Restaurant Leadership Podcast: Overcome Burnout, Embrace Freedom, and Drive Growth
Welcome to the Restaurant Leadership Podcast, the show that teaches you how to overcome burnout, embrace freedom, and drive growth
Your host, Christin Marvin, of Solutions by Christin.
With over two decades of extensive experience in hospitality leadership, Christin Marvin has successfully managed a diverse range of concepts, encompassing fine dining and high-volume brunch.
She has now established her own coaching and consulting firm, collaborating with organizations to accelerate internal leadership development to increase retention and thrive.
Each week, Christin brings you content and conversation to make you a more effective leader.
This includes tips, tricks and REAL stories from REAL people that have inspired her-discussing their successes, challenges and personal transformation.
This podcast is a community of support to inspire YOU on YOUR unique leadership journey.
This podcast will help you answer the following questions:
1. How do I increase my confidence?
2. How do I accelerate my leadership?
3. How do I lower my stress as a leader?
4. How do I prevent burnout?
5. How do I improve my mental health?
So join the conversation and listen in each week on spotify and apple podcasts and follow Christin on LinkedIn.
Voice Over, Mixing and Mastering Credits:
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Artwork by Solstice Photography, Tucson, AZ.
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Restaurant Leadership Podcast: Overcome Burnout, Embrace Freedom, and Drive Growth
71: How Curiosity, Service, and Leadership Drive Restaurant Success
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What’s the secret to running a restaurant that not only survives but thrives for decades?
Join us as Casey Wills, president of Argo Land and Cattle Company, reveals how curiosity, service, and a commitment to problem-solving have propelled his leadership and kept his restaurants thriving despite industry challenges. With a career spanning over two decades, Casey's journey from understanding discipline in college to becoming a leader in the restaurant world is inspiring. Listeners will gain insights into his mindset of leadership, which focuses on problem-solving and supporting others, and how it has been pivotal in running thriving restaurant businesses despite the challenges of the industry.
Efficiency and sustainability are critical for modern restaurants to thrive. Tools like those offered by Restaurant Technologies can transform back-of-house operations through innovations like automated oil management, which saves time, reduces waste, and ensures consistency in food quality. These kinds of solutions empower restaurants to focus more on delivering exceptional guest experiences and less on time-consuming operational tasks. Learn more at RTI-Inc.com.
Pinnacle Peak, a beloved Tucson restaurant since the 1960s, embodies the evolution of adapting to consumer tastes while maintaining a robust guest experience. Learn how this iconic spot, famous for its tie-cutting tradition and mesquite-cooked steaks, has diversified its menu and employed unique strategies, like Trellis Town, to remain competitive. We delve into the impact of seasonal fluctuations and national competition, emphasizing the resilience required to keep a restaurant vibrant and successful.
Chapters:
00:00:08 - Adapting Restaurants While Staying True
00:13:18 - Evolving Business Trends for Restaurants
00:21:52 - Reviving Charlestown and Jell-O'S Tables
00:27:18 - Leadership Development and Networking Perspectives
00:36:48 - Building Camaraderie in Leadership Challenges
Leadership development and networking are at the heart of Casey's approach to fostering growth within his team. By leveraging the power of peer advisory groups and internal promotions, Casey has cultivated a culture of support and stability, as evidenced by the impressive average tenure of his staff. As we explore the challenges leaders face, from managing customer perceptions to maintaining operational efficiency, Casey's experiences highlight the importance of adaptability
More from Christin:
Grab your free copy of my audiobook, The Hospitality Leader's Roadmap: Move from Ordinary to Extraordinary at christinmarvin.com/audio
Curious about one-on-one coaching or leadership workshops? Click this link to schedule a 15 minute strategy session.
Podcast Production: https://www.lconnorvoice.com/
today's episode is all about how to adapt your restaurant while still staying true to your core concept. Today I'm talking to casey wills, president of argo land and cattle company in tucson, arizona, which is better known as pinnacle, peak Steakhouse, el Corral, prime Rib House, savoy Opera House and Trail Dust Town. Casey has been in the restaurant industry for more than 25 years and is jack of all trades master of none. Today, casey and I are going to take a deep dive into how his curiosity as a leader has helped him be successful in the restaurant business, how he invests in himself as a leader and how he's been able to shift the company's mindset and his mindset to help them thrive after being open since 1962. This is a discussion about a business model that I have never seen before and that is absolutely fascinating. There's a ton of value in this episode. Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Restaurant Leadership Podcast, the show where restaurant leaders learn tools, tactics and habits from the world's greatest operators. I'm your host, kristen Marvin, with Solutions by Kristen. I've spent the last two decades in the restaurant industry and now partner with restaurant owners to develop their leaders and scale their businesses through powerful one-on-one coaching, group coaching and leadership workshops. This show is complete with episodes around coaching, leadership development and interviews with powerful industry leaders. You can now engage with me on the show and share topics you'd like to hear about, leadership lessons you want to learn and any feedback you have. Simply click the link at the top of the show notes and I will give you a shout out on a future episode. Thanks so much for listening and I look forward to connecting. Casey, you are a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the hospitality industry and I have learned so much from you already. You are such a curious person, though. Have you always been curious, or how did that come to be?
Speaker 2:Yes. Short version is yes, I need to know how things work, why they work. That's, you know, maybe that's the feels like, that's some you know, some sort of family of origin kind of stuff that I'm already mentioning. But basically is that I like the way that I process the world is understanding how it works. So it ends up meaning that I get really curious about things. How it works. So it ends up meaning that I get really curious about things and, um, if it's learning how to you know to do something restaurant based, great. If it's just knowing how something else works in the world, I don't like not knowing and I don't like being confused.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Where did that come from? How did you develop that skill?
Speaker 2:It feels like it's um, you know, it probably feels like learning in school world always kind of came. It was generally fairly easy. For me that sounds bad. I'm not trying to be egotistical or something. I was one of those kids that didn't have to study and then got to the point where you kind of need to study, no matter how smart you think you are, but I haven't developed all those skills yet. So the you know for the first year of college was interesting because it was like, oh wait, I need to actually have honed a bunch of study skills that I do not have. So when learning and how to do stuff, and being a know-it-all.
Speaker 2:that was generally that's how I learned how to do it and you know, saying I didn't know, I didn't know, I didn't know was not comfortable for me. I'm now fine with it.
Speaker 1:Do you feel like you lack some discipline when you transition to college? And then you were like, oh my gosh, now I have to start actually studying.
Speaker 2:Oh for sure, 100% actually studying. Oh for sure, A hundred percent.
Speaker 1:It is also is that, at the time of my life.
Speaker 2:It was the lack of discipline, for sure, at least in terms of things that were, um, things that came easy to me, it was fine, you know. Or things I was interested in was fine, you know. I don't think I missed work, you know what I mean. I was working full-time and going to school full-time and it wasn't a big deal to um to to balance that part of it. It was more about, yeah, you really need to sit down and like study before this test, or it's going to go poorly and it's like or it could just not.
Speaker 2:So the the discipline kind of came um later in life when I realized that, um, procrastinating was not helping and as much as I thought I was clever for like, well, I was doing my best work in the 11th hour, so why would I bother working and doing anything? I'll just jump in, I'll be fresh, I'll knock it out, like why bother with all this stuff before I get there?
Speaker 1:Did you teach yourself that lesson or did you have some help?
Speaker 2:No, I had to. I mean life, but I taught myself that lesson. It was basically that, well, this is not, I'm not getting the results I want, so something's got to give. And then it became like, yes, studying is lame, but ultimately I have to do it. So, yeah, you go writing checks. But I couldn to do it. So, yeah, you go writing checks. By the couldn't cash situation, I think, if you want to move your reference.
Speaker 1:Totally. How has that curiosity helped you be successful in the restaurant business?
Speaker 2:Sure, it's the restaurant industry. I find I've been in it for almost 26 years and there's always something new to learn or fire put out or something. So, being a person that likes helping others and likes being of service to other people, either that I care about, either that I care of or I'm responsible for, or what have you is people asking me how to fix a problem and if I don't know the answer, that doesn't work well in my worldview of wanting to help people and trying to help them. So when it relates to the company is we're in. Primarily most of our revenue comes from steakhouse kind of sales. But both steakhouses do not operate like a normal restaurant. They don't have a normal brigade style kitchen that everything comes out of with a full culinary team. It's not. They don't work like that and that's a bunch of the revenue of the company a little some of.
Speaker 2:The other one is basically catering and then the rest of it is an amusement park and a commercial landlord kind of situation. So kind of by means of survival. I had to learn more about how to do it so we didn't have to outsource it. It's a small family company. We didn't have the resources to just say, oh, call the guy, call somebody to take care of that. It's like no, we got to figure this out right now. So ended up being curiosity to how do I learn how to fix this problem so if it ever comes up again, I can address it, or how do I make sure that I don't have that problem again?
Speaker 1:basically, so a little bit of survival curiosity will you talk a little bit more about your steakhouse model, sure, and how it works?
Speaker 2:yeah. So we've got, um, we have two, uh two main brands that we do. One's called pinnacle peak steakhouse, the other one's called El Corral Primary House. Most people just know it as El Corral. So Pinnacle Peak has an unusual model for a few different reasons. First and foremost, it's a family-friendly, casual steakhouse and it's the only steakhouse I'm aware of that is dedicated to fun. So one of the things is trying to figure out, you know, to get clarity around what it is that you do or that you sell. And Pinnacle Peak sells fun. They do that through steaks and cutting your tie off and all that stuff. But really what they offer to people is brain chemicals through the version of fun.
Speaker 2:So the restaurant has five dining rooms and it actually has five grills and the grills all kind of work as almost an independent kitchen from each other. So each one is a team. So a griller will have what's called a pitter that they work with. There's not a great equivalent. Sort of like an assistant, sort of like a pantry, sort of like a sous, it's all these things, but it's not really any of them. So the griller is going to be their own expediter, they're going to be their own main cook and everything comes off of there and they work with that. They're then partnered with, or teamed with, a certain number of servers to have a certain number of tables on a on a big night that might be it's usually up to about eight, maybe 10 servers, each having four to five tables. So one griller is in charge of, say, 50 tables or, you know, 25 tables or something like that. So each of them work independently and the there's a central kitchen where you can get your salads and that kind of stuff from. But all all the specialty items you know, your steaks, main center plate, all of that all come off the grill. So one of the things that gets interesting about that is and we have a workaround for a point of sale system the server when they bring in their food they need to direct it to the appropriate grill in the restaurant, so they don't just fire an order and it figures it out.
Speaker 2:If they've been partnered with, say, grill three we're very creative what we call these things then they know that all night long they need to fire the orders to grow three specifically. And then let's say you have a guest come in that knows the griller on grill two. Then they say well, we really. His name's Brian. He's almost always there. He's been with us 30 some odd years. They'd say, well, I want Brian to cook for me tonight. I'd say no problem, they'd bring in the order as normal and fire it to Brian instead of the rest of the restaurant and then they can have Brian cook for them tonight.
Speaker 2:So as a model that makes that kind of everything else funnels out from there, there's one prep cook that preps in the morning, starts up the beans, gets everything else, so it's ready basically to hit the grill and go out to the guests. This particular model is it works for up to about 3000 people in a shift, an eight hour shift. So the restaurant seats about 500. So you can turn the restaurant multiple, multiple times with this model and the ticket times multiple times with this model and the ticket times, turn times, everything is still normal, so to speak.
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Speaker 2:The restaurant opened in 1962. Our company took over the operation and ownership in the mid-60s, somewhere right in there, somewhere 64, 65.
Speaker 1:And has the model always stayed the same?
Speaker 2:Pretty close. The thing that's changed through the times in terms of the model is it kind of had to evolve a bit with the times in terms of the model is it kind of had to change. It had to evolve a bit with the times to reflect people's, you know, changing tastes. But the core models is pretty much unchanged. If you wear a tie-in, they're going to cut it off because it's part of the fun. If you are going to have somebody cooking on real mesquite wood, the main cuts that we offer of beef are largely unchanged. Still. T-bones and porterhouses is kind of the main thing that we offer. The rest of it is of course evolved in terms of we have to offer chicken, we have to offer fish and salmon, we have to offer vegetables aside from just beans. Those things have added on through times. But by and large, if you had come in in 1963 and you came in today, the experience is not that different.
Speaker 1:How have you guys, I mean, talk a little bit about business trends since 1965 and we can focus more on? You know, I know you're so well versed on the entire company but, like, maybe it makes more sense to focus on the last. You know 20, 20 plus years that you've been in the business, like, has business always been great? I mean, there's there's this wild seasonality of tucson. You know, like how talk a little bit about how, how business has been up, how when business has been down, and how you've you've adjusted, you guys have adjusted for that. And and speak a little bit to um what you do in summertime and how you survive, cause it is, it is absolutely brutal here.
Speaker 2:Yes, it is, so the restaurant is part of it. So, in terms of the popularity of the restaurant, we of course have to monitor things like revenue, just to keep an eye on bank accounts and cash.
Speaker 2:But really the company is focused on guest counts. That's really. We have a volume model with low margin. So that means we need People coming in and having fun every day, having a great time.
Speaker 2:So the restaurant has been here for 62 years and it means that it has seen Tucson grow up and change around it.
Speaker 2:So when it first opened the main road that we're on, it was a dirt road, opened the road, the main road that we're on, it was a dirt road and now it's a six-lane road that's a major thoroughfare to get across the city. So in comparison to where we are today, we don't have as much of the market share as we did because there are so many more competitors in the market. So we can kind of draw lines to a few kind of points in time when things shifted and that we saw, like we can point to a couple of those. So not unlike a lot of places, is that like 9-11 was not specific because of the event but because of all the things that came along afterwards with recessions and whatnot. That marked the June of 2001. The restaurant served 3,000 people at Father's Day and that was the highest guest count to that point and it's the highest guest count to that point, and is the highest, gets counted in one day to get the company ever had.
Speaker 2:so from that point then there's a few few kind of moments in time through the through after that that we could kind of point to go up. We lost a little market share there, and the moments that happened like that tended to be. You know, competitors moved into the market I can't remember what year it was, but Tucson was reportedly hit a million people, and when it hits these certain magical thresholds national accounts go well it hit the metrics that we use to move into a market. They move into the market, and so now there were only locally owned cowboy steakhouses in Tucson prior to I can't remember what year, it was about 2010 or so.
Speaker 2:And then all the national steak houses all showed up and of course we're going to lose some market share for them, for whatever. So, uh, where is evolved? And how we're staying relevant today is by focusing in on the experience that we offer and trying to make it as fun as we can. Um, people, you know, uh, a steak that is not cooked the way you want it is not fun, and having to talk about that is not fun. So if it comes out the way you want, it tastes great. You're having a good time.
Speaker 2:So we try to focus on that. Look for the same thing that all restaurants do. Yes, we try to look at costs, but you can't save your way out of trouble. You can only work on bringing more guests in. That's the top line. It's the fastest way to grow anything. And then also is PedicoPete is located within something called Trellis Town and it's not an amusement park, it's a destination. It's not an amusement park, it's a destination. One of the ways that we have been able to pivot through all these changes is by using Childless Town to help drive attention and business into the restaurant. It used to be the other way around. Childless Town used to be a place to occupy here to make it a wait not seem as bad. Now we actually use it as a thing to drive business into the restaurant. So interesting yeah.
Speaker 2:So the summertime is is rough. Tucson restaurants, I think, I think, if I the number I believe I've heard is that they tend to lose 30% of their guests. In comparison, like it's that big of a swing. So we basically, you know, we try to batten down the hatches a little bit. Our model is such that you know I mentioned we have five dining rooms, five grills. We can actually make the restaurant essentially smaller whenever we need to actually make the restaurant essentially smaller whenever we need to. So because of the way it's designed, we don't have to operate five dining rooms all summer long with all the added overhead, associated payroll costs. We go oh, we're looking quiet tonight and we know we're going to be quiet, so we're only going to open one of our dining rooms. So that means we only have, you know, the team shrinks down to be appropriate for that level of business.
Speaker 2:That methodology generally works for us. You know people have a tendency to take vacation in summer. We look for special event opportunities to do the same thing, to try to drive business in, event opportunities to do the same thing to try to drive business in. We do all those things and really, as far as the way that we do. It is we try to have such a strong season that we, you know, put a lot of air in the tires, so to speak, so that by the time we get to the end of September that we're ready, we're okay, we're safe, and that we come back around to gas up the tires. I don't know where I was going with that metaphor.
Speaker 1:I got you.
Speaker 2:I think it's going to mix those pretty well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're going to lose some air in the summertime, right, yeah. So what made you guys make that mindset shift and what you were talking about earlier as far as Pinnacle Peak really being the draw for Trail Dust Town, but now Trail Dust Town being the draw for the steakhouse?
Speaker 2:It came down to wait times. So one of the things we ran into is that. So the restaurant has been here for 60 years. Trail Dust Town has been here for 60 years and it used to be back in the 80s for especially folks on the east side of Tucson. This is what you did Friday night. Saturday, one of those two nights you went to the Tinkeroo Swap Meet that used to be on Tinkerbirdie and is now on Palo Verde, and then you went to Pinnacle Peak for dinner. That was your Friday night was planned every week, and so the wait times on Fridays and Saturdays especially were two to three hours. Weekdays they were two to three hours. They were doing six to 800 guests. On a Monday night by clockwork, um, they would, uh, the the managers who were ordering and receiving steaks daily were getting would get static from the administrative office If they had more than about three steaks on the shelf. When they closed they were getting a talking to about why are their steaks on the shelf.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:And, generally speaking, they had nights where they would nail it, the last guest would not, would order the last steak and not be directed to it because we're out of everything. Just they were getting that good about it. So when the wait times went from being, you know, two hours every single night to being, you could walk in anytime you wanted. You know, maybe Saturday night six o'clock you'd have to wait a little bit.
Speaker 2:I came into my position and it was like, okay, what do we do now? Charlestown has always been a loss leader because it was in service to the restaurant and it was part of your restaurant experience. So now, what do we do when we don't have the wait times that helped to bring the loss later to not be quite as much of a loss. And the other thing is, with both places I haven't been here for so long Everyone knew about Pinnacle Peak but no one knew about Jell-O's Tables. So we said let's work on bringing the branding up for Jell-O's Tables, get that brand awareness up so that we can we kind of had two engines on that plane, right and bring people to us.
Speaker 2:And then it's funny because we actually did. Apparently we did a great job with Charlestown, at least amongst certain folks, where now they know all about Charlestown, don't know anything about the restaurant, which was has been weird, I'll just say that. So when, when we saw that the wait times were down and we were having to look at guest counts dropping, you know, in comparison year to year, we had to do something. So we said what assets do we have? We've got this gigantic asset, let's go for it. So we started using that to drive, to try to, as a marketing agent, to try to drive business.
Speaker 1:Nice. Hi everybody. We're taking a quick break to offer you an exciting opportunity. If you're a restaurant owner or manager looking to enhance your leadership skills, I invite you to join my 12-day leadership challenge. In just 12 days, you'll receive a guided packet with actionable strategies to transform your leadership in less than five minutes a day. Join the challenge and the community and grab your copy at kristinmarvincom. Slash 12 days. Now let's get back to the show. Are you seeing that people are still willing to wait?
Speaker 2:Yes, yep, still willing to um if we uh, you know a good Saturday night and whatnot two hour waits. We're stressed out in our minds about it because it's just a really long time to ask somebody to wait for a table. But we don't usually get too much pushback about it, which is sort of surprising, because asking anyone to wait for two hours at any restaurant in Tucson at any time, that people, it's crazy around here. Yeah, people don't make reservations, they just walk in and expect to be seen. I don't know if you've noticed that.
Speaker 1:I have. But that's the beauty of being a destination spot right and having the history that you guys have and you know we can celebrate you for you know, single handedly saving Trail, dust Town, it's true. Wildest town, it's true. So let's talk a little bit about the tenure of your leadership team. You said Brian's been there on the grill for 30 years. How about your management team?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so our food and beverage director. She just moved to that position in May of this year. She has been with the company off and on for about 20 years and she was the general manager of Pinnacle Peak for 12 years and she had been a manager for up to maybe 14, 15 years. So she came to the company as a server, actually left the company for a brief period of time. She was interested in going to management. There wasn't a position available. She went outside the company, which worked out for us, because she went to a national company that had a very strong training program, got a ton of training and then came back to us because she couldn't quite get the rest of her blood and the couldn't quite get the restaurant out of her blood and the position became available. So after they. So she's been with us that long.
Speaker 2:Her counterpart, her assistant at that restaurant, who's now the manager, has been with us about probably eight to ten years. She came up through bartending and then came into it. That way, the supervisor there it's a three-person management team, two salary, one hourly. It's kind of the same as it. He's been a server there for 18 years and he does managing, supervising and serving the other restaurant we just kind of went through. Our previous general manager had been with the company for 42 years and she retired in February of this year. So we had to kind of backfill that because somebody taking with them 42 years of kind of institutional knowledge is a huge, huge loss. So we backfilled from there. We just had some folks come into play.
Speaker 2:The average tenure at that restaurant is about seven years, from disher all the way up to the manager. So a lot of the people. We didn't lose anybody in that transition in terms of you know cause that happens. You have a big management change, you're going to usually have some nutrition. Just, you know, I don't like this person or it makes people pick their head up and think, ooh, is this the right fit for me. We didn't actually lose anybody in transition. Now the new people new manager there has been there since October. Supervisor he actually is working, is learning, supervising and is now supervising at one restaurant but grills at the other one and the assistant manager has been was actually came out of the kitchen and he's been there probably 15 years or so, so kind of brought that along.
Speaker 1:That's incredible. What? What is your guys's approach to development of your leaders?
Speaker 2:Sure, it's nothing formal, something that's been on my radar to make a formal process for a while, but then the Ferris wheel breaks and I have to go fix it. That's a literal example. So, from from a development standpoint, it's basically is that historically it's been, you know, kind of for like a better term school with hard knocks. There. We've tried getting a lot of support in terms of you know, okay, what do you guys need? How can we help? Then, as I've, you know, kind of learned more and more, I'll share what I know with them anytime we have a meeting. So it's kind of ongoing, be it one-on-one or small group, that just doing training, pretty much ongoing.
Speaker 2:More recently we had our food beverage director. A new program management training program became available in tucson because there's just not a ton of them to begin with. So we enrolled her in that program and so she's been in it. Now it just launched in september so she's been to two, three meetings and and the goal of that, of having her go through that program, is to get all the sort of business training that goes far beyond what you do it's just running a restaurant from shift to shift or even month to month is getting all that real baseline training. So we're kind of having her pilot it.
Speaker 2:If that goes well, which seems to be fine so far, then we'll extend that out to the one level down, so to speak, and then we're looking for something slightly more formal or regular to provide to the rest of the training, the rest of the team, and to try to build out something more formal To hopefully have folks that are on the team that are interested in management but they haven't told anybody that they kind of identify themselves beyond just being a leader on the floor or what have you. So I'm hoping to create something more formal, but currently it's just, you know, chatting with them and trying to work through situations as they arise.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it. The organic approach is incredible. It's all about connection and customizing it to exactly what they need, which is great, right and what they want. Can I ask who the management training program is through?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a group called Three Pillars Performance. Okay, there's a peer advisory group out there. It's called Vistage and I got involved with that a few years ago and that has been mostly my professional development. Stuff is kind of what that program is. That's why I'm a member of it and the group that we have the chairpersons with the title of it and the cult is that they created a management training program. It's like a monthly kind of thing that they created to go through that and that's kind of like a general training program. It's like a monthly kind of thing that they created to go through that and that's kind of like a general business training.
Speaker 1:Is it hospitality specific or just general business? Overall Okay.
Speaker 2:And one of the things that could be helpful about it is that, like hospitality is weird I'm sure you've run into that that the challenges that we face.
Speaker 2:It's just kind of more interesting, I guess you'd say, than some of the people, but it's always fascinating how the the flavorings of might be different, but the core issue is the same across all this is that you know, maybe the immediacy when we have to address problems or customer service or whatnot is is different, or that we're opening a restaurant every night on speculation.
Speaker 2:You know we're going doing all this work. People have been working for days and weeks to open and hope that people come out to dinner and there's only so much you can do if they decide not to do that night. So what I kind of like about that program, especially for somebody that's at a directory level, is that they're not just spending time really immersed in restaurant world and kind of having their horizons broadened With. You know if there might be, I think, in her group. I remember hearing that there was some folks from the construction industry. So problems are the same, but then they can have a completely different perspective of it or their you know new connections into our local community and learning how construction works, not by on purpose, but sort of almost by osmosis.
Speaker 1:Got it. How are you investing in your own leadership development in your position?
Speaker 2:It's primarily in time and, in this, this particular group. One of the things that's helpful with it is that there's speakers every month and the topics tend to get. They're not really hospitality specific, they're just more like general business. So I have a tendency to read a lot and then or try to anyway, whenever I find time where I didn't fall asleep before I had a chance to read something. I am reading a very good book right now. You might know the author.
Speaker 1:Don't do it, shameless plug.
Speaker 2:Well, I, you know, I read I read 30 pages last night cause I hit a section that I was not anticipating. To see that level of vulnerability, I was like I'm not putting this down right now anyway. So, but I tend to do that kind of thing, and then the group, that particular group I'm in, has a lot of opportunities. Um, you know, be it to uh do networking and connection, but not networking to try to get more sales or something. Um networking to um try to learn more. So, um, like this afternoon we're uh, there's a small group that we're going to be chatting about. Uh, one guy is in the financial world and the other person is does insurance and like multi, multi-unit housing construction. So I'll do nothing hospitality related, but I get the opportunity to learn how you know what these other industries go through and find out what applies. You know what applies and what doesn't.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, how has being a part of a group like that really? I mean it's, it's sounds like it's offering you a lot of different perspectives that you can apply to business. But if you could narrow down, um like in single out one or two great impacts that that's had on the business, what, what would you, what would you call out?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, um, the ones that I would say are that is it ends up being the broadening perspective and that, um, like one of the things that they talk about, I guess the the single biggest thing is that? Um which?
Speaker 1:I kind of had a sense of.
Speaker 2:But I didn't. I didn't really as long as I kind of like we've all businesses it really is, and it's even beyond that is that like kind of the human condition is fairly universal and it's a. It's been an interesting experience of you know what. If you're talking to an attorney, for example, right, and they're a very successful attorney and they have a famous firm, they're doing great right, and you're talking to them and they'll be sharing some sort of stress they've got and the stress, whatever the stressor is, is the same.
Speaker 2:And it's not like you shouldn't compare yourself to others, but it was sort of interesting and I'm like I've actually been through that problem. Here's what, here's how it landed for me, here's what worked, here's what didn't. So to have it where more so that those challenges are all the same, and then to be like it's really easy to build up whatever problem you're dealing with into being the biggest problem in the world, and then you chat with somebody and then again you shouldn't compare it because that's not a good way to live, but you go, wow, yeah, this person's problem is way bigger deal right now and it can kind of help to put things in perspective.
Speaker 2:So, from that aspect doing leadership stuff it can be really challenging to see that. So oftentimes you have to look beyond your own perspective to see what's actually going on. And so, from that kind of concept, is that's been really having a group of people that are the only thing we have in common really? Is this group, and that we're in a similar position of our respective companies, is really helpful for that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that perspective and that aspect because I've been a part of similar community organizations and just to know that somebody else is going through something is really, it's just very impactful, it's very comforting, it makes leadership feel less lonely and it's incredible that. You know, we're in this industry where we're serving people every day and we're constantly in contact and connection with people, but leadership can be very, very lonely and groups like that are just incredible, incredible resources.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it also can get interesting too where, even within, if it's say, the hospitality industry, right Like so our company, we have about 160 staff members and of that you know, about 100 to 110 are, you know, part-time, and so in my position we have a small administrative team, but I'm not necessarily coming into contact with 160 people every day Well, at least staff members. But when, in specific to our own industry, if I'm in a group of folks that are other restaurant people, they might only have a single operation or they might have a really small business where you know they've got six people that run the whole thing. So it's not that the challenges are indifferent, but it's sometimes the feeling of camaraderie isn't quite the same when you're like well, yeah
Speaker 2:but you know, the challenge I'm facing is not. It's not bigger or smaller, it's just different because it involves 160 people, whereas the one they're dealing with is like six. So the challenge is the same, but the camaraderie feels a little different when you know, like you know, you've worked on the line before, so working on the line is different to working on the floor. Yeah, they're not. What you can depends on who you ask which one's harder. Yeah, you know, I maybe have my own opinions about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'd say the line but that's also because I, you know, I like cooking, I'm more of a back of house kind of person, but I had to do front of house for most of the career. But the it ends up being is that the feeling of camaraderie you get is different. So it's the same kind of thing when you go to all these groups is, if you're chatting with someone that is a single unit operator, that's got like, you know, 10 people on the team and they all hang out together and it's like a might be a literal family, that feels different than if it's like, you know, I'm not a big chain person, but chatting with someone that runs a chain restaurant is also different. So that's, the camaraderie is still there, but it just feels differently. So that's where some of these peer advisory groups, that you can get the same feelings, not necessarily being in the same industry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what's your biggest challenge right now? It's kind of the uncertainty and instability that comes any time there's, you know, kind of change. That's been kind of where we've been for the last five years or so.
Speaker 1:Like external change, you mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, internally it's all kind of the same. We don't have a lot of change within the company in terms of the brass tacks of what we do. The biggest challenges are, at least as a company is, basically just figuring out how we adapt to this ever-changing landscape while keeping what we do the same the the restaurant, the guests of the restaurant, tend to be wildly, wildly resistant to any changes from what they view as being their experience, which is quite the compliment, but it's also really frustrating sometimes because you know, perception is reality. So we got read the riot act for an entire week, so a few years ago, because the color of the beans bowl changed.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:So not like people swore up and down, it's changed. And the you know the servers are talking to them and going I promise you, it's only the bowl. It didn't change material, it changed color. And they swore up and down. They didn't believe us and they were like how dare you change my experience?
Speaker 1:Did you have to change the bowls back?
Speaker 2:Uh-huh, wow, they literally changed the bulls back and then a few of them just goes by, and then we at the time they were like a plastic kind of bull thing and they changed from red to brown, I think it was, and that was reasoned because we were running low on one of them and we couldn't get them. They weren't available. Yeah, eventually we found, found them, brought them back in and they were all set. Oh, the beans are back. Same guy making them, same spice, same spices, same jar, because when you make as many beans as they do, you're not buying spices, you know what I mean. You're buying like 55 gallon things of spices. I mean everything is the same. The only thing that changes is the meat. So that's kind of.
Speaker 2:One of the challenges is how do we adapt to ever changing times while keeping this core concept basically as unchanging as we can for our guests? The kind of my own job or my perspective. It's mainly getting trying to set up systems for myself, so that I'm not that I have allowed time for big scale projects, things that are. Basically, how do I make it so that I have built in time to allow for distractions and time to not allow for distractions?
Speaker 1:Yeah, what are one of those systems that you've been able to implement?
Speaker 2:I mean one of those business the funny business term they've got for it right now deep work, I think that's what they call it. So I've tried to do it where I'll schedule into my day, just like, okay, for an hour and a half I'm going to close my door to my office and just plug away at whatever this longer-term schedule If it's writing a process or trying to dream up what strategy is going to look like, or okay, what is the goal for next year I find it's because that doesn't tend to be my normal everyday kind of strength, like the way that I feel about it, then I'm susceptible to, I'm more susceptible to distraction. So I have to like it takes discipline for me to sit for an hour and a half and try to plug away at like, okay, how are we going to what? It takes discipline for me to sit for an hour and a half and try to plug away at like, okay, how are we going to? What are we going to do next year to meet goals, or what are the goals?
Speaker 1:What is?
Speaker 2:realistic what is not realistic. So so far it's helped a little bit, but because it's not something that I would take towards.
Speaker 1:Puppies are present.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then they left my door open. So that's cool, but they uh, um, uh, one of the uh is by you know how to adhering to that, having the discipline to adhere to that schedule. So, yeah, all right, it's 8 3030 in the morning. Restaurant's still open until 5. It's just admin people. I just tell them like hey, I'm going to work on a project until 10. So only bother me if something really can't wait until after 10.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it. You're setting some boundaries, that's great.
Speaker 2:Theoretically, the hardest part about boundaries is adhering to them yourself. Yeah, absolutely Theoretically the hardest part about boundaries is adhering to them yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I love it. Well, casey, I can't thank you enough for being here and sharing all this knowledge with us. Just super, super valuable info. We'll put all the links to El Corral and Pinnacle Peak and Trail Dust Town in the show notes, for sure, and Pinnacle Peak and Trail Dust Town in the show notes, for sure. So if anybody if you're listening get over there Friday night, monday night, tuesday night, you've got a big event. You want to ride the Ferris wheel? You want to have your tie cut off? They're there for you, for sure.
Speaker 2:We will be there. We're only closed Christmas day and Thanksgiving day. Otherwise, bring a tie if you dare.
Speaker 1:I'd love it. I'd love it. All wise. Bring a tie if you dare. I'd love it. I'd love it. All right, everybody that's going to do it for us this week, Please share this episode with any leaders in the industry that you think could benefit, and we'll talk to you next week.
