It's Like Your Backyard... Only Better!

It's like your backyard, only better. This is the Elevate Polk Podcast, and I'm your host, Chrissanne Long. And with me, as always, is Rob Arturi.

Hello.

And we have a guest.

We do.

And I'm excited to bring her on the show. I don't know her very well, so I feel like this is going to be like the best way to get to know somebody. Bring them on your podcast and grill them with questions. Sinker swim. This is Jennifer Batts. She's one of the owners of Yard On— The Yard On Mass, which is a new location that you're going to hear all about on this episode. But we're just going to get started with letting you tell us about your background, like where you come from, how you got to Polk County, how long you've been here, how long you went away before you came back. Give us, give us all that stuff.

So, um, born and raised in Lakeland. I think I'm a third generation Lakelander, as is my husband. Um, 3 kids, all teenagers.

Give them a shout out. You can tell everybody who they are.

Chris is at the University of Florida. Go Gators! Chomp, chomp.

We'll let that one go.

Lily is a senior and probably headed off to Florida Southern. And my son Jack is a sophomore at Jenkins.

Awesome. Okay, well, shout out to the kids.

Yeah.

And your husband's name is?

Is Joel Batts. Joel.

Okay.

Yes. He's the numbers guy behind the Art on Mass.

Hmm. So I hear that the idea was originated, at least in your minds, out of something that he was experienced or, or he experienced or was a part of in Colorado.

Yep. Joel and I were both, we were the one of the largest investors at the Rayback Collective, which is a food, food truck park, beer garden in Boulder, Colorado. And our other partner, so there's 4 of us, 4 founders, Craig Morby, who's a local realtor here in Lakeland, Joel and myself, and then Matt Patrick, who is a pastor in Boulder, is his day job, and then he's one of our partners. But the Rayback Collective was his brainchild. He, it was his concept, and we worked really hard for about 2.5 years to get that going. Boulder politics and startups happen very slow. We were shocked that we were able to get this approved by the CRA and the city in November of 2018, and we opened in November of 2019. So Matt is, is our partner here. He, he liked that concept so much and apparently us as well.

And so that's good to hear.

Yeah. So it launched in Boulder in 2019?

No, no, no. The Rayback opened in 2016. We just celebrated 3 years in July of 2019.

And then the Yard en Masse just opened Uh, November date, November 22nd, 2019. Awesome.

Okay.

I think the way when you describe Boulder, I think that's the way it is in a lot of places.

Yes.

I mean, I'm originally from New York, which is probably 10 times worse than Boulder. So I think it's, we're heading in the right direction.

Mm-hmm.

Well, it's interesting because I follow a lot of the entrepreneurial innovative communities that are touted as such throughout the country.

Mm-hmm.

And Boulder's one of those that comes up as more innovative and more entrepreneurial, small business friendly, and and the research that I've done. So on the outside looking in, I'm thinking, oh, Boulder's gonna have all of these really cool things going on. What you got?

I'm sorry, I was like, oh gosh, that phone. Um, it was my business partner Craig. Oh, sorry, Craig.

We might just not—

maybe Craig was wanting to do a call-in and, and add some information. We could edit this out.

So I don't know if I'm gonna edit it now after that. Was kind of funny. Well, But that just goes to show you that a lot of times, because I think you see it whether it's business or the best place to live, all these numbers. I love those articles where it's like this is the 50 best places to live.

Based on what?

Right. But when you've got somebody that's actually been through the process that tells you, no, no, it's quite different. To me, that's a little bit more trustworthy or accurate.

Right. You know, so the process here, compared to there in Boulder, how would you compare? You know, faster, easier, similar, totally different?

Much easier.

Okay.

We, we had the backing of the CRA. Mm-hmm. So Elise Drumgoe, who's the head of the CRA, uh, Nicole Travis, uh, was initially in charge of it. And then Elise took over when she, uh, transitioned into her new position. They just partnered with us. People kept asking as we were moving back, we moved back here this summer of 2018. Okay. Are you gonna do a Rayback in Lakeland? Are you gonna do— well, the Rayback was named after Marion Rayback, World War II hero. So no, we weren't bringing Rayback. To Lakeland, but the concept, yes, we'd like to. So we started thinking about it and I can remember we had sold our house. We were like condo surfing between friends' condos in Colorado before we could close on our house here. So I was in a friend's condo in Keystone on the phone with actually Jennifer Kennedy, who was a dear friend of mine for many, many years, put me in touch with Nicole Travis. We spoke with her, got on the phone with Elise, Got to Lakeland and had a, a meeting in June and, and started looking at some sites. And, but people had enough friends and family had visited us and, and we had hosted them at the Rayback and it's just a really fun place. And once you own a bar, you kind of always wanna own a bar, right?

Yeah.

That sounds like a most days really great way to spend, spend a life.

So I think it's really cool and I wanna mention this because I don't wanna take too much time out of like where we're really spending time talking today. But I think it's something to mention and I want to mention it for the record so that we could get it on another episode. But in Polk County and in my experience in watching, I don't really feel like I've had any personal experience in this is, is it's who you know. And if you have the relationships and the people who believe in the idea behind you, it's kind of a smoother process. And it's good that you had those people in your corner when you, when you originated the idea here.

I will say that it is definitely who you know in Lakeland. But Joel and I, I feel like we were at a disadvantage because we'd been gone for 15 years. And so the relationships I thought I had hadn't soured or anything. They were just kind of been pushed back. It had been a while.

Don't you think that's— sorry to interrupt, but don't you think that's everywhere though? Like, I agree with you. It's who you know and knowing people definitely helps. So just those few Maybe it was just Jennifer. If it was just that one introduction to the CRA that really kind of helped get the ball rolling, that kind of thing, though, to me, it seems like that's going to be anywhere you go.

Yeah.

The more people you know, if you know people and you can, you know, get that inside track and get to the right people, not that anybody, you know, did favors or, you know, that kind of thing, but just like knowing where the bones are buried, how do we get there faster? I think that's a universal thing.

Okay.

You know, even more so because it doesn't It doesn't sound like you had wheels greased, so to speak, but rather just you got pointed in the right direction. And I think you probably encounter that anywhere. I think a lot of other cities, that's where you need that wheel grease and you need those inside people. Otherwise, your requests just sit on a desk.

Right.

But I think here we do have people who are actively wanting to improve.

Yeah, I think it was the really the— for me, as I observed, I think the timing was perfect. The city was really looking for things to do. In the area that you've invested. And it was just like the pump had been primed, but it was, there was no accident. Like it was like everything was lining up and you guys were ready to move back and everything. And the conversations that you had were the right conversations at the right time with the right people. So I think that's, there's a lot to be said about providence.

Exactly. As well. Very much so. Yes. No, it was great. And I, again, I shout Elise's hard work and in partnership with us. All the time, just because that truly was, if you're going to do a business and have a partnership with the CRA, they will really just help you with all of those channels in terms of not sitting on desks.

Right. That's been my experience with the CRA and the Community Development Department in general in the last 5 or 6 years, which is as long as I've known those folks. So I shout out to Elise. You can't say his name enough to say the hard work that he's done.

Yeah, that's huge. Because I'm, I'm a You know, I'm always skeptical of bureaucratic institutions like that because they're normally just sluggish and wasteful. So when you hear that, and I think sadly that is the case on a macro scale, but it's really nice to know that locally, because I haven't had any dealings with them like, like you both have, it's really nice to know that that's not how it is here.

Well, and I— yes, I think he came into this organization. I think CRA's across the state had been getting bad, bad raps. And the Lakeland CRA has run extremely well. But we also wanted to prove our partnership with them. And they had, I think, $400,000, $450,000 originally slated to, to help this project. And we said, you know what, we don't, we don't want all that. Let's cut that in half. We'll take about $200,000 because we want to prove to you that we're here as a partnership, we appreciate the help. And there were plenty of months there when fundraising was going a little slower and I was second-guessing my decision, but we were able to do that. And so they were a quarter of, of the expenses. We ended up investing and then raising about three-quarters of a million for this project.

So that's awesome. And that's a great story to tell as far as where you're going to be needing your partnerships to come from. You can't put all of your eggs in a basket like a CRA or even a single investor. The more diversified you can be, the more, you know, solid you're gonna end up.

And what money I don't take from them leaves it in the CRA fund to help other groups to do better things in Lakeland as well.

If you're listening to this podcast, go and try the Yard on Mass just for that one statement alone.

That is everything. That is gold.

Anybody willing to turn away free money essentially for the greater good, they deserve your business.

So For sure. And then do a toast to Elevate Podcast while you're there.

I like it.

So that is actually a great segue into really what we, you know, the heart of the matter is there's, there's a cultural piece that surrounds the concept of Yard on Mass and probably the Rayback that, that is really hard to put words into. But you have said something in a meeting with me and then I think you've posted it in social media or on your website or something where it's really about community investment and that you're You're big picture thinkers. Your vision is greater than just, you know, hey, we're going to run a business and we're going to be successful. So I want to start shifting the discussion in that direction because when I say to you community investment, what does that mean?

Well, so my quote that I use often because I just think it's great and I got it from Danny Meyer, who's setting the table, great book for the service industry, but invest in your community and the rising tide will lift all ships and That area of Lakeland gets a bad rap, but it is lovely. I remember working with Brian Seeley with Gospel Ink and just kind of talking with him and saying, "We're bringing this concept here. I just want to get kind of your blessing or just a heads up of what this area is like." And he says, "This area deserves a beautiful thing too, a great place to come." So we just— I taught inner city. School in Gainesville, Florida for 5 years.

I knew there was another thing I loved about you. The teacher, the teacher. I taught 10 years in the school.

I see your red and my red today for supporting the teachers.

For sports.

Yep. But no, I just, I love kind of if Lakeland were to have an inner city, you know, that our little neighborhood, people see it as challenging, but I find it awesome. Just a great place to be. We are just really blessed with great neighbors, great organizations around around us: Tim Mitchell with Parker Street Ministries, Brenda Redoubt with Talbot House, Brian with Gospel Inc., Elizabeth Holtz with Artifacts, and Laura Helm at House 820. It's just a really neat little block, and then Jennifer Kennedy runs the Urban Farm, so that she uses the LCS RISE students to kind of create, and they grow vegetables for Visti and all kinds of just different organizations. So people question our location and I question why not our location? Yeah, what better place to be? But I love that it's basically we're right in the middle. It's South Lakeland, North Lakeland. I want everybody to come to— sure, to the backyard party.

And it's not a bad area. You know, I spent a decade in law enforcement and I can tell you that there are— there's pros and cons to all different places around this county, but If you've ever been to a real big city, right?

Exactly.

Like New York or LA or Chicago, Memphis.

Yes.

There are places where you walk that— when you say this is a bad area, it means if you walk down that street, you're going to get mugged, shot, God knows what, right? That's where, where the yard is located. It is not a bad area by any means.

So for the listeners who don't know where Yard on Mass— why don't you Why don't you tell everybody where the Yard on Mass is located?

So we are at 802 North Massachusetts, which is basically the southwest corner of Massachusetts and Parker.

And you gave your neighbors, so near Lighthouse and near House 820 and near the tax collector's office. So exactly, that kind of gives some context to where we're talking. But I also think that it had been kind of a forgotten part of the community. There had not been development for many years until House 820, and some of that had had been happening. So now it's kind of becoming a trend. There's like a trendiness going on on that side of town, which is kind of fun to envision what is coming and what will be that part of the neighborhood.

Yes. So we're Midtown technically. Yes. And so I see all of the publications out about everything that's going on downtown. And I've said to Elise, I'm like, but we're the only thing in Midtown. I can't publicize my, you know, like—

Today, just for today.

Exactly. Just for today.

It's not going to be forever.

So But there's room to grow and to—

But it takes that investment.

Yep.

You know, it takes your financial investment and your sweat equity as well and the risk involved in doing that. I mean, it's— these are the types of things, you know, from the law enforcement side, there's something called the broken windows theory, which is if you leave a house with a broken window, it's going to get more broken windows and then there's going to be more damage and things in the whole neighborhood goes down just from that one window being broken. This, in my vision, is the exact opposite, where you take something that used to be like a little used car lot, and now you turn it into a beautiful— And we were talking briefly before, that new mural they did on the side of it is even—

Jillian Fazio. She's amazing.

It's fantastic. It's absolutely a gorgeous place. It's even more so now. But you flipped the entire area. That whole area looks nothing like it did 10 years ago, 5 years ago, even.

I got the best text this morning from my daughter's boyfriend's mother. and she said she works at the hospital, says, I drive by every morning now and see that mural. It just makes me smile, starts my day off so well. So it's like, oh, that's a good investment too, right? Into the arts.

Yeah.

Quality of life. Absolutely. I mean, what makes you smile is what, what you want to see more of. And the more we can create that kind of environment from one project to the other, the, the better off everyone's gonna be.

And nobody does that except for local small businesses.

Right. It's that attention to detail. It's those small things that— and so let's talk about Jillian Fazio and her artwork and the reason you feel like investing in art on your wall is important.

Well, we— so John Kirk was our architect. And so from the get-go and then Made Lakeland was our branding kind of ad agency. They came up with our logo and everything. And working with those two groups, when we designed this building, we knew we wanted that wall to hold stuff. At the Rayback, we have lots of murals everywhere. We just did, just covered the outdoor walls. So we, I knew that concept. We love that, that look. You know, House 820 has the color wall that people take the pictures in front of. I think the orange blossoms and just the, the orange and blue because Jillian is also a Florida grad.

Oh goodness.

Chomp chomp.

That's two.

Jennifer, that's two. And so we just knew it was just screaming. It was just a blank canvas. And so I was telling Rob earlier that we did not let perfect be the thief of good. We opened when things are good. There are capital improvements we'd like to do to the yard still. Our cabanas are about to start being built. You know, we can invest in comfier furniture for outdoor, but we wanted to get open and start making money. Because we did that, now I can invest in the mural to pay Jillian, and she's an artist, so she can invest. But she did an amazing job, and we're really excited. So Wednesday night, the 22nd, we're having a Jillian Fazio art mural night at the Art on Mass.

So that's like the final unveiling or the completion of the project?

The technical unveiling, but it's totally unveiled.

It hasn't been veiled at all. It's been a work in progress, and people are walking by watching as she's doing.

And my pedestrians in the neighborhood have just been— So helpful and just so encouraging to her and very entertaining.

Well, we might need to have her on the show just to talk about her.

You should, because she is an amazing—

Her story.

Yes, amazing artist.

I'm sure she has some stories to tell about things that the pedestrians have told her too along the way.

Yes, we got to meet quite a few, quite a few of really helpful pedestrians.

Yes.

I said that she should refer to them as street performers, performance artists.

Yeah. That's, that's a good thing. That's a good idea.

There, you know, it is a great population. It's a little bit different people. I, you know, being gone 15 years and having lived in Atlanta and Memphis and then, you know, in Denver, Colorado, it's big cities. So my kids have grown up around different areas. And so small-town Lakeland still sees that neighborhood as a problem. And I see those are humans that we need to invest in, too.

Amen.

You know, we want to invest in the community. Yes. The ways that we can, all the while providing a safe, inviting atmosphere for our guests.

Right.

Everyone wants to feel welcomed and they'll, they'll come back if they feel welcome and they'll tell other people about it if they feel welcomed. And so we, as an environment of, of business mindset, that it's the community investment side of things that you're talking about that just starts to, to expand to more than just, you know, 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 people. Eventually you've got thousands of people who are just like, that's my favorite spot in town. And that's the goal. That I think we're all shooting for.

Well, people, people see what you've done and they go, well, they invested a lot. You start to look at it and go, well, if other people are doing this, that encourages people who are maybe not as trailblazing as you are, but it sets a precedent.

Well, and one of the reasons that I love what we do so much is are the entrepreneurs and the food truck owners. You know, we— all of our food trucks, we're starting to get a handful of new coming in, and we've got a couple of different Tampa trucks and maybe a New Orlando truck. But for the most part, my 13 trucks that started out with me under contract were all Lakeland trucks. And I tell a story often about the Rayback, one of my favorite truck owners now, but he started out of like a happy hour tent and a griddle, had a very simple menu, but became a crowd favorite because it was on point and always delicious. His service was impeccable. Made enough money over 3 years to buy a brand new, huge, giant truck. Not a trailer, a big truck. And so I love that entrepreneurial spirit and being able to give truck owners a place to come where they can make money and do what they're passionate about because brick and mortar is expensive. Yeah. And restaurant concepts are super expensive and very, you know, tenuous. The public is fickle. And so to start with a truck and really get your craft down, I love that part.

I love food. Same. But more so, I love the fact that food trucks have gone from a construction site staple to people doing some really amazing stuff on these things.

Well, I want to give a shout out to the very first Lakeland regular food truck that I know she had to pave the way to make it possible. And that's Drika, Drika's Food Truck. She's coffee. She's everybody's coffee lady. But I was a part of her journey from the very beginning. I did a presentation in Winter Haven for SCORE. And it was a discussion about a lot of different business ideas and starting up and she did it, you know, from the ground up following the example, letting her passion lead her. But she ran into a lot of of challenges because there was no precedence in Lakeland for— or in Polk County for food trucks other than the few constructions and some that had, had kind of been staples in certain parts of the community. But as far as a rotating location, where, where am I going to park? Am I allowed to park? What are the rules? What— the city didn't really even know what their rules were other than we're going to apply the rules to everything else that we've ever had and we've never had food trucks before. So it's really cool to see that evolution that now we have places that are being built around the concept of food trucks so that food trucks can thrive and have really cool places to go do that. And that's just 10 years ago. That wasn't, that wasn't a thing.

So, Trikas isn't— she's not at the Yard on Mass yet.

Well, we need to get her. We need to get you guys connected. Definitely. Well, everybody needs coffee. Yes.

That woman works really, really hard.

Yes, she does.

I mean, you don't have to—

We'll get her on the show one of these days, too. But I just, I really, I mentioned her simply to say it's listening to you, this concept, you know, we had to fight downtown, had to fight to even to have the relevance of the food truck rallies on Thursday nights and just so many different things that are evolving. And like I said, time, place, everything, everything was lining up in the right time and in the right place with the right people. And it's just exciting to see progress. That's to me what progress means is like it might be a challenge the first time someone talks about it, but the second time, the third time and the fourth time, eventually we're going to get to a place where— but we can't just run up against it and say, oh, I guess, you know, I'm going to go somewhere else with my idea. We actually have to keep fighting through and letting our vision drive us sometimes, even when the answers aren't as easy as we would like them to be.

Yes, those failures are sometimes your best motivators.

So let's talk about the vision for The Yard on Mass. What is the— what is your— what is your game plan? Kind of give a— give a little bit of a synopsis of your hours today, availability, and anything that's kind of unique to your business model that might be important for people to know. If there's anything special you want to share about it.

So our hours, we're opening now at 11:30 daily till 10 o'clock Monday through Thursday. We're open till midnight on Friday and Saturday, and we close at 9 on Sundays. We do not have lunch food trucks right now. That was a little bit different as well. I think we started out scheduling trucks and we just didn't have enough of a market for that month of December. So I made the decision we're going to have dinner trucks starting at 4:00 every day and then lunch trucks on Saturdays and Sundays. We have had groups come in and use our space for corporate meetings and different lunches, and we'll— we bring in our food trucks to cater those lunches and events. So we are open to having lunch events, and we're also looking at bringing in some lunch, quick lunch food that you can grab.

Like you said, it's an evolving— it's an evolving— there's some capital improvements that you're planning and some business model, you know, ironing that you're probably going to do and trial and error. You know, you back into something after, you know, you tried this and that didn't work and something else comes up and you try that.

With the Rayback, we found the corporate events and the private events really was a huge part of our business that first year that we weren't planning on. It was one of the reasons we were able to pay our investors back so quickly in the 18 months that we did was because we had people coming in and renting our space and using it for board meetings and all kinds all kinds of fun things. So it's just a great— it's a great spot to— you can rent the entire place out, you can rent different sections of the place, or you can just come and grab a table and pull them together and have your group.

Well, and speaking of that, I'm really excited about the upcoming meet and greet for Bridge Local, um, that is on the 23rd of January. So I'm saying this to all of the listeners who want an excuse to come try out the Yard en Masse. And I'm just going to say, I know that there are people who are listening who are very introverted and maybe aren't those risk-takers that like to go try a new place you know, you like food, but you don't necessarily want to go somewhere that you don't know anybody. So you stick with your own comfort level. So if you wanted to come try the Yard on Mass for the first time and be met with a bunch of immediate friends, the meet and greet would be your perfect opportunity to do so. And it is going to be an opportunity for the Yard on Mass team to get to know Bridge. And I hope that out of that, there will be some corporate events and some private events and some parties that will come to you guys, because we always ask the question, who's here for the first time? And we We'd love to have a majority of people who haven't been to be able to come check it out on the 23rd at 5:30.

And we are very happy to host you. We're looking forward to that good time.

And I feel compelled to, if you haven't been there, the best way I can explain this is with my own situation. So I was invited to go listen to some live music, right? And I love live music and it was a cover band and okay, this should be fun. But I have a couple, I have 3 kids. I don't normally bring my kids out to a bar, you know, to listen to music. So I went by myself. I met some friends there, but my wife stayed home with the kids and I went. And when I got there, I walk in and to my surprise, there's like kids playing cornhole and, you know, young kids, older kids. I mean, it was just a complete cross-section of the entire population. It was a warm atmosphere, not someplace I would— and I remember thinking to myself, in fact, the next time I was there, I did bring my 14-year-old. We were at an event there, but I would never think to bring my kids to a bar. But this isn't a bar, right? It's a venue that has a bar, but it's so much more than that. It's hard to describe without actually—

It is. The concept is tricky. People don't really know. I mean, we say beer garden, food truck park. Bar, but we are very family-friendly. Number one question I get is, are you dog-friendly? Yes, well-behaved dogs on a leash. And yes, we are very kid-friendly. Now that has its, its challenges as well because I had two reviews this past weekend on Facebook that we were a little bit too kid-friendly and they were not looking for that. And so there are places in town that you can certainly go, and but we want to make it welcoming for everybody. And so I, you know, now it's I was like, your well-behaved children, please. I did have a mother say to me one night, thanks for parenting our kids. And I was like, thank you for the opportunity.

Oh, wow.

Oh my. It's, you know, it is a great place to allow kids to kind of have a spot. And we're working on that. That's part of our capital improvements, right? Getting more kid-friendly activities that we can put in a specific area for the kids to go. And then, And then leaving the yard space more for the adults.

And I think that's a growing trend across the United States, period. But I have seen a few places that are pulling it off well and making, making that, you know, an opportunity for it to not feel like you said, I don't want to bring my kids to a bar. Well, you know, now we're creating spaces that are not, you know, it's not inappropriate to bring your children because they are built with children in mind and families in mind. And so it's, it's cool that there are places in Polk County that are trendy and on the side of things that are, you know, used to be, it used to be, I'm going to say that again, used to be that you would have to go to Orlando or Tampa or some of the bigger markets to have some of the trendier types of businesses and have access to them. And the more I watch and see all of the great things happening in our area, the more excited I am that trendy is happening here. And it's really great to have leaders like you in the community who are bringing and investing hard-earned dollars and taking risk. I mean, business is risk. I mean, no matter how comfortable you are in what you've done in Colorado, coming to Lakeland and making it a success over a sustainable period of time right now is, you know, it's putting the pedal to the metal and it's, we've gotta do all hands on deck. And eventually that, I hope, becomes, you know, the place to go as Midtown continues to grow around you.

And I hope other people are inspired by what you did in taking that risk and in investing in the community. We always look to government to solve every problem. When you look at the, they talk about we have a homelessness problem, we have this problem, we have that problem, and everybody wants the city commissions and the county to fix everything. And some of that responsibility does lie with them, but we often don't look at what a difference or what an impact private business makes. I mean, I think in many ways it's even greater, the impact they can have. And one of those ways are encouraging people to continue to invest, to follow your lead in doing that. Because it's one thing, like they have some of these similar concepts in Tampa and Orlando. I have 3 kids. I'm not hauling my 3 kids in a car to Orlando just so I can have a beer and play cornhole and not feel like my kids are gonna get knocked over by some seedy drunk person. So we just don't go. So it's great that it's here because it's not just that it's closer. For a lot of people like me, it's this or nothing. So I encourage people to come out to try it out. Do you have, like, on the website, do you have a calendar of events and things?

We do. We do. We are just, you know, we got open. I said, "We're not doing any bells and whistles. We're just going to get open." And then, like, this week, Today's Monday, right? Yes, today's Monday. Tonight we've got—

No, today's Wednesday.

Oh, oops. We've got the college championship game. We're starting a cornhole league officially. It's just practice rounds this Monday, official next Monday. Trivia Tuesdays, Wine Wednesdays, you know, we're doing all those things. And then we have live music Friday, Saturday nights, and Sunday afternoons. But we're working on some events and some fun stuff.

Yeah, I love it.

So last question I want to ask is just, do you have any advice to anyone who might be listening that as far as getting involved in your community, either as an already existing business owner or as someone who's kind of been thinking about, you know, I'm going to start a business. I don't know if Polk County or Lakeland is the right place for me. What advice would you give somebody who might just be considering some of the things that you're doing as far as, I don't know, staying motivated or not, you know, not letting the fear overcome you? I mean, anything, even if it's just motivational?

I would just say, just keep swimming. I mean, you know, just keep plugging away and find a good mentor or mentors that have been there and done that. But don't be afraid of no, because we, where we are now was not our first site that we kind of had targeted. We were looking at a different spot and we were told, no, we don't, we don't like this concept. We don't want you here. And so we said, okay, no worries. We'll, we'll find the next spot. So when you hear no, you just keep going and just, have faith in your vision and your abilities and you're going to get knocked down. I mean, gosh, last Monday night we had horrible sales and it was, it was just— but I attribute that to dry January and New Year's resolutions, hopefully.

And, you know, those don't last.

So thankfully, thankfully, people will pick up that wine glass or beer and a taco or two. So, but, you know, just keep going because it's the big picture, right? You cannot look at a single snap snapshot. It is— it's just look at the whole year, look at the whole plan, and, and just keep swimming and have faith.

And wise words from Finding Nemo.

There we go. Keep swimming.

Just keep swimming.

I would also say, you know, pick your partners well. That's another— you know, Craig and Matt and of course Joel, they've just been delightful to work with, and we're a really good team. We each have our own strengths. You know, know what your strengths are and be willing to bend when They're not yours. And so I'm probably the worst example of that on our team because I'm a little bit controlling and I like things to go just so, but my team is great. So pick a good team and hopefully the public can see that relationship that we have that we hand down to our staff. We just hired Shane Lawler. He was with Lakeland Live for the past 3 years, a fabulous gentleman. His wife Laura is one of our bartenders, but he's coming in and he's going to create even even better staff. The poor staff has been, I was the interim GM to start with, so they are now actually getting an official GM. And Shane is just really encouraging. And hopefully the public sees that, that it's not service industry. I want this to be hospitality, like you're coming into a backyard party, right? That you would serve, you know, right? We want to love every one of our guests and make sure they are well taken care of. And there are going to be mistakes made and we just ask for patience and we will make it right. But So just pick your team well, and we're excited to offer this for Lakeland. Like I said, Joel and I were born and raised here. My kids were born here. I'm excited to give back to the community and look forward to doing that for many more years.

Well, I am personally happy that you came back and chose Lakeland to invest, and you're putting, you know, these roots down for your family and for the community to learn and to grow alongside of you. So I just hope that everything goes as smoothly as because it seemed from the outside looking in after, you know, after all of the plans got made and the first announcement in the newspaper and I'm thinking, okay, well, let's just see how long it actually takes. And I think it was a pretty good amount of time. I mean, it wasn't like overnight. So there were probably some challenges along the way, but I think you did have the right team. You had the right contacts. You made, you made sure that you had all of your ducks in a row so that there wasn't any holdups on your end. And so kudos to you for getting open. And I'm excited about our event coming up on January 23rd. And I think we're just going to go ahead and wrap up. You have anything, final words you want to say, Rob? I don't.

Thank you for what you're doing. I love The Establishment. I will be back and back again. And I think it's a great example for other people to follow. I hope that they do.

Thanks, guys.

Thanks for listening and make sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And there is something—

There's a typo.

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