A Taste of Jamaica in America | Inside Golden Krust with Steven Clarke - Dope Interviews

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dope.

Speaker 2 (00:00):
It's worth closing this Pam's DNA. Dope, It's worth closed
in this Pam's DNA.

Speaker 3 (00:08):
What's good? Everybody.

Speaker 4 (00:09):
Welcome to Dope Interviews that brought to you by the
mighty and nineteen media groups. I'm your host, Warrenshaw, and
in the Virtual gold today have the vice president of
Marketing for Golden Crusts, one of the premier or not
one of the premier fast casual Caribbean restaurants in all
of North America, Stephen Clark. Stephen, what's good? Brother, Welcome
to Dope Interviews. Man, thank you so much for being
here evening.

Speaker 5 (00:30):
Warren, thank you for having me and it's good to
be here with the DOPEQ.

Speaker 4 (00:34):
Man, Well, that's very well said, and we do appreciate you.
And you've been in this role, you know, from what
the bio says since roughly being a part of the
Golden Crust family since like twenty eleven, so that's.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
A little bit of time.

Speaker 4 (00:47):
How has the journey with Golden Crush, Like, how how's
your journey there been crafted kind of like moving from
plan operator to kind of where you are now as
vice president of marketing.

Speaker 5 (00:58):
Yeah, it's definitely been our journey a blessing at the
same time, you know, with a family business. My uncle
started this brand in in nineteen eighty nine, so along
with his siblings, I've seen them, you know, struggle and
toil in the States, trying to put what was still
you know, not the most mainstream items to the American public,
while still feed in the Jamaican audience. So I knew

(01:21):
what it was going to be. I started there in production,
as you mentioned, because.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
That was where we were the business needed.

Speaker 5 (01:28):
At the point in time, to be completely honest with you,
they were expanding nationwide with a retail brand and they
needed help on the second shift to expand to make
more patents. So when I came to the business, my
uncles asked me to run the night shift on the
production plan in South.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
Bronx, and I took it up because at the end
of the day.

Speaker 5 (01:50):
As long as it can push the family and the
brand further, I knew at some point I would be
able to get to where my mind thought innately, which
was more in the creative space.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
So did the plan.

Speaker 5 (01:59):
For a few years, managed the plant went up to distribution.
I was managing plant and logistics at one point and my.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Experience starts before that.

Speaker 5 (02:10):
To be honest, my parents had three restaurants when I
was growing up, so I worked in all three of
those from a young age. I was managing a restaurants
at fourteen because we couldn't find people we could trust.
So I've done the restaurant space, I've done the operation side,
I've done the logistics, and I've been running the marketing
since about twenty fifteen.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Twenty sixteen.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
Well, congratulations to you, congratulations to the family.

Speaker 4 (02:34):
Telling a little bit more about that backstory now, I'm
ultimately intrigued.

Speaker 3 (02:37):
So were those three restaurants, were they all Caribbean.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
Influenced, and were they all in America or were they
back home in Jamaica.

Speaker 5 (02:44):
No, they were here. So my mom and dad owned
three Golden Crusts, one in Goodda Square and Yonkers. The
first one is an east three month in the Bronx,
which is a challenging area to do business, especially for
me at that time I was fourteen.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
Some people will come up to me and just start
speaking Spanish.

Speaker 5 (03:02):
And I'd be like, Okay, listen, I might look like
I understand you, but I really have no idea what
you said.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
So that was that was.

Speaker 5 (03:11):
That was very maturing, definitely accelerated my miguration process because
remember back then it wasn't as digital right, people were
spending cash, and at the end of the day that
cash is mission from the register.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
You have to be able to trust the.

Speaker 5 (03:28):
Manager because every penny is on them. So when we
found out that things weren't balancing out, my parents preferred
to have somebody that they could trust in there, and
they put me in and I appreciate that from from
a very early age. They were not afraid of giving
me responsibilities and I think, no, that taught me a
lot because I don't I'm not afraid of responsibility, almost welcoming,

(03:49):
So that was a good experience for me. The third
one was way up in in Poughkeepsie. It's a whole
different territory of there are a different client base, but
those were the three stores that they had and that
we run, and that gave me a good hands on
experience with a few different things in the business, but
learn how to deal with people and knowing all a

(04:09):
good restaurant operation and should be, which is still something
that we applied to the brand to this day.

Speaker 4 (04:15):
We're absolutely going to get into that here, Steven, I
think one of the things I definitely want to drive
into here now is the aspect of Golden Crust's original
menu offerings, so to speak, because even from when I'm
growing up so like I live in the South Florida area,
and I was like, all right, you know, I kind
of them as a party shop, right, So for me
there was like them. There was a place called Charlie's
where I'm from as well too, like those were kind

(04:35):
of like their premier you know, pathy places down in
my area from that lens now where it's like cook food, right,
And now the aspect of well, at least for me
in my understanding of it, but from all those days
when your family was creating.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
It, like what gave them the inclination like this could work?

Speaker 5 (04:53):
Right?

Speaker 4 (04:53):
And maybe for some of the uninitiated, my parents are
just making it. And you know they came and moved
to New York ironically as well, but there was a
lot of migration in that time for me, you know,
for them when they came in the seventies and whatever
the case may be. But what gave your family the
gump shin if you were to say, you know what
this is, what we're going to try to do, you know,
bring a taste of home here to the States.

Speaker 5 (05:15):
Yeah. Well that's how they grew up too. So my
uncle Oel, who started this, is one of eleven. So
my grandparents were busy growing up raising eleven kids in
border Saint Andrew, which is you know the hills of Jamaica.
So for my family growing up, on a Sunday, we
would always go and visit Mama and Papa, which is
what we called my grandparents because they.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Had a bakery up there.

Speaker 5 (05:39):
And every Sunday we'll go to church and after church
come down the hill. My Mama would cook up you know,
bro and stewed chicken, rice on peas dum, playing fry planting,
and everybody would come down the hill. Up the hill
that was like the place in town because the baker
was running and family was hanging out.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
So they grew up in a baker business.

Speaker 5 (06:00):
Bread Bond that was nineteen forty nine when Halfan and
Son's Baker started in Jamaica. So those same recipes that
my grandparents put to the tone that made them the
quality bakers in the neighborhood that kind of serviced that area.
That same recipe came up here with my uncle and
his siblings, and so when they started in nineteen eighty nine,

(06:23):
they already had that background. They already worked in the shop,
they already were baking the breads. And there's still some
of the best bakers right now. Uncle Raymond is in
Georgia and he's been baking for fifty years. We just
did a feature on him called fifty Years in the
Baking earlier on this year, and you can check that
tot on the Golden Cross page. But it's a family
of bakers. We worked hard, we still do. We're still

(06:46):
family owned and it was never a flashlight in the dark.
We saw the picture because we grew up in that
house of hard.

Speaker 4 (06:54):
Work, authenticity, you know, at the heart of what would
you all do here? Family owns t stuff and especially
when it comes to like in that that cook food.

Speaker 3 (07:03):
You know that Caribbean people, all Caribbean people, but you
making specifically.

Speaker 4 (07:07):
They're always looking for that right and I think you know,
being able to bring that has been something that your
brand has been amazing at. So talk to us a
little bit about Stephen, about you know, the key elements
you know kind of in the transformation you've brought some
different ideas to the marketing of Golden Crust, just the
inclination from your side, any pushback you might have received
from family or other words or otherwise you know, oh,

(07:29):
you know, we're not really into all of that. Like,
how did you kind of get your vision to come
to fruition?

Speaker 5 (07:35):
Yeah you have you have experience with the Jamaica and
zir and It. Yeah, ye, good experience with them. Yeah,
nobody about usos and then everybody's going to jump on everything,
but proven it is important. Showing that it can work
time and time again will help people understand that, you know,
maybe this is actually this guy knows what you're talking about.

Speaker 1 (07:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (08:00):
So when we started, I think before I even came
here officially, my uncle asked me to lead I think
time that's two thousand and nine to twenty eleven. I
was doing project management for a firm in the city
at the time, but the corresponsibility for that group was
to think outside the box because there was a marketing
team already in corporate.

Speaker 1 (08:21):
It was small, but they needed a group of folks.

Speaker 5 (08:23):
There was six of us that I led, some families,
some not, but six talented guys whose task was to
think outside the box and bring new and creative by
ideas to go and crust. So it wasn't unusual for
me to operate in that way. I've always tried to innovate.
I remember getting a quote from a chef in California

(08:44):
to go to the school bus for a food truck,
and this.

Speaker 1 (08:47):
Is all nine. It was gonna be like a business
in the front, a business service in the front, business
in the back type of things.

Speaker 5 (08:54):
So we could actually get seats travel from state to state,
but then when we're parked, we could actually service a
full you know, two.

Speaker 1 (09:01):
Point of sales, systems, music, everything.

Speaker 5 (09:03):
So we still might bring that back, but for us
over the years, I think when we created the National
Gymerican pat today, which is celebrated on the first Saturday
of August every year, We're created that nine years ago,
so that was the first thing that.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
Really put you know, people thinking like, Okay, there's a
whole other way to do this.

Speaker 5 (09:24):
Mainstream party thing by giving it its own national day
in the United States where it's recognized on the national calendar.

Speaker 1 (09:31):
So that was a big initiative for us.

Speaker 5 (09:33):
And then being able to innovate over the years while
remaining authentic because that is what we have, right. Authenticity
is our crowbar into the homes of all of our customers.
So even though he might see us do a salad
at some point, which we've done, it's a chicken salad, right,
recognizable vessel, authentic product. So as much as we innovate,

(09:54):
no matter what we do, will always remain authentic to
the roots and just trying and learning from your failures
and showing where you've learned and showing where you failed
and what you've learned from it. Because at the end
of the day, we're all human, right, and nobody's perfect.
So we've had ups and downs over the years. I
think deliver has been a big piece for us because

(10:17):
you know, Jamaican use the word cook food and cookshop.
It's not really the fastest thing to get like. You
don't go in and it's not that getting get out.
So very early on in this marketing role, we realized
that to be the service was an issue, and accessibility
and convenience is what is the game change, Right. You've
seen it with Amazon, what they did to all those

(10:38):
brick and mortars. You've seen who but did to taxicabs,
what Netflix did to Blockbuster.

Speaker 1 (10:45):
The list can go on, but if you're not aware
of the trends and you're.

Speaker 5 (10:50):
Not keeping up with the pain points of your business,
that's all you can fall behind. So I remember going
into a restaurant and waiting like fifteen twenty minutes, like
twenty sixteen, seventeen, that this can't work. It just takes
People don't have this time. People are supposed to be
eating at lunchtime, but we're eating away at their lunchtime.
So you know, that's when we started to work.

Speaker 1 (11:12):
On delivery.

Speaker 5 (11:14):
Order ahead the Golden Crust rewards, which we just rolled
out B two of which we were promoting.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
Heavily right now.

Speaker 5 (11:23):
But making the product more accessible and somebody standing in
a line for a long time has helped us to
grow definitely at least fifteen percent of the revenue annually
just by off premise, the door dashes, the Uber eats,
the grub hubs, and even with catering. We're doing some
catering now with a similar vendor. And the easier it

(11:45):
is to get food order, the more people are going
to order the food.

Speaker 4 (11:48):
It's pretty straightforward, man, Steven, I like you've laid out
an amazing I think overall business plan for how Golden
Crust has been able to be as success as successful
as it has been. And I'll tell you point blank.
So people know that I have Jamaican heritage with a
case to be, but I don't really cook like that.
And so from when my grandma passed, who we also
used to call Mama ironically as well, you know, I

(12:09):
didn't get those genes. But if I go to let
me tell you. If I'm going to a pot, look,
they know I'm bringing the cocktail patties, and my cocktail
patties always come from Golden Crust.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
Right, appreciate that in the morning and.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
Bring that in and then people like they they tear
it up.

Speaker 1 (12:24):
Man.

Speaker 4 (12:24):
So I appreciate, you know, even personally, what you've been
able to do. But I think many people in general
appreciate what's been able to happen. So we've been talking
a lot about again it being so family orientated. Obviously
it's Jamaican influenced. You know what has the overall mainstream public,
if you will, the Black Americans, you know, Caucasians et cetera,

(12:44):
et cetera, their embracement of Golden Crust as a brand.

Speaker 3 (12:48):
How do you feel like that has gone through the
marketing lens.

Speaker 5 (12:51):
Yeah, I'm most to be honest, I think they really
like us because as much as our roots are Jamaica
and the product is Jamaican, there's a lot of the
people who know us as a New York City brand
because we started in the Bronx and we've been our own. No,
this is our third to fifth year, So congratulations to
all the people involved who have brought us as far staff, franchisees, friends, families.

(13:14):
You know, a lot of people don't make it to
thirty five years, so that's a part of the reason
why we're doing all these things this year. But the
mainstream American audience knows going across as the iconic Pattisto
from New York.

Speaker 6 (13:29):
City, and I think with that it's easier to get
people to try us because Jamaicans are everywhere in New
York City, right, So you go to the high schools
in the Bronx, there's Jamaican kids, Queens Brooklyn.

Speaker 5 (13:43):
Everybody has a jamaicun friend and I call it the
college roommate theory. So I went to Saint John's had
you know, a suite with you know, four many different
bedrooms nine people and one of my roommates I think
his name was Frank.

Speaker 1 (13:57):
He's Greek, and before that I probably didn't try that
much Greek food. But my roommate who was.

Speaker 5 (14:02):
In the suit across was making something and it was like, hey,
see if you want to try this, and I'm like, sure,
if your kind of roommate asked to.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
Try something, you have a higher likelihood of being open
to it.

Speaker 5 (14:12):
So I think we had a bunch of college roommates
being you know, whether it's called it, first generation Americas
or second born here. Parents born in Jamaica, kids born
in America. So they're going to school, but they're no
Barris Hammond. They know the Sanchez, they're no Courrgo, they're
no Upstale. They have the lingo and they're prideful. They

(14:33):
go the talk, the wall go on and again there's
something bigger than that. There's an enchantment about the island
of Jamaica. The culture is really what we're fortunate to
be again, Jamaican culture is probably the most magnetic culture
in the world for a population of two point eight million.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
People at the island of that size, I.

Speaker 5 (14:56):
Don't think I can compare any influence to what Jamaica
has been able to do on a global scale.

Speaker 1 (15:04):
I remember seeing commercials for people.

Speaker 5 (15:06):
I forget where it was, but there's some beer ad
and this guy jumping into a roof.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
And I was like, what is this? What that is selling?

Speaker 5 (15:13):
You know? And they'll never be able to recreate our
copy of what Jamaica has because it's just a special place.

Speaker 1 (15:20):
So I think with.

Speaker 5 (15:21):
That, it's very well get a warm reception. People like Jamaica.
It's either you've been or you want to go. And
if you haven't gone yet, going Cross is a perfect
place to get that taste of what Jamaica is. And
if you've been before and you like what you had there,
Gold and Cruss is also a place to get that
taste of what you love when you went to Jamaica.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
So it's always a good stop.

Speaker 5 (15:45):
And people are excited when you show up with Gold
and Cross. It's not like when you bring a you know,
a pizza or a burger. Everybody's like, okay, thanks, you
show up with Gold and Cross, there's a genuine excitement,
Like people are like, oh my god, I never forget
we did coach two years ago. Amazon and Friends in
the desert. It was like a private after party after

(16:05):
coach all a list does that, this Manchion and Laguna
Sega and we flew over from here with everything we have,
my cousin Ryan, and we built grills on the premises.
We're there for like three days in pounds, bring seasoning
up and giving them a special menu. And when people

(16:26):
came in the desert, it was the two responses we got,
oh my god, going and crosses in the desert or
I've never tried this before, but I see a long
line here, so I'm gonna wait in it. Exactly every
time we brought to paties that would fly. I think
we cooked maybe four hundred pounds a jerk chicken that
need and we maked a thousand paties and it all went.

(16:49):
So there's something enchanting about the culture that we benefit
from inherently as a b no doubt.

Speaker 4 (16:56):
I couldn't say it better myself, you know. And you
know this is one of my This is a self
indulging interview for me, because I think on my platform
not I think I know on my platform, I'm I'm
trying to bring more of the Jamaican culture to my listeners,
you know, because it's part of what brought me, what
growed me up as well too, So just understanding the things,
the joy that I've had as being a part of

(17:18):
this community, this heritage, everything that has that it comes
with whether you were born there or parents or whatever
the case. It be like it's indoctrinating. And you know,
there's a saying I say all the time. I was like, yeah,
you know, we can be a little bit enough, no doubt.
I think that, Like there's a lot of people who
feel like, you know what Jamaicans think, they run it,
but in some ways, you know, everybody needs to have

(17:38):
pride from where they're at, and I think what you
are doing Golden Crust is.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
The epitome of that.

Speaker 4 (17:45):
Where shalling with Stephen Clark here, vice president of marketing
here for Golden Cruss here and Dope Interviews.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
Let's take a quick break, y'all and we'll be right back.

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and stick around for more insightful discussions right here on
Dope Interviews. And we're back here on Dope Interviews with
my guy Stephen Clark here, vice president of Marketing for
Golden Crust. Steven So having a have an amazing conversation.
The viobs are flowing. I want to get into a
little bit of controversy, if you.

Speaker 3 (19:12):
If you will, if you will allow it. So as
we're we're talking about again where I'm at so to speak.

Speaker 4 (19:18):
It's especially in the South Florida area. So back back home,
if you, if you will, you know a place like
juicy uh, Juicy Paty right like they're they're known like
for for being one of the best or or tasty
or what are the cases be. So they're making their
way up here now to try to capture that a k.
A taste of home, especially here in the South Florida area.

(19:39):
Golden Crust has been here well before them, so to speak.
So do you feel or from the from the marketing lens,
do you do you see things like that and say
all right, come bring it?

Speaker 1 (19:49):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 4 (19:50):
Like, how from a business standpoint do you do you
match wits with something like that?

Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah, definitely is a bringing team for me, We're not really.

Speaker 5 (20:00):
A fearful brand. We know what our product is. We
believe in our products, we believe in on our brand,
and we invest the time into both. Our customers love
us and we grow every day, so there's enough food
for everybody to eat. But we're definitely going to serve
the best food and the best quality and personally tasty

(20:22):
pathy guy. To be honest, when I go jam, I
got tasty. That's what I grew up on growing up
in Jamaica. Never had the other person. It just never
happened for me, and that that is what it is.
You know, there's nothing untoward there, but growing up in
Jamaica and the tasty party was the pathy to buy.
And as Competiti does come up, of course we'll see

(20:43):
an assess. But what we're going to do is what
we've been known to do best, which is put out
the best product, put out the best parties, give the
best service, and continue to take care of the community
as we've been doing over the last thirty five years,
and as we looked do for the next year, where
we have an initiative plan for thirty five leads for

(21:04):
thirty five years where we plan to give back throughout
all the regions that have supported us, all the communities
that we have grown in over the nine eight states
that we're operating, over one hundred and twenty restaurants that
we've been able to build along with my family members.

Speaker 1 (21:21):
Right, some of the biggest franchisees in the system are
my cousins or my aunts.

Speaker 5 (21:26):
So at the end of the day, to us is
another restaurant, you know, it's whatever opens next door. Somebody
else can buy it there. So I don't really look
at it that way. I think it's another competitor in
the space, and we're strong competitors. We've known to compete.
We've faced adversity, probably in the most unexpected ways, like

(21:49):
when I lost Bogle in twenty seventeen. So we know
what it is to go through hardship, and we know
what a good battle is. I haven't seen a good battle,
but we're ready to go over. The time is on,
so we're gonna keep doing what we're doing, and they're
gonna sell partice, we're gonna sell practice. We're gonna keep

(22:09):
on growing as we've been doing for the last thirty
five years.

Speaker 4 (22:13):
That longevity, I think is obviously key to that here
and being kind of first market in the States serves
you well. But the more important aspect is the quality,
you know what I mean, Because it's very easy to
get complacence and.

Speaker 3 (22:25):
Say like a right, well whatever, you just kind of
rely on brand recognition, but the quality needs to consistently
be there.

Speaker 5 (22:31):
I think, Yeah, the Gold and Cross party has a
very unique flavor, the profile. It's one of a kind,
and I speaking to the filling and the balance between
the crust. I used to work at the plant, so
I know what it is. I've been there at four am,
I've left at two am, so I know all the
hardware that goes into putting the three hundred pieces of

(22:51):
products that were produced daily that serve in the over
one hundred restaurants, and I know we're in twenty three
thousand doors grocery wide. So we've certainly got a winning
formula within our Goal and crossed literally our party is
the name of our brand, which is fortune some would.

Speaker 1 (23:11):
Say, or serendipity. But that that flavor that we've.

Speaker 5 (23:15):
Been bringing, which is funny because that's the name of
the event that we've met at this weekend.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
But that Goal and Cross flavor is really what we'll
continue to set us afar.

Speaker 3 (23:25):
Yeah, well let's step right into that as well too.

Speaker 4 (23:27):
So the aspect of the celebration of the paty as
as as Jamaican culture, West Indian culture kind of in general,
like it is a staple, I mean, like is it
what do you call it?

Speaker 3 (23:38):
Dish?

Speaker 1 (23:38):

Speaker 3 (23:39):
It's like it's not a meal per se, but I mean,
you know.

Speaker 1 (23:44):
Too is a full meal, right especially right?

Speaker 5 (23:48):
But drop it in our coco bread with a proper
you know, whatever beverage you choose.

Speaker 1 (23:54):
I'm good, I can tell you about that. But yeah,
I hadn't held.

Speaker 5 (23:57):
Snap to some but with the right periods, they could
contes A mean, for sure, value for sure you get
as well.

Speaker 3 (24:02):
For sure the value.

Speaker 4 (24:04):
So but the aspect of creating an event around that,
as we were talking a little bit off air, you know,
doing the Flavors event, you know, National Patty Day, et cetera,
et cetera. Doing that in three markets if you will,
to through your biggest markets from the Golden Cuss brand
with over one hundred hundred store locations. Just why that
why why celebrated in that way in that level, you know,

(24:24):
bringing in music and all types of food and artists
and people to celebrate.

Speaker 5 (24:30):
Yeah, good question. The Plata Tour we did it for
the first year. So this is the inaugural year of
Patta Tour and the PTI to Jamaica. As we spent
so much time talking about today, is the hero product, right.
It is an iconic part of Jamaica and cuisine and
a golden Cross who wanted to make sure that we

(24:51):
gave it the necessary platform it deserves. So we took
it down tour and we wanted everybody to get an
experience of that product, but also chance to experience more
of Jamaica culture. So the party is yeah o, our
hero product that goes across probably the most popular food
item out of Jamaica. But we also have great music

(25:12):
in Jamaica, so I wanted to make sure that we
tapped into the top DJs in each region to make
sure that people here real Jamaican as they will call
it juggling, right, music that's mixed well with with with
with vibes. So we wanted to put that Jamaican vibe
out there where people can immerse themselves in a in
an experience where you have you know, beverages, food, music,

(25:38):
performances by true Jamaican hot artists and DJs. So we
really wanted to give people a taste of the island.
We wanted people to hear how Jamaica feels. We wanted
people to feel the vibes of Jamaica. And I think
that was brought home in Georgia in July, in New

(25:58):
York in August, on pat today, and then closing it
up this weekend in South Florida. I have to tip
my hat to everybody involved, to my marketing team and
on the community, everybody who came out. We were hundreds
of people at every event. May Just seven, who's again

(26:18):
his parents are Jamaica and he embraces the culture.

Speaker 1 (26:22):
He has Multiplatinum records.

Speaker 5 (26:23):
He's worked with Jay z Rihanna, future Mixed Master David,
who's on V one oh three, which is one of
the hotest stations down there in Atlanta. We came to
New York where DJ Modo, who's our Bronx DJ who's
been working with us since the first part today in
August of twenty fifteen, Ayana have a female DJ who's
hot right now in Brooklyn, and we had Grammar nominated

(26:44):
artists Jesse Royal, performer a very live performance back by
the Royal Chaos Band, who is actually my cousin is
the producer and the pianist for that band. And then
we came to Florida and we've got the Florida talent.
Dote X is a big name in Florida. DJ Nico
is playing. Every time I'm in Florida for work, He's
playing somewhere, so I knew I could trust him. And

(27:07):
then we had Don Hutt, who is up again the culture.
I think he has a residency I live, so you
must be doing well for himself.

Speaker 1 (27:13):
There uh and cranium Cranium.

Speaker 5 (27:16):
It was was a good way to put icing on
the cake. He has one of the biggest records right
now in Higher Life, and we did it different.

Speaker 8 (27:23):
We have my cousin a chance to play the keys,
so we can do an acoustic style, so we took
it a little bit up on notch to make sure
that people could see and feel and experience Jamaica and
vibes at the premium level.

Speaker 5 (27:38):
And I think it was well.

Speaker 1 (27:39):
Received from what we're seeing.

Speaker 5 (27:40):
So I want to thank everybody who came out because
without them these events wouldn't be what they were.

Speaker 1 (27:45):
And you of course you know, to me, I was
happy to be there.

Speaker 4 (27:52):
And I had plenty plenty to eat as the food
was passing by, and again just again, it was just
full full, full of vibes. And saw some regends out
there that I know and like that as well too,
and like you were here too, Yeah, I'm here too,
and you know, it was it was, it was definitely
definitely that. And it's interesting because you mentioned all the DJs, right,
so in the bio I recognized that you well, sorry
for our uninitiated the DJ, so the selector for us,

(28:14):
but you know what I mean, so understanding kind of
what that what that means, right, but from American terms,
you are also a DJ, you know, from the American side,
And so I saw, I even saw you at up there.
You were, you were comfortable, as you know, you were
trying to get the knicks ready to get to go
to bring cranium on. Just tell me a little bit
about that that part of your life as well too.

(28:35):
You know how many parties FETs have you did? How'd
you get into you know, being a selector? You know,
at whatever age?

Speaker 5 (28:41):
So I started to playing music, I think I was thirteen,
PC DJ silver for free in high school. And I've
always been a little bit of an entrepreneurs. I'm realizing
I was selling paper planes in third grade in Jamaica.
But fast forward to when I was, you know, thirteen
or fourteen in west Chester. We used to do customized

(29:02):
ring tones when Next was bigger and wheneverybody's So my
little hostel back then was me and actually my same
cousin Andre, who played.

Speaker 1 (29:11):
The piano for the clean.

Speaker 9 (29:13):
Yeah, it was me and him, and its.

Speaker 5 (29:14):
Funny enough to call him dray Texs because he used
to drive on Integra and he used to take his
Integral and go to all the neighboring schools in Westchester.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
I went to Briarcliffe, He went to Alexander Hamilton.

Speaker 5 (29:25):
He would pick up our Pleasantville and we would collect
Next tels from all the high schools with post its
on the back and I would load up everybody's ring
tones for a dollar apiece.

Speaker 3 (29:35):
That is a hustler, that have my gee.

Speaker 5 (29:37):
Yeah yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:38):
We started to do like.

Speaker 5 (29:39):
The lighting stalls. We were changing color pilots, but back
then it wasn't a thing. But that's how we started
that that music piece. So we used to play on
while we weren't loading up the ring tones, we would
mix and I would start to put out like a
little tape. You know, everybody had Knapstar, So I would
download the latest Timberland beat or later Neptunes beat, and I.

Speaker 1 (30:01):
Don't know the latest Emma m a Cappella and I
would just mix them.

Speaker 5 (30:05):
And I would put up like blend tapes for for
a very long time, and those were hot. So I
never stopped as a software involved. I kept playing. I
kept on collected music. I know, many many years later,
twenty plus years later. I just have the experience and
I still have my my hard drivers full, my laptop
is ready, my mixer and my flat case is always

(30:28):
ready to go.

Speaker 1 (30:30):
I did a pool party in Orlando a couple of
weeks ago. Baby shows I could have played even on Friday.
I just did.

Speaker 4 (30:38):
That wasn't what I was here for, and that's what
but that's what I was saying, Like I said it
like it was so natural. I was like, oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:43):
My wife was like he. I was like, yeah, no,
that's I said. That's what his says too. She was like, oh,
because you like you look like it was second nature. Brother.
And at the end of the day.

Speaker 4 (30:52):
I mean, that's it's one thing to kind of like
wear the quote unquote corporate hat. But you know, being
in that life, you know, as a slacktor slash DJ, like,
that's that's an amazing skill set. My father back in
the day also he was a DJ, throw boat parties
in New York and all that type of thing as
well too. So you know, to hear you investing in
that again, I guess if anybody would to cancel on you,
you just had to get up there on the ones.

Speaker 1 (31:11):
And on my laptop is always ready. Maybe next year
I'll do I set. We'll see, because you know, you
go home, there's like, oh, well I didn't hear this.
I didn't hear that. Of course me and my DJ
perfection is said like, oh you know, where is this song?
But I have to get over that. But the people
had a great time, which is most most important. But yeah,
I still play music.

Speaker 5 (31:32):
It really energizes more than anything else, Like I need
it when I wake up, I need to drive with music.
If it's quiet for too long, I'm wondering why if
I'm up late making a mixed I don't feel tired
in the morning. There's just something good about music for
my body. I'm going to continue to feed it what's
good for me.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
Everybody. Music is truly good for the soul. Man, good, good,
good for the soul.

Speaker 4 (31:55):
All right, well, we went off well left for a
little bit there too, but I think all good information.
So part of the reason that I got even even
introduced to you is because the Golden Crust brand now
is entering or has entered already with a new product
with the Druk Chicken Sandwich. Now, Steven, I have to
ask you this question and excuse the levity that I'm
going to take with here, but you remember a few

(32:15):
years ago basically, you know, around COVID and post after that,
like the Jerk Chicken or sorry, the chicken sandwich wars,
if you will.

Speaker 3 (32:22):
You know, Popeyes came onto the.

Speaker 4 (32:24):
Scene, and Popeyes versus Chick fil A and so forth
and so forth. Golden Cross was just kind of like,
you know, waiting in back that wasn't really be part
of the party when they get in you wanted to
get into. But is the entrance now of the derk
Chicken Sandwich like entering the chat for you from the
Golden Crust side or you're like you know what that's
This is a completely different conversation altogether.

Speaker 5 (32:42):
So back when that chicken sandwich wars were going on,
I was busy doing like a full company corporate rebound,
Like I was doing packaging, menu.

Speaker 1 (32:50):
Boards, all the stuff that you go in and see
today that looks good.

Speaker 5 (32:54):
We're kind of under the hood working busy there, and
it takes time and everybody moves at their own pace.
But this jerk chicken sandwich was strategically deployed now to
follow our jerk chicken salad because it's similar ingredients that
make up a salad. And what's the best thing I
think about our jerk chicken sandwich is that it comes

(33:15):
in a cocoa bread, which people have come to love
over the years. And I don't I don't know anywhere
else right now where you can go and get a
jerk chicken sandwich or any sandwich really in excellent coco bread.
So that is what's very unique about our product. And
if you've never had Coco bread and you're listening to this,
search it goldencrust dot com or don't know, sign up

(33:38):
for the rewards, get your pipe on Coco bread to
your door, and you know, tag gold and crust and
let us know how you liked it. But if you've
never had coca bread, I take this moment to encourage
you to try it today. So we put that with
the lettuce to tomato, some jerk sauce. Some of the
franchises in Florida are mixing the jerk sauce with brands.
Some people are doing onions and peppers.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
So it's evolving as it launches and it's still new.

Speaker 5 (34:04):
Luckily for us were able to give the over five
hundred people samples at the Flavor event that you're at
this weekend and it was very well received.

Speaker 1 (34:12):
So yeah, everybody's timing is different, and we like to
move over pace and when we're ready. And I think
this is a good time for it, and.

Speaker 5 (34:21):
I'm looking forward to seeing what the consumer feedback is
and the sales of this product.

Speaker 4 (34:26):
Yeah, I think it's going to be a hit, and
you know, I will double down on that. There's times
I'd go to I'd go to a Pacty shop and
not even order a paty.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
Sometimes I just I got to get out of here.

Speaker 4 (34:40):
I would to get some bread sometimes and you know
what I mean, and drink it down with some juice
or water like that, because again, I just kind of
wanted that as a snack. That's how how much I
like cocer bread as well too, So I would definitely
you know, mixing that with the drink chicken sandwich. I mean,
that's that's that's a fire fire fire combination, man. So
kudos to you the team, you know, for doing that
and doing it at your own pace, so to speak.

(35:01):
Here a couple of quick ones before we you know,
get out of here, Steven, and you've touched on it
thirty fifth anniversary, you guys are already doing meal delivery,
you know, kind of what is the next innovations for
you all here now with Golden Crust and its brand,
we have.

Speaker 5 (35:16):
Some things that we're trying to work on for next year,
but to be completely honest, the things that you mentioned
are upon us, like the jersey.

Speaker 1 (35:24):
The sandwich is new, so we're.

Speaker 5 (35:25):
Gonna need to get penetration and adoption in the system
and get the product in more people's hands. The rewards program,
we just relaunched it with a new partner, and I
encourage everybody to download and it's not just the app
because you can also do it online. Goldencrust dot com.
For the people who you know are very cautious about

(35:47):
how many apps they have on their phone. We're very
mindful of that, and I think it's probably the most
competitive reward offer.

Speaker 1 (35:54):
On the market right now.

Speaker 5 (35:56):
And I challenge anybody to tell me who you can
go to for every fifty dollars you spend to get
five dollars back towards your next purchase. Spend fifty get
five almost doesn't happen anymore, and I can't say it
we'll last for Revo for us, but that's how we
came to market with rewards in at A twenty twenty
twenty one. We're offline for a few months to move

(36:17):
to a new supply, but no, we're up and running,
and we wanted to come back with the same offering
as to not disappoint people. But right now ordering online
for delivery and being able to get rewards through door Dash,
it's a unique opportunity. I would put it as for
consumers to still get authentic curb young food, cook from scratch,

(36:40):
made fresh daily, delivered by top tier third party deliver
vendors in door Dash and still be able to earn rewards.

Speaker 1 (36:50):
I think it's a sweet deal.

Speaker 5 (36:51):
So I encourage everybody to become a Goal and Cross
Reward member where you know, loyalty pays back faster than
anywhere else.

Speaker 4 (36:58):
In my opinion, I will give you one or two
last questions if you will, But one part of it
is kudos, honestly, because i mean, again, you're Jamaican, and
I'm sure if you're on social media you can peruse,
like you know, memes on Instagram or whatever, what it's
like to go into you know, a Jamaican restaurant, right things.

Speaker 3 (37:19):
You can't have more Oxtel gravy with this. Now, we're like,
that's a regular situation.

Speaker 4 (37:27):
But in a lot of ways, and some of the
other brands which will remain nameless here on our show,
the customer service isn't the nicest.

Speaker 3 (37:35):
Let's just let's just say that.

Speaker 5 (37:37):
And I've had some long lines because that's not play
our own well, of course, we try to completo this
is business.

Speaker 1 (37:44):
Of course, I've been to somebody's places waste a lot
of my time. So we tried to make sure that
we don't waste people's time and well give people good
quality of food. But yeah, go ahead for.

Speaker 4 (37:56):
No, Yeah, but I mean, I'll just tell you at
least nothing else. I live like zero point two miles
away from a Golden Cross. I live in the Sawgrass
area in Sunrise, and so like literally and I might
go in there sometimes I'm not even hungry.

Speaker 3 (38:09):
Sometimes I just go in there for a sorrow dog
like I'm just used on my way to work and
call it a day.

Speaker 4 (38:15):
And every time, though, like the customer service has has
elevated over the years and it doesn't meet I think,
what is the negative standard or the jokes if you
go that we see on Instagram and I that all
that is part of branding. All that is part of
marketing as well too, to ensure that because as as
again quote unquote enough as Jamaican people can be or

(38:35):
perceived to be at times, the service side of it.

Speaker 3 (38:38):
Is not always that unless you're you know, out of sandals.

Speaker 4 (38:41):
Resorts or some some foolishness like that too. So but
to get you know, good, really like kind of home
customer service in those restaurants, kudos to you and the
team for making that a priority, because that is not
something that a lot of West Indian restaurants and Jamaican
restaurants in specific are.

Speaker 3 (38:58):
Offering right now.

Speaker 4 (38:59):
So is there anything specific that you all did to
ensure that that was the case, And there are my
people listening, is like, oh well, not in my establishment.

Speaker 3 (39:05):
I can tell you one to saw Grass. Those ladies
are nice as hell.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
Yeah, yeah, yeah for really.

Speaker 5 (39:10):
Now, I have a bigger Earl Chin, who was a
franchisee at Sawgrass, a good friend of.

Speaker 1 (39:16):
Mine over the years, because Earl Chin was actually.

Speaker 5 (39:18):
Our first franchise he ever really, anytime I get that chance,
the bigger Earl Chin, he knows. Bigger Earl Chin for
trusting my uncle and his siblings, who was the first
black franchise own restaurant chain in America to invest his.

Speaker 1 (39:35):
Money in nineteen ninety seven to be like I'm going
to be a going across franchise.

Speaker 5 (39:40):
He had a partner at the time, but I was
in Brooklyn, and as you said, and as we know,
not everybody stays in New York. And for whatever reason,
Florida claims a lot of the departing and Earl went
to Florida, and you know, I think he has two
down there and he's doing very well. And every time
I got to Sawgrass, I have a very similar experience
to you whether we're in Golden Cross.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
Sure are not.

Speaker 5 (40:01):
They're very nice, they're warm, they're welcoming without being slow.
Sometimes they're very kind and they're drying their feet, but
it sawgrass.

Speaker 1 (40:09):
They're efficient, un kind and for us, really it's.

Speaker 9 (40:14):
Just letting people know that at the end of the day,
we're dealing with people. We're selling food and we're dealing
with people, and people want to be treated to respect.
People have things to do, people want to be treated fairly.

Speaker 5 (40:24):
Welcome goes a long way. We're human to human interaction,
so sometimes they're over complicated. It doesn't cost you anything
to be nice.

Speaker 4 (40:34):
Yeah, I think that is extremely, extremely well said. Last
one for you, Steven, and this is just from the
human side, right, So the aspect of you working in
this marketing space, you've had success, success building a brand,
success as an entrepreneur, success as.

Speaker 3 (40:49):
A man, as a parent, or whatether case it be.
What advice would you give to anybody listening?

Speaker 1 (40:53):

Speaker 3 (40:53):
Who wants to be the next stephn Clark?

Speaker 1 (40:57):
Good question. Remain authentic as you can.

Speaker 5 (41:02):
Sty're true to your roots, be consistent, right, I think
that's important. People sometimes get bright eyes, wide eyes when
they see a certain crowd getting a certain following, and
all of a sudden, they think that that's where they
need to be. You know, one day they're you know,
doing graphic design. The next day they're making rap videos

(41:23):
and wrappers are great. Graphics are great. But like, if
you keep on doing what it is that you're good
at for a long enough period of time, it will
pay you back.

Speaker 1 (41:32):
I think that's the easiest way to say it.

Speaker 5 (41:34):
At the high level. You know, I had a mentorship
that I was a part of NJCU, a college university
in New Jersey. I was on a panel with some
other young gentlemen who are also doing I think, inspiring
things in life. And there was a young man and
he asked, He said, yo, I have a have a
little photographer business as a stop I see, don't be little.

Speaker 1 (41:58):
What it is that you're putting in the time.

Speaker 5 (42:00):
Yeah, because if you're doing it ten years now, you're
an experience photographer who has shot for X Y Z
and portfolios have been installed in ABC.

Speaker 1 (42:11):
So you know, believe in yourself. Find something that you
like to do. Love, I should say rather, because even
when it's hard, it's still gonna love it.

Speaker 5 (42:20):
And even when it's late, you're still gonna find the energy.
And even when it's early, you got coffee and.

Speaker 1 (42:25):
You get it done.

Speaker 5 (42:26):
So if you don't love it, if that passion isn't there,
then that's when people start to don't seep in and
then you start to spin your wheels. So that's the
best I could do with the time that we have
to give people who are growing up. And I've never
heard the next even Clark, So thank you for asking
me that in the first way, Warren. But those will

(42:46):
be my two golden sense I love that.

Speaker 3 (42:49):
I love that, And I'll close with this.

Speaker 4 (42:51):
You know, I tell people at my full time job
all the time because people have a way of limiting themselves,
like in their own conversation and I'll get, oh, I'm
just this or I'm just that, as if their opinion
doesn't matter, and I said, remove just from your vocability.

Speaker 3 (43:04):
I don't want to hear that. Everybody's opinion is valued.

Speaker 4 (43:07):
And then you need to, you know, stand in the business,
stand in the position that you have commanded, and not
limit yourself in any capacity. So I think that is amazing,
amazing advice kind of in general, that is all the
time we have for today. We went a little bit long,
but it was an amazing conversation with my guy, Stephen Parker,
vice president Marketing over at Golden Crust. Make sure you
follow the brand at Golden Crust. Steven, I thank you

(43:30):
so so much for joining us here today and you know,
hopefully there'll be more conversations to have, you know, more
opportunities to engage with the Golden Crust brand in general.

Speaker 3 (43:39):
For me personally, and it's also from our listeners. I'm
Warren Shaw.

Speaker 4 (43:42):
You can follow me at Shaw Sports, NBA or Dope
Underscore Interviews. You know what it is, been another dope
interviews y'all and we're out.

Speaker 1 (43:50):
Together.

Speaker 4 (43:51):
We stand the value.

Speaker 2 (43:52):
We never the vision is one striving for the better,
working as a team, working toward a dream. It's not
even work when it's team is the dree when he's
not in front.

Speaker 6 (44:02):
We got a home in the back, a.

Speaker 3 (44:03):
Band of brothers to counter aft.

Speaker 2 (44:05):
Then here's one heart in fact, forget what the blood say, dope,
it's worth flows in his Stam's DNA.

Speaker 1 (44:11):
So it's doing for the love.

Speaker 8 (44:12):
Give to the max.

Speaker 7 (44:13):
Listen to opinion, but react to facts and.

Speaker 3 (44:16):
Remember that together with a ship.

Speaker 2 (44:19):
But separate, just pieces of it.

Speaker 3 (44:21):
Shooting dope.

Speaker 2 (44:26):
It's worth closed in his Stam's DNA dope. It's worth
closed in his Stam's DNA.

Speaker 10 (44:36):
Family represent like a tree with names on it.

Speaker 1 (44:39):
We're free, no change on it.

Speaker 10 (44:40):
Relieve the pain's gone out, and see we come together
like questions on the quiz mota flowing viz man, you
know what it is.

Speaker 3 (44:46):
And if ignorance is.

Speaker 10 (44:47):
Blisitys gonna hate this lesson organize them the like a
tropical depression. My symbolist across some mic and ghost peppers
because I'm just a black shoe growing up to be
a shepherd, moon lightened as a weapon to protect the
children every others a father. Dynasties were building Max J
and k Babay and Isaaih next level of the family
foundation Understanding

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A Taste of Jamaica in America | Inside Golden Krust with Steven Clarke

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}A Taste of Jamaica in America | Inside Golden Krust with Steven Clarke