December 8, 2025 • 53 mins
A new executive chef gets thrown into the deep end: understaffed, undertrained, and staring down six tough weeks. We use that moment to unpack a bigger question every operator faces—how do you stay mentally strong and lead with purpose when the room is half full and the pressure won’t let up?
We dig into:
- The gap vs. gain framework from Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy
- Eight simple questions that snap you out of scarcity and into progress.
- Eric Cacciatore opens up about imposter syndrome, why service beats ego, and how choosing “impact over reach” changes the way you scale.
- Six guiding principles for resilient entrepreneurs: prioritize real
If you’re an independent multi‑unit operator aiming to build systems, grow leaders, and protect your mindset, this conversation gives you practical tools, a clearer North Star, and a community-first path forward. Listen, share with your team, and tell us your biggest gain from today. If this helped, subscribe, leave a review, and send it to a fellow operator who could use a lift.
P.S. Ready to take your restaurant to the next level?
- Get the Independent Restaurant Framework that's helped countless owners build thriving multi-location brands. Grab your copy at https://www.IRFbook.com
Podcast Production: https://www.lconnorvoice.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker (00:08):
If you've ever wondered how to keep your mindset sharp
and positive during reallychallenging times of your
business, then today's episodeis for you.
Eric Cachitore and I have avery in-depth conversation
around the guiding principlesthat he uses as an entrepreneur,
why those principles are soimportant to the success of
business, how to keep yourmindset really, really sharp
(00:30):
during challenging times, andthe difference between living in
the gap and living in the game.
Hope you enjoyed this episode.
Be sure to catch Eric'spodcast, which is called
Restaurant Unstoppable.
He's interviewed over 1,200restaurant owners and operators,
and his podcast and his contenthas a vast amount of knowledge.
(00:54):
At the end of the episode, healso tells us about his next
exciting project that is goingto deliver even more value and
collaboration and community ontop of what he's already been
doing all these years.
Welcome to the RestaurantLeadership Podcast, where we
coach independent multi-unitrestaurant operators to build
(01:14):
systems that drive profitabilityand reclaim time so they can
scale with confidence and spendtheir time and energy where they
want to, not where they haveto.
I'm your host, Kristen Marvin,restaurant coach and author of
Multi-unit Mastery.
If you are an independentrestaurant owner managing
multiple locations, you know thechaos that comes with growth.
(01:38):
Inconsistent execution acrossyour restaurants, managers who
won't take ownership, constantlyanswering questions your team
should already know the answersto.
You're stuck in your currentrole when you want to be playing
a bigger strategic role as youscale.
You don't have the rightleaders in place or you keep
losing them.
(01:59):
And you're not sure how to findgreat people and actually keep
them around.
We work with passionateindependent restaurant owners
who found success with theirfirst few locations and are
ready to scale strategically.
Our clients aren't looking tojust survive expansion.
They want to thrive through it.
They're committed to developingstrong leaders and creating
(02:22):
exceptional guest experiences.
Through the independentrestaurant framework that we
teach in multi-unit mastery, wecoach independent restaurant
groups to move from chaos toconfidence by focusing on three
pillars (02:34):
people, process, and profit.
You can grab a gifted copy ofthe book at irfbook.com.
On this show, we bring you realcoaching conversations,
leadership strategies, and theframeworks that you need to lead
like a CEO instead of operatinglike a worn-out manager.
And here's the thing (02:54):
coaching has changed our clients'
businesses and can change yourstoo.
If you've never experiencedwhat it's like to have someone
in your corner who actually getsthe restaurant world, we'd love
to connect.
We offer one-on-one and groupcoaching.
Head to kristenmarvin.com slashcontact for a complimentary
(03:16):
coaching session and let's talkabout what's possible for your
restaurant group.
Eric, thanks for being hereagain.
Second time you've you've beenable to join me on the show,
which is amazing.
First time, uh we all we alwayshave the most amazing
conversations on and off theair.
So excited to have you back on.
(03:37):
But the first time I met you,you were in my living room
recording at my dining roomtable.
And it was it freaked me out.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
Great host.
So hospitable.
I felt at home.
It was awesome.
Speaker (03:48):
You had some, I think you had a breakfast burrito for
the road, but yeah, you rolled,you rolled up.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
I think I got like a week supply of Red Bull too.
Yeah, 100%.
100%.
Speaker (03:58):
You were you were fueled for the road, but yeah,
you rolled up in your in yourhuge truck uh with the logo.
And I'm sure my neighbors allthought we were having
maintenance or stuff done or so,or someone was moving into the
house.
It was just uh awesome.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
You'd be surprised how many people walk up to my
camper and they go, is there arestaurant in there?
Speaker (04:15):
I'm like, what says on the side?
I know.
So thanks for joining me again.
Really appreciate it.
Um there's something top ofmind that I wanted to kind of
dive in with you today.
I was coaching a brand newleader yesterday, um, a culinary
leader who who's who's beenpretty mistreated in the
(04:39):
restaurant.
And I'm I'm hearing a lot ofpeople's PTSDs of working for
former employees and they theydesperately want to start over
when they start a new job andthey want to trust their
leaders.
And this this gentleman hadjust got promoted, loved the
company that he worked for,super excited and optimistic
about the future.
But unfortunately, he's in oneof those situations where the
(05:03):
person that he's taking over forleft.
And so he's left to his owndevices to train, to train
himself.
And on top of that, he'slooking ahead at the schedule
for the next six weeks andrealizing that they've they've
allowed so many requests off inthe kitchen that he's very
short-staffed and he's gonnahave to be training himself,
(05:25):
working stations and figuringout how to basically survive the
next six weeks and offer theexperience that he's really
proud of.
And so sitting across the tablefrom this guy, you know,
obviously my heart was going outto him.
And my my vision and my hopefor him was to try to get him to
(05:45):
a place from a mindsetperspective of looking at the
next six weeks with excitementand opportunity to learn and
grow, not him being set up forfailure and crashing and burning
before he even got a chance toreally step into this role.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
And so this individual who will remain
anonymous, yeah.
What's their role?
Speaker (06:07):
They are now walking into or um going into the
executive chef position.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
And they were a Sioux chef?
Speaker (06:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
And they were paying out of their own pocket coaching
for with you?
Speaker (06:18):
No, it's kind of a it's a group thing that I do with
restaurant groups, yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
First of all, whoever this guy is, like we should say
their name or this guy weshould say their name because
like that is the kind of personyou want on your team, the
person that's going out andactively looking to grow.
Totally.
You know, like but never mind,I guess.
Speaker (06:34):
I no, but they're but their owner, they know the
ownership group, uh, ownershipteam of the restaurant group is
incredibly um bought intoinvesting in their team.
And so, you know, just anincredible conversation.
But I'm curious because it'sit's been it's just been looming
for me.
Like, how do you how do youkeep yourself in a positive
(06:57):
mindset when you know you've gotreally challenging times coming
up in your business?
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Well, let me get vulnerable and say I I'm not
always in a positive mindset.
I think we all we're all human,right?
Like, I think I'm better atgetting back into that mindset
when I find myself when I'm low,and uh, there's a bunch of
things I do.
Um, I think one of the firstthings I realize is when I take
the pressure, when I when I takemyself out of it and I say it's
(07:23):
not about me, it's not aboutlike when I so you know I host
Restaurant Unstoppable Podcasts,and Restaurant Unstoppable
Podcast isn't the Eric Cachatorishow, it's the the restaurant
unstoppable show with themission to inspire, empower, and
transform the industry.
And my job is to uh serve mylisteners, and um, you know, if
I just focus on what the job is,my job is to take care of other
(07:46):
people.
I think a lot of the times Ihave imposter syndrome, like
who's gonna listen to me?
Like, who am I to tellsuccessful restaurant tours or
any restaurant tour for thatmatter what to do?
I've never done it.
I'm here to learn, I'm here tobe a student.
So that imposter syndrome is oflike who are who do you think
you are, Mr.
Cachitory?
Like, you're not the person forthis job.
Um, but at the end of the day,my job, it isn't about me, it's
(08:08):
about the people on the otherend of this podcast and serving
them.
So when I focus about when Ifocus on what the the mission
is, what the purpose is, and whyI do it, that helps me get out
of my own head and say, no, justjust make it about everybody
else.
And I there's this one quotethat I I heard, and I'm gonna
paraphrase it, but if you helpenough other people achieve what
they want in life, you can haveanything in life.
And it was that quote that wasa kick in the ass that got me to
(08:30):
start the podcast.
And it's always been aboutservice to others first.
So I think when you reconnectwith the why, the purpose, and
how you're uniquely positioned,you might not be the guy, you
know, you might not be theall-star, but maybe you're a
great supporting act, you know,and your job is to help that
all-star.
Um so when you have clarity onwho you are and why you do what
you do, and you can get outsideof your head, that always helps
(08:52):
me.
Speaker (08:52):
It's so true.
And I mean, come on, like Mr.
1200 podcast episodes, you'vehad more in-depth conversations
one-on-one with restaurantowners and operators than so
many of us have.
I mean, you get so muchinformation, yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
And I think that what I like, you know, in full
again, in full transparency andvulnerability, like I've never
owned a restaurant.
Um, I've I've been like an AGM,like that's as high as I've
progressed in my my like mycareer in hospitality.
I grew up in the industry.
I worked in restaurantsthroughout high school and
college, but it was always aside hustle.
Um, it was never my full-timething.
(09:27):
I intentionally wasn't takingon a lot of responsibility
because I was working afull-time job while working in
the restaurant industry for mostof my career.
Speaker (09:33):
Yeah.
Here's the thing 80% ofrestaurants fail because they
don't have the systems, notbecause they have bad food or
service.
If you're ready to stop beingthe bottleneck in your own
business and start buildingsomething that can actually
scale profitably, I want you toput multi-unit mastery, my new
(09:54):
book, directly in your hands forfree.
Go to irfbook.com right now andgrab your copy.
When you do, you're going toget access to some additional
tools that are not availableanywhere else.
This is about building alegacy, not just another
location.
Stop putting it off and go getyour book.
(10:16):
Again, that's irfbook.com.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
So, um, you know, I do have that imposter syndrome,
but to your point, yeah, I havealso spoken to I've produced
1200 episodes.
How many restaurant tours inthat 1200?
I'm not exactly sure.
Over a thousand.
Uh, and I've gotten a lot ofperspective, you know, and I
think that that is my uniqueselling proposition is that I
can come at it from a cleanperspective, and I have a lot of
(10:44):
different perspectives fromdifferent people.
Uh, and ever no two restauranttours are exactly the same.
There is no one way, there isno necessarily right way, it's
just the right way for you.
There's there is only one way,right way, and that is unique to
the individual.
But there are how many peoplein the world?
Yeah, billions.
So that means there's billionsof right ways.
Speaker (11:03):
It's crystal clear, right?
It's I agree with you 110%.
When you know your why andyou're very passionate about
what you do, and you're livingyour why every single day, or
the majority of the time, itvery much helps you overcome
(11:23):
those really tough, challengingdays, right?
It's it's true for forrestaurant owners, for
restaurant operators.
I don't know that a lot ofyounger people know what their
why is yet in this business andif they've made a decision to,
you know, to make this theircareer or not.
I think there's a lot of peoplestill on the fence about that.
But I know this, I work a loton mental fitness.
(11:45):
I coached a lot about stayingin a, you know, helping people
get into a really healthymindset and a growth mindset.
But there is that reallysticky, nasty gray area between
when the hard moment presentsitself and then making that
switch to remembering your whyand your passion.
(12:06):
How do you how do you make thatswitch?
Speaker 4 (12:09):
I think it's just being, and they say the peak of
emotional intelligence isself-awareness, right?
So uh it's in that moment ofrecognizing that you're being
emotional and recognizing thatemotions are uh the the lower
part of your brain, the moreprime, you know, the the
primitive part of your brain.
And we have since evolved theseouter parts of our brain, our
frontal lobe that has theability to override emotion.
(12:30):
Uh and it's and it's in thatmoment of feeling like I when
you feel depressed, when youfeel like you can't do it, uh
it's just like saying, These arejust emotions, they are not
serving me.
What is my why?
What is my purpose?
Like in focusing on whatmatters, the people on the back,
it's not about me, it's aboutserving other people.
And if you make it aboutgiving, giving, giving, if
you're constantly makingdeposits, deposits, deposits,
(12:51):
the universe, you just have tohave faith, the faith that the
universe is paying attention tothat.
And you can't track the youknow, your withdrawals, they
kind of just come at you umunawaringly.
Uh, but over time, um, thatthat compounds, those those
deposits compound and and youmove in the right direction.
Speaker (13:08):
Yeah, absolutely.
Thank you for that.
Um, it's so important to nameit and just recognize what
what's going on.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
Yeah, I think you're a huge fan of Dan Sullivan, as
am I.
I just recently chewed up allof Dr.
Benjamin Hardy's books.
Um, and one of those books, uh,I think you actually just put
an email about this yesterday,the gap in the game.
The gap in the gain is part ofit is it's focusing on gains.
Like, what did I do today tomove towards that five-year
plan?
Like, what did I do today thatis is a move in the right
(13:36):
direction?
And when you focus on thegains, um, it's just you just
live, you just exist in a betterplace.
It's really easy to focus onthe gap, which is the the place
between where you currently areand where you want to be.
And you that that's a that'snot a mindset of abundance,
that's a that's a scarcitymindset.
That's a like why why memindset.
You know, and when youperception is reality, what you
(13:58):
choose to focus on is whatyou'll see.
Um so that and anotherobviously uh be the what is it
uh be future you now or betomorrow, is it be your future
self today or be your futureself now?
That's another Dr.
Benjamin Hardy book.
And that whole idea is like whois that?
What is that vision foryourself in the future?
(14:19):
Um, what are you doing?
What does it look like?
Well, be that person today.
Don't wait until tomorrow.
Be that person now.
Speaker (14:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
I like to say be tomorrow, you today.
Speaker (14:28):
Okay.
unknown (14:30):
Yeah.
Speaker (14:30):
I mean, the gap in the game.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
I don't think I'm getting in trouble.
Speaker (14:34):
We're we're saying where it's coming from.
Yeah, exactly.
We're giving credit wherecredit's due.
The gap in the gain is soimportant.
That's something that I, youknow, I told you I've been going
down the rabbit hole with DanSullivan recently.
And I read about this a week ortwo ago, and I was so inspired
because I have been working witha client that I just am having
a hard time getting out of thatscarcity mindset and that gap.
(14:57):
And so they're in the book, andand you know, I talk about this
in the newsletter, page page 48of 10x is easier than 2x if
you're listening and you've gotthe book.
Uh, Danless eight questions tohelp you get yourself out of the
gap and into the game.
And I went over those eightquestions with a client, and it
was actually a really powerfulmoment because he was actually
(15:18):
driving to a funeral.
And we were talking aboutburnout, and he was just in a
really bad head headspace.
And then we went through thosequestions one by one.
And the demeanor change, themindset shift, the energy
change, just the body languageshift that happened and what we
(15:39):
were able to celebrate in thework that we've been doing
together for the last six monthswas just a really incredible,
impactful moment for him on theyou know, driving to someone
whose life was over and and usbeing able to reflect on
understanding where he wantedhis just what kind of leader he
wanted to be and what kind oflife he wanted to live.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Um what were those questions?
Can you rant can you list themoff?
Are they long questions?
Are they short questions?
I have the book behind me.
I can go read them too if youwant.
Speaker (16:06):
Give me a sec.
The eight questions are howhave you grown as a person over
the past three years?
You want me to ask you thesethings, or you want me to just
read the questions?
Speaker 4 (16:16):
Oh man, how long is this podcast?
Speaker (16:19):
All right, I'll just read the questions.
Have you how have you grown asa person over the last three
years?
What are the biggest thingsyou've learned in the past 12
months?
What are the 10 importantthings that you've accomplished
in the past 12 months?
What meaningful experienceshave you had in the past 90
days?
How are you clearer on yourgoals and vision than you were
90 days ago?
(16:40):
In what ways is your lifedifferent and better than it was
30 days ago?
What important progress haveyou made in the past seven days?
And what progress have you madein the past 24 hours?
Speaker 4 (16:52):
Yo, I can answer those questions if you want me
to.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
I'll try to keep it quick.
Let's try the top.
Yeah, let's do it.
Okay.
Speaker (17:04):
How have you grown as a person over the past three
years?
Speaker 4 (17:07):
I have more clarity in who I am and what I want to
do.
And how I want to do it.
Speaker (17:14):
What are the biggest things you've learned in the
past 12 months?
Speaker 4 (17:19):
More clarity on who I am, what I want to do, and how
I want to do it.
Speaker (17:24):
Okay.
What are the ten importantthings, most important things
you've accomplished in the past12 months?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I mean, that's a lot of things to cover in a list,
but um I think sometimes yougotta stop before you go.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Uh stop doing what you were doing, get out of
commitments that you were in toget into new commitments, be
more intentional withrelationships, be more
selective.
And I think kind of one ofthose things of who I am and
what I'm trying to do, it's it'sabout um, you know, I think
it's all about relationships.
I think at the end of the day,what makes humans uniquely us,
some people think it's uhopposable thumbs or ability to
(18:02):
stand upright, and those are allevolutionary benefits, but
really it's our ability tocommunicate um and to be there
are no species that can, youknow, unless you're in a hive,
uh, there are no species likethe the human that are able to
work together in a tribe and toall have a specialist, and every
individual can come togetherand be something special to that
(18:24):
tribe.
Um, and I think it's ourability to to fill niches and to
communicate and to worktogether for a common good for a
common goal.
So um I think one big thing isI'm getting really intentional
about the relationships I wantmoving forward.
Uh, it's more about freedom forme, prioritizing freedom of
purpose and freedom ofrelationships above all else.
Yeah.
If you can have freedom ofpurpose and freedom of
(18:46):
relationships, time goes by likeit's nothing.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
Because you're doing what you want with who you want.
And I if you have what you wantand who you want, if you have
like your definite purpose inlife, your why and you're doing
with people you love, money weneed it, but it's not the most
important thing.
Speaker (19:03):
Yeah, it's the result of living right, your freedom of
purpose.
Absolutely.
What meaningful experienceshave you had in the past 90
days?
Speaker 4 (19:13):
Meaningful experiences I've had in the past
90 days.
I think it's about um statingmy intention publicly, um,
telling people being vulnerable,um, opening up and saying, hey,
money's tight right now.
I'm turning away sponsors thatare offering me six figures.
Um, and it's because they'reasking me to do things I don't
feel right doing.
(19:34):
It's not aligned with mymission, my values, my vision.
And when you take money, it hasstrings attached.
It pulls you off those things.
So it's really about gettingintentional about who I am and
why I'm doing what I'm doing andand being unrelentless about
staying on course.
No matter you know, I thinkearly in your career you say yes
to everything.
Later in your career, you haveto say no to the things that
(19:57):
don't make sense.
I think just saying no more andsaying yes to what matters more
is feeling really good rightnow.
Speaker (20:03):
Yeah, and that's when you know that something powerful
has really shifted in yourbusiness, right?
We'll talk about what successmeans here in a little bit, but
um, that's a big goal for merecently is saying no more than
I'm saying yes.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Yeah, I know I'm not giving you lists of things, but
that's the general generalizing.
Speaker (20:19):
Okay.
So you mentioned being clearerearlier, but how are you clearer
on your goals and your visionthan you were 90 days ago?
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Um I think it's for me, it's about I mean I think
there needs to be context beforeI share.
So with a podcast, and you knowthis, there's three ways to
make money generally, primarilysponsorship one, affiliate
marketing to, and using yourpodcast to promote your own
(20:48):
products and services.
So I got to where I am today,12 years, 1200 episodes from the
support of sponsors, and I'm sograteful for my sponsors who
helped me get here.
But the reality is that thegame is is changing and it has
changed over the past 12 years.
And uh the I think if you'rethe more money you ask, and if
you can get to that point whereyou're asking for a lot of
money, it like again it comesback to strings.
(21:10):
So for me, um, it's abouttrying to shift away from
sponsorship and shift towardscreating a resource, uh uh, an
offering to my community um thatis about transformation, it's
about coming together, it'sabout uh I think you know, my
interviews are my inspiration.
My mission statement is toinspire, empower, and transform
the industry.
My my interviews are myinspiration.
Um my going deeper with theworkshops um in the community
(21:36):
are is like the empowerment oflike, okay, these are the things
we've learned.
Now we're going deeper, we'rewe're we're bringing it, we're
slowing it down, we're goingdeeper, and then we're going
together is the transformation.
It's like you know, we'recoming together, we're we're
helping you connect with theindividuals, giving you the
relationships you need and beingthere for you.
And I think it's inrelationships back to the human
part of things, is that that iswhere we achieve transformation.
(21:58):
So 100%.
Am I answering your questionright now?
Speaker (22:01):
No, no, you're good.
You're good.
I it's it's fun to watch youprocess through, right?
Because you we had we did notrehearse this, you had no idea
that I was gonna ask anyquestions.
We're just a fellow lover,we're fellow lovers of Dan
Sullivan.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
So that's the original question again.
Speaker (22:14):
So it was how are you clearer on your goals and vision
than you were 90 days ago?
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Yeah, so I think for me it's about prioritizing
relationships.
It's to your point, it's who,not how.
Um and if you focus on theright who's the how takes care
of itself.
And for me, um, yeah, it's thewho's, it's the technicians, the
the specialists, the managersthat do what you could never
dream of doing, but it's alsothe the people you want to
serve.
So for me, um, I'm I'm bringingtogether my I'm bringing back
(22:39):
my masterminds and I'mprioritizing, I'm going to past
guests and saying, hey, I wantto do a mastermind, but if I
have to serve somebody, I wantit to be you.
If I have to send one, twohours a month with somebody, I
want it to be you.
And I want those masterminds todictate, to steer.
I want the best in theindustry's passions,
curiosities, pain points.
(23:01):
I want to serve those peoplewho help me get here by giving
their time and knowledge to mylisteners.
If I can reverse engineer thechallenges and curiosities of
the best, that's gonna servethousands of people.
I have to live vicariouslythrough these people.
So if you can make if you cancurate a community of badasses
and choose who you serve, I meanthat's the clarity I have
(23:23):
today.
It's about who do I want toserve and who do I want to
promote?
Who do I want to partner with,who I believe in?
Because if I have if the futureis me promoting people, I gotta
believe.
I'm not an actor.
So who do I want?
It's it's it's choosing freedomof relationships over money.
Speaker (23:39):
Love it.
In what ways is your lifedifferent and better than it was
30 days ago?
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Um I I think it's just knowing that I'm on the
right path.
Uh and I'll be honest, like I'mI'm con I'm just constantly
hovering over the zero mark onmy all my checking accounts
right now, you know.
But I know it's not that Ican't make money.
I I'm I have my best downloadsuh of 2024 this month, you know.
Sorry, 2025 this month.
(24:08):
Nice.
So like the the the podcast isdoing great.
I'm doing work, the best workI've ever done, the work I've
always wanted to do, honest,transparent, journalistic work.
I'm traveling the country in mytruck hamper, following word of
mouth.
Like this is the dream.
I'm literally living my dream,but it's coming at a cost,
right?
And I think that that cost isI'm con like I live on the edge,
(24:29):
I push the envelope.
So I'm getting what I'm livingmy dream, I'm getting what I
want, but it's cut, it's noteasy.
Yeah, I think but the it's theit's in doing the hard thing,
choosing to do the hard thingsthat is where growth comes.
But when you're in the middleof a hard thing, you're like,
Can I swear in this?
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Yeah, you're like, fuck, this sucks.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
It totally but you have to remind yourself, like,
I'm doing it, I chose this, Ihave autonomy right now.
Yeah, like yeah, freedom, likethat is freedom.
We all want freedom, we allwant autonomy, and I have to I
remind myself of that every day.
Like, I am literally doing whatI want to do.
Speaker (25:03):
Absolutely.
Quipping a bit well, it goesback to the mindset um that we
were talking about when we firststarted the conversation.
You know, it's when yourecognize that those negative
thoughts are coming into yourhead and those emotions are
starting to tick up, it's a it'sa reminder that these are not
who I am.
This is just a moment in time,these are just my emotions and
my thoughts.
(25:24):
Um, and then you make thechoice as to what you're gonna
do with those and how you'regonna move forward.
So, okay.
Um, what important progresshave you made in the past seven
days?
Speaker 4 (25:37):
Um, I'm actively um reaching out actually in the
past seven days.
Well, the past two weeks, I wasforced to slow down because I
went to a friend's wedding inCancun, Mexico.
And I thought that that wasgonna be relaxing.
And I came back from that moreexhausted than I was when I
left.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
I was like, fuck.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Then I came back and I don't know, like you get to a
point where you're like, you yourather not go on vacation
because you know when you comeback from vacation, you're just
gonna be like, where the hellwas I?
Like you lose all thatmomentum, and then you have to
like put the the loose ends backtogether, and it's just like
oh.
So um, I guess the progress.
Um, so I was gone for a week,got back, went to Maine, was I
(26:15):
did work from Maine, but um Iended up taking like two or
three days where I just letmyself be a vegetable.
I was like, you need to let youneed to like do nothing, yeah,
recharge, rejuvenate, yeah, andjust breathe, go for long bike
rides, get it, go for longhikes, and that's what I did,
and I kind of just got clarity.
So I guess that's my win isjust kind of slowing down and
(26:36):
regrouping to move forward.
Speaker (26:37):
Yeah, it's huge progress.
Uh what progress have you madein the past 24 hours?
Speaker 4 (26:42):
I'm kicking myself in the ass and I'm getting back
after and I'm reaching out to mynetwork.
I'm cold calling, or not cold,like warm, warm leads, you know?
Yeah, uh telling people myvision and how I want to evolve
this thing and saying if I haveto serve anybody, I want to
serve you.
Are you in?
Speaker (26:56):
Love it, love it.
Um, Eric, how are you definingsuccess in as a as an
entrepreneur?
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Well, I mean, I think we this is why we have visions,
this is why we have um missionand purposes, you know,
statements.
So, my success, um, my purposeis to inspire, empower, and
transform the industry.
And uh if I guess my vision ofwhat that looks like is uh a
future, I want to see fewer 100unit operators and more 20 to 30
unit operators that are hyperlocal, that are making an impact
(27:29):
in their community.
I think I like I said, likethere is no right way.
Um, but if I'm opening arestaurant tomorrow and I want
to make the world a betterplace, the way I'm doing it is
by going deeper.
I think it's about impact, notreach.
I think that we live in a worldthat rewards reach.
Um I think reach comes at theexpense of impact.
Um, where we prioritize vanitymetrics, we prioritize you know,
(27:53):
uh wealth and power over again,the thing that matters most is
relationships.
And I think at the end of theday, if you look at Maslow's
hierarchy of needs, what is onthat list?
Like, let's just get real.
It's it's security, you know,whether that be like your
physical environment, like food,shelter, uh, it's feeling
secure from the outside threats.
(28:15):
You know, we we get that fromcommunity, we get that from
working hard and storing awayvegetables for the winter and
and having our stock ofresources to get us through the
hard times.
Uh, and then it's beyond that,it's being seen, feeling valued,
being loved.
And then beyond that, it'sgrowing personally, becoming a
better version of yourself.
And then beyond that, it's it'sself-actualizing, having your
(28:37):
definite purpose in life, andall those things, the things
that we need to be happy, are soattainable, but we don't
prioritize it.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Yeah, so you yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
I want to do that for first.
I want to stoke awareness inoperations and say, Do you want
to be happy?
Do you want freedom?
Freedom isn't with more money,it's choosing to do what you
want to do on your terms, andthat's in reach for most of us,
all of us, I could argue.
You know, and I think it's it'skeeping up with the Joneses and
(29:10):
and falling prey toconsumerism, you know.
Um, I think marketing is thehumanity's Achilles heel because
we're we're all being hit withthese messages of more and more
and more.
Uh and I think we just need towake up and say, no, all we need
is to be is to have our purposeand to be loved and to be
valued and grow and to to tojust find our purpose in life.
(29:34):
And we can all do that.
Speaker (29:35):
Yeah, it's so, I don't know if you've if you've seen
this in your time as anentrepreneur, but I feel like
since I started my journey threeyears ago, there is just more
and more and more and moreentrepreneurs coming on the
scene, people that are gettingout of operations, that want to
start their own businesses, thatwant to make an impact in the
industry.
And maybe this is a byproductof just what's happening in the
(29:57):
world right now, but there is aThere is a sense of transparency
and honesty and vulnerabilityout there that's larger than
I've and louder than I've everseen before from entrepreneurs.
And the sense of community andsupport is matching that.
And I'm sure that they're veryclosely aligned.
But are you are you seeingthat?
I mean, the community ofentrepreneurs right now that are
(30:19):
supporting each other, it justseems to be just very vast.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
100%.
And um, I believe fullheartedlythat we go further together.
And I think that again, that ispart of what makes us uniquely
us as human beings, yeah, is ourability to fill a hole in a in
a tribe.
Like this tribe needs a chef.
Okay.
This tribe needs a director ofbeverage.
This tribe tribe needs amarketing director or a a
(30:47):
dishwasher or but in in everyrole in a restaurant is an
opportunity to be seen andvalued, you know.
Um, and then you know, thewhole reason why I started this
podcast 12 years ago is becauseI was looking for a podcast for
restaurant owners uh at thattime, and still to this day, I
dream of opening my ownrestaurant.
(31:07):
Um, I've might have been scaredstraight a little bit.
Uh I wouldn't do it unless Ihad a million dollars to burn or
an army of people to go do itwith.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
But um the whole point of starting the podcast
was because I was listening tothese entrepreneurial,
marketing, tech-driven personalgrowth podcasts back in 2012,
and it was blowing my mind howopen and generous these tech
entrepreneurs were.
Um, and I thought to myself,why don't we do this in the
restaurant industry?
We hold our information closeto our chest, we guard our
(31:35):
information because it's socutthroat and competitive, you
know?
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:38):
And I wanted to create a podcast where where
people felt encouraged to share,to open up, to realize that the
more you give, the more youget.
Um, and I've and I think in thepast 12 years, and and I I I'm
not saying it's just restaurantstoppable, but there's so many
people who are buying into thisidea of abundance and giving.
And um the the fasterinformation flows, the more
(32:01):
progress we make.
Speaker (32:02):
Yeah, 100%.
Hey there, podcast friends.
I hope you're enjoying theseimpactful conversations and
leadership insights I'm bringingyou each week.
Before we dive back intotoday's episode, I want to take
a moment and reach out and ask asmall favor that would go a
long way in supporting the show.
If you've been loving thecontent I'm providing, please
take a moment to leave a ratingand review wherever you listen
(32:25):
to your podcast.
Not only does it make my day,but it also plays a pivotal role
in helping the show grow.
Your reviews boost myvisibility, attract new
listeners, and encourageexciting guests to join me on
the mic.
So if you want to be part of myshow's growth journey, hit that
review button and let me knowwhat you think.
(32:47):
Thanks a million for beingawesome listeners.
I think what I've seen in thelast year specifically is that I
I don't know, I'm I'm rappingwith this question of like, can
you have true success if you'renot honest about the
opportunities in your business?
And I think that I've heardmore and more restaurant owners
(33:09):
really start to talk about whattheir struggles are and what
their challenges are in theirbusiness.
More and and they're lettingthe ego go.
And there's a clear separationof people that are still hanging
on to the ego and stillfighting the changes that are
happening and they're reallystruggling in their business.
And then there's this group ofpeople that are just again,
they're just open and they'revulnerable and they're asking
for help and they're saying, I'mreally, really having a hard
(33:31):
time with this.
Who else is having a hard timewith this?
Are you seeing that too?
Speaker 4 (33:35):
Oh, 100%.
And because it's weird.
It's um we live our our wholeindustry is about creating a
false reality and transportingpeople.
That's what we do.
Um, we don't want our guests toknow how hard it is.
Yeah, uh, and all the the mediathat surrounds the restaurant
industry is consumer-facingmedia.
(33:57):
It's it's not media for eachother, it's media for our our
potential guests.
So we're constantly creatingthis facade, this not real
existence of we have our shittogether.
Um, we are like your like weare your choice for escape.
And it's like a that you know,the duck on water.
(34:18):
We're above the water, it'scool, calm, collective.
We have our shit together, butbelow water are we're
frantically running aroundtrying to figure it all out, and
that's not sustainable.
And I think what's weird islike that we've gotten so far
away of what the hospitalityindustry is.
Um, a hospital the the thehospitality, I mean, yeah, we're
about giving warmth andgenerosity and welcoming people
(34:38):
in, but it's not about I thinkwe prioritize creating false
realities and escapes more thanactually just being human.
And what is that like back tothe core of what it is to be
human?
Seeing people, giving topeople, giving purpose to
people, giving community topeople, like literally feeding
people, nourishing people, notjust the body but the soul.
Um, and the sometimes the bestways to do that is through
(35:02):
vulnerability and empathy andand just meeting people where
they're at and letting them knowthey're not alone.
Speaker (35:10):
Yeah, I think I'm excited that restaurant owners
are starting to open up more,but I am seeing that there's
just a huge gap in what you saidbetween the what the
restaurant, how the restaurantowners are showing up in their
personal lives and what and howthey're showing up in their
business.
And I think that there's a hugedisconnect on the again, the
hourly teams.
What's the purpose?
Why are they there?
(35:30):
What does hospitality actuallymean?
Um, it's not a transaction,right?
It's about how you makesomebody feel.
So I'm hoping that that thesereally vulnerable, tough
conversations start to, in ahealthy way, spill over to the
hourly staff of protectingmental health, of it's okay to
(35:50):
have a comp that we can have aconversation if times are tough,
but let's look at theopportunities because I think
there's so many people that arestruggling with turnover, and
there's so many negativethoughts out there about the the
people that are entering therestaurant industry.
And I don't know that we'redoing anybody as a service by
hiding how hard the industry is,right?
(36:11):
Like, yes, we want to provide agreat guest experience, but
then a guest goes, I'm gonna goopen a restaurant.
This sounds great, and thenthis looks great, it looks easy,
and then they have no idea whatthey're getting into.
So I I don't I don't know whatthe where the lines are there.
Speaker 4 (36:25):
Well, it's interesting.
Um, you know, yeah, it's hardout there.
Like, and I I get a littleirritated when I hear coaches
and consultants say, you know,there's plenty of good people
out there, you they just don'twant to come work for you, and
um, because it is hard, youknow.
Like I don't want to like justmake people feel like they're
doing something, they're theproblem, but we have to look and
take a step back and like lookat the industry.
(36:46):
Like, there are morerestaurants today per capita
than ever before.
Yeah, you know, the the marketis more saturated today, and
it's not just restaurants, we'remeeting people at every points,
every touch point of life,whether that be delivery or
pickup, or you know, like likeyou can literally pick up your
phone and look at look at yourphone and blink twice, and you
(37:06):
have food coming your way.
So there's just home like atthe grocery store, you can get
prepared meals at the gasstation.
You can get prepared meals,like you can get pre prepared
meals that you put in thefreezer for next week, you know.
Like we are finding so manydifferent ways to bring food and
to make eating more convenientfor the consumer.
Um, you know, and I think thatuh we have to think what is the
(37:28):
restaurant industry?
It's about restoration, youknow, it's not necessarily about
feeding people, it's aboutrestoring people, it's about
being a community, it's aboutcreating space for people to be
people, right?
Is that the restaurant industryor is it feeding people?
Feeding people is just one ofthe ways we make money, right?
Speaker (37:45):
Yeah, yeah.
No, it's great.
I think what's coming, youknow, my coach is coming out
right now, but I think anybodythat's that's listening to this
show right now, I wouldchallenge you to go back and
think about your purpose.
Why are you in the restaurantindustry?
Why have you opened arestaurant?
And are you actually livingyour purpose today?
(38:07):
And and if you are, amazing.
Have you shared that with yourteam?
Is everybody moving in the samedirection?
And are you are you surroundingyourself with people on your
team that share that samepurpose because it's so
important to the sustainabilityof the business?
And look, I went to two, I'vebeen out a lot in Denver since I
moved back, just very curiousabout what's happening here.
(38:29):
And I've heard so manywonderful things and so many
challenging things, but youknow, guest traffic being down
20% in a lot of restaurants isabsolutely real.
And and I went to threerestaurants the other night on a
Saturday, six o'clock, seveno'clock, and eight o'clock.
And they were less than halffull.
And the bars were less thanhalf full.
And it's, you know, I thinkabout the days of running really
(38:51):
busy restaurants where theguests coming into the space
were the ones providing theenergy to the environment, you
know, and and how do you createenergy to a restaurant on a
Saturday night that's half emptyor a third empty?
That you know, it's the thepeople, right?
Your staff is they've got to bein it, they've got to be
engaged, they've got to know whythey're doing what they're
(39:13):
doing, just like we talked aboutearlier.
And that all starts with theowner.
Speaker 4 (39:16):
Yeah, and I think it it it back to relationships,
right?
So it starts with 100%.
It starts with the owner.
The the the most importantrelationship anybody has is with
themselves.
Who am I?
Why am I here?
What is my purpose?
What is my lane?
It's that self-awareness, it'sunderstanding your why.
And I think that I think thisis actually like great segue
(39:36):
into my my principles.
I mean, I don't know how muchtime we have, but do I have a
hard time?
Speaker (39:42):
No, no, you're good.
Go ahead.
Speaker 4 (39:43):
So, like uh, like these principles used to be my
core values.
And recently, um, after doingself some self-assessment, um, I
realized like these aren't mycore values.
These are just these are thethe principles, the the the
traits I saw in my my my guests,the people I'm making an
example of.
So those I'm gonna also run runthrough them, then I'll dissect
(40:04):
them a little bit.
But the first principle um isthey have they they prioritize
freedom.
Uh the second principle is theyhave integrity, the third
principle is they are students,the fourth is they are teachers,
the fifth is they arecommunicators, the the sixth is
they are collaborators, and uhthat's where I I end it right
there.
And I think that's at the coreof it, and I can go deeper into
(40:25):
all those, but to talk about youknow why this was a great segue
is they they prioritizefreedom.
And I think freedom is in doinghard things.
I think when people hear theword freedom, they're like, I
just want to go sit on thebeach.
Yeah, like I don't want to, Iwanna like just meander, yeah,
you know, like they just want tobe a a balloon in the wind, you
(40:49):
know, free, you know.
But I think freedom is inchoosing to do the hard thing.
The freedom comes in the choiceto do the thing that you want
to do that's aligned with yourvision, your values, your why,
uh, and you're doing the thespecific thing that you're
uniquely qualified to do.
(41:10):
Yeah, and guess what?
That perfect storm is hard tomake.
Yeah, that is hard.
That is not easy, but if youwork every day towards achieving
that, that autonomy, that senseof autonomy is freedom, right?
And that's what this country isbuilt on life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness is butthat's all freedom.
It's it's the choose, it's thethe choice of freedom or
(41:31):
happiness.
But I think happiness isfreedom, right?
Speaker 3 (41:34):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (41:35):
You know, we can choose to be happy today, we can
choose to work towards ourautonomy, our freedom today.
And in pursuit of that, I thinkyou find happiness.
Freedom of purpose, freedom ofrelationships, freedom of time,
and freedom of money in thatorder.
I think the most successfulpeople prioritize purpose and
relationships, and then timeyou're doing what you love with
who you want.
You can do it forever, youcannot work people, and the
(41:56):
money will come.
Speaker (41:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (41:57):
Um, any questions on that first principle?
Speaker (42:00):
No, thank you.
Speaker 4 (42:01):
Uh so the second was they have integrity, and this is
I feel like probably one of themost overrated like core values
or like principles.
But when I say integrity, it'sit's like they they follow
through, they say they're gonnado something, they talk about
it, but they walk it.
They they walk the walk, theystart, they do it, they take
action.
Speaker (42:19):
Yeah, and it's the right thing, right?
It's the right thing foreveryone involved.
Speaker 4 (42:23):
Yeah, and I think it's it's easy to say you want
to do something, but it's hardto start.
And I think that the mostsuccessful people, they get it
into their head, and as soon asit's in their head, they're
they're calling somebody to getone step closer.
They're finding the rightwho's, like you would say, you
know, like they're figuring outhow do I make this happen.
Yeah, uh, they are students,they're constantly learning.
(42:44):
Yeah, uh, you are a studentbefore you're ever a teacher or
a master, you know.
And I think we have to if youthink that like that your days
of learning are gonna come to anend, you won't make it very far
because the world will progressbeyond you.
So you constantly have to belearning.
Um, you and I think being astudent also means having an
open mind.
Um so it's not just like beinga student in like I want to
(43:06):
learn new skills, but it's alsounderstanding that the world is
more complicated than we caneven begin to understand.
Speaker 3 (43:12):
Yeah, 100%.
Speaker 4 (43:13):
Whatever you thought was reality could be the
complete opposite of reality.
Speaker (43:19):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (43:19):
So keeping that mind open and being open to different
perspectives and ideas andthoughts and getting out of your
own way is what it means to bea student, I think.
Speaker (43:27):
Love it.
Yeah, core values.
Uh and one of my core values iscuriosity for sure.
It goes really hand in handwith that.
Speaker 4 (43:33):
And then once they figure something out, they have
to get themselves out ofwhatever that thing is.
They learn the skill, theylearn the the how, and then they
have to teach it.
Yeah, you have to, you'reconstantly ascending.
But as you ascend, there's avoid that you're leaving in your
as you go up.
So you have to be able to pullpeople into that void.
You have to create opportunityfor others, you have to teach,
(43:56):
you have to be a teacher, youhave to create opportunity,
like, and that's what so we'reconstantly learning and we're
simultaneously teaching becauseif we want to move to that next
level, then we have to empower,we have to recreate ourselves
and others, we have to createthat opportunity for others.
Speaker (44:12):
Yeah, Eric, that's where I see the majority of the
restaurant owners and operatorsthat I work with, they get
stuck.
They're learning, learning,learning, and they're not
teaching enough.
And that stops theirdevelopment and their growth to
moving on to the next level.
Speaker 4 (44:26):
Which brings me to communication.
unknown (44:28):
Communicate.
Speaker 4 (44:29):
Perfect.
So, you know, you're out there,you're learning, you're
teaching, but um, you'reconstantly, you don't just teach
once, you're constantlycommunicating.
And the things you need to becommunicating um is your
purpose, your values, yourvision, uh, the structure, the
systems, processes, procedures,protocols, training of how like
the the the cadence, right?
(44:51):
Of how we do this and how wecommunicate the strategy, like
you know, this is where we wantto be in five years, and and
this is how we're gonna do it.
And this is the the therituals, the language, the the
meetings that we're gonna haveto make sure that we're holding
each other accountable, we'relistening.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (45:06):
Did you do what you said you're gonna do?
No, why or why not?
Okay, well, let's try adifferent approach and next week
let me know if you did it ornot.
Uh, and that's communication.
And um, you know, it's notenough to write these things
down, your purpose, your vision,your mission, your structure,
and like all this stuff.
You have to surface itconstantly.
You have to be, you have to beto the point where you're
annoying.
(45:26):
Yeah, you know, and that's whatthe most successful people do.
They constantly communicatewhere we're going and how we do
it, why we do it.
And then they know they can'tdo it alone.
Even if they're replacingthemselves, they know that if
they want to go the furthest,they go further together.
So they collaborate with otherpeople who are strong or they're
weak.
They get their they get out ofthe way.
Speaker 3 (45:46):
Love it.
Speaker 4 (45:46):
Uh, and that's those are the the the four, or did I
say four or five?
How many principles do I have?
Speaker 3 (45:50):
I think you've got five or six.
Speaker 4 (45:52):
Three, four, five, six principles.
So those those used to be mycore values.
And I realized, no, thesearen't core values.
That's not what got me here.
That's what gets restauranttours, the most successful
restaurant tours.
Those are the patterns, thoseare the principles I've learned.
Speaker (46:05):
Nice.
You've got a great structurefor your for your business.
You know exactly who you are,you're very self-aware, you know
exactly where you're going.
You're you've got greatmeasurements for success.
What's next for you?
Speaker 4 (46:16):
Uh, I think what's next for me is continuing down
this path of just trying to dowhat I do better than I did it
yesterday.
Uh, and for me, that is knowingwhat I'm good at and what who I
am.
Um, I'm a connector, I'm apromoter, and I hate that this
is what the test told me.
I'm also an influencer.
Speaker (46:37):
I hate that word too.
I hate that word.
Somebody called me that acouple weeks ago and I cringed.
I just like opened my cringe.
Speaker 4 (46:44):
Um and but it's true, like in my my in my entire
life, I've never been the mosttalented person in the room.
Um, I but I was always reallygood at seeing the talents in
others and admiring people forwhat they were good at.
And I think when you're young,you don't recognize that as a
skill.
You just think that that's you,everybody sees this.
Yeah, um, you know, I wasn'tthe best student, but I could
(47:06):
tell you the social dynamic ofevery class I was in.
You know, I was uh I aced lunchand recess, I'll tell you that
much right now.
Um, you know, and so I'm reallygood at um cutting through the
BS and and paying attention tosocial dynamics, understanding
who's full of shit and who'ssincere.
And um, and that's so as I moveinto the future, I just want to
(47:31):
lean into the relationships Itrust the most and be a promoter
and a connector of good peopledoing good work.
And I think that's what I bringto this world 12 years, 1200
episodes of listening and andfinding patterns and
understanding and realizing thatthere are no two people who are
exactly the same, and there'sno one size fits all.
(47:53):
So I want to help people in therestaurant industry understand
who they are, where they'regoing, and then I want to
connect them with the tools,technologies, services,
individuals, peers, mentors thatcan help them get there.
Speaker (48:05):
Yeah, love it.
Speaker 4 (48:06):
Because we can't do it alone.
We have to collaborate.
Speaker (48:08):
We have to collaborate, collaboration over competition
all the time.
Speaker 4 (48:11):
Yeah.
Speaker (48:11):
Um, any fun projects coming up or anything you want
to talk about?
Speaker 4 (48:15):
Yeah.
So um been pretty public.
I think I mentioned it earlier.
I'm trying to get away fromsponsorship.
Um, again, not no hardfeelings, no disrespect to that
model, but it's just not for mebecause of how I want to do
things going forward.
And I want to prioritizerelationships, not money.
So, in order for me to do that,I'm changing my business model.
So, up to recently, like all myincome has been from
(48:36):
sponsorship, and I'm trying tocreate a service, it's a it's a
recurring membership model,basically.
So it's a listener-supportedpodcast, not a sponsor-supported
podcast.
Uh, and the way that I want tosupport my listeners is by um
offering three tiers of uhmembership.
So there's restaurants, sopicture restaurantstoppable.com
(48:56):
LLC at the very top, the mothercompany, right?
The the holding company.
Below that is RestaurantStoppable Podcast, and then
adjacent to that is RestaurantStoppable Network.
Uh, Restaurant UnstoppableNetwork has Restaurant
Unstoppable Library, RestaurantUnstoppable Live, and Restaurant
Unstoppable Masterminds.
So Restaurant UnstoppableLibrary is $14.99 a month, and
(49:17):
it's just a way to get access tomy backlog of 1,200 episodes
with searchability tools.
So you can find exactly thecontent you're looking for, but
it also has a unstoppable bot,which is 1200 episodes worth of
transcribes, uploaded to my ownprivate LLM, uh Custom GPT,
where you can ask it anyquestions based off of over
(49:37):
2,400 hours of unscripted,unprompted, organic
conversations with students andmentor.
Nice.
Me talking to leadingrestaurateurs, how'd you get
here?
Um, you can use that AI bot tofind certain episodes you're
looking for, and then there'salso ad-free early release bonus
content.
unknown (49:57):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (49:57):
Uh, and that's $14.99 a month.
This is a huge sales pitch, I'msorry, but it's a good thing.
No, no, no, no, it's great.
Are you live is basically thetier above that that's $47 a
month, and that is being a partof the conversation.
So um basically four types ofevents workshops, mentoring
sessions, power hours, and theseare me collaborating with the
people I'd go to tomorrow toserve my audience.
(50:20):
So um, and that becomes thebonus content that you get in
our you library.
But it's essentially just meconnecting my listeners with
people like you.
You've done a workshop.
Um, I have power hours withexperts who are the best that
I've had on the show.
Maybe we can have you do apower hour in the future if
you're ever interested.
Speaker (50:39):
I'd love to.
Speaker 4 (50:41):
And we also um do mentoring sessions.
So that's like people come tome and they say these are my
challenges, this is what I'mcurious about.
You know what?
I know somebody, let me reachout to them and see if they can
help you.
And I'll schedule that as alive event.
And anybody in the communitycan show up to that live event
to be a part of thatconversation.
Speaker (50:57):
Awesome.
Speaker 4 (50:58):
And then masterminds, everyone's heard of a
mastermind.
And I'm honestly I'm reservingthis right now to go back
through my backlog of pastguests because I want to bring
them into the community and havethese leaders across the nation
steer the ship.
Speaker (51:09):
Nice.
Speaker 4 (51:10):
And I'm charging them because there's great value in
being a connector.
Speaker (51:13):
Sure, absolutely.
I love it.
Well, Eric, I know how much umwork and emphasis and strategy
and thought has gone into all ofthat.
You know, redoing a businessmodel is absolutely exciting and
extraordinary.
And um absolutely wish you allthe best.
Yes, please.
Any way that I can help andsupport and connect with you on
that to make it a success,please, please um don't ever
(51:36):
hesitate to reach out.
Speaker 4 (51:37):
So well, you were a great guest.
I hope you continue to be agreat guest and collaborator uh
as we go forward.
And uh just one final messageto your listeners like you don't
have to do it alone.
Um, you are not alone.
You what you are going through,I promise you, there is
somebody else going throughthat.
And if you get vulnerable andyou open up and you talk to
people um and you share, uh youyou will go further together.
unknown (52:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (52:01):
Um, and there's power in numbers.
So don't be afraid to knock ondoors, don't be afraid to join
communities, don't be afraid toreach out to coaches like
Kristen uh and get the help youneed uh because it's it's more
attainable than you realize.
So choose to go furthertogether.
Speaker (52:17):
Yeah, here, here.
Eric, how can people find you?
Speaker 4 (52:19):
Uh head over to restaurantunstoppable.com.
And if you're interested injoining those live conversations
and these live events, headover to restaurantstoppable.com
slash live.
And thank you in advance if youjoin, if you choose to join us.
Speaker (52:33):
Yeah, love it.
Um, Eric, thank you.
I say this to you all the time,but it I just can't say it
enough.
You know, over 1200 episodes inthe podcasting space.
You've paved the way for peoplelike me.
I I know you just got numberone, it's probably been a month
or so now, right?
Number one on the on the listof top 100 restaurant podcasts,
which is such a huge fuckingdeal.
Yeah.
(52:54):
I saw it on LinkedIn.
I was like, this is so cool.
So congratulations.
Speaker 4 (52:58):
Thank you.
Thank you for that.
I will say I don't really trustthose lists.
Speaker (53:01):
If I'm I would, I would number one.
That's right.
Speaker 4 (53:06):
Somebody did a Google search and I have 1200
episodes, and that's why theymade me number one.
There are so many greatpodcasts out there right now.
Um those lists, no offense tothe people that make them are
marketing tactics.
They're just trying to get youreyes.
Don't pay attention to them.
Speaker (53:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (53:22):
Well, find what you like, what works for you.
There's tons of great resourcesout there.
Speaker (53:26):
Totally, totally.
Well, thank you for your time,and um, that's gonna do it for
us this week, and we'll talk toyou soon.
Speaker 4 (53:32):
Thank you, Kristen.
Speaker (53:33):
Thanks.
If you've ever wondered how to keep your mindset sharp
and positive during reallychallenging times of your
business, then today's episodeis for you.
Eric Cachitore and I have avery in-depth conversation
around the guiding principlesthat he uses as an entrepreneur,
why those principles are soimportant to the success of
business, how to keep yourmindset really, really sharp
(00:30):
during challenging times, andthe difference between living in
the gap and living in the game.
Hope you enjoyed this episode.
Be sure to catch Eric'spodcast, which is called
Restaurant Unstoppable.
He's interviewed over 1,200restaurant owners and operators,
and his podcast and his contenthas a vast amount of knowledge.
(00:54):
At the end of the episode, healso tells us about his next
exciting project that is goingto deliver even more value and
collaboration and community ontop of what he's already been
doing all these years.
Welcome to the RestaurantLeadership Podcast, where we
coach independent multi-unitrestaurant operators to build
(01:14):
systems that drive profitabilityand reclaim time so they can
scale with confidence and spendtheir time and energy where they
want to, not where they haveto.
I'm your host, Kristen Marvin,restaurant coach and author of
Multi-unit Mastery.
If you are an independentrestaurant owner managing
multiple locations, you know thechaos that comes with growth.
(01:38):
Inconsistent execution acrossyour restaurants, managers who
won't take ownership, constantlyanswering questions your team
should already know the answersto.
You're stuck in your currentrole when you want to be playing
a bigger strategic role as youscale.
You don't have the rightleaders in place or you keep
losing them.
(01:59):
And you're not sure how to findgreat people and actually keep
them around.
We work with passionateindependent restaurant owners
who found success with theirfirst few locations and are
ready to scale strategically.
Our clients aren't looking tojust survive expansion.
They want to thrive through it.
They're committed to developingstrong leaders and creating
(02:22):
exceptional guest experiences.
Through the independentrestaurant framework that we
teach in multi-unit mastery, wecoach independent restaurant
groups to move from chaos toconfidence by focusing on three
pillars (02:34):
people, process, and profit.
You can grab a gifted copy ofthe book at irfbook.com.
On this show, we bring you realcoaching conversations,
leadership strategies, and theframeworks that you need to lead
like a CEO instead of operatinglike a worn-out manager.
And here's the thing (02:54):
coaching has changed our clients'
businesses and can change yourstoo.
If you've never experiencedwhat it's like to have someone
in your corner who actually getsthe restaurant world, we'd love
to connect.
We offer one-on-one and groupcoaching.
Head to kristenmarvin.com slashcontact for a complimentary
(03:16):
coaching session and let's talkabout what's possible for your
restaurant group.
Eric, thanks for being hereagain.
Second time you've you've beenable to join me on the show,
which is amazing.
First time, uh we all we alwayshave the most amazing
conversations on and off theair.
So excited to have you back on.
(03:37):
But the first time I met you,you were in my living room
recording at my dining roomtable.
And it was it freaked me out.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
Great host.
So hospitable.
I felt at home.
It was awesome.
Speaker (03:48):
You had some, I think you had a breakfast burrito for
the road, but yeah, you rolled,you rolled up.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
I think I got like a week supply of Red Bull too.
Yeah, 100%.
100%.
Speaker (03:58):
You were you were fueled for the road, but yeah,
you rolled up in your in yourhuge truck uh with the logo.
And I'm sure my neighbors allthought we were having
maintenance or stuff done or so,or someone was moving into the
house.
It was just uh awesome.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
You'd be surprised how many people walk up to my
camper and they go, is there arestaurant in there?
Speaker (04:15):
I'm like, what says on the side?
I know.
So thanks for joining me again.
Really appreciate it.
Um there's something top ofmind that I wanted to kind of
dive in with you today.
I was coaching a brand newleader yesterday, um, a culinary
leader who who's who's beenpretty mistreated in the
(04:39):
restaurant.
And I'm I'm hearing a lot ofpeople's PTSDs of working for
former employees and they theydesperately want to start over
when they start a new job andthey want to trust their
leaders.
And this this gentleman hadjust got promoted, loved the
company that he worked for,super excited and optimistic
about the future.
But unfortunately, he's in oneof those situations where the
(05:03):
person that he's taking over forleft.
And so he's left to his owndevices to train, to train
himself.
And on top of that, he'slooking ahead at the schedule
for the next six weeks andrealizing that they've they've
allowed so many requests off inthe kitchen that he's very
short-staffed and he's gonnahave to be training himself,
(05:25):
working stations and figuringout how to basically survive the
next six weeks and offer theexperience that he's really
proud of.
And so sitting across the tablefrom this guy, you know,
obviously my heart was going outto him.
And my my vision and my hopefor him was to try to get him to
(05:45):
a place from a mindsetperspective of looking at the
next six weeks with excitementand opportunity to learn and
grow, not him being set up forfailure and crashing and burning
before he even got a chance toreally step into this role.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
And so this individual who will remain
anonymous, yeah.
What's their role?
Speaker (06:07):
They are now walking into or um going into the
executive chef position.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
And they were a Sioux chef?
Speaker (06:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
And they were paying out of their own pocket coaching
for with you?
Speaker (06:18):
No, it's kind of a it's a group thing that I do with
restaurant groups, yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
First of all, whoever this guy is, like we should say
their name or this guy weshould say their name because
like that is the kind of personyou want on your team, the
person that's going out andactively looking to grow.
Totally.
You know, like but never mind,I guess.
Speaker (06:34):
I no, but they're but their owner, they know the
ownership group, uh, ownershipteam of the restaurant group is
incredibly um bought intoinvesting in their team.
And so, you know, just anincredible conversation.
But I'm curious because it'sit's been it's just been looming
for me.
Like, how do you how do youkeep yourself in a positive
(06:57):
mindset when you know you've gotreally challenging times coming
up in your business?
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Well, let me get vulnerable and say I I'm not
always in a positive mindset.
I think we all we're all human,right?
Like, I think I'm better atgetting back into that mindset
when I find myself when I'm low,and uh, there's a bunch of
things I do.
Um, I think one of the firstthings I realize is when I take
the pressure, when I when I takemyself out of it and I say it's
(07:23):
not about me, it's not aboutlike when I so you know I host
Restaurant Unstoppable Podcasts,and Restaurant Unstoppable
Podcast isn't the Eric Cachatorishow, it's the the restaurant
unstoppable show with themission to inspire, empower, and
transform the industry.
And my job is to uh serve mylisteners, and um, you know, if
I just focus on what the job is,my job is to take care of other
(07:46):
people.
I think a lot of the times Ihave imposter syndrome, like
who's gonna listen to me?
Like, who am I to tellsuccessful restaurant tours or
any restaurant tour for thatmatter what to do?
I've never done it.
I'm here to learn, I'm here tobe a student.
So that imposter syndrome is oflike who are who do you think
you are, Mr.
Cachitory?
Like, you're not the person forthis job.
Um, but at the end of the day,my job, it isn't about me, it's
(08:08):
about the people on the otherend of this podcast and serving
them.
So when I focus about when Ifocus on what the the mission
is, what the purpose is, and whyI do it, that helps me get out
of my own head and say, no, justjust make it about everybody
else.
And I there's this one quotethat I I heard, and I'm gonna
paraphrase it, but if you helpenough other people achieve what
they want in life, you can haveanything in life.
And it was that quote that wasa kick in the ass that got me to
(08:30):
start the podcast.
And it's always been aboutservice to others first.
So I think when you reconnectwith the why, the purpose, and
how you're uniquely positioned,you might not be the guy, you
know, you might not be theall-star, but maybe you're a
great supporting act, you know,and your job is to help that
all-star.
Um so when you have clarity onwho you are and why you do what
you do, and you can get outsideof your head, that always helps
(08:52):
me.
Speaker (08:52):
It's so true.
And I mean, come on, like Mr.
1200 podcast episodes, you'vehad more in-depth conversations
one-on-one with restaurantowners and operators than so
many of us have.
I mean, you get so muchinformation, yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
And I think that what I like, you know, in full
again, in full transparency andvulnerability, like I've never
owned a restaurant.
Um, I've I've been like an AGM,like that's as high as I've
progressed in my my like mycareer in hospitality.
I grew up in the industry.
I worked in restaurantsthroughout high school and
college, but it was always aside hustle.
Um, it was never my full-timething.
(09:27):
I intentionally wasn't takingon a lot of responsibility
because I was working afull-time job while working in
the restaurant industry for mostof my career.
Speaker (09:33):
Yeah.
Here's the thing 80% ofrestaurants fail because they
don't have the systems, notbecause they have bad food or
service.
If you're ready to stop beingthe bottleneck in your own
business and start buildingsomething that can actually
scale profitably, I want you toput multi-unit mastery, my new
(09:54):
book, directly in your hands forfree.
Go to irfbook.com right now andgrab your copy.
When you do, you're going toget access to some additional
tools that are not availableanywhere else.
This is about building alegacy, not just another
location.
Stop putting it off and go getyour book.
(10:16):
Again, that's irfbook.com.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
So, um, you know, I do have that imposter syndrome,
but to your point, yeah, I havealso spoken to I've produced
1200 episodes.
How many restaurant tours inthat 1200?
I'm not exactly sure.
Over a thousand.
Uh, and I've gotten a lot ofperspective, you know, and I
think that that is my uniqueselling proposition is that I
can come at it from a cleanperspective, and I have a lot of
(10:44):
different perspectives fromdifferent people.
Uh, and ever no two restauranttours are exactly the same.
There is no one way, there isno necessarily right way, it's
just the right way for you.
There's there is only one way,right way, and that is unique to
the individual.
But there are how many peoplein the world?
Yeah, billions.
So that means there's billionsof right ways.
Speaker (11:03):
It's crystal clear, right?
It's I agree with you 110%.
When you know your why andyou're very passionate about
what you do, and you're livingyour why every single day, or
the majority of the time, itvery much helps you overcome
(11:23):
those really tough, challengingdays, right?
It's it's true for forrestaurant owners, for
restaurant operators.
I don't know that a lot ofyounger people know what their
why is yet in this business andif they've made a decision to,
you know, to make this theircareer or not.
I think there's a lot of peoplestill on the fence about that.
But I know this, I work a loton mental fitness.
(11:45):
I coached a lot about stayingin a, you know, helping people
get into a really healthymindset and a growth mindset.
But there is that reallysticky, nasty gray area between
when the hard moment presentsitself and then making that
switch to remembering your whyand your passion.
(12:06):
How do you how do you make thatswitch?
Speaker 4 (12:09):
I think it's just being, and they say the peak of
emotional intelligence isself-awareness, right?
So uh it's in that moment ofrecognizing that you're being
emotional and recognizing thatemotions are uh the the lower
part of your brain, the moreprime, you know, the the
primitive part of your brain.
And we have since evolved theseouter parts of our brain, our
frontal lobe that has theability to override emotion.
(12:30):
Uh and it's and it's in thatmoment of feeling like I when
you feel depressed, when youfeel like you can't do it, uh
it's just like saying, These arejust emotions, they are not
serving me.
What is my why?
What is my purpose?
Like in focusing on whatmatters, the people on the back,
it's not about me, it's aboutserving other people.
And if you make it aboutgiving, giving, giving, if
you're constantly makingdeposits, deposits, deposits,
(12:51):
the universe, you just have tohave faith, the faith that the
universe is paying attention tothat.
And you can't track the youknow, your withdrawals, they
kind of just come at you umunawaringly.
Uh, but over time, um, thatthat compounds, those those
deposits compound and and youmove in the right direction.
Speaker (13:08):
Yeah, absolutely.
Thank you for that.
Um, it's so important to nameit and just recognize what
what's going on.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
Yeah, I think you're a huge fan of Dan Sullivan, as
am I.
I just recently chewed up allof Dr.
Benjamin Hardy's books.
Um, and one of those books, uh,I think you actually just put
an email about this yesterday,the gap in the game.
The gap in the gain is part ofit is it's focusing on gains.
Like, what did I do today tomove towards that five-year
plan?
Like, what did I do today thatis is a move in the right
(13:36):
direction?
And when you focus on thegains, um, it's just you just
live, you just exist in a betterplace.
It's really easy to focus onthe gap, which is the the place
between where you currently areand where you want to be.
And you that that's a that'snot a mindset of abundance,
that's a that's a scarcitymindset.
That's a like why why memindset.
You know, and when youperception is reality, what you
(13:58):
choose to focus on is whatyou'll see.
Um so that and anotherobviously uh be the what is it
uh be future you now or betomorrow, is it be your future
self today or be your futureself now?
That's another Dr.
Benjamin Hardy book.
And that whole idea is like whois that?
What is that vision foryourself in the future?
(14:19):
Um, what are you doing?
What does it look like?
Well, be that person today.
Don't wait until tomorrow.
Be that person now.
Speaker (14:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
I like to say be tomorrow, you today.
Speaker (14:28):
Okay.
unknown (14:30):
Yeah.
Speaker (14:30):
I mean, the gap in the game.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
I don't think I'm getting in trouble.
Speaker (14:34):
We're we're saying where it's coming from.
Yeah, exactly.
We're giving credit wherecredit's due.
The gap in the gain is soimportant.
That's something that I, youknow, I told you I've been going
down the rabbit hole with DanSullivan recently.
And I read about this a week ortwo ago, and I was so inspired
because I have been working witha client that I just am having
a hard time getting out of thatscarcity mindset and that gap.
(14:57):
And so they're in the book, andand you know, I talk about this
in the newsletter, page page 48of 10x is easier than 2x if
you're listening and you've gotthe book.
Uh, Danless eight questions tohelp you get yourself out of the
gap and into the game.
And I went over those eightquestions with a client, and it
was actually a really powerfulmoment because he was actually
(15:18):
driving to a funeral.
And we were talking aboutburnout, and he was just in a
really bad head headspace.
And then we went through thosequestions one by one.
And the demeanor change, themindset shift, the energy
change, just the body languageshift that happened and what we
(15:39):
were able to celebrate in thework that we've been doing
together for the last six monthswas just a really incredible,
impactful moment for him on theyou know, driving to someone
whose life was over and and usbeing able to reflect on
understanding where he wantedhis just what kind of leader he
wanted to be and what kind oflife he wanted to live.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Um what were those questions?
Can you rant can you list themoff?
Are they long questions?
Are they short questions?
I have the book behind me.
I can go read them too if youwant.
Speaker (16:06):
Give me a sec.
The eight questions are howhave you grown as a person over
the past three years?
You want me to ask you thesethings, or you want me to just
read the questions?
Speaker 4 (16:16):
Oh man, how long is this podcast?
Speaker (16:19):
All right, I'll just read the questions.
Have you how have you grown asa person over the last three
years?
What are the biggest thingsyou've learned in the past 12
months?
What are the 10 importantthings that you've accomplished
in the past 12 months?
What meaningful experienceshave you had in the past 90
days?
How are you clearer on yourgoals and vision than you were
90 days ago?
(16:40):
In what ways is your lifedifferent and better than it was
30 days ago?
What important progress haveyou made in the past seven days?
And what progress have you madein the past 24 hours?
Speaker 4 (16:52):
Yo, I can answer those questions if you want me
to.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
I'll try to keep it quick.
Let's try the top.
Yeah, let's do it.
Okay.
Speaker (17:04):
How have you grown as a person over the past three
years?
Speaker 4 (17:07):
I have more clarity in who I am and what I want to
do.
And how I want to do it.
Speaker (17:14):
What are the biggest things you've learned in the
past 12 months?
Speaker 4 (17:19):
More clarity on who I am, what I want to do, and how
I want to do it.
Speaker (17:24):
Okay.
What are the ten importantthings, most important things
you've accomplished in the past12 months?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I mean, that's a lot of things to cover in a list,
but um I think sometimes yougotta stop before you go.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Uh stop doing what you were doing, get out of
commitments that you were in toget into new commitments, be
more intentional withrelationships, be more
selective.
And I think kind of one ofthose things of who I am and
what I'm trying to do, it's it'sabout um, you know, I think
it's all about relationships.
I think at the end of the day,what makes humans uniquely us,
some people think it's uhopposable thumbs or ability to
(18:02):
stand upright, and those are allevolutionary benefits, but
really it's our ability tocommunicate um and to be there
are no species that can, youknow, unless you're in a hive,
uh, there are no species likethe the human that are able to
work together in a tribe and toall have a specialist, and every
individual can come togetherand be something special to that
(18:24):
tribe.
Um, and I think it's ourability to to fill niches and to
communicate and to worktogether for a common good for a
common goal.
So um I think one big thing isI'm getting really intentional
about the relationships I wantmoving forward.
Uh, it's more about freedom forme, prioritizing freedom of
purpose and freedom ofrelationships above all else.
Yeah.
If you can have freedom ofpurpose and freedom of
(18:46):
relationships, time goes by likeit's nothing.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
Because you're doing what you want with who you want.
And I if you have what you wantand who you want, if you have
like your definite purpose inlife, your why and you're doing
with people you love, money weneed it, but it's not the most
important thing.
Speaker (19:03):
Yeah, it's the result of living right, your freedom of
purpose.
Absolutely.
What meaningful experienceshave you had in the past 90
days?
Speaker 4 (19:13):
Meaningful experiences I've had in the past
90 days.
I think it's about um statingmy intention publicly, um,
telling people being vulnerable,um, opening up and saying, hey,
money's tight right now.
I'm turning away sponsors thatare offering me six figures.
Um, and it's because they'reasking me to do things I don't
feel right doing.
(19:34):
It's not aligned with mymission, my values, my vision.
And when you take money, it hasstrings attached.
It pulls you off those things.
So it's really about gettingintentional about who I am and
why I'm doing what I'm doing andand being unrelentless about
staying on course.
No matter you know, I thinkearly in your career you say yes
to everything.
Later in your career, you haveto say no to the things that
(19:57):
don't make sense.
I think just saying no more andsaying yes to what matters more
is feeling really good rightnow.
Speaker (20:03):
Yeah, and that's when you know that something powerful
has really shifted in yourbusiness, right?
We'll talk about what successmeans here in a little bit, but
um, that's a big goal for merecently is saying no more than
I'm saying yes.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Yeah, I know I'm not giving you lists of things, but
that's the general generalizing.
Speaker (20:19):
Okay.
So you mentioned being clearerearlier, but how are you clearer
on your goals and your visionthan you were 90 days ago?
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Um I think it's for me, it's about I mean I think
there needs to be context beforeI share.
So with a podcast, and you knowthis, there's three ways to
make money generally, primarilysponsorship one, affiliate
marketing to, and using yourpodcast to promote your own
(20:48):
products and services.
So I got to where I am today,12 years, 1200 episodes from the
support of sponsors, and I'm sograteful for my sponsors who
helped me get here.
But the reality is that thegame is is changing and it has
changed over the past 12 years.
And uh the I think if you'rethe more money you ask, and if
you can get to that point whereyou're asking for a lot of
money, it like again it comesback to strings.
(21:10):
So for me, um, it's abouttrying to shift away from
sponsorship and shift towardscreating a resource, uh uh, an
offering to my community um thatis about transformation, it's
about coming together, it'sabout uh I think you know, my
interviews are my inspiration.
My mission statement is toinspire, empower, and transform
the industry.
My my interviews are myinspiration.
Um my going deeper with theworkshops um in the community
(21:36):
are is like the empowerment oflike, okay, these are the things
we've learned.
Now we're going deeper, we'rewe're we're bringing it, we're
slowing it down, we're goingdeeper, and then we're going
together is the transformation.
It's like you know, we'recoming together, we're we're
helping you connect with theindividuals, giving you the
relationships you need and beingthere for you.
And I think it's inrelationships back to the human
part of things, is that that iswhere we achieve transformation.
(21:58):
So 100%.
Am I answering your questionright now?
Speaker (22:01):
No, no, you're good.
You're good.
I it's it's fun to watch youprocess through, right?
Because you we had we did notrehearse this, you had no idea
that I was gonna ask anyquestions.
We're just a fellow lover,we're fellow lovers of Dan
Sullivan.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
So that's the original question again.
Speaker (22:14):
So it was how are you clearer on your goals and vision
than you were 90 days ago?
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Yeah, so I think for me it's about prioritizing
relationships.
It's to your point, it's who,not how.
Um and if you focus on theright who's the how takes care
of itself.
And for me, um, yeah, it's thewho's, it's the technicians, the
the specialists, the managersthat do what you could never
dream of doing, but it's alsothe the people you want to
serve.
So for me, um, I'm I'm bringingtogether my I'm bringing back
(22:39):
my masterminds and I'mprioritizing, I'm going to past
guests and saying, hey, I wantto do a mastermind, but if I
have to serve somebody, I wantit to be you.
If I have to send one, twohours a month with somebody, I
want it to be you.
And I want those masterminds todictate, to steer.
I want the best in theindustry's passions,
curiosities, pain points.
(23:01):
I want to serve those peoplewho help me get here by giving
their time and knowledge to mylisteners.
If I can reverse engineer thechallenges and curiosities of
the best, that's gonna servethousands of people.
I have to live vicariouslythrough these people.
So if you can make if you cancurate a community of badasses
and choose who you serve, I meanthat's the clarity I have
(23:23):
today.
It's about who do I want toserve and who do I want to
promote?
Who do I want to partner with,who I believe in?
Because if I have if the futureis me promoting people, I gotta
believe.
I'm not an actor.
So who do I want?
It's it's it's choosing freedomof relationships over money.
Speaker (23:39):
Love it.
In what ways is your lifedifferent and better than it was
30 days ago?
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Um I I think it's just knowing that I'm on the
right path.
Uh and I'll be honest, like I'mI'm con I'm just constantly
hovering over the zero mark onmy all my checking accounts
right now, you know.
But I know it's not that Ican't make money.
I I'm I have my best downloadsuh of 2024 this month, you know.
Sorry, 2025 this month.
(24:08):
Nice.
So like the the the podcast isdoing great.
I'm doing work, the best workI've ever done, the work I've
always wanted to do, honest,transparent, journalistic work.
I'm traveling the country in mytruck hamper, following word of
mouth.
Like this is the dream.
I'm literally living my dream,but it's coming at a cost,
right?
And I think that that cost isI'm con like I live on the edge,
(24:29):
I push the envelope.
So I'm getting what I'm livingmy dream, I'm getting what I
want, but it's cut, it's noteasy.
Yeah, I think but the it's theit's in doing the hard thing,
choosing to do the hard thingsthat is where growth comes.
But when you're in the middleof a hard thing, you're like,
Can I swear in this?
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Yeah, you're like, fuck, this sucks.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
It totally but you have to remind yourself, like,
I'm doing it, I chose this, Ihave autonomy right now.
Yeah, like yeah, freedom, likethat is freedom.
We all want freedom, we allwant autonomy, and I have to I
remind myself of that every day.
Like, I am literally doing whatI want to do.
Speaker (25:03):
Absolutely.
Quipping a bit well, it goesback to the mindset um that we
were talking about when we firststarted the conversation.
You know, it's when yourecognize that those negative
thoughts are coming into yourhead and those emotions are
starting to tick up, it's a it'sa reminder that these are not
who I am.
This is just a moment in time,these are just my emotions and
my thoughts.
(25:24):
Um, and then you make thechoice as to what you're gonna
do with those and how you'regonna move forward.
So, okay.
Um, what important progresshave you made in the past seven
days?
Speaker 4 (25:37):
Um, I'm actively um reaching out actually in the
past seven days.
Well, the past two weeks, I wasforced to slow down because I
went to a friend's wedding inCancun, Mexico.
And I thought that that wasgonna be relaxing.
And I came back from that moreexhausted than I was when I
left.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
I was like, fuck.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Then I came back and I don't know, like you get to a
point where you're like, you yourather not go on vacation
because you know when you comeback from vacation, you're just
gonna be like, where the hellwas I?
Like you lose all thatmomentum, and then you have to
like put the the loose ends backtogether, and it's just like
oh.
So um, I guess the progress.
Um, so I was gone for a week,got back, went to Maine, was I
(26:15):
did work from Maine, but um Iended up taking like two or
three days where I just letmyself be a vegetable.
I was like, you need to let youneed to like do nothing, yeah,
recharge, rejuvenate, yeah, andjust breathe, go for long bike
rides, get it, go for longhikes, and that's what I did,
and I kind of just got clarity.
So I guess that's my win isjust kind of slowing down and
(26:36):
regrouping to move forward.
Speaker (26:37):
Yeah, it's huge progress.
Uh what progress have you madein the past 24 hours?
Speaker 4 (26:42):
I'm kicking myself in the ass and I'm getting back
after and I'm reaching out to mynetwork.
I'm cold calling, or not cold,like warm, warm leads, you know?
Yeah, uh telling people myvision and how I want to evolve
this thing and saying if I haveto serve anybody, I want to
serve you.
Are you in?
Speaker (26:56):
Love it, love it.
Um, Eric, how are you definingsuccess in as a as an
entrepreneur?
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Well, I mean, I think we this is why we have visions,
this is why we have um missionand purposes, you know,
statements.
So, my success, um, my purposeis to inspire, empower, and
transform the industry.
And uh if I guess my vision ofwhat that looks like is uh a
future, I want to see fewer 100unit operators and more 20 to 30
unit operators that are hyperlocal, that are making an impact
(27:29):
in their community.
I think I like I said, likethere is no right way.
Um, but if I'm opening arestaurant tomorrow and I want
to make the world a betterplace, the way I'm doing it is
by going deeper.
I think it's about impact, notreach.
I think that we live in a worldthat rewards reach.
Um I think reach comes at theexpense of impact.
Um, where we prioritize vanitymetrics, we prioritize you know,
(27:53):
uh wealth and power over again,the thing that matters most is
relationships.
And I think at the end of theday, if you look at Maslow's
hierarchy of needs, what is onthat list?
Like, let's just get real.
It's it's security, you know,whether that be like your
physical environment, like food,shelter, uh, it's feeling
secure from the outside threats.
(28:15):
You know, we we get that fromcommunity, we get that from
working hard and storing awayvegetables for the winter and
and having our stock ofresources to get us through the
hard times.
Uh, and then it's beyond that,it's being seen, feeling valued,
being loved.
And then beyond that, it'sgrowing personally, becoming a
better version of yourself.
And then beyond that, it's it'sself-actualizing, having your
(28:37):
definite purpose in life, andall those things, the things
that we need to be happy, are soattainable, but we don't
prioritize it.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Yeah, so you yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
I want to do that for first.
I want to stoke awareness inoperations and say, Do you want
to be happy?
Do you want freedom?
Freedom isn't with more money,it's choosing to do what you
want to do on your terms, andthat's in reach for most of us,
all of us, I could argue.
You know, and I think it's it'skeeping up with the Joneses and
(29:10):
and falling prey toconsumerism, you know.
Um, I think marketing is thehumanity's Achilles heel because
we're we're all being hit withthese messages of more and more
and more.
Uh and I think we just need towake up and say, no, all we need
is to be is to have our purposeand to be loved and to be
valued and grow and to to tojust find our purpose in life.
(29:34):
And we can all do that.
Speaker (29:35):
Yeah, it's so, I don't know if you've if you've seen
this in your time as anentrepreneur, but I feel like
since I started my journey threeyears ago, there is just more
and more and more and moreentrepreneurs coming on the
scene, people that are gettingout of operations, that want to
start their own businesses, thatwant to make an impact in the
industry.
And maybe this is a byproductof just what's happening in the
(29:57):
world right now, but there is aThere is a sense of transparency
and honesty and vulnerabilityout there that's larger than
I've and louder than I've everseen before from entrepreneurs.
And the sense of community andsupport is matching that.
And I'm sure that they're veryclosely aligned.
But are you are you seeingthat?
I mean, the community ofentrepreneurs right now that are
(30:19):
supporting each other, it justseems to be just very vast.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
100%.
And um, I believe fullheartedlythat we go further together.
And I think that again, that ispart of what makes us uniquely
us as human beings, yeah, is ourability to fill a hole in a in
a tribe.
Like this tribe needs a chef.
Okay.
This tribe needs a director ofbeverage.
This tribe tribe needs amarketing director or a a
(30:47):
dishwasher or but in in everyrole in a restaurant is an
opportunity to be seen andvalued, you know.
Um, and then you know, thewhole reason why I started this
podcast 12 years ago is becauseI was looking for a podcast for
restaurant owners uh at thattime, and still to this day, I
dream of opening my ownrestaurant.
(31:07):
Um, I've might have been scaredstraight a little bit.
Uh I wouldn't do it unless Ihad a million dollars to burn or
an army of people to go do itwith.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
But um the whole point of starting the podcast
was because I was listening tothese entrepreneurial,
marketing, tech-driven personalgrowth podcasts back in 2012,
and it was blowing my mind howopen and generous these tech
entrepreneurs were.
Um, and I thought to myself,why don't we do this in the
restaurant industry?
We hold our information closeto our chest, we guard our
(31:35):
information because it's socutthroat and competitive, you
know?
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:38):
And I wanted to create a podcast where where
people felt encouraged to share,to open up, to realize that the
more you give, the more youget.
Um, and I've and I think in thepast 12 years, and and I I I'm
not saying it's just restaurantstoppable, but there's so many
people who are buying into thisidea of abundance and giving.
And um the the fasterinformation flows, the more
(32:01):
progress we make.
Speaker (32:02):
Yeah, 100%.
Hey there, podcast friends.
I hope you're enjoying theseimpactful conversations and
leadership insights I'm bringingyou each week.
Before we dive back intotoday's episode, I want to take
a moment and reach out and ask asmall favor that would go a
long way in supporting the show.
If you've been loving thecontent I'm providing, please
take a moment to leave a ratingand review wherever you listen
(32:25):
to your podcast.
Not only does it make my day,but it also plays a pivotal role
in helping the show grow.
Your reviews boost myvisibility, attract new
listeners, and encourageexciting guests to join me on
the mic.
So if you want to be part of myshow's growth journey, hit that
review button and let me knowwhat you think.
(32:47):
Thanks a million for beingawesome listeners.
I think what I've seen in thelast year specifically is that I
I don't know, I'm I'm rappingwith this question of like, can
you have true success if you'renot honest about the
opportunities in your business?
And I think that I've heardmore and more restaurant owners
(33:09):
really start to talk about whattheir struggles are and what
their challenges are in theirbusiness.
More and and they're lettingthe ego go.
And there's a clear separationof people that are still hanging
on to the ego and stillfighting the changes that are
happening and they're reallystruggling in their business.
And then there's this group ofpeople that are just again,
they're just open and they'revulnerable and they're asking
for help and they're saying, I'mreally, really having a hard
(33:31):
time with this.
Who else is having a hard timewith this?
Are you seeing that too?
Speaker 4 (33:35):
Oh, 100%.
And because it's weird.
It's um we live our our wholeindustry is about creating a
false reality and transportingpeople.
That's what we do.
Um, we don't want our guests toknow how hard it is.
Yeah, uh, and all the the mediathat surrounds the restaurant
industry is consumer-facingmedia.
(33:57):
It's it's not media for eachother, it's media for our our
potential guests.
So we're constantly creatingthis facade, this not real
existence of we have our shittogether.
Um, we are like your like weare your choice for escape.
And it's like a that you know,the duck on water.
(34:18):
We're above the water, it'scool, calm, collective.
We have our shit together, butbelow water are we're
frantically running aroundtrying to figure it all out, and
that's not sustainable.
And I think what's weird islike that we've gotten so far
away of what the hospitalityindustry is.
Um, a hospital the the thehospitality, I mean, yeah, we're
about giving warmth andgenerosity and welcoming people
(34:38):
in, but it's not about I thinkwe prioritize creating false
realities and escapes more thanactually just being human.
And what is that like back tothe core of what it is to be
human?
Seeing people, giving topeople, giving purpose to
people, giving community topeople, like literally feeding
people, nourishing people, notjust the body but the soul.
Um, and the sometimes the bestways to do that is through
(35:02):
vulnerability and empathy andand just meeting people where
they're at and letting them knowthey're not alone.
Speaker (35:10):
Yeah, I think I'm excited that restaurant owners
are starting to open up more,but I am seeing that there's
just a huge gap in what you saidbetween the what the
restaurant, how the restaurantowners are showing up in their
personal lives and what and howthey're showing up in their
business.
And I think that there's a hugedisconnect on the again, the
hourly teams.
What's the purpose?
Why are they there?
(35:30):
What does hospitality actuallymean?
Um, it's not a transaction,right?
It's about how you makesomebody feel.
So I'm hoping that that thesereally vulnerable, tough
conversations start to, in ahealthy way, spill over to the
hourly staff of protectingmental health, of it's okay to
(35:50):
have a comp that we can have aconversation if times are tough,
but let's look at theopportunities because I think
there's so many people that arestruggling with turnover, and
there's so many negativethoughts out there about the the
people that are entering therestaurant industry.
And I don't know that we'redoing anybody as a service by
hiding how hard the industry is,right?
(36:11):
Like, yes, we want to provide agreat guest experience, but
then a guest goes, I'm gonna goopen a restaurant.
This sounds great, and thenthis looks great, it looks easy,
and then they have no idea whatthey're getting into.
So I I don't I don't know whatthe where the lines are there.
Speaker 4 (36:25):
Well, it's interesting.
Um, you know, yeah, it's hardout there.
Like, and I I get a littleirritated when I hear coaches
and consultants say, you know,there's plenty of good people
out there, you they just don'twant to come work for you, and
um, because it is hard, youknow.
Like I don't want to like justmake people feel like they're
doing something, they're theproblem, but we have to look and
take a step back and like lookat the industry.
(36:46):
Like, there are morerestaurants today per capita
than ever before.
Yeah, you know, the the marketis more saturated today, and
it's not just restaurants, we'remeeting people at every points,
every touch point of life,whether that be delivery or
pickup, or you know, like likeyou can literally pick up your
phone and look at look at yourphone and blink twice, and you
(37:06):
have food coming your way.
So there's just home like atthe grocery store, you can get
prepared meals at the gasstation.
You can get prepared meals,like you can get pre prepared
meals that you put in thefreezer for next week, you know.
Like we are finding so manydifferent ways to bring food and
to make eating more convenientfor the consumer.
Um, you know, and I think thatuh we have to think what is the
(37:28):
restaurant industry?
It's about restoration, youknow, it's not necessarily about
feeding people, it's aboutrestoring people, it's about
being a community, it's aboutcreating space for people to be
people, right?
Is that the restaurant industryor is it feeding people?
Feeding people is just one ofthe ways we make money, right?
Speaker (37:45):
Yeah, yeah.
No, it's great.
I think what's coming, youknow, my coach is coming out
right now, but I think anybodythat's that's listening to this
show right now, I wouldchallenge you to go back and
think about your purpose.
Why are you in the restaurantindustry?
Why have you opened arestaurant?
And are you actually livingyour purpose today?
(38:07):
And and if you are, amazing.
Have you shared that with yourteam?
Is everybody moving in the samedirection?
And are you are you surroundingyourself with people on your
team that share that samepurpose because it's so
important to the sustainabilityof the business?
And look, I went to two, I'vebeen out a lot in Denver since I
moved back, just very curiousabout what's happening here.
(38:29):
And I've heard so manywonderful things and so many
challenging things, but youknow, guest traffic being down
20% in a lot of restaurants isabsolutely real.
And and I went to threerestaurants the other night on a
Saturday, six o'clock, seveno'clock, and eight o'clock.
And they were less than halffull.
And the bars were less thanhalf full.
And it's, you know, I thinkabout the days of running really
(38:51):
busy restaurants where theguests coming into the space
were the ones providing theenergy to the environment, you
know, and and how do you createenergy to a restaurant on a
Saturday night that's half emptyor a third empty?
That you know, it's the thepeople, right?
Your staff is they've got to bein it, they've got to be
engaged, they've got to know whythey're doing what they're
(39:13):
doing, just like we talked aboutearlier.
And that all starts with theowner.
Speaker 4 (39:16):
Yeah, and I think it it it back to relationships,
right?
So it starts with 100%.
It starts with the owner.
The the the most importantrelationship anybody has is with
themselves.
Who am I?
Why am I here?
What is my purpose?
What is my lane?
It's that self-awareness, it'sunderstanding your why.
And I think that I think thisis actually like great segue
(39:36):
into my my principles.
I mean, I don't know how muchtime we have, but do I have a
hard time?
Speaker (39:42):
No, no, you're good.
Go ahead.
Speaker 4 (39:43):
So, like uh, like these principles used to be my
core values.
And recently, um, after doingself some self-assessment, um, I
realized like these aren't mycore values.
These are just these are thethe principles, the the the
traits I saw in my my my guests,the people I'm making an
example of.
So those I'm gonna also run runthrough them, then I'll dissect
(40:04):
them a little bit.
But the first principle um isthey have they they prioritize
freedom.
Uh the second principle is theyhave integrity, the third
principle is they are students,the fourth is they are teachers,
the fifth is they arecommunicators, the the sixth is
they are collaborators, and uhthat's where I I end it right
there.
And I think that's at the coreof it, and I can go deeper into
(40:25):
all those, but to talk about youknow why this was a great segue
is they they prioritizefreedom.
And I think freedom is in doinghard things.
I think when people hear theword freedom, they're like, I
just want to go sit on thebeach.
Yeah, like I don't want to, Iwanna like just meander, yeah,
you know, like they just want tobe a a balloon in the wind, you
(40:49):
know, free, you know.
But I think freedom is inchoosing to do the hard thing.
The freedom comes in the choiceto do the thing that you want
to do that's aligned with yourvision, your values, your why,
uh, and you're doing the thespecific thing that you're
uniquely qualified to do.
(41:10):
Yeah, and guess what?
That perfect storm is hard tomake.
Yeah, that is hard.
That is not easy, but if youwork every day towards achieving
that, that autonomy, that senseof autonomy is freedom, right?
And that's what this country isbuilt on life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness is butthat's all freedom.
It's it's the choose, it's thethe choice of freedom or
(41:31):
happiness.
But I think happiness isfreedom, right?
Speaker 3 (41:34):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (41:35):
You know, we can choose to be happy today, we can
choose to work towards ourautonomy, our freedom today.
And in pursuit of that, I thinkyou find happiness.
Freedom of purpose, freedom ofrelationships, freedom of time,
and freedom of money in thatorder.
I think the most successfulpeople prioritize purpose and
relationships, and then timeyou're doing what you love with
who you want.
You can do it forever, youcannot work people, and the
(41:56):
money will come.
Speaker (41:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (41:57):
Um, any questions on that first principle?
Speaker (42:00):
No, thank you.
Speaker 4 (42:01):
Uh so the second was they have integrity, and this is
I feel like probably one of themost overrated like core values
or like principles.
But when I say integrity, it'sit's like they they follow
through, they say they're gonnado something, they talk about
it, but they walk it.
They they walk the walk, theystart, they do it, they take
action.
Speaker (42:19):
Yeah, and it's the right thing, right?
It's the right thing foreveryone involved.
Speaker 4 (42:23):
Yeah, and I think it's it's easy to say you want
to do something, but it's hardto start.
And I think that the mostsuccessful people, they get it
into their head, and as soon asit's in their head, they're
they're calling somebody to getone step closer.
They're finding the rightwho's, like you would say, you
know, like they're figuring outhow do I make this happen.
Yeah, uh, they are students,they're constantly learning.
(42:44):
Yeah, uh, you are a studentbefore you're ever a teacher or
a master, you know.
And I think we have to if youthink that like that your days
of learning are gonna come to anend, you won't make it very far
because the world will progressbeyond you.
So you constantly have to belearning.
Um, you and I think being astudent also means having an
open mind.
Um so it's not just like beinga student in like I want to
(43:06):
learn new skills, but it's alsounderstanding that the world is
more complicated than we caneven begin to understand.
Speaker 3 (43:12):
Yeah, 100%.
Speaker 4 (43:13):
Whatever you thought was reality could be the
complete opposite of reality.
Speaker (43:19):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (43:19):
So keeping that mind open and being open to different
perspectives and ideas andthoughts and getting out of your
own way is what it means to bea student, I think.
Speaker (43:27):
Love it.
Yeah, core values.
Uh and one of my core values iscuriosity for sure.
It goes really hand in handwith that.
Speaker 4 (43:33):
And then once they figure something out, they have
to get themselves out ofwhatever that thing is.
They learn the skill, theylearn the the how, and then they
have to teach it.
Yeah, you have to, you'reconstantly ascending.
But as you ascend, there's avoid that you're leaving in your
as you go up.
So you have to be able to pullpeople into that void.
You have to create opportunityfor others, you have to teach,
(43:56):
you have to be a teacher, youhave to create opportunity,
like, and that's what so we'reconstantly learning and we're
simultaneously teaching becauseif we want to move to that next
level, then we have to empower,we have to recreate ourselves
and others, we have to createthat opportunity for others.
Speaker (44:12):
Yeah, Eric, that's where I see the majority of the
restaurant owners and operatorsthat I work with, they get
stuck.
They're learning, learning,learning, and they're not
teaching enough.
And that stops theirdevelopment and their growth to
moving on to the next level.
Speaker 4 (44:26):
Which brings me to communication.
unknown (44:28):
Communicate.
Speaker 4 (44:29):
Perfect.
So, you know, you're out there,you're learning, you're
teaching, but um, you'reconstantly, you don't just teach
once, you're constantlycommunicating.
And the things you need to becommunicating um is your
purpose, your values, yourvision, uh, the structure, the
systems, processes, procedures,protocols, training of how like
the the the cadence, right?
(44:51):
Of how we do this and how wecommunicate the strategy, like
you know, this is where we wantto be in five years, and and
this is how we're gonna do it.
And this is the the therituals, the language, the the
meetings that we're gonna haveto make sure that we're holding
each other accountable, we'relistening.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (45:06):
Did you do what you said you're gonna do?
No, why or why not?
Okay, well, let's try adifferent approach and next week
let me know if you did it ornot.
Uh, and that's communication.
And um, you know, it's notenough to write these things
down, your purpose, your vision,your mission, your structure,
and like all this stuff.
You have to surface itconstantly.
You have to be, you have to beto the point where you're
annoying.
(45:26):
Yeah, you know, and that's whatthe most successful people do.
They constantly communicatewhere we're going and how we do
it, why we do it.
And then they know they can'tdo it alone.
Even if they're replacingthemselves, they know that if
they want to go the furthest,they go further together.
So they collaborate with otherpeople who are strong or they're
weak.
They get their they get out ofthe way.
Speaker 3 (45:46):
Love it.
Speaker 4 (45:46):
Uh, and that's those are the the the four, or did I
say four or five?
How many principles do I have?
Speaker 3 (45:50):
I think you've got five or six.
Speaker 4 (45:52):
Three, four, five, six principles.
So those those used to be mycore values.
And I realized, no, thesearen't core values.
That's not what got me here.
That's what gets restauranttours, the most successful
restaurant tours.
Those are the patterns, thoseare the principles I've learned.
Speaker (46:05):
Nice.
You've got a great structurefor your for your business.
You know exactly who you are,you're very self-aware, you know
exactly where you're going.
You're you've got greatmeasurements for success.
What's next for you?
Speaker 4 (46:16):
Uh, I think what's next for me is continuing down
this path of just trying to dowhat I do better than I did it
yesterday.
Uh, and for me, that is knowingwhat I'm good at and what who I
am.
Um, I'm a connector, I'm apromoter, and I hate that this
is what the test told me.
I'm also an influencer.
Speaker (46:37):
I hate that word too.
I hate that word.
Somebody called me that acouple weeks ago and I cringed.
I just like opened my cringe.
Speaker 4 (46:44):
Um and but it's true, like in my my in my entire
life, I've never been the mosttalented person in the room.
Um, I but I was always reallygood at seeing the talents in
others and admiring people forwhat they were good at.
And I think when you're young,you don't recognize that as a
skill.
You just think that that's you,everybody sees this.
Yeah, um, you know, I wasn'tthe best student, but I could
(47:06):
tell you the social dynamic ofevery class I was in.
You know, I was uh I aced lunchand recess, I'll tell you that
much right now.
Um, you know, and so I'm reallygood at um cutting through the
BS and and paying attention tosocial dynamics, understanding
who's full of shit and who'ssincere.
And um, and that's so as I moveinto the future, I just want to
(47:31):
lean into the relationships Itrust the most and be a promoter
and a connector of good peopledoing good work.
And I think that's what I bringto this world 12 years, 1200
episodes of listening and andfinding patterns and
understanding and realizing thatthere are no two people who are
exactly the same, and there'sno one size fits all.
(47:53):
So I want to help people in therestaurant industry understand
who they are, where they'regoing, and then I want to
connect them with the tools,technologies, services,
individuals, peers, mentors thatcan help them get there.
Speaker (48:05):
Yeah, love it.
Speaker 4 (48:06):
Because we can't do it alone.
We have to collaborate.
Speaker (48:08):
We have to collaborate, collaboration over competition
all the time.
Speaker 4 (48:11):
Yeah.
Speaker (48:11):
Um, any fun projects coming up or anything you want
to talk about?
Speaker 4 (48:15):
Yeah.
So um been pretty public.
I think I mentioned it earlier.
I'm trying to get away fromsponsorship.
Um, again, not no hardfeelings, no disrespect to that
model, but it's just not for mebecause of how I want to do
things going forward.
And I want to prioritizerelationships, not money.
So, in order for me to do that,I'm changing my business model.
So, up to recently, like all myincome has been from
(48:36):
sponsorship, and I'm trying tocreate a service, it's a it's a
recurring membership model,basically.
So it's a listener-supportedpodcast, not a sponsor-supported
podcast.
Uh, and the way that I want tosupport my listeners is by um
offering three tiers of uhmembership.
So there's restaurants, sopicture restaurantstoppable.com
(48:56):
LLC at the very top, the mothercompany, right?
The the holding company.
Below that is RestaurantStoppable Podcast, and then
adjacent to that is RestaurantStoppable Network.
Uh, Restaurant UnstoppableNetwork has Restaurant
Unstoppable Library, RestaurantUnstoppable Live, and Restaurant
Unstoppable Masterminds.
So Restaurant UnstoppableLibrary is $14.99 a month, and
(49:17):
it's just a way to get access tomy backlog of 1,200 episodes
with searchability tools.
So you can find exactly thecontent you're looking for, but
it also has a unstoppable bot,which is 1200 episodes worth of
transcribes, uploaded to my ownprivate LLM, uh Custom GPT,
where you can ask it anyquestions based off of over
(49:37):
2,400 hours of unscripted,unprompted, organic
conversations with students andmentor.
Nice.
Me talking to leadingrestaurateurs, how'd you get
here?
Um, you can use that AI bot tofind certain episodes you're
looking for, and then there'salso ad-free early release bonus
content.
unknown (49:57):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (49:57):
Uh, and that's $14.99 a month.
This is a huge sales pitch, I'msorry, but it's a good thing.
No, no, no, no, it's great.
Are you live is basically thetier above that that's $47 a
month, and that is being a partof the conversation.
So um basically four types ofevents workshops, mentoring
sessions, power hours, and theseare me collaborating with the
people I'd go to tomorrow toserve my audience.
(50:20):
So um, and that becomes thebonus content that you get in
our you library.
But it's essentially just meconnecting my listeners with
people like you.
You've done a workshop.
Um, I have power hours withexperts who are the best that
I've had on the show.
Maybe we can have you do apower hour in the future if
you're ever interested.
Speaker (50:39):
I'd love to.
Speaker 4 (50:41):
And we also um do mentoring sessions.
So that's like people come tome and they say these are my
challenges, this is what I'mcurious about.
You know what?
I know somebody, let me reachout to them and see if they can
help you.
And I'll schedule that as alive event.
And anybody in the communitycan show up to that live event
to be a part of thatconversation.
Speaker (50:57):
Awesome.
Speaker 4 (50:58):
And then masterminds, everyone's heard of a
mastermind.
And I'm honestly I'm reservingthis right now to go back
through my backlog of pastguests because I want to bring
them into the community and havethese leaders across the nation
steer the ship.
Speaker (51:09):
Nice.
Speaker 4 (51:10):
And I'm charging them because there's great value in
being a connector.
Speaker (51:13):
Sure, absolutely.
I love it.
Well, Eric, I know how much umwork and emphasis and strategy
and thought has gone into all ofthat.
You know, redoing a businessmodel is absolutely exciting and
extraordinary.
And um absolutely wish you allthe best.
Yes, please.
Any way that I can help andsupport and connect with you on
that to make it a success,please, please um don't ever
(51:36):
hesitate to reach out.
Speaker 4 (51:37):
So well, you were a great guest.
I hope you continue to be agreat guest and collaborator uh
as we go forward.
And uh just one final messageto your listeners like you don't
have to do it alone.
Um, you are not alone.
You what you are going through,I promise you, there is
somebody else going throughthat.
And if you get vulnerable andyou open up and you talk to
people um and you share, uh youyou will go further together.
unknown (52:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (52:01):
Um, and there's power in numbers.
So don't be afraid to knock ondoors, don't be afraid to join
communities, don't be afraid toreach out to coaches like
Kristen uh and get the help youneed uh because it's it's more
attainable than you realize.
So choose to go furthertogether.
Speaker (52:17):
Yeah, here, here.
Eric, how can people find you?
Speaker 4 (52:19):
Uh head over to restaurantunstoppable.com.
And if you're interested injoining those live conversations
and these live events, headover to restaurantstoppable.com
slash live.
And thank you in advance if youjoin, if you choose to join us.
Speaker (52:33):
Yeah, love it.
Um, Eric, thank you.
I say this to you all the time,but it I just can't say it
enough.
You know, over 1200 episodes inthe podcasting space.
You've paved the way for peoplelike me.
I I know you just got numberone, it's probably been a month
or so now, right?
Number one on the on the listof top 100 restaurant podcasts,
which is such a huge fuckingdeal.
Yeah.
(52:54):
I saw it on LinkedIn.
I was like, this is so cool.
So congratulations.
Speaker 4 (52:58):
Thank you.
Thank you for that.
I will say I don't really trustthose lists.
Speaker (53:01):
If I'm I would, I would number one.
That's right.
Speaker 4 (53:06):
Somebody did a Google search and I have 1200
episodes, and that's why theymade me number one.
There are so many greatpodcasts out there right now.
Um those lists, no offense tothe people that make them are
marketing tactics.
They're just trying to get youreyes.
Don't pay attention to them.
Speaker (53:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (53:22):
Well, find what you like, what works for you.
There's tons of great resourcesout there.
Speaker (53:26):
Totally, totally.
Well, thank you for your time,and um, that's gonna do it for
us this week, and we'll talk toyou soon.
Speaker 4 (53:32):
Thank you, Kristen.
Speaker (53:33):
Thanks.
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