Bryce Fluellen: Economic Mobility Through Social Equity Franchising

“You always have to be telling your story. If you’re doing good in the world you have to be just as loud and persistent as those who aren’t.”

As President/Co-Founder of Arthur Lee Consulting & Advisory (named in honor of his father’s passion for food equity) and former Executive Director of Social Equity Franchising at Everytable, Bryce Fluellen is driven by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Life’s most persistent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
He’s fought for food justice and social equity for more than 20 years developing and implementing strategic programs at Starbucks, Magic Johnson Enterprises, and the American Heart Association to drive systemic change to benefit underserved populations and communities.

Join Ab & Vini to learn about Bryce’s efforts to remove barriers to sustainable capital (including leveraging a unique non-profit fundraising model for business financing!). How closing gaps in networking and information can open new pathways to wealth and social value creation. About a transformational model of franchisee development, and much more.

Transcript

 Hi everyone, welcome and thanks for joining us for Stars of Franchising. Get ready for a roller coaster ride through the world of franchising as we bring you the best stories of inspiration and entrepreneurial grit and turning dreams into franchise realities. That's right Vinnie. From emerging to global brands, we'll chat with the genius minds behind the magic. All brought to you by the Tariq Farid Franchise Institute at Babson College. I'm Ab. And I'm Vinnie. Now buckle up for some serious inspiration.



 And we're really excited to have Bryce Fluellen here from Arthur Lee Consulting. Bryce is a friend and expert in all things entrepreneurship. Welcome Bryce.



 Thank you, honored to be here. Good to see you handsome gentlemen. Yes, we're all, we'll take a compliment anytime or two. But really, really great to have you. And as you know, love to start with asking our guests to share their story and their why. What caused them to do what they do and talk a little bit about their journey because we think our guests would love that. So take it away.



 Yeah, my why is I like to lead with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. King. Life's most persistent, urgent question is what are we doing for others or what do we do for others? And so my why has always been that. And it just happens to be that within the food space. So I've been blessed to be in food for about 20 plus years, started off waiting tables in college and just fell in love with the energy of food and restaurants. But then also the service piece, like to be able to give to others to provide an experience where someone would come in. And by the end of the night, you've provided this full experience that makes them happy, makes their day creating memories. And so I started there and then over over the years, I've just been able to be an entrepreneur, have my own catering company, work for some major brands like Starbucks, Magic Johnson Enterprises and then more recently, Every Table. And so all within the food space. And so I try to lead with that, like how am I being of service to others, utilizing that servant leadership model? If you've heard of that, like how are you making other people better and helping them achieve their goals and their dreams? So that's that's been my wife for a long time. We love it. I love it. And, you know, I think there's so many great lessons there to start with your North Star like you do at all aspects and points in your career. And I think when we met Bryce, you were with Every Table and was really impressed with not only the growth, but the model and the intersection with social impact and your why. But love to hear a little bit about what you're doing now with Arthur Lee and the passion behind it and the impact you hope to make.



 Yeah, I'm actually still with Every Table in a consulting role. So blessed to be able to still be a part of that mission in that organization and helping not only bring healthy, nutritious food to communities, no matter at price points that everyone can afford. But then also, as you know, my role was a social equity franchise program and helping bring that to life. And so we'll talk about that later. But with with Arthur Lee Consulting and Advisory One is named after my late father, father Arthur Lee, who passed last August.



 Rest in peace, dad. He had a number of issues with high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney disease. And throughout his challenges, we always talked about my work and bringing a more equitable food system, particularly around healthier food to communities, underserved communities, but then also just the landscape of making sure that people can lead healthier lives. So he was a huge fan and advocate of what I was doing. And so as when he passed, I started thinking about how I could keep his legacy and his name going. And this was the perfect thing was also when I had my as an entrepreneur in past years. And now currently, he was always encouraging in that space as well. And so what we're going to do is continue. You know, I want to continue to work with BIPOC underrepresented food entrepreneurs and organizations and doing a couple of things, removing barriers to to credit and capital. Because I've seen that obviously with every table, but even in my previous roles, I've seen that be a huge gap, just not having access to capital or the right capital that that can be sustainable and make sure particularly small businesses can be successful. Also networks, right? There are a lot of information and networks out there that can be supportive to entrepreneurs. And a lot of times you just don't know if you don't grow up in certain communities or have access to certain people. You just don't know those networks exist. So bridging that gap and then information as well. Right. Information, they say information is power, but information with power, but also action behind it. But I've seen that there's a lot of information out there that people just aren't aware of that can be beneficial to their business and to them personally. So how can I utilize my past 20 years and access and all those areas to help support other folks going back to to what King said? Life's most persistent, urgent question is what are you doing for others? So that's what we hope to do with we're going to do with Arthur Lee Consulting Advisor. And we are doing as well. Every table is now our client, but there are some smaller companies out there that we're working with as well. Bryce, Bryce, this is interesting. Again, congratulations again for this new venture, Arthur Lee Consulting.



 When I look at your story, Bryce, it is very clear that from the day from the first day, you have been actually been providing capital.



 Why do I say that? Because health is wealth.



 So when you do things to make people healthy, to make healthy choices, that for me is number one capital, first and foremost, because there's nothing you can build without that health. So and then maybe you want to talk about how you you've been trying to scale this whole this whole idea that if I make people to live healthy life, the wealth will come. And then with that wealth, how do we now scale that to this underserved, underrepresented communities over time?



 Yeah, it's a complex issue, right? So when you look at, like you said, well, I like the way you framed it, because health overall is wealth. And I always say, like, you don't have your physical health and even mental health. You can't you can't even you can't work, you can't make money. So a lot of times, you know, our priority is, you know, growing our careers, making more money, continuing to get on that that treadmill. But when we put our health physically and mentally to the side. And so for me, it's always been like, how can I be an advocate in a couple of spaces, one, providing the education and awareness around how to how you can make yourself healthy through food, but then also, or recently, how you can get healthier and have access to capital. You can be economically mobile. And if through that economic, economic mobility, hopefully create wealth.



 We know studies are out there, research is out there that the more economically mobile and secure people are, the healthier they can be physically and mentally. We at every table, we understood every table is example, we understood that at the root of food insecurity is economic insecurity, right? So how can you really fight for those who don't necessarily have the opportunities others have like myself to make sure that they can live their best best lives. So if like you said, the thread of what I've been able to do at different places, as I look back on my career, has fight has been fighting for that in a number of different ways. Like when when I was at Magic Johnson Enterprises, I worked on our partnerships with Starbucks, TGI Fridays, and then also Lowe's Theater. And five to 10 years later, after I left, I ran into young people who told me like, I got my first job, no one would give me a job at 16 or 17. You got me might you were able to help me get my job at Magic Johnson theaters. And actually one gentleman ended up going to film school after falling in love with the industry overall. So there's all those my father used to say, hey, you just you just do the work, do it with love plant seeds, and you never know when those seeds come to harvest. So for me, it's like always about pouring into people. I could also come from a family of educators. My mother was a step a teacher, excuse me, my stepmother was a counselor, had honest that were principals and superintendents. And my stepmother used to always say like she said, I pour into kids and believe in them before they believe in themselves. A lot of times I see what they can be. And I speak life into people. And then they live up to.



 So when she passed away from cancer, almost 10 10 years ago, and at her funeral, I had some of her former students from elementary that were coming up to me saying, hey, your stepmother was a huge advocate for me when I didn't even believe in myself. So for me, it's just I can do that, like I said, within this space of food. But overall, like you said, health is wealth. And so how do you break down all these barriers that people face to help them lead healthier lives?



 That's great stuff and great inspiration.



 Bryce, can you talk a little bit about some of the challenges for some of the food entrepreneurs out there that are faced that may not have the you know, what you described? And I know we've heard on situational privilege, so to speak, or access to the discussions or to the capital. What are some of the challenges food entrepreneurs face and and and how are you helping them navigate that?



 Yeah, I think it's so many, but I'll talk about one or two. Okay.



 Capital, like you said, access to capital, because food is from a margin perspective, folks, like as you guys already know, food margins are extremely low.



 And so that makes it tight. In that in that in that case, it makes it a lot of times people, particularly banks, don't necessarily love the food industry because of the margins because of the success rate or lack of success rate. So it's a really tough business. For example, you guys know, like with clothes, you can you can make a shirt for five to $10 and maybe sell it for 50 or 60.



 I don't know to me people that are going to pay 50 or 60, even if that's the true cost, we're going to pay 50, 60 for a hamburger. That's a very small niche of individuals. And so oftentimes you're competing with that as well. You're also you have to depend on so many people, right? So you can be a great chef and you can make the best food, but that's just a small piece of it. So you have to be able to market it. You have to be able to manage people that are going to be supporting you like other cooks. So what kind of systems are you putting in place to make sure that people that you're bringing on to support you can be successful? So that's another skill set. How do you manage and motivate and inspire other people on a day to day basis when all these different challenges are coming into place?



 And it's competitive. Like there was in New York last year. I forgot how many restaurants are in New York. It's like a significant amount. So there's all kinds of different places and choices that individuals can make from a food perspective. So there's the competition there.



 And then oftentimes what I faced and I was very intentional throughout my career is that sometimes you don't people don't see they don't have mentors or they don't have particularly people of color. There's not a lot of people of color that are necessarily in leadership positions. So sometimes we always talk about always talk about representation matters.



 If you see somebody that looks like you or has come from a background like you, a lot of times that gives you that you see it and you say, oh, I can attain that. And then also having people that can also tell you things like, hey, I went to, I made a left. You want to make, you want to make a right here. Like that's important as well. So I had a lot of people. I was blessed to have people in my career that I sought out, but then also knew that I was always curious and trying to learn to help guide me. So those are just some of the challenges that I've seen, but there's so many more. I think the main, I think one of the biggest, like I said, is capital getting ever to have having enough capital and then having enough capital to sustain you as your business grows, because you can have a great product and you could be going well and creating sales. But oftentimes we know sales and profitability are two different things. And then managing people.



 I have a number of friends right now that are independent operators. And since COVID, as you know, the industry, a lot of industries have been challenged and definitely the food industry. If you think about restaurants, like a lot of folks left frontline people left the industry. And so now it's about a lot of folks I know even had to curtail the days of the week that they're open because they just couldn't find enough staff to be able to staff up for, you know, seven days a week. So there's a lot of different challenges that exist in the industry. Bryce, you have done a lot trying to take your message, your value proposition, if you want to develop itself to underrepresented groups and historically underrepresented group and under, or maybe under served communities in the world.



 When you look at that, we want this podcast, this message also to get not just to select few, but to as many people as possible. It's probably this group that you have been working with for many years. Now that said, what would you say from the work you've done with these groups, these minority groups, when it comes to entrepreneurship or even franchising, what would you say people they misunderstand the most? So we want to start breaking down the myth so that they, when they say, no, I can also, I can do this. I didn't know this was what it was all about. Now I want to be able to be in this space as well. So what are the misconceptions out there? What are the myths that want you to help us to break it down for our audience? Yeah, I think the myth is that the talent isn't there.



 The talent is there, right?



 That's one of the biggest myths that I've seen is that people think, well, if you come from certain neighborhoods or certain backgrounds that you may not have the talent to succeed. So I've seen that the opposite of that. The talent is there. The drive and the commitment is there. The commitment and the persistence is there.



 Oftentimes as you may know, that people coming from different underrepresented backgrounds or backgrounds of communities that have been divested from, that have dealt with historical racism, systemic racism for years, the resiliency is there.



 I grew up, for example, I had an uncle who was from the South. He had a store in front of his house where he sold produce and he sold candy. But he also was the first, like we talk about GoFundMe, all those things. He was the GoFundMe of the neighborhood. People would come to him for small loans because they couldn't get loans from traditional banks. And so they needed money. So he was doing that in the 60s, 70s and 60s. So it's always been there. We have the talent. It's just like I said, the systemic barriers, access to capital, if you don't have certain collateral or for example, like if you understand some of the housing discrimination that existed for almost 100 plus years here and people's property values are lower. So if their property values are lower, they can't go to the bank and utilize their house for collateral. So there's been all these different obstacles that play a part. We could go down the list, but I know we don't have time that people don't understand. But as far as like talent and drive and commitment and persistence and hustle and grit and all these things that we have, it's there. It's always been there and we'll continue to be there. It's just like how do you make sure that some of these barriers like to credit and capital, that we break those down. And then we also break down access, like I talked about earlier, access to information and networks. How do you structure a business for a long term that's going to make sure it's beneficial to you and your family, like all of these things that some other families may already know. How do you provide that information for underrepresented groups as well? So I think that that's the but I think the biggest myth is that the talent and the drive isn't there. So I always tell people, particularly restaurant operators, and I had these conversations with my friends who operate. I've said, hey, so you can talk about you can sit here and talk about like lack of people don't want to work hard anymore. People don't want to do this. You can say all these things, but we could talk to we're blue in the face. But how are you what are you going to do to make sure that you can push through that? And what are you providing to make sure that your environment is it's such an environment that people want to come to work? Because you've got competition now. You've got competition from apps. Yeah. A lot of people, a lot of young people are saying, why would I? Why am I going to work in a restaurant or they're comparing? Why would I work in a restaurant and have to be there four or five hours where I can work Uber, Lyft, Instacart, et cetera, make the same amount of money and create my own schedule. So if you want your restaurant or your operation to be successful, you have to figure out what's your value proposition and be able to be the place where people want to come to work. I love that price. I think that's a great point and maybe a segue into what you were doing and what you created. And I don't know any other person out there that had the title social equity franchise manager. But that pathway to ownership and wealth creation. And I think you're right. It's incumbent upon the owner operators and the companies to create an environment and a pathway. So talk a little bit about that, because maybe that's a myth for the for the potential owners that, hey, there is a path. I took this path or this brand is showing that. Talk a little bit about that and maybe as an example to to attract employees in a way to to provide a pathway.



 Yeah, every table, for those who don't know, every table is a social enterprise food company based in Los Angeles whose mission is to make nutritious food affordable and accessible for all. So they have over 55 locations in Southern California, 10 in New York. And so the food is between is fresh chef prepared meals made every day from scratch and they're sold between six to nine dollars. And then it's priced to the medium income of the neighborhood. And so income neighborhood that is a high income neighborhood, the price is going to be a dollar seventy five less than in a lower income neighborhood. And it's not to subsidize the other. It's because we understood that wherever we whatever community we were in, we wanted to provide that value and that access and we're a company that's rooted in equity. And so being that gentleman, we started to look at the franchise model that's been around forever and think of it in a way is like, how can we create opportunities for underrepresented entrepreneurs to own every table? And so we knew that the barriers were typically, like I said earlier, access to credit capital resources and network. So as we were framing it, we said, well, how can we as a startup company start up meaning that we've been around since 2016, so still considered a young company? And so we still need a capital for the company. But how can we create this franchise program that would create economic mobility and hopefully generational wealth? And because we are our co-founder and president, Sam Polk, formerly owned a nonprofit, he understood the nonprofit space and really started to dig into some of the financing out there and found out about PRI's, which is program related investments, which is a tool that foundations have had at the disposal since the 70s, which says that a foundation can actually invest in a company. It doesn't have to be a nonprofit. If the company is a public benefit corporation and has a mission to it and then also from the foundation side, from the IRS perspective, they can only make, you know, two percent or so off of the money that they loan or invest. And so it's a great way, cheap way to get catalytic capital capital that's low cost to be able to launch something, particularly something like we were doing. So started knocking on doors and got the first PRI, I think, in 2018 from the Kellogg Foundation, which is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, who was really, really passionate about food and racial equity. And so they just bought into every table. And then at the time, social equity franchise program was something that was an idea that was on paper, but they wanted to invest 1.5 million. And then year to date, we've been able to raise about 10 to 11 million dollars total from foundations and PRIs and in a few grants. And so we take that capital and then we recruited and trained so everybody is internal. So you have to be a manager already with every table and good standings. And then you go through your management training and manage a store. And then if you've done that successfully, then you go into what we call every table university, which is learning about entrepreneurial mindset, communications, marketing. And then you have to complete that successfully. And then in that period, we identify a store that we already have that would be a great fit for that entrepreneur, that manager. And then once they finish the training successfully, we identify that store and then they place place them into a store as a franchise owner. So they sign on to a franchise agreement. All the paperwork there and then they pay back the initial build out, which is 300000 dollars, which we subsidize through the money that we raise and plus interest. And they pay that back over five years. Very patient terms, patient capital. And once they pay that off, they own that store or whatever profitability or liability comes through on them as well. So it's a really, really transform or we felt a transformative way to get into the franchise game. But then also, hopefully what we want to see is that economic mobility and then that generational wealth and then our model from a labor perspective, we make all of our food in the commissary. So the food is already made, it goes into the store is already premade. So from a labor perspective, you don't have to prep any food, you're not cooking any food. So it's a lot lighter, lighter, lighter, lighter, lighter, lighter lift, excuse me, on that entrepreneur as well. So we all have our first six owners, excuse me, five owners within about 60 days. And then we are our goal is to over the next couple of years, we'll open about 60 to 65 of a social equity franchise program. So I mean, uh, stores.



 So definitely exciting. Oh yeah. The model so much. I love about the model starting with, and I was fortunate to be at the grand opening of the first one in New York with you. So New York. Yes. Right. And I'm, I'm, I'm not shocked. I'm impressed, but no, it's no surprise that you're at 10 already. But what I loved about it was the commissary model one, two, the engagement of the employees and the team in that store, but three, it was, you know, what, who better to be an owner than somebody who knows your brand is in the brand, has worked the brand, but really, really love it. And the food was delicious and affordable. Right. I think I had freshly prepared salmon for, you know, under $10 right around 10.



 Yeah. The salmon, uh, roasted salmon, adobe salmon with, with cauliflower rice, spinach, pickled, pickled onions, at nine 59, 75 or nine. Part of it too. I think it links to what you said earlier, which, which I think is so admirable too, which is everybody deserves, hence the name, I think everybody deserves access to high quality, healthy foods, no matter where you are, especially given what you described with the systemic, you know, um, discriminations and racism in many cases in certain neighborhoods. So just, I think that resonates along many fronts. So kudos to you on that front, Vinny. Yeah. Bryce. So, uh, I want to get back to at a league consulting, uh, everything you've done. Are you for spoken about, uh, what is the value proposition of at a league consulting



 to, to not only take everything and then because I see at a league consulting as a way of scaling, uh, getting that knowledge, that insights and let it multiply in that many corners of the, of the world as possible. It's really in underserved communities and historically under extended population. So can you tell us a bit more about what at a league consulting is trying to do to make those dreams come true?



 Yeah. A few things. That's all start. I'll start with one that I'll always talk to entrepreneurs about. And like I said, the thing about being an entrepreneur and in this case, let's talk about maybe let's talk specifically, maybe a restaurant operator is that you may be, you may come out of your entry point may, you may have been a chef. So you may be really good at food. Your product is great. You can create recipes, but you so, so on marketing or don't even, never even really thought about marketing. Right. So a good thing about my, my career has been nonlinear. I've had, I've been blessed to do a number of different things. And so I always look at like, how can we tell your story? So that's one value proposition. What is your story? How do we tell it in an engaging way? Particularly those, you know, I have a specific focus on those that are making a social impact. So how are we looking at the social impact that you're making? How are we telling that story in different spaces of media, social media, print, all these different things, conferences, all these different ways that's going to engage people in understanding what you do, why it's so important, and then hopefully they spread the word and they may bring in customers or they just keep your name out there and spread the word. Like we understand my wife is a marketer. And so I've been, I've been, you know, been able to pick her brain over a number of years for free. She charged, she charged me in other ways. Right. But, uh, exactly. And you realize, you realize like you always have to be telling your story. And what I've seen in my, in my time in the philanthropy space, particularly those who may run nonprofits or do things from a social perspective, sometimes they can be humble at a fault, meaning they think that, you know, I just want to do the work, I'm doing great work. I don't necessarily want to talk about it. I don't want to be braggadocious about it. And I say, you know, I push back on that because I feel like if you're doing good and you're making an impact in this world, you should be just as loud and persistent and engaging people as those who are not, because those who are not are definitely out there spreading their, their, uh, as we use, using their powers for evil, because I use like a comic book analogy, like, so I think many of your, one of the things that I could help people work on, and I've done a lot of this through the years and more recently with every table is like really just getting out there and telling the story, telling it in different ways, telling it to different audiences, because there's so much information out there. So we can't assume people sometimes assume that, Oh, I'm doing great stuff. I've told my story and okay. I don't need to tell it anymore. You need to be repetitive repetition and for people to understand. The second thing is, like I said earlier, really realizing how, what kind of capital is out there, uh, how to get access to it, how to frame your story to make sure maybe that you'll be successful in particular in securing it. So I've done that. So that's something that I can help with as well. Um, and then also building, uh, building their network, uh, building their network and access to people that are out there that may be doing things that can be supportive of what they're doing as well. I think that that's big. Oftentimes entrepreneurs just put their head down and they just do the work. And I understand that you got so many things coming at you, but you got to lift your head up, you got to build relationships. You never know who knows who it can open a door for you. So I've been very, I had mentors early in my career. They told me, Hey, yes, do your work. Do your work at a spirit of excellence, but also build your network in the same way, be very intentional and deliberate and consistent about that because you need people in rooms talking about you when you're not there and opening up doors that you never knew existed. And so those are three, you know, three areas. And then the last one is, um, I just spoke at, I was blessed to speak at the culinary Institute of America menus of change summit. And there were students, I spoke to their MBA class, their food business class afterwards, and there are a lot of students in there who have reached out to me since who just need guidance and development and leadership. And they're questioning, you know, questioning which step they should take. And so a lot of times you guys know, like sometimes you just need people to bounce ideas off of that have been where you have been that can help guide you in that way. So those are all areas that I've been able to work in throughout the years. And at my value proposition to clients out there and underrepresented groups and food entrepreneurs and organizations that I'll be, I work with, and then I'll be working with going into the future. Wow. Interesting. Amazing. Amazing. Well, you know, great advice and, and, and you said it before and I was going to ask it, but you just covered it, which is that time you put in, I mean, the mentors don't just come to you, Bryce, you've spent a lot of your time in your life and your career building those relationships, right? And sometimes it takes that late night meeting or, or building those relationships with follow-up. So I love that advice. And I know you'll continue to do great things with helping people create their own ecosystem, right? With like-minded people, people that look like them or have traveled that. So kudos to you. Uh, we really appreciate you spending time. You know, while I didn't know your father, I'm sure he, you know, is, is, is proud of, of not only what you've done, but what you continue to do and build in his honor and his legacy, and, and we couldn't be more proud to be associated with you and help you on your journey now. And going forward before I turn it to Vinny, we just want to thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Bryce, I want to just, one quick question I was going to put forward to you. If you look at what the world is going through today, is there any particular trend, whether regulatory technology, social, name it, what trend will you pick out that you think, Hey, we shape the world of franchising or entrepreneurship?



 Yeah, that's a, that's a great question. I, I didn't think I have, I have an answer. And it may not be specific to what you think, but you just made me think about what I talked about a couple of years ago and what the trend that I would like to see the trend that I think is, is going to be important for us as humanity to make sure that we're around a lot longer, longer than, than, than some people predict, I say that the trend has to be that we have to really be focusing on how are we investing in people? Right. We have more and more people that aren't being included in this, this progress of the world. So for example, always look at, like, if you look at the progress we made from a technology standpoint, so this is where, yeah, this is actually where I talked about this. I, I try to be in different spaces, meaning different industries. So I can, you can, I want to learn, I'm curious, always want to learn what other people are doing. So I went to a tech conference years ago. A lot of people who create apps, people create all this amazing technology. And my position in that coming from food space was just saying, like, make, make sure that when you're thinking about, and everyone doesn't think this way, but when you're creating tools, how are these tools going to be beneficial to humanity overall? And how are they going to help people? Cause if you look at the advancements that we made in technology and how quickly, you know, 20 years ago, smartphones weren't ubiquitous. Social media wasn't ubiquitous. Now AI is emerging. So it's all these things that are emerging. Uh, and, but if you look at, if you parallel that to the advancements that we made in humanity, it seems like we're going backwards and the way in which we treat each other and the way in which the way in which we care for each other. Like we're, we're still in our infancy phases from that perspective. So I'm always, I'll be challenging people. Like how are you going to make sure that whatever you're doing is going to be beneficial for humanity and what kind of love? Yeah. What kind of love are you putting into it to make sure that you remember people, you know, we need each other. Like, yes, there AI has benefits to it and everything has a benefit of pro and a con, but I think oftentimes we get excited about certain things and we don't think about how the impact it's going to have on us as human beings. And if it's going to be a good, a great impact, right? So my challenge and trend is to get more people who say, Hey, I want to create a business, whatever business you're in. I just happened to be blessed to been in food, but if you're in education, you're in politics, you're in religion, you're in, you know, in academia, whatever you're in, like, how are you making sure that you're treating people? As my father would say, it's pretty simple, like treating people how you want to be treated, treating people with respect, but then also investing in people to make sure people can be successful. Obviously people have to do the work as well. That's an obvious thing, but how are we creating pathways for people to live, you know, full and healthy lives, going back to what you said, Vinnie, health as well. So how are we creating those pathways for folks? Well, thanks, thanks, Bryce. We hope and wish and pray that at our at our at our league consulting, we continue to grow. It just is just being born and that we continue to grow and that the success, the impact of at our league consulting is going to surpass all expectations.



 I hope. Yes, yes. You said it from your lips to God's ears.



 Well, no doubt and kudos and congrats on it. And we wish you all the best and thank you, Bryce. Continued collaboration between us on this new chapter.



 Yes, thank you for all your support. Really appreciate it. Thanks. Thanks a lot. That's wish. And we'll talk to you soon.



 Thanks for joining us on this episode of Stars of Franchising.



 Stars of Franchising was produced at Babson College engineered by Travis Gray. Karen Sohle is our guest coordinator and music by Ralph Taylor. If you like Stars of Franchising, be sure to review us wherever you get your podcasts and swear the word and share these stories any way you can.