Dynamic Business Leaders Podcast

EP.24 - Built on Service: The O-Town Provisions Story with Hyzens Marc

• Roy Richardson / Sean Murphy • Season 2 • Episode 24

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A spotless truck says more than a slogan ever could. That’s the energy Hyzens Marc brings to O-Town Provisions, a Central Florida distributor built on premium products, disciplined operations, and a relationship-first mindset. We sit down with Heizens to unpack the rituals, decisions, and pivots that turned a risky leap from banking into a trusted partner for Publix, independent delis, and Orlando International’s Terminal C.

The conversation starts with routine: a four-mile walk at dawn, prayer, and gratitude. Those habits shape everything else—clean warehouses, immaculate trucks, crisp delivery standards, and a calm leader who shows up ready. He walks us through the chaotic first weeks after acquiring the business, rebuilding culture with one-on-ones and clear processes, and how following a mentor’s “playbook” transformed hustle into consistent results. On sales, Heizens rejects pushy tactics and leads with service, aligning SKUs and values, and saying no when a partner wants shortcuts that damage trust.

We go deep on operational excellence—temperature logs, maintenance schedules, route checks—and how “premium” becomes visible in every touchpoint. He shares COVID battle stories, from supply shocks to creative buildouts using shipping containers, and why many of those emergency protocols are now best practices. We look ahead to AI in distribution: smarter routing, inventory integration between suppliers and customers, and the early edges of autonomous delivery. Threaded through it all is community: hiring for potential, mentoring youth, supporting local schools and churches, and modeling a path where character compounds into opportunity.

If you care about leadership that lasts, sales without the sleaze, and building systems that hold under stress, this one delivers. Tap play, subscribe for more founder stories with real playbooks, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway so others can find it too.

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Roy Richardson

Hello, I'm Roy Richardson, and this is the Dynamic Business Leaders Podcast. Welcome to another edition of the Dynamic Business Leaders Podcast. I'm your host, Roy Richardson, joined by my always insightful co-host and a man who certainly knows the Central Florida business landscape as well as anyone, Sean Murphy. Sean, always good to have you here with me as my wingman, brother. Absolutely good to be here. I'm looking forward to this. Oh man. Yes. Awesome, awesome. Well, folks, this episode, as always, is brought to you by Aurora InfoTech, helping organizations stay secure, resilient, and future ready in today's digital world. And today, we have a special one for you. Our guest is a driving force in Central Florida's food and hospitality supply chain, a founder who has built a regional distribution company from the ground up by focusing on service, reliability, and deep community relationships. After beginning his career in the corporate and financial world, he stepped boldly into entrepreneurship and created a business that supports restaurants, hospitality groups, and food service operators across the region with premium Delhi and specialty food products they rely on every single day. He is the founder and CEO of Otown Provisions, a Florida-based distributor known for premium brands, exceptional service, and operational excellence. From the company's legal incorporation in 2017 to its operational launch the following year, he has taken O-Town Provisions from an idea to a trusted partner for some of the most respected names in food service, including premium brands like Boar's Head. What makes his story stand out isn't just growth, it's the discipline, consistency, and community-driven mindset that fuel it. Now, Sean, I know that you've known our guests here for a while, so I'm going to roll it over to you and let you take it away.

Why His Story Matters To The Hosts

SPEAKER_02

Well, thank you, thank you, thank you. We have been doing this just under a year, these podcasts, and I will tell you, you know, the other guests have been special, but Heizens is um one as um three black men majorly special for me because when I met him just under five years ago, he was a client of mine at the bank, and he told me his background. And I love you know this first generation immigrant Haitian descent. Just we have kindred spirits as far as consistency, just passion for what we do, living and purpose. And when I went to his shop, it was amazing to me. Edgewater, Eagle grad, local guy, just something that for me, moving here 30 years ago, I've always leaned into individuals like this, local University of Florida grad, and come out of banking like me and and and got into the entrepreneur neural world. And the thing that's really cool is it's in something that typically you don't find, you know, black people.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_02

And so just love that. And I'll tell you another thing. I'm sure we're gonna get into it, but Heisen isn't I I I've gotten phone calls over the last couple of years from folks that hey, Heisen asked me to give you a call because I'm about to buy a distribution company, or I'm looking to scale up my insurance company and get into more corporate stuff. And so he is a guy, and I I'm looking this this is Richie was a good one again as a black man. We don't want to make our podcast about race, but there's so much noise out there about not being able to succeed in this country. And this man is an example of just what America is all about, and Richie as well. And again, he he's right there in this in the same boat as Richie as far as my um I was when when I reached out to him, I know he was gonna say yeah, but it was just one of those things. We we have so much in common as far as what we've done. So let me just uh you know go into you know when the pandemic hit when the pandemic hit and it brought the hospitality to his knees, you know, he faced moments where walking away might have just seemed easy, but he stayed the course, adapted, and push forward and using adversity as fuel rather than the finish line. And then I remember talking to him a couple of years ago when Boarshead had the big, you know, scare. There was never any doubt in my mind about him pushing through it. It was, and again, I feel like I'm talking to me. People, you know, talk to me and it's like, what? Doubt, persistency, we're gonna get through this. And so that resilience continues to shape how he leads, serves his customers, and prepares Otown provisions for a future where AI and emerging technologies are set to transform the world of logistics and distribution. He's a committed supporter of the minority community, and I know he's on a chambers board. I've seen him speak to kids. I was doing some stuff at Jones High School a couple of years ago, and he's like, I'm all in. Let me know when you need me to get over there. There was no, hey man, let me think about it. There was never any doubt. I also, I'm not sure if this is public knowledge, but when I went to his office, he told me about the makeup of his staff. He's very intentional about the community and educating the community. So for me, I found that refreshing, a man on point, and he's also a lifelong learner, a mentee that's shaped by honesty and guidance from his mentor, Rick Wittit, and a man who starts every day. This is this is another one of those cool things that people don't take, they take it for granted, but it's so paramount and critical to getting ahead and just and I and I don't necessarily mean getting ahead just by dollars and cents. I'm talking about with your family and with you as an individual. He starts every day with a four-mile walk where he's clearing his mind, shaping his focus, and he's leading with intentions. And above all, he's a founder who believes in, like I said, consistency, persistence, adaptability, and staying true to the journey. Even the difficult chapters, he puts it, there is nothing he would change about his journey. So please meet please join me in welcoming an entrepreneur, a community builder, and the leader of one of Central Florida's rising distribution companies, Heizens Mark.

Rituals, Faith, And Daily Discipline

SPEAKER_04

Woo! Guys, what was that? Wow, you guys are impressive. I am shicket right now. I really appreciate uh the warm welcome. I uh, you know, I didn't know what to expect when Sean asked me, Roy, to to join you guys, but I feel honored, number one, to be a part of this. And you guys just gave me goosebumps just hearing my story. So I think that's pretty cool. I want to say thank you, number one, to have for having me. Number two, I've always looked up to Sean as a person in this community that I thought was doing some great things. And to his point, we have a lot of synergies, you know. And Roy, just meeting you, I feel like we have some synergies as well. So I am looking forward to talking to you guys. I'm looking forward to to break and bread with you guys and probably eventually going to a UM game as well. But in the meantime, we'll talk today. We'll talk today. Hopefully, it's not against the gators, because I then I will be wearing my gator gear. You guys will be wearing the UM Gator. We share orange, man. We share orange. Yes, absolutely, absolutely. I went to the gator game as well, and I was I was so distraught, but it was it was still good to go to you down south to see that game in person.

Roy Richardson

That's right. Awesome, awesome. Well, Heizens, welcome. Amazing. Uh, you know, Sean has had uh really, really good things to say to you about you, and and I'm I'm looking forward after reading your bio to to uh spending, as you say, breaking bread and and and doing more interesting things together. And you know, I'm excited for our listeners to actually, you know, care about your story. So let's dive in. Sean, uh, take it away.

SPEAKER_02

Hi Zen, we we talked about the four-mile walk, but tell us more about the ritual that grounds you as a founder.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, uh, so you know, we all have things that pull at us that as entrepreneurs, even if you're not an entrepreneur, there's things that pull at you, and you can just let the day take that from you, right? You can get up and start responding to texts, and you can start doing these things. What I found for myself in this hectic world, in this hectic business, is that when I when I take time out to pray, when I take time out to be grounded, when I take time out to take those walks, I'm able to show up as a leader much more efficiently and much more clearly, right? That's the time to myself that after, you know, while my kids and wife are sleeping, while it's quiet out, I'm out there, I'm walking, and I'm able to like clear my mind, see the sunrise, pray, I mean, do all those things. I like to also listen to different, different like motivational things in the morning where it comes to gratitude, because I really believe in gratitude. I think gratitude is an art that we as people, we don't, we don't, we tend to like brush under the rug. But for me, gratitude is one of those things that if you don't know what you have, if you don't appreciate those things, how can you really appreciate what life is giving you? Because we're all gonna take these lumps, right? We're all gonna take these lumps throughout the day. But if I can intentionally go out and in and kind of set the tone for myself in the morning before the world is up and before things start coming at me, I found that that makes me a better leader. I found that makes me a better dad, a husband, a better friend. I found that that makes me a better grounded person. And then, you know, I think talking to my Lord and Savior in my head and just, you know, kind of clearing my mind, you know, I'm not trying to get religious on you guys, but it just really helps me personally. And so I tend to like to do that. And now I found a new love for the gym as well. After I go to the gym, I take that walk. You know, so I'm up super early. So I go to bed, you know, fairly early. And when I say early, that's like 10 o'clock, you know, for me. And then I'm up, you know, about 4:35, five o'clock, trying to get into the gym and then come back, do the walk. And I have a big dog, so it also helps, right? That I need to take him and maybe he's able to get his exercise in. So it's been good. It's been good. This is I've I'm a creature of habit. I'm a person of ritual. You know, I'm somebody that once I like something, I don't half like things. I almost said a cuss of word. I don't half like things. I I fully uh immerse my things, immerse myself in things that I really like. And so for me, these are things that that ground that give me clarity and they ground me. And I found that some of the top leaders in the world, these are things that they do as well. That's right. Yeah, yeah.

The First Week: Chaos To Cadence

Roy Richardson

Routine is very important. And you know, there's a saying that how you do one thing is how you do everything, right? So starting off with that four-mile walk, clearing your mind, giving for yourself that, you know, setting goals and and making sure that you can go into them fully committed, not on your personal life, but it's obviously translated in your business life as well. And and as an entrepreneur myself, you know, I remember those early journeys. I would say, this being my second technology company. But, you know, I want to I want to ask you because I I've I remember the question I'm gonna ask you. I I'm going back down my own memory lane here, but take us back to those early days of old town provisions. Do you remember that first delivery or that first big customer moment when it hit you and you said, okay, we're we're we're really doing this. What was going through your mind as you realized this idea was becoming a real operation, operating distribution business?

SPEAKER_02

Well, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, before you he's on his smile and his the the the look on his face, he's like he's about to talk about his first child was being born.

SPEAKER_04

Right. No, I mean, this is what I love about this guy, man.

SPEAKER_02

Again, I'm like, I meant when I met him, it was like, oh my God, I this guy here is, yeah. So keep going, brother. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_04

No, no, no, listen. So my journey was different, right? My journey was different, but the first, and I want to talk about that journey, um, but I'll answer your question. So the first, I still remember this, right? I get into, you know, so I acquired a business, right? I acquired a business that had employees already, right? And so first day, you know, I'm like, all right, here we go. Leading up to that time, I've had extensive trainings. I had to move to Alabama for a little while to understand the business. Again, I'm coming from banking. Board said we wanted to make sure that I understood what it meant to really work the business. So they put me through rigorous training. I was in Alabama, New York, and different places. However, I get to Orlando and it's the first day, and I still remember this like it's not like it was yesterday. You know, we gotta go out and we gotta go collect orders at all our customers, right? And so, you know, I'm out in stores the first day, and you know, things are people are one guy quit on me on the first day, and things are all over the place. And, you know, now we started off, it was probably like four in the morning that morning. Now it's like nine o'clock at night, and I'm just like, we have deliveries tomorrow, and everybody and you can see the faces of the people that I inherited, like this guy doesn't know what he's doing. So now actually, I'm actually in the cooler, you know, scanning items and putting things in boxes, and the first day was gone. You know, the first day was done. Then the next day we had deliveries to do, and you know, now we have to take trucks out. And guys, I'll tell you, that first week, that first year was non-stop go. People are quitting. You need to hire new folks. I remember I hired my brother as an employee and he brought his best friend with him. And I'm like, what are you doing? Like, you don't just come to somebody's job with somebody else. He's like, oh, he needs a job too. I'm like, what? What do you mean? So needless to say, those first, it was hard. It was hard, you know, making sure that I had the right amount of cash flow available to make sure that payroll was good before we collected our first payments. But I wouldn't, like I said before, I wouldn't change it for anything in the world, right? Those those were times that really shaped who I am today and shaped the company, right? And so we had some rough times in the beginning, a sleepless, sleepless nights. I would lick at my phone when I would wake up in the morning. I would lick at my phone because I'm looking for text from guys calling in. I'm looking for text for like the truck's not starting, I'm looking for text that, hey, where are you? You know, all these things. And by the grace of God, we were able to like finally get into our own cadence and find my own, you know, group of folks. You know, we went through, we cycled people that was with the with the other company and then with me, and then we were able to find the right mix of folks and then create our own culture, right? And then things got a lot easier. And that first, I always smiled because my kids never seen me cry at that time. My kids were very, very young, right? And I still remember like the first day I had that. So, say we were starting on a Monday, Sunday, I had my mom and people from the community of the Haitian community come and pray. And, you know, it was scary, right? It was scary. I'm starting this thing tomorrow. This thing's about to launch, and and you know, I believe in prayer. So I had my parents come pray. They brought a whole bunch of people in, and I still I'm getting goosebumps right now because I still think about it. We were in that room and people are praying, and you know, they wanted to be successful. And and I don't know, I know, you know, Caribbean prayers to me are very powerful, right? They really like, you know, it's just kind of dig deep into their soul. And so they're praying, and then I'm trying to hold on, and then I'm just crying, crying because of excitement, crying because of all the hard work and it's about to start, and crying because, you know, putting it all on on black, right? I'm putting it all on myself right now, and I'm hoping that this works, right? And I still remember my kids crying too, and they're like, why is daddy crying? And I and they're young, they're probably at that age four and two, you know, and they're just like, oh my God, and and they don't know what's happening. They just know that dad has a lot of trucks, he has uh he has a lot of meat. They don't know, but it was it was a unique situation. But something like I said, I would never turn my back, I would never change for any moment in the world. It really shaped me who today for the man I am and the leader I am. And that's part of the reason now I have so much gratitude and I have so much compassion for others, but because I was able to build a team that we all now are on the same page and the cadence is there. But the other thing is I'm better, I'm able to show up as a leader because now I have the time to take, you know, early, early in the morning before I get with my team to myself to be able to show up, you know?

Finding Peer Support With Vistage

SPEAKER_02

Heisen was was um did did were you in Vistage early on, or so you weren't you're in Vistage now, but you weren't you didn't start out with Vistage, right? This is later.

SPEAKER_04

That's it. Yeah, you know, so Vistage is a phenomenal organization. And I'll tell you some things about Vistage. It it's funny, I met with Cheryl yesterday just to have conversations or whatever. So Cheryl is uh mentor and and dear friend of mine. But so I met Cheryl in the beginning when I first started my company, and she's like, hey, you know, I think you would benefit from something like this. And I said, I'm not ready. And the reason I knew I wasn't ready is because things were, Roy, you probably can understand this, things were all over the place. You know, I didn't have a cadence, you know, I was still trying to get the right team in place. And I didn't see, I didn't see the capacity to be able to walk away, you know, from my organization for a day because advista just once a month you're in a room with with like-minded peers, leaders in the community that have our entrepreneurs and are CEOs of companies, and you guys are talking to great strategies, talking through books and different leadership tactics that can help you in your business. And I didn't think I could handle that at that early stage in my career, right? I thought that that would, you know, that could be detrimental to what we were doing and what we needed to do. Further, you know, let's say a couple of years go by, I was ran into Cheryl again. And when we ran into each other, she was like, hey, we should sit down and talk through this. And I committed to it, and it's been great for me. There's been so many growth factors for myself, uh, you know, and and through Vistage, honestly, was when I kind of discovered the, you know, taking time for yourself. Yeah. Through Vistage is where I kind of figured out some of the, some of, you know, the growing pains that I have that I'm not the only one going through, right? There's other business owners going through the same growing pains. Through Vistage was where I discovered that there's other leaders in Central Florida that are doing remarkable things that we don't know anything about. That's right. They're here, right? And so it was it's a great organization. I actually put my general manager in their in their like professional, I forgot the exact name of the key man. Yeah, the key man, right. Yeah. Yeah, I put I put her in that. And it's been good for us because, you know, there's some things that you know you would want in your leadership, and I may say, hey, I want you to do this, but coming from me may sound a little harsh or may not be received well. But in a group like that, where everybody's has the same mindset, it could uh it could push you into the right direction. So yeah, I will say if anybody's listening right now, Vistage is a great organization to be a part of. It will help you professionally and just personally to have growth in your life, you know?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, no, the three of us have all always been in Vistage. I've been in Vistage. Cool, cool. And so big, big Vistach fans here, also CEO nexus for companies that are even smaller. There's just so many. What what I appreciate about it is that you know, Cheryl's a woman of color. You know, we we just don't take advantage of these types of organizations enough.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

From Banking Roots To Entrepreneurship

SPEAKER_02

And I love the fact that, you know, again, Richie Powell, he's a big he was he's a YPO guy. Very competitive, same type of thing, maybe a little bit global, more global than vistage. These organizations have been around hundreds of years and they've been developing leaders, and I just love the idea of you doing it. But you move you moved from the banking world into entrepreneurship, and I get it that you know, there's a little bit of entrepreneurship when you're a banker because it's kind of like you go get your clients and stuff like that. But what was it, what was a spark? Tell our clients, our our our listeners, what was the thing that made you say, Man, I'm gonna go do my own thing and not hang on to the shingles of chase. Yeah, so I come from a Caribbean background.

SPEAKER_04

My parents are from Haiti, and you know, there's always this push for entrepreneurship, right? There's always this push to say, hey, you know, yes, my parents believe in getting in a good education. Again, my mom and dad came to this country in the early 80s with no education, very young. When they got here, they had me at an early age. My parents started in very humble beginnings where they were picking like oranges and you know, things like that. So they knew what hard work was, right? And it was not like we were blessed with like a silver spoon. It was one of those things where they were working two jobs, my dad working two. Jobs. My mom was working one. And it was just, hey, like, you guys need to make it. We don't know what you're going to do, but you we know you need to make it. Right. Through that time, you know, after we moved from like different parts of Florida, then finally got to Orlando, my parents, my mom started a clothing shop where it was like on the weekends, she would open up and then people from the Haitian community would come buy clothes from her. Right. And that was something that I always looked at and I thought was cool. And then my father ended up opening a landscape company, right? And so, you know, over the summers, us as young men, it was just our job to go out and cut grass. And I still remember one of the first days of school going into my ninth grade year. My young lady, I get on the bus and I was going to Edgewater from Pine Hills. And a young lady says, Oh, that's the boy that cuts my grass. And I'm like, Like, no. But anyway, I say that to say that shaped me. And so when after graduated from UF, I didn't know exactly what I was going to do, but I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. What banking did for me was it allowed me to really research and see different, you know, customers and different businesses all together. And to your point, Sean, I felt like I was an entrepreneur with Inside Chase because every, you know, even when I was off, I would pick up the phone and handle business to make sure that things were being done correctly or that my customers felt like they had the best service. So after after that, after that, while at the bank, I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I was just fortunate to find Borishead that really aligned with my, you know, personal philosophies, it aligned with, you know, my ethics, it aligned with everything that I stand for when it came to quality and service. And so it just was a perfect match, right? And so I was fortunate to learn about Boris Head. I was fortunate to have mentors within Borishead. A buddy of mine by the name Matt, he uh he really was the catalyst to kind of helped me get through all the the some of the uh hurdles for you know being being introduced to Boris Head. And then but that was kind of history now.

SPEAKER_02

But is this the Matt that you is this the Matt that you introduced me to?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You met him. Yep. Absolutely. As a good guy. And so, so we, you know, and so those those were but I always wanted to be an entrepreneur. Did I did I wake up one day in my life and said I was gonna be selling meat? Delicatesseness? No, I didn't think I was selling meat to anyone. I was, you know, you know, you know, in my mind, I I'd be selling something, but I I I love sales, I love, I love being close to the community, I love being a part of this business, and I just love what it allows me to do.

SPEAKER_02

I I Roy, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta jump in again because he said something that I think is lost in the community. There's a couple of things that I believe in what he said that is lost. One, there's just a lack of gratitude. Yes. And I I I my my wife's grandparents are testament. I would I talk about them all the time. They were like your parents. They they would they would do janitorial work, you know, and clean houses, and then they would just d drive up to Buffalo and pick apples. And and you know, they had they had a house in in Richmond Heights that was paid off. They had no debt. When they went to the car dealership, they were paying cash.

SPEAKER_03

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02

They they they own a piece of property. My my wife's family owns a piece of property over in the mainland area. It's been paid off for 30 years, as long as we've been married.

SPEAKER_04

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02

And these people never made any money, but they were grateful of the opportunities that they had. And then the other thing that you said that I think is lost, and I love this, and this is something where I know without a shadow of a doubt, because I've run my business for 30 years as an entrepreneur mindset mindset. So when South State let me go in June, there was no, oh, please give me. No, it was like, no, what? Uh the phone's already ringing with opportunities. What are you talking about? Yeah. So with that being said, with that being said, tell me the part about you mentioned about loving sales. Tell me why. Because I I have an idea why, but I I want it to come from you because I you got the business. And so tell me why.

SPEAKER_04

You know, so because I think let me give you uh kind of an idea of who I am. I've always been and I don't consider myself technically a salesman, but I'm good at building relationships, right? That's right.

SPEAKER_02

And so you're not salesmen. The society has it twisted about being salesmen when we're relationship guys.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely, absolutely. And so that bode well for me in every aspect of my life, right? So when I was in college, I was in this, I was a there's this thing that this is when the cell phones. Um now I'm dating myself, right? This is when cell phones start to come out.

SPEAKER_02

We got all of these older guys on the phone hours called each each week.

Relationship-First Sales Philosophy

SPEAKER_04

We got somebody talking about the cell phones from when they were so cell phones coming out, and now they're trying to do advertising in text messages, right? So they're trying to gather data from college students so they can send text messages, and then they what they would do is say they'll go out to like Pizza Hut and say, hey, local Pizza Hut, we can get this many college students coming in if you give us a discount. And they're saying, yeah. So there'd be a, I don't know the exact algorithm between the the company and the and the end user, but there is something where it's free to the students to get the discount, but you need people like me to go out and and convince people to sign up. And so I still remember in college there was this contest. I was working for this company called Mobile Campus, and there was this contest, and they're like, whoever can get the most people to sign up will get a free iPad. And this is iPod, I'm sorry, iPod. And I'm like, oh my God, I can't afford an iPod and I want an iPod. It was just easy for me to go out and shake hands and convince people to sign up. And it was a lot of relationship building, right? And and I won that. And then moving into uh for a short stint, I was doing mortgage full commission mortgage, you know, right in between going into the banking college and winning from my day from day one because I was I understood the purpose of the I understood what relationship building was, right? And after that, got into banking at Chase, and I was the national achiever, and again, all based off of building relationships. So, you know, that's why I like sales, because I'm not here trying to widget, you know, or sell a item. I'm really trying to build relationships. And I think that's lost so many times within folks, right? Well, you may have to get a phone call from somebody, and the first thing that they want to do is sell you something instead of starting to get to, you know, trying to get to know you. And I think over the right, right. And over the years, you will feel, you know, when you feel somebody is genuine or somebody cares about your business or Sean, your business, that's right. You want to reciprocate that, right? You want to give that back and you want to give that person a chance. And so I've always led with relationships more than sales, and that's been very good for me in my life, you know?

Roy Richardson

Amazing, amazing. I I and you you mentioned there just now about people, you know, you meet that who want to sell you right away. And I love to use the analogy of a doctor, you know. Imagine going to a doctor, you walked in the office, and before saying hello, he hands you, or he or she hands you a prescription. Right, right. Right. And then you know, they they already know the problem before they you've even uh tell them why you're there, right? And then and that's how it comes across today. There's no relationship building, everything is very cold today, it's very transactional today versus, you know, I would say back in in your era. And certainly a lot of that relationship building that you have comes from family values, comes from from from I would say the the the island upbringing, right? Where everything is based on relationships and trust. So speaking of relationships and trusts, you know, what drew you to O-town provisions in the first place and what made you confident that it was the right business for you to acquire?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Well, like I said, I was in banking, and so I had the opportunity to really dive deep into several different kinds of businesses throughout Central Florida. But this was something that really aligned with so O-Town Provisions was the name I came up with. Okay. The name, right. So I came up with the name. I'm from Orlando, as mentioned earlier, and I wanted to represent Orlando, right? And so going to high school here, going to middle school here, O-town has always been the name that I've been very confident with. And so it was only right that I create that name, O-Town Provisions. But what drew me to this kind of industry is that I'm good at building relationships, right? It aligns with who I am. Um and it, you know, the the product itself, Borsette itself, also philosophically aligns with me, right? And so these were, it was just a perfect synergy to make two the two things happen. I'm so proud to be a local purveyor. You know, I'm so proud to be a local purveyor. I'm also proud that, you know, I've broken some barriers within the community of being a local purveyor. And so because I've been able to do that, I've made it a point to bring others along with me to also share in the legacy, right? And so for me, not just, you know, get out here, try to make some money and be gone. Uh, this is, you know, a future play for me. And when I say a future play, I have a daughter and a son, and and and my hopes is that they will come along one day and and and be a part of this great company. They have already mentioned that they love it, right? Um, my daughter most recently said to me, Dad, I want to go to some of your speaking engagements. Dad, I want to go to some of your things, right? And so that's made me very proud, right? And and you know, it's not just them sitting around and not knowing what daddy does, but you know, they've been a part of the business. They've seen us grow, they've seen us in this facility, Sean, that you've seen. They've seen where we started. And so it's it's been good and it's been reassuring. So Old Time Provisions was, like I said, something that I I created and came up with the name. And my goal is to leave this legacy for you know the next generation.

SPEAKER_02

Yep. And we're gonna we're gonna help you with that. And mine will be there hanging out with yours doing the same thing. We're gonna be finding it. I love it.

SPEAKER_04

I love it.

Customers, Channels, And Terminal C Win

SPEAKER_02

I love it. Yes. So now that we've set the foundation, let's explore what old Town Provisions actually does and how you're different. And we know you're a purveyor of you know, boars heads and things like that. Well, provide our audience with, you know, just a little bit more of who your customers are and what you offer.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yeah. So we are boars head distributors. If you ever go to Publix and you get into the deli, you will see the brand Boars Head. And so one of the one of our main customers is Publix. We are very proud to be a partner with Publix. So we do majority of the Publix in Central Florida. We also have mom and pop restaurants. If you go to certain delis in town and some sandwich shops, we do that. And most important most recently, we landed Terminal C, where we're doing a lot of work in Terminal C as well. So we, yeah, so that's a that was very, I was very proud of that. I mean, that came from building relationships as well, right, Sean? So I was able to meet someone that was out in Terminal C and we were able to make the right connections. And before you know it, we're out there. So you can find our brand at you know, Publix for the most part. Uh, a couple of independent grocery stores here in town. We don't really sell to anybody else outside of Publix when it comes to grocery stores because we we we we value the relationship that Publix has with us and and we value how strong that relationship is, and we don't want to tarnish that. So we tend to stick with them. However, there's other, you know, sandwich shops in town that you can find. Um, if you go out to Henry's Depot, if you go to Black Bean Deli, if you go to a few other games here in town, yeah, they they also taking products from us. So there's some some good partners that we have. I mean, they they believe in quality as well, right? And so we're able to share in that. And we also like to find customers that really believe in the philosophy of keeping the brand and keeping things at the highest quality and highest standards.

Defining Premium In Daily Operations

SPEAKER_02

I love it. Yes, man. Quality, quality, quality. So yeah, so even I I the the first time I went to your location, it was, you know, immaculate. And and the way that you came up with, you know, I I I love the way you think, you know, the the fact that, you know, you're like, hey man, I built this facility and how I built my my there's something where you use the boxes, the cargo boxes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was just one of those things. This is this is kind of off script, right? But I again you you are you are an outside of the box thinker, and I think that that's a lost arc, right? We've gotten away from really being critical thinkers and using what's available to us. And so I'm gonna talk, I want you to talk about that in a minute, but let me go into, you know, again, you talk about high quality, the people that you hang out with, as far as your customers, who you sell to, and things like that. How does premium translate into your everyday work? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

So we premium translate into our everyday work when it because of the way we handle the product, the way our employees show up, the way they show up outside, the way our trucks look on the road, all of that is premium, right? We you won't find a dirty truck out there, right? We we make sure that's good. We we're we're doing we're we have high levels of sanitation, making sure that everything is clean here, you know. To your point, you walked in immaculate, right? My trucks are immaculate, right? We we that that flows into every aspect of this business. And not only me, I mean, I like to be a walking billboard for my business, right? So it's hard to find that my car's gonna be dirty or that I'm not gonna be well put together because again, it's all about premium for me. It's all about the fact that we are we we have a premium product, we want to continue to show that through the delivery process, through the even the inside of the warehouse. No matter from A to Z, we want it to be premium. And so we we make sure that we facilitate that, we make sure that we oversee that, we make sure that that's all you know put together to make sure that if you Roy come in, if you Sean come in, it's still the same as if, you know, a surveyor or or somebody from the FDA or whatever that may be would come in, it's it's gonna be the same thing.

Processes, Logs, And Operational Excellence

Roy Richardson

Once again, how how you do one thing is how you do everything, right? So hand in hand. Hand in hand. And so, you know, reading through your your your buy on and the information prior to the podcast here, one thing that really stuck out to me that goes hand in hand with what you just said in the question that Sean asked, you you focus keenly on operational excellence. It's a key theme in in your organization. So, what processes or routines ensure that the trucks keep moving and quality remain consistent?

SPEAKER_04

And so what we like to do, I love that question. What we like to do is we keep a routine where we keep logs where we're checking temperatures in the cooler, we we make sure that the tires are rotated, we make sure that the truck logs are correct. The guys don't leave without making sure that, okay, we've checked this, the boxes before we're out on the road, right? And that what that does is alleviate a lot of the pressures and the stresses that you would find if you don't do those things, right? There's a there's a maintenance log that we have here at the uh office that everyone is responsible for, you know, when it's the trash, when it's the making sure that the the product is handled correctly and making sure that if there is an issue that we're able to address it and then we're able to trace back where that issue came from to excuse me, so that it won't happen again, you know?

Roy Richardson

No, that's that's uh that's amazing. And I got a follow-on question real quick here, because one of the biggest challenges, of course, is is you've you've been able to acquire a company, but even acquiring a company with an existing culture to come in and influence that culture to now adapt to operational excellence and adapt to all these standards, but more so establishing that, but maintaining that as you scale, you know, how how do you balance growth with the service, particularly, you know, with an estimated 10 to 25 employees and maintain your that culture?

Culture, Retention, And Work-Life Balance

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yes, you know, so I think I love that question. I think one of the things for me is I'm very present within my business, right? And I the culture starts with me, right? And so what what what I like to do is always be hands-on when it comes to that, right? Because you know, if a new guy comes in and he's just kind of trying to, you know, I love to sit with folks. This is one of the things I like to do, just a peek behind the tent. Folks to come in and I sit with them and I talk to them. And this is outside of the interview process, right? Hey, you know, calls to check in. You've been with me for a week now. What do you think? Oh, I really like it. Hey, you know, come in and sit down and talk to me. You know, and then I like to get, you know, some feedback. One of the things I learned from a good mentor of mine or a boss of mine back in the day, his name was Ray Curva. He would have these one-on-ones with us, right? And they weren't mandatory, but he would do them. Not other teams didn't have one-on-ones, but we would have these one-on-ones. And that was a time for you to like say what's on your mind. And even if it's not necessarily business related, it could be personal related, whatever you have going on. Right. And that's been very that's something that I adopted in this culture that has allowed me to win a lot of times with those cus with my employees, right? Is because we're able to talk, we're able to dive deep, we're able to, you know, and sometimes it's not an hour, sometimes it's 20 minutes. Sometimes someone, someone may come in and be like, hey, I don't really have nothing to say. Okay, that's cool. So uh did you watch the game yesterday, right? Right, right, right. And so, you know, these are things that I've adopted through my time at Chase and through things that I've seen from other business owners within Borsaid and outside of Borse Ed. And I've taken a little bit from everybody to make sure that I have a culture that I'm very proud of. One of the things that I'm so proud of is that when someone comes to O Town Provisions or they come and work here, they always want to stay. I don't, I don't have high turnover here because we have a culture that is a family-oriented culture. I believe in work-life balance most importantly, because again, I have two kids that are heavy, heavy in sports. My daughter runs track, my son plays tennis. And so I've set the culture and the the working hours here at O Town Provisions as such that people have time to themselves, even though we may have, and so, right, and so these guys love that. We love the fact that, you know, there may be other folks in this business that may not close on a certain day, but we close, you know, you know a few hours early so folks can get home on a Friday and have a good time with their family. And those are all things that I believe in those, and that's a culture that I've worked hard for and I'll continue to work hard for, and I'll continue to be present so that it will remain, you know, that way.

SPEAKER_02

Cool. So, so that that's um I I Amazing. I've known that and I've always been impressed. You know, I've invited you when I was at the leadership, you know, when I had my leadership stuff from the Leadership Institute, and you're like, Sean, I would love it. Um, it just didn't work out, but you know, and I know that Cheryl probably talks a lot about this kind of stuff and and her uh dealings with vistage. How does mission and vision, I'm sorry, influence decisions regarding routes, SKUs, and partnerships?

Mission, SKUs, And Saying No

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, so uh like I said mentioned before, you know, we like to be philosophically aligned with our customers, right? We like to make sure that they have the same mission and vision as us. Um, you know, and and there's times that we just say no, right? That's just times that we say no. Um because if I can walk into a place and I see that, you know, they may not align with us and they may want to cut corners in the way they handle the product or handle us or even what they're currently using. Or, you know, I like to look at people's patterns a lot of times when, you know, if I go into a place and they're mishandling this or they're not doing the right thing, I just don't feel good about me bringing my product or my staff or any of that into the location because then what's gonna be the end result? We're gonna have to stop at some point anyway, right? And so we tend to interview our customers to make sure that their visions and values align with us, and then making sure that the right SKUs are in the each customer that we bring them to, that we are partnering with. The last thing you want is to put a sour taste in someone's mouth, right? And so let's just say, as like you, you mentioned about the doctor, you mentioned about being in banking. You know, you just can't sell five checking accounts to the same customer because what? What is that even? Why is the customer need five checking accounts? Or the doctor is not really evaluating you, but they're handing you prescriptions without knowing really what the problem is. Right, right, right, right. Pre-written prescriptions, and without even evaluating you, it's not gonna work. So for me, making sure that you know our the SKUs that we're putting into those customers, the values of those customers all align, we're philosophically aligned, and then we kind of move on from there.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, sir. But look, leadership isn't just inside of the business. We talked about that earlier where some of this stuff is all transferable and stuff like that. It's in the community and in the industry. You described a commitment to minority empowerment through, you know, entrepreneurship. How does that show up in hiring supplier relationships and your community involvement? It shows up in many different ways.

Minority Empowerment And Community Work

SPEAKER_04

Hiring, you know. I'm not not hiring someone because of their race or creed, but you know, when we are sitting here and I'm talking to somebody that has a similar background or like has gone through some things and I see somebody that needs a chance, I'm willing to take a chance on them. You know, I'm willing to take a chance on them. Um, because you know, there's some communities just that just doesn't have that opportunity to walk into a cup uh place and get a chance taken on them because their language or because they're you know probably a little shy. And I get that, right? I get that because of the community I serve. On top of that, because I'm from Pine Hills, because I was raised here in Orlando, because Pine Hills, Pine Hills Natives, because I'm from, yeah, you're right, because I'm from these areas, I've seen a lot. I've seen a lot of communities that are underserved. And that, you know, a lot of times, if you think about what our communities are looking at as role models, basketball players, football players, you know, people in sports and rappers, but then when they can see a local man, myself, has come from Pine Hills, that has beaten the odds, that has that has made something different of itself, and and I am not six, four, three hundred pounds, right? You know, I'm I'm none of those things. I'm just a person that believed in itself. I took a chance on myself. I believe that, you know, consistency, tenacity, all those things pay off. And if I'm able to translate that into anyone in the community and help, you know, a lot of times when I go do some of these things out in the community, I'm not looking for, you know, something back because there's some of those communities, just boars head is not where they're going to be shopping or what they can they're what they're looking to do. What I do love is the opportunity to say, hey, or for those kids to say, hey, I met a man, he is selling boars head, and he has this story, and I too can do it. And that's what I like to instill in all the youth and then in people in the community that I'm just a man just like you, or a person just like you, right? And all I did was do the right thing. I listened to my mom and dad, which is important, right? But most of all, I took a chance on myself. And I think so many times, right, folks, folks are scared to take that chance on themselves. And so I love to spread that message out there to the youth. I love to be involved in the community, and I love for them to see that, you know, this brand, me O Time Provisions, myself, Bohr said we we support the community in many ways that we can give back. You know, perfect example. There's turkey drives that we do. There is, you know, giving back to different communities, helping churches, and all those things are from the kindness of my heart because I believe that this is a great community. I believe that these folks need to see people doing things. Most of all, a God-fearing man that, you know, is from this community that wants to give back. I think it's a beautiful thing. And I think that we've been able to see so many great results from that. And to your point, Sean, I'm still gonna be doing some things with Jones um coming up next month here. They're gonna be coming to the warehouse where we're gonna have about 40, 40, you know, some kids here, and we're gonna talk to them and talk through boards and talk through a day in a life. And then uh tomorrow I'll be doing some things with another organization as well, with the youth. And I just believe in it. I I it's near and dear to my heart. And I was a kid one day that was sitting in in chairs, and I was able to look up and see people that looked like me that were successful, and they were able to get out of their situations, first generation, second generation, whatever, parents that were slaves, whatever that was, right? I was I was able to witness some of those things, and and those things mean a lot to me. And so I want to give it back and I want to pay it for it.

Roy Richardson

Amen to that. Amen to that. And and you know, you you were providing the opportunity for those kids to also lean into the fact that you were once, you know, on those same in those same areas and look at where you are today. And it's not, you know, the the the the basketball or the the track or whatever, you know, super magnet that that you know, here here's here's one of our own, right? And and if he can put the blood, sweat, and tears in it, he had a dream. He had mentors who took took him under their wings, but here's one of our own. So kudos to you on that. And I love that story. I mean, that that's now you got goosebumps on my side over here. So but listen, talking about speaking about mentors and people, you know, of of of our own that you looked up to, tell us about your mentor, Rick Witted. What's a what's a piece of his advice that you carry daily?

Mentors And The Power Of A Playbook

SPEAKER_04

I got a couple of things, but so one of the things, so Rick is Rick was actually a manager of mine. So he used the first one that took a chance on me at Chase, right? I went to interview a Chase, and Rick said to me, you know what? You don't have everything that it that I was looking for, but you have something that I like, and I'm gonna take a chance on you. He told me, he said, Don't disappoint me before he hired me. And I'm like, oh my God. Okay, so Rick puts me out in a far place called St. Cloud. Uh now St. Cloud is not as as rural as it was when I first started. But I go out to St. Cloud and you know, I'm trying to make Rick proud because he's a person of character, person of morals. And he says to me, Hey, you know, you know, you need to get out there, you need to do these things, you need to, you know, make these many phone calls. And I didn't want to make phone calls, so I tried to do it myself, right? So what I did was I started walking around, it's 90 degrees. I'm knocking on doors, trying to drum up business. He comes to me a couple of days later and he says, Hey man, your numbers are not where they need to be. You're not fulfilling the role. And I'm like, what do you mean? I'm out here knocking on doors. He's like, he looks at me, he said, Did I tell you to go knock on doors? Where in the playbook did they say go knock on doors? Right. And I sat back and I'm like, okay. He said, All I ask you to do is follow the rules, young man. Follow the playbook. You you're supposed to make this many calls, you're supposed to do these things. I guarantee you do these things, you're gonna be successful. Sure enough, guys. I start doing those things. I become the number one banker in mortgages for the state of Florida. It was a it was a smaller division that Chase called business banking. This was a smaller division, not commercial banking, but business banking. Number one banker by just following the playbook, sitting there, making the phone calls, reading the script, and boom, that's what it took. And so Rick taught me that one of the things that I never forget was follow the playbook. He's like, I didn't ask you to do that. I asked you to follow a playbook. Since then, Rick has gone to write a book and he put that in the book. He put that whole interaction in the book. And so when people read the book, they're like, oh, that's so cool. You know? I mean, it's called Outgrowing Your Space by Rick Witt and phenomenal man, human being and God-fearing man. And he's taught me a lot. And now he works in the nonprofit space for U.S. Hunger, and we partner up with some things, and he's he's leading U.S. Hunger across the nation. And he partners up with big banks like Chase and Wells Fargo. And they have a great thing on Martin Luther King Day where we where we bag food for needy families across the nation. And we've been, O Town has been privileged to be a part of that and a sponsor of that for a couple years. But I say that to say Rick has taught me not only from a personal side, but how to be a a good man, you know, just you know, ethical and all the other things. Most importantly, like follow the playbook, right? Like there's a playbook for a reason, right? And we try to reinvent the will. And we try to reinvent the will in many ways, right? Like you may think that your way is better than the next guy or whatever, but you know, making sure that you follow the playbook was one of those things. And I will never forget that. I never forget that, and that has helped me tremendously in my life. And I've been following the playbook since that time.

Roy Richardson

Amen. Amen to that. And and you know, playbooks are meant to ensure that we have processes. Processes are meant to ensure that we have growth, right? But growth never really happens in a straight line. So let's talk a little bit about the tough chapters. I mean, you know, you cited COVID as a moment you could have given up. And this is a two-part question here. So, you know, what kept you going during COVID? And what's the lessons you want other founders to learn from that period? Yeah.

COVID Pivots And Building With Containers

SPEAKER_04

So COVID was scary because there were so many unknowns, right? Yeah. Nobody knew what was going on, right? We were we were scared. We didn't know if we were going to be allowed to deliver. We were fortunate to have a partner in public that stayed open and we were able to work with them. And some of unfortunately, some of our restaurants didn't make it that we were serving at that time. But for me, we didn't know if we were going to make it because there were so many unknowns, right? We didn't know if that, you know, I could keep the employees. We didn't know if we were have to shut the doors. But uh, you know, when I saw that there was a glimpse of hope, you know, my tenacity and my drive to willing to succeed, my drive for success, that's what pushed me. That's what helped me going. Because I don't believe in no, right? I don't believe in, I believe in maybe not at this time, but there's always a way, right? There's always a way to get things to the finish line. And so it was, it was that at that time during COVID where I thought it was so daunting and so difficult for me in the employees, and then you got people that, you know, you then you have employees that they're there, they have family members that are sick, then and within my family, not directly, but close family members that, you know, people are in the hospital and people are getting sick. Then I have a couple of buddies now, they're in the hospital, they're getting sick. I mean, so those were all reasons where I was like, I don't know if this is gonna work. But again, by the grace of God, we're able to go through COVID. And and that was the same time that, you know, a little bit during COVID is when I sat here and I right before COVID happened, I was in contract to buy this building, and then COVID happened, and then all the material and everything else went haywire, right? You you know, there was like you can't buy drywall or whatever. And so that's what made me come with the idea to build the the shipping containers, right? Because those were readily available and I had to pivot. And one of the things I think COVID taught me was that you just have to pivot at times in life. And so we were able to pivot. I mean, even the way we were able to deliver during COVID and the things that the protocols that we had to take, do we still use today because we had to pivot, right? And so, and so COVID helped us. I mean, and for any business owner out there, I would say the key, the key thing here is to pivot, right? Being able to pivot, being able to be agile within your business is always gonna be the key to success. Um, and then not quitting, right? And I think perseverance is one of those things that really push people to the extreme. And those, that's when you see winners and losers, right? You know, when you're willing to persevere despite the challenges and the knocks that you will receive, you can definitely win. And then gratitude comes into place again, like I was telling you guys before, because then you're grateful for those times where it was hard, but then we're able to make it through.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I love how you said that, you know, a lot of that stuff is that you're still using today. So I would imagine when there was that big outbreak a couple of years ago, you know, you were like, okay, let's see, survey it, and keep it moving. Absolutely. Let's switch gears. We like to do what we call quick hits, or we'll ask you some questions, and you know, it's not meant to go deep. And but daily habits, you protect at all costs. I think we have an idea, but tell it to us again.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, my yeah, so daily habits is is gratitude and walking. That's that I protect that at all costs. I can be sick, I could be hurt, I could be whatever. I'm gonna do it, you know, and so I protect that at all costs.

Roy Richardson

And let's go a little bit here for our audience who are deep in books. You know, what one book would you recommend and one key takeaway from that book?

SPEAKER_04

So a couple of well, one book is Atomic Habits, because it talks about building good and bad habits. And so I think that's a great book. I mean, that's that's a book that I believe in. And then just another book, David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell. I think it's a phenomenal book. And you know, I think more and more we are faced with adversities and people just don't know how to handle them. But being able to pivot and being able to be agile are are are are two things that those books talk about that really that really resonate with me.

SPEAKER_02

Cool. What one operational process you can't live without.

SPEAKER_04

I would say a daily check-in, the daily check, the the hours that I give to the employees, I can't live without that, you know? And then one thing you wouldn't change about your journey.

Roy Richardson

Nothing.

Quick Hits: Habits, Books, And Processes

SPEAKER_04

Listen, even there's there, even though it's a good thing. I knew the answer, but there's even the fact that we've had this the the the turmoil of of COVID and then this outbreak, it's just all things that I think make you a stronger person, you know, and persistence, you know, in the tenacity. Those are you know, you think about Roger Feather and some of these other great athletes, they are all persistent. They are all consistent. They and consistency wins anytime over anybody. You know, I I I've I've met some very good athletes in my life, and I've been I've been privileged to meet some, and I've met some guys that stand right next to each other, and the guy may be twice the other one's size, but the other one's a hall of famer. And you know the difference was consistency right every time.

SPEAKER_02

Well, well, you're you're um, I'm not sure if I'm I I should bring it up, but your brother-in-law. Yeah, you know, Jonathan was not highly recruited coming out of high school. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Persistent, consistent, yeah, and he was known for that. He was known. You you you heard stories about him. So when you talk about just that, right? He went to UM and and wasn't expected to be much. And the next thing you know, he's starting as a true freshman. And yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Consistent. Consistent. And you know, and he was, you know, he was he was uh he's been consistent his whole life. And even now within the you know the the sports world, you know, you will hear people will give him his accolades because he's not the biggest person, but he's always been the most consistent person. So again, you when you think about some of these athletes, you think about people in our lives that are that that are winners, they're consistent. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So so for the entrepreneurs listening in their cars right now, let's get a little practical, Roy.

Roy Richardson

Yeah. So, you know, let's talk a little bit about uh your top three pieces of advice, which you know, I read was believe in yourself, stay consistent and persistent, and be adaptable with a strong network. Give us the how behind each.

SPEAKER_04

So again, stay consistent. I think you know, atomic habits says it best, right? You know, you need to build, you need to build these habits within your business. I know, I know, you know, a lot of times folks try one thing and it doesn't go well and then they want to give up on it, right? So consistency to me is one of those key things. And then, you know, when when I talk about, you know, your surroundings and in your community, is just making sure that you have the right mentors to help you through those those headways. Because we don't have all the answers, right? Yeah. A lot of times, right? We don't have all the answers, but making sure that you're you're able to pivot and listen. I I think one of the things that for me is I've always been able to, you know, conversational generosity, I think, is the big thing, right? Where you're able to listen and you're listening to really listen and not just to answer, right? And so to understand that right, yes, absolutely. Conversational generosity always has been something that I think, you know, as business owners and we as people need to practice a lot more. And so those are kind of the whys behind that.

SPEAKER_02

Cool, very, very cool. We can do this all day, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I know we can't. We both we all gotta get we all gotta get back to work, right?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yeah, I gotta get back to work. You know, I have, like I said, I got kids waiting for me for tennis and all that other stuff. So yes.

Practical Advice For Founders

SPEAKER_02

We got we got a record number of folks retiring out of the marketplace. So they're selling their existing businesses. What are the first due diligence questions you would ask if you were buying or if someone's attempting to buy a business?

SPEAKER_04

I would ask why, most importantly, right? If the person's looking to retire, why they're looking to get out of their business. Number two, I would ask, you know, who are your customers? You know, what is what are the terms of those customers in terms of contracts or, you know, net pace? Um, and then most importantly, you know, what are you that what is that person looking for? You know, are they looking to be cashed out? Are they looking to be, you know, a consultant or what that what's that look like? We've been, I've been able to see acquisitions quite a bit from the banking side. And, you know, those are things that we would ask in terms of why, how are they making their money, you know, the the history of the company, what are their pitfalls, what, you know, if it's cyclical, you know, all those things to make sure that those companies, a viable company to buy, right? And I think right now is the best time for any entrepreneur or any person looking to get into entrepreneur because you don't have to reinvent the wheel, right? There's a business that is existing and that is out there and that you can see, you know, if it's a 10-year, five-year, 20-year, you know, business that has been in existence, you can go through and see their pitfalls. And now, you know, with AI and technology, Roy, you may know a lot more about this, that you can streamline a lot of the you know, the the processes and you know, the SPs in these companies that you know some of these older owners probably didn't think about. And so I think it's a perfect time. I think if if it's up, if it was up to me, I wouldn't change anything about my story. And if I'm looking to a new story, I would be looking for a business that is established, that has been around, and that I can take and make better.

SPEAKER_02

Got it, got it, got it. You talked a little bit about this earlier, and I'd like to go a little bit deep as we are on the back end of the times. So we're about almost wrapped up. I got two questions for you. What does legacy look like? I know you talked about the kids being involved with the business and things like that, but talk about this from a professional and in the community standpoint, and you talked about AI as the trend with the biggest impact. Where do you see AI first impacting distribution, routing, or forecasting, customer service? Give us a little bit of overview of that those two things.

Buying A Business: Due Diligence

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, so legacy to me in the community is you know, being able to be known or remembered for my heart and for the true works that I've done. I'm not talking about money. I'm not talking about, you know, he was a big businessman. He did, I'm talking about, well, you, you know, again, going back to what I was saying, I love the fact that my kids are joining me in these speeches and joining me in these community events. I love that. And that's what true legacy is for me, right? Making sure that the community that I serve, when I talk about community, I'm not only talking about my family, I'm talking about the community, the Haitian community, the African-American community, the the just Central Florida community in itself, that they know that hey, this this company, O Time Provisions, is out here and they're helping when they see fit, and they're trying to make sure that it's not only one-sided, but they want to give back, right? And I love the fact that my kids are able to see this. And again, if my kids want to take this over, great. And if they don't want to take this over, that's fine. But I do want them to have a heart of giving, a heart of serving. And so I think that legacy will always last because, you know, that's what I saw growing up, right? We went to missionary trips multiple times in my life to different countries, to Haiti. And I've always, that's always been a place near and dear in my heart that I want to give back. And that's the legacy that I want to leave. I mean, then when it comes to AI, I think routing is probably the first place that you will see AI in our business, right? Because a lot of times routing is us on a back in the day, it was on this map that we would look at and we would there was no such thing called least cost routing there. Right, right, right, right. And so now there's different routing systems that help you do that, and it's so much more efficient than what we could ever think of. I think Google does a good job with some of their AI and their routing. And then I think most importantly, outside of routing, I think there's gonna be ways to integrate inventory versus what's in the customers, what the customers have currently versus what we have, and then be able to connect that without a human element, right? I think that's gonna also be something there as well. And then maybe at some point there's, you know, with these autonomous cars, you know, I think there's gonna be no need for, you know, the guy driving, just the guy putting the product in the store, right? And so, you know, those are all things that I think that we'll see in my lifetime and in your lifetime. But um, I think AI is here to stay. I love AI. I've I've been trying to do my best and turning in terms of learning more about it, not only from my business, but just to be knowledgeable.

Roy Richardson

Very cool. Always, always, you know, my my former business partner said, you know, the the people in the companies who continue to innovate and stay with the trends and adopt those trends, you know, will far succeed those who don't, right? And and so, you know, going going on the on the heels of of what you just said there, real well on in terms of where AI can be applied. A lot of business process optimization, et cetera. But let me let me take it one step further here, Eisens. And this is a question that we we ask every one of our uh our guests. If you could create a personal dream board of advisors, anyone from any era, who would you choose and why? And what roles would each person play in guiding you and your next chapter?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

Roy Richardson

That's a good question.

Legacy And How AI Will Reshape Distribution

SPEAKER_04

So there's a you know, I think Rick Whitta would be one just because he's played a big role in my life. Father-in-law, Judex Avignon, he's a person with a lot of knowledge, spiritual person that has helped me, you know, kind of stay grounded. There's a Reverend Pastor Covert when I was in college. He he really helped me kind of make sure that I was always on point and that I was not out there wilding and doing crazy things. And then my mom, most importantly, I think my mom has been an advisor to me, and I've seen how hard she's worked through, you know, like I said, from very humble beginnings to coming here to becoming legal in this country, to owning businesses, to now still owning the business. It's a true American dream. And so those are the advisors I would have. And they would all play different roles in my life from a spiritual standpoint, from a mentor standpoint, from a just all-encompassing standpoint. But uh yeah, those those are all folks that I really respect. Judex Avignon from a business standpoint, he was he was a very successful businessman. Um, and he did that for multiple years. So those are all the different advisors. But I I I love that question. And when I think about the most impactful person, it's gotta be my mom. I mean, she's she's shown me time and time again that perseverance, tenacity, and just you know, trying your best will always supersede anything else. And so, yeah.

Roy Richardson

Amen to that, brother.

SPEAKER_00

Amen to that. So, Sean, take us home, man.

SPEAKER_02

Aizens, what a time, man. I really appreciate this time. It's by far one of my best and favorites. I've said it all along when I first met you and and got your story, you know, being local to Orlando, being first generation immigrant, being a black and and doing something that is not it's atypical, but it should be typical. And so uh I stand with you. I appreciate over the years of referring folks. And so with that being said, truly inspiring. And I just I can't wait to get it out in the marketplace. I hope that the chamber takes it and runs with it, and you know, the kids at Jones High School and Edgewall and all of the high schools around the city get to listen in. Um and so thank you again for your time.

SPEAKER_04

Hey, I fellas, I appreciate you. This, like I said, this was a phenomenal time, and I really enjoyed every minute of it. And you know, in the beginning, I was kind of like, I don't know what I'm gonna talk about, but uh it all worked out. So uh I thank you guys again. I am looking forward to hearing it, and I'm looking forward to talking to you guys more again. So uh have a good day.

Roy Richardson

Awesome, awesome. Let me and let me say this, Heizens. You know, once again, like and you know, I reiterate what Sean said. Thank you for joining us today. Your story is such a powerful reminder of what can happen when discipline, service, and community all come together in one of founders' journey. You took a leap from the corporate and financial world into entrepreneurship, and you built Old Town Provisions not just as a business, but as a reliable partner for the restaurant, hospitality, and food service operators that keep Central Florida thriving. What stood out most today is your consistency, the daily four-mile walk that centers you, the relationships you've cultivated, and the values you've protected since day one. The way you navigated COVID with resilience, the mentorship you've embraced, and your commitment to minority empowerment and local economic growth, all of that paints the picture of a leader who doesn't just run a company, but truly supports a community. You're building something special, Heizens, something rooted in service and built for the long haul. And Sean and I know your story is going to inspire a lot of founders, operators, and leaders who need to hear this conversation. So thank you, Heizens, for being with us on the Dynamic Business Leaders podcast. We appreciate your time, your openness, and the heart you bring to the work you do every day. God bless and keep doing what you do.

SPEAKER_02

And finally, to our listeners, thank you for joining us. Be sure to subscribe, follow us, share this episode, and until next time, stay curious, stay driven, and keep leading with purpose.

Roy Richardson

Hi, I'm Roy Richardson, host of the Dynamic Business Leaders Podcast. Are you a business owner or leader of a successful business? If yes, we'd love to have you as a guest on our program. Our goal is simple: we provide a platform for leaders to share their experiences to benefit others. We want to hear your story, how you got started, the challenges you faced along the way, and your passion today. If this sounds like you or you know someone who fits these criteria, then be sure to get in touch with us by visiting our website linked in the episode description below. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and click the notification bell to be notified when our next episode goes live. Or if you're ready to listen to us during your car rides, you can also follow us on your favorite audio channel using your podcatcher. Thanks again, and remember, keep crushing it.