life waskind of like more like that Set
back.
And that's why I feelconflicted and convicted on a
regular basis.
We are stressed out but at thesame time we are so blessed.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I'm going to go ahead on a limb and say a thousand
and fourteen.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Oh yeah, I said it a lot.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
But it's.
You know, I was going to sayfourteen and a half.
We can't overstate happiness orbeing blessed, or all that
positive, positive energy.
That it's why we do what we do.
You want to say blessed ninehundred and forty eight million
times.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
People don't want to say what the happiness actually
is, because we are alreadytalking about happiness.
What is happiness?
What is happiness?
What are the happiest times ofmy life?
Is meeting her and Iron Ale inLynchburg and I was renting my
house out Airbnb.
I was sleeping in my truck inthe process, but I was still
buying drinks for the staff andall I kind of showed on the back
end we would overnight.
(03:14):
I promise every single one ofy'all, whoever listens to this,
what he's not going to defineyour happiness.
I will give you five milliondollars right now.
I promise you you're going tohave a great time for maybe six
months to a year and you'restill going to be fulfilled.
So there's a lot of things thathave to happen in the process
internally to make sure that youare happy.
You have to make sure you'reokay with yourself to make sure
(03:36):
that you're happy going forward.
One of my biggest blessings issleeping in my fucking truck and
making a lot of money overseasand doing all the things I've
done and all that kind of shit.
But there's also the biggestblessing being divorced, going
through all the fucking hardtimes I've been through making a
lot of money to making next tonothing and sleeping in my
fucking truck.
It's the biggest blessings I'veever made in my life.
So make sure you're okay withyourself and you're gonna be
(03:57):
okay going forward Guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
You rally around people in need, you rally around
your family, like it's likebeing there for one another is
more fulfilling than money willever be, so small thing or a big
thing, whatever it may be, I'lltell you one of the most
fulfilling moments that I hadthis entire season.
One of the girls on our stafflost her grandfather this year
and her grandfather was like adad to her and she's talking to
(04:21):
me and she's just and you know,thank God, that she felt like I
was a safe space for her, towhere she could just cry and my
arms didn't just allow me to bethere for her.
So in the process of that,she's sobbing and she's just
like talking about everythingshe is going on.
And in the midst of that shemade a comment about how she has
this car payment and she's laidon and I literally just felt
the Lord like to give her somemoney and I didn't know how much
(04:42):
her car payment was.
I didn't ask and I just handedher some cash.
So she was like what, why areyou doing this?
And she's a person she's kindof like that hardheaded,
prideful type, like she doesn'twant handouts.
So she was super uncomfortableand I looked her in the eyes and
I said listen, I don't know howmuch your car payment is, I
don't know if this will evencover it, but all I know is that
right now you shouldn't beworried about a car payment.
You should be giving yourselftime and space to grade your
(05:05):
granddad.
And I told her cause, like Isaid, that's the kind of person
she is.
She doesn't like handouts.
So I told her, I said if youwant to pay us back, that's fine
, but grieve first and then wecan talk about that later if
that's what you feel like youwant to do.
But I don't need that from you.
I was like this is about takingcare of you and what you need
right now.
And her reaction to that wasthe most fulfilling thing ever,
because it's like I wasn'ttrying to like get any credit or
(05:27):
anything.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah, you weren't, it was just a literal giving.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
But that was just like the most beautiful reaction
, cause she was so taken abackby that and it honestly actually
, you know, thinking about it,it kind of bothers me.
She was so taken aback by thatbecause it's like we want to be
there for people.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I mean that's the thing like-, but independence is
a strength, for-.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Money is money, and the thing is is that, in our
reality, taking care of peopleis more valuable to me valuable
to me than money you'll ever be.
That one specific employee likeI would have paid her quadruple
what I gave her that day, justto know that she's okay.
And that was where my concernwas at is like I don't want her
to sit here while she.
Her granddad just died.
He was basically like a dad toher and she's stressing out
(06:06):
about a car payment Like are youkidding me?
Yeah, she has a lot of healthissues in and of herself, but
the thing is is that it's somuch more important to care for
people in and of themselvesfirst.
If you start there.
Everything else comes out ofthat and yeah absolutely.
But that's not even just withinDrifters, that's in life, I
mean like-.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Is it in life If more people do that the world would
be a better place, if morepeople could do that, and from
the restaurant perspective, ifyou want to keep building that.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
I think that we could speculate and guess and predict
for two years from now a lot ofthings, but I guarantee it's
going to be beautiful.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Well, so you know what.
You know what's kind of coolabout what.
I was kind of going there.
So we have a vision board owner, a refrigerator at the house
and I would say probably about85% of that is probably
completed.
Yeah, All right on, and thatwas that was two years before we
owned the restaurant, soeverything is like kind of
coming into fruition.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
You know what I mean.
I mean, I've seen it, I felt it, I have been privileged to be
beside it, around it for most ofthe time, and you can call it
manifestation or whatever youwant to.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
It's a comfort, it's a comfortable sweatshirt.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
Yeah, I like that, once you get the good energy you
get the good energy All right.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
So what are we drinking here?
Speaker 5 (07:18):
So this is a this is kind of a take on a candy I had
in Arizona growing up, so itused to be a mega flavored
sucker, or cantaloupe orwhatever fresh fruit they had at
the time.
They'd cover with their chimoi,which is a fruit blend hot
sauce, and then tahini, which ischili powder with salt, lemon,
lime, all that.
(07:39):
So this time we paired it witha fresh shot of lima-zul
straight up, with a tahini bator a rim, and then this is fresh
muddled cantaloupe, reallyMuddled down into fresh juice,
and I added just a little bit ofchimoi.
So that little bit of fruit hotsauce.
So what you're going to do isyou're going to a little lick on
(08:00):
the rim, take the shot, chaseit.
So this is my version of pickleback.
This is going to be the new oneof the year.
It'd be fresh melon instead ofpickles, or more whatever.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
I like that.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
So hit the tahini, hit it back, take the fruit
juice and then end it with therest of the rim.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Well, to drifters, to family and to loving each other
and just having a great timeeverybody Cheers.
Cheers.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Oh man, that finishes .
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Oh my gosh Whoa.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
So good.
I appreciate it.
A lot of different realms sogood.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, I feel like my taste buds just went on a roller
coaster.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
I know what you're talking about.
Yeah, it was like suckers fromMexico.
That reminds me exactly of likeit.
Oh my gosh, that was good.
My heart to y'all.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Your heart drank my heart.
Well done, well done, sir.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Oh, blonde guy with no scars, how dare you?
Yeah, and you just stole thathandshake from them.
All right, log it out.
Coming back on, love y'all.
Out there, ninjas out.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Barnage
Podcast.
Please be sure to subscribe tous.
We're your favorite podcastplayer in the barnage nation
that has over 7000 bartenders inthe world.
One of wwwbarmangercom.
You can enter your email tillnext time.
See you then.
Thanks for watching.
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