Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Shit yeah. We are here.
[00:00:02] Speaker B: Shit. Yeah. Yeah, we are.
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Episode 18.
[00:00:04] Speaker B: We're legal now.
[00:00:05] Speaker A: We're officially legal 18 podcast. Not years old. I try to be childlike most of the time, playful and have fun in this crazy restaurant business. It's really fun to have this episode because really the intent of the Shit yeah. Show when we started this was really to get all six stakeholders involved and get their voice heard and talk about. The three things that we talk about all the time is what sucks about the restaurant business. Because the restaurant business sucks. Yeah. You know, we love it. So then also the second thing, what makes you say shit yeah. About the restaurant business from. From each stakeholder perspective. And then lastly, what are you doing or what do you think needs to be changed? But you know, for something that sucks and also that you love, you want to change it.
[00:00:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:00:53] Speaker A: And so for us, we're obviously active in, as. As, you know, owner operators of. Of a fast growing franchise. And. And that's been my. My 18 years. Kind of crazy. That's 18.
[00:01:05] Speaker C: Oh, wow. 18.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:01:06] Speaker A: Oh, my God.
[00:01:07] Speaker C: 18.
[00:01:07] Speaker B: 18. It's a really special day here.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: It is. There's a lot going on, so. But super excited because we've got Joshua Bilkus.
[00:01:15] Speaker B: How's it going?
[00:01:16] Speaker A: I meant living the dream, as you'd expect.
[00:01:18] Speaker B: Me too.
[00:01:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: That's why we're here.
[00:01:20] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:01:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: But an amazing artist that we have recently engaged with. The way Savannah works is I was walking down in the park and. And we met. But today we've got Sam Case.
[00:01:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:01:32] Speaker A: You've seen before on previous podcast. Private events Catering. Retail manager handles a lot of our customer feedback, complaints, resolution. He's behind the 26 club as well. So a lot of people responding. We are not fans of AI doing that. Maybe helping at some point as we keep growing, but we really do like the. The ability to talk and have a relationship with.
[00:01:56] Speaker C: There is a heartbeat behind those texts.
[00:01:58] Speaker B: And I think that's what I really love.
[00:01:59] Speaker A: Yours is a. Is a big heartbeat.
[00:02:00] Speaker C: A big heartbeat.
[00:02:01] Speaker A: A big.
[00:02:01] Speaker C: I'd like to think so, but yeah.
[00:02:03] Speaker A: So, so excited to have you on board.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: Thanks for having me.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: You know, your art caught my eye when I was walking with my wife down in Forsyth Park.
[00:02:11] Speaker B: Yeah, it was around two years ago, Christmas. You were walking with your kids, taking a little break from church and it was.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: Was it two years ago?
[00:02:17] Speaker B: It was around two years ago.
[00:02:18] Speaker A: How wild is that?
[00:02:19] Speaker B: And I mean, I remember you. You came up, we spoke, you know, exchanged some words and you kept walking. I was like, man, I really wish I got that guy's information. And then you came back, and I was so happy you came back, and I gifted you my artwork for your For Christmas. And then you walked away, and I meant, shit, I forgot to give this guy my information.
And around a year later, you came up again. And now we're working together, which has been a really amazing experience.
[00:02:44] Speaker A: And so, you know, I think the relationship side of business and life is what I'm finding now as the business is growing and so many people are coming back into my life to play different parts is like. Life is like a bunch of red lights, green lights, yellow lights, where you have people that come into your life, and it may not be like, there's, like, something definitely special there, but it's not the right time. And so we engaged then, and I was like, that's awesome. I knew we were gonna do something. My wife was like, here we go, right? You know, there I go on a sidetrack. But there was something clear. I didn't know what it was, but I just love the art. It caught my attention.
And then things have evolved to where we're really designing the Zunzibar model, and we needed some art. And in the process, one of my favorite questions is, what's your spirit animal? You can tell a lot about somebody with that, and so we'll talk about that. But that's really what you do.
[00:03:37] Speaker B: Yeah. So for those who don't know, I've been featuring my art in Forsyth park for a little over three years now, and I've been working on a series of spirit animals. We have one of my most popular ones here is Current the sea turtle. And so all my animals, I give them names, I write short poems about them, and that helps tell the story of who they are. And people come up, we find what their spirit animal is, and hopefully send them home with some fun, new, exotic friend shit.
[00:04:03] Speaker A: Yeah. And, you know, one of the things that you do is you have kind of some small pieces to give away, which I think is awesome, because a big part of what I believe in business is, you know, you need to give to grow.
[00:04:14] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:04:15] Speaker A: And so I left with, you know, I can't remember what it was.
[00:04:19] Speaker B: It was a mystery pack. So it was a mystery pack. You got five random animals in there with their little stories. A nice little keepsake. I love that. And, you know, whenever I meet someone who comes up to me, whether they might work at a zoo or, in your case, you own a business in Savannah, I do my best to give. And that Good fortune, I hope, comes back to me. And in this case, it came back very, very large in a very large way.
[00:04:40] Speaker A: So we, you know, so it came full circle to where ran into you again. Right. And I was like, you know, now we're doing. You know, we need art. It was the right time.
And so we just engage with you. We've got art in our downtown Savannah location.
[00:04:55] Speaker B: Yes, we do. It went. What was that yesterday morning?
[00:04:58] Speaker A: It was.
[00:04:58] Speaker B: It feels like a lifetime ago.
[00:05:00] Speaker A: Yeah. So we got that, and we had a big order for our Hilton Head location.
[00:05:04] Speaker B: For Hilton Head, Yep.
[00:05:05] Speaker A: That came in.
[00:05:05] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, it should be coming in in a few days.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: It actually came in.
[00:05:08] Speaker B: I think it actually came in, so.
[00:05:09] Speaker C: I'm very excited about that.
[00:05:10] Speaker B: Oh, that's awesome.
[00:05:11] Speaker C: Because one thing there's many layers of Chris. The more I learn, the more I work with him. And it was like a kid at Christmas when he came in and he was pitching the spirit animal ide. He was just like, what's your favorite spirit animal? Because mine is a penguin. So we were. So.
[00:05:25] Speaker A: I was.
[00:05:25] Speaker C: I was like, we got to have a penguin. So I was a little disappointed when I saw we didn't have one at Drayton. But I was at our hill and head location today, and there was my penguin.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: I did include the penguin.
[00:05:33] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: I'm glad I did, because I almost didn't include a penguin.
[00:05:36] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh. No penguins.
[00:05:36] Speaker B: I messaged Chris. I was like, hey, can I just, like, add 10 more of these just to, like, cover all of our bases? So I think that's. That's where we got the penguin in for.
[00:05:44] Speaker A: Which is awesome.
[00:05:44] Speaker C: Which is awesome.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: And so it's meant to be.
[00:05:46] Speaker C: It was meant to be.
[00:05:47] Speaker A: Yeah. But what I found is, like, that question of, what's your spirit animal?
[00:05:51] Speaker B: Yeah, it.
[00:05:51] Speaker A: Like, it's very deep.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:53] Speaker C: Very story. Mine is penguins, because I love it. And it's because penguins mate for life, and they're one of two animals that just literally they're with their companion all through that. And I've just always loved penguins.
[00:06:05] Speaker A: And so when I've asked that question to people, I mean, now I'm sure for you, it's. That comes up all the time every weekend, but it's a big part of now, our zoons of our model. Obviously, we have spirits, and so a lot of people turn into different spirit animals after they have a few drinks. And so we're gonna have that as a fun way to engage our fans and do that. But if we can, let's kind of Chat about before we dive into your experience of the restaurant business. And now you're engaging with us and I'm excited about a long term partnership as probably a third of our restaurants gonna be dedicated towards this. Hopefully it can be a big part of helping you grow and create awareness of your business. But how did you kind of come up with this idea and what's it's.
[00:06:48] Speaker B: Primalspiritgallery.Com such a well done website by the way.
[00:06:53] Speaker A: Like really well done. So much thought put behind it, not easy to do it and you know, different collections. Really, really cool. So go ahead.
[00:07:01] Speaker B: So yeah, I started working on this series around six years ago. I was inspired by two artists on social media, Jen Starwalt and Iris Scott. I'd totally check them out and they do these really large scale vibrant animal portraits. Ira Scott she finger paints in oil. Jen Starwood actually graduated from my program at SCAD for illustration which is super cool. I got to interview her for one of my projects and as most artists will go when they walk into a modern art museum, they go, oh, I could do that. So I looked at what they were doing and I wanted to try my hand at it. And I painted my elephant empress and she kick started the whole thing. I was really blown away by what I had created and I did another one and around a year and a half later I did another. I think I did three in one week. And I was really blown away by my ability. The fact that I had grown so much, the fact that I felt like the animal that I created was, was there and there was something to it. There was something really magical about that experience of sitting with them and looking at them and being like, wow, I feel like I can inspire other people with this. I feel like there is more to what I've done here than just a painting.
[00:08:13] Speaker A: Right.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: And I really wanted to share that with the world. And there are two artists out in Forsyth that I was friendly with and they inspired me to get my badge to go and feature my art out in the park. And I created nine animals. That's what I started with and people loved them. And I kept on making more and more. And now I have around 45 different spirit animals that people can choose from along with over 100 different pieces of artwork that I've created since, which is really cool.
[00:08:40] Speaker A: Just from a, you know, it gets my business mind going, which you talked a lot about that of like, how can you grow that business? And you know, there's, I think, you know, when you give people enough time to Think about what their spirit animal is, then it's like if it's something that you want to see. And I think it kind of brings you back to, like, your childhood of where there's just something magical about animals and going to the zoo and then you get old and you kind of forget about that sometimes.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: Well, I think one of the most amazing things is, you know, a lot of the time I'll ask someone what their spirit animal, like you said before, they go, oh, I don't know. Some people are very on point and they'll immediately give me all the words.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: That I was like, right away, show the tattoo.
[00:09:20] Speaker B: And then, you know, some people, it's like I have to pry it out of them. And it's like, well, you know, I want you to know who you are. Right. You know, finding your spirit animal is all about what your identity is and bringing you closer to the core of who you want to be or who you want to become.
[00:09:34] Speaker A: Right.
[00:09:35] Speaker B: And so I think the best experiences that I've had in the park is having those really personal conversations, building that relationship in the middle of trying to find this animal for someone. And then finally I find it. And they're super connected. I mean, the amount of people that have cried in front of my art stand is more than I can count. And I think there's something really special about that too, that the artwork can really bring someone into a place that they haven't maybe been in a very long time.
[00:10:03] Speaker A: Right?
[00:10:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:04] Speaker A: That's really cool. So one of our values, Zunzibar, is live with passion, right? And that was like the first thing that came across is like, you're just passionate about this. You love it.
And I've met a lot of artists, right, and their passion, but, like, you've connected a lot of dots. Like, you've got a really. I think you're on the verge of something much bigger. And that's why, like, you know, one of the cool things as I, you know, as a five guys franchise is I saw small businesses start off with them, whether it was a sign company, a menu printer, whatever it was. And then they grew and grew and grew, and they were able to ride that wave of it. And it's like the growth plans we have of, you know, a lot of stores. It could be so cool to have, you know, your art in hundreds of restaurants.
[00:10:48] Speaker B: And then everyone, everyone can see it and find their own spirit animal.
[00:10:51] Speaker A: There you go. And so we're going to be, as we open locations, we're going to be, you know, commissioning Pretty sure that's the word.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: Yes. Commissioning.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: There you go. Yep.
[00:10:59] Speaker B: Some original.
[00:11:00] Speaker A: I'm learning these things. So some originals, so some different versions. Surprise. I'm gonna do a unicorn for my wife because she's my unicorn.
[00:11:07] Speaker B: Yeah, we're.
[00:11:08] Speaker A: There we go.
[00:11:09] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:11:09] Speaker A: Yep. And then a little lion cub for. For son and a little unicorn for my daughter.
[00:11:14] Speaker C: Oh, so awesome.
[00:11:15] Speaker A: We'll do that. It'll be fun.
[00:11:17] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:11:17] Speaker A: But just kind of a way to, you know, continue to do business with you and. And. And tell a story. So it's one of the fun parts of the restaurant business, being able to do this. So definitely check out the website. Go ahead again.
[00:11:29] Speaker B: Primalspiritgallery.com youm can also follow me on Instagram as J A Bilkis, which will probably be tagged in any of the shorts.
[00:11:37] Speaker A: And so I thought of some fun things to do with this of. To promote it through the 26 Club.
[00:11:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:42] Speaker A: So I had a vision of this. I'm like, how cool would it be if we could, like, get people to text us if they're a lion or if they're a snake or if they're like, you know, a beaver, whatever it is, and all these different ones. But then we go, hey, everybody, that's a lion today. Right? Come in and get a 2 for 1 Conquistadors. And then, like, all the lions show up. They have all the snakes. Right. Like, one day it could be just wild to see. You know, it's one of those crazy entrepreneurial visions. But, like, people that identify as the same thing all descending on the restaurant.
[00:12:13] Speaker B: And you know what that does? It creates a really strong sense of community with the people who are coming back to your restaurant. You know, it brings us from something to where maybe I'm just going with my friends to the point where I'm walking up to other tables and being like, hey, guys, what's up? Let's be friends. Because we all have this thing that we already know that we have in common.
[00:12:31] Speaker A: And so, once again, we could do like, a giveaway for one of these and say, hey, like, if you're a turtle or whatever, it's fun. But it really has become one of my favorite questions, whether it's the interview process, you know, we're onboarding somebody new, or just talking to our customers. And so it's one of those things that we're layering onto the business to really give that personal feel to it as we grow and do it. So, you know, one of the things that we talked about before, though, is you have worked in the restaurant business?
[00:12:58] Speaker B: Yes, I have.
[00:12:59] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:12:59] Speaker B: Unfortunately.
[00:13:00] Speaker A: There you go. I'm gonna be an artist, right. And go after my dream after.
[00:13:05] Speaker B: Well, that's what I was doing directly before I started, you know, doing my artwork. I was working down actually over here on River Street. I was working, doing breakfast at 6 o'clock in the morning. It was so, so much fun. Yeah. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, while in school. It was a very stressful time in my life.
[00:13:21] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure.
Yes. Okay, so we're not gonna talk about which place you work. Right. With that, but I guess the kind of takeaway. What was your. What sucked the most about it? And there's balance with school and areas of responsibility.
[00:13:36] Speaker B: You know, during the period of time that you're working, there's a lot of people. There's a lot of stress, I think, going on. All servers, I think experience that where you have to talk to your table and bring in the food and remember the orders, and you need to be doing the side work at the same time, bussing tables. So there's a lot to keep track of, a lot to stay on my feet. And I think while I really loved being a server and I love talking to people and the whole hospitality aspect, I think over that long period of time of doing it, for the three months that I think I was in the restaurant business, by the end of those three months, I was like, man, I don't know if I can keep doing this four times a week. First thing in the morning, it just. It really broke down my body to a point where I was like, I need to focus on. On myself. Right.
[00:14:18] Speaker A: It's physically demanding. Very physically, very physically. It's emotional. It will drain everything from you. Like I said, the restaurant business will take everything from you. You're coming off March, which is my favorite and least favorite month of the year, where I was texting, though.
[00:14:33] Speaker C: It was so much fun this year.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: So fun. We. I think we set records, but exhausting.
[00:14:37] Speaker C: The shots all at the same time.
[00:14:38] Speaker A: But we were texting a couple. A couple days ago, and it was like, you every day since March 9th. Right. And it's one of those things, like, it wasn't, you know, by. It was by choice. It's just things that were going on and the demands. And even with the amount of people.
[00:14:51] Speaker C: We have, there was a demand for Samrock. So there was.
[00:14:54] Speaker A: Samrock, I think, was. So check out our social.
[00:14:57] Speaker C: He was the one that did most of the work.
[00:14:59] Speaker A: Sam Rock. Yes. Well, he was, you know, there was a different energy behind you with, with that. And it really was the, the energy that I think, you know, our fans.
[00:15:08] Speaker C: And our team Samrock is my march spirit animal. And then the rest of the years.
[00:15:14] Speaker A: Incredible. When I first saw it, I was like, this is, this is the fun part of the restaurant business is just letting our team really just shine and be who they are.
And you did that. I know our fans just absolutely enjoyed it. So.
Yeah. So, you know, I think what's cool too is you, you know, you were working in the restaurant business while you were getting your degree, pursuing your passion, Right? Because it kind of didn't know while you were in school, you didn't know you were going to start this exact company, right?
[00:15:45] Speaker B: Ye, I didn't know. I wasn't anywhere close to starting this. I was still trying to figure out if my art was good enough, which I think is a struggle that a lot of artists go through at the early stages of their career.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: And so very cool for you to have found it at this stage pretty early. But I think that's the restaurant business as well as there's so many people that are engaged in it. Whether it was Tony, our vice president of beverage, while he was pursuing theater, he was, you know, bartending.
[00:16:13] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:16:14] Speaker A: Right. It's like it's a business that you can pursue your passion at the same time as making money and try to.
[00:16:18] Speaker C: Find that, but it also helps with.
It can open up conversations that may not happen. When you're talking about yourself having those genuine conversations with your guests, you're like, oh, I'm a student, this is what I do. And hopefully like that sometimes you can get customers out of it, right?
[00:16:33] Speaker B: Yeah. And, you know, I think it's a great point. The biggest benefit from working in the restaurant business, I mean, I got my job. I think I had $90 in my bank account. I was a very broke college student.
[00:16:45] Speaker C: Most people are.
[00:16:46] Speaker B: After that three month period, I had enough of a safety net to where I could invest a bunch of money into the business that I was starting. And I think there's not a lot of industries where someone can go into it quickly, work in that industry and come out with enough to pay their bills and do something extra on the side. And I think that's the amazing thing about working in the restaurant industry and being a server is that you do have that capacity to make so much in a short amount of time to where you can really put it into your passion and what you want to be doing in life.
[00:17:20] Speaker C: And I think that's why some people actually get trapped, like myself in that business. Cause I was a server, bartender, college. And I'm still here 30 years later because I got in that trap. So I'm glad you were able to get out of it and find success.
[00:17:34] Speaker B: And I hope that you can rediscover your passion with whatever you wanted to be doing.
[00:17:38] Speaker C: I love this. I love it. I love it.
[00:17:39] Speaker A: Well, that's the coolest thing. I mean, you were the GM of our downtown location for a period of time, you know, and then you had passion for people. 1. Right. But then you had done private events, you had done catering, you had done those things. And so when I talked with Kevin, I was like, you know, let's get him in places. And now, as the company's growing, I'm finding my role as the founder is. I'm getting better in my role. Right. Being able to do this, talk to investors, franchisees, key vendors, you know, all the stakeholders of the business.
That's where I'm flourishing. And it's kind of like, you know, hopefully, you know, my job now is to put everybody in a position where they're, you know, executing their gift. Right. And I think, you know, one of our values is, let's get weird. The weird is their gift. Right. Mine might be that I enjoy doing this, whatever it is. Right. And I'm thriving in that.
And the restaurant business will demand everything from you, especially as you're starting off. But then as we're growing, I'm able to get into a position that I'm enjoying more and more, which is fun. So we know it sucks, right? It's very demanding. Yes. You know, there's a lot of things. So it's interesting, just that physical demand. What do you say you love the most about it?
[00:18:49] Speaker B: I love the hospitality. Okay. I loved getting to meet new people every day, having conversations, making all of those connections. It's one of the things that I love most about what I'm doing now, too. I think that the restaurant industry really helped teach me how to talk and work and communicate with people and to find out what other people's needs are. You know, I think that overall, it made me a better human. It helped me understand others more, and it helped me be more aware and more calm under the stress that I was under while trying to do all of these things at the same time. Yeah.
[00:19:26] Speaker A: Well, there's no doubt when you go and see in Forsyth that there's hospitality coming across and that passion. And, you know, one of our things, you know, for, you know, zunsies, our second Pillar of marketing is zoom. These hustles harder. And I always use the analogy, if there's two, there's two drug dealers, right? There's Johnny, right? And there's John, right? You know, go ahead and take Johnny Devere, our founder. But he was always hustling right out there, hustling harder. You know, he was giving sausage samples, you know, day one. In the streets, we have a saying. If it works in the streets, it works on our meats.
[00:20:01] Speaker B: That's a good saying, you know, and.
[00:20:03] Speaker A: So it's like, you gotta hustle harder. First one's free, Right. So that's why we do a lot of first ones free. Bring you in, win you over with it.
But there's so many vendors that are in Forsyth now.
[00:20:16] Speaker B: There was 115 last Saturday.
[00:20:18] Speaker A: This is incredible.
[00:20:19] Speaker B: When I started, there must have been maybe 15 on a Saturday. Like, it's really blown up to something extraordinary.
[00:20:26] Speaker C: So that brings me one of the founder vendors.
[00:20:28] Speaker B: I'd like to think so.
[00:20:28] Speaker C: Founder, vendor.
[00:20:29] Speaker B: You know, I can't say that I'm one of the original founders, because there were people before me, But I also inspired a lot of my friends and colleagues to get out there. So, you know, I do feel a little bit responsible for the fact that it has become something that has flourished.
[00:20:44] Speaker C: And I think with Savannah being such a touristy place, you're getting exposure that a lot of other city artists wouldn't get, because people come here from all around the world.
[00:20:53] Speaker B: Exposure from all over the world. I have my art in several. Several different countries.
My brother was in a different country. He was at a house party and met someone who had my artwork on their wall, which is insane.
[00:21:05] Speaker C: That's really cool.
[00:21:08] Speaker A: Go back to that and see how that worked. But, yeah, you know, I think with all of those different. You know, if you're just walking down, it's like, how do you get their attention? Right.
[00:21:18] Speaker B: Bright zoom colors.
[00:21:22] Speaker A: It got my attention. And it was just fun. Right. But also, like, you. I mean, just your personality, it draws you in. Sales is a transfer of energy.
[00:21:32] Speaker B: Yes. Right.
[00:21:32] Speaker A: And so you being there, it's like there are some people you walk by, and it's like, I have to greet them.
[00:21:36] Speaker B: Yeah, Well, I think that's one of the big issues with a lot of artists is they don't know how to speak or represent themselves. I think that 50% of being an artist and trying to sell your artwork is selling yourself.
[00:21:49] Speaker A: Right.
[00:21:50] Speaker B: You know, people want to buy me.
[00:21:51] Speaker A: And the story, and then they want.
[00:21:53] Speaker B: To buy the piece of artwork. It's not the other way around.
[00:21:56] Speaker C: 126%.
[00:21:57] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:21:57] Speaker B: So, you know, I mean, in the case of your restaurant business, people want you. They want your energy, and then they want the sandwiches and the sauce. And that's why they keep coming back, is they come back for you and your amazing energy.
[00:22:08] Speaker A: And that's why our mission is to inspire you to live your dream. So it's like, for you, I want.
[00:22:12] Speaker B: You to live your dream. That's my mission statement too. So that's pretty. It's pretty incredible.
[00:22:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:16] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[00:22:17] Speaker A: There you go.
[00:22:17] Speaker C: What is happening?
[00:22:18] Speaker A: So you start attracting that. Right. That energy starts attracting that to your business, and then it continues to grow. And so for our team, I want them to hopefully pursue their passion. Right. And the passion could be in the restaurant business. That's great for that period of time, but there's a lot of people that I love to hear. You know, Juwan was with us. Now he's got two restaurants in Oakland. Right. Did amazing things as a chef. And just get to hear we've had, you know, William from Bandana Burger.
[00:22:48] Speaker B: Yep. And he has a new restaurant, mlk.
[00:22:51] Speaker A: Yeah. Just killing it. Right. And it's pursuing their passions in different ways, but you're doing that, and I applaud you to take that leap.
[00:22:59] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:23:00] Speaker A: And. And do it. And just be consistent and passionate about it.
Let's see. What. What do you think in the restaurant business kind of needs to change or, you know, what do you think from the experience that you've had with us? Our conversations just change. Like, you know, I'm all about direction, not perfection. There's no really destination. It's just you're moving towards things you want that are good and away from things that are bad, hopefully.
[00:23:22] Speaker B: You know, I think the biggest thing, whenever we're talking about improving for me and not talking about our relationship, but I think communication is really huge. Communication between managers and the staff, communication between the staff and the owners, communication between everyone really helps people feel seen, it helps people feel heard, and it helps people feel like they're part of the conversation, because no one wants to get left out, especially when their lives depend on it.
[00:23:47] Speaker A: Right. Communication sucks in the restaurant business.
[00:23:49] Speaker C: It really does.
[00:23:50] Speaker A: It sucks because in my role, you know, you don't want to be getting messages from us all the time. And then there's like, do we pay you? Are you supposed to, like. Of course we're supposed to pay you anytime you're working. Right. Like, there's no question about that. But you also want to run a great business. And there's communication at times that. That you need to get out. And so figuring all of that out, that's a massive pain point.
[00:24:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:14] Speaker A: That we have. I mean, we use email, we use Slack, we use text. We have the 26X club, like, trying to figure out different ways to communicate with our team. We've got our. Under the umbrella, Right? It's called under the umbrella.
[00:24:26] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:24:26] Speaker A: Yeah. The weekly. The weekly digest of everything going on in the company that Danelle, our training manager, does an incredible job putting that out, getting better and better every week. And there's the idea of too much communication, not enough. What's the right amount? And really, I think the key to it is just retention. Right. It's like keeping your people to where they understand the culture. And that's the hardest thing of this business. People say, what's the hard part? It's the people piece, but they gotta love it. You gotta love the people side of it. And tree produces fruit, either good fruit or bad, Either a high turnover or low. And luckily, we're very blessed with the team and leadership with Kevin, there's a lot of stability there, and his success, leads, clues he's done in his past, and it's really starting to work, and it's attracting those people. So communication sucks in the restaurant business. I would rate it as like a 2 out of 10 personally, but it's still probably better than most recently.
[00:25:21] Speaker B: You know, our partnership started very recently. I've greatly appreciated the communication that we've had between me, you, your team. Y'all have always been very prompt, very communicative. We work together, we schedule. Right. And I feel like y'all have actually done a really amazing job.
[00:25:37] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:25:37] Speaker B: And then, you know, coming from the fact of, you know, a civilian living in Savannah, like, the text messages I get from the 26 Club, these deals happening, this, that. It really keeps me involved in your community. It keeps me thinking about it. And so I think that out of all the different businesses that I've been with or that I've talked to, that I've gone into, Zunzies does a really great job in keeping that retention.
And I really appreciate that.
[00:26:03] Speaker A: Thank you. The goal is to have a relationship.
[00:26:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:05] Speaker A: That's why we do it that way, is we're not trying to do marketing to you. It's. We want you to love what we're doing. If you don't like it, let us know where. We always keep at least 10% of our business to change. We're in the middle of enormous food innovation. Like what you think, you know, of Zoonzabar, Right. From a bar concept and then from a food like re Engage. You know, join the 26 Club. Get those texts. There's some really fun stuff that we're doing with seafood about to come out the bar and after dark.
[00:26:35] Speaker B: It's going to be great.
[00:26:36] Speaker A: It's going to be really good.
[00:26:37] Speaker B: It's going to be really good.
[00:26:38] Speaker A: Yes, it really is. It's exciting. We've got a great, you know, culinary partner, actually, that's, you know, with. With one of the most popular, best restaurants in Savannah that's helping us there. Not going to drop that, but just, you know, we're engaging the community. Getting closer.
[00:26:55] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:55] Speaker A: And it's fun and, you know, so proud of you. Excited for you. Excited for the growth that, you know, we'll have together.
[00:27:03] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:27:04] Speaker A: And be able to ride that wave and commission a bun of paintings. And please go Visit Joshua Bilkus primalspiritgallery.com There you go. We'll make sure to have it in. In the links. Everything that, you know when that goes out. And. And also in Forsyth park on most weekends. You're there.
[00:27:21] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Saturday is the big day to come out. Everybody's out there. From 10 to 2 o'clock are the main hours.
[00:27:28] Speaker A: Shit. Yeah.
[00:27:29] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:27:29] Speaker A: Well, very good. Well, thank you so much.
[00:27:31] Speaker B: Awesome.
[00:27:31] Speaker A: Appreciate it.
[00:27:32] Speaker B: Thank you for having me.
[00:27:33] Speaker A: Chris. We have some new sauces.
[00:27:34] Speaker C: We do. We have hottest shit and Mustafa curry.
[00:27:37] Speaker A: Now bot so. And they are in plastic, so we're about to be able to start shipping those because they were glass and the shipping was insane. So. I know dank is your favorite.
[00:27:46] Speaker B: Dank is my favorite. I put that shit on everything.
[00:27:49] Speaker A: Shit. Yeah. I think you made coleslaw, right?
[00:27:51] Speaker B: Yeah, coleslaw. And we're gonna try and get that coleslaw recipe too. You to put it. We may put a dank, dank coleslaw. It's delicious.
[00:27:57] Speaker A: All right. I am gonna go for the hottest shit.
[00:28:00] Speaker C: I'm going for drizzle. That's my favorite.
[00:28:02] Speaker B: Go for dank sauce. Are we drinking this or are we just drizzling right out of the bottle?
[00:28:06] Speaker A: Just a little shot. All right.
Yeah.
All right.
[00:28:15] Speaker B: Never thought that I would be drinking dank sauce out of a bottle like this.
[00:28:18] Speaker A: The hottest shit's the best ever. Been so good. I'm putting everything.
[00:28:21] Speaker C: The drizzle.
[00:28:22] Speaker A: Yes. So big shout out to Frogmore Bottling and Seaside Amazing vendor partners that are making these and bringing sauce to you. So. Shit. Yeah.
Thanks.
[00:28:34] Speaker C: Thank you.
