Here it is (finally)

So, I Like To Entertain: Conversations With Local Entrepreneurs

Andrew Goff

Senior Seminar 2012

Dr. Derek Stanovsky

       

            Entertaining has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Growing up, my parents and I were either having people over for dinner or going to a friend’s house for dinner quite regularly. Even when we’d go out of town to visit family for a week, nearly every single day revolved around the kitchen. We would wake up, have a light breakfast, open a bottle of wine, and embark on a day of fun in the kitchen. This idea of people coming together over food became a large part of who I am as a person and what I know about living well. I’ve found that one of my favorite things to do in my spare time is to have a bunch of friends over and to put together a huge meal. In fact, this is exactly what I have done to celebrate my past several birthdays. It takes a lot of time and effort, but I love it all; from trimming the fat off the meat to spending an hour cleaning everything. It might sound odd, but I love making a big mess and cleaning it all up. If I were forced to choose I’d probably rather be a cook than a dishwasher, but I truly enjoy both. I find being a part of the whole process can be very rewarding. The point is, entertaining can be grueling work, but I love every moment of it.

            Growing up with food as such a big part of my life eventually led me to wonder if it might be a good way to make a living. Long before I ever started thinking seriously about a career, I got my first “real” job as a busboy at a restaurant some friends of ours owned and operated in Long Island, New York called “Fat Lucy’s Fish House”. I would love to say that I enjoyed every minute of it and that it paved the way for my future career in the restaurant industry, but the truth is I actually didn’t like it all that much at the time. There was a lot of work to be done in that restaurant, and virtually every undesirable duty was funneled down to me. Over time, the things that I didn’t like about it (long hours, hard work, etc…) turned into the things that I loved about it. To put it simply, I was a brat when I was fourteen, but eventually I began to appreciate things like hard work and responsibility, and that job (as well as the ones that followed) had a lot to do with it. Additionally, it made me realize how much worse it would have been if I didn’t love the people I was working with. This idea of working with good people has only grown within me over the years and is at the heart of nearly everything I want out of life.

            Making my way through high school and college, I became involved with a variety of businesses within the food industry. I made sandwiches at Subway, worked as a manager at Jersey Mike’s Sub Shop, waited tables at a small Jamaican restaurant in Pennsylvania, waited tables and bartended at Ted’s Montana Grill, did everything from production to sales with The Pasta Wench, and currently wait tables at Hob Nob Farm Café. Prior to moving to Boone, I never thought for a second that I would want to open my own restaurant. While I enjoyed working in them and thought I might be capable of it, I always imagined that the owners were taking on an absurd amount of stress that made living an enjoyable life impossible. This is the exact reason I never wanted to be a lawyer. My parents always said I would make a great one (given how much I enjoyed arguing), but I simply was unable to find a lawyer that seemed to live a happy life. After I moved to Boone and started working at Hob Nob Farm Café, I finally saw that it was possible to run a restaurant and be happy at the same time. This is really what first made me seriously consider getting into the restaurant industry. While I firmly believe that I have the potential to be successful within the restaurant industry, I still have a lot to learn before I’ll be ready to take the risk to find out. 

            There have been many studies that try to determine the success/failure rate of restaurants. I have seen claims of all sorts, from 90% of restaurants failing in the first year to roughly 60% failing in the first three years. Given the fact that there is so much variance among the different studies, I feel comfortable simply stating that trying to open a restaurant is a risky venture. Rather than get carried away with studies and statistics, I decided it would be best to focus on ideas that can make a restaurant successful as well as ideas that can run a restaurant into the ground. Rather than learn from people that are writing about running restaurants, I decided it would make more sense to learn from people that were actually running restaurants.

            I originally was just looking for restaurant owners that I could sit down with and learn specifically about restaurants. I soon realized that while there are many ideas and concepts that pertain specifically to restaurants, there are many other ideas and concepts that pertain more generally to making a living for yourself. This includes both general business concepts as well as ideas that have nothing to do with business such as finding a balance between work and personal life. As I mentioned before, I love food and would love to open a restaurant, but I also love people and am completely open to other ventures as long as I am working with good people. I still see opening a restaurant as my top choice, but I decided it would make sense to learn from people outside of the restaurant industry as well. It’s not so much that I wanted to explore options outside of restaurants, but rather I wanted to learn general concepts about making a living for yourself from people other than restaurateurs so as not to limit what I might learn.  With this in mind, I decided to broaden my approach to include talking with anyone I could find that was making a living for themselves.

            The next thing I discovered was that it is in fact very difficult to get a business owner to sit down with you long enough to tell you their life story. Out of the about fifteen people I “targeted”, I was able to get interviews with five of them. The business owners I interviewed are as follows: a joint interview with Pony and Andrea Morrell of the Pasta Wench and Andrea’s Organics, Mike Nelson of Hob Nob Farm Café, Jim Latendresse of High Country Mac, and Don Cox of Bald Guy Brew.

            The interviews all took place with people that I had already developed relationships with, so I felt it necessary to explain the terms of those relationships in order to give the interviews context. Additionally, they took place in a variety of circumstances so I decided to make note of the setting of each interview to give even further context.

Pony and Andrea Morrell (Pasta Wench and Andrea’s Organics)

            The first time I met Pony and Andrea they were passing through Boone on a month long road trip around the country. They were ready for change and were scouting different locations to make their new home. We hit it off and instantly became friends. They ended up moving to Boone with the hopes of reconnecting to the land and starting a farm. In addition to the farm, they ended up starting The Pasta Wench. I ended up working with them on and off for over a year as they were getting the pasta business off the ground. They have been involved with many different ventures and have been a great source of knowledge and wisdom for me. It should be noted that this was a unique interview as I had the privilege of sitting down with both of them at the same time. For many of the questions they were able to give a single response, as they have been married and working together for over twenty years. There were other questions that had more of an individual focus where they gave me their own responses. Since there were two people involved there were a lot more areas for discussion. Aside from the fact that there were two different stories that we had to cover, they had developed a story together that had many dimensions to it. They each had very complimentary strengths so we were able to talk a lot about successful partnerships. Seeing as how I have no intentions of starting a restaurant by myself, this was a very worthwhile conversation.

            The interview took place during an extended lunch break in their office in the Pasta Wench facilities. We had the opportunity to speak for over two hours with very little interruption.

The Interview

            I first explained why I was conducting all of these interviews and what I was hoping to get from them. In short, I explained that as a future entrepreneur I was hoping to learn as much as I could from other people’s experiences before I took the risk of trying to start my own business. They agreed that it was wise to try to learn from others mistakes before making my own. We started by getting into their story (both as individuals and as partners). I wanted to know what they had been involved with and specifically if anything prompted them to try to make a living on their own.

            Andrea responded first, and explained that there wasn’t necessarily an exact moment, but that it happened over time. She did however talk about a specific moment where the seed was planted. As a child, she sold acorns to her neighbors from the end of her driveway. She remembers having profound feelings from receiving money for acorns that she was picking up off the ground. She explained that the feeling stuck with her for the rest of her life and eventually led to her exit from the world of working for people. Growing up she was involved with all sorts of projects such as lemonade stands, mowing lawns, selling sandwiches to friends in high school, and even a singing telegram service. The last job she had where she was working for someone was as a river guide, but even then she was still painting people’s faces and selling painted rocks on the side. Once she started making a living for herself she decided she would never work for anyone ever again even though she admitted that there’s a lot of freedom with not being a boss as it involves less responsibility.

            Pony has a much different story. Not only did he never have a moment of “I’m on my own now,” but he admits that even now he would have no problem working for a good organization with a good boss. He explained that he would be happy to lend his skills to a good operation, as long there was no drama, no ego, and no politics. He joked that if those conditions were met he’d be perfectly happy being a dishwasher. Growing up, his parents owned and operated four different restaurants and he often was around to help. When he was twelve, he even lived right above one of them and worked there in his spare time, so you could quite literally say he grew up in restaurants. At age thirteen, he got his first job outside of his family at “Perkin’s Pancake House”. After high school he met someone that was going around selling cookbooks and thought it was brilliant. He ended up selling cookbooks himself and even had five employees at one point. The way it worked is he was able to purchase hundred dollar cookbooks in bulk at ten dollars apiece. He would then go to different office buildings and other places and drop off a free sample cookbook. He’d let them know that if they liked it then they could contact him to purchase more of them. He normally sold them for just twenty dollars (even though they were valued at one hundred) and would often give deals to people. This experience gave him a lot of understanding in the ways of business. He eventually moved on from the cookbooks and began selling meat and seafood out of the back of his truck. He would literally go around knocking on doors of people he didn’t know and sell specifically to a cold market.

            Eventually they met each other and got married. They were both in between jobs and recall a particular road trip where they got to talking about all of the different jobs they had over the years. They ended up making a list and by the time they were done they realized that between them they had over eighty different jobs. This gave them the idea that it might be time to try doing their own thing. Their first venture together was setting up food booths at Pow Wows (Native American gatherings that were open to the public, kind of like a renaissance festival). They enjoyed this quite a bit and it allowed them to travel all over the country. Over time they noticed that all these non-Native Americans were coming in to learn about their culture and that there wasn’t really anyone there to teach them. Given the fact that Pony was Native American and knew a lot about Native American history, they decided to focus their energy towards educating people. After doing that for a while they decided to go for a change of pace. Pony had grown up around horses and Andrea came up with an idea on how they could use that. Basically, they went around and taught at school assemblies. Andrea would take care booking all the assemblies and Pony would do the rest. What set them apart from others was the fact that they were the only ones that actually brought a horse with them everywhere they went. They did this for about three years. Then, one day, Andrea saw an ad for a very prestigious German horse show. Andrea managed to get him booked and suddenly he was sharing the stage with the best horse people from around the world. The show went great and he immediately got a book deal. Pony explained that this was the point where things got a bit crazy and that it was either time for failure or success. They ended up being quite successful with it and he attributed this to the fact that while there were probably over ten thousand people around the world that knew how to train a horse properly, he was among a group of between six to ten that knew how to explain horses to people. When I asked him what this line of work involved he said it was basically the same as being Rachel Ray, the only difference was that instead of a cookbook he wrote a book that taught people how to connect with their horses. Other than that, it was pretty similar. He went around making appearances, doing book signings, clinics, discussion groups, and all the things gurus do in different industries. At one point he was even sponsored by Wrangler and Chevy. After about twelve years everything phased out and they moved on. At this point they were both a bit fed up with all of the stresses of traveling and constantly putting on a show. In the process of sharing wisdom, they had lost touch with what gave them that wisdom in the first place. They decided they wanted to reconnect with the land and started a search for where they would do that. They researched different places that appealed to them and went on the month-long road trip that I mentioned earlier.

            Once they decided on Boone they found and purchased a cabin on a lovely piece of property near Triplett. They went to the farmer’s market to see what was being offered. They noticed that no one was doing pasta and that was that. They immediately began making raviolis and the business grew rapidly. What started as the two of them making raviolis by hand at home turned into a much larger operation that now supplies Harris Teeter and EarthFare in addition to many restaurants and farmer’s markets. Pony made the point that it is a typical sign of a marketer to research everything first and come up with the product last. Rather than decide on a product and then try to force it on a location, they said it’s more about understanding an environment and finding out what it’s lacking. Once you find a need, you can fill it. Otherwise, it would just be a waste of time. Alternatively, they said you can come up with an idea and then see what place works for it. Since they were more concerned with where they were than what they were doing, they went with the former approach. Andrea pointed out that people often have the tendency to get caught up with what’s right in front of them. In order to be successful it is often necessary to think outside of your current situation and think more big-picture. Pony brought up another good point that we’ve talked about before: there is a difference between creating a business and creating a job. If you start a business that requires your constant presence then you’ve really just created a job. If you’ve created a business then it can stand on its own. 

            Next, the conversation took a shift and we started talking about the state of the nation. They explained that with the economy in the shape that it’s in, it doesn’t seem too small business friendly. However, they claim that it can actually be beneficial, as the struggling economy drives many people away from wanting to start their own business. This means more room for people that are willing to brave the storm, as there is less competition. Pony compared it to the Great Depression. Although it was a time of economic turmoil, many big businesses actually got their start in the wake of the Great Depression. He explained that big economic downturn creates opportunity. It has a way of evening the playing field and providing what he called a “shakedown”. This is when unfit or “fat” businesses struggle to survive. He describes these businesses as having too many liabilities and sloppy financials due to the fact that there was enough money coming in that they were able to ignore them. When the profits start coming down, their weaknesses become exposed and they risk going out of business. This, he claims, creates fertile soil for start-ups.

            He continued by pointing out another seemingly unfavorable circumstance that could actually be a good thing: the fact that there is virtually no money out there for small businesses. At first glance this seems to be yet another hardship that entrepreneurs are currently facing. Pony claims that in reality, this is actually a good thing. Rather than starting businesses by taking out loans (and hence being in debt before you even get started), people are being forced to start businesses with whatever resources they have personally available. While this can be seen as an obstacle, it can also involve less risk. For example, they currently run a pasta business with thousands and thousands of dollars worth of equipment, but it didn’t start that way. They started by making the raviolis by hand in their kitchen. This lent them the opportunity to see if it was an idea worth pursuing. If it flopped, they didn’t have much to lose. Fortunately, the idea took off and they were able to purchase all of their equipment with profits from the business. Had they taken out loans to purchase everything at the beginning they would have had a lot more to lose if their plan didn’t work. Now, if they go out of business, they are still in better shape than when they started (at the very least they can sell the equipment). If they took out loans and went out of business before they paid them back, they would be in even worse shape than when they started.

            Pony continued by explaining that before World War II, it was not typical for people or companies to have debt. There were no credit cards and people purchased houses when they had the money to buy one. He mentioned that he had a grandfather that never owned a home in his life because he could never afford one and that he respected him for that. According to Pony, the turning point came with the G.I. bill. This basically got put in place to make it easier for veterans to purchase homes; all they had to do was take out a mortgage. One thing led to another and now debt is the norm. This has created a dangerous economic landscape. He explained that the current economic downturn is basically forcing us back to ways of old. Specifically, we are headed in a direction of debt no longer being a norm, which he claims creates a healthier environment. He said this trend is great for people like us that are trying to make a living for ourselves, but not so great for people looking for jobs.

            At this point Andrea decided to chime in. She first apologized for bringing politics into it, then explained that while she is socially liberal, she is fiscally conservative. She continued saying that there is a trend towards the government taking more money from small businesses in order to fund social programs. While she believes everyone should have an equal opportunity, she made the point that there is a big difference between that and everyone getting the same thing. If people are able to live well without working for it then what incentive do they have to work? They both agreed that if the government continues raising taxes on small businesses then they risk creating an environment in which no one wants to own a business anymore and that could lead to an even further collapse of our economy. Wrapping this thought up, she said things end up working out how they’re supposed to.

            Next, I shifted the focus to how they work together. From our personal relationship I have seen first hand that they make a very good team and I wanted to learn more about it. Andrea admitted she wasn’t as good at managing people as she often found it difficult to swallow her pride. For this reason she actually admitted she might not be that great of a boss. Fortunately, this is an area where Pony excels. He specializes in managing people, or as he puts it, “keeping all the balls in the air at the same time” (think juggling). This has very much influenced how they have delegated business duties. Pony is in charge of production and employees and Andrea is in charge of everything else. To put it simply, Andrea is great at creating the opportunity while Pony is great at making it work.

            Next I asked them if they had any regrets. Pony explained that he should have gone to business school instead of music school. He was (and still is) a virtuoso piano player, but he went to school for the business side of things. He already knew how to play, but he wanted to learn how to use his talent to become a successful rock star or to own a recording studio. His interest in music phased out and he was left with little business sense. He said learning business (especially financial statements) was his biggest challenge over the years. In time he learned how to do it, and now he actually loves them.

            Next I asked them what they thought was their best decision. Andrea answered first saying that her best decision was to just go for it, although she admits she finds herself looking back all the time. She said relying on something bigger than herself and following her heart have helped her a lot through this. Although she avoided getting too specific, she said this involved building a relationship with the creator of the universe and that she prays for wisdom and discernment all the time. She said things happen for a reason and that doors of opportunity don’t open on accident. She said it’s important to try not to do harm and to respect others. Although it is difficult, she said it’s also important to recognize when you might need help from others and to not let your ego get in the way. Regarding mistakes, she didn’t seem to have any regrets; rather she said she enjoyed learning from them.

            When I asked Pony about the best decision he ever made, he said it was marrying Andrea. Similar to Andrea, he said he always remembers his mistakes and that he learns from them. On the contrary, he claims that one of his biggest faults is that he doesn’t remember his good decisions.

            To conclude the interview I asked them both if they had any other advice for someone like me. Andrea said it is wise to learn from others mistakes. Also, you should take advice from your friends with a grain of salt. She used the classic example of pitching a business idea to a friend and having them respond with something along the lines of, “That’s great! I’d shop there!” Friends might not be the best in this situation as their friendship can get in the way of giving critical feedback. It’s important to understand who is paying for your dream and to listen to them.

            Pony said first and foremost to never ignore your financial statements. These are the vital signs of a business, and while they can be easy to ignore when enough money is coming in, things change and it’s important strive for efficiency regardless of success. Next he said you should always try to hire people that are smarter than you. He also stressed the importance of learning from your mistakes. This is where you can obtain wisdom, and the more wisdom you have the better you will be at making good decisions. He explained that the ability to make good decisions has a lot to do with being able to see the probability of potential outcomes involved with decisions. He reiterated that it was “all about probability” and the ability to understand it in any given decision or opportunity.  This, he claims, is something you develop over time as you make more decisions and see how they affect things. He stressed the importance of being able to make good decisions as opportunities arise every single day and a poor decision can take you off a good path. Additionally, once you are off the path it is not as simple as changing your mind. Once you’ve traveled the path of a poor decision it can take a lot of effort to get back on a good path. More wisdom let’s you see further down potential paths and can help you make better decisions.

Mike Nelson (Hob Nob Farm Café)

            I started working with Mike back in May of 2008. Over that time we have become friends and he has become a great mentor to me. The fact is that he is doing many of the things I would love to do in my lifetime. He runs a great restaurant that features local foods, he lives on a farm that not only grows food but also hosts a variety of social events, he has a wonderful family, and most of all he’s able to maintain all of this with a smile on his face. Mike is basically the reason I’ve decided I want to get into the restaurant business. Before I met him the restaurant business always intrigued me (after all my father and his father were both involved with it), but I could never imagine being happy having to deal with all the stresses of running a restaurant. Having the opportunity to work with him has been both inspirational and a great learning experience.

            The interview took place at Hob Nob Farm Café after we had both finished working for about fourteen hours straight. This may not have been optimal, but the fact is restaurant owners don’t exactly have a lot of free time so we had to work with what time we had.

The Interview

            As with the other interviews, I started by letting him know what my project was about and what I was hoping to get from him through our conversation. I explained I wanted to know as much as I could about how he got to where he is today. He started with his college experience. He went to Virginia Commonwealth University as an English major that was interested in reading and writing. He admits he wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to do for a living. His plans after college were to travel to South America (he said he was leaning towards Brazil) to teach within an ESL program (English as a Second Language). Instead he fell in love with Nova (now his wife) and the rest is history. He had grown up waiting tables in restaurants, but was always interested in what was going on in the kitchen. His mother and grandmother were always cooking. He admits that he didn’t get to do much of the cooking himself, but that he was always fascinated by what was going on. His grandmother, he said, always had a pot of beans cooking on the stove.

            While Mike was in between jobs, Nova and her mother Diane were running an herb store called Angelica’s. They all decided to join forces and soon Mike was making simple meals (such as rice and beans) and smoothies. Before long the food portion of the business took off and they decided to move just down the road to where Hob Nob Farm Café is now. For several years they owned and operated Angelica’s and gained much success. They decided they were ready for something new and sold Angelica’s so that they could open Coyote Kitchen. After four and a half years of success there they once again decided to sell their business and move on in order to open Moonshine Café. After a year and a half of Moonshine they got the upsetting news that the owners of Angelica’s were no longer able to run the restaurant. Instead of resuming their roles as owners of Angelica’s, they decided to reacquire the building and start a new restaurant. After what seemed like an eternity, Tupelo’s World Café was born. After a couple years they changed the name to Hob Nob Farm Café to match the name of their farm back in Tennessee. Hob Nob Farm Café has now built a great reputation around town and has become their most successful restaurant yet.

            When I asked Mike what the biggest challenge was throughout the years he said he struggled with trying to extend himself while staying balanced and remaining positive. He has never been at a loss for ideas and has often taken on multiple ideas at a time. He said it’s been a challenge to do this while maintaining a healthy family-life and not losing touch with himself. Most recently, he notes, he wants to be around his kids as much as possible. This has taken much sacrifice on his part. On the one hand having kids has given him less time to pursue all of his professional ambitions. On the other hand being involved with his professional ambitions has given him less time with his kids. Although it is a constant struggle, he has been able to maintain a balance with this.

            I asked him what his best decision was over the years and he said it was in marrying Nova. Professionally, he said the best thing he ever did was throwing himself out there and just letting things happen. He said it can be easy to come up with excuses and let things get in the way of good ideas. He said it was almost as if the brain and the heart were battling it out. What he meant by this was that the brain can be your best friend or your worst enemy. It can be great when it comes to analyzing situations and thinking critically. It can be detrimental when it causes you to become overly analytical. While it is great to be aware of potential threats and obstacles, it is not so great to let that awareness get in the way of making something great happen. For this he said it can often be good to listen to your brain less and listen to your heart more.

            When I asked him if he had any regrets he explained that there’s nothing he would have done differently. He elaborated saying that while he had certainly made mistakes over the years that he enjoyed his mistakes and that they taught him a lot. At this point the interview became more casual and took on a more conversational tone.

            He said that for as long as he has been involved with business he’s wanted to be on the cutting edge pushing forward. A great example of this is the new payment policy at Hob Nob Farm Café. For the past several months the restaurant has been accepting cash and check only, eliminating credit/debit cards completely. With the rising costs of accepting credit/debit cards many businesses would love to stop accepting them, but for most it would be suicide. The fact is that people just don’t carry around cash like they used to and credit/debit cards are becoming the new norm. Regardless of the risk, Mike and Nova decided to push forward with the idea. So far the policy has been a great success. While a couple guests have been less than fond of the change, most people that come through the restaurant are actually supportive of the cause. The whole idea is that by eliminating credit/debit cards local businesses can keep more money in town. This is much more than just trying to save a few dollars. For Mike, it is about starting a movement and creating an environment where other businesses feel more comfortable making the switch. Already a restaurant in Banner Elk has adopted the same policy and has even been using nearly identical handouts as Hob Nob Farm Café to explain the policy to guests. This is a sign that the movement is already gaining momentum, and that is one of Mike’s biggest goals.

            Next we got to talking about how the current economic state in the U.S. has forced many farmers into getting creative. He explained that nowadays it is near impossible to make a living off a farm just growing food and described what he called a “modern farm”. A modern farm is one that has a diversified income. For him, this means growing food and herbs, harvesting wild crops, harvesting honey, and hosting all sorts of events. In addition to providing extra income, these ventures provide excitement as they allow the opportunity to do something new without moving away from what you already love doing.

            I asked him what he thought about Boone as a place to start a business. He said that it is quite a challenge. First of all, the seasonal nature of the town makes keeping a business alive very difficult. The winters often involve people going out and spending money less often. This means that places really have to be booming during the nicer months. He did point out that it has been getting better recently and that winters aren’t as bad as they used to be. The other challenge in Boone, he says, is that the town is more favorable to corporations as they bring in more money. For example, the town of Boone will charge an “impact fee” anytime a downtown location changes it’s form of business. This is supposed to be in compensation for the change in water usage. Unfortunately the compensation is typically in the thousands of dollars and can keep a business from even opening its doors. A corporation could come in and have no problem covering the cost. On the other hand, a local trying to start their own business likely has limited resources and could have the impact fee be the only thing standing in between them and an open business.

            The last thing I asked Mike is if he had any advice for me. The first thing he said was to have no fear. He tied this back to learning to listen to your heart more and your brain less. It’s good to understand your obstacles but you shouldn’t let your awareness of them get in the way of a good idea. Additionally he said flexibility is an absolute must. You have to be willing to adapt to constantly changing conditions and be able to make decisions on the fly. Even if you make poor decisions, keep making decisions. You can learn from the bad ones and take advantage of the good ones. Both can help you move forward, and the worst thing you can do is become stagnant.

Jim Latendresse (High Country Mac)

            I first met Jim working at Hob Nob Farm Café. He and his wife would come in all the time and we always had interesting conversations. In time we became chess buddies and currently have a game with each other every Monday. The conversations stayed interesting and I soon realized that he had a lot of interesting and well thought out ideas and that I could learn a lot from him.

            The interview took place in his home in place of our weekly chess game. We had no interruptions and it ended up being quite extensive and very meaningful.

The Interview

            As usual I started by explaining what I was trying to accomplish with the project and what I was hoping to gain from our conversation. I first asked him if he always knew he wanted to make a living for himself. If not, had something prompted him? He responded that he didn’t know and that he hadn’t even thought about it. He was prompted by his departure from his career in the banking industry. For about ten years he served as a banker and an accountant. Eventually he felt as if working at a bank was giving him a nervous breakdown. He decided to move to Boone for a change of pace. His first job was at Mast General Store. After a while he got a job with W.A.M.Y. Community Action. The basic mission of the organization is to help fight poverty in Watauga, Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey counties by providing assistance to locals. Jim’s job was to be a resource for hopeful entrepreneurs. Basically, he would sit down with individuals and listen to their idea, then help them develop the idea. If the idea was feasible, the organization could approve them for a loan up to $10,000. This experience taught Jim a lot about what it takes to be an entrepreneur. He said the main difference is that some people like to be told what to do, others don’t, and in order for people who don’t to be successful they have to be self-motivated and passionate about something.

            After working at W.A.M.Y. Community Action for a while he decided it was time for something new. It was 1986 and he had about $7,000 to his name and decided he wanted to figure out how to make a living off computers. He said he had loved Apple since first sight. His first thought was, “This is what computers are supposed to be like.” To him they made sense and could be used practically. Working as a banker he had gotten into programming and had experience developing programs that made computers useful to the bank. At the time, computers were new and exciting, but for many it was hard to see how they could be used in a practical manner. Jim would basically drive to Hickory and Charlotte and approach businesses to find out if computers could help them out. If computers could help their business then Jim would assess their needs and design programs specifically for their operation. Basically there was a situation at the time where there were businesses that wanted solutions and other businesses that were trying to sell hardware that could provide solutions. Jim entered that situation and became the connector. The people selling the hardware loved working with him because he would sell a bunch of their products. The businesses loved him because he turned computers into a useful tool.

            He said this part of his life was very exciting. He would travel to conferences for people doing the same thing. There they could network and share ideas. He said at the time the number of people doing this sort of thing was in the hundreds. Their success, he said, was due to being at the right place at the right time and being able to see the opportunity. He added that it’s all about catching the wave as it’s forming, not when it’s cresting.

            He went on to say that there was a period of time in which he could have expanded. He explained that when he was Vice President of a bank he had to spend most of his time managing people. This left little room for him to do anything else. Since he had a passion for working with computers he decided to remain a one-man business so that he wouldn’t get too caught up with trying to manage people and run a business. He said it’s similar to a chef that owns several restaurants. A passion for cooking is probably what started their restaurant career, but when they’re trying to run several restaurants at once they probably don’t spend as much time in the kitchen. If you want to be happy then you’ve got to get up every day excited about what’s ahead of you. This means being happy with what you are actually doing in your day-to-day activity.

            For Jim, keeping his business as a one-man operation gave him the opportunity to solve problems for people. His work was making people genuinely relieved and to him it made it all worth it. He said that to be happy with what you’re doing it’s important to feel useful and needed. Giving back to the community and doing something where you can see a direct positive impact from your work can give you purpose and satisfaction. If you can do something where you’re not just a cog in a wheel, but rather making life better for others, you can love what you do.

            At this point I asked him if he had any regrets. He said that he didn’t really have any. He had made plenty of mistakes, but that they just led to other opportunities. He admitted he had some painful mistakes, but he learned from them. They can be great teachers.

            In regards to surprises he said time and time again things just have a way of working out. Things can look pretty dark but then the phone rings. If you just keep trying things will work out.

            Next he spoke about how important it is to operate in the present. He said that you have to “go for the joy.”  He explained that the heart is the highest point of intelligence, not our brain.  To Jim, it’s all about living in the moment. Analytics can be good as they can bring balance, but they can be detrimental if you get carried away with them and they get in the way of your pursuits. In what was one of the funnier moments he stated, “We all die, so just do it.” He said it’s also important to know when to walk away from a situation.  He added that business is a battlefield and that people want to go with someone with confidence. Furthermore you have to be adaptable. All of that being said family is the most important.

            Next I asked if he had any advice for a guy like me. He said first and foremost that you should follow your heart and to trust your intuition. He continued saying you should never be afraid and that you should make like a duck and let things roll off your back.

            Towards the end I backtracked a little bit and asked him about his education. He said that he got a B.S. in Finance from Indiana University even though he never graduated college. He had a rebellious attitude and got thrown out of school. Fortunately he had high SAT scores so he was accepted into college before he got kicked out of high school. He explained that very few entrepreneurs are straight “A” students. They are the risk takers that aren’t afraid to follow a different path. He reiterated that it’s important not to be over-analytical and that money is not a measure of success. Success is measured by happiness. He continued saying that he thinks everyone should work in a restaurant at one point in their life, especially entrepreneurs. It helps develop your ability to talk with people as well as your ability to perform in challenging situations. He added that it’s good to work for someone that’s been through problems and solutions. By working with someone that’s been successful you can learn how things work. He concluded by saying education can be bad as it often assumes answers. It’s good to keep an open mind. 

Don Cox (Bald Guy Brew)

            I first met Don working at Hob Nob Farm Café. He has been coming in with his family and has actually been selling us coffee for several years. He has always been one of the nicest people I’ve known and he’s been running a business in Bald Guy Brew that has gained a highly loyal following in Boone.

            The interview took place at his coffee shop while they were open and he was the only one working. This meant that the interview took place over the course of around two hours and had many interruptions. Don was actually my first interview and while I think it went well, I have to admit it was a bit of a learning experience.

The Interview

             I started by asking if he always knew that he wanted to make a living for himself or if something prompted it. He admitted that he didn’t like working for people and that he considered himself “not employable”. He earned his degree in History and worked through school building houses with a friend. He enjoyed working with his hands and creating things. He then became a priest for a while and then got involved with web design, but when the majority of his work was outsourced to India he had to come up with something new. His wife went out west to see a friend and saw a coffee van at a park. They both thought it was a great idea and he decided to run with it. He collected small investments from friends and family around town to purchase the van and suddenly he was in business. He acknowledged that it was certainly a community effort getting him in business and that, “I am because we are”. He basically sold coffee anywhere he could: farmer’s markets, music festivals, and all around town targeting business professionals that didn’t have time to travel far to get their coffee. He saw a niche and he hit it. He said anyone can start something, but it’s hard to keep it up. He continued saying the town wasn’t too friendly to small businesses. When I asked how so he referenced high rent around town and the water fees (impact fees). He did mention that the small business initiative people helped. Over time he realized that running around “chasing cups of coffee” seemed to have a limit. He made the decision to start roasting so he could fill unlimited orders and ship outside of Boone. He soon shifted his attention towards roasting and away from running around in the van. A lot of people were upset but it was a decision he felt he had to make.

            Next I asked him what his biggest challenge was or if there were any big surprises. He said he was surprised that maintaining the business was the hard part. He thought the hard part would be getting it off the ground and that in time it would be smooth sailings.

            I asked him what his best and worst decisions were. He said his best decision was when he made the switch to wholesale. The shift simply gave him more room to grow his business. He said his biggest mistake was getting into coffee, as he was not a morning person. That being said, he had no real regrets.             I followed up asking him what was most important to him. He said for him it was all about making a difference. He wants his kids to grow up knowing it’s not all about them, it’s about others. Citing Micah 6:8 from the Bible, he said there are three things essential to the way you treat people and approach life: love mercy, do justice, and walk humbly before God. He continued saying that he will refuse customers if he doesn’t like how they are doing business. He even admitted that there had been situations in the past where he had to turn down potentially huge accounts (for example a supermarket) because he didn’t like the way they were trying to do business.

            My last question for him was what advice he had for someone like me. He said to make sure you like to work hard and that you like what you’re doing.

Discussion

            All in all I have to admit that I ended up learning a lot more from these interviews than I initially thought I would. My original intention was to simply learn about what it takes to run a restaurant. What I ended up with was a bunch of wonderful advice on how to be successful in life. The best decision I made was probably when I decided to include non-restaurant owners. Having such a variety of quality perspectives from happy people was truly what made this project so valuable.

            One of the biggest the biggest surprises/challenges for me was trying to retell someone else’s words without introducing my own twist. This was especially difficult as the interviews were all fairly casual. Had they been formally structured with a specific set of questions followed by responses, it would have been far easier to record. That being said, I believe the casual nature of the interviews created an environment in which people were willing to share more. Furthermore, structuring the interviews more like a conversation allowed them to flow into areas that I wouldn’t have thought to approach. When it came down to documenting the conversation I did my best to follow its actual flow. As the conversations were often jumping around from topic to topic, they ended up being a bit sporadic at times. There were actually a couple points where writing about the conversation in the same order that it took place would have made almost no sense, and in those situations I did have to rework the order of certain responses. I realize by doing this I inevitably put my own spin on it. Unfortunately I saw this as unavoidable and simply tried my best to remove my own thoughts from the retelling of the conversations.

            While there were many words of advice, there are certain areas I feel the need to discuss. First and foremost, I cannot agree more with the fact that in order to be happy you have to be excited about what you’re doing. Both Jim and Don made reference to this, but they had slightly different angles. For Jim, it is all about living in the moment and feeling good about what you do. He brought up the wonderful point that if a business grows too much then the creator can often become detached from whatever it was that made him start the business in the first place. For him, this involved not expanding at a time where he could have done so and made much more money in the process. On the other hand, Don stated that for him it is all about mutual support between him and the community as well as being able to sleep at night. When he was starting out he got small investments that helped him open his business. Now that he’s up and running he seems to just give away his coffee left and right and is always engaging in conversations with people with more depth than the typical small talk you might expect between a barista and a patron. Furthermore he has a genuine interest in being a part of the community and has certainly done so. As he put it, “what good is a business if a business doesn’t do good?” When he first said that my initial reaction was to try to correct him and say, “…if a business doesn’t do well”. Fortunately, before I opened my mouth, I realized that he meant doing good (as in good deeds) within the community. In regards to being able to sleep at night, I find his decision to refuse certain accounts that could have been extremely profitable, while difficult, was a wise decision and one that has allowed him to continue feeling good about what he is doing. This goes right along with the idea that success isn’t measured in dollars, but rather in happiness.

             One thing that came up in every interview was the idea of being flexible. To me, this means not getting overly attached to an idea; and restaurants are certainly no exception. What this means is that it wouldn’t be wise to come up with a concept for a restaurant without taking into account the environment in which it is to exist. In order for any business to be a success, a need must first be identified and then met. Simply put you cannot fill a need that doesn’t exist. Furthermore, being flexible means being able to recognize opportunity in your surroundings and be willing to make a move when the time is right. Jim and Don both took advantage of an opportunity to make technology practical for people at a time when most people didn’t understand technology very well. Over time people learned and most of the jobs in technology were outsourced to India, and they both had to adapt and come up with a new idea. Mike also stressed a desire to be on the cutting edge pushing forward. Doing so can help avoid stagnation and make a business more resilient to an ever-changing environment.

            Another idea that came up a lot was that in order to be successful as a self-made individual you have to keep trying and stay persistent. For Jim and Don this involved keeping their head up even when things looked pretty bad. For Pony and Andrea this involved constantly coming up with new ideas, running with ones that worked, and knowing when to move on. This idea of knowing when to let go of an idea was also mentioned by Jim. It all seems to boil down to what Pony was talking about when he was discussing wisdom and the ability to make good decisions by understanding the probabilities of different outcomes. As they say in poker, “You gotta know when to hold ‘em, and when to fold ‘em.”

            One thing that I found surprising was that most of them didn’t regret any of their mistakes. Instead they seemed to cherish them as they provided important lessons along their path. This just stresses the importance of embracing and learning from your mistakes. Furthermore, as Pony pointed out, even though it is often hard to remember them, it is wise to learn also from your good decisions. 

             On a lighter note, I have to say I was relieved when Jim claimed that very few entrepreneurs are straight “A” students. If nothing else it gave me hope. In all seriousness though, I thought it was interesting that no one actually went to school for business. Pony went to music school, Mike was an English major, Don was a History major, and Jim was a Finance major (which while in the same realm as business doesn’t have much to do with actually running a business). All of them had ideas that they were excited about and just figured it out as they went along.

            Out of all the advice I got I think what stuck with me most was the idea of following your heart and not your brain. Jim, Mike, and Andrea all mentioned it, and I know that being overly analytical can be a problem for me. While it is good to have an awareness of potential obstacles it can be paralyzing if you get carried away with them to a point that you are discouraged from pursuing a good idea. The point is that if you’re heart is in something, just go for it. It may work and it may not, but if you don’t try it definitely won’t, and even if it doesn’t you can just keep pushing forward and eventually something will work out.

            Regarding partnerships, I learned a lot from Pony and Andrea. Andrea is great at networking and connecting with people and is full of tenacity and inspiration, which in business terms would make her a creator. This is someone that excels in the initial stages of a company, a time where it’s important to get people motivated and excited about the cause. On the other hand, Pony is the type of person that excels at maintaining the operation once it’s off the ground. In business terms, he would be considered a sustainer. This makes them a wonderful team as their different strengths compliment each other very well and help them to avoid falling victim to their weaknesses. This reinforces the idea that in partnerships each person’s responsibilities should be made clear and that they should utilize each person’s strengths while avoiding their weaknesses as much as possible. Furthermore, it is important to understand the difference between a creator and a sustainer. This is a concept that has come up repeatedly in my business classes and I know that historically I am more of a creator. This doesn’t mean that I don’t have what it takes to sustain a business, but it does mean that it might be wise to try to partner with someone that excels more in this area.

            I really like that Pony talked about the current economic climate. I have to admit I tended to see more of the dark side of the situation. He helped me understand that while the landscape appears bleak, it can actually have its advantages. First off, with less money out there to be lent there are less people trying to start businesses and hence less competition. Additionally, not having the option of taking out a loan can be great as it forces you to come up with ideas that involve low overhead. This is great because it provides the opportunity to start a small, low-risk venture. If you don’t have much invested in a business and it fails you haven’t really lost anything other than time. If on the other hand you take out a huge loan to start a business, it fails, and all of a sudden you have no way of making money and a large debt to pay off, you can be in worse shape than when you started. If the business ends up a success then you have the pleasure of running a debt-free business.

            This whole process has been more valuable to me than I ever imagined it could be. What started as an idea on how to learn more about running a restaurant developed into a journey that taught me many lessons on how to live a happy life. Surely there are ideas and obstacles that were not covered in these interviews, but I feel that I have learned a lot about some of the major ones. There’s no way anyone can ever predict what the future holds; the best we can do is prepare for it as best we can and be able to adapt as it unfolds. I truly believe this process has been the best thing I’ve ever done in preparing for my future; I’m just looking forward to see how it turns out.