WEBVTT - The Mac & Cheese Millionaire, Deloitte Sustainability Report 0:00:02.440 --> 0:00:06.760 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:10.280 You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:12.719 Tim Stenebek on Bloomberg Radio. 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:16.480 We talk a lot about metaverse high tech stuff. Sometimes 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:19.880 we talk low tech, and we talk mac and cheese. 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:24.520 And why not. They're all good. They are all good, 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:27.920 and they can sometimes take you unexpected places. Can you 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:31.160 build a dream on mac and cheese? I was trying 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:33.120 to think of what the European equivalent is to mac 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:35.960 and cheese. Such a big mac and cheese we do, 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:40.040 but it's not quite the same. It can be good. 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:41.920 I have asked people to bring me back boxes of 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:45.440 it from the US before. Yeah. Look, this is what 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:48.000 our next guest has done. She's made mac and cheese 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:50.879 part of her brand, part of her business idea, and 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:53.720 something that she's built a new career on and we're 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:55.720 thrilled to talk more about it as well. The book 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:58.760 that she's written is Mac and Cheese Millionaire, Building a 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:01.760 Better Business by Thinking outside the box, and that's out there. 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:05.200 Aaron Waite joins us now from Oakland, California. Aaron, welcome, 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:08.560 great to talk to you. And you went from restaurants 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:12.959 to law I'm back to restaurants. Talk us through that 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:17.880 process and how you ended up becoming you know, the 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:18.959 Queen of mac and cheese. 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:24.800 Sure, So you know, I began my career with a 0:01:24.920 --> 0:01:28.320 huge passion for food and had you know, cooked in restaurants, 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:31.000 but found that it was a really dead end job. 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:34.800 You know, the pay is low, the treatment is not great. 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:37.280 So I just did not see a future for myself. 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:40.160 So I decided to go to law school and do 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:42.720 what you know, generations of lost people with no direction 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:46.399 you have done and become a lawyer. But I didn't. 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:50.720 I didn't love it, so I actually got fired. Turns 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:53.880 out you're you're not good at what you don't like doing. 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:56.960 And I decided I wanted to create the restaurant that 0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:59.840 I wish that I could have worked at. So not 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:03.240 was it a love of family, my family recipe of 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:05.600 mac and cheese and wanting to bring that to the market, 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:08.120 because I just didn't see that being filled anywhere. You know, 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:12.040 there's like pizza restaurants, barbecue, but not mac and cheese. 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:14.640 But I really want to focus on how do I 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:18.680 create the kind of workplace that I wish, the kind 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:20.640 of restaurant that I could have worked in and what 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:21.800 do I need to do to do that? 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:25.000 So what in particular did you want in terms of 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:27.120 making it the place that you wanted to work at. 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:28.720 What was it that needed to be different? 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:32.920 You know? You know, my book is filled with a 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:34.359 lot of trial and error. I think the truth is 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:36.200 I didn't know. I knew what I didn't want to 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:38.440 do right, but sometimes it's harder when you haven't had 0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:40.600 the example set of what you do want to do. 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:44.240 So I found that it really came down to three things, 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:51.000 which was you know, communication, collaboration, and collective success and 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:53.480 having to give you examples of you know, ways that 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:55.880 we did all those three things. But that I found 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:58.640 was really the secret to our success. And you know, 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:02.320 not only in an industry where the average tenure is 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:05.280 you know, less than ninety days. Our average tenure is 0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:07.280 two and a half years, but our profitability was in 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.680 the top one percent of restaurants. So I'm really proud 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:11.400 of what we achieved. 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:14.120 Yeah, because looks it's a difficult business to get into, 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:15.760 and I think if you know, if you're going to 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:18.040 make a leap of faith into something new, you didn't 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:21.840 perhaps pick the clearest or the easiest path to do that. 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:24.600 Talk us about getting getting the first the first home 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:25.320 room started. 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:30.040 You know, statistics about restaurants that most fail in their 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:32.880 first year. I mean it's daunting, but anyway, go ahead, 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:33.640 because it's tough. 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:35.560 No, they do, and I mean I think that's why. 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:38.480 Actually it makes for such a great business book, because 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:43.320 you know, if we were using these techniques successfully, I mean, 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:45.920 it is the hardest industry to make it, so, you know, 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:48.440 I really think they can these ideas can work anywhere. 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:53.120 But yeah, I mean it's it's crazy. I mean, banks 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:55.760 won't even give you loans because it's considered you know, 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:58.280 your your odds are better and less Vegas than investing 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:02.360 in a restaurant. But I do think that with sort 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:04.840 of you know, by using these techniques, I think people 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:07.560 in all kinds of businesses can can beat the odds. 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:11.200 Took us through the first few months of that business, though, 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:14.000 at what point did you know that you hot you 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:16.200 around to something and that you that was going to 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:18.520 take off into something that of course it became a 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:19.680 cultish hit. 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:27.000 Yeah, you know, luckily we're packed from you know, day one, 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:31.400 and I really credit it to frankly, just having an 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:35.479 exceptionally good quality product. So you know, at most restaurants, 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:37.359 if they have mac and cheese at all, it is 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:39.599 a side dish. It's something that is not paid very 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:41.960 much attention to. And for us, this is really the 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:44.120 main thing. So you know, we made each one to order, 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:47.560 We used my family recipe. We put nearly a quarter 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:49.880 pound of cheese in each portion, so you know, it's 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:53.440 incredibly cheesy, it's fresh, it's it's made with love and care, 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:57.200 and you know, and that makes a huge difference versus 0:04:57.200 --> 0:04:59.400 sitting in a vat somewhere. So I think people were 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:03.039 very very us with the products from day one. But frankly, 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:05.320 I think also what we did is like created tremendous 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:07.600 value surrounding the experience. Because I had worked a lot 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:10.240 in fine dining, but something that I thought was really 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.240 lacking in a more casual setting is like, you know, 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.080 great design and great service. Those things don't need to 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:19.080 cost more, they just need someone to care more. And so, 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:21.640 you know, I think that people's perception of value of 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:24.839 getting to sit in this really beautifully designed space, getting 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:27.440 you know, some of the best service that they've had 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:30.480 in a restaurant while eating, you know, the best version 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:32.080 of mac and cheese they've ever had. It's just a 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:32.719 winning combo. 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:34.880 I have to say, there's a restaurant in our neighborhood, 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:39.000 a local, one family run, and they have an incredible 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:40.760 mac and cheese and we will go there just for 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:42.120 the mac and cheese. And it used to be a 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:44.479 place downtown. I don't even know if it exists, but 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:46.679 that's all it did. And great, you know, cast iron 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:49.800 skillets and any kind of like varieties of mac and cheese. 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:52.760 It is like just that food that we just love. 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:53.320 We just love. 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:56.080 What's one of the biggest I don't know what was 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:58.440 one of the biggest moments in this process. I feel 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:01.240 like everybody who started a business, especially in the restaurant industry, 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:01.960 we've all seen. 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:02.720 The bear and loved it. 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:06.520 But I do wonder where you were. I don't know. 0:06:06.680 --> 0:06:10.080 It was either just a huge learning experience, whether from 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:13.120 your team, from your workers, I don't know, tell. 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:17.520 Us, you know. I have to say we used a 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:20.279 lot of like really interesting techniques to engage people in 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:22.839 the business. For instance, we're an open book company and 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:25.880 so share financials and teach financial literacy. And I think 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:29.080 that was a huge aha, right, It like really unlocks 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:32.359 people's like potential and power to understand business in a 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:34.640 deep way and to feel like they're part of something 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:37.080 that's bigger than themselves versus just showing up every day 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:39.599 to cook. So, you know, I'd say that's one moment 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:43.279 that I'm incredibly proud of. But you know, another is 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:46.240 that we used all these techniques of you know, we 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:50.560 had a lot of different tools to be communicating, collaborating, 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:54.720 and we actually came up with a solution to sexual 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:58.960 harassment which our staff was experiencing. And it I wrote 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:02.160 a viral piece in Washington Post about it, it got 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:04.919 adopted by the EEO CEO went to Washington to go 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:07.200 testify about it, and it's now used by restaurants and 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:09.720 bars all around the world. So, you know, I think 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:12.000 that also, frankly, when you tap into the power of 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:14.320 a workforce. You know, we were just a small restaurant 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:16.840 but made a difference on a global scale, and I think, 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:19.800 you know, I'm incredibly proud of that. 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:21.800 But talk to us a little bit more about that, 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:24.920 like how you came to realize it's something needed to 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:27.560 be done. Differently, I think it's safe to say that 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:31.840 most women have had some degree of sexual harassment, some 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:36.680 that is quote unquote harmless. I don't even know that 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:38.320 I should use that word that I'm probably gonna be 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:44.160 spacked ss No, I know, but I guess we're we 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:46.320 grow up and just are like, Okay, I got to 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:48.200 get through because I love my job. I want to 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.120 keep going that kind of thing. And then there's ones that, Nope, 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:53.320 you're going to court because somebody has to pay for something. 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:57.360 But tell us about how you approached it and you 0:07:57.400 --> 0:07:59.760 knew you had to kind of maybe change it or 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:04.520 have some kind of impact and why. 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:05.760 Yeah, you know, honestly, well, I was approached by a 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:08.640 number of female servers at the restaurant who all were complaining, 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:10.440 and honestly, they said they'd worked at a ton of 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:13.320 places and this had happened everywhere. This was just the 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:15.600 first time that they thought maybe someone would actually do 0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:18.640 something about it. And so I did what I usually 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:21.920 did when someone brings up a problem, which is include 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:26.480 them in the solution to it. So, you know, we 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:29.360 came up with a system that our entire staff that 0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:33.120 want to participate did participate in creating it. And I 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:36.520 think the reason it's so effective is that honestly, it 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:39.480 really sort of honors people wherever they are. It's like 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:44.720 basically a color coded system, and when someone experiences something 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:47.840 with that color, they just report the color and an 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:51.840 action is taken. So you know, for instance, a yellow 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:54.240 is just you get a bad vibe at a table. 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:56.640 You just say hey, I've got a yellow at table two, 0:08:56.840 --> 0:09:00.240 and a manager will take it over for you. And 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:02.400 an orange is you have a bad feeling. Plus let's 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:06.679 say an ambiguous comment something like I like your shirt. 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:08.360 You know, depending on who says that to you and 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:10.160 how they say it to you, it might feel totally 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:14.319 benign or aggressive. And so same deal. Someone just goes 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:15.760 to a manager and says, hey, I've got an orange 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:18.600 at table too, and the manager takes it over. And 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:22.280 with a red, that's someone saying something overtly sexual or 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:24.839 touching a staff member, and in that case, again the 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:26.920 staff member just says the color and then the manager's 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:29.920 required to kick the person out. And you know, I 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:32.560 think what's so cool about the system is that you know, 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:34.880 guests honestly don't know is being used on them, So 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:38.120 it's very customer friendly. It. You know, staff members are 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:40.480 going to have all kinds of different experiences, and some 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:42.520 people are going to find certain things threatening and other 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.640 ones won't, and so it allows us to meet staff 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:48.319 where they are and take action. And it's really easy 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:51.360 for managers to use. And what we found is amazing. 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:52.800 As we thought it would just be a way of 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:55.400 coping with harassment and just giving us a way to 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:57.320 deal with it, but actually what it did is it 0:09:57.360 --> 0:10:00.880 really nearly eliminated the worst forms of it, because very 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.160 few people walk into a restaurant and like stick their 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:05.560 hand of someone's shirt, but you know, they will usually 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:07.839 start with lower level things like checking them out or 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:10.360 making little level comments, and then once things are tolerated, 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:14.040 they escalate their behavior. So it just really sort of 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:16.680 stopped the problem from happening, and in a way that 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:20.320 I think is really respectful to people, you know, no 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:22.280 matter if their customer, staff manager. 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:24.080 And I got to go on record because I'm going 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:27.440 to get my sisters, my daughter and rightfully, so none 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:30.640 of it is harmless. I guess just when you grow 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.400 up in a world where I think women still feel 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:35.440 like sometimes you've just got to kind of bite your 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:37.199 tongue to kind of get through, and I just want 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:41.439 to put it out that any form of sexual harassment, 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:45.720 whether it's yellow, whatever color, it's all bad, it's all harmful. 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:48.080 I think what I find really interesting about this Color 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:50.520 Code of Conduct is you're giving people language to be 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:53.440 able to talk about how they feel and how they 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:56.000 feel affected by it. And it's a model. It's been 0:10:56.040 --> 0:10:58.920 taken up by businesses elsewhere as well. Talk to us 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:01.400 a little bit about how you're seeing. You know, what 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:03.800 you've heard about how the Color Code of conducts being 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:06.000 used outside of your business. 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:10.800 Yeah, I mean I've gotten like from just fabulous feedback. 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:12.640 And actually, you know, one of the most fun parts 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:14.040 is there's plenty of people that use it that I'll 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:15.880 never know. But I'll walk into a bar and I'll 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:18.080 find like one of our posters on the wall. Or 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:21.080 I went to speak at a conference and it was 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:24.640 like all these you know, bar owners from like across 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:29.080 America and the globe. And I was so surprised because 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:31.800 at the end of my session, I didn't, you know, 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:33.920 I wasn't getting a ton of questions, and I was like, 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:36.280 what's happening here? And then I asked people to raise 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:37.920 their hand if they had known of the system or 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:39.439 if they use it in their bar and like everyone 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:43.480 raised their hand and it's like okay, cool. So I 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:44.760 wonder doesn't help people. 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:48.040 This is an industry where there's a huge staff turnover, right, 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.160 I wonder how much that's helped towards staff retention at 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:52.599 a time. You know, we talk so much about the 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:54.920 tight labor markets, and we know that hospitality is one 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:57.280 sector really affected by that. Has it helped you to 0:11:57.440 --> 0:11:59.840 keep people good people on your style? 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:03.160 Oh my god, one hundred percent. I mean to my 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:05.199 point about sort of all the tools in the book, right, 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:07.800 if we can use them, then anyone can, because I 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:10.520 think you know, something really missing from the conversation right 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:13.319 now about the labor market and what to do is that, 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:17.720 in my experience, the most meaningful things actually don't cost money. 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:20.840 They just take time and care. Right, Like, we are constrained. 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:22.800 There's only so much we can pay people when we're 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:25.080 charging folks ten dollars for mac and cheese, right, Like, 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:28.000 it's just that's just true. It's not going to be 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:31.240 the most highly paid job of someone's life, probably, but 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:34.360 you know, there's so much you can do that makes 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:37.920 work an enjoyable place to come to and meaningful and 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:40.840 purposeful and I think those are the things, honestly that 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:42.959 you know, make life worth living. 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:44.880 Are there any of your original teams still with you 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:45.600 in homeroom? 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:46.520 Oh? 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:49.719 Yeah, a bunch, so they stayed on. I mean, it 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:52.320 proves that it works, right. One of the things that 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:54.640 I really liked about your book and your own story 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:56.960 as well as You're talking about wanting to fall in 0:12:57.000 --> 0:12:59.880 love with work, and do you think that we need 0:12:59.880 --> 0:13:02.280 to be in love with what we do in order 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:02.880 to succeed. 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:07.480 I mean, in my experience, yes, I mean, you know, 0:13:07.600 --> 0:13:09.440 I'm really smart, and I was working as a lawyer 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:11.360 and I got fired. And I don't think it's an accident. 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:14.160 I found it very hard to be good at something 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:18.000 that I didn't like doing, you know, versus something I'm 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:22.440 passionate about. You know, my my worst days as an 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:25.200 entrepreneur have been better than my best days as a lawyer. 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.760 But you know, I think, I think it's a real gift, 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:32.120 you know, to wake up and enjoy going to work. 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:34.600 And it's one I didn't, you know, previous to starting 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:37.080 my own restaurant think was possible. So I guess I 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:39.160 just wanted to communicate people to people that I do 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:42.040 think it's possible, and I try to give them tips 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:44.240 and tools for you know, how to find that passion 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:46.760 within yourself, how to pursue it, how to create spaces 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:50.360 where other people can't to because I think honestly, we 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:52.319 spend more of our lives at work than in almost 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:54.960 anything else, and we don't enjoy it. Like what are 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:55.560 we doing here? 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:57.680 I would certainly say yes. It's one of the pieces 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.000 of advice my dad gave to me growing up, like, fine, 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:02.120 something you love to do. And I remember my first 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:03.760 job in journalism. I had to be in it like 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:07.120 the wee hours made maybe fourteen fifteen thousand dollars, had 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:10.880 to borrow money from my father and mother to buy 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:13.040 a car, use car for four thousand dollars, or I 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:15.160 can get into New York City because there was no 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:18.240 mass transportation. But it was I knew it's what I 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:20.280 wanted to do, and it's amazing, Like right, when you 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:22.960 find something you want to do. Having said that, you 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:26.080 also write. To create anything new of value, you always 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.440 have to be willing to fail upward, to make mistakes 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:31.080 and get a little better every time. This philosophy had 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:34.120 worked for you for me, you with everything from adding 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:38.200 new menu items to refining management philosophies, but something about 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:40.880 experimenting with people's safety at work felt too important to 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:41.720 fail upward. 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:47.640 That's important, Yeah, I mean most of the book is 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:50.240 sort of ridiculous stories about you know, what are the 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:52.640 ways that we failed before we found systems that worked, 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.120 And I was pretty terrified of doing that with our 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:57.600 harassment system. But the truth is, there is no other 0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:01.000 way to create something that doesn't yet exist. So we did. 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:03.880 And I tried to put in our mistakes so that 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:05.400 other people don't need to make them too. 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:09.000 I really, I really enjoyed how honest you were about this, because, 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:11.360 you know, having when you have a non linear career path, 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:13.480 you've moving out of things, it can be difficult to 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:15.480 be honest about the stuff that doesn't work. You know, 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:17.640 when you've invested, for example, a lot of money and 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:21.840 going to law school, you know that's got to hurt, right, 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:23.880 And I wonder do you take things from your legal 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:26.120 career into what you're doing now? Are there elements of 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:28.480 what you learned in law school and maybe what you 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:30.760 learned from from working in the industry as well, that 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:32.520 are relevant to your job now? 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:35.760 You know, actually, one of the most helpful things that 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:38.720 I took from my legal career into being an entrepreneur 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:43.240 was actually how we deal with discipline. I had been 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:45.280 really interested in this question because I feel like it's 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:49.840 pretty ineffective in most workplaces. And I had worked all 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:53.200 through law school at a district attorney's office, actually Kama 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:56.200 Hair's office when she was d of San Francisco. But 0:15:57.240 --> 0:15:59.320 so I was very interested in, like, what are different, 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:03.480 you know, ways that we approach punishment. And we ended 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:06.880 up at my restaurant, Homeroom adopting a system that I 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:10.280 had seen used in the criminal justice system called restorative justice. So, 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:13.360 you know, most stuff at work, when someone screws up, 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:15.600 you just get punished. You maybe get a write up, 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:17.920 you maybe get doc shifts, you know, things like that. 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:20.840 And with restorative justice, the idea is actually it's not 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:22.840 to punish people, but to make it right. And so 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:26.400 we started shifting from like punishing people when they screwed 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:30.400 up to you know, walking them through this restorative model 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:32.800 of figuring out how to make it right with staff, 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:36.560 you know, like how to you know, apologize like do 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:39.760 nice things, fix it with the customer, you know, help 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:42.560 your manager, like really make it right. With all the 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:46.160 people affected by their behavior, and it was a real 0:16:46.240 --> 0:16:48.680 sea change for us. You know, it was really helpful. 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:51.200 Aaron, you dropped something like an elephant in the living room. 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:52.880 We have to ask you, So you worked with Kamala 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:55.360 Harris or it sounds like you have some experience what 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:58.360 what would you what do you think some our audience 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:01.120 in your experience with with working with her or dealing 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:03.120 with her or talking with her that you think is 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:03.760 worth sharing. 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:07.280 Oh gosh, I mean I do think you know, she was. 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:09.560 I mean I had worked for her because I was 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:11.639 really drawn to she was doing stuff that at the 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:16.720 time was considered pretty out there, and you know, so, yeah, 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:20.199 I have tremendous, tremendous respect for her, and you know, 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:25.160 fun that she's running for president right now, So I yeah, 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:29.960 I guess I just say, I think I really respect 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:32.280 that she has tried things that other people weren't willing 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:33.760 to do. Frankly, at the time, I don't think she 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:38.240 gets much credit for that, but she's an innovative prosecutor 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:39.200 and she's good at what she did. 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:41.480 Well, be sure to keep us up to date on 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:43.760 what you do with homeroom, especially if you expanded out 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:47.280 and grow and we love talking to certainly small business owners, 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:49.520 but your path has really been an interesting one and 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:52.879 thanks for sharing it. Aaron Wade, chef and entrepreneur, I 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:55.760 guess I can say also a lawyer or former lawyer. 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:57.919 Her book is The MC and Tee's Millionaire Building a 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:01.640 Better Business By Thinking Outside the Box. Joining us from Oakland, California. 0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:03.480 All right, we're going to get back to a topic 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:06.600 that is something Billy, thank you, a topic that we've 0:18:06.640 --> 0:18:09.640 talked about a lot in the last twenty four hours. 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:12.280 It being Climate Week here in New York City. We 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:15.879 have the U in General Assembly underway, but climate was 0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:19.080 a big topic of discussion at our Bloomberg event yesterday, 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:21.840 the Global Business Form and also the earth Shot Prize 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:25.400 Innovation Summit. And we're going to continue that conversation because 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:26.960 there's a new study out from Deloitte. 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:30.480 Yeah right, this is the twenty twenty four AMXO Sustainability 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:34.240 Report from Deloitte, and we've got Deloitte's Global Sustainability and 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.680 Climate Practice leader, Jennifer's Simon here with us in studio. 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:39.080 Great to see you, Jennifer. Thanks very much for coming 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:41.280 in to talk to us. This is an interesting time 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:45.040 to be thinking about how c suite executives are thinking 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:47.920 about the sustainability, not only because we're looking ahead towards 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:49.879 the US election, but also we're in this kind of 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:52.600 a very interesting moment economically as well. I mean, what's 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:55.000