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Diaries of a Lodge Owner
In 2009, sheet metal mechanic, Steve Niedzwiecki, turned his passions into reality using steadfast belief in himself and his vision by investing everything in a once-obscure run-down Canadian fishing lodge.
After ten years, the now-former lodge owner and co-host of The Fish'n Canada Show is here to share stories of inspiration, relationships and the many struggles that turned his monumental gamble into one of the most legendary lodges in the country.
From anglers to entrepreneurs, athletes to conservationists; you never know who is going to stop by the lodge.
Diaries of a Lodge Owner
Episode 115: From Katrina’s Ruins to a Beloved Waterfront Brand
What if the fastest way to build a profitable company is to stop building for profit? That’s the paradox at the heart of our conversation with Ron Ladner, the force behind Shaggy’s—the waterfront restaurant brand born in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and powered by a mission to make every guest leave happier than they arrived. We trace the journey from storm surge and rescue boats to a million guests a year, and the surprising operating system that made it possible: solve your team’s real problems, design for joy, and protect culture with simple, scalable systems.
Ron breaks down how he and partner Rimmer turned a devastated harbour into a community hub, then resisted the urge to chase unit count. Owning their real estate, expanding existing footprints, and adopting a team-service model transformed four-hour waits into smooth hospitality while lifting take-home pay through pooled tips and shared accountability. We dig into the details—why eliminating a suspended licence can change a life and a P&L, how one mission statement outperforms a stack of checklists, and what it takes to keep average tenure at three years in an industry where 75 days is normal.
We also step offshore. From blue marlin in the Caribbean to a kids’ first-fish program with the University of Southern Mississippi, Ron shows how time in nature restores focus, deepens relationships, and quietly trains leaders. His new book, Shaggy’s Cheeseburgers, captures the playbook: turn setbacks into strength, measure success by lives impacted, and let a humble cheeseburger stand for comfort, hope, and home.
If you care about leadership, customer service, restaurant culture, or building a resilient brand without selling your soul, this story will challenge how you work. Subscribe, share with a friend who’s building something real, and leave a review to help more people find the show.
We wanted to build a place where people could come and feel better about themselves, feel comforted, walk in, feel like you're part of a family. And so we started the restaurant. It's called Shaggy's. With a mission statement that was not financially friendly. Alright. Let's do this, let's build this for the people. Alright? And let's build it to cheer people up, make people happier, bring them comfort, hope, and joy. We have not changed that since day one because the restaurant ended up becoming wildly successful.
SPEAKER_01:This week on the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Networks, Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the North. We're tackling one of the most powerful ideas in business. Building something not for yourself, but for the people it serves. It's the kind of mindset that can turn setbacks into comebacks and challenges into triumphs. On this show, we sit down with Ron Lagner, the force behind Shaggy's restaurant chain, and author of Shaggy's Cheeseburgers, a real-world tragedy to triumph story. Together, we explore what it takes to grow a brand rooted in community and how to lead with authenticity and why true success isn't measured in dollars, but in the lives you impact along the way. So if you've ever wondered what it takes to turn a dream into a thriving business, or how to make your work matter more than just the bottom line, stick around. This conversation will leave you inspired to build something real, lasting, and for the people. Here's my conversation with Ron Ladner. Welcome folks to another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner Stories of the North. And I am really excited uh for this uh podcast, and and I'm sure all of the uh all of you folks out there in the family are too. And and I first really love to introduce Ron Ladner uh to all of you. And Ron, thank you so much for being here with us on on the show, and uh, and um uh I'm really looking forward to it.
SPEAKER_06:Happy to be here. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, absolutely. So you you have a uh very interesting story, and and it's one of those stories that uh I love to dig into. Um, but first, I'm not sure how much you know about me. Um now, all the folks out there that are listening, they've they've heard over um uh a bunch of episodes about me. But I'll give you a quick um uh a quick uh uh synopsis on uh on who I am. And uh I was born in south central Ontario, lived on a farm for most of my life. Um I was a sheet metal mechanic, uh, got sick of that, bought a fishing lodge in uh central Ontario, which is about four hours north of Toronto. Um I operated the fishing lodge, um uh sold that, uh started a career uh co-hosting for uh the largest uh fishing television show in Canadian history. Uh we've been on the air now. We're shooting our 40th season, uh obviously not with me, but um Angelo Viola is the uh is the owner and host, and uh and um I do this podcast, Diaries of a Lodge Owner. And um I would really like to uh to um start with uh, well, first of all, tell us a little bit about where you're at right now, just a quick um uh synopsis, and then we can dig in uh uh uh into the into your past and see how you got there.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, we're we're in Atlanta, Georgia right now, and we split time between here and Pensacola, Florida. I was born and raised on the Gulf of Mexico, so that's that's more of home for us, but we also have boats in the Caribbean and we blew marlin there. We try to go once a month. So we kind of go in between here, the Caribbean, and and back to Pensacola.
SPEAKER_01:That's amazing. And um uh you you were also a successful owner of a uh of a food chain.
SPEAKER_06:Yes, we still are. We we uh we we started Shaggy's uh following Katrina, and uh we now have five locations. Uh they're all waterfront along the northern gulf. And uh we're gonna serve over a million people this year. So it's what it's a it's a landmark year for us.
SPEAKER_01:Wow. Serve a million people. So let's uh let's go back to um uh your uh your youth for lack of a better term. Um what kind of schooling did you do? Where where like how does a man um serve a million people since Katrina?
SPEAKER_06:Well, I actually dropped out of college. I I didn't drop out of flunked out. I just get on board with the whole academic thing. And I was always, you know, interested in things that weren't weren't in the textbooks. I wanted real, real life, I want to learn how to invest and start a business, and that's how I spent my time ended up kind of failing out. But uh ended up in the in the software world, and we started a uh uh a small software services company, and then uh uh we sold it. Didn't make enough to retire, but it was enough for us to get out of Atlanta, and I wanted to be back on the water, so we moved back to my hometown area in Pascusham, Mississippi. And you know, we settled in nine months before Katrina hit, and the eye of the storm went right through our house. So I really what year was that? That that was 20 years ago. It was that was 2005. This past August 30th was yeah, August 29th was 20 years, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So what was it like? Now, did you did you um stay at home for the storm? Did you uh did you leave? Did you what what what what do you do when you hear that one of the largest hurricanes on record is bearing down on you?
SPEAKER_06:You send your wife and your dogs to Atlanta, and then you and your buddy get enough supplies to go five miles north to high ground and wait it out, and that's what we did.
SPEAKER_01:No way. Yeah. So tell me a little bit about um, because I'm intrigued with storms. See, we don't we don't get hurricanes where I'm at. We the there was one hurricane in 1956 that made it inland far enough that uh it uh hit the Great Lakes called Hurricane Hazel, and uh and she dropped a ton of water. But uh we've got tornadoes here every once in a while. I've I've witnessed a few of those, but what is it like to feel the force of nature the way that you did?
SPEAKER_06:Well, you know, one of the things I can remember is uh we had a small AM radio, you know, all the power went out within you know six or seven or eight counties just in Mississippi. So we we we had this uh AM radio and we were listening to you know random updates. And I remember the guy came in, he goes, News in. So we we are on the water, our house is on the water. And as a crow flies, uh I would say we're a mile from uh the the Bay St. Louis Bridge, which is a three-mile-long bridge. And a guy came on the radio and said, This just in the Bay St. Louis Bridge has been destroyed. No, we heard that, we knew, because we've been through hurricanes all of our lives. That bridge has been there since I was alive. So, you know, it's been there forever. And when that thing went down, and then the next report was uh uh about half a mile south is a train bridge that runs parallel with the the the car bridge, and that was destroyed. So when they when when a forest can destroy a well-engineered 100% concrete bridge, that's the only way I can explain to you how devastating the all of I mean imagine what it does to a house or to you know docks and your cars, it was just it was it was crazy.
SPEAKER_01:Crazy, yeah, crazy. And um um so the force of the wind where you were at, were you could you see out a window? Were you hiding in a basement? Were you did you walk outside to feel it? Like, I mean, what does an honest fella do when he's in the middle of something like that?
SPEAKER_06:Well, the the wind, the force of the wind was was pr pretty pretty severe. But what hurts us is the tidal surge. Yeah. The wind didn't blow down the bridge and the wind didn't blow down a house. But uh, for example, my house, uh, my first finished floor is 13 foot above sea level. I had 10-foot ceilings, and the water got to my ceiling in my house. Oh my god. So there was about 24 feet of wave surge that came through our house.
SPEAKER_01:So nobody's surviving in that house.
SPEAKER_06:No, no, most people evacuated, but some people didn't. We we found we found folks in trees and oh my god, can you imagine? Oh my my buddy and I, we rescued three ladies who stayed, right? And they kept climbing in the house to the attic, and the water got to them. They went out on the roof and they ended up in the water, and they ended up jumping on a bigger boat, all right. And we found them the next morning, and they had t-shirts, the the custom t-shirts that were on the boat, right? For for the with the boat name on it. Yeah. Like, what happened? The four the water force was so bad, they were in the water that it ripped all their clothes off. Literally.
SPEAKER_01:No way. Yeah, I can't even imagine those ladies. What they were they must have thought that they were going to die. They had to have.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, yeah. They didn't think that before they decided to stay.
SPEAKER_01:No, I bet you they never, I bet you anytime a hurricane come close, they decided to leave.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, they probably left already. I think they're I think they left and never returned.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, no doubt. That's crazy. Well, I know there's a Netflix series um on right now um that uh covers Katrina and and the the whole uh that whole series of events, but um to to actually talk to somebody who lived it and and uh um um stayed somewhat for it and then were out rescuing people, um that's uh that's pretty extraordinary. So at that point, um now I just want to jump back because this is this is something I want to drill into a little bit. So you you uh dropped out, flunked out of college, however you want to put it, because you wanted to learn things you were interested in, like uh investing and and how to deal with money and and stuff like that. Where did you go to learn? Was it mentors? Because I know I've got a son who is basically got the same ideas. He's he's good at uh in school, but he's uh he wants to learn how to invest and and uh uh have business and and that. Where does a young guy like yourself at that time go to figure that out?
SPEAKER_06:I was self-taught. I mean, you have to be hungry, all right. There's no school that you just sign up for. And I'll say that with young people today, you know, and we we we try to inspire folks to you know follow follow be be more curious in life, right? Be be more curious because if you just kind of, you know, it's it's not gonna come to you. Uh and the the the the new book that we I just released, uh we we talk about this is you know, you see, I see resumes all the time. And today, the the younger folks, it leads with, you know, I'm I'm self-motivated. I'm I'm a I'm a self-motivated person. And I always say, if you were self-motivated, you'd be sitting in my office right now, not sitting if you're motivated and you want to come to work for me, then come you know, come and introduce yourself. Yeah, come introduce yourself, not just send me this resume that was you know generated by someone you paid, right? So if you're motivated, then do it. Don't you say it. And yeah, it seems like with the younger folks, there's a lack of that that um that curiosity and that willingness to really make things happen.
SPEAKER_01:And the willingness to work, yeah, really. Yeah, you know, it it reminds me a lot of uh of the lodge when I first bought Chaudiere. Um I was a sheet metal mechanic. I had uh a small business, I had no employees, I was it, you know, uh buy steel, make something, sell it. And uh I was just so sick of that grind. Um and I knew I loved people, I knew I loved fishing, and I jumped into a business um that was failing and um mortgaged everything I had. I borrowed, I and and I put myself in a position that if I was not successful, I wasn't just bringing myself down. I was bringing my parents down because I had a$100,000 line of credit on their farm. I had every bit of equity out of my house. And then I went to mortgage brokers, borrowed half a million dollars um uh for uh at at um 10% interest, and it cost me$32,000 to borrow it. And then I tried to figure it out, you know, and when you've got that kind of motivating uh factor weighing on yourself, and you don't give yourself the opportunity to fail, that is that is the those are the the that's how I learned. And uh you either learn and work or you or you don't survive. And um I just don't know how many people, while I have a feeling you're a lot like that. So um uh you had your um your first company, which was uh software company, and then you sold that, and now Katrina happens. What are you thinking with your home? Like, did do you have insurance in that area for for hurricane? Um, how did you just rebuild your life, let alone get the idea that you were gonna start another business?
SPEAKER_06:Well, no, we did not have enough insurance. And there's been a lot of overhaul because of what happened to us in Katrina. But uh, you know, we we got the insurance money we could and and just fought. Yeah, fought the insurance companies, uh, fought with contractors, but you know, we we had an opportunity to leave and go somewhere else. We could have easily just packed up and moved to Pensacola, yeah, back to Atlanta or to Tampa, you know. But we we just decided that, you know, my wife and I were blessed with you know the gifts and resources to be providers to people in need. And what a place the the these folks were in more need than any anybody in the world at that particular time. Yeah. So we instead of taking the easy route, we said, let's let's go back and let's dig in and do what we can to help our community, whatever that is. What did that look like? There's nothing there was nothing to see. There was nothing to look like. Yeah, it was I forget the numbers, but I think uh like in my particular neighborhood, 90% of the homes were either completely destroyed or to the point where they had to you know tear them down. Yeah, I I I think 85% of the houses in our small city was destroyed, and all the businesses were destroyed. So what that looked like is we were we were in a state of desperation, and those of us who could provide assistance, whether it's leadership, uh, and investments, there wasn't many people could do that. So that's how we started the restaurant. We accidentally built a restaurant because that was the last thing I had on my mind is wanting to start a damn restaurant. Yeah. But the more we looked at it, we found uh I was looking at this before the storm. We found there was a bait shop in the harbor, and they were ready to sell the bait shop and retire. After the storm, I mean it was completely destroyed, there was nothing left. And so we ended up buying the water at least and decided to do something to bring the town together. We wanted to build a place where people could come and feel better, feel better about themselves, uh feel comforted, walk in, feel like you're part of a family. And so we started the restaurant that it's called Shaggy's. And in the book, the book is mostly about how we accidentally started a restaurant with a mission statement that was not financially friendly, all right. Let's do this, let's build this for the people, all right, and let's build it to cheer people up, make people happier, bring them comfort, hope, and joy. That doesn't sound like a recipe for a very uh profitable business, but we have not changed that since day one because the restaurant ended up becoming wildly successful beyond our imagination. I think uh our first full year we did five times the revenue that we had expected, and we just started realizing that we we had a we have a formula here. Let's let's let's keep putting the people first. And you know, we we used that same recipe for 20 years, and now we have one of the most admired brands, restaurant brands in the South, and a very successful business, very successful organization, and a a culture, a restaurant culture that's pretty much unmatched.
SPEAKER_01:That's uh that's amazing. That and and you know what? Um, that mission statement, um I think is one of the most successful ways that you can you can go about business. Um it's one of the ways that I always looked at business, even in the sheet metal shop. I uh like, I mean, um I would give a quote, and no matter what, unless somebody said, Okay, I need this done on top of that, that quote was the quote, whether I made money or not. Um, and um, and and that carried over to the lodge. And not knowing the lodge business at all and inheriting a restaurant, it was a full-service lodge. So I had the restaurant, I had a marina, I had uh um the hotel side of things. And the only thing I knew was I need the people that want to come to see me and give me their hard-earned money, they needed to have an outstanding experience. And that was my sole focus. Uh, I'll be honest. I didn't look at the business at all. Uh, and and thank thank the good Lord, uh, I was blessed that we made it through those early years. But the mission statement that we had uh was they come as guests and leave as family. And um, and the returning um uh guests that we had were were ridiculous. And I see it in in just what you said. You make a place where people come for an experience, and that experience is is a happy place. You know, you walk through the doors and you feel like you're coming home. You you have staff that uh that is always greedy, uh uh inviting and friendly, and uh people get to know those people. And uh all of a sudden you've built yourself a culture where people don't even know why they need to come back. And uh that sounds a lot like um like what you've built with Shaggy, Shaggy's.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, you know, we we figured out pretty early. I understood the the the employee culture and the software professional services, right? And I I knew how to build that kind of culture. The the the restaurant hospitality, you you know, it's it's it's a revolving door with not much loyalty. And what we did was, if I want my it's funny you say that because our our our mission with direct people is you know, you you you see some restaurants and they have a list of things that a server needs to do, right? And we said, you know, it's just too much stuff to you you you lose your personality when you're following these these rules. So we generalized it and said your mission is to make sure that everyone walks through that door, when they walk back out of that door, they're happier than when they came in the door. And that may be that's something different for every single person, right? And you have to figure that out. And if you can do that, then then we're all gonna be successful. And you know, we we learned early on that if we wanted that person to be happier when they left and they came in, then our employees have to be happy too.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_06:So so so we just kind of looked at this thing inside out. It's like, all right, let's build a culture of happiness, safety, uh, loyalty, and we we've done that. We have uh today uh in the restaurant industry, the the average tenure of a restaurant employee is 75 days. For us, it's three years. Wow. And I talk about in the book, it's you have us and put someone else, uh the average restaurant next to us, right? And you walk in, and the guy who's been there three years is gonna know you, and he's damn sure gonna know how to cook a cheeseburger, right? What would you rather? You know, let the guy who's been there three years and call you by name and and and really know what's going on or dealing with the with new folks. We have transformed the restaurant culture uh with 500 employees, and it's it's a it's a system that we put in place where we they know that we put them first. It's not a question. And we'll do anything we can. Yeah, another one of our philosophies, whether you're in a restaurant or you have a cheap mail company or not, is the the first step to getting full loyalty and concentration of your employees is eliminating their problems at home. And we spend a lot of time and effort and money and investment with eliminating employees' problems at home. How do you do that? And it it's we we we leave it as a case-by-case situation. Yeah, I the first thing that pops in my mind is one guy was struggling to get to work every day. Right? He said, What's going on? Setting down, what's going on? Well, I lost my driver's license. What happened? Well, I owe$7,000 in uh parking ticket fines, and so they suspended me. So we sat him down and we we give him we we the next day we paid off his tickets, okay, and we said this is a loan for now, but if if you step it up and show you know some progress, then it then we'll forgive it. And six months later, he he was a different person because he wasn't worried about how am I gonna get home, how's my wife, how I'm gonna get the kids to school. And that's an example of things that we just to us, we did two things. We we have a better employee and we have a better person. You know, personally. Absolutely, and we've done things like that. Hey, hey, Mr. Ron, uh, I need four new tires, and uh I'm stressed out every day because I don't know how long how how many more miles are gonna last, and we'll literally all right, how much they want to, you know, we'll we'll buy the tires for you and do the same thing. You know, in six months we'll we'll forgive it. And it's just these people, a lot of these folks just need just a little bit to get them from desperation to content. And we try to bridge that gap how however we we see fit, you know, what whatever the situation calls for.
SPEAKER_01:Wow. And the other thing I can see that doing, and it's a lot the same um with the lodge, when you have whether it's an employee or a guest or a uh a person that uh comes in for um a meal, those people that you've touched in such a way that that set of tires or the parking tickets, um, you take that burden from them and they need to tell their friends and their family what happened. Because in some cases, it's as good as winning a lottery. And um, when that that spreads, when that love spreads around, all of a sudden I can see people saying, Wow, my job sucks. Maybe I can do that. Maybe, maybe, maybe I should be working in a place that cares about me. And um, I'm sure that you that that's a great way to try and find good people to come into your organization.
SPEAKER_06:It's a chain reaction, right? You start treating people right, and typically that person who you just described is a pretty damn good worker. He's he's he's a loyal employee. And if he wants to come to us because of those reasons, that means he's trying to build a better life. And that helps us with the tenure because if we find people who are trying to build a better life at home and better career, we can help them. And those typically are the people who are not trying to take advantage of the system, right? Most of our folks fall into that category. And we've been able to attract them because we there's only two of us as Remert Jr., uh Covington, Remert Covington Jr., myself. We're not, there's only two people. We don't have investors, we we're not trying to please outside people. We're just trying to please who's in our house, right? And that's our immediate family, our employees, and our guests.
SPEAKER_01:Wow. What a what a breath of fresh air. Um, because I'll tell you what, um, where I'm at, the the the restaurants and uh fast food chains and all of these these places care about one thing, and that's the bottom line. And um you either as an employee, this is what you get if you don't. like it there's the door and to to to start anything with love because that's what it is it's love it's the highest vibration that you can that you can offer a human being and um when you're doing that with all parts of your business there's no way that it it can't be a success um I saw it firsthand the same the same way um and I had uh I I I was on an island so I had full control over everybody that stepped on that island and um when you you spread the love and that was one of the uh one of the the things that I always used to do um I'm a hugger I love hugging people whether they're guests whether they're staff whether whatever and um when uh when people would say wow what was that I'd just look at them and I'd say you know what I got a lot of love to give and um when you do that with people you you automatically bring their vibrations up from where they were at at that point in time and nothing bad can come of it. And um to be able to do that number one with your staff um is key because all of a sudden I saw that my staff started doing the same thing. They were they were looking forward to seeing the shock family or um uh whoever was coming on the dock and they would go out of their way to go and welcome them and when you do that um it's uh it's uh it's magical it's it it the money doesn't mean anything it didn't like I mean I needed money to run the operation but my my joy out of it was seeing people enjoy themselves to the point that they felt like it was home and uh I would I would always tell the staff and again we had a lot of turnover we only run a six month operation um but I had very good solid um uh a very good solid core of staff who would um who would train all of the newcomers and uh very quickly we could see who was uh who was um meant for for the job and and who wasn't and um that um that whole feeling you know and I was always very careful on my verbiage um with the lodge with the business I never said it was mine I I always used the word ours right with the staff with the guests and um um I had one guest uh Chris he he came up to me and uh he said uh we got talking and I said yeah the the our place looks beautiful this year and he said oh Steve this is your place it's not our place and I said Chris how many years have you been coming here and at that point it was something ridiculous like 45 years for two weeks every year and um uh he said wow this is my 45th season and I said buddy there's nobody here that could call this place their own like you know how many owners have you seen uh and if I and if I'm not here are you gonna come back right so this isn't my place I'm just the curator who pays the mortgage to make sure that this stays here for everybody it's our place and he thought about it and he said wow yeah I guess you got a point and that that was the key that and for me anyway to to to have my staff think about the the the lodge and the property as their own and to be proud of of what they were doing because when you can when you can foster that kind of feeling which you have done and and I gotta tell you um I I'm I'm going to go to Shaggy's uh here uh and I'm not sure when but I can't wait because there are certain places in the world where you find those those feelings and um I I love them all and um uh this uh this story so far is uh unfolding in an amazing way well if if you if you know we we released the book on uh and what's the name of the book it this this is it it's Shaggy's cheeseburgers nice okay and it's our story this is our story and uh we were scheduled to release it on the 20th anniversary of Katrina but it just didn't un unfold that way for us so what we did was release it September the 18th was his national cheeseburger day okay so we have five waterfront seafood restaurants all right and seafood is we're predominantly a seafood restaurant on on the Gulf but at any point in time whether it's the past 10 minutes the past 10 years or the past 20 years our number one seller is always the cheeseburger so that's the name of my boat is my fishing boat and in the Caribbean is the cheeseburger and as I started writing uh the book the the initial title was the shaggy story because we have so many people who you know we've got a million people they love to hear all these stories right yeah and so when I got towards the end of the book I said Shaggy's the shaggy story is kind of lame so I changed the name and the very first page of the book talks about how it just hit me it struck me that you know the cheeseburger is our number one seller it's also a metaphor of our original mission statement a cheeseburger itself will bring you joy happiness it's home comfort love in a messy world and make you forget about everything right and that's kind of who we are culturally who we are it's just we we try to do the same for people as a cheeseburger does for us also. So I changed the name of the book to Shag is cheeseburger and the the the tagline is a a real world tragedy to Trump story through hope love and change that's amazing yeah that is amazing and um it makes me smile because there is nothing better there is not if you could pick a food product across the the the world that says that says home and comfort it's a cheeseburger yeah yeah and you proved it like I mean your bestseller in all of the the seafood and and amazing dishes you have fresh shrimp you know they they want a cheeseburger that's awesome that's awesome yeah and it's the little things too like uh I uh and and you touched on it with uh with your with your servers and stuff but um we would always write down on uh on a whiteboard because I had the I had the luxury of holding on to my guests for a longer stay you have them you have them for an hour and a half at best I had them for anywhere from three to seven days and um as soon as uh uh we knew what people liked how they liked their coffee right um I would have the the staff as soon as they saw people walking up okay here come the shocks or here comes uh um um the the plants and um uh if the server didn't know how they liked their coffee coffee was key uh I learned that in the sheet metal business that the coffee is the the grease that uh oils the mechanics of business and um as soon as they saw people walking in they would go back they could check on the whiteboard oh yeah okay so Chris is double double Debbie is um black and they would bring it out and set it in front of them before they even asked and um little things like that make people feel um at home you know and um um the those and and it's rare it is rare that you you can talk to somebody who has been successful using that and I think it is one of the most I I really believe it's the only way that you start any business is is um uh from looking at your your guests or your clients or whatever from their perspective but so often it's forgotten it's not even taught yeah I I think the the standards are very low and you know we we work really hard uh trying to get our employees understand what you know good given that extra effort what what it means and good hospitality it resonates in our in our you walk in and you can feel it you know absolutely when you're in the wilds of northwestern Ontario you need gear you can trust and a team that's got your back that's Lakeside Marine in Red Lake Ontario family owned since 1988 Pro Camp dealer built for the north from the animal hub boats and motors to everything in between we don't just tell you dear we stand behind it reliable ready everybody I'm Angelo Viola and I'm Pete Bowman now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's favorite fishing show but now we're hosting a podcast.
SPEAKER_07:That's right every Thursday Angela right here in your ears bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio. Hmm now what are we gonna talk about for two hours every week? Well you know there's gonna be a lot of fishing.
SPEAKER_09:I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them and they were easy to catch.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah but it's not just a fishing show. We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors from athletes all the other guys would go golfing me and Garchomp and all the Russians would go fishing.
SPEAKER_09:And now that we're looking foresting away things it's the perfect transmission environment for license to check if any game isn't cooked properly for you will taste it.
SPEAKER_07:And whoever else will pick up the phone. Wherever you are Outdoor Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell the stories of all those who enjoy the outside find us on Spotify Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast when you first built your first restaurant and it became wildly successful at that point when did you start thinking wow maybe we should start to um expand this and how did you how did you do that?
SPEAKER_01:How did you pick your locations how did you then um um how did you then start to to build the staff that you need to know that that same service is happening everywhere.
SPEAKER_06:What's interesting that was like that's in 2008 and I I just wanted to be a real a small real estate developer you know eight unit condos on the beach kind of thing with no zero employees but that's that's when the market crisis hit the that was the worst time for us in in in that area and that was 2008 2009. Yeah and the interesting thing is I I couldn't we I couldn't find the liquidity to make these developments happen. Getting the money to build and then find the people to sell to but one thing I did notice is that people were still coming into our place buying cheeseburgers and margaritas right and never slowed down it just never never slowed down and one of the worst uh economic times in downtown history yeah 2008 nine ten. So that's when the kind of light went off and said you know what this is I could I probably need to just put a bullet in my head right now but let's open a second one all right and we just I just use common sense and we we moved 26 miles down the road to to Biloxi all right and the population there is is is is much much bigger and we we were starting to to to really create some brand recognition and we knew there's people from Biloxi traveling 20 miles to come to our place and so we said let's bring it to them and beautiful long story but uh we ended up securing a spot on the beach in Biloxi and we opened that restaurant and it's doing twice the revenue like that fast. Really? Yeah and we just kind of just slowly you know uh this is another story I tell in a book is recently Rimmer and I uh got a pretty good offer to buy our our business our restaurant yeah and we turned down a a a nice number I think we're we're very successful company and you know some people are like wait I'm just right off in the sunset and you know it's like we're building a company to keep not to and those are two different mindsets in life and in business right so we expanded we expanded we weren't measuring ourselves on how many new new locations can we open this this year. It's like let's make sure that number one and number two are running really well then we can look at number three and if we can't find a fit for us a site we own all of our real estate we've developed everything from the ground up if we can't find a fit then we'll go to next year and we'll go to next year. And so since 2019 we've had we haven't added a location since 2019.
SPEAKER_01:But what we have done is taken advantage of those footprints all right yeah and expanded a little bit more offering maybe a a different kitchen maybe an outdoor bar here maybe whatever whatever fits for that particular location and from at the end of this through 2025 we'll be up uh 57% in revenue and those same locations over and it is it's do it we you have so to gain 50% revenue with new locations you you become deleted right you're you're spread out so let's let's make more with what we have and it's been a really good model for us um and we've done we've done it by you know in the old days we'd go on a four hour wait in some of our locations now we we're we're utilizing technology we're you we're utilizing the extra space to handle that the and most of the time you're on a four hour wait you just turn around and leave so we were we were losing those people so I think we've we've we've been smart by making the most of the dirt that's already paid for and we've expanded our business at each of the of the locations and it's it's it's worked out as a matter of fact four of our locations we have purchased the property next door to us so we're we're gonna expand even bigger on that same footprint people coming to us right yeah yeah that's awesome and like I mean so uh I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna make this assumption um staffing is probably one of the key um elements of any business what does your staffing um hierarchy look like uh do you have uh multiple managers at these locations um um what does that uh what does that framework look like well when I first got into the restaurant business I could never understand the individualism of the servers right and in the book I talk about how it reminded me you you go into like a a hair salon and and there's nothing wrong with this that this is your model but the owner would rent out chairs yes okay but those people were only worried about the people who sat in their chairs right there's no way you could create a culture when you have these individual right and that's what the restaurant business is and I had always wanted to turn into a team service event you never could do it you know because people my whole staff had quit but at COVID we kept all of our managers on board we paid them okay and all of our employees we gave them a free meal on Friday so we stayed in touch with everybody and I spent COVID architecting a team service model right and at first there it was a rebellion right the the the the the the folks who were not team players hated it and quit all right after two weeks the team players started slowly buying into it and what they learned was that we can do more with less people all right and what else comes out of that is that it's not as much training because instead of having one server take you order get your drink go get go get your French fried we we've we've broken that that that chain that's the supply chain now you have someone's really good at greeting the customers and hanging out with them.
SPEAKER_06:You have someone who's really good at going to get the food and bring it so we've we've broken up that supply chain at the same time it's it's it's it's more efficient. The other thing that comes out of that is when you have if there's five of us and we're getting we're sharing tips and we're working as a team we're holding each other accountable because man if if you're not performing I I I'm gonna let you know because man you're you're you're affecting my my my my well being my finances so we we need less oversight less man and these guys on the they know what to do right and now they're all responsible for each other. So we're we're getting a almost we're turning these people into managers because they're now a team and they're now holding each other accountable. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And I'm sure that um you found with number one having to have less staff and number two with everybody working together the service that your your your clientele is getting your guests are getting is is going up and their experience is getting better and the amount of tip that they're leaving is higher and um uh it's the old adage all ships rise with the tide and um um I'm sure that it didn't take long for people to buy in when they saw that their tips were going up and and service was going up and and uh um it was just a uh a great way of doing things yeah and it's you know instead of 12 of us making a hundred dollars tonight all right the tip went from a hundred to a hundred and twenty and it was only eight of us yeah yeah so it it was not only were the tips getting higher but there's less people earning in them bigger tips right so it's an exponential boost to the pocketbook the finances the morale and the attention to the guess and the detail yeah because yeah it's a it's a wonderful model and and I did something similar I um we all shared tips there was no individual tips whether you were on the dock uh as a dock hand or a server or a housekeeper or you name it everybody shared in the tips and um and kitchen staff as well um a lot of places the kitchen staff didn't get tips but we shared everything and um inevitably in a seasonal business you get to the dog days which is you know my my season was May until October and that mid-September time you would have some of the staff say okay well inevitably when you live on an island and you uh work long hours in tight quarters you have relationships that build and um one of the things that I had uh happen to me uh quite often was um um staff would hook up and then they would say okay well we're gonna go to university or we're we're we're gonna leave three weeks early and they'd come and they'd say okay we're we're done next we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna leave tomorrow or whatever and um I would all of the cash tips went into a pool and that was divvied up weekly and and my staff dealt with that um but I had uh contract signed so that um I held all of the tips that went through the machine it was an open account everybody could look at it and if somebody or a couple come to me and said we're leaving early uh I would say okay well then you're you're forfeiting your tips um because you know you're leaving the rest of our staff shorthanded and at that point they could make the decision on whether they wanted to continue and and and ride off into the sunset or they would stay and say yeah okay well maybe we'll maybe we'll work another three weeks for for$5,000 each. But if they did leave because I couldn't replace them in for the last three weeks of the season I could then go back to my staff and say guys we just lost Cindy and and Bill they they've they're they're they're leaving and I can't replace them and I and and we need to come together as a group and and service our our guests for the next three weeks or a month but there is now 1000 extra dollars in that tip pool that's going to go to you and uh that was always a great way to bring the remaining staff together and to to um um keep maintain the same service and it always it always worked that way and um when you can share everything amongst everybody and just like you said everybody's holding each other accountable you know and when you hold somebody accountable um I would always I would always remind the staff that's holding these people accountable that aren't quite towing the rope we need to teach them how to tow that rope. We need to help them be better uh rather than just telling them that they're not doing a good job and leaving it at that. So it's that management you're teaching your just like you had said you're teaching your staff to be managers and um when you can have a staff that that works great together and uh and does that it is magic.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah yeah yeah so um this whole so now you've expanded to six different locations we have five we still have five but we're expanding the footprint of four locations yeah so what's next you know we're doing very well right now and I I don't remember and I talk about this he comes down and fishes with me he's the one who turned me on to blue mollin fishing uh years ago but you know we we're we're we're we're taking it very slow uh we're adding on to our current locations uh we get opportunities quite frequently to take a take a look at a new location right and we just feel like why what we're doing is is is fine but we we don't need to be billionaires or you know it's we don't need to be the richest guys in in in in Mississippi or what we're doing now is really good and we kind of we kind of try to balance you know we could double in size but what's that gonna do to our personal lives and we we're very hardworking you know people all of us are are our our families we're very hard workers but we're gonna be very deliberate about any growth and if it doesn't make sense let's just not do it. We're doing just fine. We don't have we're not a publicly traded company we don't have shareholders as long as we're satisfied with our performance and what we're getting in return for our investment mentally physically and financially then let's let's just keep making what we have better and that's the way we're growing is right where we are right now.
SPEAKER_01:Wonderfully said so my next question do you have any kids?
SPEAKER_06:I do not have kids no yes he does yeah yes so have have you guys integrated them into the business uh that's Rimmer took my place all right so because of all the the the things that we have in place and the structure and the culture it allows me to walk away and go blue marlin fishing and how can you argue with that and I I I spent some time in the book addressing this and saying that probably the most impressive thing you can do in your career is find your replacement that can do a better job than you and that's what I've done with Rimmer okay I've coached him and mentored him until we got to the point where he was ready to take over and I walked away he's now looking for his guy to mentor yeah so seven eight years from now Rimmer plans to do the same thing and his kids uh they're bright bright kids are very young right now they're probably not old enough to get kind of integrated in that however we do have the my boat captain uh remmer has been fishing taking this remmer was a uh uh uh charter guide in Venice deep sea fishing and my boat captain has been fishing with Mr. Rimmer since he was seven years old all right so he's in his mid-20s now so that that might be the kid that integrates into he's working with us right now learning our system even though he's running the fishing boat he's he's he's learning the culture and what it takes to be successful and that's kind of how we we develop our folks is we prefer to get someone young and and spend a lot of time with them.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah for sure well and I'm sure that he can take that same footprint that same blueprint and apply it on his fishing boat you know with the with the same feelings of making his guests feel at home and returning guests and and the way you treat people really what we're talking about is how you treat people and when you treat people in a wonderful way you build a um um uh you build that um that base of people who are extremely loyal and when you can do that that's that's what you've built so um let's talk a little bit about where you're at today and um and uh your marlin fishing so how often do you get an opportunity to fish for marlin oh I try I try to go down once a month uh like I said earlier I had I had hip replacement surgery and it it was no injury it's just I was ward out I I work out every day I can tell and the
SPEAKER_06:Our boat right now is in the British Virgin Islands. It's Scrub Island. And I'll go fish the October moon. I'll typically go down for six or seven days. And then my wife joins me. We have a 60-foot uh custom sport fish. And then we have a 97 Ferretti, and the boats travel together. So we always have a place a boat to fish and a lodge. That's my traveling lodge.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_06:And we'll probably go down to St. Lucia. I've never been there. We'll probably go to St. Lucia and fish uh uh November and December, and then we'll go back to Kapcana, Dominican Republic, January, February, and March. And then after that, maybe the Bahamas, and then we'll just do the loop again.
SPEAKER_01:That's amazing. I had the pleasure of uh of uh sailing from uh St. Vincent uh to the um um to all uh all the way down to Petty Saint Vincent through a number of different islands. Beckway was one that uh the Grenadines, absolutely. And um what a beautiful area of the world. We took uh a little over two weeks to do it. And um uh the people there are fantastic, the fishing was very good. Um, I could just uh I couldn't imagine having the the the resource to do what you do um and uh and to share that with your family. Um it's uh it's gotta be a wonderful, a wonderful feeling. And then when you're not doing that, I'm assuming that you're you're back and you're you're working um um with the business.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, I I'm not involved day to day. Uh and that's the beauty of it. You know, you get to the point where you can find someone that you really trust and and and remember seeing it. Right. And it's it's he's he's understanding how important it is to find that right person so you can you can go away and not have to worry about it. You know, I worked on the book, that was my project for this year, and we're still you know doing some things promotionally. We do small projects, you know, something I wanted to say is that you know our lives revolve around fishing, and whether it's speckled trout, smaller fish or or bigger fish, but uh you know, Ruber and I do a lot to help people in our community. That's that's any of our employees, any anyone in the community can tell you that we are very invested in our community. And one of the things we did seven years ago is we found out living on the Mississippi on the Gulf Coast, the Florida panhandle, the Alabama coast, the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It's like there's we're on the water, right? And we just learned through different uh activities that we were doing. How many kids have never caught a fish? And we were shocked. It's like what why? All you gotta do is just walk and go. Yeah, they don't have the research, they don't have a dad to take them, right? Or our dad is too busy with his career to take them. So we partnered with the University of Southern Mississippi, uh, their biology, the marine biology department, and we created a camp where every every year we take kids fishing to catch their fish, first fish, right? And it's a big deal for us. It's a big deal for me to see someone catch their first blue marlin. Absolutely. Even the small fish, a kid, you see, you see the joy on his face just catching a fish. It's something that's really important to us. And so we've invested in this this this camp and this program, and he and I pretty much fund the whole thing. We also bring in out outside charter boats to take them on the ocean, you know, I say the ocean five miles out. Yeah. Just experience being out there and catching fish. We also work to to teach them to respect the habitat and to take care of the habitat. So it it's it's a pretty nice rule.
SPEAKER_01:That that right there is uh is amazing. And um, you know, when I owned the lodge, um, I I wasn't a guide, uh, but inevitably there were times when I had to to guide. Uh typically I would overbook guides and and I'd have to jump in or somebody would be sick and I'd have to jump in. And and um the feeling that you get, whether it's a a child or an adult or man, woman, doesn't matter. When they hook into their first fish, it it's like you're reliving that feeling on your own all over again. And um, there's nothing in the in the world, I think, that's that's more gratifying and exciting than to see somebody catch their first fish. And um that whole program that you've developed is uh is amazing. And it's not hard to see why um your business is so successful. You're you're you're giving so much. And then uh of course, people are gonna want to to come and see the Shaggies, the place where the the the the the this is all starting. And to continue to do that is amazing. That's um that's outstanding. And um yes, uh, we do share a common thread where my my whole life is basically revolved around fishing in in some way. Um I I tell people that I become a uh professional fisherman when I was four or five years old, when my grandfather, who was Polish, would pay me a nickel for every fish that I brought him home from the from the river that was about uh a mile and a half down the road, and I'd get on my bike with a bucket and I'd go catch catfish and chub and whatever would bite the hook, and I'd take it back to Gramps, and he'd give me a nickel for every fish. And um, those that just being out in nature and um um catching fish and learning about nature, and then, like you say, creating a culture of people who are who are um very knowledgeable about the resource and teaching respect for the resource is such a key thing. And it also speaks a lot to, I believe, mental health, because when you can remove somebody from their phones and the the day-to-day um um pressures of life and drop them into nature where human beings are supposed to be, um, mental health is is is um is uh is um uh a byproduct of that and um a good mental health, I should say. And uh that is something that's that's huge as well.
SPEAKER_06:And you're you're for you know, one thing for for us, the blue marlin fishing, is the one thing about blue marlin fishing, they're always in the most beautiful water in the world, you know. And you get out there and you're right, you bring people with you. It it's we don't have we don't have time to be sitting there doing, you know, looking down and scrolling. It's a forced community gathering, whether it's four guys or or five ladies or whatever it may be, and it you you you it you really go back to to old school sitting around. There's a lot of sitting around, talking to each other face to face.
SPEAKER_01:It's an art that's being lost fast, you know.
SPEAKER_06:There's a lot of that, and every time you you take people out and you come back in, and you know, everyone's I I never knew that about him, or I didn't know that about her. I never knew that. It's like that's because when we get on a dock and we go back to the restaurant, we don't talk, we we don't we don't enjoy each other's company and take advantage of learning more about each other, so yeah, yeah. That always is a byproduct of fishing.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, it is. That's how you can that's that's the way you you find true friendship because when you can sit on a boat for eight, 10, 12 hours with with somebody and have periods of time that could be an hour where you don't say anything to each other, but you're totally comfortable in their presence. You know, you know that you're that that something special is happening, and uh very few activities on this planet foster that kind of relationship.
SPEAKER_08:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And uh um it's uh it's uh it's wonderful that uh fishing has uh has um uh been that uh that teacher for us. And um I think that uh it has a lot to do with the success that uh we've both seen. And um I'm uh I'm I'm uh it it has it's been a pleasure to get to know you better. And um uh I look forward to uh spending some time on the water with you, whether it be on the upper French River in northern Ontario or or on the ocean somewhere.
SPEAKER_06:Well, I I have a new website. It's Ron Ladiner, www.ronladiner.com. And it there's a link to the book. There's also different stories and pictures of us fishing, and it it's there's a lot of good resources there.
SPEAKER_01:That's amazing. And the book, let's talk a little bit about it. Um, have you thought anything or you may have already done? Um, have you made it an audio book?
SPEAKER_06:That's next. I I I I had to get through, I had to check some the important boxes, but yeah. Yep. And I'm probably gonna read it myself. We looked at, you know, bringing in talent and the reviews are coming back. The reviews are really good. There are a few people who who this over and over again, and I'm flattered by this, that say when I read the book, I feel like I'm sitting on the back of the boat with you and you're telling me the story. Or I'm sitting on the on the back porch with you, and you're like I can hear you telling the story. So I'm not a good reader, but you know, I'm I'm gonna give it my best shot with the technology today. Maybe they can convert me into a better reader, but we will be doing that soon.
SPEAKER_01:That's that's awesome. And I I fully agree. I think you've got a a voice that uh that um is uh is amazing for that type of thing. And uh I think because I I listen to a lot of audiobooks. I'm not I'm like you, I'm not a great reader. For me to sit down and read a book, uh, it'd take me a month of Sundays. And uh uh, but audiobooks, that's uh that's my jam. And um I find that those books that the authors read are so much more personable. And um uh I think that uh that that would be a wonderful, a wonderful addition for sure. Um, I'm gonna get my copy of your book. I might have to have my wife read it to me. But uh I'm I'm definitely gonna do that. And folks, all you Diaries family out there, uh head over to uh Ron's website um uh and and check out the links. Go buy that book because there are life lessons for all of you young folks out there that are are struggling to find a path. And I and I find that there's so many people out there that that are are struggling to find a path in today's day and age with all of the AI and and our workplace changing so rapidly. And uh I was talking to a friend of mine not long ago, um, who who was a very successful uh real estate um um, I don't want to call him a tycoon, but he's very successful. And we were we were talking about the biggest opportunities in today's uh market, and we kept coming back to proper customer service because there is so little um proper customer service these days. Like, I mean, you go to a fast food restaurant chain and go through a drive-thru, what is the first thing that everybody today does? Check to see if your order's right. Because 90% of the time, it's not right. And if you can go out and you can provide any service with proper customer service and and that human touch, there's there's no reason that any business will fail because people are craving proper customer service. And uh that's something that you've uh you've harnessed. And in your book, I I can tell that um there are so many stories and and different situations um that that will teach people how to do that. And I highly uh I haven't read the book. I know you from from our conversation today, but I I I can highly recommend that book right now. I already know. I appreciate it. I already know. Uh all I need is to talk to you and to hear your your views on life and and your position and and where you are. And it's it's no accident, Ron. It's it's not an accident. Thank you. Yes, absolutely. And just before we uh sign off, is there any um stories uh that uh jump to front of mind, whether it's fishing or um uh whether it's through business, uh the uh the the biggest Marlin you ever that you've ever caught. What do you have something front of mind that you can leave us with?
SPEAKER_06:Um, you know, the the book is one guy I heard saw the review yesterday goes, Ron Ladner teaches you how to, you know, the this overused term, take a lemon and turn it into lemonade. And I think the book is about I think you read the book and learn how not to be afraid to face obstacles and setbacks and disasters and disappointments. They're gonna come, right? They're gonna come. It's how we handle each one of those situations is gonna determine how well we do in life and relationships and everything we live for every day. And one person may be happy, the other one's disappointed. It's because they probably had the same problems and the same issues and the same mishaps. One one person is just handling it differently, and it's not that hard. It really isn't that hard. I think the book is a great lessons about how to get ahead by overcoming things that really don't matter. You know, most of the things that we worry about today, five years now, we'll even remember it. If you can think in that mindset, if you can think in that mindset, we can get past all these things. And and and and and and and help others. Getting past yourself, putting others first can get you through it all.
SPEAKER_01:That uh words of wisdom, my friend. Thank you so much. I really appreciate this. I enjoyed it. Yes, it it was it was wonderful. And uh yeah, I I feel it's not going to be the last time that uh that we uh that we do this. Um I would love to uh to hook up and and I'm sure the Diaries family out there listening are totally intrigued. And they're all saying, Well, what what what about this? And and ask them this, and you know what I mean. So uh we will uh we will do this again. And um I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation.
SPEAKER_06:I enjoyed it too. It's fantastic.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you so much, Ron. And uh folks, um, if you like this content, you know, like, subscribe, send me an email, let me know what you thought. Uh, you know how to get me. Steve.n at fishingcanada.com. Don't forget to head over to fishingcanada.com. We've got all kinds of giveaways and all that fancy stuff over there for you to uh get in on draws. There's something real big coming down the pipe. Um, I I I've heard a little bit about it. I can't tell you about it yet, but keep watching. We're there. Uh thank you so much to our uh producer, Anthony Mancini, Dean uh Taylor, and uh the uh Outdoor Journal Radio Network. Um, and uh also our our good our good friends up in Red Lake. Uh, we we love you guys, uh Lakeside Marine. And thus brings us to the conclusion of another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the North.
SPEAKER_03:I'm a good old boy. Never meeting no harm. I'll be the only whoever stumbled been railing in the hogs since the day I was born. Bendin's my bra. Spending my mind.
SPEAKER_04:Today I'm I don't know, and it'll be fine. I'll be making my way, the only way I know how. Working hard and sharing the noise with all my pals. Up out of the lodge and live my dream. And now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Back in 2016, Frank and I had a vision to amass the single largest database of musky angling education material anywhere in the world.
SPEAKER_10:Our dream was to harness the knowledge of this amazing community and share it with passionate anglers just like you.
SPEAKER_02:Thus, the Ugly Pike Podcast was born and quickly grew to become one of the top fishing podcasts in North America.
SPEAKER_10:Step into the world of angling adventures and embrace the thrill of the catch with the Ugly Pike Podcast. Join us on our quest to understand what makes us different as anglers and to uncover what it takes to go after the infamous fish of 10,000 casts.
SPEAKER_02:The Ugly Pike Podcast isn't just about fishing, it's about creating a tight-knit community of passionate anglers who share the same love for the sport. Through laughter, through camaraderie, and an unwavering spirit of adventure, this podcast will bring people together. Subscribe now and never miss a moment of our angling adventures. Tight lines, everyone. Find Ugly Pike now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER_05:As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons of our natural world become harder and harder to hear, but they are still available to those who know where to listen. I'm Jerry Oulette, and I was honored to serve as Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources. However, my journey into the woods didn't come from politics. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom. In 2015, I was introduced to the birch-hungry fungus known as chaga, a tree conch, with centuries of medicinal use by indigenous peoples all over the globe. After nearly a decade of harvest, use, testimonials, and research, my skepticism has faded to obsession. And I now spend my life dedicated to improving the lives of others through natural means. But that's not what the show is about. My pursuit of the strange mushroom and my passion for the outdoors has brought me to the places and around the people that are shaped by our natural world. On Outdoor Journal Radio's Under the Canopy podcast, I'm going to take you along with me to see the places, meet the people that will help you find your outdoor passion and help you live a life close to nature and under the canopy. Find Under the Canopy now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcasts.