- 1 day ago
Elliot Nelson, founder and CEO of McNellie’s Group, expanded a single Tulsa pub into 27 restaurants across Oklahoma and Arkansas. As a restaurateur and community developer, he has built spaces that anchor neighborhoods and showcase the spirit of Oklahoma hospitality.
Watch now to learn about surviving a St. Patrick’s Day disaster, the challenge of building a neighborhood around a pub, and how Oklahoma hospitality turned into 27 restaurants.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
Watch now to learn about surviving a St. Patrick’s Day disaster, the challenge of building a neighborhood around a pub, and how Oklahoma hospitality turned into 27 restaurants.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
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NewsTranscript
00:00What is Oklahoma hospitality?
00:02Yeah, that's a good question.
00:05Some of the feedback we get about Tulsa, people that have moved here or visit here,
00:09is just how friendly everyone is, right?
00:14Oklahoma, when the wind comes sweeping down the plain.
00:25Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented by Entrepreneur.
00:28I'm your host, Sean Walcheff.
00:29This is a Cali BBQ Media production in life, in the restaurant business,
00:34and in the new creator economy.
00:36We learn through lessons and stories.
00:38We launched the show back in 2022 with a mission to find the best storytellers
00:45in the hospitality space, and we're so grateful that today we have Elliot Nelson
00:49from McNeely's Group.
00:52McNeely's Restaurant Group is a restaurant group with 17 different concepts.
00:57He might correct me on that because he opens them so quickly.
01:01Over 24 locations throughout Oklahoma and Arkansas.
01:05Elliot, I've been really excited to have you on the show.
01:07The more that I learn about the breadth of what you do and what you've been doing,
01:12the more excited I am for you to share with our audience some of the secrets,
01:16some of the failures and the successes along the way.
01:19Welcome to the show.
01:19Yeah, thanks for having me.
01:20Yeah, you're right.
01:21We're up to, I think, 19 concepts and 27 locations, right?
01:25There you go.
01:25It's a problem.
01:2619 and 27.
01:28Well, we'll talk about the problem because it sounds like a gift.
01:32Some people's problems are other people's gifts.
01:35But where in the world is your favorite stadium, stage, or venue?
01:39Oh, man, that's a great question.
01:44You know, because I'm a baseball guy, and I preface this by saying I'm a Cardinals fan,
01:48but I've always loved Wrigley Field.
01:51You know, I spent a lot of time up in Chicago over the years.
01:55And while I despise the Cubs because I'm a Cardinals fan,
01:58I believe Wrigley Field is the best bar in the world.
02:00You know, so most people aren't paying attention to the game.
02:04But you catch that place on the right summer afternoon, it's magic.
02:09Fair enough.
02:09So let's go to Wrigley.
02:11I'll talk to Entrepreneur.
02:12We'll talk to Toast.
02:13Toast has been sponsoring the show.
02:16They've believed in this platform.
02:18They power our restaurants, but they've given us the opportunity to have people like you on this show.
02:22We'll talk to Toast, some other brands.
02:24And we're going to fill Wrigley with people that we say play the game within the game,
02:28the true hospitality heroes.
02:31I'm going to give you the mic, put you on the pitcher's mound and say,
02:35Elliot, I want to hear the story of when you opened James E. McNeely's public house,
02:43when you were not sure that this was going to work out,
02:48that you were hiding in an elevator.
02:51Not sure.
02:53Man, you dug deep on some research to find that story.
02:56Well, when you hide on top of a keg from your staff,
03:02I mean, I've been running restaurants for 17 years.
03:05We're celebrating 17 years coming up this month,
03:08and we have three locations.
03:10But that story in particular is why we do this show,
03:13because someone somewhere in the world will listen to this podcast,
03:18will watch this video, and maybe they're going through that dark moment.
03:21So bring us back to that dark moment.
03:24Yeah, so I'll tell you.
03:26So when I decided to open the McNeely's,
03:28we were – so I was an English major in college.
03:31Thought I could go to law school.
03:33Interned at a couple of law firms, like a legal aid clinic
03:35and a law firm, something for my senior year of college.
03:38And saw what a lawyer did every day.
03:40I was like, man, I don't think I can do this in my life.
03:41And so I took an entrepreneurship class.
03:46The first day of the class, the guy was like, you know,
03:48write down your favorite things in life.
03:50What are they?
03:50You know, so mine were like beer, food, travel.
03:53And he said, all right, your project this semester,
03:55your whole grade is going to be based on you writing a business plan,
03:57figuring out how you make money, doing something on your list.
03:59So I wrote a business plan for an Irish pub.
04:02My fictional Irish pub was set back in my hometown.
04:05It's also Oklahoma.
04:06And as I worked on it and I, like, came home over Christmas
04:10and other things, like, I was like, you know what?
04:12I think this is a good idea.
04:13I think the bars here are really bad.
04:15And I had, you know, kind of gotten into craft beer by that point
04:18and knew that no one here really owned that.
04:20So I was, you know, 22 years old out of college and just said,
04:24okay, I'm going to build a pub, right?
04:26And it took a while to get the building.
04:29And then the building I found was old and dilapidated,
04:32so it took a, you know, year and a half to put it back together.
04:35But when we opened, I had waited tables for nine months
04:39in the interim there to figure out how a restaurant works.
04:41That was my only restaurant education.
04:43And then we were on kind of an island in downtown Solstead.
04:48Man, I'll tell you, those, you know, we, that's from the keg.
04:52That was our first St. Patrick's Day.
04:54And, you know, the pub, like, we had, can you still hear me?
05:02This is a...
05:02Yeah, I can hear you.
05:04All right, good, good.
05:04So the, you know, the pub had taken so long to build,
05:08everybody knew about it.
05:10And back then, the way liquor license worked in Oklahoma,
05:12you can only get them on a Wednesday.
05:15So I had to call in some favors and get the,
05:17get a liquor license on Wednesday, March 11th,
05:20so I could have my liquor in time for Tuesday, March 17th.
05:23And so we, we opened effectively, we opened an Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day.
05:30And, and it was a disaster.
05:33Like, this is not, I mean, and, you know, it was brand new staff.
05:36Nobody knew what they were doing.
05:37Nobody, we didn't have any systems for anything.
05:39It was just a complete bloodbath.
05:41And the way I, you know, tried to raise money and borrow money, we were, oh, I don't know,
05:4660, 70 grand under budget when we opened the thing.
05:49So, or, sorry, out of, you know, I had 60 or 70 grand in bills.
05:53I was floating.
05:54So, you know, the first few months, man, it was just, it was a mess.
05:59You know, we got through it, but those early times are scary,
06:02especially when you, you don't know where the money's going to come from,
06:05you don't know how it's going to work.
06:07Yeah.
06:08But, yeah, by the end of that day, I just sat in the elevator on a keg
06:11and just rode up and down.
06:12I just had to avoid everyone.
06:13I was done.
06:16If you could go back and talk to yourself, what would you say?
06:21You know, it's funny, I get asked that question sometimes.
06:24I don't know that current me ever does it, right?
06:27There was some kind of, you know, just, like, hope or, you know,
06:34that naivete of being young and not knowing any better just allowed me to do that, right?
06:42You know, and I probably still need this because those moments of, like,
06:46really being up against them, they've happened to me three or four times in my career, right?
06:49Or, you know, you hit some recessions or maybe you open a store or two that don't work
06:54and, you know, trains all the capital.
06:57You know, at some point, you probably want to tell that kid it's going to be okay, right?
07:01But I don't know if he would have believed you.
07:04Right.
07:06One of the things that I talk frequently about is that Kevin Costner is full of shit
07:11in the field of dreams.
07:12I think it's this business folklore that if you build it, they will come.
07:17Right, right.
07:18Location, location, location.
07:19But you opened in a very difficult location.
07:24Yeah, yeah.
07:25You were a pioneer.
07:27Can you bring us back to going against the mantra that we all know too well,
07:32which is location, location, location?
07:35Right.
07:35Yeah, so, you know, my premise, when we opened, we were two blocks away from,
07:40at that point, what was the tallest building between Dallas and Chicago.
07:45You know, massive office building, full of people.
07:47But those people who worked there, there was nowhere for them to go to happy hour every day.
07:51And I thought that was so bizarre, right?
07:54Like, to me, I spent a lot of time in Chicago and New York, and, like,
07:57you're in those pubs in those cities, and, like, they're full at 5 o'clock every day
08:00with people in suits, right, continuing their work day.
08:02And, like, it was so weird to me that we didn't have that as a city.
08:06And when I told people what I was going to do, like, this is never going to work, right?
08:09And, you know, it was interesting, though.
08:13You know, now you look back and, like, not only were we trying to, like,
08:16build a new restaurant and create a new business,
08:19we were also fighting against it to create an entire neighborhood, right?
08:23And that's, you know, my joke at some point became we built a neighborhood pub
08:26and then we had to build a neighborhood.
08:28So that's how we end up with all these different concepts.
08:29We have 10 different concepts within six blocks of each other.
08:32We built apartment buildings down here.
08:33We've done all kinds of shit to really just continue to try and build this neighborhood
08:39that I started, you know, at this point.
08:41It's been 21 years since we opened.
08:43But, yeah, I mean, it was hard.
08:45It makes it harder.
08:46And we've done that a couple of times.
08:47Whenever you're trying to, like, not only create a business but create the market,
08:53which didn't exist, it's challenging.
08:55But, too, I mean, it's part of our ethos as a company is we've, you know,
09:00our goal is to make our towns and our communities better one restaurant at a time.
09:03And some of the way you do that is you build stuff where people need it,
09:05not necessarily where the market tells you it should be, right?
09:09And I think, for me, it kind of creates a purpose in what we do that makes some of those dark times
09:13a little easier to get through.
09:15If you feel like you're doing something that matters a little bit, I don't know.
09:18Why did you open the second location?
09:21And which one?
09:21Was it another concept?
09:23Yes, we opened a craft cocktail bar next door to McNally's, 2006.
09:29I'd have to go back and look at some craft cocktail history, you know,
09:31but I'd been to Rain's Law Room in New York and a couple of those original craft cocktail bars,
09:35and I was like, oh, we should do something like this.
09:37And we were way ahead of the market.
09:39It didn't work.
09:40I mean, we can get it to break even,
09:42but people in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were not ready to spend $12 on a cocktail in 2006.
09:46So, you know, we did that.
09:51Eventually, that got sucked back into McNally's,
09:54but we opened a couple of little bars at the same time in other parts of town that were successful.
10:00And that's because a lot of that had to do with how much easier it was to build a bar than a restaurant,
10:05you know, less capital requirements, a little bit easier to run.
10:08But at the same time, we were building Caddy Corner to the original pub.
10:12We were building a Mexican restaurant,
10:13and that was one that we opened in 2007.
10:17We were building a pub in Oklahoma City at the same time, too,
10:19in a similar, like, blighted neighborhood.
10:22But the Mexican place opened first,
10:25and that was the second time I almost lost it all.
10:28That one, you know, we budgeted a million, too.
10:30It came in at 2.1,
10:31and it became very seasonal, too.
10:34It was way too busy when it was busy in the summers.
10:38We had a rooftop patio, and then really, really quiet when it wasn't.
10:42So that was a hard one, too.
10:44You know, we'd put some Oaxacan food in there,
10:46and that was wrong for the market.
10:48People wanted Tex-Mex, right?
10:50They wanted everything covered in queso.
10:51You kind of learn, you know,
10:52so that forced me to recapitalize the company.
10:54I mean, you know, there's a whole long story to it all.
10:57Did you know that Toast powers over 140,000 restaurants
11:02across the United States, Canada, and UK?
11:05It's an incredible company.
11:07I'm on the Toast Customer Advisory Board.
11:09They are proud sponsors of this show, Restaurant Influencers.
11:12We couldn't do it without their support.
11:13They power our barbecue restaurants in San Diego.
11:17If you have questions about Toast,
11:19if you're thinking about bringing Toast on
11:21to be your primary technology partner at your restaurants,
11:24please reach out to me.
11:25I'm happy to get a local Toast representative
11:27to take care of you.
11:29You can reach me at Sean P. Welche on Instagram.
11:32Once again, thank you to Toast
11:34for believing in the power of technology,
11:36the power of storytelling,
11:38the power of hospitality.
11:39Back to the show.
11:41Let's talk about recapitalization.
11:43Yeah.
11:45Yeah, so someone I had, you know,
11:48I had Abagnale's,
11:49and I had a couple other bars that were making money,
11:52and I had opened the Abagnale's in Oklahoma City in 2008,
11:56so the Mexican restaurant was 07,
11:57the other one in Oklahoma City was 2008,
12:00and it made money day one.
12:01And when it made money day one,
12:02it allowed us to kind of take a breath and say,
12:04okay, we can handle all this.
12:06But the Mexican place was still losing money,
12:09so I effectively went to all of my shareholders.
12:12We put a valuation on everything.
12:14I can't remember what it was.
12:15Four times EBIT, I believe.
12:16And then I said, okay,
12:17here's what the existing is worth,
12:19somebody came in and put up capital to buy 50% of the company.
12:24And then we used that capital to restructure the Mexican place
12:29to get its debt load where it needed to be for it to cash flow.
12:33And then the rest of the money we used,
12:35we started growing.
12:35So we built five or six different concepts
12:39over the course of maybe two and a half years.
12:42It was like 30 months.
12:43It was nuts.
12:43Wow.
12:43So we built a sushi restaurant.
12:46We built a diner.
12:48We built a German beer hall.
12:49We built a bowling alley.
12:50We built a chef-driven concept.
12:53And we built another pub in another town.
12:55Yeah.
12:55So that was a whirlwind.
12:58Why different concepts instead of focusing on one?
13:03A lot of that had to do back with trying to build a neighborhood, right?
13:07Getting enough different offerings here
13:09that you were getting people down to do different things.
13:11So we had the pub.
13:13It was very beer-centric
13:14and originally attracted a lot of young people.
13:16But by the time we started growing all those,
13:18the young people had kind of left, right?
13:20It had become kind of this, you know,
13:22I don't want to say older person bar,
13:24but it was, you know, it was a little quieter.
13:25It wasn't crazy until 2 in the morning anymore.
13:27So we built that German beer hall,
13:28built in a way where we could handle live music there
13:30so we could re-attract young people
13:32back down to the neighborhood.
13:34You know, the sushi place was about
13:37trying to drive some price point.
13:39The diner was, you know, there were no breakfast
13:41and lunch offerings down here at that point.
13:43Or there were lunch offerings,
13:44but nowhere to really get a sandwich
13:46and nowhere to get a, you know,
13:47have a breakfast business meeting.
13:49And then the bowling alley was, you know,
13:52about having something to do that wasn't food or drink
13:55because that's all there was to do at that point.
13:57And in that process, the city of Tulsa in 2010,
14:02so we built all those from like 2009 to 2011.
14:05And in 2010, the city opened
14:07the new minor league baseball stadium, right?
14:08Like two blocks north of McNally's.
14:11And the mayor at the time said,
14:12we're putting this here
14:13because you're the only person
14:14who's invested down here.
14:15We want to get as close to the activity as we can.
14:18But that, for the first time,
14:20really brought families downtown, back downtown.
14:22And so that changed the dynamic too.
14:24And then our more kind of chef-driven place,
14:28there was nowhere higher price point down here.
14:30I mean, it just didn't exist.
14:31And so, you know, that thing lost money
14:33for 18 months probably,
14:34but I was just committed to like,
14:36this price point has to exist, right?
14:37We have to just like stay after it.
14:40And we stayed open late there too.
14:41I had this theory that you're never a real city
14:44if you can't get a good piece of food.
14:46At that place, we were 11 p.m. during the week
14:48and 1 a.m. on the weekends,
14:50serving the full menu.
14:51I was like, man, you know,
14:53we're never going to make it
14:55if we can't pull this off.
14:56So luckily to this day,
14:58it's still keeping those hours.
14:59And it just took a while to get people there.
15:02Have you closed any concepts?
15:04Yeah, we've closed.
15:06So we closed a couple of those early bars,
15:07sold one of them,
15:08closed the craft cocktail bar,
15:11closed another one of the bars.
15:14We actually,
15:15we got to where we built a second location
15:16in that Mexican restaurant.
15:18And then we closed those both down with the pandemic.
15:20They were just our worst cashflow places.
15:23And they were the hardest to operate
15:25because of the way I'd built them.
15:26And so we never brought those concepts back.
15:29And then we dabbled some ghost kitchen concepts.
15:33And eventually, you know,
15:34those all shut down.
15:35It just didn't work.
15:37We, you know,
15:38we got rid of our,
15:39we had built an event center
15:41back in 2016, 17.
15:44We shut that down during the pandemic.
15:46Mainly because there's an architecture firm
15:47that wanted to rent for office space.
15:48And that sounded much better than,
15:50you know,
15:50when are events going to come back, right?
15:53So, so yeah,
15:54there've been a few over the years,
15:55but we've also had a couple that were wrong
15:57coming out of the box.
15:58We had to heavily tweak, right?
15:59Yeah.
16:00But part of just my own personality
16:02is to just always keep tweaking
16:04until, you know,
16:05until,
16:06until you've just lost too much.
16:08You can't bear it anymore.
16:09I mean,
16:10there,
16:11we learned just as much.
16:12We've probably learned more from those failures.
16:14I mean,
16:14we opened up three ghost kitchens
16:16during the pandemic
16:16and we closed them since,
16:18but that actually helped us pivot
16:20and opened up our fast casual concept,
16:23which is,
16:24you know,
16:24on the San Diego Navy exchange,
16:25everything that we're doing there,
16:27we learned from those closed locations
16:29during the pandemic.
16:31What did you,
16:31what did you learn about the ghost kitchen?
16:33Yeah.
16:33I mean,
16:34I,
16:34well,
16:34a couple of things.
16:35One of the,
16:35is it taught me a lot.
16:38We got really good at negotiating
16:39with DoorDash and others.
16:41I mean,
16:41you know,
16:41how expensive it was.
16:45So that was part of it.
16:47But I think one of the things
16:48we really learned that,
16:49you know,
16:50the last couple of concepts we've done,
16:52well,
16:52not the last,
16:52we've,
16:52we've opened two steakhouses,
16:54but we also have built two concepts
16:57that are,
16:58call it 90 seats,
16:59that are,
17:00uh,
17:01uh,
17:01upscale casual is probably too far.
17:04I mean,
17:04they're not true casual dining.
17:05They're a little bit more elevated than that,
17:07but we're hitting like a 35 or $40 PPA.
17:10They're not crazy,
17:10but,
17:11but we've,
17:11we've designed them in a way
17:13and designed the menus in a way
17:14where we can really manage the labor.
17:16I mean,
17:16that was one of the problems
17:17with the ghost kitchen
17:18is that the sales were so lumpy to it,
17:20but we always had to have labor there
17:21to leave,
17:22leave DoorDash on.
17:24Um,
17:24so we've gotten really,
17:26really intentional about
17:27how we're building
17:28some of the menus now
17:29and how that feeds back
17:31into our labor model.
17:32I mean,
17:32you know,
17:33it's just,
17:34uh,
17:34I think,
17:35you know,
17:35it's getting harder and harder
17:36to make money in this business.
17:37And so being really intentional
17:39when we design stuff now
17:40to make sure that on the other side
17:41we can manage it efficiently,
17:43efficiently has really become important.
17:45Can you talk about
17:46alternative revenue streams,
17:48non-traditional restaurant revenue
17:49that you've,
17:50uh,
17:50figured out a way to bring in?
17:52Yeah.
17:52I mean,
17:52you know,
17:53obviously our sushi places,
17:54we have a couple of sushi places,
17:56you know,
17:57the DoorDash is a huge part of it.
17:58And I,
17:59but I think part of that's,
18:00um,
18:01part of that is just
18:02that sushi travels better,
18:03right?
18:04It's a better to go product
18:05than,
18:05you know,
18:06something.
18:07Yeah,
18:08right.
18:08Right.
18:08I mean,
18:09everything else steams itself.
18:10And,
18:10you know,
18:10so,
18:10so those have actually become
18:12a big piece of our business there.
18:14Um,
18:14but I think for us,
18:15where we focus a lot of our effort
18:17on,
18:18on other revenue streams,
18:20there's just a handful of events
18:21we do every year.
18:22So,
18:22you know,
18:22a couple of beer festivals that we do,
18:24uh,
18:25we do a run every year.
18:26We call the pub run
18:27where it's a four mile run
18:28and you drink three pints
18:29of Guinness along the way.
18:30We just have a couple thousand
18:31people downtown doing that.
18:33Wow.
18:33Um,
18:34so,
18:35you know,
18:35trying to figure out,
18:36you know,
18:37we're,
18:37we have an annual event
18:38we do every year,
18:39uh,
18:39called wine and swine.
18:40We have a bring in a vintner
18:42and then roast a pork
18:44out in the middle of the street
18:45and do white tablecloth
18:46out in the middle of the street.
18:47So I think some of those,
18:48you know,
18:48we've had more success
18:50with other revenue streams
18:52when they come from like
18:53one-off events,
18:54um,
18:55we have with others,
18:56you know,
18:56St. Patrick's state for us
18:57is still,
18:57uh,
18:59far and away the biggest
19:00day of the year.
19:02And,
19:02uh,
19:03you know,
19:03we do a street party,
19:04not just here,
19:05but in Oklahoma city as well.
19:06It's a massive bump to revenue.
19:08And,
19:09um,
19:09you know,
19:09some at this point,
19:10people will look forward to it.
19:11And I,
19:11I think this year we figured
19:12we probably had,
19:13you know,
19:14it was on a Monday this year.
19:15So we did Saturday and Monday,
19:17but between the two,
19:19you know,
19:19we figured we had probably
19:2012,000 people,
19:21something like that.
19:21So it was a lot.
19:22Wow.
19:22Yeah.
19:23That's incredible.
19:24Yeah.
19:25Uh,
19:26tell me a little bit more
19:27about the events.
19:28Um,
19:29because the events are,
19:30it's in completely,
19:31it's another business.
19:32It's another business.
19:33We did,
19:34we did barbecue festival.
19:35We shut down,
19:36we shut down the street
19:36in front of our restaurant
19:37for 10 years and put on
19:39an amateur barbecue festival,
19:40you know,
19:40thousands of people,
19:41barbecue vendors on the street.
19:43And I'm like,
19:43I look back at that time
19:45and I'm like,
19:45was I crazy to do that?
19:47Like the,
19:48the amount of time
19:49and effort we're spending,
19:50you know,
19:50nine months,
19:5112 months out of the year
19:52preparing for a one day event.
19:55Um,
19:56what have you learned?
19:57Yeah.
19:57I mean,
19:57so for us,
19:57you know,
19:58we've just gotten good at it.
19:59Right.
19:59And,
20:00yeah.
20:01So,
20:01but I think,
20:02you know,
20:03it's the same thing,
20:04right?
20:04It's controlling the cost.
20:06We've,
20:06we've lost money doing that stuff
20:07sometimes too.
20:08So we've gotten better at managing
20:09the cost going up front.
20:10And really,
20:11I think one of the big pieces,
20:13you know,
20:13if somebody really wants
20:14to try doing that stuff
20:15is to line up sponsorships
20:17and partners in a way
20:18that,
20:18that really cut down
20:20your upfront capital expense.
20:21So for us,
20:22you know,
20:22like the beer trucks
20:24and the tents
20:24and all the stuff,
20:25you know,
20:26Guinness and our beer vendors
20:27and guys will,
20:28will help us cover
20:29all that stuff.
20:30So we can get to a point
20:31where we're really just
20:32covering the variable costs.
20:33And at that point,
20:34it cuts your risk down
20:35and gets you to a much
20:36better place.
20:37You know,
20:37the beer festivals,
20:38an interesting one.
20:39We used to do two sessions
20:40and, you know,
20:41we went around to a bunch
20:42of beer festivals
20:42around the country
20:43after we'd done it
20:44a couple of times.
20:45We went to some
20:45of the more successful ones.
20:47So we,
20:47we started kind of mimicking
20:48some of the stuff
20:49that they do.
20:50You know,
20:51Raleigh's got a big one
20:52every year.
20:52We went and looked at that.
20:53We looked at one in Colorado
20:54and some other places.
20:55But,
20:55you know,
20:56we,
20:57we backtracked
20:59on that one a little bit.
21:00We've gone now like,
21:00you know what,
21:01one session,
21:02just make it easier
21:03on the brewers.
21:03Because it,
21:04you know,
21:04for us,
21:05it's trying to make sure
21:06that the partners
21:08are happy to
21:08as opposed to just,
21:10you know,
21:10because you can get
21:10to a point where you
21:11have to put in
21:13so much infrastructure
21:14to do so.
21:15Yeah,
21:16it's just not worth it,
21:16right?
21:17So,
21:17so some of it
21:18is us trying to figure out
21:19like,
21:20you know,
21:20what is the
21:21most profitable way
21:23to do something
21:24and the easiest
21:25in terms of staff time
21:26to keep it,
21:28you know,
21:28we might make
21:29less gross revenue,
21:30but if we can feel good
21:32about the fact
21:33that we're going to turn
21:33a decent profit,
21:35you know,
21:35it makes it easier
21:35to approach my weapon.
21:37That's huge.
21:39How did you learn
21:40how to ask for help?
21:41You talked about
21:41reaching out to your partners.
21:42I think for me,
21:44it's one of the lessons,
21:45one of the hardest lessons
21:46that I've learned
21:47as a business owner
21:48and entrepreneur
21:49is like understanding
21:50that we have
21:51a partnership ecosystem
21:52and,
21:52you know,
21:53especially when,
21:54especially when you start
21:54doing stuff in the community
21:56and you're doing events,
21:57like you realize
21:58like we can't just continue
21:59to foot the bill
22:01for all of these things.
22:03Like we do need
22:04to learn how to reach out
22:05and ask for partners
22:06and share our mission,
22:07share our vision.
22:08Right.
22:09Yeah,
22:09I mean,
22:10I think a big part of that,
22:11you know,
22:11early on,
22:12I became friends
22:13with our beer distributor
22:14and it just,
22:16I made it easier,
22:17right?
22:17because he kind of bought
22:19into this vision too
22:20of,
22:22hey,
22:22I think you can do
22:23this really big,
22:23like let me ask Guinness
22:24and some other people,
22:25you know,
22:25so he probably knew more
22:27how to tap into,
22:28you know,
22:29Miller Coors and Guinness
22:30and all these people
22:30that had the,
22:31you know,
22:31marketing dollars
22:32that are just sitting there
22:33that they can use
22:34for this kind of stuff.
22:35So I was lucky enough
22:37to kind of learn it
22:37from somebody else
22:38who also had this idea
22:41of like,
22:41man,
22:42I think this can be massive
22:43because there's another,
22:44there's a little Irish pub
22:45down the street from us.
22:46Like,
22:46I mean,
22:47it's probably,
22:48oh,
22:48I don't know,
22:481,000,
22:491,200 square feet,
22:50something like that.
22:50But they do an outdoor festival too.
22:53So,
22:53you know,
22:53between the two of us,
22:54they feed off of each other
22:55and I think he kind of understood that
22:56and knew that if he could get
22:58his financial help,
22:58that would be easier.
22:59Yeah.
23:00And we've had some luck too
23:01with our food distributor.
23:03You know,
23:03here we,
23:04Bennett Keyes,
23:05our regional distributor
23:06that we use,
23:07and they're massive,
23:08but,
23:08but they've been able to help us.
23:11So we do a big thing every year
23:12we call the beef steak.
23:14Our beer halls,
23:15which is just,
23:16you know,
23:16it's all you can eat,
23:18tenderloin and french fries
23:19and beer.
23:20you know,
23:21but they've been a really good part.
23:22So we give away
23:23a portion of those proceeds
23:26to charity.
23:26We do the same with our Ron.
23:29But they donate all the steak,
23:30right?
23:31So it's easy for them
23:31to just say,
23:32yeah,
23:32we can just,
23:32you know,
23:33say it's going towards
23:34the charity side of things.
23:35So that's a big one too
23:37is using the food guys
23:39because everybody's got
23:40these buckets of money
23:41where they can support,
23:43you know,
23:43non-profits and other things
23:45or call it marketing.
23:46And usually they're much happier
23:49to give it to their loyal customers
23:51than they are,
23:51you know,
23:52just some random off the streets.
23:54What is Oklahoma hospitality?
23:58Yeah,
23:58that's a good question.
24:00I think you're the most qualified
24:02to answer it.
24:03I will tell you,
24:04Tulsa's,
24:06some of the feedback
24:07we get about Tulsa,
24:09at least from people
24:10that have moved here
24:11or visit here,
24:12is just how friendly
24:13everyone is,
24:14right?
24:14And it actually gets me
24:16in trouble in places
24:17like New York,
24:17you know,
24:18when I smile and say hi to people
24:19that catch people off guard.
24:21So I think,
24:21you know,
24:22Oklahoma hospitality
24:23is very warm and welcoming
24:24and,
24:24you know,
24:26I can't be slower paced
24:28sometimes though,
24:29you know,
24:29but it's,
24:31it's a really friendly place,
24:33which is,
24:34I think,
24:34you know,
24:35why I still like it so much.
24:37People are,
24:38you know,
24:38help each other out,
24:39are very friendly
24:40to strangers.
24:43Do you,
24:43do you remember
24:44when you went from
24:45the owner-operator
24:47badge of honor
24:47to actually becoming
24:49the CEO
24:50of a restaurant group?
24:51Yeah,
24:52I mean,
24:52it was a,
24:52you know,
24:53it was a slow process.
24:54I mean,
24:54I say it feels slow,
24:55probably not,
24:56you know,
24:56on that side,
24:57but we got up
24:59to five locations
25:00and I was the only
25:02corporate staff
25:03and,
25:04and that was a,
25:05that was a train wreck
25:06and I,
25:07so I was actually,
25:08I used to go in
25:09every Saturday morning
25:10and do like forensic accounting.
25:12It's just like,
25:12okay,
25:12where's all the money?
25:13Like,
25:13how much cash do we have?
25:14you know?
25:16And I was doing that one time
25:17and I,
25:18I came downstairs
25:19at like three in the afternoon
25:20and this guy who's now
25:22my COO partner
25:24saw me
25:26and he's like,
25:27man,
25:27and we knew each other
25:28a little bit.
25:29He's like,
25:29man,
25:30are you okay?
25:31I'm like,
25:32no,
25:33no,
25:33I'm not.
25:34Like,
25:34I'm just like,
25:35you know,
25:35and he called me
25:36the next week
25:36and said,
25:37you want to grab a beer?
25:38And he just said,
25:40I think I can help you.
25:41You don't need to pay me
25:41that much.
25:42My wife's got a great job.
25:43Like,
25:44I'll come for,
25:44you know,
25:45reduced costs
25:46and so he's been with me
25:48ever since.
25:48So that was,
25:50you know,
25:50having him around
25:51to really help
25:51with some of the details
25:52because at that point,
25:54like passwords,
25:55bank accounts,
25:56like FEIN numbers,
25:57I mean,
25:58all the shit
25:58was just in my head,
25:59right?
26:00If something happened to me,
26:01it was all,
26:02you know,
26:03cratering.
26:04So,
26:05I mean,
26:05I,
26:05you know,
26:05even things like
26:06who would put
26:07how much money
26:08in what,
26:09right?
26:09Like,
26:09the investor charts
26:11just lived up here.
26:12So,
26:12so yeah,
26:13when he came in,
26:14that was a big piece of it
26:15and then I think,
26:16you know,
26:18that was when we were at five
26:19and then we grew quickly
26:20from five to 11
26:21and once you got up to 11,
26:23I think that was the point
26:24where I realized,
26:25like,
26:25man,
26:25I can't get around
26:26and do table checks
26:28all the time
26:28and do the stuff
26:29that I'm,
26:30you know,
26:30used to doing
26:30because,
26:31you know,
26:32it's just too much.
26:33So you're spending
26:33too much time
26:34on marketing
26:35and finance
26:36and HR
26:37and all this stuff
26:38that just starts
26:39to eat away at you
26:40because,
26:40you know,
26:40we were,
26:41he and I were really slow
26:42to bring on HR
26:44and we got up to,
26:46man,
26:46I bet we were at 12
26:47or 13 places
26:47before I hired
26:48so many HR
26:48and it was just
26:49the Affordable Care Act
26:50that forced us into it.
26:51We used to handle everything.
26:53Wow.
26:53So,
26:54you know,
26:55I don't know.
26:56We've always been slow
26:57to grow at the corporate level.
26:58I think even today
26:59we're,
27:00oh,
27:01I don't know,
27:0113,
27:0314 corporate employees,
27:04you know.
27:04Wow,
27:05really?
27:0527,000 employees.
27:07Yeah.
27:12What have you learned
27:13about storytelling
27:14that you could share
27:15with someone
27:16that's tuning in
27:17to this podcast?
27:21Storytelling.
27:23That's an interesting question.
27:25man,
27:26I think I'll,
27:26you know,
27:27I'll tell you
27:27that I think that,
27:29you know,
27:30at least as it relates
27:30to the restaurant space,
27:31I think it's a big piece
27:34of what makes people
27:36gravitate towards your brand,
27:38you know,
27:38and identify with your concepts
27:41and be loyal to them
27:42is what the story is behind that.
27:44You know,
27:45I still,
27:46to this day,
27:47we have people
27:49that are really loyal
27:50to that original pub
27:51because,
27:51just because I was the first guy
27:52down here to do it,
27:53you know,
27:54and there were other people
27:55who were proud of their hometown
27:57who just wanted to support it,
27:58right?
27:58I mean,
27:59we weren't always great
27:59at running that restaurant,
28:00right?
28:01We had a lot of,
28:01a lot of errors
28:03in the beginning,
28:04but,
28:04but the story was something
28:05that people wanted
28:06to get behind,
28:07right?
28:07And they wanted to support
28:08the kid who came down
28:09and tried to make
28:10his hometown better.
28:11And,
28:11and I think that's,
28:13that's still a big piece of it.
28:14You know,
28:14we just opened a restaurant
28:16four blocks from my house,
28:18but it's,
28:19it's this little
28:20old commercial building
28:21like in the middle
28:21of the neighborhood.
28:23And,
28:23and that's another one
28:24we see like,
28:25you know,
28:25it's,
28:25it's called Maple Ridge Grocer
28:27and then we built
28:27a little pub next to it
28:28called Bishop Quigley
28:29and it was originally
28:31the grocery store
28:32for the neighborhood,
28:33but people support it
28:34because they want to like,
28:35you know,
28:35be part of this neighborhood now.
28:37You know,
28:37like be part of having
28:40that commercial aspect
28:41to the neighborhood
28:42which hasn't existed
28:43for 60,
28:4470 years.
28:46And I,
28:47and I think too,
28:47you know,
28:47some of the story around,
28:49you know,
28:49some of our other food,
28:50like we have a,
28:51our Korean barbecue restaurant.
28:54It was nominated,
28:55our chef was nominated
28:56for a beard award for that.
28:58That's Ben Alexander,
29:00who's our,
29:01our corporate head of culinary.
29:03And,
29:03but he was,
29:04he was adopted out of Korea
29:06at like two or three years old
29:07and raised by,
29:09it was him
29:10and his two sisters,
29:12little Korean kids
29:13raised by the two,
29:14like,
29:14you know,
29:15most American,
29:16whitest people you've ever seen.
29:17Right.
29:18But,
29:18but his parents wanted
29:20to try and figure out
29:21how to get them Korean food.
29:23Right.
29:23And,
29:24and so they like,
29:27you know,
29:27made,
29:28made bulgogi
29:29with Dr. Pepper
29:30because they couldn't get
29:31the like ingredients
29:32they needed,
29:33you know,
29:33back in the eighties,
29:34like there were no Korean
29:35ingredients to be found
29:36in Arizona
29:38where he was growing up.
29:38And so,
29:39you know,
29:39they,
29:40they just hacked away
29:41into doing it.
29:42Right.
29:42And so some of that stuff
29:43is on that menu over there.
29:45And Ben's birth name
29:46was Kim.
29:47And so that's why
29:47we called him Mr. Kim's.
29:48But,
29:48you know,
29:50that the,
29:51the story behind it
29:53really resonates with people.
29:54Right.
29:54It's a really interesting,
29:55like,
29:56you know,
29:56it's not,
29:57quote unquote,
29:59traditional Korean food.
30:01It is the Korean food
30:02Ben experienced
30:03growing up in America
30:04that his parents
30:05tried to get for him.
30:07Right.
30:07And,
30:07which creates
30:08a really interesting
30:09take on it.
30:10But,
30:10but I think that,
30:11you know,
30:12in many ways
30:13it resonates with people
30:14to know that's,
30:15you know,
30:16what,
30:16what drove those decisions
30:17and why,
30:18why does the food
30:19look like that
30:19and not just like
30:20super traditional.
30:21you know,
30:22there's some reasons for it
30:23and it's a great story.
30:24I mean,
30:24it's a,
30:26I think anytime
30:27you can create your story
30:29or be more authentic
30:31about it
30:31and,
30:32and then let your consumers know,
30:34I think it just helps people
30:36identify with their brand
30:37and want to support more.
30:39Speaking of letting
30:40your consumers know,
30:41how do you get the story out
30:42now in 2025 versus?
30:45I mean,
30:45it's crazy,
30:46right?
30:47We,
30:47we opened in 2008
30:48and 2007
30:50is when the first iPhone came out.
30:51So the evolution of like,
30:53I literally have advertised
30:54in the yellow pages.
30:55Right,
30:56right.
30:56Like we've done it.
30:57We've,
30:58we've spent money on,
30:59you name the type of advertising,
31:01we've done it.
31:02No,
31:02I remember back in the day,
31:03like,
31:04you know,
31:04every Thursday,
31:05the ad copy was due
31:06for the little weekly publication.
31:09Like,
31:09oh man,
31:09what are we going to do,
31:10right?
31:10What are we going to do?
31:12And now like,
31:13I'm in our marketing budget,
31:14like we could,
31:16outside of my,
31:16I mean,
31:16I have a couple of employees
31:17in marketing,
31:18but outside of that,
31:18I mean,
31:19we could make it zero
31:20if we wanted,
31:20right?
31:20Just like pump everything
31:22onto social media.
31:23Yeah,
31:23I think it's social media.
31:24You know,
31:25I do think that
31:26the most important thing
31:28you can do
31:29is earn media stuff,
31:31you know,
31:31so to the extent
31:32you,
31:33you get a publication
31:34to write about you
31:35and pick up the stories
31:35and for us,
31:36you know,
31:37here,
31:38it's always been
31:39easier to do
31:41just because of where
31:42we were building stuff.
31:43it had a secondary
31:45kind of piece
31:45to it
31:46that wasn't just,
31:47you know,
31:47new restaurant opening.
31:48It's,
31:48oh,
31:48another new restaurant
31:49in this neighborhood
31:51that's starting to grow.
31:52So,
31:53but I,
31:53but I think that,
31:54you know,
31:55social media
31:56is so important now,
31:58but it's also so hard
31:59to keep up with.
32:00You know,
32:01we had somebody's
32:01full-time job for us
32:02and,
32:03and it's,
32:04you know,
32:05you can tell your stories
32:06through that,
32:07but I think
32:07until you get someone
32:08to really amplify
32:11your story
32:11via their,
32:12you know,
32:13third party,
32:14whether that be press
32:15or influencers
32:16or something else,
32:17I think that's,
32:18you know,
32:19many ways the most
32:19effective way to do it now
32:20is to try and engage
32:22with people who have
32:23the followings
32:24that can really help
32:25you get it out there.
32:27How do you approach
32:28technology
32:29in your restaurants?
32:32I mean,
32:32our tech stack's
32:34about to completely change.
32:37You know,
32:37we're,
32:37we're,
32:38we're switching everything.
32:40We've been Aloha
32:40since we opened
32:41and,
32:42wow,
32:42really?
32:43We're not four
32:44or five toast stores.
32:45We're slowly transitioning over.
32:47Okay.
32:47There's a lot of stuff
32:48around payment processing
32:50and handhelds
32:50and some other things
32:51that drove that.
32:53You know,
32:54overall,
32:55I mean,
32:55you know,
32:56I'm still like
32:57an Irish pub guy at heart,
32:58so,
32:59you know,
32:59I try to keep it
33:00pretty low tech,
33:01right?
33:01Like,
33:02if I can figure out
33:04a device to kill
33:05cell signals
33:05inside the pub
33:06so people had to sit there
33:07and talk to people,
33:07I would do it.
33:08you know,
33:10but,
33:11but I think we're also,
33:13you know,
33:15we're beta testing right now
33:17at two or three places,
33:18some AI technology
33:20that's going to help
33:20with party reservations
33:21and,
33:22you know,
33:22we have a little steakhouse
33:25that's been hugely successful.
33:26We call it,
33:27it's called the Bowl
33:27and it's down in Alleyway,
33:30so we call it the Bowl in the Alley,
33:31but we've never,
33:32you've never been able
33:32to make an online reservation there.
33:35just like,
33:35if you find the website,
33:37it's just a picture
33:38of the light fixture we use
33:40and a phone number
33:41that says call for reservations.
33:42That's it.
33:42It's the whole website.
33:43Really?
33:45That's awesome.
33:46And we'll do like,
33:47during the busy season.
33:48That's actually a good idea.
33:50I like that.
33:51During the busy season,
33:52like,
33:52we'll do,
33:53we'll turn the restaurant
33:54four times some nights.
33:55I mean,
33:55like,
33:56we'll reseat the thing
33:56at 11,
33:5711.30 during the holidays.
33:59And,
33:59and it's,
34:01but it's,
34:02it's gotten more and more difficult
34:03to keep up with that.
34:03So we're going to beta test
34:04some AI technology there
34:05and,
34:06and create a form
34:07that you can at least,
34:09like,
34:09put it into the system
34:10and hopefully,
34:11you know,
34:11not miss as many people
34:12as I feel like we might miss.
34:13But,
34:14so,
34:14you know,
34:15we're,
34:15we're dabbling in AI stuff.
34:18You know,
34:19that,
34:19that helps.
34:20I think some,
34:21you know,
34:22right now we're,
34:22we're looking to technology
34:24really on a lot of the HR side,
34:26just onboarding
34:27and other stuff.
34:27I mean,
34:28I think it's where some
34:28of the most useful tools
34:29are going to be
34:30in the long run
34:31is to cut down
34:32some of those labor hours
34:33around onboarding people
34:34and training
34:35and some other stuff.
34:36You know,
34:36if we can embed videos
34:37into some things
34:37and,
34:38you know,
34:38it's just a lot there.
34:39But,
34:40but overall,
34:41you know,
34:42we're not a high tech place.
34:43You know,
34:44and I don't,
34:45I still like the human interaction
34:46of,
34:47you know,
34:47taking orders
34:48and doing all this,
34:49you know,
34:49so I kind of want to keep
34:50pushing that.
34:51I think,
34:52you know,
34:53just personal opinion,
34:54you know,
34:55AI,
34:56I just sat through
34:56a conference about it
34:57last week.
34:58I don't think it's ever
34:59really going to touch
35:00our industry that much
35:01and,
35:02you know,
35:02in terms of making food
35:04or serving someone.
35:06I think at some point
35:07that human interaction
35:08you get
35:09in a full service restaurant
35:10is going to be
35:11really important.
35:11Like,
35:12as we get everything
35:13becomes more tech heavy.
35:15At some point,
35:15I think people are going
35:16to need that,
35:16right?
35:17So,
35:17in many ways,
35:18it's one of the things
35:19I'm most hopeful
35:20about for our industry
35:20is it will become
35:21one of the few refuges
35:22for,
35:23you know,
35:23human interaction.
35:25For sure.
35:27For someone that has
35:28over a thousand employees
35:29that has probably hired
35:31thousands,
35:32if not tens of thousands
35:33over the years,
35:34what's your favorite
35:35interview question to ask?
35:38Oh,
35:38man.
35:40You know,
35:41generally speaking,
35:42the one that
35:43I rely most on
35:47is where do you get
35:48your news
35:48or what do you read?
35:49because I always
35:51want to know
35:52how engaged
35:54someone is
35:54with the world,
35:55right?
35:55And what they're
35:58consuming.
35:59You know,
35:59I think culturally
36:01for us,
36:02like,
36:03if you're a bad
36:03cultural fit
36:04around here,
36:04you don't make it.
36:05We're all pretty tight.
36:06And so,
36:07that's a big piece
36:09of it.
36:09But,
36:09you know,
36:10we used to have
36:10this secondary application,
36:12I called it.
36:12It was like,
36:13you know,
36:13who would win
36:13in a fight
36:14between a gorilla
36:16and a tiger?
36:17Or maybe it was
36:17a bear and a tiger,
36:19you know?
36:19What's the square root
36:20of 144?
36:21So,
36:21basically,
36:21you know,
36:22what do you read?
36:23What's your favorite book?
36:24What's your favorite band?
36:26Because to me,
36:26like,
36:27if you can find
36:28interesting people
36:29that like
36:30interesting things,
36:31like,
36:32generally speaking,
36:33we can train people
36:33how to weigh tables
36:35and things,
36:35right?
36:35But I can't train them
36:36how to be interesting.
36:38And for me,
36:39like,
36:40at the pubs
36:41in particular,
36:42I was always
36:43super slow to fire.
36:45So,
36:45actually,
36:46to this day,
36:47probably my senior
36:47leadership team
36:48would tell you
36:48the frustrates them
36:49the most.
36:49I'm still,
36:50like,
36:51really slow to fire people
36:52because...
36:52Give them a chance?
36:53What?
36:54Give them a chance?
36:55Yeah.
36:56Because I want
36:56our customers
36:57to see the same people
36:59every time they come in.
37:00I want them to build
37:01a rapport
37:01with the staff
37:02in a way
37:04that makes it,
37:04you know,
37:05their favorite place to go.
37:06You know,
37:06I used to joke
37:07Starbucks had that third place.
37:09I always said that,
37:09you know,
37:09the pub should be
37:11your second place,
37:12right?
37:12Like,
37:12you should always like it
37:13better than home or work.
37:15I'm not sure where
37:16it fits in your hierarchy,
37:17but I think a big piece
37:18of that is,
37:19you know,
37:19them just knowing
37:20when they come in
37:21that their favorite server
37:22or bartender
37:23is going to be there.
37:23So,
37:24but a big piece
37:25of that for me
37:26was making sure
37:26that we hired people
37:27who were interesting,
37:28right?
37:28That had things
37:29to talk about.
37:30And so,
37:32yeah,
37:32it's,
37:33you know,
37:33I'm very,
37:35I mean,
37:36we,
37:36you know,
37:37in the kitchen
37:37and other places,
37:38you know,
37:38we'll hire for technical skill,
37:39right?
37:40But I think
37:41in the front of the house,
37:42you know,
37:42we're a little probably
37:43looser with that.
37:45That's great.
37:46Anybody that's watching
37:47or listening,
37:47you can join our live show.
37:49It's called Rising Tides Live.
37:50You can go to
37:50betheshow.media,
37:52chance for you to interact
37:53with other restaurant owners,
37:55sales professionals,
37:56marketing professionals
37:56from all over the globe.
37:58We've been doing that show
37:58for four years.
37:59But Elliot,
38:01before I let you go,
38:02I want to hear about
38:03your personal tech stack.
38:05So as a low-tech guy,
38:06I'm going to enjoy,
38:07I'm going to enjoy
38:08you answering these questions.
38:10Are you an iPhone
38:11or an Android user?
38:12iPhone.
38:13Which version?
38:14I just got the new one.
38:16You just got the new one.
38:17Why?
38:18When do you,
38:19when do you decide
38:19to get a new one?
38:21This one,
38:22battery life.
38:23Battery life.
38:24Got it.
38:24My other battery was depleting
38:25and it had no scratches
38:27and banged up enough.
38:28So I think I'm,
38:30I think I skipped
38:30three or four versions maybe.
38:32So yeah,
38:33it was probably a three-year phone.
38:34Yeah.
38:34Do you prefer
38:35taking photos or videos?
38:37Photos.
38:38Do you prefer phone calls
38:40or text messages?
38:41Text messages.
38:43How many group chats
38:44are you in?
38:45A lot.
38:48How many do you enjoy?
38:50I enjoy the one
38:51with all my college buddies.
38:53I went to one
38:54with another group
38:55of restaurant tours
38:56that I enjoy a lot.
38:57You know,
38:58we got our family text chain.
39:00And actually,
39:00I like the one
39:01with our senior management team too.
39:02It's fun.
39:02It's a good text.
39:03What do you use
39:05for internal
39:06corporate communication?
39:07Do you use text
39:08or do you use Slack
39:09or something?
39:10Yeah, larger text.
39:11Okay.
39:13How many emails
39:13do you get a day?
39:15Oh, man.
39:17You know,
39:18a bad day for me.
39:19I mean,
39:19when I say a bad day,
39:21a heavy day
39:22is probably 60 or 70
39:24that require a response.
39:27But you know,
39:28sometimes it's,
39:28I don't know,
39:29it can be pretty light too.
39:30But,
39:31you know,
39:32I always gauge
39:32which ones need interaction.
39:34But I mean,
39:34I buy it.
39:35You know,
39:35if I include all the junk
39:36and everything else,
39:37300 a day probably.
39:39How many of those
39:39do you enjoy reading?
39:41Oh,
39:421%?
39:44The email to me
39:45is just a,
39:46email to me
39:47is just an anxiety creator.
39:49You know,
39:49it's just like
39:50every time I opened it,
39:51my anxiety ratchets up.
39:52Like,
39:52what awful news
39:54am I going to find out
39:54about in this email today?
39:56I actually deleted
39:57the mail app
39:58off my phone.
40:00Oh,
40:00really?
40:01I just only check it
40:02at a desk now
40:03to try and manage it
40:04a little better.
40:05Wow,
40:05that's impressive.
40:07Do you listen to music
40:08on your phone?
40:10Sometimes,
40:10yeah.
40:11Which app?
40:13Just Apple Music app.
40:14Apple Music.
40:15And then,
40:16which app do you use
40:17for maps?
40:18Usually Apple Maps.
40:20Any app
40:21that you enjoy
40:22that you think
40:24would be valuable
40:25for a business owner
40:27to know about?
40:28Oh,
40:28man.
40:28I'll tell you,
40:29you know,
40:30I do a fair amount
40:30of real estate stuff too.
40:31I always think it's good
40:32to have a good
40:33loan calculator app
40:34on your phone.
40:35Okay.
40:36So,
40:36what do you use?
40:37Actually,
40:38I mean,
40:38it changes sometimes.
40:39This one's just called
40:40Loan Calc.
40:41It was the one I use.
40:42But,
40:42I think it's super useful.
40:43You know,
40:44especially as you're
40:44strategizing debt
40:46and capital stacks
40:46and other things.
40:48Yeah,
40:49I think it's pretty important.
40:50And then,
40:50you know,
40:51other real estate stuff,
40:52LoopNet and Zillow
40:53and other stuff,
40:54I'm always just trolling through
40:55trying to stay on top
40:55of values
40:56so you kind of know
40:57where things are headed.
40:59Awesome.
41:00Social media app?
41:02Instagram mostly.
41:04I'm on Facebook,
41:05but I don't check it
41:06often enough.
41:06So,
41:07I'm often like way more
41:07Do you post on Instagram
41:09or you just watch?
41:10Yeah,
41:11I post some.
41:12You know,
41:12it's not really
41:12in my DNA.
41:15I don't like it that much,
41:16right?
41:17It's not like,
41:17so,
41:18oftentimes I force myself
41:19to do it
41:20if I think it's really useful
41:21for marketing or something.
41:22But,
41:22yeah,
41:23the other thing too
41:23is I have so many people
41:25on there I don't know
41:26and I'm always a little
41:27hesitant to put stuff
41:28on my kids
41:29or my family on
41:30because I don't know
41:31who's out there
41:32looking at it,
41:32which to me
41:32always concerns me
41:34a little bit.
41:34Like,
41:35I just got back
41:35in Cuba last night
41:36but I didn't post
41:38anything down there
41:39because I don't want
41:40people to know
41:40that I'm out of country
41:41and like,
41:42my kids might be.
41:42I got you.
41:45Makes sense.
41:46Well,
41:47Elliot,
41:47I truly appreciate it
41:48if you ever make it
41:49out to San Diego.
41:50I would hope to
41:51share some barbecue
41:52with you.
41:52Yeah,
41:52I'd love to.
41:54I can't wait.
41:55I know at some point,
41:56I don't know when
41:57it's going to happen
41:58but I definitely want
41:59to make it to Tulsa
42:00to come and experience
42:01something that,
42:03some of the magic
42:04that you've created
42:05down there.
42:06Yeah,
42:06please do.
42:07We'd love to have you.
42:08We'll feed you well.
42:09I appreciate that.
42:10And if you guys
42:10want to reach out to me,
42:11it's at Sean P.
42:12Welchef,
42:13S-H-A-W-N-P-W-A-L-C-H-E-F.
42:17Weirdly available.
42:18You can find me
42:19on Instagram,
42:19LinkedIn,
42:20all the platforms.
42:21Elliot,
42:21what's the best place
42:22for people to learn
42:23more about
42:24McNeely's Restaurant Group?
42:26Yeah,
42:27mcnellysgroup.com
42:28is our website
42:28but we have
42:29mcnellysgroup
42:30Instagram as well.
42:32I'm Elliot McNeely's
42:34on my Instagram handle
42:35which is infrequent
42:37on the posting
42:38but sometimes
42:39we'll have
42:39some useful stuff.
42:40So theoretically
42:41I need to get
42:42on LinkedIn too
42:42if everybody tells me.
42:45We appreciate it
42:47and as always
42:47stay curious,
42:48get involved
42:49and don't be afraid
42:49to ask for help.
42:50We'll catch you guys
42:51next episode.
42:56Thank you for listening.
42:57If you've made it this long,
42:58you are part of the community.
43:00You're part of the tribe.
43:01We can't do this alone.
43:02We started,
43:02no one was listening.
43:04Now we have a community
43:04of digital hospitality leaders
43:06all over the globe.
43:07Please check out
43:08our new series
43:09called Restaurant Technology
43:11Substack.
43:12It's a Substack newsletter.
43:13It's free.
43:14It's some of our deep work
43:15on the best technology
43:16for restaurants.
43:17Also go to YouTube
43:18and subscribe
43:19to Cali BBQ Media.
43:21Cali BBQ Media
43:22on YouTube.
43:23We've been putting out
43:24a lot of new
43:24original content.
43:25Hopefully you guys
43:26like that content.
43:27If you want to work with us,
43:28go to
43:29betheshow.media.
43:30We show up
43:31all over the United States,
43:32some international countries.
43:34We would love to work
43:35with you
43:35and your growing brand
43:36on digital storytelling.
43:38You can reach out
43:38to me anytime
43:39at Sean P. Welchef
43:41on Instagram.
43:41I'm weirdly available.
43:43Stay curious.
43:44Get involved.
43:45Don't be afraid
43:45to ask for help.
43:46We'll catch you next episode.
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