It’s Not a Dream, It’s a Plan: Cameron & Molly Mitchell on Marriage, Ambition, and Building a Legacy

How do you build a profitable, sustainable company without losing your marriage or yourself?

In this episode, Cameron Mitchell shares how he turned a turbulent childhood and a chip on his shoulder into one of the most successful restaurant groups in the country. But this isn’t just a business conversation.

His incredible wife, Molly, joins the discussion, offering the unfiltered, behind-the-scenes perspective on what it really took to build the company, raise three kids, survive near-death business moments, and stay married for 30 years.

This is a conversation about ambition, partnership, resilience, and building a legacy that lasts (at work and at home).

Transcript

Sponsor Messages & Warm Welcome

SPEAKER_01 0:00

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SPEAKER_00 1:31

Uh yes and no.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Like when you were, let's go back to like when you're like 15 and you're doing your like you're dealing drugs, which I mean, I have to say your stock kind of went up a little bit for me. Uh that was like you're like, well, I was a drug dealer. I'm like, amazing, like you even more. Uh what were you like? Can you describe? I want to know, like, what were you wearing? Were you like, did you wear like uh t-shirts with bands, jeans, and what were you listening to? Like, can you describe your style back then?

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Oh, yeah, sure. 77 World Series of Rock up in Cleveland, you know? A C D C Journey, you know, all the usual suspects, you know. Uh Sticks, uh Kansas, um uh Oh god, you're right, you're right in my sweet spot. Uh Genesis. I mean, uh, you know, all that, you know, kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

I mean and you were just jamming out rocker. Yeah. So uh when I I was literally, I probably have listened to your book maybe two, well, I won't tell you how many times, because you'll probably get a restraining order against me. It's part of the research. It's part of the research. But I'm I'm fascinated with and feel a very much a parallel with your upbringing, you know, and I think it's important. So what one thing I want to do today, aside from just having fun and getting to know you guys in a different way, I want the person out there listening who feels the way you felt, who grew up or is growing up the way you grew up, to have some kind of connection to like, wait, me too. I believe that I can do this. And so, like when you are looking back, and I remember in the book, you were talking about being in the car with your mom, and you're like, Where's dad? She's like, Dad's not coming home. You know, that had to be a very like it creates a fault line, a fault line.

SPEAKER_03 3:20

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 3:21

But and you're not old, but but we're we're not young, right? We're getting, we're getting a little bit older. The kids today, they're therapized, everything's therapized, right? Which is great. But back then you didn't really emote, you didn't really talk about how you were feeling. And I found it so interesting. You said, you know, my mom, she loved me so much, I love my mom so much. Later on, we kind of discover she might have been like narcissistic and had bipolar, she would be in her room for what was that like? Like when you can't really articulate what it is, and no one's really talking about mental health.

Choosing Self-Reliance And Finding Work

SPEAKER_00 3:56

I mean, I was just lost, you know. The um back in in during those days, you know, my brothers are both gone, and it's just me at the house, and you know, um I had no idea necessarily what was wrong with her or had no experience how to deal with anything like that. Uh um, you know, uh they fought for years prior to my dad leaving, but then, you know, once that happened, that was the beginning of uh, you know, a very dark period of my life, you know, and um going to see him every other weekend and crap like that in the beginning. And and so uh um I mean the turning point I guess is when I, you know, and I can't I kind of came off the run when I was left uh I was on the run for almost six months and uh over my fifth I spent my 16th birthday on the run and I came home right before schools to start in my what would be my junior year, and I kind of knew right then and there uh and made a decision in myself that you know um nobody was gonna take care of me but me. Um and um the only I'm not gonna inherit any money, I'm not gonna, you know, I'm gonna have to work for everything I have, and um, you know, and just kind of um turned 18 when I was 16, basically, you know, or 19 or 20 when I was 16, and and kind of set out the course from there and uh had to get a job and had to start working, and that was the beginning of my work life and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

So yeah, and you mentioned a couple of times you had these moments that almost felt like there was like a higher power or like another dimension pulling you in. And the one was when you called your mom, and you almost felt like there was a another what did that what was that like in the moment?

Meeting Molly And Building A Life

SPEAKER_00 5:40

You know, I just remember it was just um um I don't know what it was. Uh you know, was it divine intervention or not? I don't know. I just got up and said, now's the time, and you know, called her and said, I'll be home. And I was home in like 10 minutes after that, 15 minutes after that. And with just, you know, I had nothing, just the clothes on my back, and uh that was it. And so, and started school the next day, and you know, kind of made up with her and you know, started the the course. And I I didn't really know my my two years in high school remaining, you know, what was gonna go on and where I was going. You know, I had that epiphany when I was 18 out of high school where I was gonna be in the restaurant business. So that two and a half years I was just, you know, living at home, working for beer money, you know, and spending money and kind of, you know, uh partying a lot. And, you know, so I wasn't really into school or anything. I was just more or less drifting a little bit, kind of trying to figure out where I'm going, what I'm gonna do. And and finally I got lucky that, you know, six months out of high school it hit me that this is what I want to do and be in the restaurant business the rest of my life. So, and that was a lifesaver for me. That that gave me the direction and and uh uh set me on the course.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Yeah. Now, Molly, was your upbringing pretty like did you have stable parents?

SPEAKER_04 6:58

Kind of opposite. Yeah. I still to this day, 30 some years later, every time he talks about it, I get a lump in my throat just because my childhood was the opposite. You know, I had uh happy married parents, uh great older brother, pretty idyllic childhood on the west side of Cleveland, and um yeah, couldn't be more different. So that took a little, that was a bit of a learning curve for me to um, you know, kind of really over the years come to really understand all that he had been through.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

Yeah. And it's it's interesting, and you're probably the fact that you did have such a stable environment has probably helped a lot because I also know like having the tumultuous upbringing, it creates fault lines that that you think you know. And it's not until you marry, have children, and it starts to unfold that those fault lines start to kind of take a different shape. And you don't even realize, like, wait, like, why am I responding like this? Well, wait, it's you know, you had a fractured relationship with your dad. And so that is going to impact, impact you. But there's something that I really believe in deeply. And I really believe that having a chip on your shoulder is a really good thing if you can harness it inward. And I think when I look at your story, there's several things that I believe like clearly were a factor in the success. But, you know, you lived in UA, you were a have not, you you looked over at South Elaine, you're pissed. I mean, I can't even imagine, you know what I mean? Like I look at those little apartments in UA sometimes, and I'm thinking, and you're right across the street from Onondaga. I mean, it is, it is a real diet, it's a real wild, you know, situation. But when you can take that chip and finally figure out, which is what you did, it's like instead of throwing out all this anger into the world, it's like boiling the ocean. You're not, it's you're just gonna waste your time. But when you can finally turn it in and say, wait, how am I gonna take this angst and this whatever all this stuff is, and like work on whatever I'm meant to be? You know, and I think that's what's so important about your story for the person out there who doesn't believe that like they're worth it, or it's it's for someone else, or oh, he must have had this idyllic life, right?

Values, Fault Lines, And Partnership

SPEAKER_00 9:27

I knew I said for years I was working for a wife and children, I don't know right now. And so, you know, in my early 20s and and so forth, I knew I wanted to build that life. And you're right, I grew up in Arlington in the have not section, and I just watched it. And, you know, yeah, there was a certain angst about all that, but on the same token, it was that gave me the motivation I needed. And and so, you know, I wanted to build this life and this and you know, in a family and have a relationship with kids. You know, I always say my dad taught me a lot about being a great dad by not being a great dad, right? So, you know, it's how you look at it, it's your attitude. That was some of the foundations of the my attitude in my life. But meeting Molly was like the, you know, I'd I already started a career, I'd opened her first restaurant, we'd only been open 90 days and we met, and you know, uh uh she didn't tell you she kind of liked the bad boys in high school. So she's well, I was gonna say we'll get a little into that. Anyways, even if she's a nice girl. The nice girls like the bad boys. So, anyways, uh, but I knew when I met her, you know, um we we knew the night we met, basically a blind date that, you know, we were gonna get married. And um, and she was part and partial to that, you know, I needed to have, you know, to be married to a woman that would be um uh help me help fulfill that journey. And she wanted that to create her. We had to joke with her all the time about recreating her childhood, which was great because I had no basis for a creating childhood. So uh so we we set off and you know, one of the the greatest days of my life was um uh now fast forward, I'm in I'm maybe 40 at this time and 45, and you know, we got a nice house in Arlington now, and Molly's in the you know, it's a Friday evening home from work uh at seven. Um she's sitting around working at the counter with her apron on, cooking with her girlfriends, drinking wine, and uh all three of our kids are running through the house like crazy with their friends, and I've got my dog on my lap, his head on my lap, and I'm drinking a glass of wine and time froze, another epiphany in my life. You know, it just hit me like, you know, I did it. You know, this is this family that I this life and you know, good relationship with our kids, and and uh, you know, uh, and how um all that just kind of uh came to fruition, you know, I that I did it. And and well, obviously with Molly and obviously her help and and and obviously she was an integral part of it. And you know, we just celebrated last year, last summer was a pretty cool time in our lives. Uh our youngest daughter just graduated from college and uh she had moved to Chicago, and so now all three of our kids are out of college. They are um on track, happy, settled, you know, uh feel good about themselves, et cetera. And you know, we just celebrate our 30th anniversary at the same time. So it was kind of a um culmination there, another point, you know, mark mile marker, if you will, of you know, our lives and and how, you know, and it was always the that that you know, I I said it yesterday, I was talking with another friend yesterday about liter literally, and I use the euphemism that, you know, she uh raised the family and our kids and and uh you know allowed me to go out and tend to the fields every day and and uh you know leave at the crack of dawn and get home late at night some after sunset and and and we worked hard and we did it. And so it was kind of uh we're we're now uh starting to have even more fun. We had a fun time growing up, don't get me wrong. But we worked hard and we played hard, but um it is uh we're looking forward to uh the rest of our lives together and all the piecing that hard work together.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

I love that. All right, Molly. So Cork and Cleaver, right? You're getting over a relationship and you see this guy. What was the fur like when you first we're talking first when before you can even really what was the emo like what did you see? What was he wearing? What do you remember?

SPEAKER_04 13:29

Well, the first time I met him was right after he had opened Cameron's of Worthington. So not Corkin Cleaver for me, that was uh pre-Molly.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Your girlfriend you came in with our work.

Hubris, Near-Death Moments, And Resilience

SPEAKER_04 13:41

The girlfriend I went into Cameron's of Worthington was just trying to pick me up off the floor because I was crying every day about my college boyfriend, which is why I moved to Columbus and uh thought it was the end of the world. And um when we broke up and she was just trying to get me out, and we she said, you know, an old friend of mine, my old bus boy from the Cork and Cleaver, opened up a restaurant on 161. Let's go check it out. We'll just sit at the bar and you know, get an appetizer and a drink. I'd love to see him. So we went in there and the place was busy, busy, busy. And he came over and talked to Kathy. And um, at some point I got up to go to the bathroom and Cameron's running around like you know, it was you know, so there were obviously awesome employees, but it was a one-man show. I mean, he was doing everything. And um I got up to go to the bathroom at some point, and she wrote my name on, well, she asked him, Are you seeing anybody? And he was like, No, why? What do you what do you got? And she wrote just the name Molly. She didn't even write my last name on the cocktail napkin and gave him my phone number. And when I came back, she told me that she had done this, and I was like, Oh my god, Kathy, what did you write? She goes, Well, I just wrote Molly in your number. I was like, Not even my last name. Like, this is so terrible. This is so embarrassing. So I walked out of there that night, like, thanks, Cameron, bye-bye. And we walked out. I wouldn't even look up. So a few days later, he called me, asked if I could meet for a drink. And um I liked what you said, long story bearable. So that's where I'm headed here. Um, asked me to meet him for a drink. And so um I agreed. And then when that evening came around, he'd want to meet at Fridays, and he said, I can't get there till like 9:30. I was like, what the heck? I get up at five to teach. Like, I'm not okay, whatever. But I agreed, and um, when the time came around, I didn't, I was depressed again about my breakup, and my mom said, Molly, get up off your ass, put on some lipstick, and show up for a beer. Like, just go have a drink. So I showed up and we didn't even know if we'd recognize each other. We didn't, we kind of walked into the parking lot at the same time. I'm like, Cameron, he's like, Molly, because I had walked out with my head down from the restaurant that night. And we ended up uh sitting at the bar and closing down the bar. And um, I went home and wrote down, I think I just met the guy. And uh what was it about him when you that you were like, I just met the guy? I don't know. Kind of a little bit of the uh I've always said he has an a super appealing arrogance. I okay so if you could take the word arrogant and make it not bad, like make it a positive, that was it for me. Like I guess that would be confidence. Yeah. Um that was intriguing. He was very engaging, he was funny. Were you smitten with her?

SPEAKER_00 16:51

I mean Oh, yeah, I told my buddies I I think I met the one, you know, and so I and we were um, you know, we were it was a matter of just not a short period of time before we were inseparable, you know. We spent every day together.

SPEAKER_04 17:07

We were engaged like six months later.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

We were engaged six months later, but when she left out was the funny funniest part is we sat down and we ordered drinks, and I said, Well, I you obviously know what I do. Tell me what you do for a living. And she says, Well, I'm a sophomore English teacher at Westerville North High School, and I like to read. And I started laughing at her. She says, Uh, uh, what's so funny about that? And I go, Well, I failed sophomore English three times in high school. And and and I like to read two, I read a book or two every year, but I'm a couple books behind right now. And and uh and so uh that was we ended up closing the bar that night.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Yeah, you're like, I'm gonna swing. It's either gonna be a hit or a miss.

SPEAKER_00 17:43

And she was 24 and I was 30, and we um were engaged seven months later uh on her birthday, her 25th birthday.

Public Life, Ego Checks, And Home Reality

SPEAKER_01 17:53

You're a fashionable lady. I mean, you don't you just you're just put together well. Okay. So you are all right. I'll ask for that. Well So what was your like were you like really into your wedding dress? Like do you rem like what was the style? I loved my wedding dress. I loved my wedding dress. Yeah. So I was gonna ask you that. You still have it? I still have it. And it's Louise, that's your daughter. Yeah. Like I was curious if you like kept it so she could like maybe take a part of it or do maybe if she wanted to. If she wanted to, yes. I feel like it'd be cool to like pressure. But but you could like take the sleeve and make a you don't have to like wear the dress. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04 18:28

I loved my dress. It was um like a fitted column dress, slightly beaded, but not overly so. Had some little um like chiffon, like silk draping in the back. I loved it.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

Do you like it? Was it the moment, like when you saw her? Is it like they say in the movies where you were like, yeah, watch come on, Cameron. Like when you you remember still in your mind's eye. Oh, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

I mean, you know, but she, you know, listen, um we tell a story all the time about how I walked into Bravo one night uh to meet her and after work and she was at the bar with some girlfriends and and play spec, but I saw her across the bar, you know, and uh uh she saw me and she got up and we kind of almost ran to each other kind of thing. And and you know, and you know, she uh still to this day lights my eye up, you know, so it doesn't, you know, when she gets dressed up.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

So that's romantic is he romantic guy? He is. He's very sweet.

SPEAKER_04 19:29

You strike me as a always like he's very sweet, leaves me notes and does nice things.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

And and that's a good lead-in to this. It's like, you know, when I got married, like everything's idyllic and it's like, you know, the romanticism of it and it is romantic, but I also think there should be like a like some sort of little class where you're like, by the way, along with being this, it's also kind of like saving private Ryan. Where you're in the you're in the dirt with this person with the helmet on. Like when you look at that person, is that someone you could see in the dirt with you? Right. So what do you feel like with Cameron, where you're like, yeah, I didn't realize like he was gonna have this quality, but that was so it came out like during the tougher seasons, or when you have three kids under the age of six? Do you like can you go back there?

Goal Setting, Vision Casting, And Belief

SPEAKER_04 20:22

I would say, and we sometimes kind of laugh about this. We don't really even know each other. We laughed about all of that. We got married. I mean, we didn't have, we just fell in love. We didn't have a ton of those super deep conversations about were we in line on all the important things. It turns out, you know, 30 years later, our values are very similar. Um, and we line up, you know, we're in lockstep on most things, which helps. But um I would say at the beginning, I don't think either of us really knew what we were getting into. And um I I guess that's the way with most marriages, but because we didn't hadn't been together all that long, maybe a little more so for us. And I just uh I think I didn't realize how hard um he would work at and how hard he would need to work at uh balance. Um so when when we were young and you know, we were both kind of doing alongside of each other, I would say, exactly what we wanted to be doing and what we were passionate about, me raising a family, Cameron building his career, you know. But he worked very hard at keeping a balance with you know social time for just us, time as a family, time with the kids, some downtime. That was always a little hard for you, but um so we were I think it took it almost is like it took a It's just almost been like an arc, like they were, you know, we were together, then we're kind of both doing our thing as hard as we could do it. And then, you know, and along the lines there, we had, you know, we had a sick child. I mean, it, you know, it wasn't always easy. You know, he took the company to the brink several times. That wasn't super fun. Um, but then kind of to it arced back to now, you know, just being able to be really uh to a form of support, I guess, of each other and total mutual respect. Like, I think gr going through all this together, he has so much respect for the role I played, and obviously I have huge respect for what he's done and accomplished. So I'd I just say it was kind of kind of made like a little arc and circled back.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Yeah. Speaking of you taking the company to the brink a couple times, you use you use the word hubris a lot, which I I love, right? I'm like, oh, it's a yeah, right? That's I like that. It's a big, it's a word I don't normally use. Um because what you know, any any quality that someone possesses can be a blessing or a curse if you can't harness it or if you can't have self-awareness around, you know. So like if I do the strengths finder, number one for me is command. Well, it doesn't take long to be around me to be like, oh shit, like that makes sense, right? Which is a really brilliant quality if you understand the shadow. Do you think that like you just didn't have the ability then because you were hearing your name in the news and you were seeing all about yourself? And it was like you almost feel like you're invincible, like we can't fail. Like I'm just gonna keep opening these. Then it is it, it's intoxicating, right?

SPEAKER_00 23:38

Yeah, I mean, uh a little bit. Um, you know, on the same token, it just happened, like, you know, uh opened one restaurant, we wanted to build some more. You know, I had no idea, you know, then then we wanted to have 10 by 2,000. Okay, well then then we started, we wanted to go out of town. You know, uh, well, okay, we try to go out of town, and you know, then you know, then uh, hey, maybe we could be a national brand, you know, we maybe we can go coast to coast. And so it just, you know, I was notorious for her to Tamal to say, you know, well, it's gonna get better next year. Next year, you know, I'm gonna slow down. And uh I'm still saying that today. But um, you know, so a lot of things we didn't even we didn't know. It wasn't like it was, you know, we were just yeah pushing along. And you know, when I had that first sale transaction in 08, which was exciting and thrilling, but um I didn't know what you know, the Great Recession was coming right behind us, and and uh you know, I went out I thought I was gonna rebuild the company at XYZ period of time and and uh and we just got smacked pretty hard then and so it was it was you know had you know three near-death experiences with the company. You know, one was 9-11, two was the Great Recession, and three was COVID. So um other than that, you know, it's okay. But it's uh I I I don't know how to explain it, but we we uh Yeah, I mean she's right to a certain extent. She was doing her thing. Not that we were empty vessels cruising along, but she was you know heavily involved deep into her thing and was deep into you know running the business. And you know, you you can't you can't just stop and and and say, well, uh, you know, one thing leads to another, you gotta you gotta keep going. Same with the kids, you can't just stop being a mom, you know, you know, midway through. It just doesn't have to be.

Parenting, Identity Shifts, And Empty Nest

SPEAKER_01 25:37

Well, I think it's important to know. You gotta go all the way. Yeah. For people who are newly married or you know, thinking about getting married, you know, there are times where you are partners. It's it's it's not always this romanticized. We I just think that there's so much with the rom-coms and the way that, you know, first comes love, then come, and it is wonderful. It's all those things, but I feel like there should be a better lead-in around like what you the way you guys were partnered up. It's like, look, we're a team. Like we have our roles and we have to respect each other's roles. And I might want to throat punch you sometimes, but we're in this together.

SPEAKER_00 26:11

It's your favorite line when punching the throat.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

Right? So is it really? Well, I mean, I have to let him know sometimes to stop, right? And because no one, so this is this leads to my next uh thought. When you are married to someone who is in the public, I mean, Cameron Mitchell, and it has all this cachet and oh great, and it is all those things, but you know him as you do his laundry, you deal with his shit every single day, 365 days a year, right? And so if if not you to like check him, who's going to? Because there's probably a lot of people who wouldn't, you know. So what's that like being with him all the time like that?

SPEAKER_04 26:53

I'd say that's been a a thing in our marriage, more so in the earlier years. Like he would I think I held back um being demonstrative with accolades and you know building up his, you know, stroking his ego, because I'm like, it's happening all day long. And but he would say, Well, I don't care about all that. I want it to hear it from you, you know. And so that took me a while to understand, and just age and maturity, obviously, um, and then the closeness of our marriage. But uh I I mean I will never shake my head about it because I always say, you know, it's paid for our kids' college, you know, it's provided some beautiful travel experiences for us that wouldn't have been possible. So all but sometimes we're kind of like, do we want to go out tonight or should we go to one of our restaurants? Sometimes you just don't feel like talking. Yeah. But then every time somebody stops by the table, you remember, well, they just they just paid their bill at your restaurant. You know, you're just never gonna bitch about it.

SPEAKER_01 28:09

It's it's that's a whole other thing. I mean, when you I I felt that way on a much smaller scale with system of strength. You know, you walk in for a workout, but you're not just ever gonna just get your workout. You you I'm looking in the corner for dust balls, like hair balls. Right. I'm looking to see if like someone's having a good experience, who's at the who's at the counter. And so that's like the blessing and the current, you can never turn it off. And especially with the culture and values that you guys have created, with the whole like, you know, yes is the answer. I mean, you guys have taken shit to another level. And believe me, I have reaped the benefits Hudson 29 Lane Avenue. Don't think there is not a bar still with my name on it there. Jordan and like the all those, like they are my people. Yeah, they used to make us um, my husband would ask for a chicken quesadilla. And it was the so delicious. I'm like, how I'm like, how are we getting a chicken quesadilla in Hudson 29? Like, well, yes is the answer. They have the chicken. They have it's great. I love it so much.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

So there's uh to dovetail on that last point, there's a couple instances. There's a lot of instances where, you know, uh only as a wife can do, you know, kind of put you in your place sometimes or knock your feet out a little bit. Sorry. One time I'm in the morning, my job in the morning was to make the kids' sandwiches. And uh she would get you know breakfast going and and uh and I'd pack the lunches and so forth and so forth.

SPEAKER_04 29:32

The last possible minute.

SPEAKER_00 29:34

Well, I didn't have the same sense of urgency you had. But anyways, uh um, I'm on the cover of a magazine. Maybe it's Columbus Monthly, I'm not sure what it is. And I'm showing the kids, hey, look at this kid's dance on the cover of this magazine. And uh she's like, hey, that's great and all, but why don't you get back to making the sandwiches? Yeah, I'll never forget it's classic.

SPEAKER_01 29:55

But that's but that's true. Yeah.

Legacy Building And Next-Gen Leadership

SPEAKER_00 29:57

Then there's another line she uh that only she'd be probably the only person in the world would ever say this to me. She goes, she leads with, I don't really think of you as a great restaurateur. I'm like, really? You're like, actually, I'd like to punch you in the front room. I go, really? And she goes, No, I I I think of you as a great businessman that happens to be in the restaurant business. And I go, okay, I can live with that, you know, because I kind of feel the same way. Yeah. I just happen to be in a restaurant business.

SPEAKER_04 30:27

It was about all the, you know, the especially when all the um star chefs were getting TV shows and it was about the whole foodie movement.

SPEAKER_02 30:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:36

I'm like, that's not necessarily you. Like you were always driven by the business part of this.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

Well, you were, and like that was something that surprised me in the book when I read it for the first or listened for the first time, where when you went to the CIA and you were just kind of like, not that you didn't love to learn the cooking, but it was like you knew early on that you were more you wanted to start a restaurant company. Right, right. And your ability in the midst of you being like Cameron Mitchell, like, you know, the whatever, the rebel and all these things, you were the your ability to set goals for yourself was interesting. That was something else that I that I noticed. And that's like, that's something I want people who are listening to think about. So even when you were, you know, confused and younger and and you were still lost, you would go home and you would get a pad and pen out and you'd be like, I want to be the general manager of X. I want to be, and you were creating these priorities and objectives for yourself. You were believing before seeing. And I think that that's a huge quality. And most people, you have to see it to believe it, right? No, you don't. You have to believe it to see it. If you want to do anything remotely great, you know, when no one else is watching, when no one else cares, when no one else knows, only you. And like that to me was a something that was a thread that you always were able to do. And it doesn't have to be, I think people think about goal setting and it gets real like professional and business esque, and we need a strategy session for 2026 Q4. No, get out a piece of paper, literally a post-it note, and write down four things that you would love to do in the next year.

SPEAKER_00 32:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:18

I don't think a lot of people do it. He sets goals all the time.

Health, Fitness, And Mental Well-Being

SPEAKER_00 32:21

Yeah. Envisioning and painting the vision for others around. You know, I paint the vision for her all the time, where we're gonna go, what we're gonna do, and and sometimes she doesn't believe me, but it does usually happen. And uh but and I still goal set today. I mean, you know, but um and the I just read an article literally a couple days ago about Jim Carrey, the actor, who like in the uh whatever, before he really became famous, he wrote himself a check for ten million dollars. And uh he was visioning himself, you know, being a very successful actor, and and I could write myself a check for ten million dollars if I wanted to, and so forth. And and I do those things not that exact same point, but those things all the time. It's you know, it's it's it's it's very powerful, you know, and you know, um I do then I do turn around once I have my vision, I turn around to our people and paint that vision for them and and so forth. So it it um she knows there's things I'm working on currently, you know, that uh you know uh that if I was a betting person, I would that will it will come to fruition. Yeah, I if I were a betting person, I believe you.

SPEAKER_01 33:33

You know, that's what you know what the kids call that today, they call this being delusional. So it's it's I think delusional, just like arrogance, can have a negative connotation. But if you're not going to dream big for yourself, no one else, like nobody else will for sure. Stress and inflammation take a toll on your body and your wellness. Relax, restore, and rejuvenate at Panacea Luxury Spa Boutique, book any service of$100 or more and enjoy two hours in our luxury amenities, unwind in our Himalayan salt saunas, recharge in our wet retreat space with a eucalyptus steam room, hot hydrotherapy pool, and cold plunge. Then drift into deep relaxation with our hanging loungers. What's your panacea? We'll help you find it. I have a new obsession and I need to put you on it. Mia Santiago is a celebrity stylist right here in UA, and she's the only person I trust with my hair. Her precision cuts grow out perfectly, and she's created something unreal. Headspace by Mia, her chic scalp spa. It's not just a hair appointment, honey. It's a full-on reset. Your scalp gets healthy, your hair looks expansive, and your nervous system finally exhales. If winter has you feeling dry, tired, or overstimulated, this is your moment. Go book with Mia Santiago and her amazing team. You'll leave glowing, you'll feel lighter, and yes, you'll thank me after. And so I think instead of it just being like, oh, dream big, it's like, no, actually draw in what you want your life to look like. Let's not make it like I'm a big dreamer. Like, it's like, what do you want it to look like? Who else is gonna draw it for you? You know? And so I was very like I saw that throughout, like when I was listening, I'm like, oh yeah, this guy, even though on the surface, you know, tumultuous childhood, you know, had his rebellious stage lost, he knew like he had an inner belief in himself that was inevitable. It was just inevitable. You know, and that that I think for people to bet on themselves is just so important.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

It's so important.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

Yeah, I had a buddy of mine tell me once, he goes, that's a really, that's a really great dream, Cam. And I go, Hey, hey, Mike, uh it's not a dream, it's a plan. Yeah, you know, but isn't that funny how those two words? But but but how different that is.

Weathering Storms And Staying Calm

SPEAKER_01 36:05

Like if it's a plan, it's like, okay, wait, it's a plan. So how are we gonna back into it? How are we gonna reverse engineer it? And I love so when I read um not only when you that I saw that you were into good to great, but then you also mentioned Stephen Covey, the emotional bank account, didn't you?

SPEAKER_00 36:22

I probably not necessarily I talked about that in the book, not necessarily that literally, but yes.

SPEAKER_01 36:27

No, because I also still use that to this day. I have a thing that I have built called mental athleticism. And it's one of the things that I'm doing with my new business, and it's around empowering people to have the big dream for yourself. So have that, those objectives and also the daily disciplines to get there and then to track to those objectives. And I and I liken it to like to me, you can boil it down to four anchors in your life that matter. So it's me first, invest in your inner circle, uh, build your empire and improve the atmosphere. Like I can pretty much take everything and distill it into those things. But when you think about them, they're all like a bank account, right? And so that would like the Stephen Covey, the emotional bank accounts like, okay, I'm I'm all in on this build your empire bank account, but my, you know, my inner circle starving over here, right? Like, how did you never want to get that way? Yeah, you're but you're you're constantly like maybe not as much now because the kids are older and you're taking on a different role, but like that was probably always like keys you were constantly playing.

Gratitude, Connectors, And Closing

SPEAKER_00 37:28

Yeah, I I like to use the word tend to, you know, that phrase, like I would say, I would always tend to my wife or tend to my family, or you know, tend to our team, you know, you know, and um and if I we always have a thing saying at work that you know, if you you're you can't be successful at work if you're not successful at home, can't be successful at home if you're not successful at work. And they really run hand in hand, and we try to and that balance, and I talk to people, you know, young managers, young leaders say all the time about balance. You know, and I I didn't want to wake up one day uh divorced, estranged from my kids, uh but having a huge business and very successful, right? You know, because that's not success, that's failure, really, you know. So one of the things I like to talk about at work too is we'll get there together. You know, nobody gets does anything alone. You know, we didn't, you know, uh you know, we build our family together, we build our business together. You know, yes, I have my name on the door, but I'm surrounded by thousands of you know, wonderful people that help help us get along the way and get to where we want to go. So it's all about balance and and and taking care of those, as you in your particular instance, those four pillars. You know, and if you don't you can be great at one, if but if you're not attending to the others, it's it's all for naught, you know. So um balance is is crucial to success.

SPEAKER_01 38:44

Yeah, and I think also having the the big picture vision, but but not being um thinking you're too good or whatever to take those little mundane steps every day. It's like so many people have one or the other. You're either a workhorse and you look down and you don't dream big for yourself, but you're doing all the things, or you're like a cat and you're like daydreaming in the sky about being the, you know, if you can, if you can like take those two things and meld them together in a consistent way, it's like it's so powerful.

SPEAKER_00 39:12

Yeah, I you know, I say, you know, it's like uh we say I keep one eye down on the ground and one eye forward, you know. And so, you know, one eye so I'm 30,000 feet looking over the horizon, you know, all that. And the other one is what's going on right now today. Yeah. Um, that we have to take care of.

SPEAKER_01 39:29

So are you and Chris Duty still pals?

SPEAKER_00 39:32

Yeah, I mean, always we'll be friends, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

I uh when I was with SOS, it's funny, I he I met with him a couple times, just you know, bus he was mentoring me a little bit, and I lost his email. And I literally, I was gonna stop, I was like, are they still over on fifth out? Like, where is this guy? Because I haven't seen him for like and I wanted to talk to him. And then I you had mentioned him in your book, and I was just curious.

SPEAKER_00 39:54

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. He lives four doors down, so close by. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I love that. I just talked to his brother the other day too. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:02

Yeah. And so speaking of brothers, both of your brothers are doctors, you said. So you had a smart, like you were like you guys were all smart.

SPEAKER_00 40:09

Yeah, they had the brains. I had the brawn.

SPEAKER_01 40:11

I feel like you had brains too, but you were a rebel, man.

unknown 40:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:15

Yeah, they were. I I always used to say, thanks for holding some of my books for me over your house. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:22

I'm sure you made things, I'm sure you made things very interesting.

SPEAKER_00 40:25

Yeah, well, I'm yeah, I suppose. I'm definitely a little different than they are, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 40:29

Yeah. You're so what what are these like when you said you have some things brewing? Are you able to like tell us anything that you have brewing in your head, like anything up and coming, visions you want to bring to life?

SPEAKER_00 40:39

Well, I I would say my number one, uh, well, number one and number two. Uh not necessarily in that order, but like, you know, Molly and I are um super excited about, you know, our the rest of our lives together. Well, we're, you know, you I think you cross over a point where you kind of, you know, we're not going anywhere, right? You know, we're gonna be together, we're gonna grow old together, we know that, all that sort of stuff, you know, and our kids are now, you know. So what are we gonna do? Where, you know, where are we gonna go? Where are we gonna travel to? Who who do we want to be with? All those things. Um and we're excited about that. So planning that out and and and not necessarily always planning it, just living it too at the same time. So but the other piece is the company, and I, you know, um uh I've always said I wanted to be uh this company to be around 50, 60, 70, 80, 100 years long after I'm the big restaurant in the sky. And you know, I told our exec team one time, I said, we're all sitting around the table, twelve of us in the room. I said, you know, I said, if all goes well, none of you will be sitting at this table in the future. You know, and they looked at me all like, you know, what are you talking about? I go, but the table will still be here. And so the I'm solely focused now on that transition uh of you know, my role in the company and in the company itself and that next gen of leaders and so forth and and and setting it up to I mean, starting this is a a multi-multi-year process, but by way of example, you know, two years ago or so I took myself off the executive team, you know, because I wanted them to run without me in the room. Uh I still actively involved and so forth, but I'm not seeing the that room every you know, every other week. So um and just starting to let go of, you know, uh some founders CEOs struggle to let go. I'm more struggling to hang on, you know, because uh 'cause I wanna I wanna uh it's been I've been going at it hard for a long time. You know, in 2030 I joke is an important year because I'll be fifty years in the restaurant business. And I always say, well, by then hopefully I'll have some street cred, you know. So um people start listening to me at that point. Let's hope let's hope. But you know. Um and you know, we should be, you know, a billion dollar company by that point in time. And and um and that that's pretty cool, but you know, I'm looking way past that. You know, like uh what's it gonna be like, you know, and and uh who's gonna run it and how's it gonna be and and all that. But I want to I tell people because so many people in our organization have built incredible careers. And I said, you know, we owe it to the young people coming up the ladder behind us in our company uh to make create the same opportunities for them to grow and that we had. And so it's we can't just take our opportunities and run and let it falter.

SPEAKER_01 43:32

So Yeah. Molly, so I'm so curious. Now that your kids are self-sufficient and you you spent so much time just investing and pouring in them and and me living in both worlds, like I have two very young children. I don't know if you know that or not. I didn't. So we like it took us a really long time to have kids. I have a are you ready? Two and a half year old and a seven year old, if you can believe it. Well, so right? So I'm living this life where I'm like, I'm an entrepreneur. I have built, I've done like I've been incorporate, all these things. Being a mom is literally, you are a superhero and a CEO. And that's another thing that I want to that I on my show, I try to change the narrative around because it's like, oh, you're staying home with the kids. And you are a CEO of your house in your life. It is insane how hard it is and how important. But now that they're older and you're like seeing the fruits of your labor and you're watching these kids fly has to be, first of all, so incredible. But like, what is shifting for you? And like, what are you doing for yourself? And how is your life kind of shape-shifting now that the birdies are like leaving the nest?

SPEAKER_04 44:43

Um, just one little funny add-on. Uh I remember when I had our first son right after he was born, I said to a woman at the pool, I go, I feel like I'm in this, like, it's so amazing. Like I'm in this new club, this like secret club. She goes, You mean the women that moms fucking rule the world club? I was like, Yes, that's the club. I'm in it. I just remember thinking, you know, this is a whole new, I'm a whole new person. Yeah. And I think you do become a whole new person. Um and then I would say, and I've told people, you know, with kids younger than me or whatever, it's for me, it was the lead up, the lead up to lead, you know, oh my gosh, it's almost time for them to start going to preschool and I'm gonna miss them so much during the day. Then you're like, once you drop them off and you all you get done is a shower and giant eagle, you're like, it's not so bad. Preschool's just great. And then it's like, you know, oh, they're graduating high school and oh, the first one to college. You would have thought we had lost a member of our family. I mean, like physically lost. They didn't make it. I don't care. I mean, it was just terrible. Were you creating reprinting? Oh, he was a little bit more.

SPEAKER_00 46:00

Until I saw her, then I'm like, pull yourself together.

SPEAKER_04 46:04

Lay on the pavement. Um I think it's the lead up about wondering who you're gonna be after they're a little separate from you is the worst part. And then once they're separate from you a little bit more and a little bit more, and thank God it happens in small increments. Um I don't know, you just kind of think this is exactly what it's supposed to be. I'm so proud of all of our all three of our kids. They're doing what they want to do, where they want to do it, with who they want to do it. It's just so cool. You know, like um, do I wish they all lived next door? Yeah, but I love that they're doing their own thing right now. Now you have places to visit. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:48

There's one in New York.

SPEAKER_04 46:49

Um he moved to Fort Lauderdale. He that's our oldest, he works for the company. Okay. And then our middle son works in the film industry, and he's here in Columbus, lives downtown, and he was adamant that's what he was gonna do, and he made it happen, which is pretty cool. And um our youngest is cold calling and loving it in Chicago. I got some check.

SPEAKER_01 47:12

I would I will I lived in Chicago for a stint too. Oh, you did? Yeah. If you have anybody needs tips for cold calling or networking, I'm your girl. Okay. I'm telling you. I used to have people would call me and they'd say, you know what? I don't want to buy your services, but I want you to come work for me. Because I would get to the point where I'd get giddy and I'd be like, Hello, uh, I will clean out your garage. I will clean your car. I mean, I was like, that would be like the at the very end of a random day. But yeah, I mean, it's you got to get out there and like make it happen. She's loving it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 47:39

She's doing awesome.

SPEAKER_00 47:40

Yeah. Um well, I one more thing, I think, you know, uh like Molly got to have a front row seat watching me, you know, uh come up and build a company. We joke, she's my partner, you know, as my as my business partner. She actually saved the company about 300 grand the other day. So anyway, she did a nice job. But uh uh but I've had a front row seat to watch her too at the same time. And um, you know, uh I you know, I I I feel personally hugely supportive of her because I mean she worked her ass off, you know. She she you know uh you know, she wants to stay in bed in the morning. Great, fine, no problem. You know, it's like you deserve it. You're you know, all those things, you know. So it's just like it's it's she's a little farther ahead than I am in terms of you know retirement. Retirement, if you will.

SPEAKER_04 48:34

You know, oh I'm kind of enjoying myself.

SPEAKER_00 48:36

Yeah. Um Yeah, you are, yeah, you are, Queen.

SPEAKER_01 48:39

Like fabulous. I promise you can remember this. I know you can, I know you can remember this. I'm sure there were so many times as as as hard and tough as what you have done has been and dynamic and ever-changing and all-encompassing. I guarantee there were times you got in that car and you thought to yourself, At least I'm not in the house with like a freaking like I I do, like I'm like that one's screaming, one's it's like no matter that hard is hard, but it's such a different it's like when they're that when they're in that that age where they're like the drunk midgets, they're like top and there's like multiple of them. You're like, uh what is happening here?

SPEAKER_00 49:18

So getting in a car and going somewhere is like Yeah, I I mean, and and it's it's cool too, because you know, there there's no way in hell I could have done it. I mean, you know, I mean, I suppose if you threw me in that so I you know had to for somehow, but I I couldn't. I mean and she couldn't have done what I did. So we always had that kind of mutual respect and just our personality. Um yeah, it's kind of it's kind of fun. I mean, she she you know, I couldn't even tell you where the toolbox is in the house. Are you handy?

SPEAKER_04 49:53

Enough. I mean, I know who to call if I can't do it, but I I I know where the toolbox is.

SPEAKER_00 50:00

Yeah, but how do I anything? I can't I don't do anything at the house. She'll tell you that.

SPEAKER_01 50:05

I mean she's running that ship. Yeah, exactly. She's running that ship. What so what do you want to do for retirement? Do you is there anywhere specific you want to go travel-wise? Like you sound like you've got some like some real plans going on.

SPEAKER_04 50:18

I think we both feel I mean that's one thing we figured out pretty early on. We'd both love to go and see and do. Like, I think we both want to just like if we see a concert somewhere that we want to go see, be able to go do it, you know, like um travel for sure, places we haven't been. Uh I don't know. I love we both love um, we're both extroverts, like we both love being around people. So I love um taking a couples trip or um being with girlfriends, going, you know, just having people into our home often. I love um, I don't know, we're pretty social people, and I would I always say I would go anywhere. I would go anywhere.

SPEAKER_01 51:08

So yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_04 51:10

Hoping to do some of that.

SPEAKER_01 51:11

Yes, I will come over. Yes. I the answer is yes, I would come over. You know, so you did say you have this amazing holiday party.

SPEAKER_04 51:19

We used to have a company party.

SPEAKER_00 51:21

Well, we used to, and then it got too big. Uh uh last one we had was two years ago. So we had 250 people to the house. Seriously? Yeah. And uh uh it was full, you know, we we roll out the red carpet ice carvings and you know, raw bars, and you know, we always different themes and all that. It was and it just got to be too much. And so we uh When they used to fly all the Yeah, all the operating partners around the country in for that and so forth, and it just it it became too much. And so um we uh uh we stopped doing our annual holiday party. We did as we started moving the company holiday party to our house, and now we just resurrected last year. Yeah, just past December. A few weeks ago for a new holiday party at our house. We had 150 people over, I think, for that one.

SPEAKER_01 52:11

So yes, I am available for that. Uh I also can do dishes and I can I'm a really great bartender. Well perfect.

SPEAKER_00 52:18

Unfortunately, we don't have to worry about doing any dishes. So we we have we have a great catering company that comes out.

SPEAKER_04 52:23

Oh, you do really it's a nice little I think I heard about that. Everybody would sometimes when we entertain somebody'll say, Do you need me to lots of times in smaller groups we entertain just on our own. But there is a catering company, you know, for when you need it, which is incredible. And so sometimes people say, Do you want me to bring something?

SPEAKER_01 52:42

I'm like, No, you don't have to do anything. We actually really don't want you to bring anything. You know what I mean? Like, I really don't. I always I'm I'm not the greatest. I'm I'm not great with like food and hosting and stuff like that, but I'm always like, Yeah, don't bring anything. Don't bring anything. Probably not. Um this is random, but one there was a cliffhanger I felt like in your book that I wanted an answer to. You ended the book with Adam, was it Adam Merkel? A guy that wrote a letter, like he wrote a letter to you. And we never like I didn't we didn't know like, did you end up like reaching back out to him or like what happened with Adam Merkel? Because I thought that was cool that he, you know, that's more of like a networking, cold calling, read like a thing that you do that most people don't do.

SPEAKER_00 53:26

Yeah. Um yeah, he reached out to me and I don't I don't remember the exact genesis of it, but um I was in Young Presidents organization, which was a f we had a forum with other presidents, you know, subgroup or 60 members, and there were ten six forums of ten members each, you know, or somewhere might have been seven with you know, some had eight or nine, whatever. Uh but that was a very important part of YPO is being all sit and talk with fellow CEOs uh uh, you know, in presence about how what you're doing and how they're doing and all that stuff. And so um I had this idea to start a young restaurateur group. Um so I have seven uh restaurateurs in that group, uh Adam's one of them. And uh okay we meet uh bi-monthly at my office from four to nine and break bread. Someone always takes turn bringing dinner, and uh we have cocktails and we um talk shop for five hours. And we talk go around the horn and you know help each other out and um we don't tell each other what to do, we just kinda you know, listen sounding bored and listening and and and and help give ideas and so forth. And I I uh then we take a retreat every year. We just had this group and their spouses over to our house for dinner party uh over the holidays too. We do that periodically and but my idea was to um when I had all these guys have two, three, four restaurants somewhere at Ballpark, but back when I was there, um I didn't have any of that uh support. And so the idea was to help them kind of avoid some of the potholes that I went through. Yeah. So you know, share paying it forward a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 55:15

Yeah. When he says young restaurant tour group, he means the other guys are all young. Right.

SPEAKER_00 55:20

They're they're they're in their forties, you know, early 40s, late 30s. It is so weird to me.

SPEAKER_01 55:28

Um okay, so let's get to the real juicy questions. So what is your drink of choice?

SPEAKER_00 55:35

Uh Tangerine tonic, and uh, but more importantly, anybody that knows you uh will tell you it's Chardonnay.

SPEAKER_01 55:44

Chardonnay, really? Uh do you have any sort of skincare routine that you're currently on?

SPEAKER_00 55:49

Uh none.

SPEAKER_01 55:50

Your skin is lovely.

SPEAKER_00 55:52

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 55:52

Um you have thank your yoga instructor and your fitness instructor. Who are these people and what are we doing? How many times a week? Let's lay it out. I want to lay out the fitness that you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 56:02

Uh well, we're fortunate we have a gym in our house. Um so um I have someone come to the house every Monday through Friday at 8 o'clock or 8.15. Um I do yoga Tuesdays and Thursdays and then train Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And and I just started uh working out at Sota uh with a trainer specifically for golf training and um flexibility as I'm getting older. So keep my strength up with that and and flexibility and so forth. So because I I do love golf. So um so I'm meeting with him a couple days a week and I'm doing a uh I have a muscle activation therapist I use also that helps keep the muscle systems working properly.

SPEAKER_01 56:44

Are you do you work out with him or are you like, no way, that's my me time?

SPEAKER_04 56:47

It's I work out with girlfriends. Yeah. Okay. And yeah, we wouldn't be great workout partners. No, yeah. I I'd be like, Yeah, no, I like I go to the gym and most days of the week I meet uh girlfriends. I have the same girls, um what'd you do? My little uh I we go over to Soyota.

SPEAKER_02 57:05

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04 57:06

My little workout group, though, we've been together for a billion years. We're all actually going to Dirks and Caicos tomorrow morning to my girlfriend's house. Oh, that's gonna be fun. So and I'm they're gonna try to make me work out, but I'm not going to.

SPEAKER_01 57:18

When you're on vacation? I don't like to work. No, I I agree with that. I used to have this weird thing where I'd have to work. I'm like, what are you doing? Like, well, that's a really good way to do it, but we're not very good at that. I think I think you just kind of you're healthy, you do all the things you need to do, and then I mean vacation, you'll take walks and you'll do stuff, but like do we really need to like throw our heads against the wall every single day?

SPEAKER_00 57:40

But the problem is you just start taking more vacation and it's less you're working out. Well, that's true, Cameron. When life become a vacation, then you gotta transition at some point. We're fighting that fight right now.

SPEAKER_04 57:52

How many times have I packed my workout clothes and then I come home and just put them back in the back? Yeah. No, I know.

SPEAKER_01 57:57

Isn't that funny? It's but you know, you know the the the intent was there. What about mental health? You know, like are you someone who is like a therapy guy or are you more old school? Like, where do you fall in all of that?

SPEAKER_00 58:13

Um, I'm all for um therapy, you know. Um I think I I owe well, first of all, I did it myself for years when I was in my 20s, uh, way back when. Um and I I always I think it's like going to the gym, you know, for your mind. I I don't have any negative connotation with it whatsoever. So um, you know, our our kids have seen therapists before, you know, and that's fine. And and and uh but they're doing it to build themselves and to, you know, help and you know, and help me sort through a lot of my crap, you know, from you know, um and and and so now I I don't I don't I don't feel that way anymore. I don't feel like I need anything. I don't feel angst or depression or anything like that. I feel contentment and you know and at peace and so forth. And so I you know um Yeah, should I read more? Yeah, I mean, you know, yeah, could you know uh it's always good to go talk to someone, I think, of that in that regard, but I don't do that anymore, and you know, you don't read as much as I should, and all those things. So um that's okay.

SPEAKER_01 59:22

I mean, no, I think for and I wasn't asking saying that you should be doing it now. I was just curious because just of the uptick of the awareness and conversation around therapy in today's world. And so when you get to a certain age and you've never done it, it's kind of like this foreign concept, you know. But then all the kids, it's like a whole different world today. So that's why I was asking. No, you you strike me as a very like content and like someone who has gone through a lot, has been able to turn, you know, shit into sugar, as they say. And and you've you you know, you've you're enjoying the fruits of your labor. I love that for you.

SPEAKER_00 59:59

Well, here's a perfect example of that. Um we're gonna lose well, we lost two million in revenue uh in December because of the weather, and we're gonna lose another two or three million uh this month in this in February or January and into February because there's no end in sight for this weather. And um, I knows. I mean, I would be climbing the walls, you know, when a school called and says schools cancel today, that was always a bad thing for me. You know, and so but I know, you know, I I can't you say you get maturity under your belt, you know. I can't tell you when the last time we, you know, well uh well we had hurricanes in Florida, we closed some restaurants for a while, right? Well, you know, next year I know we'll go cross over this time and we're gonna kill it next year because you know we're our same story. We're so great compared to this year because the weather was so bad. So you we'll get through it. It's not the end of the world. So there's I I you know, it's part of the luxury of being 62 is you get you know enough cred on, you know, mileage under your belt, you start to get a little calmer, and you know, yeah, I've seen that before, I've done that before, I've you know, got that t-shirt, you know. I don't I you know, so you it I think it's just an eight it it happens hopefully if you get like if it all goes well, that you just kind of start to calm a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:20

He did say in his book that he did a good job of like masking you from the the highs and the lows. Is that true?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:28

He had to have I don't know if we would call it masking. I think there was a little period of completely not telling me stuff.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:34

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:35

So keeping it from you because he didn't want to like because that has to be You know when we said there like marriage isn't always great and some times are crappier than others. That was the time.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:45

For us.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:46

It was bad. Well, and I can see the I started to figure out things are not going.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:51

You know, you know, but the thing is it's the body language, it's the you know, the tension, you know, or whatever. I mean, but she knows when things are bottoming.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:58

But as the provider, you know, when something's not you don't want to bring it home because you have respect and understand that like she's hand like i it's a push and a pull. You know, right, too.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:10

He just by his nature always felt, well, I'll figure it out. I'll figure it out. Like I'll figure it out, I'll get this, I'll get this cleaned up. Yeah, yeah. And you know, there were times, you know, that he was just trying to do a little behind-the-scenes cleanup and and keep me from you know, stressing out about it by not cheering with me.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:32

And so you're sniffing around, you're like, yeah, women'll let me I have a question for all the men. Yeah, not just Cameron, all the men. When are they gonna figure it out that we have some kind of detective ability? Like literally, you can get when I say nothing past us, yeah, like not even a like a little tiny nano piece of flint, you're not getting past us. I knew I knew something was up.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:57

So Yeah, but figure it out he did. He did. I mean, that's exactly it. It was just maybe so great. One of the more difficult times.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:05

Well, I mean Well, there is a little more to that story, too.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:08

Ooh, what is it? What is it?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:11

What uh sometimes I try to share some numbers with Maul. And uh, you know, kind of what's happening. And you know, when I see the eyes start to roll in the back of her head, then I realize yeah, I've you know, she tries to hang on.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:26

Like he has a yellow legal pad, he just shows up. I just want to show you, just look at this. Just if you could stick with me for a minute. She's an English major. Finally, I'm like, okay, it's just really you're losing me.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:35

I know, but it's so great too. I feel I can feel that so hardcore because like with me and my enthusiasm for what I build, and my husband's a teacher, right? And so of course he's excited and he wants to hear things and whatever, but like I will go into these sort of like rants or rabbit holes or whatever, and like he'll be like, I'm like, okay, this is the wrong audience. I get it. Like, I'm just so jacked up about this. I need to talk to somebody. I need to go talk to somebody. Oh, I love it. Well, I am so grateful. I know you guys have a million places that you could be and a million places that you know, Turks and Caicos, all this stuff, things you could be doing. And the fact that you carved out an hour for little old me is thank you. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:16

You're quite welcome.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:17

Oh, and we cannot we cannot conclude this without thanking Joel.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:21

Because Joel was the connector to this. So thank you, Joel Ferno. Yeah. You stud muffin you. We appreciate you. Great guy. Oh, he is, and his wife is amazing. You guys know Ashley. Yeah. She's the best.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:34

And I've befriended his Ashley's dad, too, as a matter of fact. Oh, nice. Yeah, we've become friends.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:39

So I love that. That's so great. Well, thank you so much. This has been so much fun.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:44

Fun to see you and me chewing.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:45

Yeah, chewing the fat.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:47

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:47

Enjoyed it. Yeah. If you're still out there following your girl, follow me on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcast. And until next time, get out, get outside, go to Cameron Mitchell restaurants. They're all over the place. And keep moving, baby.