How to Build a Traveling Circus with Thomas Ward, Founder & CEO of Pigzza & Pig Floyd's

Aug 14

Join our host, Lee Murray, in the latest episode of the CEO series as he talks with Thomas Ward, CEO of Pigzza & Pig Floyd's. They discuss Thomas’ journey in the restaurant industry and the importance of social media in customer engagement. Thomas shares his approach to overcoming challenges and future restaurant concepts, emphasizing authenticity and storytelling.

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Thomas - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-ward-0473855/

#ExploringGrowthPodcast #BusinessInsights #EntrepreneurialJourney #BusinessExpansion #EmbracingGrowth #MarketingTalk #ThomasWard #Pigzza #PigFloyd's #PassionForFood#RediscoverYourSpark

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You know, I have this ongoing joke

that people tell me that their

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grandmothers black beans are better

than mine. Yes. I'm never older.

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I'm never going to beat your

grandmother. Like. That's right.

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But she doesn't have a restaurant.

She doesn't have a restaurant. Right.

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So if your grandma has a restaurant,

let me know.

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I'll talk to her about her black

beans because I like how she

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does it every day. Consistently.

Right. All right.

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Welcome back to Exploring Growth,

picking back up on our Central

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Florida SEO series.

Today I have the pleasure of speaking

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with Thomas Ward, owner CEO of Pixar.

Pink Floyd's here in Orlando,

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Florida, two beloved restaurants here

locally that bring us super unique

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and delicious take on simple foods.

I'm excited to chat about all

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the things he's been up to and

where he's been.

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He's going to take his business

in the future.

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So welcome to the show, Thomas.

Thank you.

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Thank you for having me,

I appreciate it. Yeah.

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So, you know,

this has been this has been great.

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I've had several people say that I

should have you on and then I think

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Hernan I met who was a previous

guest, and he's like, oh, I know

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Thomas. I'll have him. Come on.

So this is this is great. Yeah, yeah.

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It's, um, you know,

I've owned the restaurant for

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ten years and I've been,

you know, that I've been around.

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So I've met a lot of great

people that refer me to other

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great people like yourself.

So just for the my audience,

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who doesn't know who you are,

uh, tell them who you are and

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what you've been up to.

So my name is Thomas Ward.

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Um, and I started, uh,

a little barbecue joint called

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Pink Floyd's ten years ago,

almost to the exact date.

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Um, and I also own another

concept by the name of pizza,

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which we started last year.

Um, and pretty soon, uh,

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at the end of this year, we'll have

Pink Floyd's Lee road with, uh,

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which is our new store with a drive

thru. So cool. That's awesome. Yeah.

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I've been into, uh, pink Floyd's.

It's been a while, but, um,

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enjoy the food.

And my brother is actually a

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really big super fan of yours,

and, uh, and the food has spent

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a lot of money there. Yeah.

We got to meet your brother.

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Yeah, I know we need to.

We need to make that connection.

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Um, but, you know,

when we we did an intro call, uh,

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about a week ago just to kind of get

to know each other and everything

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and want something just to kind of

kick off this conversation that

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you had mentioned early on is

just kind of what you're trying

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to do with your businesses.

And you mentioned this idea of a

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traveling circus, and I don't

know if that was just something

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that you said to me or if that's

like literally like a philosophy.

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But I thought that was so

interesting.

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So tell us about your traveling

circus you're building.

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Well, the thing is, you know,

in the restaurant business,

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you have to grow or die, right?

Um, and the growth pattern that

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you could take is basically in

different ways, right?

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You can you can grow your concept one

one concept, and just multiply stores

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and get it to a point where it's just

obviously something interesting,

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um, to some other company.

Like, for example, let's take the

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Darden world, uh, latest transaction,

which is Chewy's. Okay.

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Uh, they bought a hundred

restaurants for $605 million.

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So there's some value there,

right? Wow. Yeah, yeah.

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And, um, so I was originally

doing that project and just going

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to try to open 50 Pig Foods,

but, you know, this little thing

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called the pandemic happened.

And I think we had to shift in

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the way that we were deciding to

do concepts.

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And for me, you know, one of the

biggest issues that we had with

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barbecue is the frequency factor.

Um, frequency in a barbecue joint

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is a lot less than what you would

say Italian coffee, breakfast,

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all these other different, uh,

let's say John was in the

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restaurant business.

So I wanted to get into the more

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frequency business because

barbecue is a little tough, right?

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It's a higher product like

product costs.

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Um, and people kind of eat it

less because it's a heavier food.

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So I was looking for opportunities

of where I can increase frequency.

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Pizza is one of them.

So I started with pizza.

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Uh, pizza is a concept that we

started a year ago.

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I have a concept for breakfast that's

called Peggy Floyd's brunch. Annette.

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Um, and that's something that

I'll look for a home soon.

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Um, I have Pink Floyd's,

the regular Pink Floyd's,

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which is at Mills that is going

to move towards a higher end.

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Pink Floyd's where we do higher

end meats and stuff like that

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and other fun stuff.

And then the Lee road one would

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be our drive thru model that we

would like to do as a satellite

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to wherever we put the store.

And then I want a dessert shop

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and a Mexican joint.

All, all in all,

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what I want to do is I want to create

5 to 6 different concepts that we

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can build in different cities.

And for us, it's easier to manage

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these six concepts with one

person than to manage it with,

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you know, opening 50 employees

in different cities and having

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people run all over the states so

that we can run this operation.

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So we're just being more, um,

intelligent in the way that we

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make the investment and opening up

restaurants and trying to figure out

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how we get into other cities is.

A super unique concept.

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And I that piece that I hadn't had

known about that where you have one

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person kind of running them all,

that brings it all together for me,

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because if you have,

you have a barbecue restaurant that

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does really well and you start

putting them in other cities,

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then eventually you're going to have

2 or 3 in a sort of district or

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region that one person may oversee,

right? So that makes sense.

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But I like I like this concept also.

Or maybe even better because you're

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diversified, you know, like you're

talking about frequency of customer.

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Um, you know,

who knows what's going to happen

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when Covid hit all restaurants.

But, you know,

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there's something that might come

down the pike for barbecue, you know,

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and there's some kind of thing that

just wipes out barbecue, but then

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you still have all these other

concepts that are still alive. Yeah.

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I think diversity in the restaurant

industry is a big one, right.

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Um, you have I mean,

you have professional companies

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like McDonald's, chick fil A,

all these companies,

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they close restaurants, like

there's restaurants that definitely

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they opened that didn't work.

So it's not it's not a new thing.

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But, um, all these companies

have real estate issues.

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They have operational issues and

all that.

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So I just wanted to create a

little diversity because I'm a

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small I'm a small company. Yeah.

And I want to rest assured that,

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like.

Yeah, like you said,

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if tomorrow the US decides that

meat is bad for you. Yeah.

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You know, we have something to

shift towards too, right?

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So I think that's very important that

you protect yourself in that sense.

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Yeah.

And when we were talking about this

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before, I thought it was cool too,

that each of these concepts can

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play off one another.

So and I'm not sure I haven't

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been to Pixar yet, but I'm,

I'm assuming you're using your

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barbecue from Pink Floyd's over on

pizza. So maybe expand on that.

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For a minute.

Like right now I'm doing pork chop

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suey for, uh, the Lee road store

that I'm developing the recipe.

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And yesterday I brought it over to

Pixar, and one of my staff members

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decided to do a pasta with it,

and it was outrageously delicious.

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So that's awesome.

You know,

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we could use that meat in something

else that we do at Pixar or, um,

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you know, with the dessert shop,

we can have the dessert shop making

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the desserts for all the restaurants,

which, you know, at the end of

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the day, you open a dessert shop

and imagine you already giving it

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all these sales, um, to produce

for all your other restaurants.

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I think there's there's synergy

in that.

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And I and I been trying to look for

the synergy to, to make sure that

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everything works together. Right.

So you mentioned Italian and

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breakfast and kind of all these

different genres.

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Break that down for me.

Like how do you think about it?

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Because I know you have a vision

for what,

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how that all would come together.

How do you think about it to be

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sustainable and diversified and,

you know, profitable.

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Are you thinking about specific

verticals or specific genres?

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Well, like for example, uh, I,

I've looked at acquiring a

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coffee company. Right.

Um, I can take the coffee company,

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build the breakfast joints with

the coffee company,

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and then use both both brands

and develop both brands. Right.

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Um, I could have Peggy Floyd's

brunch on that.

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That carries your coffee. Right?

So, you know, it just it just works

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together with all of them, right?

Uh, and and that's the whole,

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that's the whole thing.

Like, how do we, how do we make this

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brand grow with this other brand?

Right now,

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I'm developing a key lime pie.

It might be named as something

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that would go in the brand that

we're trying to do.

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Sugar, Poppy and sugar mommy for

desserts. Right?

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So, I mean, it just goes all

together, um, and and it makes

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it effective for all of us.

So do you think about expansion,

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expansion or getting into a

different vertical by kind of

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your taste and what you kind of

naturally want to get into?

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Or is it are you looking at it

more financially, you know,

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how do you look at it?

You have to look at it at both.

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I mean, again, building a restaurant

nowadays is so expensive, right?

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So you have to find ways that

you can actually try to try to

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protect yourself from that, right?

Uh, a coffee shop might cost

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$300,000 to start.

Uh, meanwhile,

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a restaurant might cost $1 million.

So, you know, that way you can have

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less financial implications in

terms of me opening coffee shops.

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And all of a sudden, I can open

100 coffee shops at 300,000.

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It's a very different game than

opening, you know, 100 restaurants

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at 1.5, $2 million. Mhm.

So I mean you have to make the

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decision.

Is the coffee shop going to make

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more money and, and investing less.

And it's a product that somebody

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goes and tries every day. Right.

Um or are you going to get into I

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don't know let's use Mexican and

you know, maybe something that

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people go every other week. Right.

So you you have to use the frequency.

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Um I also love all these products.

I love coffee, I love,

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I love breakfast, I love,

I love Mexican, I love pizza.

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So I'm a user, right? Yeah.

I get high on my supply. Yeah.

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And it seems like you're a

dabbler too.

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I mean,

you're kind of experimenting in the

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kitchen and you're like your past.

You have a passion for food, right?

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I do, I have a passion for food.

But I will tell you,

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being in this business for this long,

sometimes you lose it, right? Yeah.

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And, um, it becomes all operational

problems every day, and you kind

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of have to look back and see, hey,

why did I originally get into this?

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And what are the things that I

like about this business?

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And let's get back into that to see

if you can get some sort of like,

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you know, drive again.

Because like anything, I think I

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talked to other entrepreneurs,

you get into business and you're

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all excited and you know,

you have all these ideas and all of

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a sudden you you get hit with the

reality of operating the business and

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the necessities of that business,

and it becomes something that,

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you know, creating recipes

becomes in the rearview mirror,

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something that you don't look at.

And all you're trying to do is,

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how do I get through today?

And what staffing issues do I have,

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or what product issues do I have?

And and it takes away the fun,

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right? Yeah.

You gotta kind of find the love

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again.

Uh, did that happen to you at at

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some point? And if it did. Have you.

As I say, did you find the love

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again? And where did you find it?

Well, no, I, you know, again, uh,

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things happen, right? Uh, pigs.

It took me two and a half years

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to develop.

The road has taken me two and a

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half years to get through

permitting and financing.

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So you're you're talking about,

you know, 3 or 4 years that I've

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been just in development,

and and I only have two stores.

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So you're like, man,

that's a lot of work. Oh, yeah.

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You haven't even got to the love

part of it.

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I haven't even got into the love

part.

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There's a lot of work of just

permitting money looking for,

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you know, trying recipes at pigs

that we tried things for six

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months and that that was great.

But then the operations of running

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that restaurant and opening and

just changing the I've changed

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the menu there probably 12 to 15

times to adjust to what the market

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was asking for. Right? Yeah.

Um, um, you I mean, I would, uh, I.

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Would think that a change in your

menu at a restaurant is a pretty

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big deal to do it that many times.

You have to be right. It is.

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It isn't.

Uh, I think there's certain,

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you know, there's certain dishes

that people like.

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There's certain things that

people don't like. And.

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Yeah, then you have to adjust really

quickly, especially when you're

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developing, when you're developing

a concept to replicate is very

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different to developing a restaurant

that you just want to have one.

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So yeah, you know, at at one you

can do things very differently

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than you do it at something.

That's right. Replicate.

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And and I go into with the intention

of building more than one.

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So, you know, this is really a

project of how do I get this right?

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So that when we go to the next shop,

I know what I want for the next one,

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right? Yeah.

Um, smaller menus, you know,

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all these different things that

you have to look at so that you

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can run the operation correctly.

I think it's, you know, and I go back

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to this key lime pie that I'm doing.

I've been doing this key lime

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pie testing. Right.

So I can put it in one of the stores.

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And when you try other key lime

pies and you look at all the

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ingredients that they have,

there's things in there that you

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are like, what in the hell?

Like, this is why this pie last two

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weeks, right? Yeah. That's right.

And I don't think people care

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about that because all they want

is that key lime pie that they

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can have in the refrigerator.

But yeah, when we build that at

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the restaurant level,

we don't have these additives that

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make this pie survive two weeks.

So this needs to be made fresh daily.

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It's not a science lab. It's. Yeah.

And and and all of a sudden now

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this becomes like.

And that's what I'm trying to

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put out in social media is just

people understanding that we we

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don't have additives.

We don't we don't have science

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like that.

We have to cook fresh every day.

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Yeah.

So there's more to this than

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just just making pies.

And you make a, you know,

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a hundred pies a day and stick them

in the cooler and hopefully they'll

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sell in two weeks, you know. Yeah.

So side side conversation talking

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about key lime pies I've been

following that on on your stories.

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It's been great.

And I want to come back to that

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talking about social media later.

But just in your in your research,

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did you, uh, put Kermit's in

there from um, they're down and

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they're down in the keys,

but they manufacture in the land.

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Oh, no, I didn't know that.

Um, but again. It's pretty popular.

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So you say product, right?

But when we go down the list of

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reading ingredients Mhm.

I mean, you you you you replicate it.

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Yeah. You have to put stabilizers.

You have to put other things

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that carry.

That just means sending that

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package overnight to your house.

Yeah, you're right about that.

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It's it's really good though.

It's great. Right.

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But then it's it's.

How do I relate it?

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Somebody yesterday offered me like,

hey, why don't we put your barbecue

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sauce in stores? And I went, perfect.

Yes, we can do that now.

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You have to go to a co-packer and see

what is that co-packer going to add

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to that so that you can stabilize

it and make it shelf stable for

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three months, six months, whatever.

And how is that going to change

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the flavor? That's right.

Does it does I mean 100%, 100%.

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So then now we're in a different

business.

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It's not the restaurant really.

Now we're in the packing business.

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Yeah.

Um,

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and that recipe is totally different.

And and that's something that I

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personally have not really

gotten into it because I want to

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make my product fresh.

I want to have the best

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ingredients that I can.

And that's why you see that on

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social media that I'm showing you,

like, this is what you can do,

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and this is the shelf life of a

real product. Yeah. That's true.

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When you see it at Costco and it has

a shelf life of a week or two weeks,

273

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read the read the ingredients

like syntax, gum.

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I don't know what other things

they have.

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Like they have so many things to

just be able to hold that product.

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But let's go.

Let's go to the social media

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conversation for a minute,

because I have to say that I really

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like the way that you're utilizing,

uh, social media.

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Um, I hadn't been following you until

just recently, but, um, I'm enjoying

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watching your stories on Instagram.

And, you know,

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as you're building these key lime

pies and if anybody's not following,

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you need to go follow that.

It's really entertaining because,

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you know,

I'm not I'm not in the restaurant

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business and I don't really know.

I mean, I've worked at some

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restaurants, but it's cool to see,

you know, someone who's so

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passionate about what they're doing,

not only the growth of their

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business, but they're still in.

They're in the kitchen literally

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working on new ingredients, new new

recipes, you know, new products.

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Um, and I think that this is how

social media should be used by,

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by companies.

I think, in my opinion, you should be

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using stories to tell a story. Right?

And your post should be very story.

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Driven.

And relatable to your audience.

293

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Right?

And I really feel like you're

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connecting your mission with

your audience through the things

295

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that you're doing. But I wasn't.

Okay. Right?

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So I wasn't, I, I, I was telling

actually my dad the other day that

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I just think life after Covid now

is so fast and there is so much,

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um, you could sit on Instagram

for hours watching memes and

299

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sending memes to other people.

So imagine how do I captivate

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00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:45,480

your attention when you have

whatever you follow, 300,

301

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500 people that are trying to catch

your attention just like I am.

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And they might be catching your

attention because they did something

303

00:18:52,830 --> 00:18:58,440

stupid or funny, right? Yeah.

Um, so, you know, I was having kind

304

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of a challenge with that because

I was like, man, social media is

305

00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:06,330

just right now so saturated.

How do we captivate people's

306

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attention?

And what I decided, and this is just

307

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me doing it out of, like, randomly

and and viewing of what's going on.

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I said, hey, let's go back to

where we originally when I had a

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food truck because I had a food

truck back in 2011. Okay.

310

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Um, we were very, very out there

with whatever we were putting.

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Like, I would put that today I'm

going on a diet on Twitter, right?

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And people would be coming to

the truck and telling me,

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how's your diet going?

Yeah, you know, what are you doing?

314

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Or this or that, like. Yeah.

So that's how I really started

315

00:19:44,990 --> 00:19:48,140

on social media, and that's how

social media really was,

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like we used to put on Twitter,

hey, we're going to be here with

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the food truck, come by, take,

you know, visit us today because

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we have this special going on

and all that. That's how it was.

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Now it's like, you know,

I don't know, you better put

320

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your whole story every day. Yes.

And, um, you know, you know,

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they want to talk about every menu

item every day because, like, we got

322

00:20:10,340 --> 00:20:15,170

to captivate your attention somehow.

Well, you know, it's it's what I see

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00:20:15,170 --> 00:20:18,440

you doing that I think is working.

And, you know,

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00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:23,180

we talk about conversion to to

actual money and dollars.

325

00:20:23,270 --> 00:20:27,140

But I think what's working is you're

being real and it's, it's being it's

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00:20:27,140 --> 00:20:30,110

very much in line with the brand.

You know, you're sharing your story,

327

00:20:30,110 --> 00:20:33,710

your thoughts, your opinions,

your your you know, I saw some

328

00:20:33,710 --> 00:20:36,860

of your I guess there were reels

or posts where you you're you're

329

00:20:36,860 --> 00:20:40,930

looking at negative reviews and

telling people, you know hey, I

330

00:20:40,930 --> 00:20:44,650

appreciate that you had this problem.

And come on in and I'll fix it.

331

00:20:44,890 --> 00:20:47,470

I think that's where we're at.

Like, people want, you know,

332

00:20:47,470 --> 00:20:49,930

with all the onset of AI and

everything that's happening, people

333

00:20:49,930 --> 00:20:53,380

still want human humans to be human.

They want that authentic

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connection and genuineness.

And I think what it does for,

335

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for, for restaurants and for

other businesses is it actually

336

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allows you to be, um,

kind of go beyond taste and price.

337

00:21:07,030 --> 00:21:12,160

And it it presents it in a more

personal way that allows the,

338

00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:15,490

the viewer, the, the,

the user to sort of make it

339

00:21:15,490 --> 00:21:19,630

their restaurant too. Right?

So that's what that's how I feel like

340

00:21:19,630 --> 00:21:23,410

I could not have ever gone there, but

I'm following the Key Lime Pie series

341

00:21:23,410 --> 00:21:27,010

and I'm getting to know you, right?

I'm getting connected to you, the

342

00:21:27,010 --> 00:21:30,460

owner, and how you're running things,

how you talk to people you know,

343

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off camera or whatever.

And so I feel like this is already

344

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kind of my restaurant too.

So when I go there,

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I already know the restaurant.

I think the biggest thing is that we

346

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have walked away from community,

right? Yes.

347

00:21:47,110 --> 00:21:51,430

And we have walked away from it

just to appear cool.

348

00:21:51,940 --> 00:21:54,370

That's just strictly, again,

strictly my opinion.

349

00:21:54,730 --> 00:21:57,400

And, uh,

people want to see the real man.

350

00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:01,690

Like, you know,

we put a party every day.

351

00:22:02,620 --> 00:22:07,180

Uh, every day we are basically

putting on a party for the guests

352

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that are coming into the restaurant.

So, yeah, um, imagine going through

353

00:22:11,140 --> 00:22:15,490

that operationally and at the same

time having to put everything on

354

00:22:15,490 --> 00:22:20,890

social media so that people know

what we're doing. It's tough.

355

00:22:21,100 --> 00:22:26,170

So at one point, I after the

pandemic, I had to make a decision,

356

00:22:26,170 --> 00:22:29,740

do I operate my business or do I

live on the internet? Right.

357

00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:33,580

And that was a tough choice.

And at that point I decided to

358

00:22:33,580 --> 00:22:36,250

operate the business,

get pigs started and all that.

359

00:22:36,580 --> 00:22:41,160

Um, and now looking back and

trying to be like more

360

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intelligent and more strategic

with what we do and time wise.

361

00:22:45,210 --> 00:22:49,680

I said, hey, you know everything.

One of the things that I'm going

362

00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:52,800

to tell you that I criticize about

my growth is that when you get

363

00:22:53,580 --> 00:22:57,180

to growing, it, just everything

takes a lot longer, right?

364

00:22:57,330 --> 00:23:01,470

And so every program that we had

to do on online and oh,

365

00:23:01,470 --> 00:23:05,940

we want to do this marketing strategy

on Instagram, it took weeks and

366

00:23:05,940 --> 00:23:08,910

I was just losing my patience.

And I was like, man, why can't I

367

00:23:08,910 --> 00:23:12,870

just grab my camera and just

start blabbering what I'm doing?

368

00:23:13,050 --> 00:23:16,590

Like who cares?

Like, we're not butting up.

369

00:23:16,740 --> 00:23:20,280

This is what we're really doing.

This is the reality of what we're

370

00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:24,060

doing in terms of production.

How do we replicate it?

371

00:23:24,060 --> 00:23:27,270

It has to be perfect.

I have to think about all these

372

00:23:27,270 --> 00:23:31,110

different things,

all these different people's opinion.

373

00:23:31,230 --> 00:23:34,530

So I just want to put it out

there because that's that's a

374

00:23:34,530 --> 00:23:37,050

difficult thing.

Imagine you going to work and

375

00:23:37,050 --> 00:23:39,290

somebody's following you around

and telling you how you do your

376

00:23:39,290 --> 00:23:44,090

job every day, at every moment.

Yeah. Super, super hard. Yeah.

377

00:23:44,150 --> 00:23:48,170

You're hard. Yeah. You can't.

You can't do your job properly if

378

00:23:48,170 --> 00:23:51,230

somebody's just staring at you,

going, hey, man, I think you

379

00:23:51,230 --> 00:23:56,870

really did this pasta specifically

really bad. Yeah, we messed it up.

380

00:23:56,900 --> 00:23:59,660

Yeah. Let's come back.

We'll give you a new one. Right?

381

00:23:59,660 --> 00:24:02,960

Like. Right.

I don't know what to like,

382

00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,530

I don't know, we're trying to

play a law of averages. Yeah.

383

00:24:06,740 --> 00:24:11,390

Well, you're right, it is.

Yeah, but. With people's taste buds.

384

00:24:11,690 --> 00:24:15,110

I think I think it is super hard

because there's a lot of emotion

385

00:24:15,230 --> 00:24:19,160

wrapped up in that purchase. Right?

That a whole experience is, like you

386

00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:21,230

said, you're putting on a party.

They want to come to the party and

387

00:24:21,230 --> 00:24:24,440

feel like they went to a party,

and they want all the boxes checked.

388

00:24:24,950 --> 00:24:28,190

Um, but I think I think what

you're actually doing is sort of

389

00:24:28,190 --> 00:24:31,970

a reverse strategy where you're

putting yourself, your personality,

390

00:24:31,970 --> 00:24:35,840

the the, your personality and the

way you operate your business is

391

00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,890

your brand, right? I mean, it is.

They're one and the same,

392

00:24:38,890 --> 00:24:43,180

and eventually they're going to be

disconnected as you scale and expand.

393

00:24:43,180 --> 00:24:44,590

But right now they're one and

the same.

394

00:24:44,590 --> 00:24:47,320

So you put yourself out there

like you are.

395

00:24:47,350 --> 00:24:52,240

You will eventually probably very

quick time build what they're

396

00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:55,120

calling these days superfans.

But you're you're building a

397

00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:57,850

community of people who feel

like it's their restaurant, too.

398

00:24:57,850 --> 00:25:01,450

And then you, then you, you work

on strategizing, then you work on,

399

00:25:01,450 --> 00:25:05,680

okay, what do we do with that?

Versus how do we create something

400

00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:09,160

that's not as authentic, right.

That's just going to be more of

401

00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:11,590

a business plan than it will be.

You know,

402

00:25:11,740 --> 00:25:15,010

the real thing that people want,

people want access to the party,

403

00:25:15,010 --> 00:25:17,920

I guess, to use that party analogy

before they come to the party.

404

00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:20,350

So they feel like they belong to

the party. I don't know, I just.

405

00:25:20,350 --> 00:25:24,670

Came up with that in the text thread.

Yeah. That's it. The group text.

406

00:25:24,670 --> 00:25:26,200

Yeah.

We want to be in the group text.

407

00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,390

This is the party that's going on.

This is what we're doing.

408

00:25:28,390 --> 00:25:32,020

I want to find everything right.

You know, one of the things that

409

00:25:32,020 --> 00:25:36,120

I want to do tell you is that I

think it's it's interesting in the

410

00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:41,610

restaurant business is we we we make

we do this party every day. Right.

411

00:25:41,610 --> 00:25:46,830

And then the people that are in

the text thread listening to about

412

00:25:46,830 --> 00:25:49,560

what's going on in the party,

they're still coming in and

413

00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,410

they're expecting that the air

conditioning temperature is correct,

414

00:25:52,410 --> 00:25:57,810

that the music is at the right sound,

like the level that that the

415

00:25:57,810 --> 00:26:00,540

lighting is at the right level,

that the people that are in the

416

00:26:00,540 --> 00:26:03,690

party are cool.

Yeah, that you know that the food

417

00:26:03,690 --> 00:26:07,380

is great and it's coming out in a

timely manner, that the drinks are

418

00:26:07,380 --> 00:26:11,310

coming out great in a timely manner,

that the server talked to me the

419

00:26:11,310 --> 00:26:15,750

correct way that, you know,

you get what I'm saying?

420

00:26:15,750 --> 00:26:18,090

Like, oh yeah,

they're in the party. Oh yeah.

421

00:26:18,090 --> 00:26:21,990

But they also have all these

expectations that we need to fulfill.

422

00:26:21,990 --> 00:26:24,600

Yeah.

And and then when you put flavor

423

00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:30,360

profiles, how you're saying

that's a very opinion, you know,

424

00:26:30,360 --> 00:26:34,320

emotion based situation.

So now we're dealing with emotions.

425

00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:36,930

It's not like I'm just feeding you.

Yeah.

426

00:26:37,110 --> 00:26:40,080

Oh, it's like, does this taste good?

There's this. There's deep.

427

00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,260

You know, I have this ongoing joke

that people tell me that their

428

00:26:43,260 --> 00:26:47,490

grandmother's black beans are

better than mine. Yes. I'm never.

429

00:26:48,330 --> 00:26:50,730

I'm never going to beat your

grandmother. Right? That's right.

430

00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,030

Right. She didn't have a restaurant.

She doesn't have a restaurant. Right.

431

00:26:54,030 --> 00:26:56,280

So if your grandma has a restaurant,

let me know.

432

00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:00,090

I'll talk to her about her black

beans because I like how she

433

00:27:00,090 --> 00:27:02,250

does it every day. Consistently.

Right? That's right.

434

00:27:02,250 --> 00:27:04,830

And if you went to her restaurant,

you would probably tell that your

435

00:27:04,980 --> 00:27:08,370

your black beans are better.

So, you know. Hey, man.

436

00:27:08,370 --> 00:27:13,080

Like,

so I just want people to recognize.

437

00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:16,260

And another thing I want to tell you

I put my phone number out there.

438

00:27:16,590 --> 00:27:18,870

Yeah, right.

My personal cell phone is in the

439

00:27:18,870 --> 00:27:21,780

internet.

So if you have a problem at my

440

00:27:21,780 --> 00:27:24,390

restaurant,

you can talk to me directly.

441

00:27:24,390 --> 00:27:27,390

You can text me, call me, whatever.

And people seem to be so

442

00:27:27,390 --> 00:27:29,100

impressed by that.

But at the end of the day,

443

00:27:29,100 --> 00:27:34,010

this is my livelihood. Yeah.

So if I'm not out there and and

444

00:27:34,010 --> 00:27:35,600

I don't get it.

I don't get it from other

445

00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:37,460

restaurant owners that don't put

themselves out there.

446

00:27:37,460 --> 00:27:41,480

Like, hey, I'm open to criticism.

If you don't like the dish,

447

00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:44,210

come back. We'll fix it.

We'll make you something else

448

00:27:44,210 --> 00:27:48,980

that you like.

But but please let us know, right?

449

00:27:48,980 --> 00:27:51,140

Because that's the only way

we're going to get better.

450

00:27:51,140 --> 00:27:54,620

That's the only way we're going to

be able to keep this restaurant

451

00:27:54,620 --> 00:27:57,860

going and more popular and all that.

Yeah. For sure.

452

00:27:57,860 --> 00:28:02,750

So going back to losing the love

and getting the love back,

453

00:28:03,260 --> 00:28:06,800

was it love that got you into this?

Like how did you why did you decide

454

00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:10,490

to get into the restaurant business?

Necessity okay.

455

00:28:10,850 --> 00:28:15,260

Necessity I got um,

so I tell the story.

456

00:28:15,260 --> 00:28:18,110

My dad's disagrees with me,

but my dad fired me from the

457

00:28:18,110 --> 00:28:26,540

supermarket business in 2010.

Um, I had the push to buy this new

458

00:28:26,540 --> 00:28:30,140

supermarket that I wanted, and he

didn't want to buy the supermarket.

459

00:28:30,140 --> 00:28:33,730

And, you know, we got into this

father and son situation and he

460

00:28:33,730 --> 00:28:38,170

decided to fight. Great.

No problem. Um. So I came back.

461

00:28:38,170 --> 00:28:42,130

Were from Puerto Rico.

So I came back to the States and I

462

00:28:42,130 --> 00:28:46,960

that was 2010, which at that moment,

you know, that economy was not great.

463

00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:50,890

Yeah, it was crap.

Um, and I interviewed with

464

00:28:50,890 --> 00:28:54,550

several different companies that

all these companies, like,

465

00:28:54,550 --> 00:28:58,990

I interviewed with Publix.

Publix brought out this questionnaire

466

00:28:58,990 --> 00:29:02,770

things, and he asked me all these

questions, and then I answered

467

00:29:02,770 --> 00:29:05,890

all these questions correctly.

Because our, our the way that we do

468

00:29:05,890 --> 00:29:09,160

business in Puerto Rico is much more

complicated than computer ordering,

469

00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:12,430

how they do it here.

And he said that I can hire you as a

470

00:29:12,430 --> 00:29:15,850

bagger because we hire from within.

And I was like, man,

471

00:29:15,850 --> 00:29:21,370

this is not going the way that I go.

Um, so at that point I made a

472

00:29:21,370 --> 00:29:24,580

decision, hey, I don't want to

work for somebody else.

473

00:29:25,090 --> 00:29:29,410

I'm going to try to figure out

what business I can get into that

474

00:29:29,410 --> 00:29:33,300

requires low capital, and that I

have some sort of asset that if

475

00:29:33,300 --> 00:29:37,080

this doesn't go right, I could sell

and get some of the money back,

476

00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:41,730

and that at that point, food trucks

weren't very popular in Orlando.

477

00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,690

Uh, they were popular in other areas.

I mean, the trucks are on forever,

478

00:29:45,690 --> 00:29:49,560

but, uh, just the way that

they've been doing it now,

479

00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:53,040

where it's the events were ten

different food trucks show up.

480

00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,050

That wasn't really happening in

Orlando.

481

00:29:55,050 --> 00:29:58,620

So I decided, hey, let me open a

burger and grilled cheese truck.

482

00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:02,940

And, you know, it's something that I,

I have the truck,

483

00:30:02,940 --> 00:30:07,200

so there's value there.

And who can't cook a burger and

484

00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:10,440

some grilled cheese?

Like it shouldn't be this difficult,

485

00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:13,260

right? I was so wrong.

That I was about to.

486

00:30:13,260 --> 00:30:18,060

Say I was so wrong.

Yeah, I that food truck was the

487

00:30:18,060 --> 00:30:23,130

biggest learning, um,

curve that I've ever had in my life.

488

00:30:23,130 --> 00:30:27,660

I learned so much about what not

to do, what to do, how to cook,

489

00:30:27,660 --> 00:30:31,670

not to cook. I mean, uh, what's the.

Biggest thing that you you took

490

00:30:31,670 --> 00:30:34,190

from that experience,

would you say looking back on it?

491

00:30:34,220 --> 00:30:42,710

You know, and it's funny, people,

guests like to be in the know of what

492

00:30:42,710 --> 00:30:45,740

you're doing to be very involved.

Right.

493

00:30:45,740 --> 00:30:48,890

Because the food trucks at that

point was very involved because

494

00:30:48,890 --> 00:30:52,340

it was all on Twitter.

Like, you know, it's out there.

495

00:30:52,670 --> 00:30:57,830

It's out there.

Um, you, you tend to, to learn a

496

00:30:57,830 --> 00:31:02,420

lot of what the consumer does.

Um, one of the things that I

497

00:31:02,420 --> 00:31:07,280

always said is that consumer,

like when they go to a restaurant,

498

00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:12,230

they like tight quarters,

low roofs, like they just like

499

00:31:12,230 --> 00:31:17,720

that sense of community. Yeah.

Um, and I learned that they

500

00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:20,930

don't they don't mind if they

have to wait in line. Right.

501

00:31:21,050 --> 00:31:24,590

As long as there's a line. Yeah.

That's right. Right.

502

00:31:25,100 --> 00:31:27,500

Uh, when we first started with

the treehouse truck,

503

00:31:27,500 --> 00:31:30,980

we did this burger in between two

Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and we had a

504

00:31:30,980 --> 00:31:35,060

line out the door for an hour. Yeah.

Um, and then when we started Pink

505

00:31:35,060 --> 00:31:39,920

Floyd's, I remember that we had a

line out the door and everybody

506

00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:43,130

was like, what are we going to do?

They really nervous about it because

507

00:31:43,130 --> 00:31:45,140

there was a line at the door and

I was like, we're going to take

508

00:31:45,140 --> 00:31:48,020

the line and we're just going to

go one by one. That's right.

509

00:31:48,020 --> 00:31:52,370

And the line was really what pushed

our business, to be honest with you.

510

00:31:52,370 --> 00:31:56,090

People looking at that line as

they pass by like, oh,

511

00:31:56,090 --> 00:31:58,970

that restaurant's popular.

So that's something that came

512

00:31:58,970 --> 00:32:03,710

from the food truck world,

because we had we had these lines,

513

00:32:03,710 --> 00:32:07,880

you know, our demand. Yeah.

And demand and all that.

514

00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:10,370

And, you know, obviously as the

event started getting bigger,

515

00:32:10,370 --> 00:32:15,530

the line started going down. Yeah.

Um, but it was just a very

516

00:32:15,530 --> 00:32:20,360

interesting way of looking.

Uh, I call it micro consumerism,

517

00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:24,020

right. You see it in micro way.

And then all of a sudden when

518

00:32:24,020 --> 00:32:27,470

you look at it in a macro way,

it's so different.

519

00:32:27,740 --> 00:32:30,730

Um, because then for sure when you

add volume and when you add different

520

00:32:30,730 --> 00:32:35,170

tendencies, then it's cuz that when.

You guys opened up, did you open

521

00:32:35,170 --> 00:32:39,340

up five days a week right out of

the gate or seven days a week for,

522

00:32:39,430 --> 00:32:43,270

uh, no, for for pig. Fluids? Yes.

But I was known for opening

523

00:32:43,270 --> 00:32:47,320

every day of the year. Okay.

Open on Christmas, I would to yeah.

524

00:32:48,250 --> 00:32:50,890

Would that change after Covid?

Unfortunately, yeah.

525

00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:55,420

And we closed now all our stores

would close on Mondays. Gotcha.

526

00:32:55,690 --> 00:32:59,740

Just to give people a break.

So what's an average day look

527

00:32:59,740 --> 00:33:01,990

like for you?

Like what does your day look

528

00:33:01,990 --> 00:33:06,070

like when you're operating these

two three companies, three

529

00:33:06,070 --> 00:33:10,420

businesses and looking to expand?

Um, I've been lucky that I have

530

00:33:10,420 --> 00:33:15,310

great staff.

Um, and I have great managers

531

00:33:15,310 --> 00:33:18,670

that take care that they do take

care of their stores.

532

00:33:19,420 --> 00:33:23,620

Um,

so I'm really kind of I was really

533

00:33:23,620 --> 00:33:29,490

focused on just the growth pattern.

Um, but I got out of operations

534

00:33:29,490 --> 00:33:34,740

a little bit too much.

Um, and I decided, I want to say

535

00:33:34,740 --> 00:33:38,580

last year that I was going to get

back into operations and to being a

536

00:33:38,580 --> 00:33:44,490

manager, uh, at the store level.

Um, and I think that's been the

537

00:33:44,490 --> 00:33:47,490

best decision that I've made,

because sometimes you get a little

538

00:33:47,490 --> 00:33:51,390

disconnected from your business.

You don't know what's going on.

539

00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:55,380

Um, in the day to day and in the

restaurant business, I think it's

540

00:33:55,380 --> 00:33:58,860

very important that you're involved

and in the day to day business

541

00:33:58,860 --> 00:34:04,200

and and get to know who's working

with you, who your staff is, and,

542

00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:07,380

and what are the things that they're

doing at the restaurants, you know.

543

00:34:07,830 --> 00:34:11,970

So, um, I'm back into the day to

day operations now.

544

00:34:11,970 --> 00:34:15,540

I, for example, at Pixar,

I close the store or I'm the

545

00:34:15,540 --> 00:34:20,700

closing manager four days a week.

Um, and then now I'm getting more,

546

00:34:20,700 --> 00:34:24,780

more involved with Pink Floyd's

again, because we have to do all this

547

00:34:24,780 --> 00:34:27,950

recipe work for the new concept that

we're doing because it's a drive

548

00:34:27,950 --> 00:34:32,510

thru model. Oh, gotcha. Yeah. Yeah.

So you're very hands on operationally

549

00:34:32,510 --> 00:34:36,920

then. Sounds like. Sometimes. Yeah.

Well, I mean,

550

00:34:37,460 --> 00:34:40,460

it sounds like you went the other way

and had to come back, so I mean,

551

00:34:40,460 --> 00:34:42,770

there's probably a balance there

you're trying to achieve, right?

552

00:34:42,950 --> 00:34:46,970

I wasn't too far away because I

came to, to work every day.

553

00:34:46,970 --> 00:34:50,540

So they saw me every day. Okay.

There's some restaurant owners

554

00:34:50,540 --> 00:34:53,660

that you know are absentee owners.

They can run it from somewhere else.

555

00:34:53,660 --> 00:34:56,690

But yeah, I'm a guy that likes

to be here every day.

556

00:34:56,750 --> 00:35:02,780

I mean, and they see me every day or

I barely go on vacation, so, yeah,

557

00:35:02,930 --> 00:35:07,550

I'm really in it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So as you, as you are looking,

558

00:35:07,550 --> 00:35:10,430

you have this vision for growth

and expansion and you're building

559

00:35:10,430 --> 00:35:14,780

your circus. Traveling circus.

How do you include staff and key

560

00:35:14,780 --> 00:35:19,850

employees in your growth plan?

Um, that's an interesting question,

561

00:35:19,850 --> 00:35:24,320

because right now we're kind of in

the middle of like, should I do,

562

00:35:24,830 --> 00:35:29,050

uh, employee stock, right?

Yeah, I've been discussing it.

563

00:35:29,350 --> 00:35:32,440

Uh, to see.

But in the restaurant business,

564

00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:35,380

I feel that there's not a lot of

people that are lifers.

565

00:35:35,380 --> 00:35:37,900

I call them lifers or people

that want to stay in the

566

00:35:37,900 --> 00:35:43,060

restaurant industry.

I think we we carry this persona

567

00:35:43,060 --> 00:35:47,650

that we're kind of sometimes

like a temporary, um, job.

568

00:35:48,130 --> 00:35:51,280

Of a job than a career. Yeah.

You have a job like, hey,

569

00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:54,550

I need some extra money.

I'll go work evenings at the

570

00:35:54,550 --> 00:35:56,560

restaurant while I have this

other job.

571

00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:59,950

Or while I figure if I'm going

to go into nursing or there's so

572

00:35:59,950 --> 00:36:04,210

many different, you know,

jobs that people, people go out

573

00:36:04,210 --> 00:36:09,370

and and I'm, you know, for me,

my idea is always I tell them,

574

00:36:09,370 --> 00:36:11,620

how long are you going to be with us?

Just be straight.

575

00:36:11,620 --> 00:36:15,100

Like, if you're going to be with us

six months a year, whatever it is.

576

00:36:15,100 --> 00:36:19,360

But when you're here,

let's try to show you some things

577

00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:23,200

that involve everyday life.

You know, I think in the restaurant,

578

00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:25,300

everybody should work in the

restaurant industry because I

579

00:36:25,300 --> 00:36:29,470

think that that gives you, uh,

patience. Right.

580

00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:31,600

You need to learn how to work

with people.

581

00:36:32,230 --> 00:36:35,800

Um, not only your your, you know,

the people you work with,

582

00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:39,520

but guests. Oh, yeah.

That's where they get to experience

583

00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:42,550

the emotion that you're dealing with.

You know, on a day to day basis.

584

00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:46,750

There's just so much.

I mean, if somebody's mad that

585

00:36:46,750 --> 00:36:49,780

their chicken today is a little

bit saltier, like, this is the end

586

00:36:49,780 --> 00:36:54,580

of the world. Yeah. And I get it.

Yeah. You know, I, I agree 100%.

587

00:36:54,580 --> 00:36:57,700

We're, we're trying to figure

out how to get our kids to,

588

00:36:57,700 --> 00:37:01,660

to work in the restaurant business,

you know, serving tables,

589

00:37:01,660 --> 00:37:03,730

doing something as they're

coming up through high school.

590

00:37:03,730 --> 00:37:08,200

One of our, um, daughters actually

works at Publix, uh, ironically, uh,

591

00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:10,690

and she's, she's she's doing good.

She started as a bagger and she's

592

00:37:10,690 --> 00:37:14,830

working up, um, and then our other

son, he's only 15, but but I,

593

00:37:14,950 --> 00:37:18,910

my both my wife and I worked in the

restaurant and, um, coming up and,

594

00:37:18,910 --> 00:37:22,360

you know, kind of made our way and

got our stripes and did dish tank

595

00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:26,190

and serve tables and all that,

and it's such a rite of passage.

596

00:37:26,190 --> 00:37:30,660

I think that a lot of people

don't don't have the reward of

597

00:37:30,660 --> 00:37:33,180

going through that,

because I can just think of, um,

598

00:37:33,180 --> 00:37:37,260

we were, uh, up in North Carolina,

uh, visiting some family.

599

00:37:37,260 --> 00:37:42,030

And on our way back through Atlanta,

um, we stopped at a restaurant

600

00:37:42,030 --> 00:37:44,160

that looked pretty good.

It was like a Thai restaurant or

601

00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:46,320

something.

And so we all go in there and and

602

00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:51,450

we're all just tired from driving.

We're very hungry. Like it was on us.

603

00:37:51,450 --> 00:37:55,950

Right? And we got the worst server.

The best thing you could do is

604

00:37:55,950 --> 00:37:59,220

fill the waters.

It was so bad and I could see I

605

00:37:59,220 --> 00:38:01,770

knew who the owner was because

you just can point them out.

606

00:38:01,770 --> 00:38:04,860

And I could see she was sort of

keeping her eye on our table.

607

00:38:04,860 --> 00:38:10,290

And it took us probably 30 minutes to

to get one plate of, of 6 or 7 plates

608

00:38:10,290 --> 00:38:14,010

or supposed to come out family style.

And then when it finally came out,

609

00:38:14,010 --> 00:38:15,450

she happened to be there

delivering it.

610

00:38:15,450 --> 00:38:19,710

And I was like, I'm sorry,

but it's this is like stone cold.

611

00:38:19,710 --> 00:38:24,140

And she knew it because they had

waited for the last dish to

612

00:38:24,140 --> 00:38:26,120

bring them all.

And it sat up there for too long

613

00:38:26,330 --> 00:38:29,480

and I and I was I was just like,

you know, if I had didn't have the

614

00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:32,720

perspective of being in her shoes,

of serving tables and doing all that,

615

00:38:33,050 --> 00:38:35,810

you know, probably would have

blasted her being like, you know,

616

00:38:35,810 --> 00:38:40,130

what is this, this horrible service?

But I just knew they were booked,

617

00:38:40,130 --> 00:38:42,440

you know, they were all like,

really working.

618

00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:44,930

And I knew that she was dealing

with this server who's probably

619

00:38:44,930 --> 00:38:46,430

incompetent.

I could just see the whole

620

00:38:46,430 --> 00:38:48,740

interaction.

So I was like, hey, it's this is

621

00:38:48,740 --> 00:38:52,160

too cold. We can't really eat this.

But it's not a big deal.

622

00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:53,960

If you want to just go heat it

up or something, bring it back.

623

00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:56,180

We'll eat it.

You know, like trying to have a

624

00:38:56,180 --> 00:38:59,570

little bit of empathy and for her.

But I wouldn't have had that

625

00:38:59,570 --> 00:39:02,870

perspective if I didn't.

Wasn't in her shoes, you know,

626

00:39:02,870 --> 00:39:06,350

so people like you that you have

on your staff, um,

627

00:39:06,350 --> 00:39:10,010

and leaders you're trying to

bring up like they're they're

628

00:39:10,010 --> 00:39:12,500

going to go through that fire.

There's no there's no way around it.

629

00:39:15,020 --> 00:39:17,330

Yeah.

He's like speaking the language.

630

00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:20,930

Just can't avoid it for them. Right?

I can't live it for you. Right.

631

00:39:20,930 --> 00:39:25,960

Then I have to support, you know,

my staff in whatever way they

632

00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:29,230

decide to deal with the situation.

Right? Right.

633

00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:33,370

Um, because they're they're really

who's taking care of the guests.

634

00:39:33,370 --> 00:39:35,680

And I'm very thankful that they

do a great job.

635

00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:40,450

And we've been lucky that in both

stores we have very, very nice staff.

636

00:39:40,450 --> 00:39:44,830

Everybody's very nice talks.

They say hi, you know, you know it.

637

00:39:45,040 --> 00:39:48,430

That's what really restaurants

are supposed to be. Yeah.

638

00:39:48,430 --> 00:39:52,660

I just think again, I think the

industry has changed a lot.

639

00:39:52,990 --> 00:39:56,470

Um, now that I'm in a full service

restaurant, because I've always

640

00:39:56,470 --> 00:39:59,140

been in fast casual. Right? Yeah.

Um,

641

00:39:59,140 --> 00:40:03,340

one of the things that I see at Pixar

is just people being in a hurry.

642

00:40:04,180 --> 00:40:08,050

Um, and, you know, I think what

used to be the full service

643

00:40:08,050 --> 00:40:10,480

experience used to be something

that you're going to a restaurant,

644

00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:12,640

it's probably going to be an

hour and a half to two hours.

645

00:40:12,850 --> 00:40:15,550

Um, and I have people walking to

pigs not thinking that they're going

646

00:40:15,550 --> 00:40:20,350

to get out of there in 45 minutes.

Yeah, or ten minutes. Whatever it is.

647

00:40:20,350 --> 00:40:23,770

Right But there's other people

ahead of you, right? That's right.

648

00:40:23,770 --> 00:40:27,280

And, you know,

barbecue is a product that you make

649

00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:31,870

overnight and you can hold it.

So it's a lot easier to get a ticket

650

00:40:31,870 --> 00:40:35,470

out in three minutes. That's right.

But when you're cooking a pizza,

651

00:40:35,470 --> 00:40:38,740

it takes six minutes.

The pasta takes seven.

652

00:40:38,770 --> 00:40:46,780

I mean, and that is without any dish

in front of it. So I just don't.

653

00:40:47,020 --> 00:40:49,600

I don't know what to tell you.

Like, some people just lose it

654

00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:53,110

because we're taking too long.

And I'm like, I don't know.

655

00:40:53,110 --> 00:40:59,440

I mean, what is Domino's? Yeah.

I mean, sometimes I say, I feel that

656

00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:03,760

way. I don't want to lose guess.

But like, I tend to think, how long

657

00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:09,310

does it really take you to make a

Caesar salad at home? For a while.

658

00:41:09,460 --> 00:41:13,030

Right. Because you have to if you.

If you even know how to make one.

659

00:41:13,150 --> 00:41:15,910

You even know how to make one.

But let's say you buy even.

660

00:41:15,910 --> 00:41:19,210

You buy the ingredients. You have to.

Yeah, you have to cut the lettuce.

661

00:41:19,210 --> 00:41:22,260

You have to cook the chicken,

you have to make the sauce like

662

00:41:22,350 --> 00:41:25,810

you have to do all this process.

It's not going to take you two

663

00:41:25,810 --> 00:41:30,090

minutes.

Which is why they came to you. Right?

664

00:41:30,210 --> 00:41:34,740

So then all of a sudden, what,

you went from home saying that it

665

00:41:34,740 --> 00:41:39,120

will probably take you half an hour

to cook and make us easer to me,

666

00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:41,520

taking eight minutes and you're

already going like, wow,

667

00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:44,940

that's a lot of time.

Like, this doesn't make sense to me,

668

00:41:45,270 --> 00:41:47,460

right?

So I just feel like a lot of people

669

00:41:47,460 --> 00:41:53,070

are living a very hurried life,

and we have to get back to what

670

00:41:53,070 --> 00:41:59,700

restaurants were really were really

for or were really like in the past.

671

00:41:59,700 --> 00:42:03,120

Yeah, I agree, and you enjoyed

the experience and you were there

672

00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:07,470

because you wanted to listen to

music and you wanted to see people

673

00:42:07,470 --> 00:42:10,920

and you wanted to enjoy the

whole experience, not, you know,

674

00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:13,440

I need my food in ten minutes

because I need to be out of here.

675

00:42:14,190 --> 00:42:17,340

Or, um,

a lot of people staring at phones

676

00:42:17,580 --> 00:42:22,160

like last night there was a couple

having dinner at the restaurant,

677

00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:25,250

and I seriously watched them.

And the whole night,

678

00:42:25,250 --> 00:42:28,400

the whole experience,

they were on both their phones.

679

00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:32,540

Yeah, like so they were just

eating separately. Yeah.

680

00:42:32,570 --> 00:42:35,090

It's like, why did you even come out?

You could have done this at home.

681

00:42:37,130 --> 00:42:40,910

We could have ordered takeout through

Uber. We have Uber. That's right.

682

00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:44,810

Um, listen, uh,

this has been a great conversation.

683

00:42:44,810 --> 00:42:47,780

I want to kind of round this out.

Uh, and I want to talk to you.

684

00:42:47,780 --> 00:42:50,600

Talk to you about your podcast,

Beyond the Smoke.

685

00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:56,120

Um, so I listened to the episode

with your father. Oof!

686

00:42:56,270 --> 00:43:01,640

What a special episode. Yeah.

I mean, just what struck me about

687

00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:05,990

that was what a thing to have a

recording of your father's

688

00:43:05,990 --> 00:43:09,920

stories for your kids and their

kids and beyond, you know,

689

00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:14,000

for the life that he lived and

the stories that he had. Amazing.

690

00:43:14,090 --> 00:43:17,900

So that was like, that just

stuck or that stuck out to me.

691

00:43:17,900 --> 00:43:20,110

Tell me more about what you're

doing with your podcast.

692

00:43:21,070 --> 00:43:26,740

Uh, originally again at Covid. Right.

We were at that point, how do we get

693

00:43:26,740 --> 00:43:31,690

people's attention and all that?

And I said, I think it's time

694

00:43:31,690 --> 00:43:35,140

that we do a podcast,

but we do other business owners.

695

00:43:35,140 --> 00:43:38,440

It doesn't necessarily have to be

restaurant guys and stuff like that.

696

00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:40,060

Yeah.

And we talked to them about their

697

00:43:40,060 --> 00:43:45,580

story of coming up because, you know,

more and more it resonates out there.

698

00:43:45,580 --> 00:43:52,270

Entrepreneurship is probably the

hardest job there is, right? Yes.

699

00:43:52,480 --> 00:43:57,730

Uh, I was telling somebody today,

imagine sometimes you going into work

700

00:43:57,730 --> 00:44:02,710

and you're paying to go to work,

because today it was just a

701

00:44:02,710 --> 00:44:07,750

terrible day and sales were bad.

And you walk in and you're paying

702

00:44:07,750 --> 00:44:12,220

to go to work, how would you feel?

It's a good analogy. Yeah.

703

00:44:12,220 --> 00:44:13,660

Because that's really what

you're doing.

704

00:44:13,660 --> 00:44:17,410

You're doing you're going into work.

I'm not making money for sure today,

705

00:44:17,410 --> 00:44:21,450

like you already know.

And I'm really just here paying

706

00:44:21,450 --> 00:44:27,090

to work. You know it is.

And then you've worked for many

707

00:44:27,090 --> 00:44:30,540

years, and you've put all your blood,

sweat and tears and you have all

708

00:44:30,540 --> 00:44:34,440

this responsibility,

and somebody comes and tells you

709

00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:37,980

that your pasta doesn't taste good.

You're like, okay.

710

00:44:37,980 --> 00:44:40,350

Like, you know,

that's where you lose.

711

00:44:40,350 --> 00:44:44,520

You start losing that,

that love for it, right? Yes.

712

00:44:44,970 --> 00:44:48,270

Um, and anyway,

so I decided that I was going to

713

00:44:48,270 --> 00:44:52,680

go out there and not only was I

doing this for myself to figure,

714

00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:55,950

hey, some of the difficulties that

I'm going through and expanding

715

00:44:55,950 --> 00:45:00,000

my business is some of the normal

things that other people have gone

716

00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:03,900

through with their businesses. Right.

John Morgans of the world,

717

00:45:03,900 --> 00:45:08,370

listening to that story, or even

the mayor in the city of Orlando,

718

00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:11,370

like, or Michael Jordan's son Marcus.

Right.

719

00:45:11,370 --> 00:45:15,870

All these different people have all

these different perspectives of life.

720

00:45:15,870 --> 00:45:20,370

Yeah And you know, it's it's

great to listen to their story.

721

00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:23,100

I sometimes I laugh because

people tell me, oh,

722

00:45:23,100 --> 00:45:26,820

you guys talk about all the negative,

but there's just a lot of negative.

723

00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:31,500

Yeah. Right. Yeah.

You don't have a lot of celebrations

724

00:45:31,500 --> 00:45:34,500

because by the time that you're

celebrating, something else is going

725

00:45:34,500 --> 00:45:37,920

on. That's that's right. Yeah.

It's it's hard to celebrate something

726

00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:41,250

even when you legitimately have

something to celebrate. Right.

727

00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:45,030

The other day, my dad's like, oh,

you closed your financing, Ali Road.

728

00:45:45,030 --> 00:45:47,790

It took you two and a half years.

You should celebrate.

729

00:45:47,790 --> 00:45:50,280

And I'm, like,

celebrating right now, man.

730

00:45:50,280 --> 00:45:52,710

I just need to get the store open.

Right.

731

00:45:53,310 --> 00:45:56,310

That's when we celebrate,

when we get this cash flowing.

732

00:45:56,640 --> 00:46:00,240

Because we've just been spending

money for two and a half years. Yeah.

733

00:46:00,330 --> 00:46:07,230

So, you know, I, I just wanted to

bring that out there and also that,

734

00:46:07,590 --> 00:46:12,630

like, that episode with my dad was

probably the hardest one because he's

735

00:46:12,630 --> 00:46:16,130

the only person that asked me for

all the questions ahead of time.

736

00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:20,690

Mhm. Okay.

And then you know obviously things

737

00:46:20,690 --> 00:46:25,940

got the way that they got there and

and he just, he just said the truth

738

00:46:25,940 --> 00:46:31,250

is nothing that you know I don't

believe in is um you know the way

739

00:46:31,250 --> 00:46:37,100

that he raised me, I was raised in

a very privileged lifestyle. Mhm.

740

00:46:37,370 --> 00:46:41,270

Um, and if he didn't do the

things that he did as a father,

741

00:46:41,660 --> 00:46:46,880

to be able to teach me the realities

of life and how difficult it is to

742

00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:52,040

come up because he's a self-made guy.

Uh, I, I don't know, I think I

743

00:46:52,040 --> 00:46:56,570

would be a very different human.

Um, and I probably wouldn't be a

744

00:46:56,570 --> 00:47:00,500

very nice one.

Um, because, you know, I,

745

00:47:00,500 --> 00:47:03,110

I grew up with that.

I grew up with money,

746

00:47:03,110 --> 00:47:07,910

and it was easy.

Uh, so, uh,

747

00:47:08,690 --> 00:47:13,880

you know that 2010 getting fired

and all the hardships that I've

748

00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:17,620

gone through to be able to build

the company to what it is today.

749

00:47:18,100 --> 00:47:21,400

Has made me the person that I am

today and I and I'm really

750

00:47:21,400 --> 00:47:27,610

appreciative of it.

Now, if you ask me, in 2010 when my

751

00:47:27,610 --> 00:47:33,940

dad fired me, I would tell you really

nasty stuff about my dad, right?

752

00:47:33,940 --> 00:47:37,270

Because I'd be a different story.

Probably the biggest asshole in

753

00:47:37,270 --> 00:47:40,810

the world.

Sorry if I can't say you're good.

754

00:47:41,770 --> 00:47:45,460

Um, so I just think that it was.

It had to happen.

755

00:47:46,270 --> 00:47:50,350

Um, and it's cool that I was

able to grab that in a video.

756

00:47:50,500 --> 00:47:55,570

Yes. Him expressing that.

So, um, the podcast, though,

757

00:47:55,570 --> 00:47:58,300

I think is going to take a

different direction moving forward.

758

00:47:58,300 --> 00:48:04,060

I think I'm going to be a little

bit more, um, cooking, you know,

759

00:48:04,060 --> 00:48:08,230

bringing in people that,

that we can work on recipes and we

760

00:48:08,230 --> 00:48:13,150

can talk as we cook. I like. That.

And and change it up a little bit

761

00:48:13,150 --> 00:48:15,630

because, you know, it's great to

listen to conversations.

762

00:48:15,630 --> 00:48:20,430

But again, the podcast world I think

is also very saturated for sure.

763

00:48:20,430 --> 00:48:24,630

For sure. I can tell you having one.

Yeah. I mean it's super saturated.

764

00:48:24,630 --> 00:48:28,800

Yeah. Not in a bad way.

But the other day and I'm not a I'm,

765

00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:31,440

I personally am not a big

podcast guy.

766

00:48:31,440 --> 00:48:34,320

I listen to it when I'm

exercising or stuff like that.

767

00:48:34,620 --> 00:48:37,950

For the first time,

I listened to an a 3.5 hour podcast.

768

00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:41,730

I watched it, actually.

I like watching it, um, which was

769

00:48:41,730 --> 00:48:45,990

the podcast that they interviewed,

the founder of Starbucks. Uh, okay.

770

00:48:46,620 --> 00:48:49,890

And in this podcast called The Quiet.

I don't know if you heard it.

771

00:48:49,890 --> 00:48:51,570

Yeah. I've.

Yeah, I've listened to some of

772

00:48:51,570 --> 00:48:54,150

their episodes are good. Yeah.

I thought that was it was great

773

00:48:54,150 --> 00:48:57,870

because you deep dive into the way of

the company being built and yes,

774

00:48:57,870 --> 00:49:01,590

you learn all these things that

they did. It was amazing.

775

00:49:01,590 --> 00:49:06,240

So that's something that I feel

like with my podcast, you know,

776

00:49:06,240 --> 00:49:10,470

even though I have a smaller

amount of, you know, fans,

777

00:49:10,470 --> 00:49:13,760

if you want to call them,

we can get that story out there and

778

00:49:13,760 --> 00:49:17,660

people can know that there is a

story behind building this business.

779

00:49:17,660 --> 00:49:22,070

It's not just straightforward of

opening the door and just it's great,

780

00:49:22,070 --> 00:49:24,650

right? Yes.

And the connections, you know,

781

00:49:24,650 --> 00:49:27,320

again, I'm I think more in terms

of strategy.

782

00:49:27,320 --> 00:49:30,200

The connections from that are

are never ending.

783

00:49:30,200 --> 00:49:31,940

I mean,

because it reaches so many different

784

00:49:31,940 --> 00:49:35,390

types of people in different ways.

It's just connecting people to

785

00:49:35,390 --> 00:49:38,750

the story and then letting it

kind of do what it's going to do.

786

00:49:38,750 --> 00:49:41,090

But I agree with you.

I think that's a great a great

787

00:49:41,090 --> 00:49:43,790

format. Yeah.

I mean, I think people need to

788

00:49:43,790 --> 00:49:46,910

understand too,

that marketing is very costly.

789

00:49:47,180 --> 00:49:52,370

Uh, and as small businesses,

especially now with all the expenses

790

00:49:52,370 --> 00:49:56,900

that we had, I just left a meeting

for an hour about my insurance. Mhm.

791

00:49:56,960 --> 00:50:00,710

Uh, which is outrageous right now.

Right.

792

00:50:01,580 --> 00:50:04,640

Uh, and you're thinking about it

and you're going, man,

793

00:50:04,640 --> 00:50:15,740

my insurance went up from $1,500 to

$3,500 a month in every store. Okay.

794

00:50:16,010 --> 00:50:20,930

Old store. No, no, no. Not together.

Each store is $3,000 a month.

795

00:50:22,070 --> 00:50:26,810

So how do I take that extra $2,000

that I'm spending in insurance every

796

00:50:26,810 --> 00:50:30,140

month? Where do I take it out of?

So where does it come from?

797

00:50:30,380 --> 00:50:34,610

I have to cut it somewhere, right?

Um, and usually marketing is the

798

00:50:34,610 --> 00:50:37,190

first thing that you cut because

you're like, I can't see a

799

00:50:37,190 --> 00:50:39,710

return on my investment on this.

One if it's not doing anything for

800

00:50:39,710 --> 00:50:46,550

you. Yeah. So, you know, cut it out.

And so you have to be very strategic.

801

00:50:46,550 --> 00:50:50,060

And what's the next step to be

able to get people to resonate

802

00:50:50,060 --> 00:50:52,310

with the story?

And I think the podcast does that.

803

00:50:52,310 --> 00:50:56,420

I think the stories every day of,

you know, right now what I'm

804

00:50:56,420 --> 00:50:59,570

trying to do is a recipe a week,

right? I like it.

805

00:50:59,870 --> 00:51:03,350

So I'm trying to figure out a recipe.

Sometimes it won't be done.

806

00:51:03,350 --> 00:51:06,140

Sometimes there's some things

that need to be finished.

807

00:51:06,140 --> 00:51:09,530

Yeah, but at least you get to

the base and people understand,

808

00:51:09,530 --> 00:51:13,840

like you know, there'll be a

follow through with a story. Yes.

809

00:51:13,840 --> 00:51:17,170

Yes, yes. Yeah. Well, I like that.

I think that's great.

810

00:51:17,170 --> 00:51:19,570

And I'm going to tune in for it.

I think it'll be great.

811

00:51:19,840 --> 00:51:22,480

Um,

this has been an awesome conversation

812

00:51:22,480 --> 00:51:25,240

and thanks again for coming on.

I'm sorry that I talk a lot.

813

00:51:25,720 --> 00:51:29,260

No, no. That's what I want.

No, I mean, I'm not here to talk.

814

00:51:29,260 --> 00:51:32,800

I'm here to just interview.

Right. So you did great. Um.

815

00:51:33,010 --> 00:51:35,800

All right, well, uh, if people

want to get in touch with you,

816

00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:39,160

obviously behind the smoke, well,

beyond the smoke is the podcast.

817

00:51:39,490 --> 00:51:41,470

And then how else can they reach

out to you?

818

00:51:41,890 --> 00:51:45,790

Big Floyd's pigs, uh, on Mills.

Is our Instagrams okay?

819

00:51:46,390 --> 00:51:50,110

Um, and, you know,

just look at watch the stories.

820

00:51:50,110 --> 00:51:54,250

And and it's a lot of fun.

We're having fun now, and.

821

00:51:54,250 --> 00:51:56,260

I can tell.

Kind of put the material out

822

00:51:56,260 --> 00:51:59,680

there so that people know that,

you know, we're stuck in a

823

00:51:59,680 --> 00:52:02,770

building for 12 hours a day.

We just have to figure out how to

824

00:52:02,770 --> 00:52:05,740

have fun with those 12 hours a day.

That's good. Yeah.

825

00:52:05,980 --> 00:52:07,570

Yeah,

I think you're on the right track.

826

00:52:07,720 --> 00:52:10,600

Thank you so much for having me

on For sure.

Lee Murray

How to Build a Traveling Circus with Thomas Ward, Founder & CEO of Pigzza & Pig Floyd's

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