WEBVTT - Walk-On's Culture Boosts Staffing, Sales Volume 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:20.960 Welcome to Chopping it Up. I'm your host, Mike Hallen, 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:25.079 Senior restaurant and food Service analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. I'm 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:28.840 excited to introduce today's guest, Scott Taylor, CEO of walk 0:00:28.880 --> 0:00:32.839 On Sports Bistro. Thanks for doing this, Scott, Thanks for 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:34.360 having me. Man, good to see you. Good to see 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:37.560 you too. Man, it's been too long, has it has? 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:41.960 First things first, what's blackout Bingo? Oh dude, it's fun? 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:47.360 So uh you saw our so man, Um, we came 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.120 up this cool idea. Yeah, Like my wife and I 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:52.040 owned this time share, Like what do you do with 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:53.760 the time share? And like we always had these extra 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:57.080 weeks and so we just started thinking about how can we, 0:00:57.160 --> 0:00:59.880 you know, give out this week like somebody on the 0:00:59.880 --> 0:01:03.080 team for doing cool stuff. And so we just came 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:06.760 up with this idea of Fiestas. It's four games of chance, 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:12.280 no skill required. So starts off with um dice and 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:14.280 if you make it through that round, then you get 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:17.479 into rock Paper scissors. If you make it past that round, 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:20.520 then you get into like war like the card game, 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:23.120 like ever gets the most and then it's blackout Bengo 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:27.080 and whoever wins Blackout Bengo wins a trip, and all 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:29.200 we tell them is like, you're gonna need a passport 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:32.800 and sunscreen, or you're gonna need this or that. And 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.280 then so this year we sent a guy to Putzkana. 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:38.960 One of the guys in our it department was just 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:42.440 super cool, So just a culture builder. And of course 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:45.119 it's a half day. We started drinking margarita is at 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:49.600 like eleven, So I guess that's where the blackout comes from. Yeah, 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:51.320 everybody kind of blacks out at the end. But yeah, 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:55.680 you blot all your numbers, you get that's great, and 0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:59.200 we'll get grandma, Yeah, that's awesome, and we'll get more 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:01.760 into the culture because I think it's very important to 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.520 the story here. But uh, for the listeners that don't 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:07.640 uh that don't know walk ons, uh, can you talk 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:11.240 a little bit about how the chain got started? Sure? 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:15.360 So uh founders were both uh walk ons on the 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:18.280 LSU basketball team back in the late nineties, and so 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:20.480 if you don't want to walk on as a walk 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:24.200 on as a non scholarship athlete. Basically they're the practice squad, 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:26.120 they said them. They had the last two seats on 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:28.600 the bench. Um, but you know, their job is a 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:31.760 practice against the starters to make them great, you know. 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:34.639 And uh, you know, Brandon landry Our is our founder 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:38.600 and chairman of the board here and I think his stories. 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:41.760 He played twelve minutes a senior year. For the whole season, 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:43.320 they didn't play a lot. You know, that's like you're 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:46.160 doing super super clean up or either winning really big 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:48.360 or just getting destroyed. So like put the walk Ons in, 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:51.600 let them get them in, you know. But what's cool 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:53.800 about it is, you know, first off, they figured out 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:55.760 real quick they weren't going to play in the NBA 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:59.120 um and so came up with this idea, you know, 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:02.320 traveling around the country going all these great college campuses 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:05.959 in the SEC you know, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, and all 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:09.200 these campuses had that place to go, you know, right 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:13.080 by campus by the football stadium and bat Rouge and 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:15.919 LSU didn't have anything on the on the side of 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:19.240 campus where he had all the basket the Maritage Center, 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:22.600 the Tiger Stadium, alex Box for baseball, and so they 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:25.679 there was this great piece of land that came available 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:28.400 to share a private done with the LSU, and Brandon 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:30.720 got his dad to like buy it quick. Had this 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:32.679 idea for a restaurant, and his dad says it was 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:34.360 good real estate. I don't know if my son would 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:36.080 ever be a good restaurant tour, but it wasn't a 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:38.640 bad investment. So he bought the dirt, you know. And 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:41.120 then these guys are in college kind of did this 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:44.600 as a school project. Um, the walk Ons restaurant got 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:47.880 to see on the project just because they weren't restaurant guys. Um, 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:50.520 you know. And uh, but what was cool the the 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:52.400 professor said, hey, if you guys are serious, I like 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:55.160 the idea. I'll help you long term put this together 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:57.840 in a business plan, which he did. Very cool. Um. 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:00.280 Then you know, get out of school. They aped a 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:02.080 little bit bartending here there trying to figure out the 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:05.440 restaurant business, you know, started going to banks the finance 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:07.880 kind of to get this thing going. And you know, 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.560 first six banks and you guys are great, but no way, 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:14.040 too much risk get on the restaurants. You have no assets, 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:16.080 like we're not gonna do anything. And so you know, 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:18.320 but they went to the seventh bank. That Walkome mentality 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:20.600 kicked in. Never take no, you know for an answer, 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:22.800 and seventh banks said, you know, if you guys are 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:24.560 willing to bust your tail, We'll back you, you know. 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:27.280 And so they got that SBA loan back in the 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:30.640 two thousand and two and open the original restaurant, which 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:33.000 is right across the parking lot from our office here 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:35.000 in two thousand and three September two thousand and three. 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:38.440 So it's been a cool run bag. Think about that 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:40.680 date real quick. We come back to do it September. 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.800 What's happening in the fall September if you're in a 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:48.080 campus in South Southeastern Conference freaking football, So you're going 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:50.240 to open a ten thousand square foot three and fifty 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:55.640 seat restaurant with no experience right from football starts. So yeah, 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:59.680 like the early nickname for walk ons were weight ons 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:02.680 or walkout or you didn't want to get you want 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:03.800 to eat it? When you got it, it was just 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:06.560 like it was just bad, bad, bad as it could be. 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:11.240 And you know, but you know, the brand really kind 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:13.000 of grew with these guys, and I think the fact 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:15.520 that they were walk on so they just endeared themselves 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:18.520 to the community. And you know, like, sorry, Michael, we 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:20.640 messed up your lunch for the sixth time in a row, 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:23.400 and please give us another try and here's more gift 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:26.040 cards and you know, and so you know, those early 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:28.960 years of just you know, getting kicked in the teeth 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:30.400 and not know what you're doing, they just kind of 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:34.520 figured it out and enrolled. But I think that sense 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:37.520 of humility, sense of just you know, being honest and 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.000 always being open to help, just trying to get better, 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:43.400 not being big head. I'm the founder, man, don't you know, 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:46.920 Like they really kind of figured it out as they went. 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:49.520 And here we are today with in seventy five restaurants 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:53.080 and eleven states and growing and the fact that they 0:05:53.080 --> 0:05:54.840 were well in the list, and I guess that's part 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:57.040 of the reason why you're still here. Can you talk about, 0:05:57.720 --> 0:05:59.880 you know, how you when and how you first got 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:03.760 Volpa walk Ons. So it's it's a it's funny story. So, 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:06.680 you know, the restaurant business a small business. Everybody knows everybody. 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:09.719 And so you know, I've been with Befo Bradies in 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:12.520 Tampa and we'd sold our concept in private equity and 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:15.039 I had this you know, period of time I was 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:17.200 helping with the transition and then I had some time 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:19.080 I could chill. They were paying me, you know, to 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:22.560 sit at home, and I think one week into riding 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:25.720 my bike, I'm like, this sucks, Like I gotta do something. 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:28.600 And then a friend of mine reached out so that 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:30.839 she was working with these guys in Baton Rouge. Do 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:33.640 you mind your funny story, I won't say it, like, 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:35.360 can you help me write a food safety program? That's 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:37.160 kind of where they were at still in twenty ten, 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:39.440 and I'm like, sure. It came up and you know, 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:42.200 got to meet with some of the team and saw 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.359 some of the opportunities that were here from a food 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:50.120 safety standpoint at that point, and there was you know, 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:52.240 for a freshed eyes coming in. There was just so 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:54.480 much that needed to be done, you know, and it's like, 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:57.920 how do you like deliver the message? I know what 0:06:58.000 --> 0:06:59.800 your baby, but your baby needs a bath and some 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:02.440 new clothes, you know. But it's it's got a great concept, 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:04.960 and these guys were like, man, if you can help 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:06.920 us be better, we just wouldn't be better. Man, thank 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:10.240 you for coming. And I'm like, I'd never met entrepreneurs 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:13.040 founders that were so humble and just like tell us 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:14.400 what we need to do, like we just want to 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:16.600 be better. And so that that's kind of where it clicked. 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:19.240 For me, and I was going back and forth from 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:22.520 Tampa for a while before I decided I would move 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.520 my family to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and uh, but we 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:29.360 moved here, and you know, in twenty eleven, I've been here. Gosh, 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:33.880 well in thirteen years. It's been a good run, very cool. So, uh, 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:36.720 you know, I covered Buffalo while Wings before I went private, 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:39.760 and the impact of the sports calendar on sales was 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:42.960 incredible and you kind of alluded that alluded to that 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:48.800 talking about the walk On's first first store. How much 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:52.560 to do sports impact your planning and how seasonal is 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:56.760 your business? You know, early on it was very seasonal, 0:07:56.880 --> 0:08:00.720 you know, And you know the original location or LSU 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:03.840 sales would fluctuate. Even in twenty ten, we would fluctuate. 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.960 Sales would drop off sixty seventy percent when campus was 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:10.520 empty because we were just that place for students or 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:13.640 when there was a game. Today, I think our sales 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:18.080 dip maybe ten percent when the students are gone, because 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:20.160 we're very much a restaurant. And you know, early on 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:24.720 walk Ons walk on those on that path to being 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:26.840 a prototypical sports bar for a long time, and so 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:29.160 we're relying on games and food was kind of secondary. 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:32.040 But we've really changed that mindset where we're very much 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:35.520 a restaurant. So you know, uh, sporting events are kind 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:37.720 of we call land yap. You know, it's a little extra, 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:42.520 but no, man, we don't rely on sports. It's Football's fun, 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:46.000 but it's crazy and people sit longer, you know, I 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:47.839 like a Wednesday night. Man, people are coming in and 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:50.280 roll and returning tables and we can do the same 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:53.360 kind of volume because they're coming for the food and 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:56.440 that's kind of the hero. Now. Yeah, and you have 0:08:56.480 --> 0:09:00.120 a unique menu. Are there any signature dishes you think 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:02.319 your customers have to try? And what are some of 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:05.800 the most popular items that you sell? Yeah, so, I mean, 0:09:05.880 --> 0:09:08.160 you know, we have amazing burgers. We sell a bunch 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:10.520 of burgers. But I think the duck and on dewey 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:14.240 gumbo will change your life. I think the crawfish a 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:18.480 tooth fe which is just a traditional South Louisiana don't 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:20.200 call the soup because it's not a soup, it's not 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:22.840 a gravy, it's not a bisk i don't language call. 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:27.760 But it's just really good, fantastic. So that's probably twenty 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:30.800 percent of the menu is traditional Louisiana cuisine, but I 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:33.240 would do you know, the Voodoo shrimp and grits, you know, 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:36.360 big jumbo sixteen twenty golf shrimp. We peel in house 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.760 fresh stuff with cream cheese, halapino wrapped with bacon served 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:43.400 or sweet corn grits. I mean, some good stuff. And 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:46.040 then also if you're if you're a dessert person, if 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:50.040 you're not, we make Chris Crispy Cream donut bread pudding 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:56.040 in house with all all donuts in it. Um, it's ridiculous, dude, 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:59.240 it is ridiculous. So you definitely I would do that 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:02.280 the donut put it for sure. Oh that sounds fantastic 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:05.839 and making me hungry. I had earnings Darden's earnings this morning, 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:10.120 so I haven't been able to eat yet. Oh, so 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:12.400 have you changed the menu since the start of the pandemic. 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:14.800 You know a lot of peers in the industry have 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:18.520 have kind of paired the menu and they've tried to 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:20.720 put some more maybe new items on the menu that 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:24.800 travel well, um has what's been you know, what's been 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:28.640 walk onto policy on that? Yeah, So you know when 0:10:28.640 --> 0:10:32.080 the pandemic hit, we were we were watching like we 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:34.000 were probably some of that people saw it coming that 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:36.360 they could be like what it was was shutting everything down. 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:38.439 But I was like, man, people are gonna be getting 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:40.600 to go like something, They're going to freak out, Like, 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:43.680 let's just have some things in queues. So we added 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:47.440 a lot to our menu with to go family meal 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:49.880 pack things like that. We were doing margaritas to go 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:52.080 because it's Louisiana, you can do that. We had that 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:55.240 stuff kind of rolling early. Um. And then when the 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:57.559 when we had to shut down our dining rooms, we 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:00.040 kept the full menu or a lot of restaurants I 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:02.839 think cut way back because of labor and which, like 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.360 we just wanted to continue to serve what we serve. 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:08.960 And and so you know, things we've added, things that 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:12.040 have changed. You know, to Go is still I mean, god, 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:15.560 start to Go went from like you know, seven eight 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:18.839 percent to like fando of dining rooms, right, But we 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:23.280 were we were fortunate because we had had created this 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:26.400 love for the food that we clawed back eighty eighty 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:28.480 five percent of our sales at new dining rooms just 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:32.240 which was ridiculous. And so you know, I don't think 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:34.440 most sports you know, think of most sports bars and 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:37.480 people like let's get those freeze with or fire cheese sticks. 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:39.640 You know, like they were coming in for a fresh 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:43.040 salmon and stick, like maybe really good food. So but 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:45.959 you know, certain things travel better than others. Fried foods tough, 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:48.640 and so we looked at packaging, We looked at alternative 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:52.160 things for sides, introduced some different stuff that you know 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:56.800 probably traveled traveled a little easier. But um, we've always 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.640 kind of had our our thumb on the pulse of 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:02.079 like just being innovative with the food. It's got to 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:05.440 be flavorful. You know, we don't buy anything that's pre 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:07.480 bredit or frozen that goes in a fry, I mean 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:09.920 very much a scratch kitchen. So you know, it gave 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:12.120 us a chance to kind of innovate. And then you know, 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:15.240 there was a value point where people were freaking out 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:17.439 and they didn't have jobs, and so you had that. 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:20.480 But you know, we kind of settled back into just 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:23.880 like this cadence of like quality food and then driving 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:27.560 technology on the side of like carry out okay cool. Uh, 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:31.280 and we touched on the culture at the top and uh, 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:35.000 it really seems to be a strong differentiator differentiator for 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:36.680 the brand. So can you talk a little bit about 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:41.280 the culture. The rumble uh and uh if you if 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:43.840 you'd like to share any you know, employee turnover turn 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:48.240 So like cultures everything, man, I think, um, you know, 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:51.160 I think restaurant people in the restaurant business. It's it's, uh, 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:54.280 we're just not supposed to be successful. Like if you're 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:56.440 a kid and you tell your parents that I'm gonna 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:58.120 be in the restaurant business, So like, are you kidding me? 0:12:58.200 --> 0:12:59.839 Like when you're gonna get a real job. I remember 0:12:59.840 --> 0:13:01.599 my parents like, when are you going to get a 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:03.839 real job? Stop doing that restaurant thing. What'd you go 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:05.800 to college for. I'm like, oh my god, you know 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:08.320 you can make money, mom and dad. Right. But um, 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:11.240 so there's that underdog mindset that we have at walk On, 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:13.920 which is that, you know the walk On you're the underdog, 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:16.920 and so we kind of leverage that in our culture 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:20.920 that you know, everybody's got a story team before self 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:22.920 about the name on the front, not the back. And 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:26.719 so we corral everybody there because like I said, we're 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:30.560 just not supposed to be good, right, And even even 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:33.920 our elected officials set we were unskilled workers at some point. 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:36.120 So I'm like, come, come work, Come work on the 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:39.320 line out of Friday Night. I'll show you. But nobody's 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:43.000 saying anything, right, so you know, but for us cultures, everything, 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:46.280 you know, the rumble is something. It's really cool and 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:48.920 I was just talking to somebody about it the other day. 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:51.520 It's it's authentic because it came from a point of 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:55.160 like when we sucked the worst in what we were 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:58.080 doing and we'd opened a restaurant. It's twenty eleven, you 0:13:58.120 --> 0:13:59.720 open a restaurant in the laugh yet and we'd never 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:01.840 been owned for our food and we were fifty fifty 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:05.040 food alcohol in Baton Rouge and we opened this first 0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:08.720 restaurant out of the market. But it was really I 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:10.560 was I was still coming back and forth. It was 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:13.000 my menu with Brandon, but we basically just amped it 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:16.640 up fresh everything. Food was amazing. As we opened this 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:19.000 restaurant and seven million dollars restaurant, we're doing eighty percent 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:22.320 food and just getting our getting our ass kicked, honestly 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:27.160 every day. And so the fourth day we were open, somebody, 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:28.840 I don't know who did it, said we should start 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:32.000 doing to go worse because we were like barely keeping 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:34.400 our head above water, not doing anything to go and 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:37.240 so I remember like seeing all these tickets. There's when 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:39.360 we had tickets and I'm like, what all these tickets 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:41.920 were to go? And like the guy on expo had 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:44.920 like tickets wrapped around and packed and like nobody know where, 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:47.120 what food was going where. I'm like, we're just like 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:51.320 crashing and burning and people are pissed off. And I 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:53.640 was like, man, I went up to the hostess and 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:55.800 we put this little note on the door that said 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:58.720 closed for a gas leak. We didn't have a gas 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:01.400 but it was done. It was the only way that 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:05.640 we could get everybody out of the restaurant somewhat orderly fashioned, 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:07.800 and they didn't hate us. They were more like, oh 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:09.480 my god, you guys gonna be okay, Like, yeah, we're 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:11.200 gonna be okay, We're gonna be fine. We're worried about 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:13.360 your safety, you know, and it's like they've got it 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:16.040 contained back there. It's just more of a cautionary thing, 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:18.920 you know. And we emptied the restaurant out and just 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:21.000 sat there and looked at each other like, man, we 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:24.320 have got to stop being scared. We've got to be 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:26.240 better prepared. There were some things we needed to change 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:29.440 and how we opened up, but like the biggest thing 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:32.280 is like, man, we've got to come in here prepared 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:34.240 to kick ass, not getta ask kicked every day and 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:38.560 so that rumble was a release of frustrations. We busted plates, 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:42.040 punched holes and walls. I mean just like went nuts 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:44.680 and let's get it all out now. Because we closed 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:46.200 at two o'clock, we were closed for the day. We 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:48.200 may have drank a beer or two, but like when 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:50.200 we come in tomorrow morning at seventy am, we're gonna 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:52.320 be ready because we're gonna we're gonna kick ass. And 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:54.440 so that rumble we do it every day, twice a 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:57.240 day at every restaurant, and it just signified it's it's 0:15:57.280 --> 0:15:59.800 our rally call to like let's kick ass. No, it's 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:02.520 I really appreciate your ability to think on your feet. 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:07.000 The guess like was fantastic, and a mentor that said, man, 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:08.880 just shake stuff up, and I was like, I remember 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:11.120 texted and I was like, guess what I did. He's like, dude, 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:14.520 like kind of it's like kind of sucks, but it's cool. Yeah, no, 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:19.760 very cool. Um, whatever you need to do to survive, right, Um, 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:22.640 is there any you know, employee turnover data that that 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:25.040 you're willing to share. I mean, has that that kind 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:29.600 of culture helped helped you in that aspect? Yeah, you 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.880 know so I think, um, people go back to code, 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:35.480 it'll be like it's still there, I guess. But like, 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:38.880 you know, when you had to furlough all your people, 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.040 you know what a shitty word like nobody like, but 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:42.920 you had to basically let all your people go because 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:44.600 you didn't have a job or a bartender or a 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:48.000 server or a bus or and most of your kitchen staff. 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:50.760 And so you know, we're a debt free company. What 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.280 had happened. I remember having a conversation with Brandon and 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:56.320 Drew Brees when our partners, like guys were probably gonna 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:58.520 have a little debt. We gotta take care of our people, 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:02.840 and we made sure we fed everybody every single day 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:05.159 at every restaurant, like come get a meal, meal for 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:08.000 your family. And we just kept in touch with them 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:11.359 every week and a newsletter what's going on, try to 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:14.720 get them all unemployment. I remember talking to these third 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:17.439 party delivery guys just getting our people set up to 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:21.919 drive vehicles to deliver. So he just had jobs, you know, 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:24.679 And then then listen, I'll give the credit Randy to 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:26.680 win his crew and Dallas came up with for a 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.720 little kitchen and I saw it. Actually, my wife saw 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:32.440 it on Facebook and something. She's like, Scott checked this out. 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:35.080 So I hit a Brandy said, man, I said, I 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:36.960 love your idea. I want to steal it, but can 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:39.760 we partner because I want to get our people back 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:41.480 to work too, And so he was like, yeah, we 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:44.080 had a marketing Remember we had a marketing zoom with 0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:47.080 his team and our team, and there's somewhat competitors day 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:49.200 on Twin Peaks at the time too. I'm like, let's 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:53.160 just figure this out. And and gosh, like eighty thousand 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:56.160 meals we've served with for a little kitchen. But all 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:58.320 that being city's about turnover. We got our people back 0:17:58.320 --> 0:17:59.800 to work. We didn't put a note on the doors 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:03.479 call this number for your final check. We engaged, we 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:05.760 stayed engaged, and like when we were able to hire 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:08.840 people back, they came back and the people that treated 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:12.320 like their teammates like crap came to us to work. 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:15.520 So we've not had an issue getting staffed up. We 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:17.840 don't have a now hiring banner in front of our restaurant, 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:20.359 but a lot new because we just treat our people 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:23.760 right and then not turnover. I mean, everybody's got turnover. 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:30.840 I think if we have turnover a lot of times, yeah, 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:33.800 we could hire the wrong persons whatever, But man, I 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:36.000 think that we got over a way to try to 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:39.159 figure out how we're going to impact somebody's life. And 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:42.639 that's like when I talked to our to our operators, 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:45.399 I'm like, man, yeah, this is a rough business if 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:47.520 if it doesn't have a higher purpose somewhere, like it's 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:49.520 just kind of you get beat up, punch in the 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:51.119 face a lot, you know, a lot, a lot of 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:54.440 grace and appreciation. But you know, if you go back 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:57.760 and see how you're creating a path for somebody and 0:18:57.800 --> 0:19:01.240 creating an environment where the team is bigger than the 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:03.960 individual and people just feel like they're part of something 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:06.480 even though they don't stay in the restaurant businessman just 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:11.040 haven't had some moment where you impacted that individual. So 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:13.560 that's that's like such a mission with the team, so 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:17.400 they don't typically leave. Yeah, just feel like they're part 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:19.719 of something cool and we're gonna be there for them. 0:19:19.800 --> 0:19:24.800 So yeah, no, it's awesome. Um, how many units do 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:27.119 you have right now? And what's the split between the 0:19:27.160 --> 0:19:31.200 company owned and franchise units. So we have seventy five 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:34.880 locations was opened in Auburn just outside of Auburn, Alabama. 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:39.280 Last month. We have seventy two franchise, three corporate. We 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:43.240 had up to nine corporate which we sold strategically to 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:45.640 franchise groups when they were coming in, so they kind 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:49.160 of have a training location, you know. But our our 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:51.480 plan is to continue to add some corporate locations because 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:53.320 you got to skin in the game, and you know, 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:56.400