Ever slept in a truck while your house is earning you Airbnb cash? Ryan has, and let me tell you, it's just one of the wild slices of life we're unpacking as we chat about the deeper side of hospitality with our special guest. This episode isn't just about pouring drinks; it's about pouring your soul into every connection—those five-minute friendships that bloom across the bar and the kind of service that turns a one-off visit into a "welcome back!" Join us, Bill, Kayla and Mike Garrison, as we swap tales that reveal the heart behind the art of connection, from the personal to the professional.
Now, let's get real about happiness—no, not the kind padded by zeros in your bank account. We're sharing the ups, downs, and upside-downs that have taught us how joy comes from inside, not your income. Our guest opens up about transforming negatives into unforgettable positives, making sure every customer leaves with a story to tell. And if you're curious about just what happiness truly means, we're laying it all out on the table. No spoilers, but it involves cold tuna bites, sleeping in trucks, and yes, a whole lot of being blessed. Tune in for an honest, laughter-filled journey through the highs and heart of what makes our lives behind the bar—and beyond—genuinely fulfilling.
Ever slept in a truck while your house is earning you Airbnb cash? Ryan has, and let me tell you, it's just one of the wild slices of life we're unpacking as we chat about the deeper side of hospitality with our special guest. This episode isn't just about pouring drinks; it's about pouring your soul into every connection—those five-minute friendships that bloom across the bar and the kind of service that turns a one-off visit into a "welcome back!" Join us, Bill, Kayla and Mike Garrison, as we swap tales that reveal the heart behind the art of connection, from the personal to the professional.
Now, let's get real about happiness—no, not the kind padded by zeros in your bank account. We're sharing the ups, downs, and upside-downs that have taught us how joy comes from inside, not your income. Our guest opens up about transforming negatives into unforgettable positives, making sure every customer leaves with a story to tell. And if you're curious about just what happiness truly means, we're laying it all out on the table. No spoilers, but it involves cold tuna bites, sleeping in trucks, and yes, a whole lot of being blessed. Tune in for an honest, laughter-filled journey through the highs and heart of what makes our lives behind the bar—and beyond—genuinely fulfilling.
Hey, Barnagination, Welcome to the Barn Ninja Podcast, where we talk about everything from trials and tribulations, from life behind the bar to tips and tricks to making a better bartender and a better drinker. Join your host, Bill Fortun, Kayla Rood and yours truly, Mike Garrison.
Speaker 2:Let's go have some fucking fun this is an incredible gift of whether it's staff or guests. He has this innate ability to meet people where they're at, and I told him. One thing I'm so jealous of him with is like he can walk to a table, spend five minutes at a table and build a meaningful relationship, and it's like the next time those people come in they're like, oh man, I love him so much. He's amazing. No, no, you're not allowed to.
Speaker 1:You're not allowed to. No, you're not allowed to.
Speaker 2:Babe, you're a part of this, come on. But for me I'm like you know. It takes me a lot longer to get to that level and it's different people, different gifts, but he is just like man.
Speaker 3:he can find things in people and just connect and just click in instant and he's a very genuine handsome double. But when we were talking earlier about how we go to restaurants, and it could be Vegas and it could be Arkansas, it could be anywhere, and we will make friends like a real friend with a waitress or bartender, like a real friend, you know, and it obviously it's a brief period of time because we recognize that energy and others.
Speaker 3:You know you end up coming friends on Facebook and messaging them they're visiting us at the lake or we're going to see them out there. That's a great point.
Speaker 4:So picking up an energy and also meeting people where they're at that's where is that you can pick up on? A body language you can pick up on like some kind of like I or something I feel the energy Somebody knew something. Yeah, yeah, you pick up on that. I'm going to kneel down next to you Like how you doing, man, your tinderbites are probably cold and probably not coat properly. Yeah, let me know what I can do. You know what I mean? Oh yeah, we talked about that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that, literally that.
Speaker 4:So you can turn a negative experience into a super positive one to where to come back, not only come back here from a business perspective, but also leave with some kind of impact. They're going to be thinking about drifters in the back end because they have Rhonda or Grace or Faith or somebody like serving them at the bartender, like Lucas, making their experience super, super positive, to where they can walk away saying, man, I wish my life was kind of like more like that Set back. And that's why I feel conflicted and convicted on a regular basis. We are stressed out but at the same time we are so blessed.
Speaker 3:I'm going to go ahead on a limb and say a thousand and fourteen.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I said it a lot.
Speaker 3:But it's. You know, I was going to say fourteen and a half. We can't overstate happiness or being blessed, or all that positive, positive energy. That it's why we do what we do. You want to say blessed nine hundred and forty eight million times.
Speaker 4:People don't want to say what the happiness actually is, because we are already talking about happiness. What is happiness? What is happiness? What are the happiest times of my life? Is meeting her and Iron Ale in Lynchburg and I was renting my house out Airbnb. I was sleeping in my truck in the process, but I was still buying drinks for the staff and all I kind of showed on the back end we would overnight.
Speaker 4:I promise every single one of y'all, whoever listens to this, what he's not going to define your happiness. I will give you five million dollars right now. I promise you you're going to have a great time for maybe six months to a year and you're still going to be fulfilled. So there's a lot of things that have to happen in the process internally to make sure that you are happy. You have to make sure you're okay with yourself to make sure that you're happy going forward. One of my biggest blessings is sleeping in my fucking truck and making a lot of money overseas and doing all the things I've done and all that kind of shit. But there's also the biggest blessing being divorced, going through all the fucking hard times I've been through making a lot of money to making next to nothing and sleeping in my fucking truck. It's the biggest blessings I've ever made in my life. So make sure you're okay with yourself and you're gonna be okay going forward Guaranteed.
Speaker 2:You rally around people in need, you rally around your family, like it's like being there for one another is more fulfilling than money will ever be, so small thing or a big thing, whatever it may be, I'll tell you one of the most fulfilling moments that I had this entire season. One of the girls on our staff lost her grandfather this year and her grandfather was like a dad to her and she's talking to me and she's just and you know, thank God, that she felt like I was a safe space for her, to where she could just cry and my arms didn't just allow me to be there for her. So in the process of that, she's sobbing and she's just like talking about everything she is going on. And in the midst of that she made a comment about how she has this car payment and she's laid on and I literally just felt the Lord like to give her some money and I didn't know how much her car payment was. I didn't ask and I just handed her some cash.
Speaker 2:So she was like what, why are you doing this? And she's a person she's kind of like that hardheaded, prideful type, like she doesn't want handouts. So she was super uncomfortable and I looked her in the eyes and I said listen, I don't know how much your car payment is, I don't know if this will even cover it, but all I know is that right now you shouldn't be worried about a car payment. You should be giving yourself time and space to grade your granddad. And I told her cause, like I said, that's the kind of person she is. She doesn't like handouts. So I told her, I said if you want to pay us back, that's fine, but grieve first and then we can talk about that later if that's what you feel like you want to do. But I don't need that from you. I was like this is about taking care of you and what you need right now. And her reaction to that was the most fulfilling thing ever, because it's like I wasn't trying to like get any credit or anything.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you weren't, it was just a literal giving.
Speaker 2:But that was just like the most beautiful reaction, cause she was so taken aback by that and it honestly actually, you know, thinking about it, it kind of bothers me. She was so taken aback by that because it's like we want to be there for people.
Speaker 3:I mean that's the thing like-, but independence is a strength, for-.
Speaker 2:Money is money, and the thing is is that, in our reality, taking care of people is more valuable to me valuable to me than money you'll ever be. That one specific employee like I would have paid her quadruple what I gave her that day, just to know that she's okay. And that was where my concern was at is like I don't want her to sit here while she. Her granddad just died. He was basically like a dad to her and she's stressing out about a car payment Like are you kidding me? Yeah, she has a lot of health issues in and of herself, but the thing is is that it's so much more important to care for people in and of themselves first.
Speaker 2:If you start there. Everything else comes out of that and yeah absolutely. But that's not even just within Drifters, that's in life, I mean like-.
Speaker 4:Is it in life If more people do that the world would be a better place, if more people could do that, and from the restaurant perspective, if you want to keep building that.
Speaker 3:I think that we could speculate and guess and predict for two years from now a lot of things, but I guarantee it's going to be beautiful.
Speaker 4:Well, so you know what. You know what's kind of cool about what. I was kind of going there. So we have a vision board owner, a refrigerator at the house and I would say probably about 85% of that is probably completed. Yeah, All right on, and that was that was two years before we owned the restaurant, so everything is like kind of coming into fruition.
Speaker 3:You know what I mean. I mean, I've seen it, I felt it, I have been privileged to be beside it, around it for most of the time, and you can call it manifestation or whatever you want to.
Speaker 2:It's a comfort, it's a comfortable sweatshirt.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I like that, once you get the good energy you get the good energy All right.
Speaker 3:So what are we drinking here?
Speaker 5:So this is a this is kind of a take on a candy I had in Arizona growing up, so it used to be a mega flavored sucker, or cantaloupe or whatever fresh fruit they had at the time. They'd cover with their chimoi, which is a fruit blend hot sauce, and then tahini, which is chili powder with salt, lemon, lime, all that. So this time we paired it with a fresh shot of lima-zul straight up, with a tahini bat or a rim, and then this is fresh muddled cantaloupe, really Muddled down into fresh juice, and I added just a little bit of chimoi. So that little bit of fruit hot sauce. So what you're going to do is you're going to a little lick on the rim, take the shot, chase it. So this is my version of pickle back. This is going to be the new one of the year. It'd be fresh melon instead of pickles, or more whatever.
Speaker 2:I like that.
Speaker 5:So hit the tahini, hit it back, take the fruit juice and then end it with the rest of the rim.
Speaker 3:Well, to drifters, to family and to loving each other and just having a great time everybody Cheers. Cheers.
Speaker 2:That's awesome.
Speaker 3:Oh man, that finishes. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh Whoa.
Speaker 3:So good. I appreciate it. A lot of different realms so good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I feel like my taste buds just went on a roller coaster.
Speaker 5:I know what you're talking about. Yeah, it was like suckers from Mexico. That reminds me exactly of like it. Oh my gosh, that was good. My heart to y'all.
Speaker 2:Your heart drank my heart. Well done, well done, sir.
Speaker 3:Oh, blonde guy with no scars, how dare you? Yeah, and you just stole that handshake from them. All right, log it out. Coming back on, love y'all. Out there, ninjas out.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to this episode of the Barnage Podcast. Please be sure to subscribe to us. We're your favorite podcast player in the barnage nation that has over 7000 bartenders in the world. One of wwwbarmangercom. You can enter your email till next time. See you then. Thanks for watching.