What Happens When Purpose Drives Business with Jeff Mosley, Chick-fil-A Operator

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Risk and Resolve.
And now for your hosts, benConner and Todd Hufford.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Welcome to another episode of Risk and Resolve.
I'm your co-host, ben Conner,along with Todd Hufford, and
today's special guest is JeffMosley.
Jeff has over 35 years ofexperience in the hospitality
industry, with the last 28 yearsbeing as an operator for

(00:31):
Chick-fil-A with two locationsunder his leadership season in
my life, where I was workingwith my dad very regularly and
daily and we frequented thelocal Chick-fil-A and that's

(00:51):
where we connected with Jeff andover several Chick-fil-A
sandwiches, I've gotten to knowJeff over the course of time, so
that was a really specialexperience.
Also unofficially, todd and Ibelieve that we may be the two
largest grossing customers atthe Chick-fil-A at Keystone at

(01:13):
the Crossing.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
Pretty sure I beat you Ben.
So yeah, together we're-.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah, there was a period, I think Todd had
Chick-fil-A every single morning.
So, anyway, we're excited toconnect with Jeff and talk about
his story today.
So, jeff, welcome to the show.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
Well, thank you so much for the opportunity of
being here today.
What an honor.
It's really awesome just simplyto be with you today.
And again, yeah, it's been.
You've been coming for a year.
Both of you have been comingfor years and I remember
literally probably the last 20years cause we've been open
about 23 now and seeing yourfamily come and having times at
the table when you and your dadwould come, and it was just very

(01:51):
special and always encouragingto see you and thank you for
both for supporting the brandand being a part and being a
huge investor in Chick-fil-A.
Absolutely, thank you.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
Filet, absolutely, thank you.
Well, early in my career Iremember you and my dad talking
about, like at that time, likethe recession, and no eight, no
nine, and just asking each otherquestions and you know I was
just kind of keeping my head upsaying, you know, listening of,
you know, two successful men, uh, kind of just sharing some
stories of what they're seeing.
So that was pretty cool.
We'll talk plenty about yourexperience with Chick-fil-A, but
wanted to rewind the clock.

(02:27):
You've been in the hospitalityindustry for 35 years, so so
what did it look like?
What did you do?

Speaker 3 (02:36):
What were you doing before the opportunity at
Chick-fil-A came?
Yeah, thank you for asking Forme, and this is really something
that is very important to mewith, as I, as I care for my
team is after I graduated fromcollege, I went to a small
Christian school and in thatback in the day way before the
internet, way before all of that, it was crazy and computers,
honestly, it was interestingbecause back then, if you went

(02:57):
to a Christian school and youwere a pastor for Jesus, you
were a pastor and so I had somemusical gifting.
You know that the Lord loved tosing and lead worship and so
therefore, I had this pathtowards ministry and it was
great.
But there was always somethingin me that I love doing that on
Sunday, love leading worship,but there's always something

(03:21):
that I always look to those inbusiness and really wanted to be
a part of that, and so for meit took a while to about 15
years after college.
I was a part of severaldifferent churches, my actually
the reason that the way that Ifound my wife, actually that we
met, was actually touring.
We were based in Austin, texas,in a vocal Christian band and

(03:42):
we toured and sang in churchesand did some albums with them
and we were singing partners andwe got married after the tour.
So we met singing and then wewent into again more ministry.
There's always something in me,though, that, as much as I
enjoyed that Monday throughSaturday, I really wanted along

(04:03):
for something different, and ittook me literally 15 years
full-time in bivocationalministry to fit.
And God was very kind and mywife was very understanding
because she married a pastorthat our path really continued
to grow towards that therereally is a ministry in the
marketplace.
And so we went down a path ofbivocational ministry, very
still involved in churches andaround the country.

(04:25):
But in Denver I, as abivocational pastor, need to
work in the hospitality industryand waiting tables and managing
and that, but also leadingworship and helping some smaller
church plants.
But through that process,really, the Lord was really
really kind just to guide me andthis is really your passion and

(04:46):
there's really a calling in it.
You can do all the things thatyou want to do in terms of music
and worship and teaching, whichI love to do.
But there's always somethinginside me, even as a child, I
always thought man, it'd begreat to own a restaurant.
It would be great to own my ownbusiness, and so it was simply
a journey and that's that's.
That's something that, from myexperience, that I really want

(05:07):
my team as they're growing upand maybe they don't have.
You know, today we have a lotof great career assessments and
and that folks can reallyidentify their, their gifting,
and which is great today, and wereally want to help our team do
that.
You know, I hope it doesn'ttake 15 years, like me, like it,
like it did for me, although itwas great, it was fine, it was
part of the journey, but to helpthem accelerate that, that that

(05:29):
ability to find their purposein calling and it could be a
full-time ministry, that'sawesome, but there is a ministry
in the marketplace, and so,again, we just didn't have you
know the IT and you knowinformatics and all that.
Back in the day, it was prettymuch ministry, which is fine,
but that was my journey, and so,from that, though, I was part

(05:52):
of a full-service Italian chainin Denver also Louisville,
kentucky Learned tremendousamount about the hospitality
industry, and that was calledGrazani's.
It was just a great, greatexperience.
My wife and I were very, veryinvolved through that whole
process of bivocational ministry, of doing mission trips and for
me, I was actually preparing agroup of young adults, teens, to

(06:14):
go to the country of Haiti.
We were doing a drama and wehad a lot of preparation and
through that, when they wouldcome for practice before our
launching and going on thatmission trip, they would bring
their Chick-fil-A cups.
I'm like man, I just learnedabout Chick-fil-A.
And I'm like man, great values,really, really great company.
And I'm like, where's theChick-fil-A at?
I don't understand, cause wewere actually in Louisville,

(06:34):
kentucky.
It was across the river intoSouthern Indiana, and they were
like, oh, you know, it's a TreeMall.
I'm like, well, wow, that'sgreat, I didn't know that.
Well, who's your operator?
And then, well, we don't haveone, wow.
So went back down that path andit was a very, very low volume

(06:56):
opportunity at Chick-fil-A.
Back in 1997, chick-fil-a wasdifferent in terms of sales
volume.
Today, we're the third largestrestaurant company in America,
over 3,000 restaurantsnationwide, internationally too.
We're in Canada, puerto Rico,we're in the UK and a $20
billion company.
Today, 97, we weren't quitethere.
We hadn't even hit a billiondollars in sales, and so
applying for that and gettingthat opportunity was just really

(07:17):
awesome for me and again, itjust really started the whole
journey with Chick-fil-A, which,for me, has been it's been so
life-giving and it's been sosuch an incredible experience
because of the values of thecompany.
They say you know you can be inbusiness for yourself, but not
by yourself.
That's really true.
I love the support thatChick-fil-A provides Incredible.

(07:40):
But also I have the opportunityto express the entrepreneurial
side of how I want to do that.
We have a beautiful foundationwith our corporate purpose and
it's really there's two parts ofthat stewardship and it's also
positive influence.
I love that and so we get tobuild on that.
But then I get to express thatin my own individual way.

(08:04):
And but then I get to expressthat in my own individual way
and that's the thing that keepsme.
I love to get up and go to workevery day because I get to spend
time with a great team.
I get to impact, strive toimpact our community, spend time
with, with families, like likeyou described, ben, and I love
what we get to do.
And, like I said, this fallwill be my 28th year and I love

(08:27):
what I get to do and I'm sograteful for this opportunity.
And, just like in any business,crazy, challenging, a lot of
crazy stuff coming at us in thiseconomy, trying to grow it.
At the same time, I love whatwe get to do.
We get to express that everyday, and every day is different

(08:49):
in business, as you know.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
So, Jeff, did you grow up in Texas Is that home?

Speaker 3 (08:54):
No, my dad was in the service and so I was born in
Germany and we traveled quite abit.
We lived in about five or sixdifferent states before I was
even in kindergarten andunfortunately my parents
separated and divorced when Iwas pretty young.
My dad left.
That was a part of my journeytoo, of growth and kind of

(09:16):
working through challenges as achild.
And when my mom remarried shealso married again a gentleman
who was in the service and neverbeen married before, and he was
a great man.
And we moved to Mississippi andso I spent my middle school and
high school years there andafter graduating definitely

(09:37):
returned back to Florida, wherewe had settled in South Florida.
But I went back to college inFlorida and so my church
experiences led me to Louisianaand different places, back to
Florida, but being able to tourwith that band Eternity and
meeting my wife, and that wasbasically so I was in Texas for

(10:00):
a year.
My wife had already been withthe group for a couple of years
prior, so Texas was a small step.
What was the college that youattended?
I went to Warner.
It's a sister college ofAnderson University.
It's called Warner Southern.
It's Warner University now Very, very small Christian school,
but it was a great experiencethere, I've been there.

Speaker 2 (10:18):
Have you really Wow Interesting, yeah, I helped out
with the women's basketball teamin indiana westland.
Is that right?
We uh had a winter tournamentin florida that we certainly
didn't complain about wow, thatis so interesting.

Speaker 3 (10:33):
Yeah, when I went, there was a very, very tiny
school.
They've really grown a lot,really taking the kind of the
indiana westland model, andthey've really got.
They've really expanded their,their base.
I actually went back to indianawestland got my master's later
on, so there's a nice connectionthere.
But yeah, that's so interesting.
Very few people in the moresouthern yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1 (10:51):
Were you in louisville when the opportunity
or when you began theapplication process with
chick-fil-a?

Speaker 3 (10:56):
yes, we were.
Yeah, we had um at that point.
Uh, we had three kids and umand I was really looking for,
you know, the.
The restaurant industry isreally great.
I love the hospitality industry, but for most companies it can
really be pretty brutal in termsof that, the amount of hours
and um, and that was such a hugeappeal to you know, when I was

(11:18):
working for that company, I meanliterally there were.
It was just a lot, you know,not getting home till two or
three o'clock in the morningwhen you had to close the
restaurant.
So for Chick-fil-A man, thatwas just amazing.
Having Sunday off wasabsolutely incredible.
And you know we're not opentill.
You know my staff doesn't gethome at two or three o'clock in
the morning.
You know we close at 10 o'clockand so that was just one nice

(11:40):
incredible benefit that I knowat least I'm going to have
Sunday off and that's going tobe amazing because the industry
can be really really tough.
It really can.

Speaker 1 (11:52):
Did you know at that point, sitting there in Northern
Kentucky, southern Indiana,that you would have the
opportunity to be placed inIndianapolis, or was that still
a big question mark at that time?

Speaker 3 (11:58):
Oh, absolutely.
We didn't even know that therewas part of the whole developing
plan.
For us.
Again, green Tree Mall was avery, very low volume
opportunity.
But as a matter of fact, when Iwent through the interview
process the HR team was like Idon't know that a family of five
can make it there, and theywere very, very open that it was

(12:22):
going to be very hard.
And literally we didn't write aprofit check for three years
there.
Chick-fil-a has a certain basethat everybody makes, but we
never wrote a profit check there.
It was very low volume.
And so when the opportunityopened up for Castleton Square
in 2000, that was just like wow,this is going to be a huge
opportunity for us.

(12:43):
And so in 2000, we moved toIndianapolis and that was again
just part of the whole excuse medeveloping plan.
For us as we worked, green Treewas a great experience.
It was tremendous.
As a matter of fact, that storeis gone.
Now They've opened freestandinglocations, but it was a great.
I mean, honestly, the smallbeginnings in business.

(13:05):
That was just one part of thestory.
That's like.
I'm so grateful for it.
I mean today Chick-fil-A isopening with just tremendous
volumes with new locations.
But I'm grateful that we hadthat opportunity that you know,
every chicken sandwich wasreally important Every customer
and they are today still wasreally important Every customer
and they are today still.

(13:26):
But it was.
It was just very meaningful thethe early beginnings because
really it's really was true atKathy, the founder of
Chick-fil-A.
That was his, his story, and wecan I know we'll we'll talk
about the impact that he has hadnot only on our company but on
me and in our market.
But I don't regret those.
I'm really grateful for thethree years that we had there,
because you just had to grindand it was very difficult and it

(13:48):
was also just a tremendousblessing.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
And wasn't the first mall-based Chick-fil-A at the
Greenbrier.
It was.
And you were at the Green Treesome 400 miles north of that or
something you know theChick-fil-A history yeah 1968.

Speaker 3 (14:03):
North of that or something.
So kind of an interestingparallel there.
You know the Chick-fil-Ahistory.
Yeah, 1968, chick-fil-a wentfrom this tiny restaurant
company which really was onestore at, you know, the Dwarf
House that Mr Cathy opened in1946.
And then, yeah, in 1968, forthem to open First mall location
, and again, true it was.
Mr Cathy was just such apioneer you know they didn't

(14:23):
have food courts back in the dayfor him to be the first to to
work with mall management teamsto get food in the malls.
That was pretty unique.
Yeah, absolutely yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
By 2000,.
The, the franchise you steppedinto was in the food court at
Castleton Square.
Is that right, absolutely.

Speaker 3 (14:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
There was a location at Castleton, not in the food
court.
Do you know much history on?

Speaker 3 (14:47):
that location?
Yeah, I've heard about it.
I don't really know a lot ofspecifics.
I guess it was a double-decker,it had an up top, absolutely,
and it's really interesting.
So we have, like I said, over3,000 locations.
Castleton Square is actuallystore 21.
I believe it Store 21, which isreally interesting.
In 1980, they opened 100locations or so and a huge

(15:11):
expansion, and that's a big partof Chick-fil-A's story of the
growth and the economy at thatpoint and the funding of our
corporate office and how thewhole corporate purpose of
stewardship and influence wascreated, because it was a really
tough moment for the leadershipat Chick-fil-A because of that
growth and really trying to dothat, the uncertainty of what

(15:33):
the future was going to looklike, and that's been such a
pivotal piece for us that wehave this anchor of an
incredible corporate purpose torely on that.
First off, we have what MrCathy went through.
It was just incredible.
But yeah, you're right, I meanstore 21, that was just amazing
and it's still a great open 1980.
It's pretty amazing.

Speaker 1 (15:54):
Was that a corporate store?
Was there a franchiseeassociated with that?

Speaker 3 (15:56):
Yeah, Great question.
It was a franchisee.
The corporate stores areprimarily in Atlanta that have
with the Dwarf Grill and withall of those that grouping of
restaurants.
But the majority of thoselocations around the country are

(16:18):
going to be franchise led.

Speaker 1 (16:20):
Well, I've got great memories of what I now know was
Store 21, which was the originalCastleton Square double-decker,
and it was mostly through mygrandmother and here's why my
mom having two young kids, shewould opt for the drive-thrus.
Well, back in the day that wasyour kind of prototypical
restaurant in a mall which, aswe talked about the Greenbrier,

(16:42):
was kind of like.
The mall operator said we don'twant our apparel stores
smelling like food.
I mean, that was right there asyou walked in.
It wasn't any kind of foodcourt or anything, but my
grandmother would buy thesandwiches by multiple at a time
and she'd stick them in herfridge at home and so most of my
early memories of yoursandwiches were cold believe it
or not.

(17:02):
So I've been enjoying warmsandwiches for the last three
years, oh my goodness, that's agreat story.

Speaker 3 (17:06):
As an adult.

Speaker 1 (17:07):
But one other funny story before you did your
renovation here at Clearwater, Iwas in line.
It was dinnertime and I pulledin, I'd left work and I'd gotten
in line.
It was that place where youcould still pull out of line.
Now, once you're kind of in,you're kind of committed, and I
was sitting there and I wasgetting ready to make my order
and I just kind of hit myselfupon the head and I said, oh my
gosh, and I realized that I hadbeen there for breakfast and

(17:33):
that we had had food catered infor lunch and it was Chick-fil-A
and I had pulled intoChick-fil-A for dinner.
I was about ready to have yourmeal three times in one day, and
so I pulled out a line and saidI probably better find
something else.
Oh, my goodness, that isbeautiful.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
We love that and most of our podcasts you may have
seen me take a drink, here I am.
Oh, look at you.
That's awesome.

Speaker 1 (17:56):
It's that proverbial red and white cup.
When people dress up like me inthe office, they wear a red
jacket and they carry around aChick-fil-A cup.

Speaker 3 (18:02):
Oh, I love it.
That is awesome.
You guys are raving fans.
Thank you so much.
We are amazing.

Speaker 1 (18:09):
How many team members does it take?
Now you've got two locations,two full side, full freestanding
locations.
Now how many team members doesit take to keep those guys
running?

Speaker 3 (18:21):
Yeah, it's interesting.
You know, again, every store isgoing to be a little different.
We have a lot of full-timeemployees and we have about a
good probably a good range isgoing to be 100 to 120 per
location, and sometimes we'reable to do that with less
because we do have a lot offull-time employees and we do
have an army of teens that comein and help us too, which is
really awesome to be a part ofthat.

(18:41):
Yeah, back in the day, likegoing back to my green tree days
, I probably had less than 20employees total.
It's amazing, right, and sowhat we have today being open at
, you know, at at six, 30 andclosing when we do, yeah, we,
it's pretty much, you know, twoto three groups of shifts that
are coming in to supplement andhelp us.
So, yeah, it's it's, it's it'sin that a hundred 120 range.

(19:05):
So, yeah, it's in that 100 to120 range.
Some operators have more thanthat, some have less kind of
based on their mix of part-timeand full-time employees Does
that officially make you theleader of the largest youth
group in the state.
I think it probably could.
We're probably up there.
Yeah, I need to take a look atthat, definitely.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
What percentage of those are under 20 year olds?

Speaker 3 (19:27):
Oh, we have quite a few.
Actually, it is kind ofinteresting, you know, the kind
of the mystery we've beentalking about this week.
It's kind of funny that we haveso many siblings that work at
Chick-fil-A.
You know, they came in but whatseemed to be a great job, great
part time job, when you were 16, they're still there after 15
years.
Now they're in leadership.
I have some folks that havebeen with me for over 20 years,

(19:51):
23 years.
It's been really amazing.
And again, many of those startedwhen they were, yeah, this is
going to be a summer job.
Next thing, you know, you'vegot to be careful.
Right, you've got to be careful.
You're going to be here a whileand we love that, and again, we
just try to create so manydifferent opportunities for them
.
Again, we are in the fast foodindustry, but I choose not to.

(20:12):
We're just not a fast foodrestaurant company.
I love Chick-fil-A yeah, it'sin the segment, but it's not.
We just don't want to be fastfood Absolutely, and so we're
trying to create those benefits.
We just don't want to be fastfood Absolutely, and so, you
know, trying to create thosebenefits.

Speaker 2 (20:25):
How do?
How does your staffing modeldiffer, then, from fast food,
cause you talked about a quite abit of full-time employees?
That seems to me.
It may be just, I don't, Idon't know any better, but that
seems to be unique.
I wouldn't expect that fromlike other fast food competitors
.

Speaker 3 (20:42):
if you will, yeah absolutely, but you know we do
have the you know just thelowest turnover.
We have the highest retentionin the industry, even among
operators.
It's amazing.
There's probably only three or4% on the operator level of
folks that leave, whether it'sretirement or finding something
else.
I mean it's very, very high interms of operators.
But even our team members andleaders we have a very, very

(21:06):
strong retention program.
I think a lot of that is andagain, the thing that we work so
hard as leaders with myleadership team, is alignment
with who we are and if we reallyare doing this, if we are
fulfilling our mission of beingthe you know the most, the
world's most caring company, andwe are aligned with our purpose

(21:27):
and our and our and our andwhat we stand for is pretty good
when we're on our game, and I'mnot saying we're good, I'm
saying the culture is good.
What Mr Cathy gave us isamazing that, if you really feel
cared for and so within that,though, you know we, we we do
try to provide a lot of benefit,whether it's insurance, whether
it's 401k plan, whether it'slife skills, you know.
Whether it's, you know someonewho comes.

(21:49):
We've had a variety ofdifferent people come from Iraq
and in the Middle East and LatinAmerican countries, and all
that and English as a secondlanguage has an offering that we
provide.
You know have in the past,whether it's a fitness program
to encourage them in theirhealth.
Trying to respond, especiallyafter COVID.
As you know, covid has reallybeen a challenging time.
Coming out of it, I still feellike we're we're dealing with

(22:11):
some of the kind of the holdoverissues of isolation and mental
health issues and how do wecreate care for them?
I just think you know All thethings that we can try to do to
create those moments of care.
One of the things that we do isis really challenge them, as I
talked about, you know, helpingthem in their careers.
We have a partnership withpoint university and Atlanta

(22:32):
fully online program but you cango and get your degree for free
.
Wow, I pay for your tuition.
We've had, we had, our firstgraduates with a, an MBA, and
also, you know, getting yourbusiness degree.
But it's helping them findtheir purpose and their passion
and helping them take advantageof these opportunities, like in

(22:55):
investing.
You know we talk about it a lot.
You know about starting today,the power of time and interest,
what that can look like for you.
Do you want to be a millionaire?
Because you can, and what youcan do with that and how you can
impact them.
If you start today, my goodness, if you started at 18, don't
start at my age, when youstarted at 18 and doing that,
that would be amazing.
What about?
Four more years from now, youcan have your degree.

(23:17):
Well, what if you just want atwo-year degree?
That's great, we have tuitionfor you.
You know.
Do you want to bet?
You know we've done financeclasses.
You know.
Do you want to get on a budgetin this economy, as hard as it
is?
Can we help you with this?
And again, it's always achallenge because not everybody
wants to do that.
And that's OK.
I would love, for I would loveto write a.

(23:38):
You know this development planthat everybody is going to
follow and they and they don't.
Some people, you know, they'rejust not ready for that.
But for those who are, let'slaunch, let's go.
But you know the cool thingabout um, the, the thing that's
the most fulfilling for me isthat when you hear about the
college interview or the, the,the fortune 500 interview that

(24:00):
our former team members have,and they come back and go.
You know what?
It's crazy how much they wantto talk about my time at
Chick-fil-A, yeah, whether it'sgetting into Notre Dame, and
they want to talk about myscores, my academics, but they
really want to talk about thator that job at Salesforce.
They really wanted to talkabout my time at Chick-fil-A.
So the thing that we would love, and again, even with our

(24:21):
individual, again we have thisgreat corporate purpose of
stewardship and positiveinfluence.
And as we layer that, what thethings that are really important
to me, that we have our ownworking values that we talk
about.
And again, I'm constantly, we'reconstantly talking about this,
about alignment.
If you align yourself withthese, these principles, in time

(24:41):
will make you, when you're aparent, a better parent.
They will help you be a betterspouse.
They will help you be a betterspouse.
They will help you be a bettercitizen by caring.
It's having that what trueKathy gave us, that my pleasure
attitude, that ability to serve.
If you, if you embrace whatwe're talking about here, you
can have a really incrediblelife.
And again, it's just, butthere's, you know, sometimes

(25:02):
there's not buy-in and sometimesthere is.
I can't control what you can'tcontrol with your team of you,
know you can talk about.
You can have a whole benefitslist right of what you want to
do or the principles.
If you live these, you canreally have an incredible life.
And yet there's got to be thatinner motivation, you know.

Speaker 2 (25:21):
Well, it seems like the law of attraction has really
applied because you have lowturnover, what you just talked
about.

Speaker 3 (25:29):
You didn't mention compensation once that
Chick-fil-A is offering andlocally you're offering.

Speaker 2 (25:46):
People are showing up for that, not just a J-O-B.

Speaker 3 (25:51):
I think you're right.
I mean, the compensation pieceis, I think, very, very
important, because they're notgoing to stay if it's not a
living wage, right.
But I do think there'ssomething very special about if
we can get beyond the grind,because life is a grind at times
.
Right, work is a grind.
As much as I love what I get todo right now, you know it's a

(26:12):
grind, it can be a grind, but ifwe can take that and again, as
long as we're, and that's why Ithink the leadership challenge
that we have is connecting tothe purpose.
The leadership challenge thatwe have is connecting to the
purpose, if you can, because youcan either see yourself as a
janitor wiping tables down, oryou can see yourself as I am

(26:36):
creating an environment of care,and what I get to do here, yeah
, it's sweeping and it's wipingdown tables and it's running
food and it's refreshingbeverages and it's doing all
that you can either.
Again, it's all aboutperspective, right, and it's the
same, I think, with every oneof us in your industry and my
industry that we can either seethis as a grind.
We can either see this as theseare tasks.

(26:57):
Either I'm a fast food workeror I am creating an environment
of care, right, and it's justreally interesting, even even
from the those in the kitchenthat are breading that hopefully
craveable sandwich.
They can either say, you know,I, I just I just bread chicken,

(27:18):
or I am, I'm not just making asandwich, I'm making a
difference, and and that soundsreally.
I think it sounds really good.
It sounds really hard, though,right, and that's our job as
leaders.
How do we continue to inspirethat and create that In moments
like last night, when I went tothe restaurant and they're doing
the best they can and we can't.
We cannot ring in food, wecannot, and we have folks that

(27:40):
are looking at us.
So what do you do?
You can send them away or youcan go.
We are happy to serve youwhatever we have, and we'll take
a bit of a loss, but it'sactually an investment.
You want to?
Number one, I can't charge youand that's fine.
We're going to give that to youand our team is seeing that as
we model that, and then they'regoing.
Oh, it's just not about themoney.

(28:00):
So, kind of going back to yourquestion about why would they
stay so long, I think it's areally important one that we
need to really stay focused on.
I think it's simply thatcommitment.
The pay is really important.
I think the benefits areimportant, but I think it's how
we make them feel.

Speaker 2 (28:19):
Well, you want to be competitive and pay, but you're
also not, you know, like a lotof fast food restaurants.
You're not like chalking yourfront window full of hey, it's
$18 an hour, and then if someoneelse is $18 an hour, they're
like, oh, scratch out the zerosand put 1850.
Like that's not the value offer.

(28:40):
Certainly you have to becompetitive and you want to be
competitive, but everything elseis why people stay.

Speaker 3 (28:47):
Absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 2 (28:50):
That's awesome, you know it's interesting and you
mentioned even both of ourbusinesses.
But just thinking, what youexperienced last night is and
just for context, we'rerecording in mid-June and there
was a big storm that just rippedthrough Indianapolis last night

(29:10):
with just really high-poweredwinds, and so your restaurant
was having a hard time just eventaking orders.
So the context of that.
So we are a lagging indicator,if you will, in the insurance
business that our team is takinga lot of calls today and it's

(29:30):
one thing to talk about like aninsurance policy transaction,
but today is the day that ourteam has the honor and
opportunity, when someone callsin, that we get to show up and
we get to guide them.
We get to tell them you knowwhat they need to do.
We get to be that source ofconfidence when, like if a tree

(29:51):
fell on someone's house, likethat's a really bad day, that's
a very bad day.
In fact, probably a day in 20years from now, someone will say
you know, tell me about anexperience in your life.
It's like, oh, a tree fell onmy house.
We get to show up and really bea calm, confident, guiding

(30:14):
individual in that person'sjourney.
So if it were about sellingpolicies and insurance, nah, but
it's when it's caring for andshowing up in life's significant
moments, like wow, like that'swhat's up.
That's really cool, I thinkit's awesome.

Speaker 3 (30:26):
I think one other thought and just what your team
is doing today has been.
This thought has really hit methis week when I've gone to
other retail spots and I go backand go okay, how do we want our
guests to feel today, right?
How do we want our team to feel?
We want our guests to feeltoday, right, how do we want our
team to feel?
But you know, your team is veryfocused on the fact of that,

(30:48):
leading with empathy and dealingwith that, because I think
that's something for us in ourindustry and probably for you,
honestly that we have acompetitive advantage if we
execute who we are, becausefirst it starts with our team.
How, as a leadership team, arewe making our team feel that's
really what hospitality is?
How do you make them feel, doyou make them feel cared for?
And then we can turn and dothat for our guests.

(31:13):
You know those folks thatliterally so many last night,
just like you guys, areexperiencing with not having a
power at your house.
Today they're coming.
They're like we came herebecause we don't have any power.
We need to eat.
I'm like it's awesome.
I'm not sure how we're going toserve you, but we're going to
find a way Right, but how do wemake them feel we can send them
away empty and hungry and theyneed a place of of rest, and
that's one of the things that Iappreciate, that Dan Cathy true
at Cathy's son used to talkabout that restaurants, and

(31:36):
really your business too, can beplaces of restoration, you know
, and that that's just soimportant and, man, that's just
a challenge, that's just such aleadership challenge for us to
create that environment thatfirst off is the team being
cared for and then can we turnand pivot and really provide
that care for our community andour guests.

(31:56):
It's just, it's a huge callingno-transcript.

Speaker 1 (32:27):
Let's assume you've been invited to a 5,000 attendee
gathering of youth notaffiliated with Chick-fil-A
Right.
But they've said, hey, this isan operator in Indianapolis,
indiana.
He's over the last 20 years.
He's overseen over 1,000 youth.
He's over the last 20 years.
He's overseeing over a thousandyouth.
If you were to give these 5,000attendees a bit of

(32:47):
encouragement with what you'reseeing out of them and what also
, what would you implore themeither to start doing or
continue doing?
How would you pour into thoseyouth today if you were invited
to that large gathering of 5,000plus young people today?

Speaker 3 (33:12):
I love that.
That's a great question, thankyou, awesome question.
I think it really comes down totaking advantage of
opportunities, as I shared, morethan just in the investment
space of starting now.
But why not start now in otherareas of your life, in
preparation?
I think about the kind of dadyou want to be, the kind of
spouse you want to be, the kindof mom you want to be, the kind

(33:34):
of wife you want to be.
Those are all those things.
Start today.
I think about the kind ofperson that you want to have in
the marketplace, that you wantto be today.
It doesn't have to be four orfive or 10 or 20 years out.
It's what can happen today.
This is all we have in thismoment.
I think I would encourage themon a lot of things.
I think that life hits us with alot of resistance.

(33:57):
Steven Pressfield talks aboutthat that in order to be
successful, that you're going tohave to have a resolve, you're
going to have to have theability to be resilient.
I think you can be exceptionalat your age, right now, if you
do these things and that's,first off, understanding that
life is going to be a challenge.
There is resistance, that'sgoing to come, but if you

(34:19):
persevere and you go invest inyourself, but if you persevere
and you go invest in yourself,if you can have a growth mindset
, I just think that there'sthere's so much today of
creating, and I didn't reallynecessarily have this when I was
18 or 17.
But the hope that your life isgoing to continue to improve,

(34:44):
you know, I mean there's just somuch in that.
You know, I think about all ofour experiences.
I think about my experiencethat you know my, my dad leaving
when I was 10 and then laterbeing for him.
You know, having been marriedfive times and and it was just
really a just a sad life that helived out.
And the reality for me is, at18, I can, I can do this
differently, and my wife and Ihave been married, for we're

(35:06):
going to be, and it's going tobe 40 years before we know it.
We have three adult kids inhere that live in Indy that I'm
just so grateful for being a dad.
It doesn't matter where youstart, it's how you end, and
there are so many principles ofif you apply today, today is the
day.
That's all you have today.

(35:27):
So I think I would justencourage them to, to finding
their calling and finding andthat's going to be.
It may take time to do that,but to find people that will
help you in that and mentors inthat.
And to read and to listen topodcasts and to develop yourself
and to again establish thosevalues.
What are those things that aregoing to be significant to

(35:48):
propel you to your future.
I think it's really finding thatand part of it, like I shared
at the first part of this, thatit took me about 15 years to
really figure out my calling,that there was something special
in the marketplace, that itwasn't necessarily what I was
trained to do in biblicalstudies as a 22-year-old, but
today it just grows.

(36:08):
I think another part is justbeing patient with yourself.
I think it's also justdeveloping the skill set of
finding the answers.
I think education is really.
A college degree is reallyimportant.
The reality, true, kathy neverwent to college.
He was incredible.
Jim Collins the Jimmy Collins,the president of our company

(36:30):
that took us from, I guess,maybe 40 million to a billion
dollars in sales never went tocollege.
But it wasn't say they wasn'teducated, wasn't that then?
That's not saying that hewasn't brilliant, because both
of those men were and and and soI think that there's just so
much to unpack with thoseindividuals, with those teams,
to really capture the calling,the path for growth, and to

(36:54):
really combat that whole part ofresistance, because resistance
is going to prevent you fromwanting to go to college, it's
going to prevent you from saving, it's going to prevent you from
being the best that you can be,because it doesn't matter how
you were raised.
There's something very, veryredemptive For me.
There's a redemptive purpose infollowing Jesus and when I look

(37:17):
back on my life, I'm justamazed at how kind that God has
been to take the things that Iwas so discrepant in, that I was
lacking in.
But he doesn't keep you there.
And you know, one of myfavorite you know, biblical
characters was Joseph.
If you think about Joseph'sstory, it's incredible in
Genesis that, having been takenfrom his parents, from his dad,

(37:40):
and going on a path and thebetrayal and the accusation and
living in prisons, to ultimatelybeing the greatest businessman
in the world, to the point thathe told the accounting team at
the end of his business journeystop taking notes, stop
accounting, because we have toomuch.
And it's just amazing to methat God can do that.

(38:01):
You know the things that wereintended for evil sometimes in
our lives when we're a youth.
God has an incredibleredemptive purpose and I would
just encourage every one ofthose individuals to come get
employed by Chick-fil-A, becausewe would love to be on that
journey.

Speaker 1 (38:16):
What are they doing?
Well, those that have beenthrough your organization.
You look at them, they'resub-20.
If you were to say this group,gosh, they're sub 20.
If you were to say this groupgosh, they do this one thing
really well.

Speaker 3 (38:26):
Yeah, that's good.
I think it's alignment thatthey really understand what
we're doing, our purpose.
This is always a challenge whenI've had, when I think about
all the leaders that I've hadover the last, you know, 35
years, and those that have beenable to thrive and those who
have struggled and that are nolonger with us.
It's the alignment pieceBecause, man, we talk about this

(38:50):
so much right now.
You don't drift to excellence,you don't drift to something
really compelling, and we haveto fight the drift.
We're fighting the drift rightnow in our business.
It'll be something that it'snot a destination where we go
wait, we did it.
Nope, it's.
Every day is a new day becausewe have the opportunity to drift

(39:13):
, we have the opportunity to notshow up, we have the
opportunity, or we have theopportunity, to really engage,
and so I think to, to to stopthe drift and to, um, to really
ask for help from each other.
You know, one of our workingvalues is helping others, and
what I mean by that is thatthere are two questions Um, can

(39:34):
I help you and will you pleasehelp me?
If we did that today, it wouldbe amazing.
Will you help me get better?
Will you help me and I'm.
That's my question for my team,but that's my, but that's their
question, hopefully for me.
How can I help them?
But how do they help me getbetter?
And that's just.
I just think that that's justthose who have been so

(39:56):
successful, because it's reallybeen a blessing.
You know, matter of fact,Monday I'm going down to to
celebrate with one of ourleaders because he's graduating
as an operator and we've beenprivileged to have seven of our
leaders that are operatingstores today.
Wow, that's great.
So I think for those who butthat's not to elevate them over

(40:21):
the leaders that I have here,that's not to elevate them over
the leaders that I have here,but that's just an example that
we have so many leaders that I'mso grateful for in our business
that necessarily won't beoperators they could but they
choose that.
I love what I get to do but, toanswer your question, I think
it's that it's the connection tothe purpose and it's a

(40:42):
connection to their calling thathas helped them sustain it.
When life gets really hard andthe business gets really
difficult and we get, and just Ithink that's, that's simply the
answer for us is alignment.

Speaker 1 (40:57):
So on the one side it's alignment.
Let's go the other end of thespectrum and these are still the
people that are doing.
Well, what's the one thing thatyou would implore them to?
Either stop doing or they needto start doing to get better.
So this is kind of thedeficiency side of the parenting
, the coaching, the teambuilding.

Speaker 3 (41:14):
Yeah, I think again, I think it goes back to the
drift and I think the peoplethat that know that that haven't
been able to, we couldn't.
We had I had to make a decisionthat we can't work together any
longer because you've driftedto a point, because it's a tug
of war of values, it's a tug ofwar of culture.
And even with our you'retalking about that awesome army
of youth, if we're, if we're notdaily creating those, those

(41:36):
guardrails of this is who we are.
They will write the policy foryou today.
They will write the newstandards today and what they
wear and what they say and howthey do it and and and I get
that this is human nature for usto drift towards that.
It's it's our job as as as aleadership team, to guide them

(41:56):
gently and lovingly.
But this is who we are, because, if not, you're going to have a
whole new set of culture.
We are because, if not, you'regoing to have a whole new set of
culture.
That's not my pleasure, it'sall about me and and that's just
really important.
But for those who let's say thatthat are still with us, that
that aren't fully bought in,that that's our daily task,
that's, that's my leadershipjourney that's my leadership

(42:18):
task is, is, and honestly, myone word for this year is
alignment.
I mean it is that's where we'reat, because it is fighting the
drift and cause.
It's so good when we can reallyfulfill our purpose.
And it gets really rough whenwe go rogue and we, out of our
own brokenness or out of our ownpersonal needs, whatever that

(42:40):
is, that we're no longer andagain, I love it when we're in
that.
But that's the journey.
It's not a destination, it'snot something that hey, we got
there and we've found the codeon culture.
It's just constant.
I mean, I think about Jesus hadthat with his disciples
constantly going guys, no,that's not what we're doing,

(43:02):
we're doing constantly.
And he and they were like 24-7together, right, 24-7.
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (43:09):
We get eight.
That's right.
In your journey as an operator,do you have regular
opportunities to get togetherwith other peers, other
operators?
So how frequent is that?
What does that look like?
Have regular opportunities toget together with other peers,
other operators, to?
So what?
What is?

(43:29):
How frequent is that?
What does that look like?
What, what, what is the setup?

Speaker 3 (43:33):
and and what do you typically experience at that?
Yeah, absolutely, I think it'sa great question.
So one of the things I reallydo love about this that I think
is a by-product of the cultureof positive influence and
stewardship is, on a monthlybasis, every other month, we
have design meetings that we gettogether for an afternoon and
we and we kind of unpack, or amorning we just kind of unpack,

(43:54):
we have an agenda and we do that.
I mean, last week I went and,on my own, went to see two other
operators in the market becausethey're just crushing it in a
certain area of the businessthat I really wanted to see.
The thing again the thing thatI really love about other
companies that have been a partof that there was really a
scarcity mentality that, hey, ifI'm successful, I really don't
want to share that Right, andChick-fil-A is completely

(44:16):
different.
On that, I mean I can callsomebody who's number one in the
drive-through in in the countryand and they're free to yeah,
come see me, come, let's talk,let's get our teams together,
let's do that.
I love that.
You know, we're actually takingan operator trip next month.
Actually, we're going to NorthCarolina to see a market there.
There's tremendous, a greatmindset around of just

(44:45):
continuous improvement and awillingness to host people.
Other teams come to Indy andwe'll host them.
We're constantly sharing ideas.
I really love that.
I think again, that's just ahuge part.
I think what Chick-fil-A hasdone corporately, that we're not
in business, we're in businessfor ourselves, but not by
ourselves.
I mean, first off, I don'tthink anybody understands in our

(45:08):
company.
I don't think.
I don't think any any.
No one understands an operatorlike an operator.
I'm sure it's very similar toyour company.
I don't know the challengesthat you're facing.
I don't.
I don't know from unemployment,retention, profitability, I
don't know that.
So to be with other operatorsand to understand that, and I am

(45:28):
so grateful.
But it's a very intentional toyour point, it's a very
intentional discipline that notall operator teams are similar.
Some guys are very independentand they see themselves
potentially, I guess, could becompetitors.
Some guys are very independentand they see themselves
potentially, I guess could becompetitors.

(45:49):
We've been over 20 years.
We've been very intentionalabout hearing each other's
stories initially and thenloving that and loving each
other and caring.
There's a deep love and reallydevotion to each other.
A sale or a team member.
Hiring them is that is not.
Uh, I'm simply not going to dothat.
I'm not going to take anotherperson's team member, I'm not

(46:09):
going to take a sale.
The relationship I have withother operators I mean, we are
surrounded, especially thecrossing, we are surrounded with
Chick-fil-A's, which is great,but it's also difficult, right,
our trade areas are gettingsmaller and so there's a,
there's a human part of that canbe.
You know, I can feel verycompetitive with those guys.
They are competitors, butthey're also my brothers and

(46:30):
sisters.
Honestly, they're very, I'mvery, grateful.
It's different, it really is.
It's like nothing I've everexperienced before in terms of
knowledge share, in terms ofinformation, in terms of support
.
Honestly, I think that they'vebeen there in the joys of my
life.
After COVID, my wife and I bothlost both sets of our parents.

(46:52):
They lived beautiful lives intheir 80s and 90s and it was
amazing when I looked out at thefuneral and to see operators
there unexpectedly Didn't haveto, but they did, and that's the
kind of relationship that Ilove so much about this, because
the time I get with anotheroperator is very important,

(47:14):
because they understand, theyget it, they get how hard it is
for every transaction, they getthe pressure that we have.
I mean one of the cool thingsabout Chick-fil-A amazing things
about Chick-fil-A they're not acompany in terms of the
leadership that we have.
I mean one of the cool thingsabout Chick-fil-A amazing things
about Chick-fil-A they'rethey're not a company in terms
of the leadership that you'rehoping that they'll lead.
I mean they're, they're,they're thinking you know what's
the company going to look like10, 15, 20 years from now, and

(47:35):
they're, they're very active.
The challenge is keeping upwith that because there's so
much new innovation that they'reinvesting in with us.
There's so many things that wecould be doing.
At the same time, we have a lotof challenges locally.
We have a lot of challengeswith with customer.
You know sharing customer basewith other.

(47:56):
You know we have so manychicken competitors.
You know, just up the streetWe've got some new chicken
chains coming in, so that I'msure be a factor of impact, new
chicken chains coming, and sothat'll I'm sure be a factor of
impact, and it seems like everyrestaurant now has some kind of
form of Southern chickensandwich that they would love to
take the focus off ofChick-fil-A.
So good luck.
Yeah, well, thank you, but andnot to mention inflationary

(48:18):
issues, that you know it's it's,it's a challenge.
So that part of therelationship I think is just
it's so critical if we didn'thave that.
And plus we have a nationalconference that we get to go to
and we just had an operatorretreat that we just went down
to French Lick and that wasamazing, brought some outside
speakers in, and so the supportthat Chick-fil-A provides, but

(48:41):
also we have a group ofoperators that are committed to
being together which is it'slife-giving.

Speaker 2 (48:50):
It's really good, awesome.
Well, you know they say whatthat imitation is the sincerest
form of flattery.
I like it so for those, forthose other chains trying to get
some of that Chick-fil-A magicthrough their, their efforts.

Speaker 3 (49:02):
I appreciate that we just have.
We've got a lot of work to doto just keep that food craveable
and remarkable experiences, andwith that army of youth.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
Well, you talked about the partnership at the
corporate level and how they'relooking out for the business,
and you've also mentioned acouple of times the Cathy family
and Truett and Dan.
If you could share a little bitabout your experience in your
interactions with Truett and Danor whomever from the Cathy

(49:32):
family, and how that impactedyou?

Speaker 3 (49:34):
Yeah, absolutely.
First off, I'm so grateful MrCathy lived into his early 90s
and he actually died the weekthat we opened the Broad Rope
location, um, back in 2014.
And, um, I I'm so grateful.
Regrettably, a lot of newoperators, obviously they, they
will never have the chance to,to have met, you know to, to

(49:56):
meet Truett, and I'm glad thatwe did one of the cool stories
that we had as a family we weregoing down for the Chick-fil-A
peach bowl years and years agoand we were going.
The corporate office isabsolutely beautiful and amazing
.
Matter of fact, mr Cathy was so, so, wise and he's such a
brilliant, he was such abrilliant businessman.
Think about, in Atlanta, theworld's largest or the world's

(50:17):
most busiest airport, he mightland within probably 15 to 20
minutes from the airport.
Way back in the day, but Ithink it was I don't know how
many like 60 acres, I believe,beautiful campus, just
absolutely incredible there.
And so, anyway, back in the day, when we were going down for
the Peach Bowl, we we went tothe corporate office and, as

(50:39):
we're going in, mr Cathy true,cathy is walking in too were
going in Mr Kathy.
True, kathy is walking into andjust is who he, he, he was.
He said, saw our kids, ourthree kids, and said, well, you
need to come up to my, my office.
So we go up to his office andhe's just, he's very kind and
he's talking to them and justgiving them a little bit of
advice on, you know, as a, as achild, you know to make good

(51:00):
choices and you know, and all ofthat, and just spending time
and giving out, you know, theChick-fil-A cow, mini moose and
that kind of thing that was justreally, really special.
His life was so incrediblethough I mean it really was.
I'm so grateful that theintention that he had on so many
areas just like to take my kidsand let's go to my office, let

(51:21):
me spend some time with you waswas very important.
I think about his journey,though, in 1946, opening one
restaurant with his brother andmaking that decision in that
first week of business thatwe're gonna be closed on Sunday
that set in motion somethingvery powerful of rest and honor

(51:41):
in God and that really set thetone for what we experience
today.
And again, a culture of care, aculture that people are
important.
God is so important.
If we honor him, life will begreat.
So many people look atChick-fil-A and go wow, third
largest restaurant company inAmerica, you're going

(52:02):
international.
Over 20 billion in sales, over3,000 locations what an
overnight success.
1946, mr Cathy ran onerestaurant for 21 years.
21 years doing the same thingevery day, caring, caring for a

(52:22):
team.
I mean he had people that wouldstay work for him for over 30
years making fresh pies andsandwiches and what he created
was absolutely incredible.
He opened another restaurantbut it burned down and he sold
it and he operated onerestaurant for 21 years.
You know his brother was hispartner.
His brother died in a airplanecrash.

(52:44):
You think about the resolve, theresilience that I'm going to
continue.
You know what he did with thesandwich developing the chicken
sandwich, experimenting with apressure fryer, reducing the
time that you would have to waitfor us.
I mean, as a pioneer, what hedid was absolutely incredible in
the culture.
And then 1968, openingGreenbrier Mall.

(53:06):
And then we opened Freestanders.
And think about hisdecision-making and all the
people that he brought in thatwere so good at their specific
task to take the company towhere it was.
It's just incredible.
But then I also think about,you know, in his 80s, to where
it was.
It's just incredible.

(53:27):
But then I also think about youknow, in his 80s writing books,
became an author in his 80s,right, and one of the things
that I love about his story isthis is that he talked about the
spirit of readiness.
You know when you're ready,when you're ready emotionally
and physically and financially,when you've grown your capacity
to the point that you're readyfor things, and when things come
.
It could be a really smallthing, but that small thing can

(53:48):
be huge.
I think about when he thespirit of this is so incredible,
the spirit of readiness, thathe sees a child that doesn't
have a home.
That's not right.
He finds a couple, a marriedcouple too, and he buys a house
and he starts the Windshakefoster homes and now we have 12
of those.
It's incredible.
It's not a home like the fostercare program that we're trying

(54:12):
to farm these kids out.
When they come in the programthey want them to stay.
Mr Cathy wanted them to stayuntil they were 18 and then
wanted to help them throughcollege and there's so many
incredible stories around that Ithink about his.
He was, when he was living, thelegal guardian for over a
hundred children the legalguardian.
I have three kids, raisingthree kids, right, that was

(54:32):
awesome.
How about being the legalguardian for a hundred?
That's amazing, right, and theimpact that he had.
But that's it doesn't stopthere.
He sees a team member thatdoesn't have money to go to
college.
So what do you do when you'reready and your capacity is
expanded?
What do you do?
Well, you create a scholarshipprogram and today we give

(54:53):
millions of dollars back to ourteam to go to college.
You can get that four times.
That's probably one of thethings that draws people to
Chick-fil-A, in addition to thebenefits piece we didn't talk
about.
But there's also in NorthernGeorgia, at Berry College.
There was the school thatdidn't have funding and Mr Cathy
goes there with his wife andwhat do they do?
Because you have capacity tocare.
Now we have this incrediblecamp for kids that go in there.

(55:18):
Right now they're learningcharacter-based teaching in this
incredible environment.
We also have a marriage andfamily retreat.
We have a marriage center there.
We've had the privilege ofsending some of our leaders, as
they're about to get married,for Prepare to Last.
It's an incredible weekend ofpreparation and that's open for
anybody.

(55:38):
My wife and I have gone and wewere surprised at the 50 couples
there.
We were like, well, onlyChick-fil-A people there, and we
were surprised at the 50couples there where there were,
like we were like, well, onlyChick-fil-A people.
There is a national incrediblemarriage program.
They even have a marriageintensive for those who are at
the point of divorce and they'vegot this incredible recovery
rate of marriages.
And then you have theinternational program.

(55:59):
You know, one of the thingsthat Mr Cathy was so good about
is facilitating dreams, and soI've had the privilege of not
serving chicken there, butteaching in Turkey, the country
of Turkey, in Brazil, in Peru,in the Bahamas.
I mean, today we're diggingwells in Haiti, today we're
digging well, we're doingleadership classes for women in

(56:21):
Saudi Arabia.
We're not serving chicken there, doing leadership classes for
women in Saudi Arabia, we're notserving chicken there, but
we're expanding.
What's part of that culture ofcare is simply this is the
influence piece.
So that's what Mr Cathy did andman, talk about inspiring, talk
about a legacy, was justabsolutely thrilling and I'm
just so grateful that my kidshad a chance to meet him.

(56:41):
But I had a chance to meet himand you know, as I mentioned, we
have a national conference thatwe, that we all, get to go to
and they have great outsidespeakers and great um speakers
from you know, actuallyinternally in our, in our
company.
But when, when Mr Cass Kathywas living probably the last
seven or eight years of his life, he was one of the last
speakers and he would always askthis why not give your best?

(57:06):
Why not give your best?
And then that just lives on inour hearts as operators that
every day I get to get up andget connected to this incredible
legacy of not just sales andprofitability but care is I,
just I pinch myself every day.

(57:28):
I can't believe I get to dothis.
That, for me, is just such aprofound motivation to go and
serve chicken and to connectwith the team and stay aligned,
because there's so much to bealigned around.
I'm so grateful for thisopportunity.

Speaker 2 (57:47):
Just how audacious those dreams are from Mr Cathy
and his desire to chase it.

Speaker 3 (57:58):
Amazing.

Speaker 2 (57:59):
It is amazing.
It's incredible to listen tojust those things that you
mentioned.
Wow.

Speaker 1 (58:09):
I got a quick question, jeff, so we talked
about the on-ramp of gettinginto this.
You talked about the highwayyou've been on and all the
different opportunities throughWindshape and Berry College and
the different scholarships.
You know, if my math is right,you had 15 years of ministry
before Chick-fil-a, right?
Yeah, I'm an old cat man.
Did you say you were a 28thyear with Chick-fil-a?

(58:30):
yes so you know, help usunderstand, maybe specifically
to you.
Or or how Chick-fil-a addressesoperators as they look to
transition, as they look toperpetuate.
What does that process look?

Speaker 3 (58:42):
like, yeah, that's that's interesting.
Um, yeah, I, that's interesting.
Yeah, that's exactly wherewe're at.
How long do I want to do this?
How long can I do this?
Chick-fil-a doesn't have anumber out there that you have
to add 65 or Not like a pilot.
No, yeah, exactly, there's nota certain number, it's not a
certain age.
I think, more than anything else, as long as an operator is

(59:03):
fulfilling the purpose andthey're, they're very productive
, um, and still engaged in this,um, I mean, I, I love to work.
I'm not working on my golf game, um, I love to love to sell
chicken.
I love to be a part of this.
Um, at some point I'm not gonna, you know, there's going to be
a time when I'm not gonna, youknow, no-transcript really

(59:50):
finish seamlessly well, and Ithink, even today, you know,
when you see a lot of executives, you know I just that's such a,
that's such a motivating thingfor me and, I think, for for for
others, is that, um, I justwant to finish so strong, you
know, um, with my team, with um,with my marriage, with my, with

(01:00:12):
my children and my grandkids,um, I think the legacy piece is
just, it's more profound everyday in my mind about you know,
how many more people can we, howmany more team members can we
engage with?
How many more people can we, howmany more team members can we
engage with, how many more canwe prepare?
And even in that transition,whatever that is, what does that
look like and how do we do itin such a strong, profound way,

(01:00:36):
is just really motivating to me,because, at the same time, the
business is very challenging,and so, with technology and with
all the things that arehappening, you know, how do we,
how do you stay relevant in thatand that's just, I think, just
a journey piece that I want todo well, and that's why, you
know, I visit other people andthat's why I still read, that's
why I'm still educating myselfon, you know, all of those

(01:00:58):
pieces and cause I I definitelywant to.
I just want to finish well.

Speaker 1 (01:01:04):
And the Chick-fil-A model.
Does the operators sell back tocorporate or do they sell
directly to an approved newoperator?

Speaker 3 (01:01:12):
So one of the uniquenesses, the uniqueness
about the Chick-fil-A model,franchising model is it's a very
small capital investment to getinto Chick-fil-A Very tiny, it
doesn't really take much moneyto get in.
It's very difficult though.
Very tiny, it doesn't reallytake much money to get in.
It's very difficult though.
As a matter of fact, I thinkthere are I think the last thing
I heard I think there are acouple hundred thousand
applicants annually for lessthan 150 opportunities and a lot

(01:01:36):
of those opportunities aregoing to be internal anyway,
like, like the leader that I had, that you know, chick-fil-a's
got a really good program.
Let's say that there's aprogram that they can take two
to three years and work forChick-fil-A, the corporate side,
and travel and do grandopenings, and it prepares folks
for the operator opportunity.
There are those that comestraight out of stores and

(01:01:58):
they're external candidates.
So it's very difficult, it's socompetitive.
There are, like I said, about200,000 applicants, I believe,
and there's a very small amountof opportunity.
So it's not the investment, thesmall capital investment, that
Chick-fil-A is looking for.
They're looking for thealignment with culture, with the

(01:02:20):
entrepreneurial drive to dothat and blending those two
together, and so, yeah, it's aninteresting process.
I mean it really is.
I mean, chick-fil-a is,especially today.
It's a very, it's an incrediblebusiness, it's very.
But what they're looking for is, again, not deep pockets, but
they're looking for theleadership piece at the

(01:02:43):
alignment piece and theentrepreneurial piece and, to
answer your question, wheneverthat is, when operator decides
to leave, they get that smallcapital investment that they had
back and, like I said, theyhave this, this group of of of
leaders that are fully trainedto be, um, these operators that
will flow in and take care ofthe business and get ready for

(01:03:04):
the next operator.
They have a seamless processfor that.
I mean the way that Chick-fil-Ahas grown.
Their capacity is amazing, fromeverything from real estate to
marketing, to HR and that's thething that I keep mentioning,
the part about being, you know,being in business for yourself,
but not by yourself.
I'm amazed that at the amount ofsupport.

(01:03:27):
If there's a question, anyquestion that I have in the
business, there's a group ofindividuals that will either
come to and help me answerquestions, you know, whether
it's marketing or drive-thru.
You know, recently it wasawesome we had and this has been
written about a lot just aboutthe support of the drive-thru,
but we had that at our BroadRipple location the drive-thru
team.
The analysis they did wasamazing.

(01:03:50):
They literally you know, whenwe had questions about that they
had a drone fly over BroadRipple for about an hour and a
half.
They took that, they did a filmstudy, linked it with our
security cameras inside, lookedat everything.
I know there was a big articleabout this recently, but it was
really interesting to see thepain points, the bottlenecks and
everything else.
Then they came to Indy andunpacked it for us and said, hey

(01:04:11):
, these are the things you'redoing.
Well, these are things, areopportunities.
Are you thinking about this?
Are you thinking about that?
So the amount of support isabsolutely amazing and, as you
saw that we were closed for 12weeks recently at the crossing
location oh, I noticed which was, oh man, it was a long 12 weeks

(01:04:32):
.
The support that they providefrom a financial perspective is
just absolutely stunning.
I mean, it's really.
They're an amazing company.
They really are.
They continue to makeinvestments, because we had five
years ago, we had just had abig remodel for eight weeks, and
so they're just continuing todo it.
Again, to answer your question,I own the business part.
All those individuals work forme.

(01:04:53):
I own the business, thatintangible piece of running the
business, and I take on all theliability of that.
But they own the brick andmortar for this small capital
investment.
It's just a deal that's toogood to be true.

Speaker 2 (01:05:06):
It's amazing have your uh children expressed
interest in getting into thechicken business?

Speaker 3 (01:05:12):
yeah, they have from time to time.
Absolutely they're.
They're thriving in their own,in their own pursuits and I'm
really proud of them.
They're just they're, they'recrushing it.
They, they really are.
I I would love that, my wifewould love that, my wife would
love that.
I mean, it would just be adream for them to be a part of
that.
At the same time, they're just,they're crushing it on their in
their own experiences and theirown pursuits and I'm just

(01:05:32):
really, really thankful for them.

Speaker 2 (01:05:35):
That's great.
I I wanted to ask you realquick about just COVID and how
that changed your business from.
I mean, gosh, pre-COVID, theinside of your building was just
impossible to find a seat, andthen people aren't allowed to
come in.

(01:05:58):
What I noticed, at least, isobviously the technology of
being able to order mobily anddeliver to the vehicles,
obviously expanded drive-thruoperations.
So so how did COVID change yourbusiness?
Like?
What did that look like?

Speaker 3 (01:06:15):
Oh man, that was such a, not only for us but for you
too, right, it was just such a.
It's crazy.
I think that we actually wentthrough that, right.
I still remember when, when thewhole mandate came out for mask
and there weren't maskavailable, my wife and I went to
every Michael's store locally,fabric store locally, and bought
as many bandanas as we cancould at that point and we're

(01:06:38):
creating our own mask for ourteam and that was so difficult
and we did so many things.
You know Chick-fil-A was so goodworking with, you know, for the
center of disease control,being there in Atlanta and
having partnerships there, thatwe could really kind of figure
out what we needed to dooperationally.
There were, there were keyinitiatives that we had to do.
It was crazy.
Every hour of the things thatwe had, there were 14 things we

(01:06:58):
had to do.
You know where there's cleaninghigh touch items to.
You know, temping youremployees.
So you first came in to all ofit and I just think what we did,
you know, just trying toprovide care.
But also it was so crazy.
You know the the things wetried.
You know from, you know,putting plastic in certain areas
where they couldn't.
You know they could distancethemselves to.

(01:07:20):
It was just a crazy deal.
I was amazed at the innovation.
You know we, you're right we weactually closed the, the, the
inside dining, for a period, andso it was completely a hundred
percent.
You know, drive-through, andyou're right, the, the mobile
app was man, that was just anaid, that was just something
that was just huge for us duringthat time.

(01:07:42):
But I, I was amazed at the tech, at the, at the innovation of
our team.
When you're trying to get sixfeet of distancing and take a
cash payment, if you remember,but they would stick this ax
handle in your, in your car,right With a, with a credit card
reader on the end of it, oh mygosh, are you kidding?
I mean, they got so creativewith it.
Right, you know they wanted tohonor the six feet, but they

(01:08:03):
also wanted to help you withyour payment and the mask and
all of it was just so difficult,you know, and our sales just
exploded during that time.
I mean, that was such a pivotalpiece for our company.
But our two restaurants, I meanwe grew by I think it was 28%,
both of those.
I mean, during that period.
It was absolutely crazy and atthe same time painful, you know,

(01:08:26):
just trying to understand wherepeople are.
You know we had those moments.
You know you would have aconversation about you know, hey
, I really want to help you,we're going to develop you in
this particular area, and youhave that conversation and then
they don't show up and they justquit.
It's like, wow, you know, wejust made an attempt to really
try to help and people are justgoing through so many hard
things mentally.
You know, one thing I wish thatwe had it was just so hard even

(01:08:49):
today.
I think one of the things thatwe've learned from COVID is you
know, you're really just tryingto provide care.
I wish that we had a better wayof measuring where people are
at, you know, and how we canrespond, and I wish there was a
gauge right and going man, I'mreally good today, or I really
need more encouragement today,and that's why I think it's just
so important that our teamshave had we just try to create

(01:09:11):
those moments of care andopenness.
And what are you going throughand what moments of brokenness
are you feeling?
Because it was so hard.
Like I said, we lost our parentsduring that time, and how
difficult was that.
And um during covid, you know,and um so difficult not to be
with your family members duringthat time and so, but our team

(01:09:32):
dealt with that.
You dealt with that.
Um the business though it itforced us to some disciplines
that were really, um, reallyprofound as we came out of covid
.
The things that we maybestruggled with, um that they
just became natural that we hadto do with regard to the
drive-thru and being outside andthe innovation and curbside and

(01:09:52):
all of those things, and sothere's tremendous benefits from
it.
And Chick-fil-A, and obviouslythe guests really responded to
that too, if it was helpful forthem to be able to place their
order, you know, through the appthat has exploded Now, we have,
you know, lanes in ourdrive-thru that is completely,
you know, mobile only, and soit's just really amazing.

(01:10:12):
You know how the guests haveresponded and how we have
responded.
I still think there's something,though, that you know
post-COVID, that we're reallytrying to deal and dial in, how
we can provide more care,because I still think that
there's an isolation that folksare dealing with, even from a
customer service perspective fora new wave of team members and

(01:10:33):
now we're open and how to engagesomeone at a table and
refreshing a beverage or takinga tray or asking if they're okay
.
Some of our younger teammembers struggle with that
refreshing a beverage or takinga tray, or, you know, just
asking if they're okay that someof our younger team members
struggle with that.
You know they were isolatedfrom school and isolated from
relationships and so just tryingto help them with that has been

(01:10:54):
a challenge.
But these aren't things thatare unique to us.
I mean, I think everybody'sdealing with it.
You know the isolation pieceand the post-COVID recovery that
maybe we're not always aware ofand how that manifests itself.
I think it's just very, verydifficult and remote working and
everything.

Speaker 1 (01:11:11):
We recently hired an individual who chose not to go
to college, but he was part ofthat cohort that essentially
lost his high school graduationand I remember at that time kind
of marking in my mind.
I want to hire thoseindividuals because they've got
a chip on their shoulder, theyhad something taken from them
and they need to have anopportunity to have something be

(01:11:31):
given back.
So it's exciting to think aboutthose individuals now coming
through the workforce.
You know, in my infinite wisdom, as we were shutting down our
office during that March of 2020, I swung through Chip-fil-A
office during that March of 2020.
I swung through Chip-fil-A andI'm quite surprised, jeff, that
your sales weren't up more than28%, because I personally bought
25 chicken sandwiches, tookthem home and told my wife we're

(01:11:54):
set, we can get throughwhatever they do.
Now, two weeks turned into awhole lot more.

Speaker 3 (01:11:58):
It didn't last very long.

Speaker 1 (01:12:00):
Thank you for supporting us.
Thank you for supporting us.

Speaker 2 (01:12:04):
You guys are amazing.
Todd's prepper kit includes theChick-fil-A sandwich.

Speaker 3 (01:12:10):
I love it.
I love it, man.
You're amazing man.

Speaker 1 (01:12:21):
There was something that you talked about that all
three of us agree on that.
I want to make sure thelisteners realize and actually
take action themselves.
You mentioned that you meetregularly and talk with and
share abundantly with otheroperators and you do not view
them as competition.
While they could be viewed ascompetition, you view them as
brothers and sisters and peoplewho are actually more aligned to
you than really anybody in yoursphere.
Nobody at your church, nobodyin your neighborhood, nobody

(01:12:42):
knows what it is like to be anoperator except your wife and
these other operators.
And I think about Ben and I.
In the last couple of years,each of us have joined two
cohorts.
One of them, for each of us, ismore national in nature and is
within our industry.
The other one is more local innature and more from a faith
perspective, is more local innature and more from a faith

(01:13:06):
perspective.
And so I just want, I guess,maybe a couple of minutes for
all of us to just affirm tothose people listening that are
doing business and doing italone those people you think are
your competitors.
They are not, and there is areal need to shift to that
abundance mindset and realizeyou can relieve a lot of stress
by realizing somebody elsealready has the answer.
Somebody already has thedocument written, you just need
to tweak it a little bit.

(01:13:26):
Somebody already has theconsultant that they've used and
has been successful to solvethat problem.
I'm sure you've had many caseswhere you've had answers,
questions answered by otheroperators?

Speaker 3 (01:13:38):
Absolutely no, that's a great insight and that's
awesome for you.
Applaud you guys for doing thattoo.
No, it really is, and that'sawesome for you.
Applaud you guys for doing thattoo.
No, it really is.
And.
But I think it's reallyintentional.
It's choosing to, it's choosingto be there Cause I I can't
speak for other operator teams,but I just I know that there is
something special about when youdecide and to submit to those

(01:14:00):
around you.
Like I said, no one understandsyour industry like those around
you.
Like that, no one understandsan operator like an operator.
There's just so much benefit toit because a sale is not worth
the relationship.
Hiring somebody else's teammember is not worth it.
I think it goes back 20 yearsago that we took a trip to
Chicago as an operator team andwe took time to hear each

(01:14:23):
other's stories and understandeach other.
And that moment, 20 years agoish, it could have been 15, 20
years ago, but that time in ourpast, in the early days of going
and really understanding eachother and really affirming each
other, and but it's also acommitment, right, I mean I'm I

(01:14:44):
choose to humble myself andrealize that yeah, I've been in
the industry.
I mean I'm honestly, I'm one ofthe old guys in the in the
market right, we have newoperators coming in.
Those guys I can learntremendous about they're.
They're tremendous, they're,they're so good.
They think differently and Ican either be set in my ways or
I can open myself up to greatinformation and I have to do

(01:15:05):
that.
It's just really important.
I tell you what I can do italone, but why would I want to?
There's just something sopowerful about engaging in that.
But it's being present and butit's a choice.
And sometimes you know and I'mnot saying that we're a perfect
market and things go wellSometimes you have conversations
.
We did a promotion recently youknow that I thought was going
to go well that the guest had adifferent idea about it and took

(01:15:26):
all those coupons we providedfor this particular event it was
supposed to be individuallyhanded out took it to another
store and got them redeemedimmediately and that operator
called me and I'm like wow, youknow what?
I'm sorry, you know that wasnot the intent of the program
and what can I do to make thishappen?
And sometimes you have to havethose conversations like or help
me understand what happenedthere, because did you not know
that was my team member and thatkind of thing.
But more than that, it's acommitment that I'm going to

(01:15:50):
love, I'm going to care, I'mgoing to learn, I'm going to
grow, and it's so good.
It's just like what happens inmy restaurant.
When we're aligned If we'realigned as a market, my goodness
, there's nothing we can't dotogether.

Speaker 1 (01:16:09):
It.
There's nothing we can't dotogether.
It's absolutely amazing.
Beneficiaries are the teammembers.
We, as business leaders,certainly benefit from having
shoulders to cry on and peopleto help with difficult
situations.
I look at all the good ideasI've gotten and implemented in
our team.
It's been to the, to the, it'sinured to the benefit of our
team members.
And so if you're a leader outthere who's trying to do it
alone, okay, don't do it for you, then Do it for your team.
Care enough about your team toget the best ideas.

Speaker 2 (01:16:29):
That's good.
I mean.
Those peer groups have changedour business immensely, have
helped Todd and I become betterleaders individually.
Interestingly enough it helpedus be better leaders together,
how to have conversations witheach other, or you know how do
we, how do we get you use theword alignment.

(01:16:51):
I think that's great.
How do we make sure we havealignment and just the
encouragement from you know,locally it's Christian peer
leaders and then nationally,industry leaders.
Well, we're getting to the endof our show, jeff.
Yeah, it's flown by, thank you,it has flown by, but we ask our

(01:17:12):
guests two questions to closeout the show, and the first
question being what is a riskthat you have taken that has
changed your life?

Speaker 3 (01:17:20):
I think the biggest risk is just with our leadership
team, is trusting them with thebusiness and empowering them.
I don't have to have, I don'thave to be the smartest guy in
the room, giving the businessaway and letting them thrive and
sometimes they're going to dodifferently than I am, I would
do, and we can always have aconversation about again

(01:17:41):
realigning maybe some smallthings with that.
I think the risk is again notonly with the operator team,
it's with my team.
It's just trusting them andempowering them and training
them and spending time with them, and it's been life-giving.
It's been life-giving to themand I think that's why they stay

(01:18:02):
for as long as they do, becausethis is not a fast food
opportunity, this is a careermanaging a national brand.
So I think just giving thataway has just been really,
really powerful and I do do itmore and more and supporting
them in that.
I think it's just reallyimportant.

Speaker 1 (01:18:25):
That's probably why you have so many that have gone
on to be their own operators andwhy your turnover is so low,
and why you have so manylong-term, full-time employees
is because they have buy-in.
That's great.
The second question, jeff, iswhat is left yet undone or
unfinished that you have theresolve to complete resolve to

(01:18:49):
complete.

Speaker 3 (01:18:49):
Oh, that's good, I think.
I think it's just the impactthat we can have on our
community and world.
I would love to see you knowwhat can we do more.
You know we have partnershipswith.
This summer we do eight weeks,eight evenings with Brookside
and giving to meals tounderserved kids and for their
programs and other things thatwe're doing.
I would love for us to be morecommunity involvement than we

(01:19:13):
are right now.
I think the biggest thing forme is a part of the legacy piece
is what I can do for my team.
I would love for them to takeadvantage of these opportunities
of growth and learning.
That's, I think, an unfinishedpart of the business.
I would love for them to gomore on trips internationally.
I'd love for us to create moreof our own little mission group

(01:19:36):
that they can go experience andserve and give, I think.
But it's thriving, it's helpingthem with their own personal
development and taking the stuffthat I wish I knew when I was
25 and 20 and applying that timeand interest not only in their
finances but in their owndevelopment and expanding their

(01:19:59):
capacity as a dad, as a mom, asjust an overall citizen, that we
can really have that impact.
I think there's just more forus to do creating those life
skills that they can reallyenjoy.
Because I think, when forChick-fil-A, if and I've been
talking a lot about this withour leaders it's possible to
work at Chick-fil-A but notexperience Chick-fil-A, and I

(01:20:20):
don't want that.
I want you to experienceChick-fil-A more than just the
free Chick-fil-A sandwich onyour meal.
It's the benefit of thisculture, because the culture
will change you and it'll makeyou a better husband, it'll make
you a better wife.
It'll be.
It'll make you a better parent,it'll make you a better person

(01:20:40):
who's growing and you'reexpanding your capacity to lead,
and and I want that, and that'salways heartbreaking for me
when, when, maybe team membersdon't catch that.
So that's just a part of the Ithink, an ongoing thing that
we're not done yet and we havemore to do and we have more
impact to make, and I'm excitedto see what that's going to look
like.

Speaker 1 (01:21:00):
And here I thought you were going to say you were
going to get the band backtogether again.

Speaker 3 (01:21:06):
The band is gone.
They're definitely retired.

Speaker 2 (01:21:10):
Jeff, thanks for joining us today.

Speaker 3 (01:21:12):
Man thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:21:14):
You know we've had.
We've been walking alongsideeach other for 20 years and it
was really cool to dig in andhear your story.
And thank you to our listenersfor joining us for another
episode of Risk and Resolve.
Catch you next time.

Speaker 1 (01:21:29):
Thanks for tuning in to Risk and Resolve.
See you next time.

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