Creating a Family Atmosphere in the Hospitality World While Running a Seasonal Restaurant

Ever wondered how couples manage to mix love and business successfully? This week on the Barn Ninja Podcast, we promise to unravel the secrets behind blending romance and entrepreneurship. With our special guest, Jacqueline Westfall, co-owner of  Drifters, we explore the humorous and candid moments of their journey from early dating jitters to harmonious business partners. Jacqueline shares how clear communication, shared goals, and complementary skills are vital in building a strong, cohesive team. Get ready to laugh and learn about the dynamic interplay of personal and professional lives in the restaurant industry.

Running a seasonal business is no small feat, and Jacqueline enlightens us on the relentless, year-round cycle that keeps her restaurant thriving. From closing up shop after a bustling season to gearing up for the next, the importance of strong staff relationships cannot be overstated. We highlight the creation of a family-like work environment, where the incredible retention rates and multi-year returns of staff members speak volumes. Jacqueline's insights into fostering a positive, fun atmosphere akin to a summer camp reveal why her team remains loyal and satisfied year after year.

Who thought taking out the trash could be fun? Jacqueline shares how turning mundane tasks into team-building events boosts morale and unity among staff. We discuss creative ways to document these joyful moments, showcasing the unique work culture at Drifters. Finally, we delve into the invaluable life skills gained in the hospitality industry, emphasizing the deep bonds and career growth opportunities it offers. Tune in to celebrate the often underappreciated professional success and camaraderie that defines the world of restaurants.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hey Barnage Nation, welcome to the Barn Ninja Podcast, where we talk about everything trials and tribulations from life behind the bar, tips and tricks to make you a better ball tapper and a better drinker. Join your host, bill Foy, kayla Lowe and yours truly, mike Gillespie. Let's go have some fun.

Speaker 2: 0:23

This is our life. Yes, it's like when you hit that point in a relationship you've been together so long you just know he's like. You have no idea how many nights at your house when we first started dating, how I was just in pain because I had to fart so bad, but I was holding it in as soon as I'd walk out of your house, walk into my truck. I was farting the whole way and I was like you know, I used to watch you leave, like, so sad, like oh I'm gonna miss him so much.

Speaker 3: 0:51

And now I find out the whole time you're just ripping it all the way.

Speaker 2: 0:52

I was like you just ruined that memory cut back in time to him in the driveway like, yeah, the poop, the fart shuffle, yeah, like well, those memories just changed. But it's just so funny because we have um, a lot of people are just kind of shy about their poops, you know which like understandable. But we have this one girl on our staff where she is just the most like wide open person. You'll ever meet this one day. I'm walking out the host stand and just checking on staff as I go, like hey, you doing, okay, you need anything. Yeah, I just took the biggest shit and I feel so much better now and just kept walking and I just was like it caught me so off guard, but I I laughed about it with ryan after and I was like I love the transparency though, just like put it out there and just we talk about the family that's how you know like I can't think of uh the restaurant industry.

Speaker 2: 1:34

It's like you here, we just. It's so funny, I feel like every season there's just like very, very vivid moments where you're just like, yep, so now we're on that family level, like all discomfort is just gone we are 100.

Speaker 3: 1:45

There are no secrets and there not will be any secret going to segue I'm following your lead here I like it. This is what it is. It's all about talking. Jacqueline westfall, owner.

Speaker 2: 1:57

Hello drifters partnered up with ryan I'm really more of his assistant actually.

Speaker 1: 2:02

Actually we can call it what it is he's your assistant.

Speaker 2: 2:05

No, never, never. I appreciate it.

Speaker 3: 2:07

Well, I think that's something to be talked about is that you guys are a team. You also happen to be a couple, which everyone a lot of people listening to this are going to be like how do they do it? How do they not kill each other?

Speaker 2: 2:18

You wish I had a dollar for every time we heard that.

Speaker 3: 2:21

Yeah, and I's. I'm sure you just hear it constantly Meanwhile in your universe it's you guys work together, communicate, enjoy it, build the staff like a family, love each other, love the staff. That's really. You've said it before, it's not rocket science.

Speaker 2: 2:34

No, it's not, but it's definitely a lot, a lot of hard work, especially for the younger staff members. It's like parenting, but it's like you love them no matter what, but sometimes you got to discipline them, but it's for their own good.

Speaker 3: 2:47

I'm in the corner sometimes, yeah.

Speaker 2: 2:49

I mean for him and I, we're together all day, every day. But here it's. We have different lanes, a lot of shared responsibility, but it's also the common goal is the same, even though we have those separate lanes. But I always tell people like his strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa. So it's like that's why we work, because all the things I hate doing he's great at and he's like I'm on it. And then all the things that he doesn't like to do, I'm like I live there. It's good, I'm there.

Speaker 2: 3:13

I'm there right now, yeah, but it's a, it's a team, it's a team for I would imagine those lanes were there.

Speaker 3: 3:24

You didn't have like a powerpoint meeting where you sat down with each other, you're there this lane. On this lane, it's actually the strengths and weaknesses and capabilities to where whoever's doing this and doing that, the other, just like you said, which is so important to an operation.

Speaker 2: 3:37

It's not. It's not even down to a science either. I mean we're still learning as we go on, when you encounter certain situations that you haven't experienced in the past. But I mean at this point, we're still learning as we go on. When you encounter certain situations that you haven't experienced in the past. But I mean at this point we're really good at when something happens, it's typically we know. We can just look at each other and be like you got this one.

Speaker 3: 3:53

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 3:53

But yeah, it's, it's great and honestly it's, it's funny, because we sit here and I joke I'm his assistant and he's like, oh, she's boss lady.

Speaker 3: 4:01

And it's the same thing.

Speaker 2: 4:03

At the end of the day we talk all the time is that for both of us, we couldn't do it without each other, just because he's so good at what he does and I'm so good at what I do, and that's what makes it what it is. So, it's like if either side was missing, there'd be a missing piece.

Speaker 3: 4:16

The communication going on between you two evolving. Every little aspect of it is over communicate, over communicate. Seriously.

Speaker 2: 4:26

We tell our staff the same thing too. It doesn't matter over communicate.

Speaker 3: 4:29

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 4:29

Get, get it till you.

Speaker 3: 4:31

Hear heard about 15 times and then you know it got through. Yeah, and it is the absolute truth.

Speaker 2: 4:37

That's the restaurant industry, though Really it is communicate with everyone.

Speaker 3: 4:41

And you have. Uh, like you were saying, you're always learning. I can't think of some of my mentors. You learn every year in this restaurant Something changes. Oh yeah, it doesn't matter if it's what COVID did, or what food cost is now, or how staffing has changed, or how entertainment has changed, or all of a sudden you know wings are at this price and we've got to have that. It is every year. If you're not ready to be humble and know that the universe and the food and beverage.

Speaker 2: 5:06

It's going to throw something at you. It's throwing something it's inevitable.

Speaker 3: 5:08

Yeah, and it could come about once an hour Keeps you on your toes, though. Yeah, yeah, no, I love it, it'd be so boring.

Speaker 2: 5:14

otherwise A hundred percent.

Speaker 3: 5:26

I can't. I've never been where everything is crazy and wild and you're just moving and running and gunning and then later on in the season, where it may have slowed down a little bit, you're always going to have something new that's popped up or something you have to manage or deal with or just have fun with.

Speaker 2: 5:36

There's a bunch of ways to go. It's just the dynamic of the people that walk in and who's working that day, and it all just kind of meshes into that perfect storm, if you want to call it yeah, it's a good, it's what it is tropical storm here, of course, yes, very tropical our running joke with our staff. Here is we. We say we sweat together, we stick together, literally and figuratively.

Speaker 3: 5:58

It's both here yeah, how many times over the years of you hugged one of the other staff members. You're just peeling off the other person.

Speaker 1: 6:07

It's fun.

Speaker 3: 6:08

It breaks barriers.

Speaker 2: 6:09

It's a nice thing.

Speaker 3: 6:10

Oh yeah, oh yeah. You get to know your people. You get to know your people closely.

Speaker 2: 6:14

It's one way to get to know them.

Speaker 3: 6:15

You smell fantastic, oh yeah.

Speaker 2: 6:17

When you have a whole drawer in your office it's labeled smell goods and it's just full of deodorant and lotion and perfumes and just everything under the sun. It's like that's how you know.

Speaker 3: 6:26

Yeah, that's what, you know what to expect. The years of living on the houseboat when I've been involved with different operations you know I always had that you know like I can step into the bedroom and change and deodorant up.

Speaker 2: 6:42

It's part of the family. There's just no barriers no barriers.

Speaker 3: 6:46

So you guys, have you just started in the last couple of weeks spending everything up, or is it?

Speaker 2: 6:54

Yeah, so we put out our promotional video on Facebook on February 1st and we've gotten some applications and we are starting interviews next week, so it's coming quick. It's amazing, it is yeah. I mean last year was actually the first year that we even got an application as early as February, and I think it was actually the first year that we had our first interview in February. So the fact that that's now our normal is kind of crazy to us, yeah.

Speaker 3: 7:23

And it's where I've said for decades March is the changing point and really by the end of the March, you see, you see where you have to have your hands on so much with all the operations, and it's it's February now.

Speaker 2: 7:35

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 7:36

It's February now. It really is crazy, it's so funny.

Speaker 2: 7:39

And and one thing Ryan and I talk all the time is like, even though we're a seasonal business, we just laugh because people are like, what do you do in the off season? And we're just like, what off season? Yeah, there isn't one for us, it's just like you have the season and then after the season there's like the month of shutting down, closing the books, doing the end of the season deep clean, and then really then the holidays smack you in the face. So you're kind of like constant family between Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and then the New Year hits and you have about three weeks of transition and then you're back to interviews and then right after interviews and hiring, then you have training and then all the setup cleanup to prepare for the season, and then training and right back in end April and it just flies order rock and yeah, I mean it is it's insane.

Speaker 3: 8:26

We both know, setting here February, whatever it is, that it's going to be April and May, so fast yeah, it's basically here, it's basically in our brains. It's here yeah from what we're looking at. So do you have? You know you have a returning staff when you're closing down.

Speaker 2: 8:45

I'm sure you have a general idea and then you begin to verify yeah, yeah, so we typically how we've done it the last couple of years is we'll send out pretty much a preliminary email right after the first of the year and basically just tell people hey, guys, starting to plan, because I mean, like you said, now it's February for hiring. So I mean we have to go into hiring with some kind of degree of expectation on what we'll need. And so we've always told our veterans you know, you've been with us, you know how it works here. So we always want to kind of honor that loyalty that they've had to us. So in return we give them the first opportunity, so they get their invite back and then they have the first priority.

Speaker 2: 9:24

If they get back to us immediately and say, hey, I plan on coming back, that's their spot is secured. But we basically we give them enough warning They'll be like hey, if we don't hear from you by this day, then at that point we can't hold a spot for you when we're going into hiring. So I mean they know, they know the expectations. But our staff has just been really great of kind of being really honest with us, like I want to come back, but I might only be available two days a week or whatever it may be. So we're really blessed. I mean, we go in with a pretty good idea of what we're going to have as of right now. I think we have one or two outliers, but that puts us at I think it was 29 or 30 returners this season, which is great.

Speaker 3: 10:02

For this area.

Speaker 2: 10:03

It's amazing.

Speaker 3: 10:06

For this area. It's amazing for this area. It's unheard of. Yeah, and I'm not unheard of, but it speaks volumes. It's your capability.

Speaker 2: 10:10

Yeah, I mean we we have great relationships with the other business owners, but we feel really blessed. I mean we've heard the struggles of other restaurants, so the fact that we don't have that in the same level like we feel incredibly, incredibly blessed. It's not something we take for granted at all, because it's like you just never know and every year it changes, because you have your college kids going doing internships and then, you know, eventually pursuing their career paths, and so you just really never know what you're going to have. So every year when we have a solid number like that, we're just thankful.

Speaker 3: 10:40

And I'm, and I'll say a few of those, if not more, are probably multi-year returns.

Speaker 2: 10:45

Oh, yeah, I think this year a lot of them. I would say the majority of that number is probably around year three, three or four with us. So it's been a lot. Yeah, that's a great thing. That's huge too, that is just so good.

Speaker 3: 10:58

It helps you sleep a little better at night. And again it really speaks volumes for just how you've created a family environment that is professionally run but everyone wants to come back and have some fun and the money ain't bad, you know, everybody make a little bit of coin and enjoy it.

Speaker 2: 11:15

We tell them every year. You know, like our goal for Ryan and I, I mean we've always said our priorities, our staff. So as far as their experience here, I think I say it every year in orientation Like we want this place for you to feel like summer camp. It's a place that you come, you make money like that's all well and good, but we want you to want to be here, we want you to have fun with your friends here, we want this place to be a family, we want you to look at it as a place that you can call home, even long after you've left and gone into whatever profession or degree you're pursuing. And that's kind of been our goal and our mentality. With it too, we're like, granted, we have standards. So I mean summer camp, but there's a line, yeah, but at the same time too, I mean I, we just tell everybody we don't want you to show up and be miserable. We don't want that for anybody, whether you're a dishwasher or a server or a bartender or manager.

Speaker 2: 12:02

You know it's like we want everybody to show up and be happy to be here, and nine times out of 10, that really comes down to who they're working with. So building that family mentality has been really crucial, because I remember when I was working here, when this was Waller's, that was one thing that always stuck out to me, because I remember we had, I mean, you know, the lake. So it's a rainy day, you're slow, it's very weather dependent, right. So I remember on one rainy day we were just dead. I think we maybe had one or two tables all day, but it was the greatest day ever because I was, like, you know, worst case scenario. I'm basically getting paid hourly right now by just being here and I get to hang out with my friends all day.

Speaker 3: 12:40

Yeah, and even in the rain, sitting on the waterline is a beautiful day.

Speaker 2: 12:44

That's a good kind of culture to try to build of. Okay, if we have a slow day, is our staff still going to have fun being here, and that's kind of what we've tried to create. So I mean, granted, it does get boring on rainy days Sometimes, I'm not going to deny that but I think it's just at a point now where there's such a family and they enjoy being around each other and that's what's important. So it's like you're having a bad day, you're around family and friends that are going to have your back. So that's really what's kind of been built over the years and it's really beautiful to watch.

Speaker 3: 13:15

It really is.

Speaker 2: 13:15

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 13:16

The summer camp thing I love Because that is such a as soon as you said it like I've had a lot of summer camp stuff from the blind thing and all that.

Speaker 2: 13:26

You have like the mental image right Immediately.

Speaker 3: 13:28

I was like well, I remember, and then you started talking about the, um, the, the rainy day, and I thought back to the 4-h camp here at smith mount lake and, like rainy days where the counselors had to come up with stuff to entertain us, that half the time was just. It was a different change, but it was. You know, you've learned to be thankful about that little stuff because we've all sat in the slow bar in the rain yep, we've all been there at some point.

Speaker 3: 13:52

People want to be making more money and everybody wants to be more active, but at the end of the day, it's a beautiful environment and that family mentality is so cool. Really, I can't say enough about how I wish we could bottle the energy you all have created here, because it is just such a good vibe.

Speaker 2: 14:11

It's the fact that we have good people. I mean, like I said, ryan and I consider ourselves immensely blessed. Our team is I can't say enough good things. Like blessed feels like an understatement to us. They're just incredible people, and I think the other side of it is they love people too, so when they have tables or guests, it's like they want to foster that relationship with them too. I think a lot of restaurants, you see like a divide between the front of the house and back of the house and here we just are like nope, that's not how it's going to be. Everybody helps everybody. You know there are nights of frustration where the servers have had a long day and they're not exactly excited about helping in the dish pit. But when they see the appreciation that they get from the kitchen staff, they're like, oh, okay. And then the next day when they're in the weeds or something goes wrong at their table and that kitchen staff that they helped the night before is like, hey, we got your back, I'm gonna fix it for you, right now.

Speaker 2: 15:00

And you just kind of see how that overlap in that mutual respect and like, hey, I'm going to help you with the stuff that you don't want to do and you're going to help me deal with the stuff I don't want to deal with, and it's it's just that mutual respect in it, like we were talking about earlier. It's all. It's all back to that teamwork, family mentality and just showing up for one another, not just for yourself.

Speaker 3: 15:19

The gratitude that you're into the night and you're you know what's in the dish pit you know it's over there and you know you haven's. I think a lot of it is because you train across the board you know and everybody helps with everything and that mentality is perfect, but just the relief that you're going to feel on the line when you look over, you know one of the front of the house.

Speaker 3: 15:42

people have just dropped in to knock out 12 dishes you know, just to run at one time or whatever it is, and you're like, oh yeah, that that is. That is a very, very, very cool point where you're like, oh my gosh, I I rang in um the chicken sandwich and I'm supposed to ring in the burger we got you, we got you. They're gonna fly it out the window as fast as they can yeah, it's really cool to see.

Speaker 2: 16:03

Yeah, yeah, it's actually funny too, because our, our trash runs at the end of the night, which is probably like what you would assume everyone would dread. It's kind of become this like group thing that you know we have the trailer hooked onto the truck with all the trash in the trailer, and then it's like everybody's climbing on the truck, climbing on the trailer to go run it down to the dumpsters you're still going all the way down?

Speaker 3: 16:23

yeah, and it's become.

Speaker 2: 16:24

It's become this whole group thing. So it's like it's funny, because now it's like if people miss the trash run, they're like like oh man, which? It's like you would never, ever, I never, would expect that to ever be a thing. But, it's just become this thing. That's created a lot of memories, because it's like you know you're, you're doing something unpleasant, but at the same time, like you're laughing, you're joking, chicken juice spills on somebody and they start gagging and everyone starts laughing.

Speaker 2: 16:47

But you have a funny story to tell, you know. And so it's like I got chicken juice and I can't even tell you how many pictures that Ryan and I have of like group photos from our trash runs. It's insane.

Speaker 2: 16:58

And we could probably make a whole we could probably make a whole collage of that. But I mean, it's just like one of those things you build that camaraderie and it just carries over to even the most unpleasant of things, you know, and it's. It's really cool Like we just we're honestly. You said so many kind words to us about that family that we've built. But even him and I look at each other and we're just like man, like how lucky are we that this is what we have. But it's, like I said, it's a testament really to the people that are in that too, because you know, ryan and I can start that process but they kind of take it and carry it and make it into the full family that it is.

Speaker 3: 17:31

When you, as operators, have made the trash run a fun event. I mean we're going to throw in some standing applause audio or something, because that is amazing.

Speaker 2: 17:44

I don't even think that I can take credit for that. I think that that's just a miracle at the end of the day.

Speaker 3: 17:48

I don't think that's. The stars align yeah.

Speaker 2: 17:51

I don't think you can even logically explain that it just happened.

Speaker 3: 17:56

I'm not going to argue with that, but I do think that credits do or credits not do, but the staff has to be having a pretty good time for it to be.

Speaker 2: 18:04

They do Like I said. They don't like each other.

Speaker 3: 18:06

I've had to squish around with chicken juice in my work.

Speaker 2: 18:09

It's not pleasant, nobody likes it. It's not good, nobody likes it.

Speaker 3: 18:14

You know, as a guy who has been an owner or manager of whatever levels, to where you know I'm carrying too bad. I did it here, you know, and I would carry the trash down there by myself, you know, when the side-by-side was broken and it was lonely and it was an icky thing to do at the end of the day, but in my head I always spend the happiness and run up the thankful. So I would always be like you know hey, there are a lot of people in the world that wish they were on a 500 mile shoreline lake doing garbage and to think about that and having a buddy to do it with. And then all of a sudden you got your team crawling up on the trash truck. And that's beautiful.

Speaker 2: 18:48

I love it yeah it's great too, because I mean it's like when you look at the trailer, at the end of the day you see this mountain of trash bags, but it's like the bigger the groups got, people started to realize, oh, if we have a group this big, I might have to throw one or two trash bags at most. So it's really great and I think that again that we talked about that earlier it's if you can have your staff kind of buy into that team mentality and then once they buy into it and really give it a chance, and then they see how it benefits them and how it really there's so much fruit to come from it If you really of fits them, and how it really there's so much fruit to come from it If you really really commit to it. It just plays out on its own from there. It's like at that point it just takes on a life of its own, and so that's kind of what I think has happened. So we're immensely blessed, I can't say it enough.

Speaker 3: 19:29

So blessed and that's a great thing. Yeah, that in itself is a blessing. Yeah, the uh I really look forward to hearing other operators talking, because I can hear them now out there going. Are they saying that they have like a little mani?

Speaker 2: 19:44

party when they take the trash, because that's some capable, capable stuff right there. If they question it, I completely understand it and, like I said, we got pictures.

Speaker 3: 19:49

Oh, we got photos I'm gonna show up like in my head now. I'm like I want to go on the trash run with the staff this year I'm gonna, oh, you should. That would be really fun you know it'd be fun, throw up a camera. You'd probably have fun just watching.

Speaker 2: 20:01

Oh, I love it we should do that, we should put like a gopro, just yeah, just do a little segment, and that would really work well. And I think your video marketing do, let me tell you.

Speaker 3: 20:10

I mean, I mean, you never know well you, let me show them up front. The resort uh guy in me is just thinking like you see, all these great things about the industry and the money and the fun and the camaraderie and the social aspects and learning on your feet and giggling, trash run. You know, it is just the world needs to see it. Exactly the world needs.

Speaker 2: 20:29

I know that's like a rare thing that you don't see every day I've never in my life.

Speaker 3: 20:34

It's like a modern day unicorn in this industry, really, though I'm gonna like text y'all later and be like oh, I just remembered this time in 2012. Because in my head I'm like I don't remember any. I don't remember any time.

Speaker 2: 20:46

Oh, that is fantastic.

Speaker 3: 20:48

How do we segue from giggling trash run?

Speaker 2: 20:50

I don't know when do you go from there?

Speaker 3: 20:51

Or do you go from there?

Speaker 2: 20:52

That just sounds like the mic drop.

Speaker 3: 21:00

It does sound like All right. Well, we're not going to roll out on trash, but we will roll out on the the blessed, thankful family, caring, awesome mentality. That that is is what is drifters and what you guys have created, and just having a bunch of fun you want to say anything to our team? Um oh man there are people out there.

Speaker 2: 21:17

I, I, you know I feel like I'm probably not going to say anything that Ryan didn't say last time. I think that the one thing that him and I talk all the time about with this industry is that the things you learn in this industry you can take into any walk of life, it doesn't matter what profession, and I think the biggest thing in that is just learning people, whether it's your guests or your staff. I mean, from the staff side, it's like you have to learn how to work with people of all different personality types and and your guests too. It's like you can approach one table I mean you have one table who, like they want you to be that overly attentive server and then you have another table. That's like we just want to be left alone, like we just want you to interact with us only when you need to. Yep, don't want to, don't want you to interrupt our time, you know, and so you learn that so much.

Speaker 2: 22:04

I think that for me and I've told our staff this every year one thing that for me that's always been kind of the core of my passion for the service industry is that the restaurant business has always been the only industry I can think of that. You don't need education, you don't need any previous experience. But if you have a great work ethic and you're great with people and you just give it everything you have, you can work your way all the way up to the top, to where you're making a six figure salary. I mean.

Speaker 2: 22:31

I've seen bartenders do that and it's not unheard of, and it's like I man so many years behind the bar. I can't tell you how many times I've heard oh. So many years behind the bar. I can't tell you how many times I've heard oh. So what are you doing next? And I'm just thinking. Like you know, I did have another job on the side. I was also a certified athletic trainer. But at the same time I'm like why does there have to be a next?

Speaker 2: 22:54

You know, if I, if you can do this and hang out with great people and talking to people and making money while you do it, and so it's just like the potential in the restaurant industry is endless, and I guess one thing that Ryan and I have always talked about was that it's almost an industry that's looked down upon or like an in-between industry. It's not really viewed as like a professional occupation, you know, and that's something that we're passionate about, because we're like we have met some of the hardest working people that we've ever known in this industry, and that there's something to say there, you know work you into the ground.

Speaker 3: 23:27

We run circles around a lot of the people in other industries.

Speaker 2: 23:30

And I think I'll tell you a really quick story. Just a great example of that One of the first restaurants I worked in I was a busser at this point in my restaurant journey, but the head chef at this restaurant was just an incredible cook. I mean, he made me dinners that were just outrageous Everything I ate was just delicious. And so he wanted to go to culinary school. He was really passionate about that. He was also Hispanic and so when he applied to culinary school he actually got rejected and they told him you know, unfortunately your English is not good enough to accept you at this time. So at the point when I started working at this restaurant, he was basically working all day long and then he was getting off work at probably around 10, 11, and then going to night school to better his English. So he'd go to culinary school.

Speaker 2: 24:18

And that just left the biggest impression on me because I was like man if that's not the definition of drive and determination, I don't know what is. But and it was just so funny because then during the day when we would work, it was me and this other server. We would literally be in the back quizzing him on his English in the middle of the day, but to me it's just such a beautiful picture of how like we rallied around him and his goal as his family, but also his drive and determination to achieve his goal because he loved what he was doing so much. It just left the biggest impact on me and I I've told that story too many times.

Speaker 3: 24:51

I don't think you have.

Speaker 2: 24:53

I think it's great, though it really is, and and it's funny too, because I man, I can say it. You took me down a dangerous path here, because I can say so many things.

Speaker 1: 25:01

No, please.

Speaker 2: 25:02

But another thing that I've always said, too is I think another thing about the restaurant industry that really stands out is I think there's an Anthony Bourdain quote that kind of like attests to this. It's something like a group of like motley misfits, something like that.

Speaker 3: 25:15

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 25:18

You know what? I'm not even going to attempt it, but essentially, like I and I've I've told Ryan all the time is that every restaurant I worked in, it's like if you took everybody lined them up, I would look at this whole line of people that are working with me Like man. If it wasn't for this place, I probably wouldn't hang out with any of these people. And it's like you have this restaurant that brings this group of people together and you have this deep bond like family, and I've never seen that anywhere in any other industry. And it's just it's kind of funny how the restaurant industry bonds people like that. Yeah, but it's a beautiful thing though.

Speaker 3: 25:51

And it is every walk of life, every walk of life, every interest. Yeah, you could think about, it's such, that's such a good compare, why all of us, you know, standing there and it's like, wow, you know, you wouldn't think enough. I think that's why we're so outgoing, as restaurant people, we're so accepting and understanding, because we build everything with each other. And speaking back to where I've been in the game a little bit and it really, you know, I can't count the times oh, you know what's your day job and what's this and what's that?

Speaker 3: 26:23

Oh gosh you know nothing for nothing. Pretty successful fella here and and I think, I hope, actually I believe, and I know that we are changing that now. You know, you guys, a million percent are. I think what we're trying to do with the podcast and what we're all trying to do in the industry is really the evolution of what food and beverage has kind of become. It's become more accepted. People are always going to be judgmental, but did, uh so did the gentleman go to culinary school and graduate.

Speaker 2: 26:51

Yeah, I know he went to culinary school. I honestly I'd moved away before but I'm sure he did Just knowing who he was. If he listens to this, shout out to Fausto Nice.

Speaker 3: 27:02

He's great and reach out to us. Billatbarninjacom, log it out, coming back on Love you all out there, ninjas out.

Speaker 1: 27:10

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Bar Ninja Podcast. Please be sure to subscribe to us on your favorite podcast player and join the Bar Ninja Nation that has over 7,000 bartenders in it. By going to wwwbarninjacom, you can enter your email. Until next time, see you then.