The Coolest Cat in Town

The coolest cat in town. Hey, Polk County, we're back for another episode of the Elevate Polk podcast. Hoping you're having a wonderful week. My name is Chrissanne Long and I'm here again with my co-host Nate Kendrick, who always helps us tell the unique and personal stories of entrepreneurs in Polk County, Florida. How are you doing, Nate the Great?

I'm doing good. Oh, I like that. I like that. The ad. Yeah.

The ad is still there, right?

I'm doing well, Chrissanne. How are you?

I'm doing great. I'm doing great. So we have an amazing guest with us today, Jay Zhang, with a, well, I'm going to let you do the whole introduction because there's so many things to tie you to, to connect you to. So Jay, welcome to the show.

Thank you, Chrissanne. My name is Jay. I just recently started a decorative concrete business. I've been in Polk County in Lakeland for about a little bit over 20 years now. My parents started to, we began with the Chinese restaurants at first, and then I slowly kind of jumped into building bars and now concrete business.

So you said plural restaurants, your parents had multiple Chinese restaurants?

At the beginning we did, but then we sold the other two because it was just starting to add more headaches.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, restaurants in general have a lot of headaches.

Yeah.

And having 3 would not be easy. So you grew up, your parents owned Chinese restaurants as a kid. That's what your kind of life was. Went to school, came home, probably helped around the restaurants.

Absolutely.

Pretty much that was your life, right?

I pretty much grew up there.

Yeah. So now as an adult, wait, let me ask this question, and this is a kind of a Nate-inspired question, but, um, Did you ever see anything else for your future? Did you ever imagine that you wouldn't be an entrepreneur having grown up in that environment all your life?

Um, yes.

Yeah.

And no, at the same time, you know, like what really, um, got me into doing the bar and the concrete business was that I really don't want to be doing the same job for over and over and then going home waking up the next day doing the same thing again.

Right.

So, you know, as a businessman, I think that our goal is to get into something that could, you know, get us the highest potential income.

Right.

At the same time, you like what you're doing. Because if you don't like what you're doing, no matter how much money you make, you're not going to be happy at the end of the day. So that's why I jumped into bar business because alcohol is a is a great source of income.

Mm-hmm.

And then construction right now, I mean, it's, it's booming, right? Polk County. I mean, anywhere pretty much.

So you're looking at the trends. Okay. So as you're growing up, you're seeing the restaurant business isn't necessarily the only way for you to be an entrepreneur. You know, it's like, okay, parents are running their business. You see that, you know, the struggles, you know, the headaches. They sold the two because three was way too much. They're now currently still running the one, or are you running that one? As well?

I'm running that one. They're kind of working the progress into retiring.

Okay.

Yeah.

So pretty much you're kind of just helping them with kind of their exit strategy.

Yeah. I mean, you got to push them away a little by little bit. You can't just let them retire right away because it's going to be so bored that you don't know what to do.

Yeah.

You know, when you work all your life, all of a sudden you just kind of sit there and, you know, you won't know what to do.

Right, right, right. Well, let's back up a little bit. Because your family came from China.

Mm-hmm.

At what point were you born in China or were you born here?

I was born in China.

You were born in China. How old were you when your family came to the United States?

It was 1996, so I was 7 at that time.

Okay. And what was that like? Did you come straight to Lakeland? Did you come to Polk County right straight away? How did you find Lakeland? How did they find Lakeland amongst all of the possible places you could have ended up?

It's a good question. So we, we moved to New York City at first. We lived there for about 6 years. My parents, my mom was working like a clothing factory and my dad was doing construction.

Okay.

And then one of my uncle, he had a restaurant in during that time in Winter Haven, and then he found us a spot in Lakeland.

Okay.

That's how we moved down here to Florida.

So it was a family business from the beginning. The uncle kind of helped, was a partner with your parents.

He was not a partner, but he kind of helped us. you know, guide us and, and, and, you know, it's like, hey, Polk County's a pretty good county.

Yeah.

And then, uh, it's a lot of potential, whereas in New York there's just too much competition.

Mm-hmm.

And, um, it's just the rent's expensive. I mean, everything's just a lot higher.

Mm-hmm.

And when you're in the big city.

Yeah. So do you remember moving to the United States? Do you remember moving to New York at 7?

Oh yeah.

I don't, my memory as a kid, I, you know what, it's kind of, it's not really there.

It's funny because, um, Before I moved to America, you know, my dad would always call to China and just, you know, ask how we doing. And then he was like, yeah, you know, come to America, there's like gold everywhere in the street.

Wait, so your dad came before you?

He came before.

He was living in New York City before you and your mom?

In America in '89.

In '89, so 7 years. Well, you were just born then.

Yeah, so I was like 2 years old.

Oh wow, okay.

And then he would, you know, he would often call back and tell us that, hey, you know, there's a lot of opportunity in America, and then there's like gold everywhere. So gold, gold. And then I'm over here thinking, oh man, we're gonna be rich. Came to America, came to New York. It was this small bitty itty apartment. I'm like, this is not—

this isn't what I was thinking. Are you the only child?

No, I have a sister.

Uh-huh.

Uh, she's 2 years younger than me.

So she was born here?

No, she was also born in China.

She was born in China.

So my dad came first. Okay. And then, um, uh, 7 years later.

Oh yeah, 7. Sorry, my math skills.

He got us back into, back here to America.

Okay.

Yeah. What was that like, like transitioning from China to, to New York City, getting kind of immersed into that, um, American environment?

I mean, where we're from, it's a really small town. So coming to America, particularly in New York City, is like, wow. You know, I mean, we might live in a smaller apartment, but it's really eye-opening seeing all those skyscrapers. You know, just everything just mind-blowing. You know, such a big city.

What's like one, like, solid memory you have your first kind of year in New York City? School or friends or just the neighborhood or life or something that just kind of is that, that concrete— speaking of concrete— concrete memory for you?

Well, the thing that I love about New York City or America the most is that the diversity. You know, you have Black neighbors, Latino neighbors, and then the culture is just really rich.

Yeah.

You know, everything is so different, but then we all somehow blend it in. Whereas when I was living in China, I mean, everywhere you look, it's like Chinese people.

Right, right. Not very much diversity there.

Not really, no.

And if someone is white or Black, they stand out. Like, it's like, whoa, whoa, who's that?

Where you came from? You know, but you know, when you're here, it's like, oh man, like they introduced me to hip-hop, you know, everything is just like different.

Mm-hmm.

So, but in a good way.

Yeah. Wow. And assimilating, do you feel like going to school and learning English and kind of becoming a part of the American culture was an easy transition for you or were there some challenges along the way?

Not really that much of a challenge.

Not for a smart cookie like you. I mean, come on. It just all came so easy, right?

No, I wish it was easy, but, um, I mean, the challenge is, like, you have to believe in yourself. You know, like, whatever you do, you got to really, like, believe in yourself. You really have to, like, look into yourself and see what you could do to make yourself happy and the people around you happy.

And that comes from where? Is that a cultural— from the family? I mean, is that something you—

My parents.

—kind of ingrained in— because you just don't, as a 7-year-old, plop in New York City know nobody, don't speak the language, and just say, hey, you know, I just, I gotta find a way to make myself happy, you know.

Yeah, it's definitely a little bit different for my parents because, you know, they're a little bit older at that time, so like they really don't have that much options than rather, uh, either opening a restaurant, Chinese restaurant, or doing something that doesn't require speaking English, right, right. Whereas like I, I'm a little bit younger, I could still learn and then do what you want to do because They'll always tell me, like, if you're not happy what you're doing, then you're not going to be happy, right? You know, that's great.

That's great. So, um, moving from New York City, so you lived there in 7 years. So you moved there when you were 7, you lived there 7 years, you're about 14 when you come to Polk County. Yeah. And so that means you're junior high?

I was in, what, 9th grade? 9th grade. Yeah, I started in, um, Lakeland High School, and then I graduate in 2005. So yeah, I was— okay. Yeah.

So when, back in the day when I was in school, there was actually a junior high. So it was elementary, no, yeah, elementary, junior high, high school, and no middle school. And so I think elementary school went all the way to 6th grade, junior high was 7th, 8th, and 9th, and high school was 10th through 12th. So that's what old people did. Oh, okay. So, all right. So you, you now I want to talk about the transition from New York City. That's another culture shock. Yeah. New York City to Polk County. How was that for you? Were you happy to be in Polk County or did, did you find that same diversity in Polk County that you had in New York City?

Man, when I first moved here, I was devastated. Yeah, I was, you know, because you're moving from a big city, whereas you're so used to taking subways and buses. Everything's just so convenient. When you move down here, I was only 13 at that time, I think 14. Um, you know, you, if you want to go watch a movie, you want to do anything, you gotta ride your bicycle or get a ride, right? It's just very difficult because my parents work a lot. Yeah. So at first it's just like, man, like, what, why do we move to this town? You know, what's going on here? But the slowly, you know, the more, the more older I grew, the more I like it. You know, just the fact that everything is just so space, spacey. Yeah.

You weren't on top of each other. Yeah. You could, you know, it wasn't so crowded. It wasn't so busy. You could just kind of have a little slower pace of life. Oh yeah. Living much slower, not a little lower, slower, much slower pace of life. Okay. So you, you figured out how to, how to fit in, belong, be, become part of the Polk County culture, graduated from Lakeland High School. Yes, ma'am. And then, then what? I think I heard you and Nate talking about, college classes. So Polk State, Polk State College.

Yeah, yeah, during that time was Polk Community College. Yeah, we're a little, we're getting old, man.

Yeah, welcome to the club. Nate's way back before the college.

Oh, you knew? Okay, so let's talk about how you guys know each other.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we lived, or my mom still lives, but we lived about 5-10 minutes away from his family shop and we would go on a regular basis. So he got to know my dad, my mom, my brother, sister. You were regulars. Yeah, eventually my sister-in-law, you know.

And which one is the restaurant? Is it the China one?

The China one, yes.

Okay. And that's, it's been in that same location all this time?

For like 22 years.

Oh wow. Okay.

We've been there for a long time.

I actually remember during the many hurricanes back when we had it in '04, '05, you guys were one of the only places open. Oh wow. And so we would go there and get food 'cause— How old were you?

Oh man, probably 12.

Oh my goodness. 13, something around, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's sci-fi, sci-fi. It's so weird 'cause I think I was married.

I was married and my house, just trying to like, that's so odd to think you're 12 during all those hurricanes.

Yeah, I was young, but yeah, we go way back. We've known each other for a while. And then we had a class together.

It was science class, right? It was a science class, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And so I wanna figure this out. Because I've gone to plenty of restaurants as a regular for a pretty long period of time over many years, right? And I don't know that I ever created a friendship like it seems like you were able to create just by being a customer at the restaurant. So how does that— I mean, you show up, your family's there, you're eating, you see this kid, he's about your age, and you guys just start talking. You go through, you know, shoot hoops. I mean, what, you know, what happens that you just kind of become friends from just that standpoint?

I think it was just he was a naturally down-to-earth guy and just super chill and always kind and friendly to our family and would always go the extra mile for us. So he would— he'd throw an extra fortune cookie in there for you. Or if it was, you know, there was a certain order that my dad liked or my brother or I or even my sister, he would fix it for us. And just very intentional.

Cool. Yeah. I mean, I've found that in is the person that you are. The ethos, I think, is the word that I would use to describe you because I only met you, it's been a few years at this point in time, right? When you were opening up Jade Fox. Jade Fox, yep. And just this natural, kind, caring, considerate, you know, I remember vividly where we were sitting. We walked in, sat down, you weren't there. I think you were probably over kind of doing a run between and I say run between, between the restaurant and Jade Fox. And so we're sitting there and for some reason I knew that you were the owner and I don't, I don't remember how or why or who had said, yeah, you need to go meet Jay. And we had, we had gone over, sit, sitting down and kind of in the, in the couches. And I was afraid that I was like in some sort of VIP section, cuz there was like this roped off piece, but we're sitting there and I, I'm like, hi, is it okay if we're sitting here? You walk over, you're so kind. You're so welcoming. And then I, you know, like I tell you my name's Chrissanne. You're like, oh, I know. I have heard of you. So then we start talking and it was just this natural, like we've been friends for years. Like 10 minutes later, I feel like I know you. And so that's kind of complimenting what you're saying about the 14-year-old Jay and the, the now entrepreneurial Jay. So that's, that's fantastic. And I think that's what kind of now we want to dig into this entrepreneurial heart that you have. Yeah. Getting into that hustle, right? That hustle and grind. You know, you, we talked about Chinese restaurants, the hard work, the headaches, the challenges, the problems with that. And then, you know, you graduate and you say, All right, well, now I'm going to start working on the next thing. And so why don't you talk about that process for you?

It was, it was not an easy venture, you know, especially when you do the construction and pulling permits and stuff like that. It was definitely a rough ride. But once you get into it, you know, you always got to save some money on the side because there's always slow month to be expected. So you just got to keep grinding, keep hustling, find the right people to work for you, find the people, the right people to work with, and to be able to slowly build it up because good things doesn't happen overnight. Yeah. So it's, and now that the bar is doing really well, a good thing is that we live in Florida. Everything's been really opened up way before other states. So that's when I started to jump into the next ventures, which is the concrete business.

Okay. Before we jump into the concrete business, I wanna talk about the challenges you had with the shutdowns because restaurants and bars were absolutely just the most challenged in the whole process. Where, where was your head, I guess, at the time? You know, we're shut down. I've got all of my, energy and resources and time invested in Jade Fox. What are we going to do? The restaurant's probably going to have to pivot as well. So talk us through kind of some of the things that happened during the year 2020.

Well, as for myself, like I mentioned, I wasn't really, I didn't get hit that bad. The takeout restaurant, we pretty much, we opened a month later.

So you were closed for a month. Yes. But But that's it. Once, once a month had passed, because restaurants could do takeout, social distancing, masks, all of that, those things, you were able to— at least people could come in and do their takeout. Exactly. Okay.

And for the bar, you know, I was, you know, we were fortunate enough to get money from the PPP. Some of the local government assistance, they give you funds as well. And then I was able to talk to the owner and tell them about my struggle because, you know, when it really first happened—

owner of the building, so like the lease, the rent and all of that. Okay.

You know, when it first happened, you know, I'm thinking maybe a month or two. That we're going to be shut down for. I didn't realize it was like 6 months. Yeah, you know, I mean, I kind of just tell them that, you know, what's really going on, I can't open because it's government's order. So they was able to comp some of the rent. Nice. And then, you know, by receiving the funds from the government, I wasn't really, really been hit that bad in a way. Okay. Whereas like some people, if you're in the different states like California, right, or New York, I mean, yeah, I have to shut down the business.

It's all a point of view, right? It's all from where you're, where your perspective is. And so looking at it, you're able to see— I mean, none of us were happy. None of us were comfortable with the fact that this whole thing was happening. But I love that your immediate second sentence is, but it's not as bad for me as it is for somebody else. So why am I going to sit here and whine and complain? Because it could be worse.

It could be worse. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. Do you think that comes from the fact that you were working inside of your family's business for so long and you guys went through, I mean, '08, '09, the hurricanes, all this stuff and all these different challenges. So you guys have always constantly had to pivot and this was just another thing that you just had to pivot. You feel like that kind of helped? Yeah, absolutely.

Like I mentioned before, you know, you, uh, gotta have some money on the side. You gotta save some money on the side in case things like that happen. I mean, right. Never in my life I thought that something like that would happen. Right. But you know, it, it, you can't just spend as you go. Mm-hmm. You gotta have a backup plan. Yeah. In case something bad like that happen that you can't generate any income.

Such wise words, right? I mean, thinking about, thinking about the average entrepreneur in Polk County, speaking of myself as one of those average people, I didn't come into entrepreneurship with the background that you had, you know, like having parents who had run successful businesses and kind of understanding the nuances of being business owners. I mean, my dad had been a business owner for my childhood, but then had I wasn't close. I wasn't in the business. Right. So I didn't really know the operation side. I didn't know any of that. So the education of running a business is not something that I have, but you walked in kind of with some, some real life experience in understanding, okay, well, you know, we need to be saving. We need to be putting this money back because we, we know that the restaurant business isn't, you know, it has its margins and it has, it has, it has its headaches and challenges and problems. And so you kind of were, better prepared probably than I would say most businesses, small businesses like yours, when the pandemic came. So that is an excellent like wisdom example to share. You know, it's like, okay, how did you get through? Well, I was really good and smart with saving money. And that's a piece of information that needs to be shared and not, you know, not, not let's not just cut corners and ignore that fact because that's the reality. That's why you're saying, yeah, I mean, it was, it was tough. It was challenging. We got the government assistance. Just like everybody else did. But we were okay because we were prepared, not prepared for a pandemic, but we had financial means to, to kind of to be able to survive.

Absolutely. You got to work your way around there. And it's very important, especially if you just started a business, you know, talk to the people that have a successful business. Yeah. Like some of these people will give you some advice that you wouldn't think that's going to be useful. You know, just learn, keep learning. You don't know it all. Nobody knows it all. Yeah. To this day, a lot of people, if they pretend that they know it all, it's not the truth. Mm-hmm. You know, things might happen anytime, any moment. Yeah. You know, just prepare for the worst.

So local mentors, do you have people that you've gone to and, and gotten some of that wisdom from? People that are mentors to you? I mean, you just were talking about going to people and asking for, for guidance and advice. I mean, who are those?

I'd say the most came from my parents. Parents. Yeah. I'm always with them. And then, you know, some of the business, local business owner, Mark Hobart, super humble guy. Yeah. He told me a story. He came to this state with $500 in his pockets, working way up. I mean, right now he's one of the best builders in town.

Yeah. You know, very well known, hardworking, you know, like you said, very humble, very, very accessible kind of person to talk to. I've only met him on one occasion, but that was my impression as well. Yeah. Yeah, man.

So you've, you worked in your parents' business and then you started your own venture in Jade Fox, and then you're maneuvering through that and maneuvering through those nuances. And it, you know, it sounds like as we've been talking, you're really turning into a serial entrepreneur. What, what made you want to do this next business? Was it a trend? Like what, what were you looking at to say, okay, I want to start this next thing?

Well, and talk about what this next thing is. Yeah. Because we haven't gotten to that yet. So what is the concrete business? Uh-huh. And what is it? And then talk about the business model. That you had about getting into this business? You know, my opinion is just keep going.

During the pandemic, you was home. There's not much you could do. I mean, you can't go out, you can't have fun, you can't even go to your friend's house. Right. So, you know, I just kept looking online and then found something that I feel like it's going to help me in the future, benefit myself, because I'm always going to be in the restaurants and bar field. And then having something like the this new business, which is Decorative Concrete, is going to help myself, whereas I don't have to hire people to do my flooring, my countertops, bathroom. I could do it myself. And then, um, what the, uh, what really amazed me about this business is that you could be however creative you want rather than getting the traditional look, you know, because it's very important to get what you want to look like in your property, whether if it's your business or where you living to be able to maximize your beyond your imagination to get what you wanted. It's the reason why I jump into this business. Yeah. You could get whatever kind of colors, whatever kind of design, anything you could think about, we can make it happen.

So what is Decorative Concrete? I mean, I know what concrete is and I know what decorating is, but explain to me the, the, the, the, the model of the business. You know, what is Decorative Concrete? How does it work? Is it just concrete floors? Is it more than that? Get into the, the nitty-gritty of, of decorative. And it's CTI, right? Yes. Concrete Technologies. What's the I? Incorporated. Incorporated.

Okay. So the, the beauty about CTI is that it's, so we specialize in driveway, garages, pool decks. What makes it so different is that, again, I mentioned this because You want to do something different and then to be able to design whatever you want that your neighbors don't have or your friend doesn't have. One of my favorite products is the reflective flooring. I mean, it literally makes the floor look like marble and it just reflects like a mirror. But you could put whatever kind of colors you want, whatever design, whether if you want to look like lightning or, you know, one of my favorite pieces at the showroom, it's a meteor shower. So it looked like a planet with meteor hits. Oh, wow. Cool. And with that reflector, finished, you know, it's just being different.

It pops. It pops. It's different. Yeah.

And if I was to walk into somebody's house, you know, I'm like, man, where'd you get that from?

Right. It's a conversation piece. It's, it's something distinctive and, and unique to each individual. And no two are probably the same, right? Mm-hmm. I mean, I would assume there's probably some nuance to the decoration that even if it, if you bought the meteor shower, mm-hmm, it's probably not identical to somebody else's meteor shower because the dots and the, and, and right. The pieces are kind of all a little bit different. So you have your own personal piece.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's gonna be one of a kind. It's your own artwork, right?

Yeah. That's cool. Absolutely.

It's very cool.

So, so what was the process like of launching that business during, 'cause it, it sounds like you were thinking of it during the pandemic and kind of launching it during the pandemic. So what was that process like?

It's very easy because, you know, unlike bar and restaurants, you gotta go through permitting, pulling permits, inspections, all that stuff. Whereas this place, What I really have to do was just complete our showroom. You know, we currently have 32 different designs on the floor, and, um, you know, it's just all about creating something different so then people could see it when they come in. They could touch it, they could step on it, and just kind of get a feel for it. So it's not really that difficult when you compare to restaurants or bars because you got to pull permits, do inspections, and, you know, getting The contractors involved, it's a—

there wasn't any renovation to the actual building except on the floor. Except on the floor, of course. Got it.

Okay. Okay. That makes sense.

So I want to know, I love the idea. I love the— I understand like, okay, I'm always going to be doing this kind of thing. And so having kind of my own ability to be my own contractor or to work on things on my own so I don't have to actually outsource so much of that expense. Um, what problem were you solving? You know, like what problem are you solving for your, your potential customers? I mean, cause ultimately I'm, I'm all into this, like the sales side of business and the marketing side of a business. So when you were sitting in the computer kind of Googling and thinking, all right, well, you know, I've got nothing else to do. I'm gonna think about the next business that I'm gonna start. Um, what was on your heart? What was on your mind? What were you thinking? How do, How I understand, like, you want to be cool, you want to be trendy, you want, you know, you want to be unique. So you want to be able to provide that thing to somebody who wants those things. But talk about like the process of the thinking through, I'm going to become— I'm going to start a concrete technology company. Like, where does that come from?

Well, this business also a lot more price affordable. For example, most of the houses here Well, in Polk County, the driveway, they either have brick pavers or plain concrete. We can make your driveway look like brick pavers. Now, if you was to get brick pavers for, let's say, a 4-car space driveway, you're probably looking at $14,000 to $16,000. Wow. Whereas if you get our material, we can make it look the same, feel the same for probably a little bit under $4,000.

Wow. That's huge.

You know, that's the problem that you're definitely solving. A lot of contractors will probably try to utilize that because, you know, everything right now is just a lot more expensive. You know, to be able to do something like that and we have 10 years warranty, you can't really go wrong. Wow. And then, you know, if over the years, let's just say 8, 9 years later, you started seeing a little bit discoloring, we could always go back and reseal it. Maybe a few hundred bucks, we get the job done to make it look brand new again.

Wow. That's revolutionary. I mean, that's definitely not technology, something— yeah, it's the technology, but it's something that needs to be shouted out from the mountaintops because it's innovative, right? We're innovating. We're looking at, all right, well, you could do it this way, the traditional way, or you can find a new way to do the same thing and create maybe and maximize your dollar, you know, like make your dollar go further. But also that long-term like protection that you have, like, okay, well, 10 years. And when it starts to wear, tear, or do whatever, it's not going to be as costly as repairing all over again, another $14,000, or depending on inflation or where we are in 10 years, you know, that might be more than that. So that's, that's, that's brilliant. I mean, I just love that you found that. That's why I'm trying to dig in and get into this, into this mind, the serial entrepreneur mind here, because it's the next thing. Hey, Elevate Polk podcast listeners, are you ready to level up? If you're interested in starting a podcast or if you need a studio setting to record video to grow your business, our podcast production team is gearing up to serve the community of people with great ideas who want to share their message with the world. If that sounds like you, get started today by visiting maximizedigital.com/studio. To learn more about the podcast and video packages available. Just mention you heard about the studio on the Elevate Polk podcast and you'll unlock exclusive pricing just for our listeners. I'm curious. I know we're just now kicking off CTI and getting that ball rolling. You're going to have a meet and greet with BridgeLocal coming up soon. We're going to kind of start that networking game again and get some things going. But You know, you said something earlier. It's like always, always growing, always moving, always doing something else. So do you already have something in your mind that, that would be the next thing? Yeah, I want to build another restaurant.

Another restaurant. You know, I— the reason why I mentioned about keep moving and keep building, uh, keep building, you know, if you're not doing that, you're sitting home and spending money or going out spending money. And, um, you know, like, it's, it's good in a way right now since I'm still single, I have no kids. I gotta, you know, maximize my potential to do what I can, giving my best efforts. Yeah. You know, that's why I want to keep moving.

So what is this new restaurant? I know we talked about it a couple years ago. I think you had a— you had— you actually tried something downtown. I think you were working on—

but yeah, there's a couple locations that I'm looking at. So I want to open a, uh, more of a modern Asian cuisine, like an upscale kind of Asian cuisine. Yeah. And I've always wanted to do that, especially in downtown Lakeland. You know, there's a lot of restaurants going in there and it's becoming a very trendy spot for the local.

So describe upscale Asian cuisine. Where can I go now? Not in, obviously in Lakeland, but where is there an example of that kind of cuisine that, that would you, you would be modeling?

To be honest, it's not really any spot that I know of in Central Florida. Okay. But there's a lot of places like that in New York. Okay. But to give you the best example ballpark, it's kind of like a, I would say like a 1961, but Asian.

Okay. So an Asian infused, because I think he uses Cuban infused or Latin infused as a kind of a part of the description of 1961, but you would kind of do that. Exactly. Awesome. So it wouldn't be egg rolls and, and in the same kind of menu that— Definitely not. Generally a Chinese restaurant has, but like order from a menu delivered by a waiter or waitress experience, you know, that kind of experience. Yeah. Yep. Awesome. And is that, is that you got it under works or are you just kind of keeping that? You've got a smile on your face. Got a glimmer in your eye.

Yeah. I'm, I'm still waiting for a couple more feedbacks and like I said, once, once it's approved, I'm going to jump into it right away.

Awesome. Awesome.

So there's, there's a lot of ventures and a lot of projects that you're working on. How do you, how do you properly allocate your time amongst everything that you're working on and make sure that, you know, the concrete business takes off and this new venture with the restaurant, that it's properly managed? And, you know, how are you— how are you allocating your time with everything that you're working on?

Reliable employees. I mean, you got to have good people in place. Boom. I would rather pay $2 more than Jonathan over there, having the same person that, you know, that would just keep them working longer. And, uh, you gotta like treat your employees with love and respect, you know. Some of them might get too comfortable, but you have to like treat them the right way and build with them. Yeah, you know, reliable employees is very, very important. I can't do it all.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.

Nobody can do it. I mean, I work the most amongst everybody, but reliable employees is the keyword.

Was that, was that paradigm shift easy for you? Because again, you grew up in that environment where you, you saw your parents have to rely on other employees, like where the business grew to the point where they couldn't manage it themselves and they had to hire people. So that paradigm shift for you was a little bit easier because I feel like Chrissanne Long and I talk about that point where a lot of entrepreneurs, when they're growing up their business, it's difficult for them to let go and give other people responsibility and say, are you going to be as passionate and work as hard on this business as I am? Right. Was that easy for you? Was that difficult? Was that—

what was that like? Well, it's definitely a learning experience. Yeah. Um, like I say, you know, if you Give them the right income and then just, you have to work with them. You know, like it's not an easy task and there's always bad, bad ones. I'm not saying everybody's good. Yeah. But the right one, the good ones, keep 'em, do as much as you can. Right. To be able in order to keep 'em because that's the person that's gonna be helping you to reduce stress. Mm-hmm. I mean, I can't mop, bartend, do egg rolls and concrete all at the same time.

And then make deals on real estate and all of the other things that you gotta do. You can't do it all. Right.

If you have the right people in place, it will make your life a lot easier. Yeah. Yeah.

And, and, and so let's talk about that, cuz right now, I mean, I think I saw an article published by the Florida Chamber where there's, I don't know the numbers cuz that's not my thing, but thousands more jobs than people applying for jobs. Right. So people have job vacancies. We have a kind of a crisis in, in the workforce side of things. Are you feeling any of that? Is that a concern for you as you're rolling out this, as you're rolling out CTI or anything else in the future? Are you seeing any problems in the workforce side yourself? No, not for me.

I kind of have people, project manager, receptionist, everybody in place before I open the business. Okay. So, you know, these are all reliable people that I actually knew from previously or through friends' recommendations, you know, and after you have a deal with them, let's just say you pay them a certain amount of money or give a certain kind of permission percentage on the sales, you pretty much get the pictures.

Yeah. Yeah, that's an interesting conversation I've been having lately too, is just the compensation side of that. And it's not always just the salary increase. It's a bonus. It's an opportunity for helping improve performance by offering a plan, not just suddenly I feel really good about you today, so here's a bonus. There's actual milestones that you're working towards to achieve. And if you meet those milestones or you exceed those goals, then there is a compensation plan in place. You have to do that.

You know, for my bar, you know, we do VIPs and we sell bottles and each bottles, each bottle that my bartenders or any, any employee sells, I give them a 15%. Okay. I mean, that'll just get you going like, hey, instead of 4 drinks, you could buy a bottle. Yeah. That makes everybody's life easier. Right. And then they get a bonus.

And that, and that's technically, if I, I think if I spoke to some other bar owners or restaurant owners, that's eating into your profit. Mm-hmm. But there's an advantage that you're seeing where that profit is more valuably spent on the employee than on you looking at your bottom line and saying, well, you know, I'm not going to give 15% for the bottle because, you know, I only make this much on the margin. But what you're saying is a complete shift to that whole mindset, which is I'm investing in my employees because they're going to appreciate working here. They're not going to go anywhere. I'm not going to have turnover. My customers are going to feel good. I mean, it all just kind of comes together. You can't make all the money.

The good thing about this business, it's longevity. Mm-hmm. How can you keep it going? You can make $20 less today, but that $20 can extend over the years instead of having the business only last 5 years. Now you have 10 years because you have good employees, you have good services, and people will keep coming back and they just keep growing from there.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's brilliant. I mean, I just love— I wish that there was more of that. I go back to conversations that I've had with bar and restaurant owners and, you know, they don't have this same— they don't have your same, like, love for the work, right? They see the margins and they feel like they're always constantly trying to stay above water. And there's just something different about your philosophy that you might need to write a book and, you know, teach future restaurant owners. And with all of the time you have, right? Because you have plenty, I'm kidding. But I'm just thinking like that message needs to be heard because I was, I don't know where I was, but I was having a conversation with a bar restaurant owner and they were frustrated with credit card fees. And I'm like, well, me too. You know, I mean, I'm a business owner too. And when my customer prefers to pay with a credit card, you know, there are people in my industry who will actually charge an additional fee to cover that cost. I don't do that. But the conversation with this bar restaurant owner was, I think I want to put in an ATM and stop taking credit cards and let people only pay cash. And I'm like, well, goodbye to your customers. Yeah. Because I don't walk around with cash and I don't want to pay the 3% or whatever it is going to take to get money out of your, you know, dinky ATM that you're going to have. And I think that's just a mindset that sometimes exists that just kind of needs to be understood. It's like, it's not— it's the people in your business and you're one of the people. But it's your employees and your customers and your vendors. I bet you take good care of your vendors as well, you know, making sure that they take care of you, right?

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that 3% is just a little bit outrageous. If you really think that that 3% really affected your business that much, I would just increase the price of my drink like by 50 cents or something. Mm-hmm. You know, that way it won't bother anybody, right?

Nobody really notices it there and, and then everybody's happy. Let's talk a little bit. So there's a book that I'm thinking of when I'm hearing you talk and it just seems like you're this, and you're an intuitive entrepreneur. Mm-hmm. You're, you didn't go, do you don't have a, do you have a, a business degree? I mean, you, you graduated from Polk State with an AA, I'm, I'm assuming.

No, I didn't graduate from Polk State. I dropped out. Okay. So no, no degree.

No degree. Did you drop out, Nate?

Huh? Did you drop out?

No, I, I kept pushing, man. I kept pushing. No, it's, that's the spirit. Well, it's funny that he said that cuz I remember when he did drop out cuz we were in the same class together and he just said, man, this isn't for me. Oh wow. I said, okay, man, I've I feel you, dude.

And yet here's going to this, this is all gut. This is all intuition. This is all hustle. This is all grit. This is all, I'm gonna figure it out. I'm gonna find a way. Taught for you by what you saw your parents, how you grew up. But these decisions that you're making aren't the traditional decisions that business owners are making in Polk County. I mean, I can only speak to that 'cause I'm having conversations with business owners and it's more of a scarcity mindset. It's like, I don't have enough. I'm trying to keep my head above water. And yet you, you have this abundance mindset. It's all over you. It's all over your ethos, like I said earlier. And, and yet you didn't walk into a classroom, you didn't have a professor, you didn't read a book, you didn't, you know, walk in and go, okay, I'm gonna learn how to do this. You're just living it. And I think that I'm giving you huge kudos for that because it's just, it's, it's part of what I would love to see more entrepreneurs start to see and do. Yeah. There's discipline in what you're doing. You know, you're not just all over the place. You've got a lot of different things that you're doing, but there's an intentionality behind each step that you're And there's— I have mad respect for you. Thank you.

Well, to me, like, I put it in this way, like, not just like business-wise, but I feel like there's always like negative obstacle that come to your life daily.

Mm-hmm.

You just gotta have to learn how to fight it. Right. And just keep fighting it until you get the way how you want it. Right. You know, like, don't think that, hey, I'm gonna jump into this business, I'm gonna make $100,000, a few million dollars because I'm I believe in it. It's not going to be that easy, right? Right. If it was, everybody would be doing it. There's always going to be something coming to your torch, your way, and you're gonna have to fight it.

Is there something more than the profit that, that is it for you? Is there something more than the money that you're making as an entrepreneur that makes you really enjoy what it is that you do?

Oh yeah. I mean, if you're not making money, I probably won't do it, right? But you know, it has to make sense. And you know, for the bar, I only open 2, 3 days a week. It's very easy. It's not that— I also have fun at the same time, you know. I enjoy mingling my customers and, you know, obviously the sales on Friday and Saturday, it's really good. That's why I kept it going. And then, um, it's just, it's a very fun business.

You said you're single and I'm just trying to figure out how you would figure out how to have a relationship in the world that you're in. I mean, do you have time? Is that why you're single? You just don't have time for, for anyone right now?

I don't know. I don't know how to answer that question.

You're not out there, you're not swiping right, or, you know, you're not He's building businesses.

That's what he's doing. That's what he's doing. So where do you, you know, and I think it's, I think it's awesome because, you know, all the growth and Chrissanne and I talk about this all the time, all the growth in Lakeland and the, the things that are happening with, that we see that are happening with entrepreneurs like yourself that are just moving in this environment of growth. Where do you see you and your businesses in the next 5 to 10 years with everything that's happening with Lakeland? What are you, what are you hoping to see?

I think the reason why Lakeland is growing, because we're in between Tampa and Orlando, and then a lot of people from those two cities are investing into Lakeland since we're in between, you know, Amazon's coming. Yeah. These big corporations are all coming here to Lakeland, and especially with the pandemic, a lot of people are moving to Florida. Yeah. And some of them, they try to get away from the big city like New York or California. So they came to Lakeland, and I think that like over the next few years, it's really gonna grow. Go, you know. That's why I believe in this city, and, um, it's gonna get—

well, we're glad that you believe in the city and this community. I, I feel that same way, and that's why I love— I think we're kindred spirits in that, in that respect. Um, you know, I think that there's also a, um, a group of people that don't love Polk County, don't love Lakeland. You know, they, they, you know, we grow up— we grow up here. I mean, all of us grew up here. I went to— and I've— I'm one of those people that I'm not a boomerang. We talked about it on another show, a boomerang person where I went to college and then a lot of people are like, okay, I'm going to college and I'm never coming back, but you end up coming back. I always knew that I would want to be here. I lived in Miami my senior year of high school and I don't mind going to Miami. I speak Spanish. I can fit in there. I can assimilate into any community. I feel like that's, that's, I'm easy to adapt into whatever environment that I am placed into. I lived in Costa Rica for a year. I fell in love with that beautiful area, that country, but You know, I think home is here and home is here because it's people. It's real. It's down, down, down to earth. Humility, you know, salt of the earth. There's just a lot of really great human beings. But I want to talk about some of the challenges of being Polk County and being nestled between Orlando and Tampa. And some of the, you know, the realities are we're not as— we're not as innovative as business owners. You are one of the exceptions. We're not as advanced in our mindset, in our thinking. So there's a lot of scarcity versus abundance mindset implanted in, you know, working together. I think one of the conversations that you and I had very early on was all about collaboration and working together and helping one another and lifting each other up. I think you, you are the essence of that kind of person. You know, I see you as a hustler, but also a caring kind. You'd help people, you know, that need help. What do you see as like opportunities for growth or improvement that would make being an entrepreneur in Polk County, you know, better for more people? You know, it's going to work for you. You're going to make it work no matter what you do, you're going to I get that's it, right? But turning that around and saying, how do we make it work for people who might not have that intuition, right? If they don't have all the gifts that you were kind of guided through to get to this point, how do we make entrepreneurship better for more people?

I would say, you know, believe in yourself. Mm-hmm.

But how do we help others believe in themselves? Right? Because it, it, it, it's a cultivated thing. I mean, you just have this very strong confidence and that's beautiful. It's a beautiful thing, but not everybody has that. And being a minority and being somebody from a different, you know, a different culture, um, you, that's not a barrier for you, but do you see that it is a barrier for others? And do you see others struggling to kind of try and break through whatever that barrier is? And could you use this confidence to, to help others? Because you can tell me all day long, just believe in yourself. But until I find a way to see success becoming a part of that process for myself, if I have never had a door open for me, if I've never had somebody look at me and listen to me, see me or hear me. How do I start to, to be able to have that kind of ethos?

Well, to begin with, a lot of people, before they ever thought about doing something that they want, like their career, is that they work for somebody else. You know, you got to have that mindset again to believe in yourself, to do what you like, to make you happy. Now, if you're currently a plumber, but your dream is to become a, a architect, you know, you got to work your way up. You can't just like, hey, you know, you have the same mentality, hey, I'm gonna go home 9 to 5, then after that I'm gonna spend the money on this to do that. You can't think or live that way. Yeah, you gotta have— you gotta keep going, you gotta keep learning, gotta put the blinders on. You have to, you know, you can't just like think that this is gonna happen overnight. It takes years and months for somebody to come up with that idea to come up with the job or career that they really wanted. Right, right.

Yeah, I think he's speaking to the fact that, like, you know, people can hear this podcast and see, oh man, I want to be like Jay and have all these different businesses, but they don't understand the time that you spent to build and the knowledge and the amount of time that it took to get to this point where you're at today.

Absolutely. One of the examples I could give you is that, you know, Swan Brewery. They don't just come together one day and be like, hey, we're going to do this. Oh, yeah. It takes time to have the right people, the right brewers, the right marketing person. You know how you do the logos? Yeah. Probably take a year before they actually start the business. Right. You got to go into constructions. You got to have money saved up because—

And then there's another couple of years.

Exactly. Yeah. It just doesn't happen overnight. You have to believe in yourself and just like keep working on your dreams. It doesn't happen overnight, but always have a plan, a backup plan. In case something happens.

So, so like, and, and this is, this is an interesting question. I think it kind of falls in line with kind of what Chrissanne Long's saying. So for the restaurant as an example, and you trying to get access to downtown locations, what, what are, what are some steps that you take when you're like, okay, this is, this is a new venture. I've never really worked in downtown before. What's like your first action? It's like, oh, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna reach out to this person. I'm gonna, is it going downtown and Is it finding the number? Is it reaching out to the city? Like what's your thought process around that?

Oh yeah, I have to do all that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, you guys know better than I am. You know, there's a lot of restaurants, a lot of businesses going to downtown. And you know, definitely before you jump into any location that you think that might be a potential, you have to do a little bit of research. One of the challenges that I came across was building the grease trap. There's barely any space in the alley. So now you have to like build a grease trap inside the place or come up with another solutions. Now if you build a grease trap inside the unit, you have to get an engineer involved because you have to dig down the concrete and to put something that kind of size in there, like 1,000 to 2,000 gallons. It's a lot of work. So the solution I came up with was, you know, you could do something called a Trapzilla, you know, which is like 1/10 of the size. Mm-hmm. And you're able to get away with that because of City of Lakeland. They willing to help you. They know it's gonna be a long process if you was to build an actual 1,000 to 2,000-gallon grease trap. Mm. So, whereas if you were to have the restaurant anywhere else, they're gonna make you put that in.

Right. Wow. Got it. Interesting. Got it. Yeah. I mean, I, I think, I think I wish that I could like tap into your brain power, right? Like get in there and, and and see how to take that and multiply it and put it out into the world. We need more J's in the world, right? But we also need that energy, that belief system. We talk about your BS, your belief system, you know, but your belief system is either BS or it gets you somewhere, right? It's either bullshit or it gets you where you want to go in life. And so because of the fact that you have this really incredibly strong belief system about yourself about your capabilities, about working with others, about valuing others. It's just you're a role model, you know? And I just, I think that that's something that I'm really excited that you got to come on the show and let people hear what's going on in the head, in your head. It's just like, this is the kind of thing you, this is the kind of thing we want to write a book about. We want to hear other people. This, you are our own Gary Vee, if you will. Like, you know, I mean, he is, he's, he's like, I don't take any shit. I just get things done. I don't have any time to worry about any of that. And let's just get it going.

Let's get it going. Yeah. And in a time where there's a lot of people pointing fingers and saying, oh, this is why it's not happening, this is why it's not happening, this is— and you're just turning it on its head on a consistent basis. I heard someone the other day, well, I was talking to a guy the other day and he mentioned it to me. I actually don't mention his name, Dave Pappas, and I love him for this.

He said— Shout out to Dave.

He said a lot of times when it gets really tough in businesses, that's when people give up. Mm-hmm. But when it gets really tough in businesses and you get past that point and realize, oh, this is the point when people give up, I'm gonna push past this obstacle. And a lot of times that's when he said a lot of people that he knew are super successful is because of that.

Yeah.

Those obstacles that people are just like, they get to that point where they just, they feel like the world is crushing on them and you just turn on its head and say, nope, there's opportunity here. This is just an obstacle. I'm going to get around it. Definitely. Definitely.

There's always negative obstacle that come to your life and you just got to keep fighting. You're never too old or too young to start something. You know, just treat people with the same kindness that you expected to come back to you. And then things will start turning around and become better.

Well, and so I'm going to tell this quick story as we wrap up, but I, somebody reached out to me looking for a story, an entrepreneurial story, you know, because I know a lot of entrepreneurs, I know people and, and they were like, we're looking looking for a unique story. Well, what I know about you is you're just a hustler, you're grinding, you're focused. You're not out there looking, raising your hand and saying, hey, look at me, look at me, I want everybody to know all of the stuff that I'm doing. You're just too busy to have time for that. And so when the person reached out to me, I said, do you know Jay? And they were like, no, who is he? And I remember kind of having to convince them that there was a story here, right? Because On the surface, it's like, it's a, it's China One, it's Jade Fox, it's just a bar, it's just a Chinese restaurant. There's plenty of those in town, whatever. But when you get to know the guy that is there, there's a story there. And so that was when you had the article in Business Observer. And I was like, you got to go find, you got to go hear this story because I think that this is a really valuable part of the Polk County culture. You know, like you, you stand out to me as somebody who is exceptional and I want that story to be told. So now we've got the podcast, we've got this opportunity. I want you to tell the listeners, you know, what— how can they get connected to you? You know, what's coming up for you? If there's any like special nights or things at Jade Fox, if there's anything that you'd like to, to say to the audience, this is your chance to kind of— your call to action, if you will.

Yeah, well, the reason why part of my, uh, success— well, majority of my success comes from, like I mentioned earlier, uh, reliable and good employees, the people that you work with, you know, they're the reason why that my business are doing well. I can't take all the credit.

So give them some shoutouts, call them out by name, give them some love.

I mean, everybody that I work with, I love them. Yeah. You know, if, if, uh, if I don't love them, they won't work with me. You know, they're the reason why, again, you know, like, especially nightclub business is that having the right promoters and DJ really makes a difference. Yeah. You know, I, I can't do it all. I can't make all the money. Everybody gotta get an equal share. Everybody's happy. The business keep going.

Yeah, for sure. For sure.

You know, and you know, just, just keep, keep grinding and keep hustling, you know? Like don't just sit there at like today it's gonna be over with. Like if there's a little extra time, work on it. Work on your dreams. Right. Work on your life.

Keep your phone on too. Keep your phone on.

I'm sorry about that. That's okay.

He's a busy guy.

We're just adding a little, adding a little humor to the show. That's good. That's good. We like that. So it any, where can they find you? Okay. Jade Fox website link. What's the web? Is it jadefox.com? Is it Jade Fox Lounge? Jadefoxlounge.com. CTI, do they have a, do you have a website yet? I haven't got a website yet. Okay. So, but, but it is gonna be located next door or in the proximity to Jade Fox location.

So yeah, it's like literally walking distance. It's in the same plaza.

Okay. Yeah. And that plaza for our audience is the Winn-Dixie Plaza on Lakeland Highlands Boulevard. Correct. Located by one of our previous guests' other locations, Swan Brewing South. So there's kind of like a little block party coming, you know, like let's set it up. So, well, Jay, thank you so much for being on the show. Any last, last thoughts, Nate, as we wrap up?

Yeah, dude, I mean, I already knew you were an awesome guy and I already kind of knew what you were about, man, but it's just that much more exciting to hear your story and hear about— hear the things that you're doing. And I talk to Chrissanne Long about it all the time. I love surrounding myself with doers, man. So I'm glad you were able to come today. Appreciate your time, man.

Thank you so much for inviting me.

It's like a reunited— reunited and it feels so good, right? You guys haven't seen each other in a while.

No, it's been a minute. Yeah, it's been a while.

Yeah, so don't, don't let that time go by before you have a next connection, right? Maybe we need to go grab a cocktail at Jade Fox one of these nights.

There you go, there you go.

We'll do it, we'll do it. All right, well, that's a wrap. Thanks for listening to this week's show. If you'd like to help us get the word out about this podcast, check out this post on our Facebook page. Page, share it, or better yet, comment with your favorite part of this episode. We want to know what you like the most about this show. We're looking forward to learning what you loved about the conversation, and if you have other ideas for upcoming episodes, we'd love to hear from you. We'll see you next week, Polk County.

Woo-hoo!