Andi Ott

Guiding conversations with community leaders.

In this podcast, we'll explore the human journey of leaders, their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks and lessons learned. Come join us as we journey together and uncover the questions you've always wanted to know. This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, providing resources, connections and belonging for business professionals and.

Modern an event and meeting venue in the heart of Gilbert and Gilbert Independent. YourValley.net dedicated to serving readers with good community journalism. The Gilbert Independent is a non partisan newspaper an online site that covers our towns institutions, development and events. Subscribe and follow YourValley.net daily to stay up to date with latest local news. I'm hungry. How about you? You're hungry?

Absolutely. But first. But first, we have to talk to a very special guest.

I think this special guest is going to bring a lot of food into our world today.

I think so too.

All right, let's talk about this one then.

This guest is a bright and beautiful example of a journey that blends resilience, entrepreneurial spirit, and a deep commitment to caring for others. Losing her parents at a young age, she emancipated herself at 17. She got an early start in the restaurant business and pursued a healthcare career. When faced with the opportunity to join her husband in franchise ownership, they chased their dream together and are now successful entrepreneurs, co owning multiple doghouse Beer garden franchise locations. She is a wife and a mom and she loves hiking and backpacking. She has been to the bottom of the Grand Canyon a dozen times. She is The Gilbert Chambers 2024 Business Leader of the year and someone I have come to admire. Please welcome Andy Ott.

Hey, welcome to the show.

Well, thank you. I should have just let you write all of the bios I've ever had to turn into anyone.

Sarah has a journalism degree. Sometimes it comes out, sometimes everyone's.

I didn't know that.

I do. Yes, but this is not about me. This is about you.

We could dig into that one though, couldn't we?

Anyway, we could. We could.

But until then, let's start off what.

We call rapid fire.

Rapid fire. All right, Sarah, you go.

Would you rather sing in public or dance in public?

Oh, dance in public.

Hmm. We'll test that later. Okay. Phone call or text message?

Text message.

Okay.

Favorite snack food?

Anything like chips and salsa, chips and guac. Does that count?

Sure.

I hear chips. That's the core chips?

Yeah.

Okay. Saturday or Sunday?

Saturday.

Okay.

What makes you hopeful? My child? Yes. She's been talking about college planning. She's in eighth grade. And she's currently obsessed with college planning, so that makes me hopeful for her future as well.

Yeah, I could see that for sure. What's the best room in your house?

My great room. I have a big, open concept, great room. It's great for entertaining. I can cook dinner while still hanging out with my family.

Would you ever skydive?

I actually already have. And yes, I would do it again.

Okay.

That's usually the next question. Okay. In your teen years, which we found hasn't been that very long, what was your favorite hangout?

Oh, I grew up in the Midwest up until I was 15. So really, at that point, everybody hung out in their basements. That was kind of like everybody hung out at people's houses in the basement. That was teen rooms there.

Soak up that mold.

Yeah, probably.

Where in the Midwest.

But it's cooler. Toledo, Ohio.

Okay.

Would you rather travel to the past or to the future?

Neither. Neither. I don't want to know the future in advance. That, like, stresses me out a little bit. I'd rather kind of just take each opportunity as it comes. But I also don't believe in going back.

I actually love that.

That's amazing.

Staying in the present.

Staying in the present.

So that would maybe answer this question. Glass half full or half empty?

I'm a glass half full.

Bingo. Knew it.

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That's 480-848-3037. Well, all right. Let's dig into this story, shall we?

Yeah, I, I. So let's talk a little bit about what childhood looked like for you.

Okay.

And started in Toledo, Ohio.

Yep, yep, yep. So I'm originally from Toledo, Ohio. I lived there until I was 15. As you mentioned kind of in the intro, I lost my parents, both of them, when I was five. So I was adopted by my aunt and uncle. I have a lot of family there, unfortunately, like, my childhood wasn't awful by any means, but it was, you know, difficult dealing with trauma and dealing with, you know, lack of a relationship, really, with my parents who adopted me, my adoptive parents. So I went through, let's see, I went to Catholic school. Actually, that's something not everybody knows. I went through Catholic school until I was in eighth grade, and then I switched over to public school.

Nuns, uniforms, all that.

Uniforms for sure. Again, I'm 34, so, like, the nuns were kind of done in Catholic school by the time I went.

They used to have rulers and all that fun stuff.

Yeah, I hear the stories, you know, I've definitely heard the stories from other family members that went to Catholic school, but I didn't get beat with a ruler.

Okay. I missed out, and I guess it was.

Yeah, okay, right? I guess so. Let's see. I played piano.

You still play that piano?

No.

Regrettably. I got to a point where I had to practice a lot. I was practicing 45 minutes a day, and then I was around 13, and I felt like my social life was more important, and so I couldn't make the commitment to practicing, so my teacher wouldn't keep me if I didn't practice, so.

But I bet if you sat down in front of piano, you could do more than chopsticks.

Yes. Not a lot more, because I feel like I've lost a ton of it, but I think it would come back. It is on my bucket list to someday circle back. Not right now. I don't have time, but maybe, like, when I'm retired or something. Buy a piano, circle back. Cause I would love to relearn it.

Put a piano in one of your restaurants, and you go in there and you start playing, and it's like Billy Joel piano man style.

Yeah.

You're giving me a lot more credit than the skills I currently have. I'd have to relearn it all, but yeah.

Okay. So did you grow up with siblings? Were you an only child?

Yes, I grew up with siblings. So I have a younger brother. He's two years younger than me. And then I have an older half sister, so we are related by my biological dad. So we didn't really grow up together. I saw her intermittently growing up. She lived half an hour, 45 minutes away, and kind of family issues kept us from not really seeing tons of each other. We reconnected, actually, when she got married and was graduating and stuff when I was a little bit older. So they still live. The both of them still live back in Ohio. So I'm pretty close with both of them. My brother has definitely. He's taken a different path. He struggled a little bit differently than I did. And so we've reconnected recently as he's kind of getting his life together. My sister, complete opposite. Like, she's kind of your prime example of, like, check all the boxes, do all the things, marry your high school sweetheart, and I also have two nephews from her as well, so we're still close. I go back and see them. I'll be there in a few weeks actually.

What was Toledo like? I always think of Drew Carey when.

I hear that because it's a great place to be from. I like to go back and visit. I love my family. I definitely. I was really upset about moving to Arizona. I got moved the middle of my sophomore year of high school, so. So obviously that's never fun.

Big friend time there.

Big friend time. Yeah. And you know, again, just different family issues and being pulled away from family that I was close with, to move out here with, you know, my adoptive parents that I wasn't. So that was difficult. But you know, I'm happier to be out here. I feel like that's one of those like bad things that's turned into the greatest thing for me. I feel like there's a lot more opportunity, growth. I like being surrounded by people here who push you to be better. They don't just accept it is what it is or this is how it's always been. And I sometimes struggle a little bit with that Midwest mentality.

I think that's actually an interesting insight because so many people out here, until maybe recent years are transplants. And transplants are typically seeking something different and taking a risk. So that's interesting insight.

Yeah.

Because I think like when you're. You're in your hometown, there's. It's a blessing and a curse to have everybody accept you exactly as you are. Right. So they're comfortable with, this is how you are. This is how it's always been. You kind of check a few boxes and then that's it. It's a little more stagnant out here. I feel like that transplant, the mindset's just a little bit different.

Yeah, absolutely. So where did you end up?

Out here in Gilbert. So I have. Yeah, so I've pretty much been in Gilbert almost continuously since I was 15.

So straight into Gilbert High.

Mesquite.

Mesquite. So I'm thinking about this. 16. You moved here?

15.

15. Okay. So cuz, in Ohio you can start driving at 14, right?

No, no, no, it's 16 there actually. Funny story though. I was like less than a month and a half away from getting my driver's license in Ohio because you had to hold your permit for six months and we moved out here in October. You had to restart and yeah, they didn't count any of my time. So you know, like teenage problems. Right. That feels like the end of the world. But I did have to get a new permit and drive for another six months out here before I could get my license.

Yeah. So what did life look like when you got here?

So I went to Mesquite. It was. Obviously, that's a big public school, but there was a lot more opportunity for advanced courses and things like that there. I did that. I was very eager to get a job, so I lived right off of Cooper in Houston. And so as soon as I turned 16, the week I turned 16, I walked all around those shopping complexes, which were really full still at that time, and applied everywhere. And then I got my first job at Quiznos within a week.

Oh, I like that place.

Yeah, it was a good first job.

Was Valley Video still there?

I don't know about Valley Video. It's. Right. It's not even a Burger King anymore. It used to be a Burger King right on that corner, I think of Cooper and baseline on the. Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay.

Yeah.

So tucked right back over there.

Okay. Very good.

Yeah. And then so I worked there for about six months. I took the summer off, nannied for some friends, and then took a job with Golden Crawl and then stayed there until I left years later to go to high school. So I've actually not had a bunch.

Of jobs during that time. Who are some individuals out here that influenced you or had impact on your life?

Like, any teachers or anybody like that?

Honestly, my boss. So my boss at Golden Corral has basically become like a second mom to me. She, years later, was in the delivery room with me. She cut Trinity's umbilical cord, actually. So that was really. I was given a lot of opportunities there, like at work. And then when I did eventually move out and emancipate myself at 17, she kind of became that family rock, that person when I was needed. The guidance that you might get from a parent would provide it, whether that was me asking a question about how to cook something or me having a place to go for Christmas dinner, anything like that. And so that's part of the reason, I think, that we take the approach we do with leadership, like, within our own companies, because I think you can get a paycheck anywhere. And I think sometimes that's what people focus on. How much are you making and what is that opportunity? But I think you do have an opportunity to make an impact on people. And that's. You know, she really did just start as my boss. She just. She just hired me to be a cashier, and it's turned into, you know, a 20 year relationship and someone that I consider family.

That's cool.

And, you know, now that you're in the seat she was in, how much time and effort and energy that that takes to pour yourself into somebody.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah. That's amazing.

Yeah. I'm very grateful. Very grateful and, you know, eager to be able to hopefully give back. Obviously, we have three locations now. We have a bunch of employees. I don't know every single one anymore like I did when we first. First opened our first location. But, you know, as people stick around and stay with us, you get to know them better and they, they encounter hiccups just like the rest of us. And so I've been very fortunate to be able to be on the other side of that and be in a position to help some of our team through some of those obstacles as they come.

Well, and just knowing that you have that culture, I'm sure that alone is felt through your whole staff, even if you don't know all of them.

Sure. Yeah. I think that's something that's unique for us. Cause both myself and Damon, we've come up through the restaurant industry. You know, we. And it's not discounting other people's experiences by any means, but we have worked from being like dishwashers and the very bottom all the way up until owning. So we have a little bit different perspective than maybe someone who comes in and just buys a restaurant because it's fun.

Right.

Well, and speaking of Ben, I know you want to get back to Golden Corral because, you know, he.

So that was a very popular place. I, you know, in football, we would love going there because we could eat all you could eat, right?

Yes.

You know, you know.

Oh, yeah. You guys were probably our favorite customers.

Yep.

Yeah.

You remember Ben and the mashed potatoes? Just kidding.

I do like mashed potatoes.

Honey butter, probably. Yeah, the rolls and honey butter. I got some funny stories about that.

All right, we're gonna, we're gonna bring you out of it.

Okay. We always do these during lunchtime, and this is a terrible thing to bring up during that time.

Sorry.

Okay, so let's go from then high school, then what?

Okay, so let's see. High school. Well, as Sarah mentioned, I emancipated myself at 17 and I moved out.

So while back up, explain this to me, because I, I don't know what that means.

Emancipation. So to put it like super simply, it's almost like a divorce from your parents. So you basically have to file paperwork. You have to prove that you can provide for yourself financially. You have to demonstrate that you have stable living and that you have a plan for your education. And then you submit it to a judge, and you go before the judge to kind of plead your case on why you feel like you should be granted this emancipation. They make a determination, and then it legally separates. So then at that point, you could enter into contracts. At 17, you. You know, if you're filing anything through school, you no longer have to have a parent or guardian sign things, stuff like that.

So can I ask, you were so close to being 18?

Yes.

Was there. Was there a reason that at 17, you just felt that was so necessary?

I was in a hurry to get out for sure. There was just a lot of conflict. We. I never really got along with my aunt and uncle who adopted me. They still live here locally. We've tried to settle things a little bit, but we didn't get along. It was a fairly hostile situation at home. My younger brother had actually been sent back to live in Ohio. So I was there now by myself. And I think the final kicker really was a financial thing. I don't even remember what the argument was about, but I got my car taken, and I had purchased my car, and I was paying for my insurance, and I had done all of the things myself with my own money, and I was a little peeved. And so that was the final straw. It wasn't necessarily the only thing, but that was the final straw. So, you know, I pride myself on being resourceful. I actually went and I found the title, which was in my name, because I had paid for the car, and I got a ride over to the dealership, because when my parents took the car, they took my keys and they put one of those. What are those red locks? Those steering wheel locks, the club. There you go. Yeah.

Of course, she knows this.

So they put one of those on there.

Police do that a lot too, I think.

Yeah, probably. So that was, like, my way of, like, being locked out of it. And so I was like, well, actually, that's a genius.

I can do this idea. And I also have teenagers.

Well, just so you know, like, it can be worked around. I went to the dealership, like, the Mazda dealership. I provided my title. They provided me a key code that I then gave to a locksmith who came out who drilled the club off of my car and made me two new keys for my ignition. I packed my stuff up and left.

Wow.

Mm. Yeah. Well, there you go. That was a little dramatic. So. But that was 17. So then I. I was working still For Golden Corral, I was going. I think that was right before I went through their management training program. Um, I think I did that at 18. So I was doing that. I did Primavera online because I was working, and so I wasn't still going to Mesquite for my senior year. And then I went through management training with Golden Corral, and I stuck around there for a few years after we moved down to Sierra Vista. Oh, I got in there. Somewhere in there. I got married for the first time. I don't really recommend getting married at 19 while you're trying to figure your life out. That was.

Did you meet him at the Golden Corral?

I did. I did.

Did he play football with Ben? Just kidding.

Nope.

But he ate mashed potatoes and honey butter.

Probably. Yes. Yeah, for sure. So, yeah. So we moved to Sierra Vista. That was like, kind of the loan store as part of our franchise. And so there was a management turnover down there. So we got sent down there, lived down there for a year and a half. In that time, I did get married. I got pregnant, and then we moved back here. Cause I wanted to be back in the valley when I had my daughter. So I stepped down from management and just worked hourly after having her and kind of had to sit and figure out my life and was like, you know, college. Like, I should have gone to college. And I didn't initially. So that's when I made plans to enroll and kind of go through the nursing program eventually. Then I left Golden Corral to go work at Honor Health.

Shea, what college?

Grand Canyon University. Well, I started Mesa Community College and then Grand Canyon University.

Fantastic. Yep.

Yeah.

Okay, go ahead.

No, I'm just gonna say again, like, talk about determination and grit and stamina and, I mean, truly, to know these things, to know what you. And to just see your way through it at such a young age, I think that's actually really admirable.

Well, thank you. I don't know if I always knew what I wanted to do. I think I just kept going forward.

Well, and I think that's the point, is that you didn't just settle. You didn't just say, okay, this is it.

Yeah. And, I mean, I credit my daughter for a lot of that. You know, that really, it brings a different sense of kind of purpose and responsibility to life. You know, I was, again, as I was saying, I don't recommend getting married at 19, but I have no regret because it did bring me my daughter. I did split up from her father, like, within the first year of her being born. It was that realization that that was not a good relationship, that was not what I wanted, modeled for her. And so we split. We got divorced when she was about a year and a half. And then that was, you know, that was the beginning of a lot of years of, of grinding. You know, I worked night shift at Honor Health and while I was in nursing school. So, I mean, there was, there was a few years there where I was up for 36 hours straight more often than I got sleep.

Yeah.

You know, when you look back at.

That time, is there something in particular that you, you know now that you didn't know then that you wish you could go back and just tell yourself?

Um, I don't know. I mean, I feel like I don't know if there's anything I could have told myself at that point. It's. It's a lot of survival mode, to be honest. So it was a lot of just doing the do and putting one foot in front of the other. So I'm not really sure even if I could go back and provide that encouragement. At the end of the day, I knew I had to do it. I knew I had to do it. I knew that there was no other option, so I just kept doing it.

Yeah, and you grew through it.

And I grew through it.

But you seem like a planner. So was there, like, why I'm a planner? Yeah. So, yes, you're doing it because you have to do it and you're grinding through it. But was there this spot in your mind that you were going towards, like you knew you wanted to get somewhere?

My end goal was. So obviously most people always start in bedside nursing. My end goal was to move into administration and move up. I mean, I remember when I was in nursing school telling one of my supervisors who was older and nearing retirement, like, it's all right, Jeannie. When you retire, I'm just gonna take your job. That was my plan. My plan was to get into nursing leadership. You know, I left. I left the hospital in 2021. I have no regrets. I went in with this idea of healthcare and I, you know, not to go down that rabbit hole, but what you think you're going to be able to do within an organization like that, you can't always do. You know, healthcare has changed. It's a business. It's. It's morphed over the last 10, 15 years as a business. And, you know, people get really stretched and they're not necessarily always able to provide that one on one care that they're looking to do. So I'M really glad to be out. I'm glad to be able to have leadership, but without all of the constraints of a big corporate organization.

Absolutely. Okay, so you're working nights, you're going through it. What does life look like for you then?

Like, no sleep. So, yeah, I would go to school during the day. I would have clinicals, things like that. I would come home. I lived in Mesa, actually, at that time, so I guess I did escape Gilbert there a couple times. So I was living in Mesa and driving back and forth to Scottsdale. I worked at Scottsdale Shea, and our school campus was also there. So just kind of driving back and forth a lot of almost living out of my car. You know, I remember Trinity. If she fell asleep and took a nap in the car, there was times I would just park somewhere and work on my homework or get caught up on things like sitting in my car. I still do that now. It's a habit I've kept. I find myself pulling into the garage, sitting in my car for 20 minutes sometimes now and then, just trying to, in my free time, prioritize doing things with the kiddo. We spent a lot of time, a lot of days at, like, Chandler Aquatic Parks. We had Zoom memberships, Sea Life, Arizona, all of those things. Just trying to soak up the little bit of time that I had with her and make it quality time. I was really, really blessed to have an amazing babysitter who watched her because I did work nights. And so they basically took her on as part of their family. It was someone that I had worked with when I was a teenager at Golden Corral. And she was a teenager, and she was a way better teenager than I was. And so my thought was, obviously, your family has done something well in raising you. So I, like, trusted that in my own child. And they took her everywhere. They took her to family weddings. They took her, you know, in the hospital. You have to work holidays. So they would take her if it was like, Fourth of July fireworks or Easter celebrations, all of the things. So very, very fortunate. I would not have made it through without them.

Yeah.

Who's helping you during this? Because, I mean, you can do so much alone. But we're humans. We need people. Who's helping you.

Again? Linda, my old boss. Like, she. She would show up anytime, anytime. I. I hit a speed bump and needed something. My friends. I mean, I've met good friends from. From nursing school. And, you know, we joke. My. One of my very best friends is, you know, she's fairly well off today, for sure, but at the time we were both in college, we were still building life. And we used to meet at Subway because we could, like, use coupons. And so that's where we would catch up. We would catch up and, you know, over. I don't know, they weren't even $6 footlongs then.

No.

You know, here we are talking about food again.

There's a theme.

There's a theme.

I love it.

So somewhere along the way, you meet somebody. When. When does that happen? And how does that look for you?

My current husband. Yeah.

Was that Golden Corral, too?

I know. If you say Golden. Golden Crawl, too, you guys. I know, I know.

Like, did you get married at go to this?

No, I did not.

This has changed your life.

I know, I know. I know that. And the franchise owners, actually at the time, they were the ones who gave me the opportunity with management. So, you know, they didn't even. They live down in Tucson, but super grateful for them as well. We did so. Actually we met prior to me getting married the first time, but he's older than me and I actually didn't like him at all.

But you love him now?

I love him now, yeah.

100%.

I like and love him now. Perfect.

Like him. Like him.

But I. I was not a fan initially, and so it was a handful of years later. So I guess we met when I was 19, and then when I moved back and stepped down out of management, he was working in the store then at that time as well. Still not really friends, but he hung out with my cousin and one of my best friends at the time. They kind of ran in the same circle. So over the years, we occasionally socialized and things like that. It's actually funny because it wasn't until we had been dating for a few months before he was like. I had gone out to dinner with you before, like one on one. And I, like, didn't remember. I was like, really? And then I thought back and I was like, oh, yeah, we had, like. We had gone out at least once or twice over the years, one on one, obviously completely platonically, because I didn't even remember, which I felt awful about. But, yeah, so it really just. I was living with Linda at the time. I had graduated school and was kind of like getting my life figured out. I was staying with her, as you mentioned. Golden Crawl was a huge part of that life. Everybody was up in my business because I, you know, my cousin worked there at the time. She was going through nursing school. I was living with Linda. She was the boss there. I'D met Damon there, like, all of these things, so I needed a break. And Damon is very low drama. He doesn't do social media, nothing like that. And so by this time, we were friendly. And so I had reached out and been like, hey, you've offered to take me to dinner before. Like, let's go. Because I just want to go out to dinner and just hang out and not have everybody know where I'm at. I don't want to be checked in online. You know, everybody was tagging people still at that point.

Yeah.

You know, I just kind of want a break.

Yeah. And you needed a free dinner.

Yeah, I got a free dinner. Yeah. I joke that I don't even know if I wore real pants because it wasn't a date. Like, I think I showed up in yoga pants, you know, like, didn't do my hair or makeup. It was not a date. It was just like, let's go have dinner at Aho Owls up in Scottsdale. Oh, it's delicious. Still one of my favorites. And, yeah, we kind of, like, left that night. And I remember calling my friend, and I'm like, you know, I wasn't doing tons of dating anyways, but I was like, I don't know. Like, I could do that again. So we did. We went to breakfast a few more times, and then eventually, a couple months later, turned into a little bit more than platonic meals.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Fantastic.

Yeah.

That's pretty amazing.

So Trinity fell in love with him first, though. We do joke about that, because how.

Old was she then?

She was not. She was 5 by the time we kindergarten were dating. Right before. Yeah, the year before kindergarten. But she had been around, like, in the restaurant all the time. And she always liked him, even in the very beginning when I did not at all. She would, like, reach her arms out and, like, reach for him when he would walk over. And he thought it was hilarious because he knew it bugged me. So he'd come and, like, grab her and walk all around with him. And she was obsessed. She was obsessed. So it is a running joke in my household that she fell in love with him before I fell in love with him by about four or five years.

Okay, so now she's 13.

She's 13.

Is she still obsessed or is she 13?

Those two are, like, thick as thieves. So he legally adopted her a couple years ago. Two or three years ago. But, yeah, those two. I'm the third wheel to that relationship quite often, you know, at 13, I feel like the conflict is more with.

Mom then still holding A grudge about that dinner. You don't remember.

Right.

So you then somehow get an opportunity to actually go into business with your husband. How does this happen? What does that look like for you?

So.

And how is it not a Golden Corral?

I know. Well, it almost was. So the franchise sold, and so he lost his job, and he had been working there for 10 years, so he was going to have to start all over. Which restaurant management. They're not fun hours usually. And so when you have seniority and you have a great schedule, it's no big deal. But having to start back over at the bottom would have kind of sucked. And so we started talking, like, is this maybe the time to consider a new business? You know, we've always talked about you owning your own business. Maybe we should do that.

And you're in nursing now.

Yeah. So I'm still working at the hospital. And the plan was that he was going to do this and I was just going to help. So we started looking at some stuff. We looked at Golden Corral, filled out some paperwork. We worked with a real estate broker. We were looking at a site, and that fell through. He was devastated. I was like, okay, well, it's just not meant to be. It was also going to be, like, way over off 17 and Bell. So I'm like, that's really far from us. And I don't love the idea anyways. I was just being supportive. So I didn't, you know, I was, like, ready to be done with Golden Krell. So we went back to the drawing board. We were looking at franchises. Now today, I would know how to do that in 2018. I had no idea. So we're just on Google, like, looking things up.

Yeah.

If anybody doesn't now highly recommend, just go get a consultant. Like, there's tons of franchise consultants. They'll point you in the right direction. But I didn't know that. So we looked up a bunch, and it was our real estate broker who said, hey, have you ever heard of Doghouse? And we had not. There wasn't any here in the valley yet. So we looked it up. I did a ton of research online, fell in love with the idea, went to Pasadena, met with the founders and everything there, and then signed paperwork not long after. And that was in 2018. And we opened the first location then in 2019.

Which was where?

In Gilbert. That's our San Tan village.

Santan Village.

Right.

Yep. So that was. That was a lot of learning. And so that's when my starting to help. And as my husband says, Put. Put your hand in the cookie jar. He's like, you can't put your hand in the cookie jar and then not finish it. Like, if you're going to take on a project, you got to finish it. And so that's. That's the beginning of me taking cookies out and putting them on my plate.

Well, and I find interesting is the timing, because, I mean, you're taking this risk, and you're opening a franchise not knowing that a year later, we're going to face a pandemic and the whole world is going to shift. And. Oh, yeah, I'm curious, because I think I have a pretty good idea, but I would love for you to share how you. I hate to use the word pivoted, but how did you pivot during that time and keep doors open?

Yeah, so we. We opened our first location in November of 2019. So it wasn't even a year later. Like, it took us that year to get open. Yeah. So it was November of 2019. Restaurants always lose money at first, so that was to be expected. But we were looking at projections, and we were actually very confident that March of 2020, that was going to be our first period in the black. Like, they looked good on paper. And then, you know, you hear little rustles of this Covid thing and, oh, it'll be fine. It'll be fine. And all of a sudden, obviously, everything tanked, and we closed. We had to close for three weeks. We thought it was just going to blow over. Obviously, that wasn't the case. So we realized we had to reopen, and we went. I mean, we completely pivoted. We went to limited hours. It was takeout only at that point. We were really, really fortunate with our team. So we, especially at the Gilbert location, especially initially, we had a mixture of, you know, adults providing for their families, as well as younger, younger employees still in high school or just out of high school, living at home. And so. Or, you know, even a few, that it was kind of a second thing on the side, spending money, fun for their family. And so our team voluntarily decided, hey, the ones who need hours can take the hours. The ones who didn't said that they would stay home. So that was really nice. So we came in and worked a lot. A lot. It was all day, every day. Trinity finished, I guess, what had that been? Fourth grade from the bar. I mean, she sat there in the bar doing her homework and ringing in online orders for us. Yeah, we were fortunate. Dog House being a smaller, newer company, like, they were already looking at virtual brands Yep. And so they had some that they were working on and planning on launching later that year, and they brought it to us and said, hey, these aren't a hundred percent ready, but I think we can tidy them up a little bit and activate them. So that helped us. We were probably one of the first brands to enter the market with those virtual brands, which was immensely helpful. And then we just kept continuously pivoting. I tell people all the time that I think in some ways it was a blessing that we hadn't been open very long because we weren't really set in our ways. We were still figuring it out. I'm obviously, I adapt to change fairly well anyways, but the ability to say, okay, like, doesn't matter, like, we haven't always done it this way anyway, so we're just gonna change. And it was weekly. And then we had a lot of just good resources. I remember another company, they. They helped us out. They were larger. The HR department sent me all of their COVID policies so that we could kind of copy and enact them for ourselves, because obviously we didn't have all of those resources internally.

Right.

You know, I am hr.

Yeah. So, well, and I remember during that time, because you were so new, we hadn't even had the opportunity to go in yet. And so for our family, we were actually introduced to the food through pickup. I mean, and then you became a staple in our house.

So I love that.

Yeah. But it was an interesting time, and I was really impressed with how quickly you did respond and you became part of the community in a time where it was really challenging to become part of the community.

Yeah. I mean, I do think that. I know. I remember having this conversation a couple years later, like, because I had renewed my Gilbert Chamber membership a couple of times despite not doing a ton. Right.

Thank you.

You know, I was like, oh, why do you keep doing this? And I. I did really feel like it was helpful for us. I feel like the Gilbert community, with help from the Gilbert Chamber, kind of highlighting them, really backed local businesses. So we had previously opened, obviously, being a franchise, we look very corporate. You don't think this is a mom and shop place? And so that allowed us an opportunity to market ourselves as locally owned at a time when everyone was very, very aware of that and very intentional about their purchases. So in a way, I mean, I hate to say something as awful as that is a blessing, but it really was a blessing in disguise for us.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Yeah, I can see that for sure. And what a cool story. It's Kind of fun to listen to that one because as operators myself, seeing all the businesses and being remembering that time, boy, what a crazy period that was.

Yeah, it was like 10 years ago.

I was gonna say it does, like every now and then it feels fresh, but in a lot of ways it feels like 10 plus years ago, like another lifetime, you know, Like I remembered the updates from Ducey every Wednesday and I was like, okay, what's the rule for this week? And I just would sit there on edge, just.

And I have to tell you, because we worked so hard to get information out to the business community and I swear his press conferences were like 4:30pm Yeah, I was like, great, here we go. Now my work begins.

And then you have to listen to the whole press conference conference, take the info. But then you still have to wait hours for the official orders to be documented online so that you can actually create your new policies that PS need to go into effect tomorrow.

Correct.

Yeah, Crazy, crazy. You know, tape on the floors, like for your 6ft rule. All of the things.

Yeah. Wow. Okay. Well, I don't know if I want to live in that space much longer.

Yeah, no, but I mean, just reflecting. It's. We learned so much. Right. Like it prepared us for something. I don't know what, but maybe.

Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. So now you are operating not only one, but now three amazing sites.

Yes.

How quickly after the first one did you open the other two?

So we started looking. We were actually starting the process of number two before the pandemic. Obviously that put everything on hold. Then we circled back and lending was extremely difficult. We had done an SBA loan for our first location and a lot of the banks were not writing the same sba, especially for restaurants and production based lending. So that was a little bit of a struggle. So it was 2021 by the time we could kind of circle back and figure that out. So we signed our second lease in Chandler in 2021. And that was a project. That was the project that absolutely wrecked me mentally. It took two years. We encountered what I feel like was every issue you possibly could increase construction costs from labor, from supplies. We got caught in all of that. Things that were back ordered, things that we ordered way in advance, thinking they'd be back ordered. But then our construction was so far behind that they were sitting. We were paying storage fees. We had issues with the landlord with electricity. They had demise the space, but didn't split the electricity. We almost were going to have like a $50,000 project with SRP that was going to delay us another six months. It was like, what could go wrong to go wrong? But we finally got it open. We got it open in the summer of 2023. So about a year ago. And then we were contacted about downtown Phoenix that was owned by a different franchisee that did not come from restaurant operations, and they had been struggling. And then they eventually closed and walked away from it. And I told corporate no several times. I was definitely in my, like, PTSD from Chandler project stage. So I told them no several, several times. I was like, find a different franchisee. Like, find someone else. I'll cooperate. I'll help train them. They can come to our stores. But I can't touch that. Like, I'm so burnt out. I can't touch that. And it was 2024 was gonna be the year of coasting. That was my plan. But they came back around again, and finally we gave in and said okay and negotiated to kind of get a great deal out of it. And then we spent this spring kind of getting the space ready, cleaning it up, doing all of the things to kind of get it to the standard we needed it to be to open. And then we opened that one in the very end of May. Yeah. Well.

And what I love about that is that that's the truth behind owning a business. Every situation is different. Every year is different.

Oh, yeah.

And there are. It's not all roses.

It's hard, hard work. Oh, yeah. I cried a lot in 2023. I cried a lot. I was just constantly cried.

Yet, by the way, just for the rest of the.

I know.

We were waiting for that, Right?

I know. I'm good now. I'm good.

Okay.

All right. Yeah. No, it was just. It was. It was a hard year, and it was a lot of reflecting. It was a lot of questioning, why are we doing this? Are we doing this for the wrong reason? Are we getting caught up in this rat race? You know, we also moved and everything out to Queen Creek, and so I was just. I was in this phase of, hey, like, you know, you see everybody on social media, like, selling all of their stuff and moving to the middle of nowhere and getting a farm. Like, that sounds good. I started to question that. I really did. And we actually have friends who did that. They moved to Tenness. We went to visit them over fall break, and I actually really did show up there thinking, maybe somehow this is what we need to do. I had a great time with them. It's beautiful. I love what they're doing. But I got back in the car and I told Damon, I'm ready to go home and grind again.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

So you said, you know, you questioned.

A lot why you're.

Why are you doing this? So my question is, why are you doing this?

You know, I think that sometimes there's this outside perspective of, like, you get a certain amount of income or something, and then that's. That's good. Right. And you can provide for your family on that. And then it becomes that question of why do you continue to develop? Are you developing more locations? And all of that out of. Out of greed or something. Right. And so that's where I was struggling. I was struggling to question that because I'm not super materialistic. I love experiences. I do love my beautiful new house. But, like, outside of that, I really am not a materialistic person. My favorite thing is backpacking and hiking. It's practically free. But what I think I realized in kind of doing that soul searching is. First of all, I love it. I love the challenge. I am absolutely. I love working. I love building and empowering teams. That's my passion. And so I get to live that passion. But also in doing that and expanding, you continue to provide opportunities for that team. If you're not growing, your team reaches a point where they can't grow. Not everybody is going to be able to go out and own a business. It's hard. It's expensive. It's just. It's not an opportunity everybody's going to get. But a lot of people still want to grow. And so I kind of feel like we have this unique opportunity as well as sort of a responsibility to continue to provide those opportunities for the people that are on our team that are excelling, that want to grow. And so I think being able to look at it that way provides a little bit different purpose.

Yeah, absolutely. I love that. Well, I will also share. One of the things that you shared with us before talking today was a statement that said, leadership isn't about being flawless. It's about being real. That sits with me. I love that. I'm curious why that's so important to you to own that.

I think it's hard. So, like, as I shared a little bit before we kind of got on here, it's. This has been a lot of growth for me. I've always really been caught up in doing the do, Putting one foot in front of the other, kind of surviving. And then once I got out of that survival, I feel like Sarah's just trying to make me cry. No, I'm just kidding.

I'm trying to make Ben cry, but we don't know we'll get there.

I just. I feel like, you know, you reached that point, and I reached a point probably several years back where I was no longer surviving. Right. But I'm, like, chasing these accomplishments and just trying to be perfect. I sometimes struggle to move forward until I can do something 100% that's. That's a fault of mine, for sure. But as I do that, I think I reach this point where it's important to be authentic. Other people also have struggles, and so I'm learning to embrace that.

I'm.

It's a new thing for me. It's a new thing for me to be willing to sit and let people know that my past wasn't perfect. You know, I didn't. I wasn't handed this. I did go through a lot to get there. I forget that sometimes, you know, I forget to give myself credit for that. And I think being able to do that, being able to share those less than perfect moments is encouraging for other people who maybe think that you have to do everything right from the very beginning, because I didn't.

And I just truly believe that the best leaders, they did overcome like they did face challenges, and that's what makes them, including you, the leader that you are and the person that can build a business and care about a team and raise a family. It takes something more than just always getting it right.

Well, thank you. I agree. I agree. I think that it provides a unique perspective. I think it provides an opportunity to relate to people differently, you know, and then on the other side, there's. There's truly, you know, trauma responses that are very useful in my life. I'm. I am good with people. I'm good at reading people. There's no doubt that that comes from some of the darker times in my life, you know, and having to read people and things like that to try to find safety in unsafe moments. All those days in the hospital, that is. Well, that as well. Yes. Yeah.

Well, I have loved the opportunity to visit with you and learn more about you.

Thank you.

Ben's hungry.

I am. Can you hear my stomach? Is that why you're saying that?

It's.

The drill we're going to do is we're going to go to the Golden Crow, and then we're going to go to Doghouse. We're just going to do this food tour after this. It sounds like all these things we need to do, and you're going to be my guide, right?

Okay.

So, sure. Okay, sure.

I haven't been to Golden Corral in a hot minute, but.

Well, you might meet someone new there. You never know.

Yeah. Or not. Or you might run into a lot of people you already know. Right. Exactly.

Awesome. Well, thank you for being here today. This is fun.

Thank you for having me.

Yes. And I know everybody out here listening has enjoyed this one because we always enjoy these. So if you want these in your inbox, subscribe, join our tribe and you can get them right fresh when they come out. New. Thanks for listening. Guiding growth conversations with community leaders.

Ben, let me ask you a question. How do you see other community members being involved in this podcast?

This is going to be a great opportunity for so many people in the community to have a chance to be heard if they want to tell their story or if they just want to be part of this journey with us and help sponsor in a way that helps bring more people to the table with us. So I think there's many opportunities at hand. Whether you want to again be on the show, reach out to us. Let us know what your story is and how you think you could be part of it. We'd love to hear from you. Reach out, let us know and we'll see if we can make that connection.