from a barback to a business owner with libenator

In this episode, I am joined by the chillest guy in Toronto Mr. Leebs (Liben Bihon or @libenator on IG ) who is the general manager and part-owner of Susies Toronto! Leebs started his service industry experience as a barback at Cactus Club in Vancouver and through a lot of time, hard work and passion, has opened up Susies diner with some of his closest and oldest friends. We talk about doing what you love and loving what you do, the beauty of going into business with your best friends, the trap of the service industry, Emily's unfortunate highschool experiences, the Cactus Club cult, the restaurant hierarchy, paddle-boarding, being the best version of ourselves for our guests, the un-sexy sides of a restaurant, being beaten down as a barback and network in nightlife. We hope you enjoy (and ignore the bad mic quality hehe)! 

 If you are experiencing a crisis please phone Crisis Services Canada at 1-833-456-4566, or text HOME to 686868 in Canada to text with a trained Crisis Responder.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:01

You are now tuned into Club Therapy with Emily Chan.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

It's tough to break into the restaurant scene in Toronto. And somehow, while we're in a procession, Suzy's has managed to be a beacon of light and one of the busiest new restaurants in Toronto, you guys. So welcome back to Club Therapy. I missed you guys, and I hope you missed me. Today we have Leebs here. What's up? What's up?

SPEAKER_04 0:28

What's going on?

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Leaves runs Suzy's and is the general manager there. And that's actually how we met, I think, through Suzy's.

SPEAKER_04 0:34

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 0:35

Yeah. I've had the pleasure of meeting you and a lot of the NPM crew and some solid people in Toronto.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Yeah, we come by pretty often.

SPEAKER_04 0:43

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

So I was gonna say, how has Suzy's been?

SPEAKER_04 0:46

It's been good. It's good, yeah. I mean, it it's so humbling to have creative space that people enjoy coming to, you know. I January, February, these last couple months are typically a slow time in this industry. And it's hasn't been for us, which is such a like just so grateful. You know, I think the city's embraced us in a way that we're just really, really thankful for and I just hope that we can give it back and put something cool for you guys.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

I feel like it's like a nice, like little cozy pocket, you know what I mean? It's very cozy in there. I love going to see. It's very cool.

SPEAKER_04 1:20

By design, by design, I think we really wanted to create a space that I think environment energy is like really something we're conscious of and what we wanted to create. And you know, Susie's was or is based on So Susie's partner Adam's grandma, and so like the space we were trying to create is that or the feeling we're trying to create is what it's like going to grandma's house, you know, which is typically cozy, warm, inviting, yeah, comfortable.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Is her name Susie?

SPEAKER_04 1:47

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Well that makes sense.

SPEAKER_04 1:49

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Nice.

SPEAKER_04 1:50

So that's that was kind of the inspiration of like where the name came from and what we were trying to create.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

And and it's like an Asian-inspired diner, right? Like that's kind of like the background, which I think makes it really unique, right?

SPEAKER_04 2:00

Like, I don't I don't have any other we were careful not to like overdo the fusion portions of it. I think a lot of a lot of the fusion elements are intentional and yeah. So I but yes, it is I say I always say it as an American diner with an Asian twist.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

That's a great way to put it, and that's exactly what it feels like when you're in there as well. So you guys hit the nail on the head right there.

SPEAKER_04 2:24

Perfect. Love to hear that.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Well, I wanted to ask, like, so can you tell me a bit about your background like before Suzy's? Like, what was your industry experience before you started working at Suzy's?

SPEAKER_04 2:32

Yeah, good question. I feel like I was pretty late, relatively speaking, to join the industry. I think a lot of my friends at the time had like it was their first job, they're 16, bus boys. And I don't think I joined till probably 20 or 21, which at the time I felt old being a and I was a bus boy when I started.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

That's actually so young, right? Yeah, yeah. Like you're literally a baby. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:58

But as a 21-year-old busboy, and I'm with all these 16-year-olds, I was like, oh man, I'm you know, I'm so much older than these guys, but not really. But yeah, I don't know why I always felt like I had a late start. But looking back, I mean, yeah, 20, 21, I can't remember exactly, but that's still pretty young. But yeah, I started as a bus boy at Pactus Club. I that was my first restaurant job in Vancouver.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Which location were you at? Out of curiosity.

SPEAKER_04 3:21

I started at Cole Harbor, which was like the flagship big behemoth 600 seater.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Yeah, that one's ginormous. That one's the the big one, right? Like I think it's the biggest one.

SPEAKER_04 3:31

I think it's the biggest. I think by square footage, the one that actually brought me to Toronto is the Sherway one. I think it's bigger by square footage, but I don't know. The Cole Harbor one's a different beast. I think it's like just a beautiful location, it's right by the water.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Oh, it's so nice. I love having a nice bellini on the patio there. Oh, it's beautiful. It just hits different.

SPEAKER_04 3:48

Yeah, yeah. So that's where I started. And honestly, it was just kind of to get me through school. I didn't really think of it as a career path for me, but I had a friend that kept telling me to come join Characters Club, and I'd worked actually across the street for a telecommunications company, Shaw. And she's like, dude, like, what are you working there for? You'd have so much fun here. And she kept trying to get me on to join. And I realized now that it was perfect. You know, you get to work with people your age. That's fine. When you're in your 20s, you're in it, you know, you're in the world. You get to meet people as well. Like everything, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

I think like it really opens up your social life.

SPEAKER_04 4:24

For sure. Absolutely. Because before that, it's who you went to school with, who you grew up with. It's kind of like that's all you know. And so this kind of was the first time that you're kind of making new circles of friends. And I was lucky enough to be able to like bridge the gap and have my high school and like childhood friends join my industry friends.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

That's the best. I love that. You know, we I used to say about cactus club when I because I'm from Vancouver as well.

SPEAKER_04 4:49

Yes, that's right. I always forget that.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

I know, I always forget that too until you just said that just now. Yeah. So I'm in like I'm in like the East Fan. I grew up in the East Fan, like Burnaby area basically. Where'd you grow up in?

SPEAKER_04 4:59

East Fan and Burnaby. So when I was a kid, I grew up in North Burnaby. Yeah, I know, it's wild. I grew up in North Burnaby as a kid near Brentwood area.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Me too.

SPEAKER_04 5:07

No way.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

Yeah, Wellington Heights. Wow.

SPEAKER_04 5:09

I went to Brentwood Park Elementary.

unknown 5:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 5:12

Yeah, and I would have gone to either Alf or Burnaby North if I stuck around for high school. But I moved when I was grade six, I started in East Van. I see. So we're and then went to Killarney, it was my high school.

unknown 5:24

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

Yeah, that's so crazy. I lived right beside there. I'm actually, I went to a really small dude. I went to a weird school. It was a really small alternative school called Stratford Hall. Have you ever heard of it? It's right on commercial drive. It's literally tiny. It was an IB school. I don't know if you know it enough. Yeah, so it was just I I think I was just a I was just a girl in an IB school. You know what I mean? Because I didn't do very I didn't really do very well in that school. Because we would have, I mean, A, it was like a really tough program. B, there was just they had you doing so much. Like I'd have like circus class. I'm not even kidding. I would have like outdoor ed once a week. I would have like in my gym class and stuff like that, like instead of doing like Was this something you always wanted to do?

SPEAKER_04 6:02

Is this something you wanted to get into, or was it something your parents put you into?

SPEAKER_01 6:05

My parents put me in and it was a K to 12, and I was locked in there. I was like begging them, I was like, let me go to Clarney, let me go to French, and they would just they wouldn't let me.

SPEAKER_04 6:12

Interesting. Yeah. Did you feel like you missed out on any like I don't know what how small it was, but like a high school experience, or did you see your friends from other places and be like, I want yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

A thousand percent. That's a great question. I honestly really did feel like I missed out on certain high school experiences because my school was so small, and it was also just like a bit of an unusual school. It was I don't want to hate on it. It was still like a good school, but so small. Like even like my grad class, I think there was like 30 people in my grad class.

SPEAKER_04 6:40

30?

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_04 6:41

And so it just got 700 in ours.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

Yeah, that see, that makes sense. And like I feel like with that comes like a whole different experience. Like with being around 30 people that I literally grew up with. Like, A, we're all so close. Um, but then there's also like so much drama, right? Like, like, and you couldn't really like, you know, hook up with people or anything. Like, I people would, right? But it was just it felt like kind of incesty, you know, because we're all like literally growing up together.

SPEAKER_04 7:04

Yeah, kid at 12.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

That's a long time with uh yeah, with the same people. And then I feel like I missed out on things like, you know, we'd have like a school dance, but it wouldn't be like like the school dance would have like we'd have like 40 people in a room, you know what I mean? And that would be like two grades, two full grades, like, you know, in like a small room together. Oh, yeah, of course. I feel like I missed out on stuff like that, or like going to like, you know, like the football game or some of the stuff like like homecoming, like my school didn't really do things like that. I mean, they did other stuff, but yeah, I kind of missed out on that experience. It's funny though, when you're saying cactus club, because I remember I was like in a Plata Cactus Club when I was 16, and someone said to me, They were like, Oh my god, you're gonna join the cactus club cult. Because that's what people will say about cactus club, you know, especially Vancouver, because there's one on like every blog. Literally, everyone has like some kind of experience there, whether they've worked in it or like they used to go like go all the time. Yeah, it's a classic.

SPEAKER_04 7:54

Yeah, yeah. And especially at like it's in usually when you're joining that team, it's such a in your formative years, too. I could see the culty thing. I I definitely heard it. I was obviously drinking the juice, so I didn't see it. And and you know what? Like when I think cult, I think bad. So in that sense, there wasn't really like it was a lot of positives that came out of that. Everything I learned was a great training program, and so I look back very fondly of my experience there.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

How long were you there for then?

SPEAKER_04 8:21

Uh almost 10 years. Oh my gosh, yeah, I think like eight, eight and a half or something like that. That's what brought me out to Toronto.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

I uh to open up cactus clips.

SPEAKER_04 8:30

Yeah, yeah. So usually you'll do an open and they'll like send you for a few months and come back. And you know, this time around, they offered an opportunity to stay out there. They asked if I would be willing to stay out there for two years. Just to kind of it's hard to build culture and like really have an impact on on the space when you're only there for three, four months. So and I think obviously they want they wanted to build a a team out there, so I agreed at the time. I you know, I don't have kids and I wasn't in a relationship, so it was a pretty easy. Like, why not? Yeah, they pay for it all. Yeah, yeah. They they made it such an easy yes. So yeah, I packed up my bags and came to Toronto, coincidentally. So, you know, I hit the group chat saying, Hey guys, you know, moving to Toronto, do that July 1st. Matt, one of the Susie's partners, happened to also be moving into Toronto a week before me. No, right.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

From Vancouver as well?

SPEAKER_04 9:25

Yeah, from Vancouver.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

He's from Vancouver.

SPEAKER_04 9:26

We all are, yeah. We all grew up. We all went to the same high school.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

That's why I love you guys.

SPEAKER_04 9:30

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We uh Vancouver Connect. Vancouver Lab. We all find each other. Exactly. Microck. Microck, the lunch lady crew, like yeah, there's a lot of a lot of good energy comes from Vancouver.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

For sure. I feel like people from Vancouver, they're just drawn to each other. For sure. You know, I don't know what I can't put my finger on exactly what it is, but you feel that, right?

SPEAKER_04 9:46

Always. And it's not even just in Toronto, like I'll be in I remember being in Australia traveling on some like meeting somehow meeting people like from Vancouver or yeah, being abroad, you'll somehow find if if not Vancouver. Like West Coast, yeah, yeah. Or like some from LA or Seattle or something like that. You're like there's there's like a a chillness to West Coast people, I find. Absolutely, yeah. But Toronto's such an amazing city, too.

SPEAKER_01 10:09

So you met Matt through like you guys were in this group chat.

SPEAKER_04 10:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we we've known each other since eighth grade. Yeah. Adam and Tyler as well, the other Susie's guys. Yeah, I hate the group chat. You said he was coming to Toronto as well. He was in finance and had a little corporate job going. And so we we basically moved to Toronto together. And I was doing the restaurant thing, he was in finance, and yeah, worked at Cactus up until COVID, actually.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

And then what happened? Oh, I guess COVID shut everything down.

SPEAKER_04 10:37

Yeah, it shut things down, and it just made you reflect and like I start you start thinking whether this is what you wanted to do or not. Again, I never really intentionally decided like this is what I want to do. I want to be a restaurant operator. Um but you kind of just you realize when they say do what you love, you realize well, I was able to realize that like this job kind of checked off all those boxes. You know, I love to meet people, I enjoy create like making people happy, and I enjoy it a day that's different every day.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

Oh yeah, the restaurant, the service industry will be like that, right? Like you can't you just can't anticipate who's gonna walk in, right?

SPEAKER_04 11:16

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Every day is so different. And and so I think that's yeah, I I just ended up realizing that this this is actually what I like to do.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Wow, and you're like, this is like my passion.

SPEAKER_04 11:27

Yeah, yeah. And again, it's it's weird. Like lately I've been looking back and like reflecting and and realizing that this is what I love. Like I love my job. And you know, doing it with your boys that you've known since you were 14, 13, uh makes it even better. So cactus will burn me out here. I started to bust boy, I worked my way up. By the time I got sent to Toronto, I was already in management. And yeah, I think I that's when I started to kind of learn what my strengths were in this industry, and you know, connecting with people was really one of the things that I really enjoyed and was good at.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

And it's honestly it's not for everyone, it's tough to do. There's some people that like really struggle with it, and that's okay, you know. For sure. But I'm like, the the service industry is it's not for you. Yeah, yeah. It's not for you.

SPEAKER_04 12:15

And you know what? Some people don't realize it and like force themselves through it. I'm like, man, like you don't have to do this.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

Yeah, like you can choose at any point to do something different.

SPEAKER_04 12:24

Yeah, you know, and I think there's obviously not that many industries that I can think of that you can make good money in and succeed in and not have to have like a formal education. And yeah, you know, so I I I get the pull towards it.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

And I think a lot of there's like this narrative I think that happens quite often, especially from like how old are you?

SPEAKER_04 12:43

I'm 34, I'm turning 35.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Okay, that's very honest. And if you want, I'll bleep it. Keep it in the let's keep it in there. Let's keep it in there. But I feel like, you know, in the past, when you would think about the service industry, there's like this narrative, right? That you know, the service industry was like a second choice or second option, you know? Or there's like this belief that, you know, the service industry was a trap, right? That you would get stuck in it and like it, you would, you know, just not do well.

SPEAKER_04 13:08

Just a stepping stone to like something else, or like exactly.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

And then if you stayed in it, then you know you were uns unsuccessful or something like that. Which I don't think is the case, right? Like I think a lot of people are realizing that now you can be so successful in the service industry. Absolutely depends on the kind of person you are.

SPEAKER_04 13:22

I think there's like yeah, I think a stigma or like just beliefs uh uh around titles as well, like oh, you're just a server, you know what I mean? Yeah. Where it's like, you know, I know servers that work at really high-end places that clear, you know, over 100k, 150k. Easy. Easy.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

You know, so and they have like flexibility with their schedule and they have, you know what I mean? I'm trying to think of what else.

SPEAKER_04 13:45

No, flexibility is huge, man. I don't think about how many jobs do you do you see? I'm sure I don't know, this exists as a therapist where you can like text someone to fill in for you. Hey, last minute, hey, I something came up. Can you take my shift? Yeah, no problem.

SPEAKER_01 13:57

I know. Sometimes I wish I could do that. Like, I'm I'm just a therapist and I I just work for myself, right? And so I can't, there's no sub, right? If I'm sick, I'm not getting paid and I can't, yeah, you know what I mean? Like there's there's no one to cover for me. And I just have to like kind of deal with that. So I really try to take care of my health because I'm like, I A, I don't want to let my clients down, right? But B, I'm like, I also not like I can't afford to, but I I would rather not like miss a couple of days of work.

SPEAKER_04 14:22

She actually has to, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

But yeah, the service industry is great. Like even yesterday, like I just picked up a shift, right? Like I was looking at my bank account and I was like, you know what, I should work. Yeah, I should work. Like it's yeah, like I'm going away next week, and I was like, I could use like six hundred dollars. Yeah, I'll just I'll pop in.

SPEAKER_04 14:38

There are times when, yeah, I have a trip to pay for, or you have something that you want to save up for, and like I can just decide for the next three months. I'm gonna pick up doubles, I'll work the extra hour if I want to work one day a week, and I have done that. There, you know, as I've gotten older, I've realized sometimes taking time off is okay, and like taking little breaks and like you know, working one day a week for now, just for a few weeks, just to reset for a bit and then jump right back into it. But again, not many jobs that you can do that. Do that, you know, work one day a week and still sustain living in a city.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

What's your schedule look like right now? Susie's like, are you there almost every day? I'm there. I feel like you live there. Yeah, yeah. I feel like you're living under the base, like in the end there.

SPEAKER_04 15:17

People always joke about that because they'll like drive by and like you're just there. It's open window, and so you can like see what are you doing there? Restaurant's been closed for so long. I am there every day. I think again, being passionate and loving the job makes that part easy. But it's also like the growth phase. You know, we're still new and eventually we'll hire people to replace us and for sure. But for now, it's I want to enjoy it. I want to be there, you know.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

The space has kind of become a third place for us where our friends will come hang out with us while we finish up our clothes and we'll just hang out a bit and chat and have a beer and it's I feel like you guys do have like a good sense of like community and and family kind of there, you know? Yeah. That's a vibe I get from Susie's.

SPEAKER_04 15:59

Yeah, yeah. You know, we've we've so grateful to have so many friends that support us and have lent a hand and love being in the space and we'll spend time with. Rep the merch. Yeah, rep the merch. Yeah, all day. All day. It's all I wear now. But yeah, you know, it's nice, especially because you know, we don't work and be there every day, and you know, we're there for many, many hours of the day. The friends that understand it know how to get a hold of us and how to see us. And so we have to come to see you. You know, and I might not be able to do the our time spent is not like the traditional way of like you know, meeting for a coffee or you know, doing whatever, hanging out with friends. At least not as often. You know, we have our days off still, but what days do you normally kind of take off? So Monday, Tuesdays are the days we're closed. So naturally those are kind of those are our days off. Um, but we rotate. Monday we all have off. I think we've created uh a safety net around our Mondays. We all kind of leave each other alone for a bit.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Monday's a holy day. Yeah, that's what I always say. Because Monday's my day off as well. I have mon Sundays and Mondays off. So Monday's like my Sunday. I guess Monday's like your Saturday, right? Yeah, basically. Yeah, yeah. But it's a special day, so quiet on a Monday.

SPEAKER_04 17:11

Yeah, when we first started, it was funny because I would I would disappear. Like my friend, like the the boys in the Susie's group chat would be like, you know, talking work stuff in the group chat, and I'm unresponsive. But I when we first opened, it was in May, and so it was still nice weather, and I randomly picked up paddle boarding. Never done it before. Uh gone with a friend and enjoyed it. So I would spend Monday afternoons out in the water, and my phone would be in a locker. So I didn't have my phone on me for hours. And so I'd come back to a bunch of tax. Yeah, yeah. The group chats popping off, and now there's a joke that like you won't get a hold of Leave It on a Monday, but it's not not on purpose.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

It's just not on purpose.

SPEAKER_04 17:50

I'm usually just yeah, thin that boundary. A little like, yeah, I think the paddleboarding was a way to like escape the phone. I'm naturally like pretty close to my phone, and even though I intend to not want to be on it, I am when it's on me.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

So I feel like you can't help it, like, especially like yeah, like being in the industry, like you'll you'll have someone that's like booking through you, or like someone will have a you're having to talk to someone about like fixing this. You just have to stay on your phone. But it's good to disconnect.

SPEAKER_04 18:17

Yeah, it's good for business to have it, it's a tool, absolutely. And I struggle with staying off it, so I'm trying. So my way of doing it is forcing it, like going paddleboarding and or doing something like leave it alone. But it's been cold.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

So well, are there like any other things that you do to kind of decompress from working in the industry? Because I mean, you guys are there like I feel like you guys are there like literally all day, right? Yeah, we're there all day. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:42

Because he goes open like we're open at 10, we're usually there like nine. I I'm the I'm notoriously not a morning person. So Tyler's at like 6 30, but he tends to leave a little bit earlier.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

That's what probably why I've never met Tyler before. Yeah, he's never there after before like noon.

SPEAKER_04 18:59

Yeah. Matt and I we put ourselves through some nights and are morning sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

So that's why we're not morning people.

SPEAKER_04 19:05

Yes, that's right. I'm like, you know what? I never have been. My entire existence in this industry has been nights. Uh was literally my title was night manager for a long time, and so that came with you know 2 a.m. closes and I'm home at four. And but but you don't start till 3 p.m. Exactly. So it's like you can do it. I've held on to that, those habits, but I still have to be at work at 9 a.m. So decompressing for me that Monday thing is yeah, I try and keep it non-work related as much as I can. And then honestly, I don't know if it's healthy, but just like a cold beer after work and just you know venting about the day and going over some you know stuff that went through all the day is usually how Matt and I will decompress. Or music for me is a big one. Put my AirPods in and find an album and just listen to that.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

That sounds gorgeous.

SPEAKER_04 20:02

Yeah. I don't know that I've created like an actual healthy decompressing routine, to be honest.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

But Well, do you feel like you need one or do you feel like you're okay like doing like what you're doing right now?

SPEAKER_04 20:12

I think I've just done it so long that it's all I know. I don't I don't know I don't know what decompressing I feel I don't I yeah, I don't know. Like I I I feel like I can unwind pretty quickly. I'm able to like compartmentalize work and personal life pretty well. So for me it's like, you know, when work's done, work's done, and I try to keep it separate or or at least let it wait for tomorrow, you know, if it's not something I need to do right this second.

SPEAKER_01 20:39

Maybe like set a boundary a little bit?

SPEAKER_04 20:41

A little bit. Like yeah. And again, I don't know if it's like an intentional boundary, but it just that's just how I've always operated, I suppose.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Um, uh okay, like being in like you've been in the industry now for so long and like you're even there, like you're there five days a week. How does your mental health feel?

SPEAKER_04 20:58

Being with friends really helps. I think we support each other a lot, which is huge. I I don't know that I would I don't know that it would work the same without the partners that I have. Like we're really good at giving each other the time we need. You know, there's times when I have a bad habit of like taking my time with like getting out of there. Like I really could. You know, the restaurant closes at 10, we do our clothes, you know, 11 30, 12. But I just drag and stay till you know one, 1 30, and I gotta be back in the morning. And so the boys are really good about, you know, we've given giving me a later start if I need it. You know, Matt will come in early, or I'll, you know, we'll do vice versa. You guys can support each other in that. Yeah, yeah. You know, like uh because of how much we work, sometimes it's you know, we still have personal lives that we'd like to exist in. You know, so you know, when Tyler says there's an opportunity to go, it is a golf tea time, that would mean you have to leave early. Absolutely, man. Go go enjoy some golf. I know that's what you love. You know, if Matt wants to go I think he's doing Coachella the next weekend. I think it's happening. Oh, that's fine.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

Yeah, I know a lot of people going actually to Coachella this weekend.

SPEAKER_04 22:05

Yeah, those would be cool. Yeah. So we'll we'll take turns and like give each other those moments. And you know, I don't think we all have to the the sacrifices don't always have to all be happening at the same time from all of us equally. But if you guys each Yeah, we all take our turns, you know. Like there are there are times when I want to do something, or like, yeah, we and we just talk to each other. Being friends makes it really easy, and we have no filter with each other and we'll say it straight. And if we can't, we can't. Listen, man, we need you. You gotta find another day. But otherwise, we try as much as we can to give each other moments to enjoy our personal life as well.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

Good. You know, that's really refreshing to hear because I feel like I've spoken to so many people, like in my personal life and in like a professional setting as well, and they talk about going into business with friends, and so often it doesn't work out, right? Like I've I'm not I don't want to say you guys are an anomaly, you know, but it is more rare to hear that you know things are going well and like you know, you feel like your mental health is good because of the support you have. Yeah. Right. Absolutely, you know, your friends that you get to work with, you know.

SPEAKER_04 23:06

For sure. For sure. Yeah. I and you know, I think we always we've always said friendship first. So if there's anything that's gonna get in the way of the friendship and it's a business related thing, we'll prioritize the friendship. I think there's no I can't think of a dollar figure that's gonna make us break up. Yeah, that's that's worth the trouble of risking the friendship. You know, it's either we're all in it, we agree, or or you know, if anyone has hesitations, we'll speak up. You know? I think that's important. And and there's a level of trust that you can't buy. There's that only time can give you. And that's something I'm I'm very grateful for. And I didn't realize till later in life that I thought everyone had was still friends with their high school friends.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

No, it's funny. I kind of I said this in my last episode, and I'm I think also because I I have a lot of friends that move from Vancouver to Toronto. I feel like there is like a that's like a big pipeline, right? Like Vancouver to Toronto is like major, yeah, especially around this age that we're in, you know?

SPEAKER_04 24:01

There's more and more coming.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

Exactly. And then I feel like people sometimes move back, sometimes they stay here. It just depends. But so many people I know right now from high school are and like from my childhood are in Toronto, but they kind of move more recently. And so I yeah, like it's been nice. I've been reconnecting with some like of my older friends and stuff like that, but I'm not actually like with the actual there's like a group of girls that I'm still really close to from my high school, which duh, you know, like there's literally 30 people in my grave, but like these girls, like they're like family to me. Like they feel like sisters and cousins. Like, I'm so close with them still. And we just like we kind of check in with each other. Like every time I'm in Vancouver, I'll normally see one of them or all of them or a few of them. Yeah, but yeah, like I don't know. I just I I honestly don't really feel like besides those girls, like I'm really close to a lot of people from high school. Yeah. You know, I feel like after I graduated, I moved right to Toronto and I just didn't really get to, I just didn't really keep in touch with like a lot of the people I went to specifically high school with, you know. And I kind of wish I did, you know, I miss them. I'm curious. It's my 10-year reunion this year, and I'm I need to go. I'm gonna like I I gotta look so good. I'm like, I'm gonna get all the work done. I'm gonna lose 10 pounds. I was like, I gotta come in and look amazing, but I'm just really curious to hear about what everyone's up to, you know?

SPEAKER_04 25:13

Yeah. Yeah, it was interesting. We went to ours, it's been a while now, but it was cool to see. And it's always nice to catch up with people and see where everyone's at and what they've done. And with our group, honestly, it's we're all kind of in touch. Even like Susie's is just a small part of the the bigger group of friends that we still keep in touch with. So there's not a whole lot of questions about what everyone's up to because I'm I still talk to all of them.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

You see all of them, but that is fair, like kind of what you're saying. Yeah, you're like, Oh, I didn't realize you're kind of just like an anomaly.

SPEAKER_04 25:39

Totally, yeah. And I think also I feel like being apart from friends, I thought, like, I was really homesick when I first moved here. My first two years, I told myself the second my cactus contract's up, I'm out. That was everyone knew Levin's out of Toronto. And it was because that entire crew, outside of Matt, no one else was here from our crew. So and Matt and I had opposite schedules. He was in finance Monday to Friday. You're working nights, and I'm working, you know, he wants to invite me out on the weekends. I'm like, that's when I'm the busiest, or I'm the latest. And so it was hard for us to connect. And so I think I just missed my circle of friends, and so that made me really homesick. I have a small family, so friends have really felt that. Friends to me are like family, so I'm really close and I hold them near and dear to my heart. So I remember thinking I'm out of here the second I my contract's up.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

Can I tell you something? I felt the same way when I first moved to Toronto. Yeah. But I lived on keep in mind, I lived on Jarvis and Dundas.

SPEAKER_04 26:33

Ooh, okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

In the student residences of TMU, I was like, did not like Toronto. I was like right in the young Dundas kind of square, and I just, oh my god, I hated it.

SPEAKER_04 26:42

It was It's so different, right? It's so different than my cooperative. If nothing exists, like you go to Young and Dundas, it's it reminds you you're in a big city. You know, you got like crazy stuff going on. It reminds you kind of like New York, obviously, Times Square vibes. But you got like Yeah, it's just loud, it's busy, and you know, you don't have your your circle, your people are with you, you know, and not that I didn't make friends, but just didn't feel the same, you know.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

Yeah, because it like the friendships, like especially when you first move here, like you're so used to like like I kind of felt like that too. Like I grew up with like literally like this class of like 30 people, and then I came to university, and I was like, Oh, these friendships aren't feeling that good, but it's because like I just met these people, you know, and it takes time to build like strong relationships with people. But it's easy to forget that when you first move to a place.

SPEAKER_04 27:27

Yeah, yeah. And like I think looking back, I think I kind of blocked the ability to like create deep friendships because I had in my mind that I'm leaving. So I was like, what's the point? You know, I was like, I'm leaving in two years. This is my exit date. What's the point of you know, building foundations of like a strong friendship here? Because I'm just gonna leave anyway. So I kind of just like was like a no-new friends when I first moved here. But yeah, something shifted in that like year and a half to two years. I yeah, you start building a community and finding people that you connect with, and lo and behold, as time moved on, more and more people from Vancouver came to Toronto, and so it slowly happens.

SPEAKER_01 28:05

Yeah, what's like something that like someone wouldn't think of that is like you know, or maybe something that's people are romanticizing about owning a busy or owning slash running a busy diner.

SPEAKER_04 28:14

Yeah, yeah. Restaurants are sexy from the outside. Yeah, they are they're fun, there's great looking people in there, the energy's nice, the food's good, but there's a lot of moving parts behind the scenes that aren't so pretty. And not that they're negative or bad way, but it's just a lot of hard work. You know, and so I think a lot of people underestimate the energy, uh, the effort, the care, the love that has to go into this to make it succeed. I think for Susie's something that's not so sexy. I think you know, we we just had our first equipment breakdown. It was like the heating and cooling system that are not cheap, you know, and you get hit with this big bill, and you know, we're fortunate enough to be in a position where we found some early success, and you know, we could pay the bill, but I can't I can't imagine being uh, you know, mom pop and like independent just starting and getting hit with a big bill like that. Like I I don't even know what you did. You shut like shut down, you know, it's like I don't know, it sucks, yeah. Yeah, yeah, like keep the place clean. It's not it's not glamorous, you know, to have to clean up stuff and wipe down surfaces and clean toilets and you know, it's a part of the job.

SPEAKER_01 29:23

You know, at AMPM, like because we're random Parkdale, yeah, people will take shits in front of the door all the time. Oh my god. Yeah, all the time. Because we're gonna do it. Someone's gonna clean it, you know? And someone's gotta clean it. Oh my god, thank God if Tommy, I couldn't do that. I couldn't do that. But we have a really we have some really amazing barbacks. Yeah. They, oh my god, these guys are these guys are brave, brave man. Like some of the stuff I've had to see, see them clean and like just deal with like even like a two weeks ago, someone, some kid, he like came in, it was like 10 30. Um, and he just he just walked to I I walked into his table and he just started like he seemed totally fine. Randomly just started puking blood everywhere, everywhere, and covered like two full tables, and then just acted like nothing happened.

SPEAKER_04 30:06

And I was there like, dude, what?

SPEAKER_01 30:09

I was looking at him in shock. I was like, Are you serious? And then he was upset because I was like, You can't you can't be here. I'm sorry. Like that's what if you do that again, like that's so fucked up that you just did that, you know? And he's like, No, I'm fine. I'm like, if you were fine, you'd be able to, you know, like have the common sense to go to the bathroom and you know, like, and we were just kind of going back and forth, and then I called the barbecks over, and I I think I was feeling kind of nauseous that day, and I they were cleaning it up, and I was like, like I was just gay the whole time, or like sometimes I'll come into my shift, and yeah, there's like unhoused people outside of at the front, you know, like a lot of like mentally ill people as well. Yeah, and then yeah, like literally human shit. Yeah, you know, because like it's it's parked ill and like yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_04 30:48

I've been in that position, man. I I know what it's like, so shout out to AMPM's barbacks, they're they're the best. They're doing God's work.

SPEAKER_01 30:55

Yeah, because like I feel like barbacks are and like people who are, you know, I feel like there unfortunately is, I think less so now, and especially once you kind of move to like smaller restaurants and clubs and bars and stuff like that. But at a place like Cactus Club, and I've worked at some places that were more corporate, there really is a hierarchy, right? Like I feel like and I feel like it's a bit better now. I feel like people are kind of getting over that. They're like, we're all the same here. But when you first start, you really feel that hierarchy.

SPEAKER_04 31:20

Absolutely. Yeah, you you know, you start out. It's almost like there's like this energy of you have to earn your stripes. Absolutely. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 31:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:26

And I would imagine, like, you know, the first servers, the lounge was always like the pinnacle of like the hierarchy. Like there's what all the girls wanted to get up to is like the lounge server.

SPEAKER_01 31:36

So they probably made the most money, right? Yeah, yeah. It was the busy section.

SPEAKER_04 31:39

Yeah, it was the yeah, totally. But then for the guys, it was I was the barter, like being a bartender in the in the well. And so, but there was no chance you were gonna get in there without previous experience, or and to get that experience, you gotta start from the bottom. Yeah, you gotta earn your stripes.

SPEAKER_01 31:53

Did you ever have moments where you felt like kind of beaten down as like a bar back?

SPEAKER_04 31:56

Yeah, I mean, yeah, when you're when you're cleaning shit.

SPEAKER_01 31:59

Yeah. I've done it.

SPEAKER_04 32:00

But I was like, question, what am I doing right now? Yeah, this sucks. But you know, I think you're right. I think it's shifted a little bit, and I think you know, I I look at it from a different lens now as a GM where and I've I've come up with some really I I've come under some really great mentors of mine that have led in a way that I always told myself I would lead the same way. And you know, I remember the first time I had to clean shit, my GM came to me and it was Hey I was like, hey, uh so there's a mess downstairs, you're not gonna like it. I'll happily do it, but you know, if you if you do it, I got a burger and a beer for you after your shift. And but if you can tell me no, and I'll I'll I'll do it.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

I I really like that approach, you know, even just asking instead of telling, but I think that's a sign of a good manager, right?

SPEAKER_04 32:50

Yeah, he was I've learned so much from shout out to Ben Cooney. But that always that always stood out to me. And so, you know, I think nowadays there is more of that. We and as a team collectively, we we do what we can to support each other, and whether the the titles don't really matter anymore as much. You know, the the dirty messes could come or can be cleaned by the GM, the owners, plus it's you know, yeah, whoever has the free time. Yeah, yeah, it's yeah, whoever makes the most sense at that time.

SPEAKER_02 33:21

For sure.

SPEAKER_04 33:22

And so I think we yeah, that's kind of the culture we like to create at Susie's.

SPEAKER_01 33:26

I feel like it's and it's getting a bit better as well, like generally it's places.

SPEAKER_04 33:35

I just feel like it's a different world than what we might have come up in.

SPEAKER_01 33:39

Yeah, because I started I I don't think I've talked about this yet, but I actually worked at King Taps, the sister restaurant. Yes, I did. So I never worked at Cactus Club, but I worked at yeah, the sister restaurant. So it was a very similar King Street? On King Street, yes. And I think I was like maybe 20 at the time. Um I was I had hosted at this other place called The Citizen for a couple of years. And then I just like I tried to lie my way into serving, and King Taps just saw right through through like your hosting. So Earn your stripes, yeah. Earn your stripes, and to be honest, that was a place though, because I I was hosting previously, right? Like a place that was corporate, but a little less corporate than you know, King Taps and Cactus Club. But that environment for me, my own experience there, like I think also I'm a bit more of a type B person. It just did not align with me. And I feel like you know, I think it worked for a lot of people, yeah. But that was that experience made me feel really beaten down when I came in. I just felt like just beaten down, like at that specific time, there was like this really kind of evil manager that was there. I won't name a name, but she was a little evil, and she kept promising me that I was gonna serve if I did like a month or two of hosting. And I was like, okay, and so I was thugging it out, but just like as a host, I was cleaning up, I would clean up the bathrooms, I would clean up, you know, and I would be running food, I would be letting all the candles burn like my hands. I would have burns all over my hands because I would light like candles on like a hundred tables, you know, 150 tables, and you know, you would be cleaning you'd be cleaning up all the time, and I felt really separated as well from the rest of the restaurant, too.

SPEAKER_04 35:08

Yeah, because you're at you're stuck at the door, right? You can't be amongst it. Yeah, I yeah, I I can totally empathize with that. It's not a fun thing. I think it was also like being in that in those years, too. You know, I I don't know if it was the salmon king types, but we we joked that it was cactus high. It felt like the drama and so-and-so hooked up with this person's ex and this or this person got promoted, and this person will felt they deserved it better, and you know, you have those moments too, and that's like a whole other slew of things you deal with outside of the job itself, like the social element, and like it looked like a high school, right? You want to be a part of the things, and someone someone started a house party, and or someone's birthday you didn't get invited to, but the whole host team did, and like you know, I think you know that literally happened to me.

SPEAKER_01 35:56

All the hosts, yeah, like they all got invited to I think one of the servers or bartenders' birthday, and it made sense because like I I think I was newer, yeah, fair, you know, and that was really hurtful. But I also understood at the same time, I'm like, no one's obligated to invite me, they don't know me like it's a birthday, but then it would be like something like it'd be like the birthday would be literally I think taps like in front of me and I was like down, yeah. I'm like, and I can't join it.

SPEAKER_04 36:18

Or someone's asking you to take the shift so they can go and you have to stay.

SPEAKER_01 36:21

Yeah, like that just didn't feel really good.

SPEAKER_04 36:23

Yeah, I think that definitely existed in the corporate space. And and I think when you deal with larger spaces, I feel like when there aren't that many large restaurants with that many employees that aren't corporate.

SPEAKER_03 36:35

That makes sense. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 36:36

And independent restaurants are usually smaller and have a smaller team and don't deal with so much.

SPEAKER_01 36:41

It feels like less high school eat.

SPEAKER_04 36:42

Yeah, because you had like I think we had like 300 staff at that cactus that I worked at.

unknown 36:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:48

So, you know, it's bigger than some schools.

SPEAKER_01 36:50

No, bigger than my school. That was probably around the size of my entire school, like K to 12.

SPEAKER_04 36:56

Yeah, yeah. Did you find that you find that there were struggles at that age, like fitting in, or like was it something that came to you because I feel like knowing you now, like you're so so easy to connect and such a good circle of friends, and I feel like I appreciate that. Yeah, I don't know. Was that always easy for you?

SPEAKER_01 37:14

Honestly, when I was I've always been, my mom always said like I was a social butterfly. Yeah. I think growing up, like I've always been really social, but I think I became really insecure. And I think this is so common for girls. I mean, I maybe everyone, right? But a lot of girls I know, you know, specifically around like 11, kind of 12 years old, I got I gained a lot of weight and people treated me differently after that. And also I had really, really bad cystic acne growing up. And I feel like I just became so insecure and I tried so hard. And even like, like I think I tried like too hard. And people used to call me like a social in high school, like a social climber, like high school, middle school, like social climber, like people pleaser, like try hard. Like they would say like really awful things about me. Like I wasn't necessarily like bullied, I think more than anyone else. Like, I think it was just like kind of kids are just kind of mean, like teenagers are just kind of mean, to be honest. Yeah, but yeah, like I think that kind of that ruined my self-esteem and confidence for a really long time. So I feel like growing up, I was so super social. And even in those years, I was still social, but I was so self-conscious. It was really hard. Like I would overthink everything, you know. I would do like I would like hang out with a group of girls for the first time and pay for everyone's dinner, even if I didn't know them, and they they would talk behind me about about me behind my back and be like, Emily is so try hard, even though I'm just trying to do something.

SPEAKER_04 38:28

So just absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:30

And so I think you can't win. Yeah, I just I felt like I couldn't win. And then I think in university, I started feeling a bit more confident. Like I made some really good friends in first university, and I'm still close with a few of them now, but not too many of them. But I honestly just felt really lucky in like my university kind of experience. I met amazing people, and I feel like that really established helped me like, yeah, like establish like my confidence again. Yeah, and I felt more confident being like social and honestly doing therapy and being in the service industry has really helped me like feel confident in myself and my speaking abilities. Like what we're doing right now on this podcast, I'm just doing this like basically all day. I'm like, well, you're not a stranger, I know you were friends, right? But like for like a lot of the times, like in the service industry or when I'm working as a therapist, I'm meeting strangers for the first time, and I have to be able to connect with anyone, right? Like, whether that's a six-year-old man with like bipolar disorder or that's a drug dealer at a MPM that's like 18, like or not, not 18, like 19, you know. Like I have to like.

SPEAKER_04 39:29

But that's that's that's our superpower. That's what like that's what makes us get out of our jobs, you know.

SPEAKER_01 39:33

Exactly, being able to connect with diverse people.

SPEAKER_04 39:35

Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 39:37

So yeah, like I think to answer that, like I think, yes, I've kind of been like this, but there's definitely a period where my light was dimmed, you know. But even this podcast is giving me that confidence again. Like, I think being like at the start, right before we started filming, I was saying to you, I was like, Oh, I don't I used to feel really nervous before filming these episodes, and maybe it's you, or maybe it's just because I'm getting more comfortable, but I feel so much calmer and like more self-assured now. I'm scared. Yeah, I'm trying to take that next step though, because I've been asked to speak on some panels and stuff like that. Like, I think people hear me speaking in my podcast and they're like, oh, like this girl, like she can talk and she seems like she knows what she's talking about. But that's something I'm really scared to do. Like be live in front of like a live audience and like just get QA'd in front of everyone. I think I I know I could do it. Yeah, and maybe have to take a beta block or something to get it done. But yeah, I think I could do it. I I that really scares me. And that's something I'm that's kind of like the next step, the next thing I want to be able to overcome because I think doing that stuff will help me feel a bit more confident and even just feel, you know, and help like promote my podcast and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_04 40:39

For sure, for sure. Yeah, I think it you know what helps is I think the idea of helping someone outweighs or the excitement of being able to help someone outweighs the fear of messing it up for me at least.

SPEAKER_01 40:52

Because there's so many benefits to it, right? Like there's yeah, when you do that kind of stuff and put yourself out there and you know, share things that could help people.

SPEAKER_04 40:59

Even through this podcast, it's like, you know, I I don't know that I was inherently like super nervous, but there's like this, there's there are nerves, they exist. You're gonna speak about on camera, and so you know, my hope is that I can one of these questions can help someone out there navigate this industry a bit better than than I did.

SPEAKER_01 41:18

Although I feel like you navigated it well, but I I guess maybe it took time, right? Like you were there for a while.

SPEAKER_04 41:23

I think I mean, yeah, yeah, there's a lot of unhealthy choices made throughout the years. You know, this industry has a way of glamorizing the party side of things and just comes with the territory, you know. I it's I sometimes say it's part of the job, it probably isn't.

SPEAKER_00 41:40

No, what hike is? You know, like hike is, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:43

Right, yeah. So, you know, it's not it's fun when you're in your twenties, but as you get older, your body doesn't take to it as well, and you know, you don't perform as well. I used to be able to pull all nighters and go to work and not be phase.

SPEAKER_01 41:58

Yeah, I can't do it no more, but I can even do that to start to be honest. I started, I feel like I've always had such a bad, like my hangovers have always just been like so brutal. But it's true, like there is such a big like party side to the industry, right? Like when I first started doing bottle serves and even serving, I would go out all the time because I was trying to like maybe not as much when I was serving, but when I was doing bottle serves because I'm trying to make connections and I was trying to like meet people and network and like bring people to the club that I was working at and stuff like that. And over time, like I've stopped doing that. Like I and this is kind of like I don't know if it's like a hot take or not, but I actually don't really enjoy clubbing anymore, even though I work at a club. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not like ruined it for me, but it just I just the allure, the magic I'm kind of over it, you know?

SPEAKER_04 42:39

The magic's gone, like you're sexy, you you see you see through it, right? You know, you you know the behind the scenes, so it's like yeah, the magic of of what draws people in or is kind of you you know the behind the scenes, so it's a little bit different.

SPEAKER_01 42:51

Exactly. And like I just know like I'm gonna be in that environment at least once. I work like at least once a week at AMPM, and I just know I'm gonna get that at AMPM. And I'm like, why would I go to a club on my night off? Like that, you know. But I think that's my frontal lobes like fully developed, you know. I think at 27 now it's yeah, it's it's developed, you know.

SPEAKER_04 43:09

Yeah, for sure. I mean, even at 34, I still I still get FOMO. I still meet the friends, the friends just aren't in there as much, so I'm not missing it all that much. But yeah, I think I think there's definitely a part of this industry, and like there's times where I think to myself, like, you know, leaves, you're 34, man. You turn 35. Like why are you at MPM?

SPEAKER_01 43:29

I saw him last night at MPM.

SPEAKER_04 43:31

Let's stop by, you know, so you have those thoughts of, you know, what am I is this healthy anymore? Like, I is this conducive of what you're trying to do, and struggle with that sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 43:41

Because it does start to affect, like, you know what I mean? Like it starts to affect like other areas of your life, and you're like, I just can't do this anymore.

SPEAKER_04 43:47

Yeah, yeah. And you try and I'm working through like prioritizing things and finding what's important to you to me. And yeah, I I it's a constant, constant battle. I think I've always tried to or always battle. With how to manage being in the scene but trying to be removed.

SPEAKER_01 44:05

Yeah, because you want to have like one foot in, one foot out.

SPEAKER_04 44:07

Yeah, it's good for the business.

SPEAKER_01 44:08

You know, networking is a part of it, you know, and meeting new people and bringing new faces to the that's even how I know about Susie's, because like the you know, some like Maddie and Jeff and like some of the owners and faces of Suzy's, like they're friends with my friends from APM that I know literally from them initially just coming into A and PM that I've become really close with. And Susie's like, if I'm gonna go out for breakfast or brunch, like I know where I'm going. I know where home is, you know what I mean? I'm going to Susie's. Right? And a part of it's because it's an amazing diner and and everything, but a part of it's also because you know, you guys are my friends. Like I love seeing you guys. Like, you know, I don't go, I don't go for breakfast super often because I normally sleep until like 3 p.m. to be honest. But when I do go out, like that's that's a part of it though, too. And like that's but that's like from networking and like being out and stuff like that, you know. Totally. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 44:55

So it's yeah, it's it's easy it was easier when I was a night manager, but now that I run a brunch spot, you gotta show up. You know, I think it's important that the guests it's not fair that the guests get a discounted version of Susie's because Leevan went out last night. Yeah, because you're hungover. Yeah, so that's something that's always really important for me, is like showing up, regardless of what I do, showing up is the most important for the guest experience. You know, I just think it's like Yeah, and I appreciate the stuff too. Like it's it's not fair that they get a discounted version.

SPEAKER_01 45:27

That that's a good way to put it, you know. I definitely gave, I think, a bit of a discounted version of myself yesterday. I'm not gonna lie. I got so drunk on Saturday night, just not like just regular drunk. I just I was drunk. I was drunk on Saturday night. I went to can I bring a friend?

SPEAKER_04 45:39

Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. We went to J and I came at the end. So hi.

SPEAKER_01 45:43

See, and I don't remember that. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_04 45:45

It was it wasn't we showed up late. We tend to because of work, showed up late.

SPEAKER_01 45:49

But I don't remember that.

SPEAKER_04 45:51

So I guess to study the lessons. But I didn't even know.

SPEAKER_01 45:54

So on Sunday, I like woke up and I was like, holy fuck, I'm so hungover. Look at my bank account, I was like, I gotta work. Yeah, and then yeah, and then I I feel like, yeah, like I honestly last night was really lovely. The I feel like everything, thank God, everything just went well. Like payments were easy, everyone was being so friendly. People kept actually coming up to me and congratulating me on my podcast. And I was just like, I felt the love. I felt the love, and I kind of went into the ship feeling like a little bit anxious because I was having like anxiety, like I was I was still like definitely like hung over. Yeah, you know, and so it was like maybe not as loud and social as I normally was, but as I normally would be, but yeah, I was still trying to be the best version of myself, but it is something I am trying to be a bit more conscious of, right? Like I don't want to give people a discounted version of myself. Like even I was telling you right before we started filming, I did an episode with a friend. I won't say who, but I did an episode with a friend here and I was a little hungover. And I just felt like I I didn't feel fully present, you know? Yeah, yeah. And so being present is just so important. For sure, for sure.

SPEAKER_04 46:55

Especially in this industry of it's people, right? And so, you know, it's face to face, it's not you can't hide behind an email. Oh, you can't hide, you know, it's you're there.

SPEAKER_01 47:04

And people will see right through you too.

SPEAKER_04 47:05

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 47:06

If you're in a bad mood or you're feeling like impatient or agitated that day, yeah, which can happen, right? We're human, but they'll see right through it, and like that can like that can make a huge difference, right? That's someone writing like a bad review or like telling their friend, like, hey, like, yeah, I went here and the server was like kind of short with me.

SPEAKER_04 47:21

Yeah, you know, yeah, totally. Yeah, yeah. So that's important for for me, definitely. But that's what makes it tough to to make those choices of like pulling back and like you know, maybe no, maybe let's not go out after. You know, let's maybe go straight home. Don't don't stop at AMP. Let's not stop at AMP.

SPEAKER_01 47:38

It's always it's too, we're both saying too, it's it's on our way home. So it's a little too convenient.

SPEAKER_04 47:43

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:44

Well, I wanted to ask you, like, as like a final question, like, do you have any advice for someone who was who's just like even like bar backing in the industry? Anyone that's like in the industry right now, is there any advice you'd give them? You know, or like even to like another general manager, like you know, or someone who's just thinking about coming getting into the service industry.

SPEAKER_04 48:04

Yeah, I think gonna have a tough skin. I I think you have to be able to understand that not everything is gonna be roses and petals, you know. Like there's gonna be some tough stuff you deal with, you know, it's gonna be. Yeah, clean up shit, or having someone yell at you and swear at you, or you know, not pay their bill, or whatever. And I think you just have to have this undying positive energy to the space and and just understand that like you kind of gotta kill them with kindness. And I'll give my advice to someone like in coming up in it, but as a GM or like someone like running the show, I think listen to your people, you know, care about care about the staff. I think it's really important. You know, I never want our staff to feel like an employee number or just a number, you know.

SPEAKER_01 48:49

It's the worst feeling I've I've that's how I felt at King Taps. Yeah, fair.

SPEAKER_04 48:52

It's in the big corporations, like sometimes you can be like that, and you know, you have the pleasure of opening an independent shop. The one of the privileges you get is you get to know your staff really well, you know. And I know that's yeah, listen to them. You know, I I know, I know I've been I've been there, you know, I've been in their positions, and so I know I try to create what it is that I admired about the industry, and that was flexibility. So I am lenient with time off, and like I really want, you know, if someone wants to swap a shift last second, or like you know, I've there's yeah, there's I want them to have that. That's one of the perks that I grew up with that I really enjoyed. Or you know, having someone that's willing to listen to your personal problems. You know, I think this industry has a way of blurring the lines of working personal too. So you get to know your staff really well, and not in a weird way, but like just from a human connection, like you know, they're they feel comfortable enough to talk to me and tell me that you know they're going through a breakup or you know, their their pet died and their mom's sick, yeah, yeah. You know, and I just want to be able to support our staff in any way.

SPEAKER_01 50:01

So that's advice you give to a GM. I like that. Yeah, support our staff.

SPEAKER_04 50:04

Support our staff, you know, it's like him about that, okay?

SPEAKER_01 50:07

Support your staff. No, he's supportive.

SPEAKER_04 50:08

No, you guys have such a good crew.

SPEAKER_01 50:10

Yeah, um I know we're lucky. I feel like we both have good teams at Suzy's and at AMPM, you know? Thank God.

SPEAKER_04 50:15

Thank goodness. If this place was run by just me, it would not be anything. Oh, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 50:20

I don't know if I believe.

SPEAKER_04 50:21

No, no, this team is is unreal. We balance each other out. We all have a role, and my weaknesses are their strengths, and vice versa. So we're able to really balance each other out.

SPEAKER_01 50:30

That's a beautiful way to put it. I love that. Yeah, and I want to say thank you so much for your time today. Um it was such a treat having you on.

SPEAKER_04 50:37

Yeah, it was such a such an easy cov. I know.

SPEAKER_01 50:40

It's just that's why I was like, I asked, I asked you, I think what was it? Like the last time I saw you at Suzy's. I was like, oh, would you guys want to come on?

SPEAKER_04 50:46

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and you know what? I I I wish that the other guys could have been here with scheduling stuff.

SPEAKER_01 50:51

Couldn't all be here, but I I'm so happy that that you were able to make it. It meant everything to me. So if you guys do want to follow Lee on Instagram, you can follow me. I'm gonna I'm gonna spell it out for you guys. Um you can follow him at L-I-B-E-N-T-R.

SPEAKER_04 51:06

Libanator.

SPEAKER_01 51:07

Libanator Libanator. At Susie Toronto on Instagram, TikTok.

SPEAKER_04 51:14

Yeah, anything hit us. Um yeah, come come get some pancakes.

SPEAKER_01 51:18

Best pancakes in the city. And if you guys want to learn more about me or you know, stay updated with me, you can follow me on Instagram at Club Therapy Pod. Um, and then I'm on all podcast platforms at Club Therapy.

SPEAKER_04 51:31

You know what? I actually listen to every episode, just so you know.

SPEAKER_01 51:33

You what, sorry?

SPEAKER_04 51:34

I've listened to every single episode.

SPEAKER_01 51:35

That's a real one right here. That's a real one. I knew why I liked you. No, I appreciate that. Absolutely. Yeah, thanks so much for your time. And thanks for listening, guys. We appreciate it. Bye.

unknown 51:44

Thanks.