Texas, Utah Read welcome to this incredible opportunity for us to get to know you because we can't get into your mentor session. I want to talk with you about a bunch of things, but first and foremost, you decided to create an environment where you thought you were bringing peace to warring families, probably where a couple of people come to a restaurant. Some people really want to do some healthy stuff. Some people want to have some sick, delicious food and they don't want to fight
Reed Slobusky
@ReedSlobusky · 0:41
So I think all of us can attest to there's times we want different things, and we really just tried to create a vibe in an environment that people gravitated towards, regardless of what they felt like eating those days
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:51
And then after that, can you talk to me a little bit about your relationship to food innovation in general, specifically around the idea that there are new proteins out there. There's the impossible burger there's beyond. And then there's the stem cell stuff going on with the printing of meat. I want to hear about what's whether or not you are in touch with those innovations. And if so, would you integrate those into your menu at any time soon
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Reed Slobusky
@ReedSlobusky · 2:01
In regards to changing the menu, obviously, we sit with a healthy side and a happy side. Historically, over the almost eight years we've been in operation, we've tended to make fewer changes on the happy side. Obviously, items that do well stay and items that don't quite hit. We either adjust or replace, and we try to do a big overall menu evolution each year, usually late in the year
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:45
And to that end, I think I want to ask sort of a mentor mentor question that I know people ask, which is there a failure during this process that really kicked your b*** and made you learn quickly? And can you tell us about that and the results of that and the lessons learned
Reed Slobusky
@ReedSlobusky · 1:00
As far as mistakes go, I would say not being mindful of bandwidth is the biggest piece of advice I would heed. And I think that, you know, it's easy to drown an opportunity. It's easy to take on projects that sound great and maybe are great. But you really have to understand the bandwidth of both yourself and your organization as you have success. Inevitably, many people will try to get you to bring that success to what they're doing
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:30
And we identify more with, like, going out to eat than ever, especially after COVID we are going to just drop into these spaces and really just go, I'm so happy I'm here. And I'd like to ask you just about your perception of yourself moving forward and some of the ideas you have around using all parts of yourself to grow your brand
Reed Slobusky
@ReedSlobusky · 2:00
Beyond that, I think the biggest community we found is just within restaurant tours themselves. We've always been big on helping each other out and not hoarding information and intel. I think that's been neat. And I've seen a lot of just everyone being in this together and working together and really just help share ideas on how everyone can improve their business. And we've all had friends lose their restaurants and been very hard to watch and done everything we can
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:39
Okay, make sure that these boxes are checked. And if these boxes are checked, go ahead and open that dream restaurant. But before that, don't do it. So like, top three things we should think about before we ask for money and go for it. And just by the way, thank you for these questions and answers, period