EXPERIENCE 177 | Building a Multi-Location Bourbon & Bacon Colorado Pub with Ryan Wallace, Co-Founder and CEO of William Oliver’s Publick House

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I popped into William Oliver's public house a few weeks ago at the end of the day, to grab a quick beer and a snack, and ran into the owner whom I remembered from the early days, Ryan Wallace.

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William Oliver's had been a regular lunch spot for me when I worked at Capital West Bank.

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A top choice because the staff was always great and they served locally sourced fare in a non pretentious fashion.

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After leaving the bank though and becoming old town centric in my consumer behaviors, William Oliver's fell from my rotation for many a season.

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But now, it's back on.

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Even if I have to go out of my way.

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When I asked Ryan about being on the podcast, he said only if we can drink too much bourbon, and I knew we were going to have a fun time.

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What I didn't know is that William Oliver's now has additional locations in Windsor and Lafayette, and that Ryan is not only an incredible spirits expert and armchair historian, he's also a very business savvy CEO.

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Ryan's journey into founding William Oliver's is all about, why wait?

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He'd been working in various contracting and consulting roles.

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Fell in love with public houses during a stretch in the UK and had a dream of someday opening a pub in Fort Collins.

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His wife Tiffany asked the question, why wait?

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And a year later they took over a tiny space that had been vacant for years in the King Supercenter off Drake and Timberline.

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Evenings and weekends building out and then staffing the kitchen and the bar, and raising a family, for many a season before they could depart their day jobs.

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But the concept got it strong from the start, and the location was soon expanded, and later, more locations added.

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William Oliver's is a story of passion, smart business, employee engagement, and why wait?

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And Northern Columbia is richer indeed and in spirit for it.

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So please join me in enjoying my conversation with Ryan Wallace.

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Welcome back to the Loco Experience podcast.

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I'm here today with Ryan Wallace, and Ryan is the owner, president, CEO, uh, William Oliver's public house here in Fort Collins.

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So welcome to the show, Ryan.

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Thank you for having me.

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Very excited to be here.

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Yeah.

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Nice, uh, nice hot bike ride for you down here to the show today.

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It wasn't too bad.

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Not too bad?

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Luckily, we had good cloud cover.

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Yeah, the cloudy, uh, and the electric assist helps a lot.

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Yes, it does.

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So, um, I guess for the uninitiated.

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Uh, tell folks about William Oliver's.

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Yeah.

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William, as it is today, William Oliver's just a, a whiskey and bacon bar is the way we like to call it or whiskey and bacon pub.

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Um, we are a public house and, uh, my wife and I started it in 2013 with, uh, 38 seats and 150 whiskeys on the shelf.

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And now we're three locations.

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Um, and we've got, we've got about.

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Between 400 and 500 whiskies on the shelf at any given moment.

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Wow, and how many seats?

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Uh, I think our smallest location is Fort Collins at around 83, and then I want to say Lafayette is 120, with the rooftop, 125.

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Yeah, yeah.

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And what's the third?

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Windsor is the third location, and it's right in the middle on size.

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And where are you at in Windsor?

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I wasn't I didn't do my research, obviously.

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I thought you still had the one location there.

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No, uh, yeah, we're right downtown at 514 Main.

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Oh, yeah.

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Immediately downtown.

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Bank of Colorado was right across there.

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I worked real close to that somewhere, 500 block ish.

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Yep.

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Very cool.

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Yeah.

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Well, congratulations on all that growth.

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That's, uh, when did the second and third locations come online?

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Um, uh, Lafayette is about seven years old now.

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Okay.

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Um, and then Windsor is about a year and a half old.

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Oh wow.

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So 2023.

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Yeah.

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We were hoping actually to open Windsor earlier.

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Um, we were planning on putting a letter of intent on a building, uh, on March 18th of 2020 and March 16th of 2020 is when the governor shut all the restaurants down.

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So, uh, yeah, it was interesting.

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It was, it actually worked out to be great for us because, um, We are a business that does not have any debt whatsoever.

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And so we had the cash reserves to build out a third location.

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And then when we pulled back from doing that, we had the cash reserves to maintain our business through COVID.

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And, um, we didn't have to lay anybody off and, you know, we just rediverted those funds.

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So it was great.

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It worked out.

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Now you say you're bourbon and bacon, but you guys have a pretty Broad menu of tasty treats, right, still?

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I mean, I used to come there for lunch a lot when, I used to work at the bank just down the street.

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That's actually, probably, I met you briefly, but I was just some dude coming in there for lunch, right?

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I could tell you were the owner of the place.

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Um, but you would have really great locally sourced, kind of snackables.

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Yeah, um, when we first started, it was very, very limited, um, right behind the bar.

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So, like I said, it was 38 seats.

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The kitchen was a spot behind the bar.

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Food prep certified.

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I would come in the morning and I'd make one hot item from scratch.

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When it was gone, it was gone.

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And so, usually by about 1 o'clock in the afternoon, we were out of hot food for the rest of the day.

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Okay.

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So, it was deli cut sandwiches.

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And then, um, at our one year mark, we expanded the Fort Collins location.

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And that's when we were able to put in a kitchen and yeah, so now, I mean, we've got smoked salmon sandwiches, and we've got salads, and hot dogs.

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It's actually a pretty full menu.

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Yeah.

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Our kitchen is tiny, though, and we don't have traditional stuff.

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So we don't have a griddle.

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We don't have deep fryers.

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So, you know, I, I like to say that we're a place that you can go and, um, get traditional pub fare that isn't traditional barfare.

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Yeah.

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You know?

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Yeah.

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I think that the distinction is pretty easy.

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Um, would you say that you're like a English style pub or a Scottish style pub, or like, how do you, how do you categorize yourself?

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We claim ourselves to be a Colorado pub.

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Um, obviously anytime you're going to have a pub, it's going to have to have some influence from, from overseas a bit.

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And, um, I got the privilege of living in England for a while, working for the ministry of defense and got really familiar with English pub culture.

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Okay.

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And so we.

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Definitely borrow pretty heavily from that.

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Um, and, but we don't get offended if somebody is like, Oh, you know, this is an Irish bar.

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This is a, uh, uh, English bar, Scottish bar.

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We're like, no, we're Colorado pub.

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And we're not a bar.

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We're a pub.

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We're a pub.

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Which is, for those who don't know, a pub is somewhere in between a bar and a restaurant.

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It's not quite either.

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I dig it.

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Um, who, let's, should we talk about your team a little bit?

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Like, uh, do you have GMs at each location?

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Yeah, we have a phenomenal management team.

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Um, I don't know how we lucked into it over the years.

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We've, uh, we've just.

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By being a good boss is a big part of that.

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I don't know.

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I don't know.

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I think it's just luck more than anything.

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Um, but yeah, each of the locations has a GM.

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Um, one of the GMs wears two hats.

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He's, uh, Josh, he's the.

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the GM of our Fort Collins location, but he's also the beverage director for all three locations.

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So he's, he's the guy who now figures out which whiskeys go on the shelf and what cocktails are going on the menu and all that stuff.

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And then we used to have a kitchen manager who was the KM for all three and, uh, he's He'd been with us for, I think, eight years.

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Just over eight years.

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And then, uh, he got another opportunity, which was very good for him.

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And, uh, I'm back filling as the KM now.

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So, which has been fun.

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Back to your roots, kind of.

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Back to my roots.

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Getting into working on the menu a little bit more, which is awesome.

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I love it.

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When you did one hot thing for all day, like, what were some of your things?

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It would change every day.

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Like bangers and mash and stuff?

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Uh, my My favorite was I'd do jambalaya, I think on Thursdays.

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And then, um, so I'd literally go to the market in the morning and pick whatever crockpot or whatever.

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I virtually like, yeah, exactly.

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Big one.

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Um, and then on Fridays by Friday, I was too tired to get up early.

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Cause I still had a day job at that point when we first launched.

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So, so I'd come into the pub, make the hot item.

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High five the bartender, go to my day job, you know, do that whole routine, go home for dinner, and then I'd come back and I'd work to close down the bar, you know, and, um, And yeah, so by Friday, I was like, you know, I just want to sleep in a little bit and that's where hot dogs came from is I was just like, let's throw hot dogs in some boiling water and put them in a bun.

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We can have relish and sauerkraut and all kinds of goodies.

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Yeah.

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So on, on a Christmas Eve, we haven't done it the last two Christmas Eves.

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I'm not sure if it'll come back.

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No, we have three locations, just a little bit harder to make it work.

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But when we were just one location, I would be the sole bartender for Christmas Eve.

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Oh, and then the food was.

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Going back to our roots, just having hot dogs and they're just free hot dogs.

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You didn't have to buy anything.

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Just come in and get a hot dog.

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So, uh, on the hunt for maybe a kitchen manager at some point after you, uh, get a, get a taste for it back.

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Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure we'll get back to having that, but right now I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

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Um, and then what's your, you're, you're a pretty long hour.

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Establishment, right?

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So you got probably quite a few employees at each, a lot of part timers or how's that work?

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We're primarily full time is who we always look for, but we, we always say we have room for whoever the right people are.

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So if you're the right person, you only have part time staff availability, then we're going to take you.

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Um, But yeah, we're 11 a.

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m.

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to 2 a.

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m.

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One of my favorite stories about that is, uh, one time I was bartending and this guy comes running up to the front door and he opens it up and he goes, Is it too late for last call?

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And I was like, It's one o'clock in the afternoon.

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And he goes, It says you close at two.

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And I said, That's the other two.

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That's 12 hours from now.

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I like it.

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I, uh, I have one distinctive story.

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I remember, uh, you guys had a black bottle tap takeover day one time.

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Um, and I was the banker that financed black bottle way back in the day.

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And, uh, I was in there having one of my lunches and there was a guy come in and said he was really hung over and what should I do?

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And, and just a minor threat was one of the pints that were only 4, I think.

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And I was like, you know, if you, if you have that, this is like an 11%, uh, a pint of an 11 percent beer will change your day at 1130 AM.

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I guess it will.

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Maybe for the best.

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I don't know.

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I don't know.

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He did it.

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He took my advice and went forward.

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Yeah.

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I decided I should have one too, actually.

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I went back to the office a little bit tippy, but whatever.

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Yeah, that was a wild tap takeover that we did with Edmund's Fund.

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Is that right?

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I feel like tap takeovers aren't a common thing anymore.

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I don't see them advertised as often.

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Yeah, you know, I think the, the craft beer industry is in such a generalized decline that it's hard for them to get, you know, Innovative anymore, I guess or you know, they're I don't know.

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We've done some pretty fun events to break the mold We did one called what's in my mouth with new Belgium and you had to You were just given, you knew they were all new Belgian beers, that was your only hint, and we allowed cheating.

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So we said, talk to other people, go online, do whatever you want, uh, and you just had to figure out what the beers actually were.

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Ah, interesting.

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What was funny is people who would guess, uh, you know, the beer's bright pink and they're, they're guessing 15 54.

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Right.

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I'm like, come on, the internet's going Totally.

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I think I could do pretty good at that.

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Odell's even better probably.

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It was a really fun event and we got people, it got people really engaged once they knew they were allowed to cheat.

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It was such a vibrant time in Fort Collins region and that kind of coming out of the 2009 2011 kind of doldrums.

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And just a lot of, you know, local think tank started in 2014.

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Um, you know, he sounds like you started in 2013 and there was just a lot of new stuff happening.

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Yeah.

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I still feel like there's a lot of new stuff happening, but I guess so, uh, local media used to be, I think a little bit on it, right?

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We had, we had a really good food and drink section in the local paper and so we were just kind of missing that piece, which I think every small city in America is missing that local piece.

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Right.

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Yeah.

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No.

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And media has become a lot less trustworthy since the old school stuff died too, right?

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And so nobody knows where to look for what.

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Well, on that note, uh, we got ranked, you know, those like 50 best bars in America.

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Okay.

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We got picked as the best Irish bar in all of Colorado.

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And as we already talked about, we don't even consider ourselves a Colorado, we're a Colorado pub.

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We're not an Irish pub.

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That's awesome.

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And the funny thing about that though, is you could tell it was clearly written by somebody who was just.

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sitting in an office somewhere Googling.

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They haven't been to any of those places.

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And, um, Lucky Joe's, downtown Fort Collins, they got best bar, best Irish bar in Wyoming.

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And so I tagged them on our social media and just said, you know, we're, thanks for the shout out calling us a great Irish bar, but our neighbor over here is so great, they beat out a whole other state.

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I love it.

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But that's the problem with a lot of, you know, the food and drink media these days is it's, there's no real journalism behind it.

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It's just somebody sitting there and hitting Google and churning out an article.

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And quite honestly, their deadlines are ridiculous.

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They've got a, an article every 30 seconds is essentially how they're cranking out media.

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Yeah, no, it's a, it's an interesting dynamic and we'll get probably more into the state of the world in the future of this conversation.

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Um, what's changed in your business?

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It's like, as far as.

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Customer tastes or habits.

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I mean, I know that for me, like the trail, it's been kind of my, I live six blocks from the trailhead.

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So if I want to go out and Jill's out of town and I want to shoot some pool, that's kind of my place.

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But like they do last call it like.

00:14:35.193 --> 00:14:54.163
1245 these days almost and there's barely except for the The the the meat marketing clubs like nobody's even out after midnight a lot Yeah, that has changed Although we that was one of the things that we always stayed open as late even through the coveted restrictions as late as the restrictions Allowed us and as soon as we were able to get back to 2 a.

00:14:54.163 --> 00:14:54.394
m.

00:14:54.403 --> 00:15:03.714
We stayed that's just kind of your thing They allow us to be open till 2 so that's what we do We've always wanted to be the industry bar, you know, and so like on Mondays, for instance, we do.

00:15:03.724 --> 00:15:17.604
If you're in the industry, we have a happy hour special that's 50 percent off anybody who's in the food and beverage, you know, so we've, we've always liked being the industry place and you can't be the industry place if everybody's closing at 10, 11 or midnight and we're closing at midnight.

00:15:17.604 --> 00:15:18.514
Well, they can't come to us.

00:15:18.594 --> 00:15:18.653
Yeah.

00:15:18.653 --> 00:15:23.754
You know, so that's, and, and that is, that's Primarily who still is our midnight to 2 a.

00:15:23.754 --> 00:15:23.953
m.

00:15:23.994 --> 00:15:24.644
Is that right?

00:15:24.653 --> 00:15:25.024
Is industry.

00:15:25.053 --> 00:15:25.854
Oh, that makes sense.

00:15:26.244 --> 00:15:27.533
I've never really thought about that.

00:15:27.533 --> 00:15:35.469
And that's, I worked in the industry and when I was in college, you know, and, and a little bit after that, and, uh, Just a bunch of neat people.

00:15:35.528 --> 00:15:35.879
Yeah.

00:15:35.938 --> 00:15:36.359
Right?

00:15:36.548 --> 00:15:36.859
Yeah.

00:15:36.889 --> 00:15:38.839
And they've And they tip well.

00:15:38.899 --> 00:15:40.149
They tip, they do tip well.

00:15:40.629 --> 00:15:42.239
You have sort of instant camaraderie.

00:15:42.239 --> 00:15:45.759
There's, you know, anytime you're talking to anybody, whatever industry you're in, it really doesn't matter.

00:15:46.019 --> 00:15:51.769
When you talk to somebody who does what you do or knows what you do, there's a lot of background information you don't have to provide.

00:15:51.798 --> 00:15:56.318
So when you just want to vent and be like, oh, my day was this, you have an instant audience who's like, yep, I get it.

00:15:56.369 --> 00:15:56.839
Yeah, yeah.

00:15:57.053 --> 00:16:05.793
Well, I mean, that's a great correlation to, you know, my real business, the Loco Think Tank is like, you know, we're all owners and deciders of businesses in this room.

00:16:05.874 --> 00:16:06.153
Yeah.

00:16:06.224 --> 00:16:13.578
And one might be a, a pub, another might be a sign manufacturing company and a made service agency, but, We see things as much the same.

00:16:13.619 --> 00:16:18.649
Yeah, and we can have similar frustrations without having to dive into what does that actually mean?

00:16:19.158 --> 00:16:20.208
I don't understand those words.

00:16:20.208 --> 00:16:20.479
Yeah.

00:16:20.719 --> 00:16:20.999
Yeah.

00:16:20.999 --> 00:16:23.989
So, um, so you mentioned your wife Tiffany?

00:16:24.068 --> 00:16:24.369
Tiffany.

00:16:24.369 --> 00:16:24.548
Yeah.

00:16:24.688 --> 00:16:28.448
Um, she was has been a part of it since the start or since day one.

00:16:28.448 --> 00:16:33.739
Okay, we would have no success without her She CEO this year.

00:16:33.798 --> 00:16:34.489
Oh, is that right?

00:16:35.239 --> 00:16:50.144
and Our kids are in high school and she just, she wanted to make sure she finished the, the, the, the, the, before they go off to college, she wanted to finish those years strong with them and be around to do whatever it is, you know, teenagers want to do with mom and dad and she wanted to be the driver for that.

00:16:50.144 --> 00:16:58.024
So she said this year, she just wanted to step back to focus a little more on family, but kept CFO because she's the book gal.

00:16:58.083 --> 00:16:59.634
I do not get it.

00:16:59.874 --> 00:17:01.474
Accountants speak a different language.

00:17:01.533 --> 00:17:03.413
I don't understand what they're talking about.

00:17:03.433 --> 00:17:05.814
Half the time I just nod my head, you know?

00:17:06.413 --> 00:17:12.324
So what shifted in your world, like, cause you, I assume you had to take on a bunch of responsibilities that she had been doing.

00:17:12.374 --> 00:17:12.854
Yeah.

00:17:12.884 --> 00:17:16.094
I mean, I was doing most of the daily operations before anyways.

00:17:16.094 --> 00:17:18.304
I just took on a larger set of them.

00:17:18.304 --> 00:17:21.144
Obviously just all the CEO looking forward.

00:17:21.144 --> 00:17:24.384
What's the next six months, 12 months, five year plan, those sorts of things.

00:17:24.564 --> 00:17:26.238
Um, but not a lot.

00:17:26.798 --> 00:17:28.659
Not a whole lot changed in my day to day.

00:17:28.659 --> 00:17:40.169
I just now have one less person to bounce ideas off of and and she's obviously Happy to always give me advice or input stuff But I'm trying real hard to to create that boundary for her right?

00:17:40.249 --> 00:17:46.773
Well, he loves to work when you're home You want to be like with your kids and with your wife and stuff, not necessarily burden them.

00:17:46.784 --> 00:17:48.213
And she just, she loves working.

00:17:48.223 --> 00:17:54.824
And so I know if I, if I open the door for her to come, she'll come back full steam without remembering what her goals were.

00:17:54.824 --> 00:17:55.522
Interesting.

00:17:55.523 --> 00:17:56.064
Interesting.

00:17:56.104 --> 00:17:57.443
That's a fascinating dynamic.

00:17:57.804 --> 00:18:12.023
Um, One thing I remember about William Oliver is when you first opened is that, like, I don't remember if you didn't have tips or if you, like, paid a living wage in some capacity but had, like, an upcharge that was automatic.

00:18:12.023 --> 00:18:12.364
I forget.

00:18:12.364 --> 00:18:13.624
It was something novel.

00:18:13.634 --> 00:18:17.534
When we first started, we did it, um, very traditional tips.

00:18:17.574 --> 00:18:23.854
We did pay higher than the normal, um, the normal wages, um, plus tips.

00:18:23.874 --> 00:18:29.304
And then I just, I always like tweaking things and seeing just because something's working doesn't mean it's working.

00:18:29.634 --> 00:18:30.503
the best it can.

00:18:30.503 --> 00:18:35.003
So, um, talk to the staff and said, I'm thinking about trying to a no tipping model.

00:18:35.713 --> 00:18:38.284
And we had a lot of feedback from the staff.

00:18:38.284 --> 00:18:41.384
We actually had one, uh, a guy named Jack who he was honest.

00:18:41.384 --> 00:18:45.963
He said, I, I don't, I don't believe I'm the type of person who can work with no tips.

00:18:46.273 --> 00:18:48.993
And he gave, I have to kind of seek that incentive.

00:18:48.993 --> 00:18:49.203
Yeah.

00:18:49.203 --> 00:18:51.503
And he gave a month for a month notice.

00:18:51.544 --> 00:18:53.253
And, uh, and he's still in the industry.

00:18:53.263 --> 00:18:54.503
And he's, he's still phenomenal.

00:18:54.503 --> 00:19:03.503
He's over at, um, Oh my gosh, what's the place that was, they've got the, the, uh, pile of meat and the rodizio.

00:19:03.544 --> 00:19:04.364
No, no, no, no.

00:19:04.413 --> 00:19:06.193
Um, still the whiskey still.

00:19:06.203 --> 00:19:06.703
Oh yeah.

00:19:06.703 --> 00:19:07.094
Perfect.

00:19:07.094 --> 00:19:07.284
Yeah.

00:19:07.314 --> 00:19:07.663
Yeah.

00:19:07.683 --> 00:19:08.203
Oh my God.

00:19:08.203 --> 00:19:08.804
I love that.

00:19:08.804 --> 00:19:09.763
They've got a good team over there too.

00:19:09.773 --> 00:19:11.513
They've got a great team and that food is phenomenal.

00:19:12.243 --> 00:19:18.983
Um, and uh, so, you know, I, I didn't look at anybody the wrong way when they said, well, we're not sure if this will work or whatever.

00:19:18.983 --> 00:19:20.064
And I said, I'm not sure it'll work.

00:19:20.064 --> 00:19:21.433
It's an experiment, you know?

00:19:21.453 --> 00:19:22.013
It was phenomenal.

00:19:22.013 --> 00:19:22.854
And, um, and it.

00:19:23.679 --> 00:19:25.368
It was working pretty well.

00:19:25.378 --> 00:19:28.838
I'd say 90 percent of the front of house staff enjoyed the no tipping model.

00:19:28.878 --> 00:19:29.179
Okay.

00:19:29.479 --> 00:19:42.179
Um, and then amendment 70 passed and that was in 2016, I believe is when amendment 70 passed and amendment 70 basically guaranteed a minimum raise, a minimum wage increase every year.

00:19:42.699 --> 00:19:49.098
And I believe if, if you're paying more than minimum wage, the law says you don't have to raise your, your wages, right?

00:19:49.108 --> 00:19:49.598
Right.

00:19:49.679 --> 00:19:51.909
But your employees are effectively making less.

00:19:51.919 --> 00:19:52.249
Right.

00:19:52.584 --> 00:19:56.554
If all their peers are like, if everybody's going up and they're not, they're effectively making less.

00:19:56.604 --> 00:19:57.044
Yeah.

00:19:57.134 --> 00:20:01.153
And so we did another survey with all the staff and said, what are your thoughts?

00:20:01.183 --> 00:20:04.163
We can keep this, but it might become at the cost of other benefits.

00:20:04.213 --> 00:20:04.503
Yeah.

00:20:04.644 --> 00:20:08.733
And all of them, I was a hundred percent said, let's go back to tipping.

00:20:08.733 --> 00:20:09.604
We know that works.

00:20:09.604 --> 00:20:09.923
Yeah.

00:20:09.923 --> 00:20:13.443
So, and so, yeah, it was a one year experiment and it was good.

00:20:13.794 --> 00:20:17.913
My problem with it was amendment 70, it wasn't the wage increase that was really the problem.

00:20:17.963 --> 00:20:25.084
It was the backend stuff that a lot of people don't think about, like the, um, Workers comp insurance is based off of wages, right?

00:20:25.453 --> 00:20:38.324
And so I tried to get a meeting with the governor and said, you know, like I don't think you guys have considered There needs to be a secondary piece of this that talks about Workers comp and what that's gonna do to our industry because we're considered a higher high risk industry.

00:20:38.513 --> 00:20:42.778
So a dollar an hour More actually adds up a lot on the back end.

00:20:43.469 --> 00:20:52.489
And, uh, and I got the forum response from, you know, I'm sure they were inundated, but I got the forum response of your, your thoughts have been heard and we'll include them in our discussions.

00:20:52.489 --> 00:20:54.078
It was like, well, I didn't share any thoughts yet.

00:20:54.078 --> 00:20:57.769
I just shared a thing saying I'm requesting a meeting to share thoughts.

00:20:57.769 --> 00:21:01.388
So, but, but no, it was, it was a good experiment.

00:21:01.429 --> 00:21:04.019
Um, and I, I still.

00:21:05.104 --> 00:21:07.233
part of me still wants to move that way in the industry.

00:21:07.253 --> 00:21:11.294
I really, I think tipping, well, I'm not the only person that tipping has gone overboard.

00:21:11.703 --> 00:21:12.173
Oh yeah.

00:21:12.513 --> 00:21:14.084
And I think it's actually hurting our industry.

00:21:14.213 --> 00:21:16.693
want, 18, Yeah.

00:21:16.693 --> 00:21:21.128
It's like, It's hurting our industry because we're, as consumers, we're being hit up for tips everywhere.

00:21:21.538 --> 00:21:24.199
Places we've never been asked for tips, now we're being hit up for tips.

00:21:24.199 --> 00:21:31.038
And then I think that carryover culture is hitting the restaurant industry in a negative way, where people are just getting over tip.

00:21:32.209 --> 00:21:41.858
Well, and there's so much counter service now and stuff, and it's like, Okay, now I'm tipping 20 percent for counter service, you know, that didn't really feel served.

00:21:42.378 --> 00:21:44.368
Not any more than when I go to 7 Eleven much.

00:21:44.388 --> 00:21:47.719
And it won't be long until 7 Eleven's asking for a tip as well.

00:21:47.788 --> 00:21:49.548
Probably not, probably not.

00:21:49.848 --> 00:21:54.238
Um, any, um, particular shout outs on your team, you want to call out any?

00:21:54.689 --> 00:22:13.759
Early employees or key managers now or anything like that or don't want to leave anybody out too much Yeah, do you got time for me to go through 50 employee roster at the entire team is phenomenal Yeah, we really do have such a cool team You want more bourbon to Bike I'm walking home.

00:22:13.769 --> 00:22:23.798
So, you know, it'll be fine Talk to me about like what you've learned about business like did you you said you were in the Ministry of Finance or something?

00:22:24.358 --> 00:22:24.669
Mr.

00:22:24.669 --> 00:22:34.019
Defense ministry, so like you didn't have a background necessarily an entrepreneurship before this No, I've wanted to own some sort of business since I was nine years old.

00:22:34.088 --> 00:22:39.824
Okay, I've there's never been a better where I haven't thought about owning business.

00:22:39.824 --> 00:22:44.104
And to be honest, when I was a kid, it was a very self serving desire.

00:22:44.114 --> 00:22:46.433
It was, we, we were extremely poor.

00:22:46.963 --> 00:22:54.469
And I just looked at everyone who, and every job my mom had had, she worked at a video, uh, Rentals.

00:22:54.469 --> 00:22:55.258
Yeah.

00:22:55.259 --> 00:22:57.068
Not, not, it was like a little locally owned one.

00:22:57.078 --> 00:22:57.568
Sure, sure.

00:22:57.568 --> 00:23:07.441
And I just remember thinking that the lady who owned that place must have the best life because she could have any movie she wanted and they had arcade inside the store and she could play the games anytime she wanted.

00:23:07.441 --> 00:23:08.778
She could play Pac Man whenever she wanted.

00:23:08.778 --> 00:23:09.959
And I was just like, that's so cool.

00:23:09.959 --> 00:23:12.169
So as a kid, it was very self serving.

00:23:12.169 --> 00:23:13.128
It was like whatever.

00:23:13.128 --> 00:23:13.169
Yeah.

00:23:13.548 --> 00:23:19.769
Things we couldn't afford as a kid, as a, as a family, when I was a kid, I just was like, well, whoever owns it can afford it.

00:23:20.009 --> 00:23:32.118
I know now as a business owner, we can afford less of our own product than other people can, but, uh, But yeah, so it was very self serving in that respect as a kid, but, um, I don't know, as far as what I've learned?

00:23:32.679 --> 00:23:39.919
Yeah, like, compare yourself 14, whatever, 15, 12 years ago, 13, 11 years ago, something like that.

00:23:39.919 --> 00:23:40.968
Yeah, 11 years, 12 years.

00:23:40.969 --> 00:23:43.853
So like, uh, like, did you come in?

00:23:44.003 --> 00:23:51.503
Fresh faced and bushy tailed or like you kind of had a pretty good plan and with your wife and her financial background just kind of executed?

00:23:51.983 --> 00:23:58.223
I had been fortunate one to have my wife there who she she does have a background Educational background in business.

00:23:58.273 --> 00:24:04.199
Okay, and she had been working for One of the larger cable companies when we were in California.

00:24:04.199 --> 00:24:17.943
I think it was Time Warner Cable at the time Okay and so she and her whole everything she'd ever done even when she was just in When she was an administrative assistant at businesses, she was always working for whoever was on top of the team.

00:24:17.943 --> 00:24:23.503
She was for the director or for the president or so she, she, she had much more background in that.

00:24:23.983 --> 00:24:27.604
Um, I was lucky that I had my father in law who had a business background as well.

00:24:27.604 --> 00:24:29.784
So he had ideas I could bounce off of.

00:24:30.324 --> 00:24:35.213
Um, and then for me, I had managed a lot of good size teams.

00:24:35.223 --> 00:24:39.273
So I was coming in understanding at least how management people part more.

00:24:39.354 --> 00:24:40.044
And I'm not going to lie.

00:24:40.153 --> 00:24:41.034
I read.

00:24:41.239 --> 00:24:45.969
Every dumb book I could find, um, I read how to start a bar for dummies.

00:24:45.999 --> 00:24:47.189
And that's one I highly recommend.

00:24:47.189 --> 00:24:52.728
If anybody is ever thinking like, I think I want to own a bar, read how to start a bar for dummies.

00:24:52.729 --> 00:24:53.868
The whole for dummy series.

00:24:53.868 --> 00:24:57.179
I think they do phenomenal, but that one was so good.

00:24:57.179 --> 00:24:58.048
And it was stupid.

00:24:58.048 --> 00:25:05.249
Little things like, um, if you don't ride a motorcycle, don't start a motorcycle bar.

00:25:05.848 --> 00:25:06.068
Yeah.

00:25:06.909 --> 00:25:11.588
Because you're going to have clientele who expect you to have a certain knowledge that you're not going to have.

00:25:11.588 --> 00:25:13.788
And it's going to come through as fake at that point.

00:25:14.199 --> 00:25:19.009
And basically that point of the story was, start something authentic, start something you that is true to you.

00:25:19.199 --> 00:25:19.419
Yeah.

00:25:19.618 --> 00:25:23.048
And I have a deep passion for whiskey that I've had for now.

00:25:23.318 --> 00:25:29.848
20, almost 25 years, you know, of collecting, educating, drinking, sharing whiskey and whiskey stories.

00:25:30.348 --> 00:25:36.209
Um, and so for me, that was the authentic piece was I want to have something that is whiskey focused.

00:25:36.538 --> 00:25:37.939
And then i'm a colorado native.

00:25:37.949 --> 00:25:48.298
So that was the other like, yeah, let's let's also try to tie in colorado stuff So our our shtick has been since day one whiskey from anywhere in the world And if it's not whiskey, it has to be Colorado.

00:25:48.298 --> 00:25:52.499
So all our gin, rum, vodka, brandy, absinthe, beers, wines, they're all Colorado products.

00:25:52.519 --> 00:25:52.929
Oh, really?

00:25:52.979 --> 00:25:56.769
The only one that kind of has to change the rule a little is our tequila.

00:25:56.788 --> 00:25:58.669
Legally, tequila has to be made in Mexico.

00:25:58.669 --> 00:25:59.048
Right.

00:25:59.108 --> 00:26:01.759
So all our tequilas are from Colorado owned companies.

00:26:01.818 --> 00:26:02.288
Oh, right.

00:26:02.878 --> 00:26:04.989
I have Suerte on my shelf fairly regularly.

00:26:04.989 --> 00:26:06.769
Their Reposado is kind of a nice sipper.

00:26:06.769 --> 00:26:07.669
I really like that one.

00:26:07.679 --> 00:26:07.979
Yeah.

00:26:07.979 --> 00:26:08.588
I think it's good.

00:26:08.618 --> 00:26:10.348
And it's, you know, a nice mid shelf price.

00:26:10.348 --> 00:26:12.088
It's not too banging hard, too hard.

00:26:12.148 --> 00:26:12.439
Yeah.

00:26:13.979 --> 00:26:16.848
So I want to go back to those start days.

00:26:17.388 --> 00:26:20.868
Um, you said 38 seats was the King's super center.

00:26:20.868 --> 00:26:22.788
They're kind of new at that time.

00:26:22.919 --> 00:26:26.828
Um, I want to say, I want to say it had been seven years.

00:26:26.878 --> 00:26:27.298
Okay.

00:26:27.328 --> 00:26:28.138
That have been there.

00:26:28.138 --> 00:26:31.298
And the only reason I have that number in my head is the spot where.

00:26:31.854 --> 00:26:37.703
So the bar side of Fort Collins, that was the original bar, where our bar currently sits today.

00:26:37.894 --> 00:26:39.193
Nothing had ever been there.

00:26:39.304 --> 00:26:40.104
Oh, is that right?

00:26:40.114 --> 00:26:46.044
I vaguely remember the owner of the building saying that, um, it had been empty for seven years.

00:26:46.794 --> 00:26:52.023
And so, us, I do have a side, uh, You like noted in my negotiations.

00:26:52.054 --> 00:26:53.344
I did use it, yes.

00:26:54.003 --> 00:26:55.887
Um, negotiations took a while.

00:26:56.048 --> 00:27:08.689
I want to say six months, by the way, and that's a little tip that I always have for people too, is don't, uh, if you're starting a business, don't get so invested into the idea of starting that you forego smart business transactions, right?

00:27:08.729 --> 00:27:12.558
If a lease isn't right, it's going to be wrong for the whole time.

00:27:12.568 --> 00:27:13.628
You have this lease.

00:27:13.638 --> 00:27:13.949
I like it.

00:27:14.209 --> 00:27:16.148
So Work on it today.

00:27:16.148 --> 00:27:20.818
I would rather lose a month today than sit on a crappy lease for 10 years.

00:27:21.078 --> 00:27:24.818
You know, I think ours are three extensions at five years of pops.

00:27:24.818 --> 00:27:28.429
So we're, you know, we've got 15, 20 years before they can kick us out.

00:27:28.449 --> 00:27:28.628
Yeah.

00:27:28.679 --> 00:27:30.298
But that's a long time to have a crappy lease.

00:27:30.318 --> 00:27:30.638
Right.

00:27:30.669 --> 00:27:30.878
Yeah.

00:27:30.878 --> 00:27:31.709
If you don't like it.

00:27:31.749 --> 00:27:32.009
Yeah.

00:27:32.028 --> 00:27:33.269
You can't really change it usually.

00:27:33.278 --> 00:27:34.929
So it took us six months to negotiate.

00:27:34.929 --> 00:27:35.638
And, um.

00:27:35.638 --> 00:27:36.637
And what was your, your, your, your job?

00:27:36.828 --> 00:27:37.798
What was your day job?

00:27:37.878 --> 00:27:39.749
You mentioned you were working at the time.

00:27:39.788 --> 00:27:45.989
I was a director of operations at a technology company here in town that was called Guys Global.

00:27:45.989 --> 00:27:47.489
They've got, they've been bought out since.

00:27:47.489 --> 00:27:48.198
And so I did that.

00:27:48.199 --> 00:27:51.199
I don't know the company name that owns it now.

00:27:51.608 --> 00:27:52.229
I should know it though.

00:27:52.229 --> 00:27:54.209
So you're like a super smart computer y guy too?

00:27:54.239 --> 00:27:54.729
I don't know.

00:27:54.759 --> 00:27:55.528
Or you were?

00:27:55.608 --> 00:27:58.179
I think I'm a pretty lucky computer y guy.

00:27:58.519 --> 00:28:06.878
I think I've, my entire career has just been me falling in to the right thing and then I may put my head down and do hard work until I get it kind of person.

00:28:06.909 --> 00:28:07.249
Alright.

00:28:07.249 --> 00:28:11.993
So, um, You mentioned that you don't carry any debt now.

00:28:11.993 --> 00:28:14.354
Did you get financing to get started or anything?

00:28:14.354 --> 00:28:17.743
Or are you just scrapped and saved and had a little family help or something?

00:28:17.753 --> 00:28:21.023
We took everything we owned and put it into it.

00:28:21.163 --> 00:28:26.628
Um, and I was lucky I had heard about, um, what is it called?

00:28:26.628 --> 00:28:28.108
Self directed 401ks.

00:28:28.209 --> 00:28:28.558
Oh, yeah.

00:28:28.558 --> 00:28:36.729
And there's a company down in Lone Tree, Colorado, that specializes in helping small businesses set up a self directed 401k.

00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:45.659
And I had had a successful career, and I had a 401k that was pretty well stocked, and I was very The market had rallied quite a bit by then.

00:28:45.659 --> 00:28:58.513
It had really rallied, and then I, I was, um I was exceptionally fortunate that I worked for an ESOP company and they, they had the option to pay me out over three years and they chose to pay me out the year I quit.

00:28:59.134 --> 00:29:03.104
And so they paid me out at the highest their stock value had ever been.

00:29:03.314 --> 00:29:05.713
And that all went into my 401k.

00:29:05.713 --> 00:29:09.864
So I was able to use a self directed 401k to invest that.

00:29:10.203 --> 00:29:19.794
Without the tax hit it is still carried into yourself and so it's still so which means my 401k actually owns something like 53 percent of the company.

00:29:19.804 --> 00:29:34.528
Yeah, which is really neat I don't ever want to sell but if I ever do that money goes into a 401k, right, you know tax deferred It's a really neat way now One of the risks there that people should be aware of is that if you don't?

00:29:34.709 --> 00:29:36.689
Do a self directed 401k for your company.

00:29:36.749 --> 00:29:39.749
It means you have to have a 401k available to your employees.

00:29:39.749 --> 00:29:41.709
Oh, something we wanted to do anyway.

00:29:41.729 --> 00:29:42.848
So it was no skin off her back.

00:29:43.298 --> 00:29:50.519
But if you don't want to offer a 401k and you do invest it this way in your own business, interesting, you know, it could cost you.

00:29:50.578 --> 00:29:57.489
Oh, is that like, Um, is it fives of thousands of dollars to get that kind of stuff set up in that space?

00:29:57.528 --> 00:30:00.048
Because that seems like a really useful tool for a lot of people.

00:30:00.078 --> 00:30:04.308
You know, I think if you believe in yourself more than you believe in the American stock market.

00:30:04.308 --> 00:30:04.479
Yeah.

00:30:04.588 --> 00:30:05.778
Now this was, yeah.

00:30:05.909 --> 00:30:08.388
And that, that is a good point right there, right?

00:30:08.398 --> 00:30:12.554
Is you, you're, you are investing in a stock and at the end of the day it's a very concentrated stock.

00:30:12.554 --> 00:30:14.229
You're very non diversified anymore.

00:30:14.249 --> 00:30:17.488
Um, uh, yeah, I want to say it was less than 5, 000.

00:30:17.489 --> 00:30:19.888
Now that was 11 years ago, I'm sure it costs more.

00:30:19.919 --> 00:30:21.009
And then there are.

00:30:21.078 --> 00:30:32.388
It's, uh, hefty federal requirements because it is a 401k and so we pay that company annually to keep us above board and make sure that any changes Almost have to have reviewed financials or something.

00:30:32.398 --> 00:30:38.798
Every year has to be reviewed and then we have to have a valuation done on our company every year by law.

00:30:38.894 --> 00:30:39.134
Okay.

00:30:39.134 --> 00:30:41.374
Because the 401k has to know what it's worth.

00:30:41.374 --> 00:30:41.804
Right, right.

00:30:41.834 --> 00:30:44.903
You know, and so it has to be a third party that comes in and does all that.

00:30:44.913 --> 00:30:45.096
Yeah, yeah.

00:30:45.096 --> 00:30:50.493
And so, so there are ongoing costs that are associated, but for us, it, it's been a godsend.

00:30:50.523 --> 00:30:56.493
And you said your 401k owns 53 percent of the rest kind of employees and key stuff, or is that just like you and your wife?

00:30:56.493 --> 00:31:08.598
So it's me and my wife who own the vast majority when we first started, um, I had said my father in law, he had been giving me so much advice, you know, I'd probably been talking his ear off 10 years about this idea.

00:31:08.848 --> 00:31:09.269
Right.

00:31:09.338 --> 00:31:12.828
And so we offered them an opportunity to invest.

00:31:12.838 --> 00:31:26.098
Um, but we kept him at 5 percent because I said, I don't, I don't need your money, don't get me wrong, I want your money, because if I'm using somebody else's it makes it that much more breathing room for me, but, um, kept them at 5%.

00:31:26.429 --> 00:31:30.949
And then I did the same with my mother and her husband, I just said, so they're, they're in for 5%.

00:31:31.538 --> 00:31:37.169
Um, I want to say my mom reinvested a little bit at some point, so she might be up to 7 percent now.

00:31:37.858 --> 00:31:38.709
Um, yeah.

00:31:38.898 --> 00:31:42.888
And then we had a regular at the bar who's become a really great friend of mine.

00:31:43.528 --> 00:31:48.179
But just like everybody, they see this bar ownership and it's like, Oh, I want to do that.

00:31:48.179 --> 00:31:48.778
I want to do that.

00:31:48.798 --> 00:31:52.699
And I kept, you know, just having polite conversations, but brushing them off.

00:31:52.719 --> 00:31:59.443
And then after a few years, um, his name's Mike and he just goes, Dude, I want to invest.

00:31:59.443 --> 00:32:03.294
And I said, okay, well, let's, let's go have a meeting and we'll really talk about what that looks like.

00:32:03.294 --> 00:32:03.564
Yeah.

00:32:04.104 --> 00:32:08.134
So we sat down and had a meeting and I said, what's the minimum you want to invest?

00:32:08.153 --> 00:32:10.969
And he said, well, no less than a hundred thousand, no more than 300, 000.

00:32:10.969 --> 00:32:12.983
I was like, oh, you have real money.

00:32:14.364 --> 00:32:20.473
Cause you, most people go, well, I have 500, I'd like, I'd like to own a share, you know?

00:32:20.973 --> 00:32:22.193
Oh, or yeah, even 10 grand.

00:32:22.193 --> 00:32:24.263
It's starting to get to like, okay, that's real money.

00:32:24.443 --> 00:32:25.173
But it's not enough.

00:32:25.173 --> 00:32:27.104
I don't want to send you a K 1 every year for that.

00:32:27.104 --> 00:32:30.023
I don't want to have all the extra paper that comes with 10 grand, you know?

00:32:30.413 --> 00:32:35.828
And, um, and so I was like, okay, I tried my best to talk him out of it.

00:32:35.949 --> 00:32:42.979
And I just said, your money is better spent investing in Amazon or at the time Tesla or anything like that.

00:32:43.219 --> 00:32:46.199
And he said, well, I really believe in you and Tiffany.

00:32:46.199 --> 00:32:50.148
I believe in where you're going with this and I want to invest with you.

00:32:50.249 --> 00:32:57.598
And he's like, and he goes, if I can get 50 percent off, if I can get a 50 percent discount by being an investor, I'll make my money back over time anyway.

00:32:57.648 --> 00:33:04.634
So, so that was the agreement and he doesn't have any, uh, Operational say he gets a vote once a year at the shareholders meeting.

00:33:04.634 --> 00:33:05.624
And that's what I always tease him.

00:33:05.624 --> 00:33:08.874
I said, you can take your, it's something like 23 percent of shares.

00:33:09.044 --> 00:33:16.713
Oh, and I said, you can, uh, vote to fire me from my job, but my shares will outweigh your shares every time.

00:33:16.713 --> 00:33:19.723
So I'm going to keep my job even when you don't like what I'm doing.

00:33:19.723 --> 00:33:22.723
And, and so we talked through all that and that's cool.

00:33:22.804 --> 00:33:26.134
And, uh, yeah, we, well, I bet it's been okay for him though.

00:33:26.223 --> 00:33:27.064
It hasn't been bad.

00:33:27.163 --> 00:33:27.483
Yeah.

00:33:27.673 --> 00:33:34.723
COVID was a tougher season, but Um, in COVID, our, that was the first year our stock price ever went down.

00:33:35.054 --> 00:33:40.983
And, um, we actually offered to buy, buy it out from any, any shareholders that wanted to get rid of their shares.

00:33:41.203 --> 00:33:42.973
And I was like, it's a bargain right now.

00:33:43.594 --> 00:33:44.114
I'll buy it.

00:33:44.114 --> 00:33:45.463
It looks like a discount to me.

00:33:45.463 --> 00:33:51.814
My father in law was one who, he replied to the email and just said, anybody who wants to sell, I am buying at that price.

00:33:52.403 --> 00:33:52.804
I'll take it.

00:33:54.124 --> 00:33:54.574
That's fun.

00:33:55.003 --> 00:34:01.909
Um, Let's go back to, um, business skills.

00:34:01.909 --> 00:34:18.724
And it sounds like you've kind of, by doing that 401k kind of structured thing, it really, Your level of accountability and financial accuracy and different things like that I suspect is far above your typical, uh, bar operation.

00:34:18.773 --> 00:34:19.273
I think so.

00:34:19.273 --> 00:34:22.123
I think it's far above the typical small business.

00:34:22.253 --> 00:34:22.963
I think so.

00:34:22.963 --> 00:34:23.804
Yeah, probably.

00:34:24.313 --> 00:34:26.884
We, yeah, we, and this is all my wife's doing.

00:34:26.884 --> 00:34:28.902
Now I'm just kind of the steward of the things she set up.

00:34:28.902 --> 00:34:30.454
Right, make sure we do the stuff that Tiffany said.

00:34:30.954 --> 00:34:34.934
But, um, yeah, she has always been to the penny accurate.

00:34:35.364 --> 00:34:37.693
Um, to flashback to when her and I first met.

00:34:38.324 --> 00:34:40.653
Uh, knew for sure we were gonna get married and everything.

00:34:40.713 --> 00:34:42.653
I was the one in charge of the household budget.

00:34:42.733 --> 00:34:43.083
Okay.

00:34:43.233 --> 00:34:54.983
And, uh, I'll try to keep the curse words out of the retelling of this story, but she, uh, she was looking over my shoulder, and I don't like when people look over my shoulder while I'm working, and I, I said, can I help you with something?

00:34:54.994 --> 00:34:57.054
And she goes, well, I'm just trying to see what you're doing with the budget.

00:34:57.583 --> 00:34:59.134
I said, well, can you just wait till it's done?

00:34:59.224 --> 00:35:00.864
And she goes, well, I just have some ideas.

00:35:00.864 --> 00:35:04.614
And I got mad and I was like, well, then you do the budget, you think you're so good, you do the budget.

00:35:05.164 --> 00:35:10.420
And, uh, about 30 minutes later, she handed me a budget and I was like, Oh, that's what a budget looks like.

00:35:10.420 --> 00:35:14.534
I was like, Oh my God, this, yeah, you're in charge of this from here on out.

00:35:14.574 --> 00:35:15.603
Take the wheel, baby.

00:35:15.603 --> 00:35:15.923
Yeah.

00:35:16.304 --> 00:35:20.134
So, uh, she, she's always been a to the penny person.

00:35:20.344 --> 00:35:28.103
And everything has to be above board and, uh, they're, you know, part of it is just, she's a genuinely honest person.

00:35:28.103 --> 00:35:33.313
And the other part is if an audit comes and it will come, she doesn't want it to be a pain in the butt.

00:35:33.773 --> 00:35:35.514
She wants to be able to just go, here you go.

00:35:35.554 --> 00:35:36.083
Here's all the stuff.

00:35:36.094 --> 00:35:37.534
Here's all the stuff, whatever you need.

00:35:37.543 --> 00:35:38.344
It's all documented.

00:35:38.344 --> 00:35:39.244
It's all arranged.

00:35:39.244 --> 00:35:42.914
It's all well, especially with like the family investors, things and stuff like that.

00:35:42.914 --> 00:35:43.994
You want to be really.

00:35:44.204 --> 00:35:44.543
Yeah.

00:35:44.603 --> 00:35:45.503
Accountable to them.

00:35:45.574 --> 00:35:46.903
I think that's the most important thing.

00:35:46.974 --> 00:35:51.724
Um, and I, I wish more people who own the business themselves, a hundred percent with no investors.

00:35:51.724 --> 00:35:52.094
Yeah.

00:35:52.094 --> 00:35:53.313
Treated it the same way.

00:35:53.313 --> 00:35:53.673
Agreed.

00:35:53.784 --> 00:35:54.083
You know.

00:35:54.083 --> 00:35:54.514
Agreed.

00:35:54.514 --> 00:35:57.393
Just because you own it doesn't mean you should skimp on yourself.

00:35:57.503 --> 00:35:57.773
Yeah.

00:35:57.773 --> 00:36:07.434
It was, uh, I was a banker for 15 years and, uh, small business banking and that was definitely probably the single biggest problem.

00:36:07.974 --> 00:36:10.034
Weak spot in a lot of people's businesses.

00:36:10.034 --> 00:36:10.914
They knew the business.

00:36:10.943 --> 00:36:17.744
They, they even knew the finances and they could kind of tell how the business is doing by the balance in the checking account, but not really.

00:36:17.753 --> 00:36:18.074
Yeah.

00:36:18.074 --> 00:36:19.364
A lot of people are cashflow.

00:36:19.824 --> 00:36:22.853
That's they do, they do cashflow gaming and that's good enough for them.

00:36:23.653 --> 00:36:25.963
And, um, yeah, I mean, it helped in COVID.

00:36:25.974 --> 00:36:35.009
There were so many grants that came out and a lot of them were, you had to have good books and show, and, and we would Hit print.

00:36:35.099 --> 00:36:40.476
And here's a PDF of everything.

00:36:40.476 --> 00:36:41.860
Here's how this quarter looked compared to last quarter.

00:36:41.860 --> 00:36:42.166
You know.

00:36:42.166 --> 00:36:43.244
See, we're losing our tail over here.

00:36:43.244 --> 00:36:43.858
Give us some money.

00:36:43.858 --> 00:36:45.242
Um, what, uh, gosh, I had a good question.

00:36:45.242 --> 00:36:45.856
Oh, there it was.

00:36:45.856 --> 00:36:46.164
Um, theft.

00:36:46.164 --> 00:36:54.088
Like, you got, like, what's your most expensive, uh, bottle of bourbon or whiskey or whatever on the shelf ish?

00:36:54.088 --> 00:36:57.619
I think, I think Balvenie 40 is probably our most expensive at the moment.

00:36:57.619 --> 00:36:59.639
I want to say it's a few hundred dollars a pour.

00:36:59.978 --> 00:37:00.358
Okay.

00:37:00.539 --> 00:37:00.798
Um.

00:37:00.958 --> 00:37:02.059
So, for a bottle, it's like.

00:37:03.628 --> 00:37:06.219
Yeah, I think that bottle's up to almost 10 grand.

00:37:06.708 --> 00:37:07.099
Yeah.

00:37:07.909 --> 00:37:12.759
So, like, I mean, is there like video cameras on everything?

00:37:12.768 --> 00:37:13.688
Pour measures?

00:37:13.688 --> 00:37:21.903
Like, I mean, it's Yeah, we, we do have that, um Not that you don't have the best staff around, but it's just when you're I mean, that's like gold value, just about, right?

00:37:21.903 --> 00:37:35.253
Yeah, the truth is, when those bottles come out, everyone treats them, uh, you know, as sacrosanct and is careful with them and they use the jiggers and pour properly and, you know, make a thing of it.

00:37:35.844 --> 00:37:42.083
It's really the lower end cost of things, that it's easy for anybody to just kind of ignore.

00:37:42.094 --> 00:37:44.293
It's like, Oh, it's, it's our well whiskey.

00:37:44.324 --> 00:37:44.733
Right, right.

00:37:44.733 --> 00:37:49.833
You know, so those are the where we're actually off the most and we do keep very tight controls of our inventory.

00:37:49.833 --> 00:37:51.543
So we know when we're losing stuff.

00:37:52.244 --> 00:37:53.764
And then I just give it to the GMs.

00:37:53.764 --> 00:37:59.594
It's up to the GM to decide whether it's hit a threshold where they need to have conversations with the staff.

00:38:00.114 --> 00:38:03.833
Um, you know, you can never going to get a hundred percent accurate.

00:38:04.023 --> 00:38:04.353
Right.

00:38:04.353 --> 00:38:11.043
Well in a little bit, I mean, if you got regulars that are there all the time and if you want to give them a little half shot extra on their.

00:38:11.349 --> 00:38:14.119
Um, on their maker's pour, you know, maybe that's okay sometimes.

00:38:14.128 --> 00:38:15.318
And yeah, and the way we A little bit.

00:38:15.318 --> 00:38:22.188
I think, I think what seems to work for us is the way we get around to that is we just tell our staff, um, you can give stuff away, just ring it in.

00:38:22.318 --> 00:38:22.568
Right.

00:38:22.568 --> 00:38:23.599
Because then it's accounted for.

00:38:23.628 --> 00:38:23.909
Right.

00:38:23.909 --> 00:38:24.918
We know where it went.

00:38:24.938 --> 00:38:25.278
Perfect.

00:38:25.338 --> 00:38:31.768
And so when we do our actual versus theoretical, it might say, hey, you theoretically could have made this much more money.

00:38:31.798 --> 00:38:32.248
Right.

00:38:32.298 --> 00:38:34.498
But as far as product missing, you were a hundred percent.

00:38:34.518 --> 00:38:34.909
Nothing was missing.

00:38:34.909 --> 00:38:35.378
Oh, I love it.

00:38:35.449 --> 00:38:35.708
Yeah.

00:38:35.708 --> 00:38:35.934
You know?

00:38:35.934 --> 00:38:36.088
Perfect.

00:38:36.259 --> 00:38:42.619
And then everybody's got a, to an extent, like a comp budget almost, like if somebody's giving away 500 a month, it's like, wow.

00:38:42.659 --> 00:38:44.248
We don't set a specific one.

00:38:44.248 --> 00:38:48.369
So I give the, the manager's guidelines of what I think is the minimum and maximum.

00:38:48.369 --> 00:38:49.559
And I do think there's a minimum.

00:38:49.559 --> 00:38:51.358
You should give away some product.

00:38:51.398 --> 00:38:53.119
If you don't have a relationship with people, then you're not.

00:38:53.409 --> 00:39:04.304
That's something I learned from Otterbox years ago, uh, when, uh, I was doing some consulting work for them and they just said, you know, If you have the budget to give away your product for free, it's the best marketing you'll ever have.

00:39:04.373 --> 00:39:05.253
Ah, yeah.

00:39:05.344 --> 00:39:10.014
And he's like, unfortunately most people can't just give their product away, but you can give away some.

00:39:10.164 --> 00:39:10.793
My favorite.

00:39:11.563 --> 00:39:30.273
One of my favorite swag items that I ever got was this small yellow OtterBox, before they made very many phone cases, and they were giving away, Amy was, Amy somebody was working for them then, and it was just like this great little, like for rafting, or for canoeing, and stuff like that, it would, I, well, it served me well for years.

00:39:30.273 --> 00:39:34.503
Remember when they first launched Big here in Fort Collins, they, they, They were at every event.

00:39:35.014 --> 00:39:35.693
Throwing it around.

00:39:35.784 --> 00:39:36.324
Throwing it around.

00:39:36.614 --> 00:39:37.994
That was their marketing strategy.

00:39:38.213 --> 00:39:41.014
Get the locals excited about it and then it'll sell itself.

00:39:42.003 --> 00:39:44.014
But, but they were selling to a national audience.

00:39:44.074 --> 00:39:48.784
You know, that was why I was so, but we were blessed by having lots of cool Otterbox swag around for quite a while.

00:39:49.864 --> 00:39:50.483
So I dig that.

00:39:50.483 --> 00:39:54.364
That's a, that's a great, like don't try to control people.

00:39:54.373 --> 00:39:55.063
Give them.

00:39:56.853 --> 00:39:57.074
Yeah.

00:39:57.074 --> 00:39:57.634
Almost.

00:39:57.903 --> 00:39:59.954
We give them, you know, take the training wheels off.

00:40:00.014 --> 00:40:01.054
You hire adults.

00:40:02.233 --> 00:40:02.673
Right.

00:40:02.684 --> 00:40:04.103
Stop treating them like children.

00:40:04.134 --> 00:40:04.353
Yeah.

00:40:04.373 --> 00:40:12.643
And if you have employees who consistently demonstrate that they are just children who need constant supervision, well, the truth is we're not the right employer for them.

00:40:12.873 --> 00:40:14.143
We're just not that kind of company.

00:40:14.143 --> 00:40:18.244
We like having people who know what they're doing and are free to do it.

00:40:18.273 --> 00:40:18.594
Yeah.

00:40:18.983 --> 00:40:23.253
Do you have qualifiers as far as like, you got to know quite a bit about, you know, what Whiskey.

00:40:23.463 --> 00:40:24.724
No, that's actually, or things like that.

00:40:24.724 --> 00:40:27.664
One of the few things where we really don't care.

00:40:27.753 --> 00:40:27.873
Okay.

00:40:27.963 --> 00:40:30.543
Um, I can teach you all day about whiskey.

00:40:30.574 --> 00:40:33.753
Josh I mentioned earlier, um, he knows so much about whiskey.

00:40:33.934 --> 00:40:34.143
Yeah.

00:40:34.173 --> 00:40:36.483
We can educate anybody on whiskey.

00:40:36.574 --> 00:40:36.873
Okay.

00:40:37.143 --> 00:40:44.193
So I would rather have somebody who understands people and customer service and, um, all those basic fundamentals.

00:40:44.224 --> 00:40:44.284
Yeah.

00:40:44.284 --> 00:40:47.554
Has the integrity, the the integrity things that class, you just can't.

00:40:47.903 --> 00:40:48.224
Teach.

00:40:48.224 --> 00:40:54.744
I mean, there's an argument to be said that you can teach customer service, but I think there is an innate piece that some people have it and some people don't.

00:40:54.824 --> 00:41:00.793
And for the people who don't have it, no matter how much I hit them home with it, they're not going to understand what I'm going for.

00:41:00.793 --> 00:41:00.994
Yeah.

00:41:00.994 --> 00:41:01.264
Yeah.

00:41:01.534 --> 00:41:02.313
I would agree with that.

00:41:02.643 --> 00:41:04.503
Um, what would your staff say about you?

00:41:04.704 --> 00:41:10.994
Like some of your, maybe a one or two years, you know, not there forever, but just kind of know you a little bit.

00:41:11.034 --> 00:41:11.054
Yeah.

00:41:11.273 --> 00:41:15.733
I think my more tenure staff would probably, uh, say that.

00:41:16.338 --> 00:41:29.809
I, I am not as serious as I come across, um, whereas the new staff I've heard through grape grapevine tend to think I am a little scary, a little scary, a little terrifying.

00:41:30.568 --> 00:41:36.338
Uh, but I think honestly, most of that comes with just, we've been in business for 11 years.

00:41:36.369 --> 00:41:41.719
When I started, I was probably eight to 10 years older than my average employee.

00:41:41.889 --> 00:41:42.268
Right.

00:41:42.289 --> 00:41:45.969
Well, I'm 10 years older than that, and the employee base doesn't really change age.

00:41:45.969 --> 00:41:47.059
You look pretty good, by the way.

00:41:47.088 --> 00:41:49.199
You haven't aged too badly in that 10 years.

00:41:49.208 --> 00:41:50.068
Must be having fun.

00:41:50.278 --> 00:41:51.268
I'm 40 something.

00:41:51.278 --> 00:41:52.909
Must be an easier job than being the president.

00:41:52.969 --> 00:41:57.809
I almost said, uh, what age I actually am, and then my wife's going to listen to this, and I'll be wrong.

00:41:57.969 --> 00:42:00.369
I never say my right age, and it's only because I don't know.

00:42:00.588 --> 00:42:01.748
It's 40 something.

00:42:02.009 --> 00:42:02.748
We'll just go with that.

00:42:02.969 --> 00:42:03.278
Okay.

00:42:03.739 --> 00:42:06.768
Well, um, uh, I can't be wrong if I don't say an exact age.

00:42:06.778 --> 00:42:08.818
I am about six weeks away from 50.

00:42:08.914 --> 00:42:09.313
Nice.

00:42:09.344 --> 00:42:10.923
So, just a little bit, you're senior.

00:42:10.934 --> 00:42:11.864
Well, happy early birthday.

00:42:11.873 --> 00:42:12.304
Thank you.

00:42:12.733 --> 00:42:21.153
Um, Let's talk more about, um, Fort Collins and, and the community, uh, in general, like how has that evolved?

00:42:21.164 --> 00:42:22.204
When did you get here?

00:42:22.884 --> 00:42:25.864
Um, so I first moved to Northern Colorado in college.

00:42:25.864 --> 00:42:28.864
I was living, so I'm a Denver native, but I was living in Colorado Springs.

00:42:28.864 --> 00:42:30.693
I, as a kid, we kind of lived everywhere.

00:42:30.733 --> 00:42:31.083
Okay.

00:42:31.134 --> 00:42:35.603
So we came, my mom tried to get us back to Colorado, Colorado Springs was the closest we could get to family.

00:42:36.103 --> 00:42:37.373
And then I went to school in Greeley.

00:42:37.673 --> 00:42:38.313
Oh, UNC.

00:42:38.313 --> 00:42:42.184
My wife went to school here at CSU and, uh, I followed her.

00:42:42.353 --> 00:42:43.054
to Fort Collins.

00:42:43.054 --> 00:42:43.873
And this is circa?

00:42:44.353 --> 00:42:47.014
This would have been 90, no, uh, 2000.

00:42:47.224 --> 00:42:47.893
So in 2000.

00:42:47.923 --> 00:42:48.373
Okay.

00:42:49.103 --> 00:43:03.373
Um, so we lived here and then after we graduated college, which I, it took me five years, so 2005, um, we moved back to Colorado Springs, then out to California, uh, and then.

00:43:04.128 --> 00:43:11.048
I moved to England for a very, very short stint and then, uh, just me, it was supposed to be the whole family.

00:43:11.048 --> 00:43:12.009
I can tell the whole story.

00:43:12.009 --> 00:43:13.009
I just don't know how much time we have.

00:43:13.009 --> 00:43:16.889
We'll jump in the time machine in a minute, um, and, and capture more of the story.

00:43:17.088 --> 00:43:23.199
So we got back here to Fort Collins, I think in 2008, maybe 2010.

00:43:23.228 --> 00:43:25.798
I think it was probably 2009 cause my youngest, I think had just been born.

00:43:25.798 --> 00:43:29.759
That was some of the real blossoming years there while you were kind of away a little bit.

00:43:29.829 --> 00:43:30.179
Yeah.

00:43:30.248 --> 00:43:33.358
And then the recession, real estate got affordable for a short while.

00:43:33.358 --> 00:43:33.628
Yeah.

00:43:34.338 --> 00:43:35.688
And then it went back up really fast.

00:43:35.789 --> 00:43:37.949
Got all the cool kids in town when they could afford it.

00:43:37.998 --> 00:43:38.809
Right, exactly.

00:43:38.809 --> 00:43:43.849
It's my fear of, uh, everything getting so expensive is the cool people tend to leave when things get expensive.

00:43:43.929 --> 00:43:44.668
Yeah, sad.

00:43:45.199 --> 00:43:45.969
It's a true thing.

00:43:46.228 --> 00:43:55.088
Um, do you do things, like as far as team and, and such to get them out in the community or to, to build a team?

00:43:55.088 --> 00:43:57.978
Do you have, you know, the mission, vision, values things and the things?

00:43:57.978 --> 00:44:00.108
Stuff on the walls to tell'em how to act.

00:44:00.108 --> 00:44:03.384
Or, um, we, we do have core values, Uhhuh.

00:44:03.389 --> 00:44:04.728
Um, I don't put'em on the wall.

00:44:04.728 --> 00:44:07.219
I feel like that's a very 1990s thing to do.

00:44:07.278 --> 00:44:16.358
Um, that I firmly believe that corporations in the nineties, they created their list of core values or mission statements as a way to win.

00:44:16.364 --> 00:44:19.628
Somebody messed up and they had to go in front of the news right?

00:44:19.628 --> 00:44:22.778
It was, they could point to the wall and go, it's against our core values.

00:44:22.784 --> 00:44:22.983
Right.

00:44:23.423 --> 00:44:30.603
So instead, we have core values that we do dictate how we hire, how we fire, um, what relationships we'll build with other vendors.

00:44:30.914 --> 00:44:37.684
Um, and we have, you know, quote, fired, uh, booze vendors who didn't match our values.

00:44:37.983 --> 00:44:44.878
And so, um, But as far as anything going out into the community and pushing them, not, not really, not really.

00:44:44.918 --> 00:44:45.219
Yeah.

00:44:45.259 --> 00:44:50.978
I wondered maybe with kind of your innovative tip model and things, how edgy you are there.

00:44:50.978 --> 00:44:57.309
But honestly, in your line of work, it's like give good service, pour good booze, serve good food.

00:44:57.349 --> 00:44:59.579
And we want to create good community within our four walls.

00:44:59.619 --> 00:45:00.028
Yeah.

00:45:00.068 --> 00:45:08.614
And the truth of the matter is all my staff work so hard all the time that, you know, A lot of them, they don't want to commit to more outside of those four walls.

00:45:09.094 --> 00:45:14.713
It's when, when you do a good job inside the four walls of a pub, it can take a lot from you.

00:45:15.423 --> 00:45:16.164
I could imagine.

00:45:16.164 --> 00:45:20.079
I'm thinking of almost like a, Like a bat cave or something, right?

00:45:20.088 --> 00:45:25.298
Like where you're in this space is our operation.

00:45:25.389 --> 00:45:34.438
And, and to a certain extent of significant spent, like to the extent that you can drop people into your space and want them to come back and want to come back, that's kind of the secret sauce.

00:45:34.489 --> 00:45:37.469
That is where we're building community is within those four walls.

00:45:37.498 --> 00:45:38.278
Yeah, yeah.

00:45:38.278 --> 00:45:38.829
Fair enough.

00:45:38.829 --> 00:45:43.798
And, and probably, gosh, probably hundreds and hundreds of.

00:45:44.148 --> 00:45:47.329
Good friendships have been spawned at your place.

00:45:47.378 --> 00:45:49.268
It's the cool, I think it's the coolest job.

00:45:49.268 --> 00:45:52.829
Bartending and serving is one of the coolest jobs that exists in the world.

00:45:53.219 --> 00:45:55.778
And if you do it right, you really do get friendships constantly.

00:45:55.789 --> 00:45:56.228
Yeah.

00:45:56.278 --> 00:45:56.648
Yeah.

00:45:56.699 --> 00:45:56.938
Yeah.

00:45:56.938 --> 00:46:00.958
Kind of a constant cycle and you might come in and out of season, but.

00:46:01.219 --> 00:46:03.309
Always know where, where you remember that guy from.

00:46:03.318 --> 00:46:08.028
There's still people that I talk to on a regular basis that, that were regulars 11 years ago.

00:46:08.028 --> 00:46:11.358
They still don't come to the, they, they haven't come to the pub because they moved away 5 years ago.

00:46:11.358 --> 00:46:11.739
Right, right.

00:46:11.739 --> 00:46:12.878
And I still talk to them regularly.

00:46:12.889 --> 00:46:14.079
So interesting, yeah.

00:46:14.579 --> 00:46:20.708
Um, well one of the things, uh, we always do after we've kind of gotten to know a little bit is jump in the time machine.

00:46:20.869 --> 00:46:21.159
Okay.

00:46:21.188 --> 00:46:28.949
And we were kind of trending toward that anyway, so let's just, uh, let's just, uh, Do it all the way back to kindergarten.

00:46:29.268 --> 00:46:30.869
Okay, going way back.

00:46:30.918 --> 00:46:36.159
Yeah, well, you were, wait, you said you were nine when you had your first business, uh, kind of ideas, but let's go even sooner.

00:46:36.659 --> 00:46:37.559
Let's go way back.

00:46:37.588 --> 00:46:37.949
Okay.

00:46:37.978 --> 00:46:41.358
Uh, small family, big family?

00:46:41.679 --> 00:46:45.759
Real small family, um, well, small immediate family.

00:46:45.789 --> 00:46:48.449
The, the, you know, it was my mom and three sisters.

00:46:48.818 --> 00:46:51.869
Um, I have a stepdad who is who I consider my actual father.

00:46:51.898 --> 00:46:52.108
Okay.

00:46:52.119 --> 00:46:53.639
Um, and.

00:46:54.313 --> 00:46:59.434
Um, we, yeah, we were, we were small, but I come from a Mexican family.

00:46:59.434 --> 00:47:01.373
So the extended family, yeah, I know.

00:47:01.384 --> 00:47:02.344
Last name Wallace.

00:47:02.344 --> 00:47:03.094
I look this way.

00:47:03.634 --> 00:47:03.943
Yeah.

00:47:03.974 --> 00:47:05.423
British pub kind of guy.

00:47:05.523 --> 00:47:14.762
And actually a third generation is also, it's, uh, it's, uh, John Leguizamo has a good joke, uh, in one of his standups where he talks about that and he's like, well, the Europeans did.

00:47:16.114 --> 00:47:19.543
And so it's not that surprising that a lot of us look like them.

00:47:20.384 --> 00:47:23.313
Uh, and he obviously tells the joke a lot better with a lot more dirty words.

00:47:23.324 --> 00:47:23.824
All good.

00:47:23.864 --> 00:47:24.204
All good.

00:47:24.423 --> 00:47:24.824
Um.

00:47:24.873 --> 00:47:25.844
So, come back me up.

00:47:25.844 --> 00:47:28.534
So, so are you half Hispanic?

00:47:28.534 --> 00:47:29.693
Are you, are you actually?

00:47:29.693 --> 00:47:29.994
Uh, 25 percent.

00:47:30.094 --> 00:47:30.313
Okay.

00:47:30.313 --> 00:47:30.643
25 percent.

00:47:30.643 --> 00:47:30.873
Yeah.

00:47:31.003 --> 00:47:31.393
All right.

00:47:31.704 --> 00:47:31.934
Yeah.

00:47:32.023 --> 00:47:33.733
Um, but your mom was?

00:47:34.143 --> 00:47:36.123
So my mom and my grandma's who came to this country.

00:47:36.164 --> 00:47:36.594
Oh, I see.

00:47:36.594 --> 00:47:36.833
Okay.

00:47:36.833 --> 00:47:38.483
Grandma came and then my mom's 50%.

00:47:38.523 --> 00:47:39.844
So yeah, got it.

00:47:40.103 --> 00:47:40.534
Okay.

00:47:40.963 --> 00:47:44.673
But you were culturally raised at least somewhat in that realm.

00:47:44.713 --> 00:47:46.094
Yeah, quite a bit.

00:47:46.103 --> 00:47:50.193
It was, uh, it was a weird blend.

00:47:50.204 --> 00:47:53.943
Um, because my, when my grandmother came to this country, she was teased for not knowing English.

00:47:53.943 --> 00:47:57.034
And so she didn't want her family to suffer the same way.

00:47:57.253 --> 00:47:57.594
So.

00:47:57.873 --> 00:48:00.673
Um, she didn't allow us to speak Spanish in the home.

00:48:00.994 --> 00:48:03.344
She would only speak Spanish to her own sisters.

00:48:03.373 --> 00:48:09.284
And literally if you open the glass door to the back patio, she would switch to English just in case somebody heard her.

00:48:09.954 --> 00:48:14.103
So she was very much a part of that, you know, which is a very different time.

00:48:14.103 --> 00:48:20.724
That was very, very, that was a very normal story to a lot of immigrants, especially in that time.

00:48:20.784 --> 00:48:22.393
Um, that was a very normal story.

00:48:22.713 --> 00:48:26.643
And so we were raised with Mexican food culture.

00:48:26.858 --> 00:48:28.978
But not the language culture.

00:48:28.998 --> 00:48:29.409
Right.

00:48:29.498 --> 00:48:29.898
Interesting.

00:48:29.918 --> 00:48:33.498
And so I do feel like our family missed out on a lot because of that.

00:48:33.579 --> 00:48:34.989
Yeah, no, I can only imagine.

00:48:34.989 --> 00:48:44.349
I wonder, I'm torn philosophically here almost between, like now you almost get punished as a business if you don't have like a Mexican menu on your menu.

00:48:44.369 --> 00:48:47.929
I hope that's not true, but I know what you're saying.

00:48:48.088 --> 00:48:59.159
But there's a lot of accommodation or even accommodation of, like there isn't very much social pressure for a newly immigrated Spanish speaking person to ever learn English.

00:48:59.628 --> 00:49:09.568
And what you're talking about here is like, there was a lot of social pressure, even among the Hispanic communities to get English figured out and be part of America, if you will.

00:49:09.568 --> 00:49:20.353
So I would, I would secretly watch Telemundo in the evenings and, um, I, uh, Takes have been taking Spanish lessons since I was in I don't know seventh grade.

00:49:20.353 --> 00:49:32.934
I still do them my regularly Yeah, you know and so I I think I'm on day 1700 or something like that interesting on Duolingo and I have Spanish teachers and and I like it are you 2024 am I fluent?

00:49:33.153 --> 00:49:34.864
I'm Pretty good.

00:49:34.884 --> 00:49:35.684
I'm fairly okay.

00:49:35.684 --> 00:49:41.543
So, uh, I always have my grandma's yelling in my head to not do it.

00:49:41.554 --> 00:49:44.074
So I, I, sometimes I have to get real comfortable.

00:49:44.143 --> 00:49:44.403
Yeah.

00:49:44.403 --> 00:49:44.603
Yeah.

00:49:44.614 --> 00:49:45.583
So whiskey will help.

00:49:45.643 --> 00:49:46.054
Okay.

00:49:46.074 --> 00:49:47.324
The more I drink, the more I can speak.

00:49:47.324 --> 00:49:47.983
Almost bilingual.

00:49:47.983 --> 00:49:50.664
If you want to have some Spanish conversation with her just to polish up.

00:49:50.673 --> 00:49:51.143
Nice.

00:49:51.304 --> 00:50:02.253
Uh, one of my favorite, uh, stories about that is my wife and I went to Mexico one time and, uh, we're doing the border control stuff and she's asking me questions and I looked at my wife and I said, I don't know, what's the answer to that?

00:50:02.253 --> 00:50:03.338
And she goes, I don't know.

00:50:03.338 --> 00:50:04.918
You two are speaking Spanish.

00:50:04.918 --> 00:50:11.728
And I was like, Oh, I didn't realize that, but I felt comfortable because I was there, you know, um, I'm trying, actually.

00:50:12.179 --> 00:50:16.099
I'm hoping I can go to Spain next year for like six weeks.

00:50:16.139 --> 00:50:16.588
Oh, wow.

00:50:16.588 --> 00:50:17.079
That would help.

00:50:17.239 --> 00:50:21.969
There's a really in depth study where you do 23 and a half hours of classroom time.

00:50:22.353 --> 00:50:32.634
And you live with a family and they have excursions that are all in Spanish and it forces you for the six week period to really immerse and I think that'll kick me over that edge where I'll finally be where I need to be.

00:50:32.643 --> 00:50:33.034
Yeah.

00:50:33.083 --> 00:50:33.364
Yeah.

00:50:33.373 --> 00:50:34.114
I suspect so.

00:50:34.494 --> 00:50:46.744
I was just reflecting on my, my wife and I have hosted a number of exchanges and, uh, Manuela was the most recent, um, and Manuela was Brazilian, so it's Portuguese, not Spanish, but it's, you know, same, same ish.

00:50:48.179 --> 00:50:48.829
Not even close.

00:50:48.849 --> 00:50:49.528
I know, I know.

00:50:49.628 --> 00:50:52.588
Portuguese is an insanely hard language.

00:50:52.909 --> 00:50:54.478
It sounds way different.

00:50:54.539 --> 00:50:59.398
Uh, I can pick up Portuguese accents a lot easier than I can just in general because they stand out, right?

00:50:59.608 --> 00:51:07.188
But anyway, um, Manuela went to a school that didn't really have much English support or whatever.

00:51:07.188 --> 00:51:09.208
It was kind of later in coming to her region.

00:51:09.679 --> 00:51:13.969
But she watched Netflix in English and learned how to talk.

00:51:13.969 --> 00:51:15.679
She talked with almost no accent.

00:51:15.829 --> 00:51:16.309
That's crazy.

00:51:16.318 --> 00:51:16.768
Watch.

00:51:17.474 --> 00:51:23.123
The English subtitles, but speaking in German so she could learn how to read English.

00:51:23.393 --> 00:51:24.023
That's crazy.

00:51:24.023 --> 00:51:25.103
So she was self taught Netflix.

00:51:26.023 --> 00:51:26.804
That's awesome.

00:51:27.333 --> 00:51:27.594
Right?

00:51:27.603 --> 00:51:28.503
I love stories like that.

00:51:28.503 --> 00:51:32.143
I don't know how much Netflix she had to watch to get there, but she was kind of a genius.

00:51:32.143 --> 00:51:36.054
So if you're listening to this, man, well, uh, uh, I think you're smarter than I probably let on.

00:51:36.114 --> 00:51:41.974
She needs to go get a job with LingoPie, which I always thought was PA, but it's lingopie.

00:51:42.014 --> 00:51:47.793
com and they are a company that was founded a few years ago with the sole intent of teaching language through binge watching.

00:51:47.804 --> 00:51:47.983
Hmm.

00:51:48.054 --> 00:51:48.884
Interesting.

00:51:49.003 --> 00:51:49.574
I love it.

00:51:49.583 --> 00:51:51.003
She needs to just put that on her resume.

00:51:51.074 --> 00:51:52.574
Like, I was doing this before you existed.

00:51:52.594 --> 00:51:53.884
I'll send her a note through Instagram.

00:51:54.083 --> 00:51:55.983
Instagram and she'll probably eat that right up.

00:51:55.994 --> 00:52:01.554
But anyway, I, uh, I, for some reason I flashed on Minn Welow when I was thinking, so you're in Colorado Springs.

00:52:01.554 --> 00:52:02.103
Is this right?

00:52:02.103 --> 00:52:03.684
When you're in that kindergarten grade?

00:52:03.724 --> 00:52:05.954
No, I'm, I'm just in Germany in kindergarten.

00:52:06.034 --> 00:52:06.724
Oh, in Germany.

00:52:06.753 --> 00:52:07.074
Okay.

00:52:07.164 --> 00:52:08.884
So your father was a service member or something.

00:52:08.884 --> 00:52:14.224
My, my mom, uh, Um, and my, my dad, my stepdad, we're both in the service and, uh, okay, cool.

00:52:14.253 --> 00:52:23.014
And so actually that's actually the, the founding story of the pub, so to speak, that is part of our training or onboarding with our staff that talks about being nine years old.

00:52:23.153 --> 00:52:29.074
Um, and we were poor and, um, For whatever reason, we'd go every now and again, maybe once or twice a month.

00:52:29.074 --> 00:52:34.344
We'd go to the beer gardens and my, my parents just seemed so happy and everybody in Germany and all the parents seemed happiness.

00:52:34.364 --> 00:52:37.893
Kids were happy cause we're just getting to play around outside and life was good.

00:52:37.893 --> 00:52:41.963
And I thought whoever owns us again, back to the, I just, whoever everybody's just here happy all the time.

00:52:41.963 --> 00:52:43.733
So whoever owns this must have the best life.

00:52:43.733 --> 00:52:47.054
And I was like, I want a beer garden when I get, when I'm an adult, I'm going to own a beer garden.

00:52:47.054 --> 00:52:48.844
And then that became over time.

00:52:48.884 --> 00:52:49.284
I want.

00:52:50.184 --> 00:52:50.583
Yeah.

00:52:50.623 --> 00:52:50.873
Yeah.

00:52:50.893 --> 00:52:51.333
But yeah.

00:52:51.603 --> 00:52:56.724
I think about overseas service a lot of times, uh, as being potentially more lucrative.

00:52:56.764 --> 00:53:00.293
But when you said you were poor, even though your folks were both kind of working in service over there.

00:53:00.293 --> 00:53:02.114
I mean, they, they were enlisted in the army.

00:53:02.244 --> 00:53:03.134
Just kind of early stage.

00:53:03.143 --> 00:53:04.634
You, you get paid what you get paid.

00:53:05.324 --> 00:53:06.614
Three sisters, two plus you?

00:53:06.664 --> 00:53:07.824
It's two plus me, yeah.

00:53:07.824 --> 00:53:10.193
Two plus you, so there's three eaters, right?

00:53:10.253 --> 00:53:19.643
Yeah, so, I mean, military you get, yeah, you get, you may get a little differential, um, but that's getting consumed because it's more expensive to live there.

00:53:19.643 --> 00:53:25.503
Fair enough, fair enough, so it wasn't a lucrative kind of a, they weren't officers or whatever, no colonels, nothing like that.

00:53:25.534 --> 00:53:26.244
Nothing like that.

00:53:26.304 --> 00:53:26.673
Fair enough.

00:53:26.969 --> 00:53:31.949
So when did you come back to the States, or tell me more about Germany, I guess, what you remember in those days?

00:53:32.079 --> 00:53:44.409
Um, my gosh, I, I don't know, I got, uh, the privilege of, uh, when I was working for the government as an adult to go back to Germany a lot, so, um, I got to kind of relive and feel like I, as a kid again.

00:53:44.449 --> 00:53:45.108
Yeah, yeah.

00:53:45.119 --> 00:53:48.148
But I, I don't know my full timelines on anything.

00:53:48.148 --> 00:53:48.949
I suck at those.

00:53:49.289 --> 00:53:49.608
That's cool.

00:53:50.248 --> 00:53:52.268
I want to say we came back to the States.

00:53:52.378 --> 00:53:55.318
I was in middle school, maybe it might have been elementary.

00:53:55.318 --> 00:53:58.068
Yeah, no, I would have been back by the end of elementary, like sixth, seventh grade.

00:53:58.068 --> 00:53:59.059
Yeah, somewhere in there.

00:53:59.789 --> 00:54:07.157
And then we were, uh, my mom, um, did her best to keep us in Colorado Springs because that's where, well, we lived in Colorado Springs.

00:54:07.219 --> 00:54:08.449
on the east coast for some.

00:54:08.509 --> 00:54:13.338
And then once we got back to Colorado, she was like, I'm gonna wherever you start high school is where you'll finish it.

00:54:13.969 --> 00:54:17.898
And so that was her, her gift to us is stop moving around constantly.

00:54:18.309 --> 00:54:20.878
And so I graduated from high school in Colorado Springs.

00:54:20.889 --> 00:54:22.018
And were they army?

00:54:22.168 --> 00:54:24.068
Were they like a Fort Carson then or something?

00:54:24.148 --> 00:54:27.789
Um, my mom is army, but she didn't like living near the base.

00:54:27.798 --> 00:54:30.188
So we were up on the north end of town just to be further away.

00:54:30.498 --> 00:54:35.708
I mean, No offense to the Fort Carson area, but it's definitely a little rougher down in that part of town.

00:54:35.918 --> 00:54:40.938
Isn't that a weird side of Colorado Springs where you have Cheyenne Mountain with these people who have insanely high incomes.

00:54:40.938 --> 00:54:41.929
Or Broadmoor and all that.

00:54:41.958 --> 00:54:45.797
And right across the street is the, like, some of the worst incomes in all of Colorado.

00:54:45.798 --> 00:54:49.458
And the super poor people, like, they only, like, steal from the other poor people.

00:54:49.458 --> 00:54:52.369
They never cross the street over to the Broadmoor area.

00:54:52.838 --> 00:54:55.818
Uh, yeah, no, it was, uh, what was that bar?

00:54:55.829 --> 00:54:56.643
It was kind of down on the side.

00:54:56.804 --> 00:54:57.744
The Black Sheep.

00:54:58.063 --> 00:55:00.023
My wife and I lived in Colorado Springs for a few years.

00:55:00.023 --> 00:55:12.653
The Black Sheep, and there were a few places down kind of that southern realm where it was a little bit Yeah, there were, there were definitely, there is no, still to this day, there's no shortage of uh, dive bars where you might get stabbed in Colorado Springs.

00:55:12.704 --> 00:55:13.043
Totally.

00:55:13.443 --> 00:55:13.684
Totally.

00:55:15.213 --> 00:55:16.862
And I love them, I do love them.

00:55:16.864 --> 00:55:18.474
I love being a good dive bar too, so.

00:55:18.653 --> 00:55:20.634
But you do have to, you know, keep your way with all of them.

00:55:20.643 --> 00:55:24.074
So, are these sisters, um, older, younger split?

00:55:24.103 --> 00:55:25.103
One older, one younger.

00:55:25.103 --> 00:55:25.393
Okay.

00:55:25.523 --> 00:55:28.423
My older one's only two years older, my younger one's eight years younger.

00:55:28.514 --> 00:55:29.403
Oh wow, okay.

00:55:29.443 --> 00:55:30.063
So, big, big gap there.

00:55:30.103 --> 00:55:30.563
Yeah, yeah.

00:55:30.943 --> 00:55:35.052
Um, so it goes through your high school years in Colorado Springs mostly?

00:55:35.054 --> 00:55:38.543
Yeah, I was, like I said, that was my mom's gift to UNC from there?

00:55:38.759 --> 00:55:46.568
Um, went to UNC and then moved, uh, I was living in Fort Collins, driving to Greeley just because, uh, Because your girlfriend was over here?

00:55:46.579 --> 00:55:57.018
My girlfriend was over here, and, and, uh, Greeley was not a great place to, there was no, back then, there was no, Yeah, it's become a lot cooler in the last ten years.

00:55:57.018 --> 00:55:58.132
It's a lot cooler now, but there was no nightlife.

00:55:58.554 --> 00:55:58.574
Yeah.

00:55:58.583 --> 00:56:01.934
And everybody who went to school in Greeley, it was a suitcase community.

00:56:01.934 --> 00:56:06.333
They would pack up on Friday and they'd be gone back home, down to Broomfield, down to Denver, down to wherever.

00:56:06.333 --> 00:56:06.744
And so.

00:56:06.744 --> 00:56:07.253
Yeah.

00:56:07.284 --> 00:56:09.233
So it was such a boring, sleepy town.

00:56:09.233 --> 00:56:11.514
So instead, by living in Fort Collins, I got to have.

00:56:12.094 --> 00:56:16.264
I got to go out and do things, you know, and there was just nothing that you could do back then.

00:56:16.313 --> 00:56:19.534
Now there's a lot, like, Greeley's a pretty cool little town now.

00:56:19.583 --> 00:56:25.664
Yeah, there's a few folks especially that have kind of invested in the downtown and made it, you know, really a special place.

00:56:26.193 --> 00:56:29.373
Um, it's still not quite as cool as Fort Collins, but it's come a long ways.

00:56:29.443 --> 00:56:31.494
I don't know, I think Fort Collins might be overhyped.

00:56:31.543 --> 00:56:34.853
Might be, yeah, it got so cool it overcooled itself.

00:56:35.403 --> 00:56:36.684
I don't disagree.

00:56:36.853 --> 00:56:38.547
Um, so, yeah.

00:56:39.789 --> 00:56:41.639
What did you get your degree in?

00:56:41.909 --> 00:56:43.989
Um, I have two undergraduate degrees.

00:56:44.009 --> 00:56:46.869
One is in mathematics and the other is in black studies.

00:56:47.318 --> 00:56:47.878
Oh, interesting.

00:56:47.978 --> 00:56:51.889
Um, and then I have a master's in systems engineering.

00:56:51.978 --> 00:56:52.438
Okay.

00:56:53.039 --> 00:56:55.119
Tell me about the, the black studies.

00:56:55.728 --> 00:56:57.809
Yeah, that was a phenomenal program.

00:56:57.858 --> 00:57:03.358
Um, when I was at UNC, you know, I was just taking general electives or general credits, whatever they're called.

00:57:04.838 --> 00:57:09.809
And I could find something in nearly every category that you needed.

00:57:09.809 --> 00:57:21.028
If you needed, you know, something cultural, if you needed something religious, if you needed something, um, literature, if you knew there, there was a black studies course within so many categories.

00:57:21.398 --> 00:57:23.418
And I took one not knowing what it was going to be.

00:57:23.759 --> 00:57:26.858
And it was taught by this guy named, um, uh, Dr.

00:57:26.858 --> 00:57:28.938
George, who ended up becoming my mentor.

00:57:29.099 --> 00:57:34.349
Um, and he, he had this, aura about him.

00:57:34.369 --> 00:57:38.938
It didn't feel like I was in a cow town in Greeley, Colorado.

00:57:38.969 --> 00:57:43.679
I was in a movie in one of those auditoriums with a professor.

00:57:43.679 --> 00:57:43.889
Right.

00:57:43.938 --> 00:57:45.188
That's the best professor ever.

00:57:45.199 --> 00:57:47.568
And I remember asking him like, why?

00:57:47.628 --> 00:57:50.139
I, after my first lecture, I said, what are you doing here?

00:57:50.699 --> 00:57:53.568
You know, he said, my resume is in the library.

00:57:53.708 --> 00:57:56.827
I said, no, I said, what, um, what did you do?

00:57:57.188 --> 00:57:58.259
What is your education?

00:57:58.268 --> 00:57:59.039
I, that's what it was.

00:57:59.059 --> 00:58:00.349
It was like, what is your education?

00:58:00.358 --> 00:58:02.228
I was just so enthralled with how much he knew.

00:58:02.949 --> 00:58:04.728
And he said, my resume is in the library.

00:58:04.728 --> 00:58:06.278
If you want to see it, you can look at it there.

00:58:06.418 --> 00:58:13.608
So I pulled it up and I looked at it and I came back and I said, okay, you are far too educated to be in Colorado at this tiny university.

00:58:14.159 --> 00:58:15.148
What are you doing here?

00:58:15.148 --> 00:58:17.148
And he goes, wait, you actually looked up my resume.

00:58:17.148 --> 00:58:18.099
I said, you told me to.

00:58:18.478 --> 00:58:23.248
And he goes, I thought you were just some white kid wondering what the black, why the black guy was allowed to talk.

00:58:24.418 --> 00:58:29.969
And I said, Oh no, I am enthralled at your knowledge and I want to know how I can get to your level.

00:58:29.978 --> 00:58:31.298
How does somebody get there?

00:58:31.829 --> 00:58:38.539
And he, and so he ended up taking me in as a, as mentor mentee relationship and I started taking more classes.

00:58:38.579 --> 00:58:39.389
What was his class?

00:58:39.759 --> 00:58:41.369
This, what was his expertise?

00:58:41.469 --> 00:58:49.119
Uh, his, his, he actually was the founder of the, uh, what is now called the Africana Studies Department, but at the time it was called the Black Studies Department.

00:58:49.518 --> 00:58:50.489
Um, he was the founder.

00:58:50.489 --> 00:58:55.954
And so, uh, He, his primary focus was civil rights.

00:58:55.983 --> 00:58:57.634
That's what his primary focus was.

00:58:57.653 --> 00:59:01.673
But he did anything related to Africans or Africans in the diaspora.

00:59:01.724 --> 00:59:04.193
And so I took several courses from him.

00:59:04.193 --> 00:59:06.583
Then I realized I was a couple more courses.

00:59:06.583 --> 00:59:13.344
If I took some, I would have a minor and then I got to meet the other professors in the department.

00:59:13.344 --> 00:59:14.483
I was like, Oh my God, they're all.

00:59:15.818 --> 00:59:17.139
just these insanely talented people.

00:59:17.139 --> 00:59:18.498
So I just started taking more and more.

00:59:18.509 --> 00:59:21.028
And then I was like, I'm two credits away from another major.

00:59:21.648 --> 00:59:23.409
So I just finished off my major.

00:59:23.798 --> 00:59:27.309
I'm assuming that your father isn't like secretly a black fellow, right?

00:59:29.918 --> 00:59:32.679
So that's, uh, I love that interest.

00:59:32.679 --> 00:59:41.628
I, I've got a minor in, uh, business and a minor in philosophy, uh, both because I was, you know, pretty close anyway.

00:59:41.628 --> 00:59:44.728
I just, because I thought it was really interesting, you know, metaphysics and Greek.

00:59:45.914 --> 00:59:48.224
I wish more higher education was based on that.

00:59:48.304 --> 00:59:54.724
It's like, show up, take some classes, and whatever you find interesting, we will make a degree out of.

00:59:54.784 --> 00:59:55.344
You know?

00:59:55.583 --> 01:00:11.139
What would you say is a misconception in the American, either vernacular or understanding that because of your major in black studies, that, you that you would correct them on?

01:00:12.679 --> 01:00:15.619
It's kind of an out of nowhere question there, but I have to think there's a few things.

01:00:15.639 --> 01:00:17.418
There's more than a few.

01:00:18.659 --> 01:00:22.128
There's a really great book called, Lies My Teacher Told Me.

01:00:22.688 --> 01:00:23.563
That's one I wish you would read.

01:00:23.934 --> 01:00:38.844
Every, uh, American student would be forced to read, uh, and it goes through in detail all the things that are, that are just flat out lies in our American history books that we are taught from middle school through high school.

01:00:38.934 --> 01:00:39.284
Right.

01:00:39.503 --> 01:00:47.469
And, and so I like that there's, there's not one particular thing, but yeah, I would highly encourage everyone Everybody to pick up lies.

01:00:47.469 --> 01:00:54.829
My teacher told me the guy who wrote the book, if I remember the story correctly, attempted to make a high school textbook and nobody would publish it.

01:00:55.028 --> 01:00:55.829
Oh, really?

01:00:56.389 --> 01:00:57.099
How fascinating.

01:00:57.599 --> 01:01:08.219
Um, so you got this, uh, big swing and, um, college degree and you said you got a master's in system engineering to go right into, um, school again after?

01:01:08.278 --> 01:01:11.208
No, I, I fell into that one.

01:01:11.248 --> 01:01:21.324
Um, I was, uh, I was working for a company in Colorado Springs and, um, they had an education program where if I, you know, did something that related.

01:01:21.324 --> 01:01:22.054
Executive MBA stuff.

01:01:22.054 --> 01:01:22.293
Yeah.

01:01:22.293 --> 01:01:22.954
Whatever, almost.

01:01:22.954 --> 01:01:26.653
And so I, I literally started an MBA because they would pay for it and I hated it.

01:01:26.693 --> 01:01:27.514
I thought that was the worst.

01:01:28.304 --> 01:01:31.503
I was just like, again, it goes back to that.

01:01:31.514 --> 01:01:34.804
My brain doesn't work on finance in that finance world.

01:01:34.943 --> 01:01:35.313
Right.

01:01:35.313 --> 01:01:35.833
And so that.

01:01:35.833 --> 01:01:37.143
Well, but you have a math degree, right?

01:01:37.143 --> 01:01:37.873
I have a math degree.

01:01:38.224 --> 01:01:38.974
I can, I know numbers.

01:01:38.974 --> 01:01:39.934
So much different than finance.

01:01:39.943 --> 01:01:46.713
But yeah, uh, you know, again, accountants in the language that accountants and bankers talk is so different than mathematicians.

01:01:46.784 --> 01:01:56.639
I have a, I'm an economist by training and, but I'm very much a, Um, and I'm not really a macro preference economist, like I like the big trends and the unintended consequences and things like that.

01:01:56.648 --> 01:01:56.668
Yeah.

01:01:56.668 --> 01:02:00.068
The micro finance and different things like that is less interesting.

01:02:00.099 --> 01:02:02.219
But Malcolm Gladwell stuff Right.

01:02:02.369 --> 01:02:04.389
I like, I can, I can dig on that.

01:02:05.673 --> 01:02:08.764
Speaks in a language that I at least get because he speaks down to me.

01:02:08.824 --> 01:02:09.134
Right.

01:02:09.753 --> 01:02:10.724
I appreciate that too.

01:02:10.764 --> 01:02:21.903
Um, but, uh, yeah, so, uh, basically once I started my master's, I realized I wanted a master's, but I, and I convinced the company that an MBA wasn't.

01:02:22.518 --> 01:02:25.148
Uh, what they should be paying for, that they should pay for this.

01:02:25.478 --> 01:02:30.048
We were a technology company, we're not paying for this engineering degree, so I got them to pay for it.

01:02:30.128 --> 01:02:34.528
And you're already, like, did you and your wife graduate about the same time and stuff?

01:02:34.528 --> 01:02:36.759
You said you were together early in college.

01:02:36.768 --> 01:02:38.298
Yeah, she's, we've actually, we were high school sweethearts.

01:02:38.298 --> 01:02:39.059
High school sweethearts, even.

01:02:39.059 --> 01:02:43.248
Yeah, so, um, yeah, we, we did it all, all together this whole time.

01:02:43.268 --> 01:02:43.918
Interesting.

01:02:43.958 --> 01:02:44.309
Yeah.

01:02:44.429 --> 01:02:47.523
Talk to me about, uh, Like, how did that happen?

01:02:48.264 --> 01:02:49.844
Uh, how did we become high school sweethearts?

01:02:49.844 --> 01:02:50.074
Yeah.

01:02:50.074 --> 01:02:51.213
Like, what were, what was it?

01:02:51.213 --> 01:02:56.153
You, uh, you were pals for a couple of years first, and then you finally worked up your courage and asked her out.

01:02:56.594 --> 01:03:12.764
So, slightly embarrassing story for me, I think, on this is that, uh, she dated my friends and, uh, and, uh, After she went through your friends, she, she settled for me, um, yeah, she, I would say more like she found out that you were the best one for her, at least.

01:03:13.213 --> 01:03:15.393
The funny part of that story is I, uh.

01:03:15.829 --> 01:03:18.599
All us guys, we'd hang around her house all the time.

01:03:20.219 --> 01:03:28.429
It was, not only was she, you know, the cute teenager, and we were the teenage boys fawning after her, but her dad had a pinball arcade in his basement.

01:03:28.438 --> 01:03:28.849
Oh, gosh.

01:03:28.858 --> 01:03:30.289
And a fridge full of sodas.

01:03:30.478 --> 01:03:30.818
Right.

01:03:30.818 --> 01:03:38.108
And so we were there all the time, and her mother would just open the basement door sometimes and just yell, If you're not a tax deduction, it's time to get out of my house.

01:03:38.809 --> 01:03:38.929
You know.

01:03:38.969 --> 01:03:39.409
I like it.

01:03:39.579 --> 01:03:46.009
So we'd all come trotting upstairs and, uh, when, when Tiffany and I actually started dating, she told her mom, she's like, guess who I'm dating?

01:03:46.059 --> 01:03:46.628
She's like, who?

01:03:46.668 --> 01:03:47.768
She's like, I'm dating Rico.

01:03:47.768 --> 01:03:50.128
And she goes, Oh, that's like dating your brother.

01:03:50.128 --> 01:03:53.759
Because I'd been such an integrated part at that point.

01:03:53.849 --> 01:03:59.119
Uh, but you know, here we are 24 years later, still going.

01:03:59.228 --> 01:03:59.949
Congratulations.

01:04:00.199 --> 01:04:00.958
Tell me about Rico.

01:04:01.889 --> 01:04:16.318
Yeah, so again, that's a slight, slight homage to the fact that I'm Hispanic and it's probably less of homage, maybe just a little bit more of a slur that my friends might be racist and it's just dawning, dawning on me.

01:04:16.739 --> 01:04:19.398
Um, sorry, I hope they're not, no, I don't think they are.

01:04:19.688 --> 01:04:23.309
No, um, there was a Ryan, two Ryans and a Brian.

01:04:23.583 --> 01:04:37.143
Um, in our, in our core friend group and, um, we had a friend's mom who was new to this country, um, from Asia and it just, for whatever reason, two Ryans and a Brian, she would always get confused.

01:04:37.713 --> 01:04:41.534
And so they were like, we'll just call this Ryan Rico from here on out.

01:04:41.534 --> 01:04:44.324
And so it became Ryan, Rico and Brian.

01:04:44.324 --> 01:04:46.664
And she could then understand who we were talking about.

01:04:47.083 --> 01:04:47.574
I dig it.

01:04:47.724 --> 01:04:48.884
So, um, yeah.

01:04:49.443 --> 01:04:51.224
So, where did we jump off?

01:04:51.273 --> 01:04:54.353
Oh, yeah, we we had the job in Colorado Springs a little bit.

01:04:54.373 --> 01:04:59.588
We cruising over to Europe soon Uh, for the British thing?

01:04:59.599 --> 01:05:00.418
No, not yet.

01:05:00.588 --> 01:05:05.449
Um, I kind of threw that in there that it was just a, yeah, I did it for a little bit.

01:05:05.449 --> 01:05:10.608
So, the, the long story short on that one is that I was supposed to, I was living in England.

01:05:10.608 --> 01:05:12.378
I was working for the Ministry of Defense.

01:05:12.378 --> 01:05:13.099
Okay.

01:05:13.099 --> 01:05:14.568
As like a consultant or something?

01:05:14.579 --> 01:05:22.268
Yeah, it was, it was a contract that, uh, they essentially had, um, a legal requirement to create what's called a, a war journal.

01:05:22.268 --> 01:05:22.309
Okay.

01:05:22.893 --> 01:05:31.563
And because we were allied forces and we were using American systems, they didn't have, they weren't meeting their own legal requirement to keep a war journal.

01:05:32.074 --> 01:05:37.353
And so, and some of this tech stuff that you had been doing translated to that, you had to work for them.

01:05:37.534 --> 01:05:40.324
They contracted the United States to implement U.

01:05:40.324 --> 01:05:40.474
S.

01:05:40.503 --> 01:05:43.853
technology on foreign soil, on foreign equipment.

01:05:44.168 --> 01:05:56.179
And so it was like a licensing agreement with us basically so that they could then legally own all the data and it would sink back to Afghanistan on a on a minute by minute basis.

01:05:56.188 --> 01:06:00.759
So they had up to date real stuff stored in their country so they can meet the legal requirement.

01:06:00.958 --> 01:06:01.298
Got it.

01:06:01.568 --> 01:06:09.349
And so, yeah, I got doing that and I came back and I was supposed to be back for Thanksgiving and Christmas and then January 17th of that year.

01:06:09.619 --> 01:06:18.958
Move my family and my father in law pulled me aside one night and he just goes, you know, I just want to tell you that I support you and everything you're doing.

01:06:18.998 --> 01:06:22.438
And I know that you're doing what's right for your career and your family.

01:06:22.489 --> 01:06:31.358
But my my wife cries herself to sleep at night thinking about her grant her grandchildren living in a foreign country and she's not going to get to see him.

01:06:31.628 --> 01:06:36.588
Every night like she wants and I was like, okay, what am I supposed to do with that information?

01:06:37.889 --> 01:06:41.789
I went to my wife and I said, hey, you know, this is what your dad said.

01:06:42.059 --> 01:06:43.239
Do you want to live in England?

01:06:43.239 --> 01:06:45.248
And she said, yeah, of course, I want to support your career.

01:06:45.248 --> 01:06:46.599
And I said, that's not what I asked.

01:06:47.048 --> 01:06:48.028
Do you want to live?

01:06:49.199 --> 01:06:51.429
No, not one piece of me wants to live in that country.

01:06:52.068 --> 01:06:54.829
I was like, okay, well, I have a job in England.

01:06:54.889 --> 01:06:59.179
I own a home in Colorado Springs and, uh, we're going to start over.

01:06:59.208 --> 01:07:03.748
So, uh, we had our, our family had, uh, uh, my in laws.

01:07:03.748 --> 01:07:05.048
You got a couple littles by this time.

01:07:05.369 --> 01:07:08.648
A couple littles and, and the in laws had a cabin up in the mountains.

01:07:08.648 --> 01:07:17.128
And so here in Estes Park and, and we, uh, And that was the thing is I wanted to live in Denver, she wanted to live in Fort Collins.

01:07:17.739 --> 01:07:20.778
And now it's like, okay, well, we currently live in the springs.

01:07:20.889 --> 01:07:21.849
I want to live in Denver.

01:07:21.858 --> 01:07:22.998
She wants to live in Fort Collins.

01:07:23.028 --> 01:07:23.949
My job's in England.

01:07:24.139 --> 01:07:25.309
We'll figure out this puzzle.

01:07:25.818 --> 01:07:32.639
And found a house in Fort Collins that was a bank owned home and we put in an offer and the bank accepted our offer.

01:07:32.648 --> 01:07:34.768
And This is an, a stupid number.

01:07:34.768 --> 01:07:38.139
I mean, this was only, you know, 2007, 2008, something like that.

01:07:38.628 --> 01:07:41.489
No, it would have been a little probably 2009, 2010.

01:07:42.099 --> 01:07:48.099
Um, and we picked up the house for 189, 000, you know, it's like, you can't how many square feet?

01:07:48.179 --> 01:07:49.989
It was 20, 2, 600.

01:07:51.568 --> 01:07:52.809
You just can't do that anymore.

01:07:52.878 --> 01:07:55.878
I mean, if it doesn't have walls or insulation, right.

01:07:56.719 --> 01:08:03.248
And so, So then I was like, Okay, well, that that became the next joke is like, well, now we have a house in color Springs that we hadn't sold yet.

01:08:03.289 --> 01:08:05.929
We have a house in Fort Collins and my job is still in England.

01:08:06.418 --> 01:08:12.429
Um, but I ended up trading places high fiving with a guy I knew who I was qualified for the job.

01:08:12.429 --> 01:08:13.559
He had in Colorado Springs.

01:08:13.559 --> 01:08:31.298
He was qualified for the job I had in England and we Swap places and as they say the rest was history and then after a while in Colorado Springs, it was yeah All right, after a while of commuting to Colorado Springs, so I was daily commuting from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs Oh, yeah, cuz that's where the job was.

01:08:31.389 --> 01:08:38.748
Oh my there's a lot better than a commute to England I knew were you driving and then taking 470 around or I was I'd get all for get up at 4 o'clock at 4 a.

01:08:38.748 --> 01:08:40.264
m 25 ain't too bad.

01:08:40.264 --> 01:08:40.963
Ain't too bad.

01:08:40.974 --> 01:08:48.654
And then, yeah, and then on Thursday nights, I'd stay at my old man's house in Colorado Springs so that I could wake up early, get to the office early, and then be out.

01:08:48.724 --> 01:08:49.003
Yeah.

01:08:49.154 --> 01:08:50.543
Get out of there at two o'clock or whatever.

01:08:50.564 --> 01:08:50.923
Yeah.

01:08:50.974 --> 01:08:51.564
But, uh.

01:08:51.573 --> 01:08:51.953
Wild.

01:08:52.234 --> 01:09:02.123
And then when we moved up here, I had also, so by the time we moved up here, or rather by the time I got a job up here, so that director job, I had also finished my master's program.

01:09:02.283 --> 01:09:07.564
So I was working full time, commuting four hours a day, four to five hours a day.

01:09:08.033 --> 01:09:09.873
And, uh, going to school full time.

01:09:09.884 --> 01:09:10.314
Wow.

01:09:10.373 --> 01:09:11.873
And so, all of that ended.

01:09:11.993 --> 01:09:14.073
Overnight, I get a job working here in town.

01:09:14.083 --> 01:09:15.654
I'm like, I can ride my bike to work.

01:09:15.724 --> 01:09:17.003
I don't go to school anymore.

01:09:17.003 --> 01:09:19.333
And I just looked at my wife and I was like I could start a pub in my spare time.

01:09:19.373 --> 01:09:19.894
That's what I said.

01:09:19.894 --> 01:09:21.694
I said, I don't know what people do with all their free time.

01:09:22.073 --> 01:09:35.944
I think I would just draw that out, though, cause I mean You see a lot of TikTok videos and stuff these days, and people are like, I'm working full time at an entry level job and I've been there for two years, and I just don't know how I'm ever supposed to buy a house.

01:09:36.613 --> 01:09:43.974
Well, maybe you're 21 and you should get a second job, or do some other, you know, not that I'm saying the economy isn't hard.

01:09:44.384 --> 01:09:46.703
I know exactly what you're saying, and I'm torn by it.

01:09:46.923 --> 01:09:48.363
But a lot of people work their ass off to get to success.

01:09:48.413 --> 01:09:49.703
Because Because that was your lever.

01:09:49.894 --> 01:09:57.634
I, you know, that, that was how I knew I'd get out of poverty was by work and, and that's, that was something my mom taught us.

01:09:57.634 --> 01:10:01.134
And like I said, we were raised, you were a math major, we were raised very, very poor.

01:10:01.264 --> 01:10:01.573
Yeah.

01:10:01.814 --> 01:10:11.404
And, uh, and so yes, I, I fundamentally agree with the idea that you need to work harder to change your station.

01:10:11.413 --> 01:10:11.913
Yeah.

01:10:11.913 --> 01:10:12.003
Yeah.

01:10:12.404 --> 01:10:25.474
But if you look at where the economy is now and how much things cost now versus then let's just look at education alone Right for sure like the cost of education So that was the way I had 22, 000 in student loans when I finished college.

01:10:25.484 --> 01:10:46.969
Yeah, five and a half years Yeah I feel like my generation might have been the last to be able to truly pull themselves up by their bootstraps by getting an education I graduated with 70, 000 in debt right that I've since paid off but Um, it was through a lot of luck and a wife who like hammered down on spending and wouldn't let me go do a lot of things.

01:10:46.969 --> 01:10:48.224
She's like, well, we got this debt.

01:10:48.604 --> 01:10:49.724
And again, we got lucky.

01:10:49.724 --> 01:10:53.963
We bought a house for 189, 000 that we turned around and sold for a lot more.

01:10:53.963 --> 01:10:55.484
Well, that paid off all that debt, you know?

01:10:55.484 --> 01:11:06.654
And so there's a lot of there, yes, there's a lot of things I've done that are working hard, but I think there are a lot more things now that are working hard against the next generation.

01:11:08.793 --> 01:11:09.623
I think.

01:11:10.024 --> 01:11:22.064
Something that the next generation might need to do is change their tick tock message as opposed to I work full time at job X and I can never afford a house to talking more about what's really the limiting factors.

01:11:22.503 --> 01:11:25.404
It's not that the business isn't paying you more.

01:11:25.654 --> 01:11:26.873
The business can't afford to pay you.

01:11:26.984 --> 01:11:31.859
Yeah, it's the fact that Um, we, we, and I can get super political on this.

01:11:32.088 --> 01:11:32.628
I'm not going to.

01:11:32.628 --> 01:11:34.009
We'll get a whole political segment later.

01:11:34.368 --> 01:11:42.368
But we've got, you know, we do have, um, rules that are set up to benefit a very small section of society.

01:11:42.948 --> 01:11:46.009
And, um, one of the things in Colorado that can be done.

01:11:46.253 --> 01:11:50.104
That could, within 12 months, fix some of our, our housing costs.

01:11:50.104 --> 01:11:50.764
Yeah.

01:11:50.764 --> 01:11:51.394
Well, two things.

01:11:51.404 --> 01:11:57.673
One, allow mixed use housing in more places so that you can have high density housing next to low density housing.

01:11:58.243 --> 01:12:07.184
And then the other is stop allowing, uh, Airbnb and VRBO to be the primary, uh, investors in neighborhoods.

01:12:07.264 --> 01:12:07.663
Right.

01:12:07.724 --> 01:12:08.274
You know?

01:12:08.503 --> 01:12:10.814
I'm not against that as a business model.

01:12:10.814 --> 01:12:11.703
I like the idea.

01:12:11.823 --> 01:12:13.033
I used VRBO or Airbnb.

01:12:13.033 --> 01:12:13.764
Sure.

01:12:13.764 --> 01:12:14.014
Sure.

01:12:14.399 --> 01:12:17.819
But there has to be a point where it goes, okay, we're going into Fort Collins.

01:12:17.819 --> 01:12:19.878
Housing prices are insane in Fort Collins.

01:12:19.979 --> 01:12:23.658
We need to put a cap on how many people can invest that way in this community.

01:12:24.078 --> 01:12:24.488
You know?

01:12:25.069 --> 01:12:25.889
Yeah, I suppose.

01:12:25.899 --> 01:12:27.128
But then it has to be arbitrary.

01:12:27.639 --> 01:12:28.229
Yeah.

01:12:28.229 --> 01:12:28.559
Right.

01:12:28.609 --> 01:12:30.748
And this is where, this is where it gets hard.

01:12:30.769 --> 01:12:31.798
You better get in first.

01:12:31.798 --> 01:12:32.729
Otherwise you're screwed.

01:12:32.729 --> 01:12:33.189
Whatever.

01:12:33.219 --> 01:12:38.929
If I was part of this next generation that is truly, I do believe they are truly getting screwed over by the system right now.

01:12:39.298 --> 01:12:41.399
Um, it is insane.

01:12:41.783 --> 01:12:44.203
Well, the system is really the printing of money.

01:12:44.323 --> 01:12:44.684
Yes.

01:12:44.694 --> 01:12:44.984
Right?

01:12:44.984 --> 01:12:46.014
That causes inflation.

01:12:46.073 --> 01:12:46.363
Yes.

01:12:46.444 --> 01:12:48.554
Uh, which hits real assets the hardest.

01:12:48.573 --> 01:12:53.793
But we, we, it's so hard to live here and this is, I mean, this is primarily my employees.

01:12:53.844 --> 01:12:58.323
Um, I'm, I'm terrified because I have employees who are struggling to survive.

01:12:58.333 --> 01:12:58.844
Yeah, yeah.

01:12:58.863 --> 01:13:04.444
That's not a great place to have a business and, you know, I can't just pack up and leave.

01:13:04.654 --> 01:13:05.463
I don't want to do that.

01:13:05.463 --> 01:13:06.344
That's not the solution.

01:13:06.344 --> 01:13:08.663
The solution is to figure out alternative means.

01:13:08.673 --> 01:13:10.173
Yeah, if you start paying all your people.

01:13:10.234 --> 01:13:16.594
80, 000 a year to work at your pub, uh, you'll be, your cash reserves will dwindle quickly.

01:13:16.604 --> 01:13:17.734
There would be no cash reserves.

01:13:18.054 --> 01:13:18.404
You're right.

01:13:18.404 --> 01:13:30.274
You know, and so, so there, there are other solutions and that's where I wish the message from the next generation would push less against their immediate employer and more against the system.

01:13:30.823 --> 01:13:43.113
That that's actually causing headaches because the employers hurting to that's the truth most people unless you work for those mega corporations You know, there are corporations that have the GDP of a small nation sure they can afford to pay more.

01:13:43.564 --> 01:13:56.944
Yeah I'm sorry, my three pups can't well and like one of the reasons Tesla stock is strong is Because they pay their people 45, 000 a year on the front lines and Ford pays him 80.

01:13:56.993 --> 01:13:57.323
Yeah.

01:13:57.663 --> 01:13:58.134
Right.

01:13:58.163 --> 01:14:00.823
And you know, yes.

01:14:00.833 --> 01:14:02.894
Should Tesla pay more than 45?

01:14:03.234 --> 01:14:06.783
I suppose, but it's a significant competitive advantage right now.

01:14:06.844 --> 01:14:08.474
It is a significant competitive advantage.

01:14:08.484 --> 01:14:12.804
And a lot of their employees are in Texas, where houses are only a couple hundred grand, right?

01:14:12.844 --> 01:14:13.394
You know?

01:14:13.934 --> 01:14:18.384
Yeah, they just voted to approve moving corporate operations officially to Texas.

01:14:18.404 --> 01:14:18.814
Yeah.

01:14:18.863 --> 01:14:19.283
Yeah.

01:14:19.743 --> 01:14:28.783
So, um, hard to, yeah, interesting dynamic, you know, do you want to be that, can you be those legacy businesses anymore and have that 40 year union job?

01:14:28.783 --> 01:14:29.073
Hmm.

01:14:29.073 --> 01:14:29.094
Hmm.

01:14:29.314 --> 01:14:31.113
and still have a competitive company?

01:14:31.113 --> 01:14:35.774
Or will China's electric vehicle industry eat Tesla's lunch if they start paying people 80 grand a year?

01:14:35.913 --> 01:14:43.394
Well, and that's the other thing is a lot of, a lot of companies, the, the legacy companies, they'll complain that employees are no longer loyal.

01:14:43.884 --> 01:14:47.394
Well, the employer stopped being loyal a long time ago too.

01:14:47.394 --> 01:14:48.854
So yeah, they did it first.

01:14:49.024 --> 01:14:58.923
So, you know, um, we, we hope that, that we're, we think a little differently at William Oliver's about some of that stuff, but at the end of the day, the system.

01:14:59.413 --> 01:15:01.014
As a whole need to revamp.

01:15:01.113 --> 01:15:01.524
Yeah.

01:15:01.533 --> 01:15:02.623
That's where, you know.

01:15:03.184 --> 01:15:07.493
Everybody's, everybody's hurting and unfortunately all businesses get lumped in as one unit.

01:15:07.783 --> 01:15:10.583
We talk about employer versus business.

01:15:10.913 --> 01:15:16.694
We talk about all employees are the same group and all employers are the same group.

01:15:16.694 --> 01:15:25.481
I'm like, well, there, there is something vastly different about the way I operate and the way Kaiser Permanente operates or Amazon or, you know, a hundred percent.

01:15:25.481 --> 01:15:28.509
Um, we're going to come back after a short break.

01:15:28.509 --> 01:15:30.628
Um, I want to talk about like.

01:15:30.918 --> 01:15:33.168
Those stories of I want to start a pub.

01:15:33.349 --> 01:16:20.774
Okay, and where'd that went from there coolio we are back.

01:16:20.854 --> 01:16:21.984
Uh, octopus, by the way.

01:16:21.984 --> 01:16:25.394
So you can find this, break in the action Alma in our random conversation.

01:16:25.993 --> 01:16:26.974
I did see that in the email.

01:16:26.974 --> 01:16:29.863
Yeah, octopus is our safe word, but she'll look up every octopus.

01:16:29.863 --> 01:16:31.984
So if I say octopus a bunch, she'll pull up the.

01:16:33.134 --> 01:16:36.054
Is that how, is that, I want the transcript to be like, why is there all these octopuses?

01:16:36.104 --> 01:16:40.814
Is that like speech to text technology that helps define the Descript.

01:16:41.279 --> 01:16:45.788
Um, and it actually transcribes the whole conversation and then you can do just a word search.

01:16:45.809 --> 01:16:46.099
Cool.

01:16:46.458 --> 01:16:49.788
Uh, and find things that you might want to edit out or whatever.

01:16:49.979 --> 01:16:50.298
Cool.

01:16:50.338 --> 01:16:57.248
So if I want to, you know, if we have a break in the action, a little funny and we can octopus it and Alma can decide from here.

01:16:57.279 --> 01:16:58.418
Now she's just gotten over.

01:16:58.418 --> 01:16:59.548
She's so annoyed.

01:16:59.998 --> 01:17:09.069
Um, so yeah, let's talk about the, like you said, for 10 years, your father in law was like, here, you can talk about this pub that should exist.

01:17:09.993 --> 01:17:12.043
Not even in Fort Collins at the time, right?

01:17:12.134 --> 01:17:14.783
No, I wanted it to be wherever I was.

01:17:14.793 --> 01:17:14.823
Right.

01:17:14.823 --> 01:17:22.083
And that, that was actually part of my wife's argument against England as well, is that she would support my career, but she knew that having a pub was something important to me.

01:17:22.094 --> 01:17:23.673
There's a lot of established pubs there already.

01:17:23.684 --> 01:17:26.323
And yeah, she was like, you know, we're not going to own a pub in England.

01:17:26.333 --> 01:17:26.554
Right.

01:17:26.573 --> 01:17:29.163
We're not going to live there for the rest of our life, so that seems silly.

01:17:29.264 --> 01:17:40.604
And, um, yeah, I had a, um, uh, site, um, Deviation in this story is that, uh, I had a mentor in the industry named Denise Stinson.

01:17:40.604 --> 01:17:41.394
She went by Mama.

01:17:41.413 --> 01:17:45.054
She owned a bar in Colorado Springs called Tam O'Shanter.

01:17:45.314 --> 01:17:45.703
Okay.

01:17:45.724 --> 01:17:50.594
And it was a super divey, Irish, quasi Irish themed bar.

01:17:50.623 --> 01:17:51.094
Yeah, yeah.

01:17:51.094 --> 01:17:56.234
And, um, What was there, was there an Irish themed bar that had like a runner's club or something?

01:17:56.363 --> 01:17:57.404
Oh! McQuinn?

01:17:57.423 --> 01:18:02.224
That's, uh, Connor, Connor O'Neill, no, that was, Fort Collins was Connor O'Neill's.

01:18:02.264 --> 01:18:02.923
Jack Quinn's.

01:18:02.963 --> 01:18:03.613
Jack Quinn's.

01:18:03.663 --> 01:18:04.394
Quinn's, yeah.

01:18:04.394 --> 01:18:06.524
Yeah, so neat side story there some.

01:18:06.543 --> 01:18:09.963
The upstairs bar in, uh, Jack Quinn's is actually from Ireland.

01:18:10.354 --> 01:18:10.583
Oh.

01:18:10.673 --> 01:18:10.944
Yeah.

01:18:10.984 --> 01:18:13.314
And the owner, uh, used to be on city council.

01:18:13.384 --> 01:18:15.014
So there's all the trivia I know about that.

01:18:15.694 --> 01:18:15.884
Okay.

01:18:15.944 --> 01:18:16.123
Very good.

01:18:16.173 --> 01:18:18.724
But yeah, they used to have a 5K, uh, running club.

01:18:18.743 --> 01:18:18.974
Yeah.

01:18:18.974 --> 01:18:21.774
If you did the 5K, then you got a free beer afterwards.

01:18:21.783 --> 01:18:22.194
Yeah.

01:18:22.194 --> 01:18:22.234
Yeah.

01:18:22.234 --> 01:18:27.904
And I always said we're going to do that at William Oliver's because I used to be a runner, but then I started drinking more beer and started running a lot less.

01:18:28.533 --> 01:18:31.173
You're like, why am I going to pay these dumb runners for free beer?

01:18:31.703 --> 01:18:37.309
Maybe, uh, you just had, uh, um, run Windsor on, uh, Uh, recently.

01:18:37.328 --> 01:18:37.849
Oh, Mandy, yeah.

01:18:37.849 --> 01:18:38.798
Yeah, Mandy was on.

01:18:38.819 --> 01:18:42.810
So maybe I need to talk to Mandy and be like, all right, let's get the running club out of the Windsor Club.

01:18:42.810 --> 01:18:43.819
She can probably do it.

01:18:43.819 --> 01:18:44.021
Yeah.

01:18:44.021 --> 01:18:44.828
Uh, calling all Mandys.

01:18:44.828 --> 01:18:50.618
Uh, well, we're actually, uh, my, my ambulance, excuse me, my ambulance on the social media is around.

01:18:51.298 --> 01:18:59.094
I've got a 1989 Ford E350 ambulance that Already a pretty awesome RV, but soon it will be a mobile podcast studio.

01:18:59.163 --> 01:18:59.953
Oh my gosh.

01:19:00.024 --> 01:19:07.743
And in a month from now, I'm taking it on the Wild West Relay and I'll be interviewing some of her runners on the relay and get some footage from Mandy.

01:19:07.743 --> 01:19:11.154
And I'm going to be hauling her drone videographer guy around.

01:19:11.934 --> 01:19:12.873
So that'll be fun.

01:19:12.953 --> 01:19:13.564
Yeah, it's fun.

01:19:13.974 --> 01:19:14.304
That'll be fun.

01:19:14.304 --> 01:19:15.904
I like the running community.

01:19:15.963 --> 01:19:16.363
Yeah.

01:19:16.634 --> 01:19:18.043
So yeah, we can, we can work that out.

01:19:18.043 --> 01:19:18.984
I can make that introduction.

01:19:18.993 --> 01:19:20.703
So anyway, I do know Mandy.

01:19:20.703 --> 01:19:21.474
I just need to hit her up.

01:19:21.514 --> 01:19:21.944
Oh, there you go.

01:19:22.113 --> 01:19:22.344
Yeah.

01:19:23.003 --> 01:19:30.953
Yeah, so, um, Mama, basically, she, I had told her that my dream was to have, to do my career and then retire and start a pub.

01:19:31.154 --> 01:19:31.514
Okay.

01:19:31.734 --> 01:19:33.823
And she said that is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

01:19:34.043 --> 01:19:36.390
We're gonna be traveling after your career is done, dude.

01:19:36.390 --> 01:19:41.738
Yeah, she, she's like, Um, owning a bar is one of the hardest things you'll ever do.

01:19:41.809 --> 01:19:44.368
And she goes, and starting one from scratch is even more difficult.

01:19:44.418 --> 01:19:47.679
And if you wait till you're retired, you won't have the energy to do this.

01:19:47.679 --> 01:19:47.849
Yeah.

01:19:48.628 --> 01:19:49.929
And She sounds like a pretty smart lady.

01:19:50.019 --> 01:19:50.899
She's very smart.

01:19:50.979 --> 01:19:56.029
And, um, so, I Talk to Tiff about that.

01:19:56.029 --> 01:19:58.399
And I was like, so maybe let's move the timeline up a little.

01:19:58.399 --> 01:20:02.019
And that's where the whole England and we're not going to start a bar there.

01:20:02.019 --> 01:20:05.679
And she said, you know, Fort Collins, you wouldn't mind starting one there.

01:20:05.679 --> 01:20:05.988
Right.

01:20:05.988 --> 01:20:06.679
And I was like, yeah.

01:20:06.679 --> 01:20:14.948
So then when it came time to actually happen, this, you know, we've been talking about this now for over a decade and we're here and I've.

01:20:15.934 --> 01:20:16.804
with my masters.

01:20:16.804 --> 01:20:18.354
I'm not commuting to Colorado Springs.

01:20:18.354 --> 01:20:22.123
I have all this time on my hands and I'm like, let's start the pub.

01:20:22.224 --> 01:20:25.833
And she's just like, um, and started coming up with like, How old are your kids at this point?

01:20:26.293 --> 01:20:27.823
Like two and one.

01:20:27.984 --> 01:20:29.573
Like, yeah.

01:20:30.543 --> 01:20:32.623
Um, we I could understand her.

01:20:32.679 --> 01:20:33.328
hesitation.

01:20:33.359 --> 01:20:40.279
Yeah, but by the time we actually broke ground on the Fort Collins pub, they were old enough each to at least hold a hammer.

01:20:40.279 --> 01:20:45.918
So but we have pictures of them in their diapers and their big old bellies like just hammering holes in the walls.

01:20:46.349 --> 01:20:52.639
Um, and yeah, So we found this place in Fort Collins, your home that you bought, ultimately kind of drew you here, no?

01:20:52.668 --> 01:20:52.809
Yep.

01:20:53.118 --> 01:20:59.868
Um, this is like what I said, Tiffany wanted to be in Fort Collins and this is a great place to build community and I believe pubs are part of building community.

01:20:59.868 --> 01:21:01.679
And so let's build the pub here.

01:21:01.719 --> 01:21:03.698
And then Tiff started doing her pushback.

01:21:03.698 --> 01:21:08.788
She's, she's a very fiscal conservative person in terms of like, um, anything.

01:21:08.809 --> 01:21:09.649
She's risk averse.

01:21:09.719 --> 01:21:10.448
That's the better way to say it.

01:21:10.609 --> 01:21:11.418
She's risk averse.

01:21:11.448 --> 01:21:13.448
And, um, and so.

01:21:14.868 --> 01:21:16.248
I was all gung ho.

01:21:16.288 --> 01:21:17.939
I was like, this is gonna happen.

01:21:18.248 --> 01:21:23.519
We found a spot, uh, it's been vacant for seven years, seven years.

01:21:23.519 --> 01:21:24.668
The lease is right.

01:21:24.719 --> 01:21:25.979
We've got this.

01:21:26.059 --> 01:21:32.399
And then pretty much once we signed the lease, she slept like a baby because now it's done.

01:21:32.519 --> 01:21:34.408
It's just, it's just, it's done.

01:21:34.408 --> 01:21:35.078
We have to do it.

01:21:35.078 --> 01:21:35.139
Right.

01:21:35.663 --> 01:21:39.573
And I didn't sleep at all because I'm just sitting there going, what have I done?

01:21:39.613 --> 01:21:41.323
Making lists of things that need to happen.

01:21:41.323 --> 01:21:47.904
I can't believe I'm going to try to start a whiskey bar in a King Soopers parking lot, basically like, what have I done?

01:21:48.083 --> 01:21:54.823
And, and then, um, a friend of mine, Uh, Kyle, who works for New Belgium, um, at the time he wasn't a friend.

01:21:54.823 --> 01:21:59.203
He's just a guy who came in selling beer and he's like, Hey, here, you're starting a pub here, early phases.

01:21:59.203 --> 01:22:01.884
And I showed him the blueprint on the wall and all this.

01:22:01.884 --> 01:22:05.363
And that whole space is 14 feet, 11 inches by 63 feet.

01:22:05.404 --> 01:22:07.484
So it's very narrow and very long.

01:22:07.503 --> 01:22:08.064
Wow.

01:22:08.458 --> 01:22:11.038
And all it was, was a box when he saw it.

01:22:11.078 --> 01:22:11.529
Right.

01:22:11.599 --> 01:22:13.788
And he saw the blueprint and he's like, Hey man, this looks great.

01:22:13.809 --> 01:22:14.389
Best of luck.

01:22:14.399 --> 01:22:19.679
Well, over the years we became friends and I recalled that story one time in front of him and he goes, Oh, I remember that.

01:22:19.719 --> 01:22:21.548
And I remember telling you, Good job.

01:22:21.548 --> 01:22:22.319
This will be great.

01:22:22.349 --> 01:22:23.878
And leaving going, There is no way.

01:22:24.378 --> 01:22:24.899
This is not going to work.

01:22:24.899 --> 01:22:26.748
There is no way a bar is going to work there.

01:22:26.748 --> 01:22:27.979
It is so small.

01:22:28.849 --> 01:22:31.679
You just can't even spin the thing fast enough to pay the rent.

01:22:31.679 --> 01:22:34.083
And he goes, He's like, I'm so happy I was wrong.

01:22:34.613 --> 01:22:42.703
Um, but my first drawing of the pub, I just saw the space and I pulled out a piece of paper or a napkin, I think it was a napkin at a bar and I etched out.

01:22:43.043 --> 01:22:44.243
I was like, yeah, bathroom would go here.

01:22:44.243 --> 01:22:44.753
Bar goes here.

01:22:44.753 --> 01:22:45.384
Yeah, it'll work.

01:22:45.384 --> 01:22:50.094
My wife goes, that is not how you do a floor plan.

01:22:50.224 --> 01:22:54.194
And so she made a proper floor plan and she's like, yeah, I think we can make everything fit.

01:22:54.194 --> 01:22:55.014
I was like, yeah, that's what I said.

01:22:55.033 --> 01:22:56.793
Look, my napkin and yours are the same thing.

01:22:57.673 --> 01:22:59.724
Actually, that takes me back to, um.

01:23:00.378 --> 01:23:06.238
So I was working in Southern California and, um, our oldest had been born, but our youngest hadn't.

01:23:06.328 --> 01:23:10.389
And, um, we went down to San Diego.

01:23:10.389 --> 01:23:12.788
I was on a work This was like more contract work after you came back.

01:23:12.798 --> 01:23:13.719
Yeah, more contract work.

01:23:13.719 --> 01:23:18.248
And, and, um, we were at this, this bar and I do know the name, but I'd have to pull it up.

01:23:18.349 --> 01:23:22.958
Um, but we're at this bar in the, uh, Gaslight district or whatever it's called in San Diego.

01:23:24.548 --> 01:23:30.128
And I'm like, Tiffany, this is like the feel I want my pup to have.

01:23:30.649 --> 01:23:34.009
So we started, it was about four hours from where we lived and so on.

01:23:34.309 --> 01:23:36.208
I started a business plan.

01:23:38.203 --> 01:23:42.283
Uh, and then the whole way home, she was just writing every, all our little thoughts down.

01:23:42.283 --> 01:23:48.274
And I wish we still had that napkin, but that was the original business plan for William Oliver's was spurred out of this bar there.

01:23:48.854 --> 01:24:02.019
Uh, two years ago, I'm back in San Diego and I go to that same bar and while I'm sitting there, I open up Google maps and it says, uh, Something like bars nearby that are like William Oliver's.

01:24:02.048 --> 01:24:04.349
You know how Google collects all the data about you.

01:24:04.349 --> 01:24:06.408
So it's like, Hey, you're at William Oliver's all the time.

01:24:06.408 --> 01:24:07.219
You're in a different city.

01:24:07.229 --> 01:24:08.809
Here's one like William Oliver's.

01:24:09.309 --> 01:24:12.479
And I'm like, Oh, I showed the, I showed the bartender.

01:24:12.479 --> 01:24:16.859
I was like, our business plan started in this bar and look, Google thinks they're the same.

01:24:17.559 --> 01:24:18.088
I love it.

01:24:19.529 --> 01:24:21.238
So, um, Yeah.

01:24:21.238 --> 01:24:22.078
What's that like?

01:24:22.118 --> 01:24:24.929
Like, did you like hire contractors?

01:24:24.929 --> 01:24:26.269
You build out your own bar?

01:24:26.319 --> 01:24:29.298
Like what, what was your level of involvement in all of that?

01:24:29.309 --> 01:24:32.899
Well, to get off the ground, as I said earlier, we were self funded.

01:24:33.139 --> 01:24:33.618
So, right.

01:24:33.618 --> 01:24:35.939
And you, you got a day job and I got a day job.

01:24:36.158 --> 01:24:37.458
So there wasn't a whole lot of money there.

01:24:37.458 --> 01:24:42.368
So we hired a general contractor cause the city required one, um, because it's over.

01:24:43.474 --> 01:24:45.904
I'm like, well, every commercial project is over 5, 000.

01:24:46.703 --> 01:24:53.984
Um, and so we had a general contractor and then a licensed plumber and a licensed electrician, cause those are what the city required.

01:24:54.764 --> 01:25:00.073
Other than that, Tiffany and I were doing it with the help of a few friends or contacts I had made throughout the way.

01:25:00.073 --> 01:25:05.224
Um, I suppose that's a big shout out is to Kyle Eddie at green check solutions.

01:25:05.234 --> 01:25:05.724
He's built.

01:25:06.109 --> 01:25:07.809
Probably half the bars in this town.

01:25:07.908 --> 01:25:08.269
Okay.

01:25:08.538 --> 01:25:11.448
Um, he's a, he is a creative person.

01:25:11.448 --> 01:25:12.679
I think I know his work.

01:25:12.708 --> 01:25:15.458
He's creative who happens to know how to build stuff.

01:25:15.519 --> 01:25:16.099
Right, right.

01:25:16.109 --> 01:25:16.149
You know?

01:25:16.439 --> 01:25:19.078
And so like he's done the bar top at Horse and Dragon.

01:25:19.118 --> 01:25:19.279
Yep.

01:25:19.319 --> 01:25:21.279
Um, at uh, what's Colin's place?

01:25:21.279 --> 01:25:22.229
Why am I blanking on it?

01:25:22.229 --> 01:25:23.559
Downtown, the brewery.

01:25:24.029 --> 01:25:24.988
It's been here forever.

01:25:25.248 --> 01:25:25.708
Uh.

01:25:25.708 --> 01:25:26.588
I'm so sorry Colin.

01:25:27.878 --> 01:25:31.838
Oh, the, uh, well, not, no, the one off Remington there.

01:25:31.868 --> 01:25:33.389
Yeah, right across the street from the parking garage.

01:25:33.868 --> 01:25:36.038
Yeah, the, uh, Oh my gosh.

01:25:36.059 --> 01:25:36.849
Space Ghost.

01:25:37.048 --> 01:25:37.918
No, not Space Ghost.

01:25:37.948 --> 01:25:38.899
It's gonna hit me later.

01:25:38.958 --> 01:25:40.488
Anyway, sorry, Colin, that I'm blanking.

01:25:40.488 --> 01:25:41.408
That's so embarrassing.

01:25:41.458 --> 01:25:50.368
Uh But yeah, um, yeah, so he's, he's done a lot of work and so had a little context like that throughout who helped us with things.

01:25:50.368 --> 01:25:56.158
But um, if you go into William Oliver's and you've been there, so you know that the left wall is all stone, right?

01:25:56.458 --> 01:26:00.569
Well that is four tons of stone that we didn't hire out.

01:26:00.658 --> 01:26:04.088
Tiffany and I did that and that's, I always said is my secret.

01:26:04.088 --> 01:26:10.038
We lost, I lost 27 pounds opening that because we had to move that stone multiple times because no matter where I put it.

01:26:10.173 --> 01:26:12.774
That's where who is always in the way, the contractor coming in.

01:26:12.804 --> 01:26:17.113
So the electrician be like, Hey, I need it off this wall cause I'm running a running electric.

01:26:17.113 --> 01:26:17.394
Okay.

01:26:17.394 --> 01:26:21.144
So we move it to the middle and the plumber will be like, Hey, I'm about to bust up all the concrete right where that is.

01:26:21.144 --> 01:26:22.073
And I need to run plumbing.

01:26:22.144 --> 01:26:22.323
Yeah.

01:26:22.323 --> 01:26:22.613
Yeah.

01:26:23.123 --> 01:26:24.654
So we move four tons of stone.

01:26:24.703 --> 01:26:25.503
I don't know how many times.

01:26:25.514 --> 01:26:26.394
Oh, that's really interesting.

01:26:26.394 --> 01:26:27.613
So you said, when did you open?

01:26:27.613 --> 01:26:28.634
What month did you open?

01:26:28.684 --> 01:26:30.293
That was March of 2013.

01:26:30.333 --> 01:26:30.863
Okay.

01:26:30.923 --> 01:26:37.753
So I worked at the Capitol West bank about a mile south, two miles south of William Oliver's, but I quit October of.

01:26:39.304 --> 01:26:40.984
24, 20 13.

01:26:41.073 --> 01:26:43.264
Okay, so we'd only been open a few months, six months.

01:26:43.264 --> 01:26:46.234
I, I bet I ate at your place at least twice a month in that time.

01:26:46.234 --> 01:26:52.444
And then like since then, my whole world is north of Prospect and so I go down there sometimes, like Jill and I enjoy Willam Oliver's.

01:26:52.444 --> 01:26:54.604
If we're in that quadrant, we stop in.

01:26:54.663 --> 01:26:54.963
Yeah.

01:26:55.234 --> 01:26:55.833
Basically.

01:26:57.413 --> 01:26:58.974
I was only overlapping with you.

01:26:59.003 --> 01:27:04.134
That's why we're kind of, it's one of my favorite things about Col uh, uh, I almost said Colorado Springs about Fort Collins.

01:27:04.283 --> 01:27:05.423
Um, is that.

01:27:06.014 --> 01:27:07.354
everybody is so community.

01:27:07.373 --> 01:27:08.623
They're their neighborhood.

01:27:08.703 --> 01:27:09.734
That's what they're focused on.

01:27:10.354 --> 01:27:18.363
And I really like that because it does help the small businesses succeed against some of the bigger chains when people care about what's happening in their neighborhood.

01:27:18.384 --> 01:27:22.743
I live in between my own pub and Jessup Farm Barrel House.

01:27:22.774 --> 01:27:23.154
Perfect.

01:27:23.184 --> 01:27:25.373
And so those are my two stops.

01:27:25.373 --> 01:27:27.184
I actually my front door looks at the barrel house.

01:27:27.194 --> 01:27:28.894
So I've got a brewery right out my front door.

01:27:28.913 --> 01:27:36.019
Well, and that Uh, the Jessup Farm restaurant there was one of my two main locations where I wanted to have a restaurant.

01:27:37.009 --> 01:27:45.809
So that was my, my own journey was I was, I left banking to try to start a restaurant, ended up with a food trailer, and then Loco Think Tank kind of grew out of the ashes of that disaster.

01:27:45.838 --> 01:27:46.219
Gotcha.

01:27:46.628 --> 01:27:51.779
Yeah, I, I reached out to Gino who, uh, was the developer on that project.

01:27:52.474 --> 01:27:59.623
Um, and when they put up their sign on Timberline saying that the farmhouse was available, yeah, I was like, this is exactly what I want.

01:27:59.764 --> 01:28:00.264
Right.

01:28:00.293 --> 01:28:02.274
And I reached out and he said, well, what's your timeline?

01:28:02.274 --> 01:28:05.283
I said, uh, no quicker than a month.

01:28:05.304 --> 01:28:06.323
No later than three months.

01:28:06.323 --> 01:28:07.283
I want to get this thing open.

01:28:07.283 --> 01:28:08.684
He goes, Oh, we're still two years out.

01:28:08.703 --> 01:28:09.073
Right.

01:28:09.073 --> 01:28:15.434
And I was like, Oh, I was kind of more in that zone, but it was also like, and here's a rough estimate of how much we're thinking in rent.

01:28:15.434 --> 01:28:16.609
And I was like, Ooh.

01:28:17.219 --> 01:28:19.269
And, and, and refurbishment costs.

01:28:19.269 --> 01:28:19.469
Yeah.

01:28:19.838 --> 01:28:20.448
Um.

01:28:20.519 --> 01:28:21.529
That is the terrifying thing.

01:28:21.529 --> 01:28:22.189
So God bless them.

01:28:22.189 --> 01:28:25.269
I'm so glad I didn't get a big loan and open a restaurant back in those days.

01:28:25.588 --> 01:28:32.809
If, if you're going to get into the restaurant space, a loan is the opposite and I'm sure when you were in your banker days, you would tell them the opposite of that.

01:28:32.809 --> 01:28:41.569
You would say, no, no, a loan is a good option, but the truth is the margins are so thin in a restaurant that you have to pay the bank their, their, their cut first.

01:28:41.578 --> 01:28:42.059
Right.

01:28:42.118 --> 01:28:43.189
And there's nothing left over.

01:28:43.219 --> 01:28:44.944
No, I think, uh, in the future.

01:28:44.944 --> 01:28:55.043
Food business, especially the margins are so thin that you usually, but I mean, I don't know that many restauranteurs in part because as a banker, they were like, don't talk to restauranteurs.

01:28:55.913 --> 01:28:57.594
You know, we don't need their loans.

01:28:58.224 --> 01:29:08.793
Even now with three locations, I think I would still struggle to convince a bank to, and even with your quality of books and things like that, you know, they, Oh, I'd finance your real estate at least.

01:29:08.804 --> 01:29:09.583
Do you own any real estate?

01:29:09.724 --> 01:29:10.123
No, we don't.

01:29:10.163 --> 01:29:11.083
All tenancies.

01:29:11.094 --> 01:29:25.889
That's, that's part of my wife being risk adverse is that, um, It gives us an out, we can, I guess, but the only really good reason to run a restaurant is to buy real estate over time, any restaurant that's been in operation for 40 plus years, they own the real estate or totally.

01:29:25.948 --> 01:29:29.469
I mean, it's like the, it's like the useful thing about a restaurant.

01:29:29.469 --> 01:29:31.838
Otherwise you'll just be pulling your hair out eventually.

01:29:32.149 --> 01:29:34.569
Although yours is not a restaurant, right?

01:29:34.569 --> 01:29:39.779
It's a whole different thing, making a mild menu and important bourbon and having good conversations.

01:29:39.788 --> 01:29:41.998
So, so far it's working out for us.

01:29:41.998 --> 01:29:42.689
Yeah.

01:29:42.689 --> 01:29:47.094
Um, But, you know, um, we have three good landlords in three different locations.

01:29:47.104 --> 01:29:47.863
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:29:47.873 --> 01:29:50.623
Um, my one in, the one in Windsor is actually a really good friend of mine.

01:29:50.654 --> 01:29:53.073
Any thoughts or plans for expansion beyond?

01:29:53.354 --> 01:29:54.793
Three was the original goal.

01:29:54.863 --> 01:29:55.234
Okay.

01:29:55.373 --> 01:29:57.684
Um, that was the original goals.

01:29:57.684 --> 01:29:58.724
Three William Olivers.

01:29:58.743 --> 01:30:01.104
What I'd like to do now is diversify.

01:30:01.634 --> 01:30:06.094
Within the same corporate umbrella more, uh, concepts.

01:30:06.154 --> 01:30:06.484
Okay.

01:30:06.904 --> 01:30:11.333
You know, I, I kinda like, um, hot corner concepts Yeah.

01:30:11.333 --> 01:30:12.713
Here, here in town and how Yeah.

01:30:12.713 --> 01:30:16.253
They got the Come Chicken is way different than the Moot House, than the MO is way different.

01:30:16.253 --> 01:30:16.373
Yeah.

01:30:16.378 --> 01:30:21.054
They've Austin four different options that they, so they can kind of play around and have fun.

01:30:21.083 --> 01:30:21.354
Yeah.

01:30:21.413 --> 01:30:24.144
And still keep the risks minimized.

01:30:24.144 --> 01:30:26.064
If something doesn't work, you can just shut it down.

01:30:26.064 --> 01:30:26.064
Yeah.

01:30:26.094 --> 01:30:26.363
Yeah.

01:30:26.363 --> 01:30:28.344
Like the Austin's at Pelican Lakes or whatever.

01:30:28.863 --> 01:30:30.274
Was that Austin's homestead?

01:30:30.434 --> 01:30:31.663
Oh, I don't know if I, yeah.

01:30:31.963 --> 01:30:35.793
Um, you should listen to my conversation with, uh, Al, uh, Jansen.

01:30:35.934 --> 01:30:36.194
Yeah.

01:30:36.394 --> 01:30:44.384
Uh, he's silver grill and you know, I'll probably silver grill Verne's now, but he was the number two at, at hot corner for a long time.

01:30:44.703 --> 01:30:49.234
And part of his journey was humping it out to Windsor and trying to serve.

01:30:49.628 --> 01:30:53.118
golfers and stuff at Austin's Homestead for a couple few years.

01:30:53.288 --> 01:30:54.109
That would be tough.

01:30:54.198 --> 01:30:55.488
It was just a whole different business model.

01:30:55.488 --> 01:31:02.899
And they, you know, ultimately Steve and the group just, it just didn't really work for their thing, you know?

01:31:03.488 --> 01:31:05.458
So, yeah, I think that's wise.

01:31:05.679 --> 01:31:09.378
So, yeah, that's kind of where we've looked at is, is how could we diversify?

01:31:09.389 --> 01:31:11.769
I think Do you have any thoughts about what that might be?

01:31:11.828 --> 01:31:18.229
I think there's a lot of space in this town still for, uh, supporting food trucks with a A commissary type?

01:31:18.229 --> 01:31:19.298
A commissary type thing.

01:31:19.819 --> 01:31:23.229
Um, I have some ideas about how to change up the current commissary.

01:31:23.509 --> 01:31:30.988
Dude, if there could be like in some towns there's like a, a commissary kitchen with a yard with six or eight semi permanent food trucks.

01:31:30.988 --> 01:31:31.439
Yeah.

01:31:31.439 --> 01:31:31.863
Yeah.

01:31:32.073 --> 01:31:33.543
It would be, it would be, it would kill it.

01:31:33.573 --> 01:31:34.548
We've, it'd be great for everybody.

01:31:34.548 --> 01:31:43.204
There's a couple concepts like that in Denver, and I know a few of the owners of those, and they, you know, I've been to some of those out west too, in Portland, and you've got a person with a liquor license, so you can get your boots over there there.

01:31:43.210 --> 01:31:43.354
Right.

01:31:43.354 --> 01:31:49.384
You have your liquor license, you've got, and you've got the commissary for people who just want to go in and come out and Yeah.

01:31:49.384 --> 01:31:51.123
But you got permanent trucks there as well.

01:31:51.213 --> 01:31:53.734
Yeah, dude, it, it, it's a really good.

01:31:53.998 --> 01:32:06.918
Way to give everybody a little bit what they want and I think that the game changer piece has to be there has to be Something to draw people totally that's you know where I like You know the what do they call it the exchange?

01:32:07.029 --> 01:32:07.908
Mm hmm downtown.

01:32:07.908 --> 01:32:16.469
Yeah, I I like where their heads at with that Yeah, and I think a food truck or two Yeah, which is the opposite of what they were going for.

01:32:16.509 --> 01:32:21.269
They don't want a food truck, but I think a food truck or two would bring in people who are like visiting.

01:32:21.378 --> 01:32:23.698
I want to follow this food truck around, right?

01:32:23.759 --> 01:32:24.649
Double dubs out.

01:32:24.769 --> 01:32:33.078
Well, I met, uh, I met with Josh Guernsey way back when they were first noodling on that project because I was experienced in the food truck realm and he wanted to know what.

01:32:33.238 --> 01:32:38.099
These little concepts, you know, like the churn or yeah, uh, what's the, the flatbread gay?

01:32:38.779 --> 01:32:42.759
Uh, I know it, but I can't remember.

01:32:42.759 --> 01:32:50.524
Um, you know, like he was a really successful, uh, Mobile food guy for a long time.

01:32:50.524 --> 01:32:52.493
And they're like, what would cater to somebody like that?

01:32:52.703 --> 01:32:55.524
And it's like, well, you got to build community, you know, give that opportunity.

01:32:55.694 --> 01:32:56.003
Yeah.

01:32:56.394 --> 01:33:02.314
Although maybe you should have that, uh, that brewery space right in the corner there, you can just, uh, operate something right there.

01:33:02.323 --> 01:33:05.194
It's some food trucks in maybe some Josh to take your call.

01:33:06.304 --> 01:33:10.434
So, um, what do we, what kind of brought us back around for a sucker, right?

01:33:10.434 --> 01:33:14.413
Like, I don't feel like we're missing too much in terms of the journey back.

01:33:14.413 --> 01:33:17.814
Like you kind of talked about leasing the space, building it out.

01:33:18.543 --> 01:33:20.984
In laws, outlaws, 401ks.

01:33:21.594 --> 01:33:22.663
I don't really have too much.

01:33:22.703 --> 01:33:24.064
Uh, look into the future.

01:33:24.104 --> 01:33:27.344
Uh, taking, uh, two of my staff to Scotland here in September.

01:33:27.923 --> 01:33:28.984
So that's something that we do.

01:33:28.984 --> 01:33:29.694
That's really fun.

01:33:29.694 --> 01:33:32.963
If you work for us for five years, you qualify for a trip to Scotland.

01:33:33.654 --> 01:33:42.814
And so it's the general manager from Lafayette and then, uh, Colleen, who, uh, has been with us in Fort Collins for almost seven years.

01:33:42.904 --> 01:33:46.554
And is that your, uh, Other part of your heritage in addition to the, the Mexican?

01:33:46.663 --> 01:33:47.573
It is Scottish.

01:33:47.583 --> 01:33:50.253
That is the Scottish Irish side.

01:33:50.253 --> 01:33:52.894
I got married in a kilt, which my sister always laughed at.

01:33:52.894 --> 01:33:58.104
She said, you know, we're Mexican and you're getting married, but no, that is the other side.

01:33:58.184 --> 01:34:01.043
I've been to one wedding where there was a kilt, uh, on the groom.

01:34:01.054 --> 01:34:01.604
So I dig it.

01:34:01.804 --> 01:34:02.144
Yeah.

01:34:02.264 --> 01:34:05.099
Um, so the, the, the turn here is the.

01:34:05.248 --> 01:34:13.509
It's the, we always talk about faith, family, politics, um, any order, anything you like, anything you don't like.

01:34:13.798 --> 01:34:15.009
I like all those things.

01:34:15.059 --> 01:34:17.048
Um, let's start with politics.

01:34:17.048 --> 01:34:40.128
It seems like it might be the longest, uh, okay, so I put a, I put a post on Facebook today basically observing that my sense was that the, the, the reaction to the fireworks last weekend was Less vibrant than in years past because people watched the debate and they realized our president is, should be a nursing home occupant.

01:34:40.649 --> 01:34:45.168
And it just kind of sucks out the pride a little bit on what our country really is like.

01:34:45.779 --> 01:34:47.668
And I'm not defending Donald Trump with that quote.

01:34:47.819 --> 01:34:58.838
Statement I'm just saying it's a weird place in America right now where that's our president Do you think if there is a 40 year old president currently that we would have had more excitement about America?

01:34:58.868 --> 01:34:59.708
I don't think so.

01:35:00.009 --> 01:35:11.123
I think yes, I think people are feel deceived I don't I think people are waking up to the fact that American citizens have been pawns in a political game for a long time.

01:35:11.413 --> 01:35:11.884
Fair.

01:35:11.974 --> 01:35:17.033
And are now realizing that the politicians themselves are also pawns in the game.

01:35:17.033 --> 01:35:17.644
Totally.

01:35:17.724 --> 01:35:19.793
That, and I, I, I think that's fair.

01:35:19.823 --> 01:35:21.819
I think until, really until 2020.

01:35:22.458 --> 01:35:23.219
COVID hit.

01:35:23.229 --> 01:35:26.979
Most people didn't understand that even the politicians are just pawns.

01:35:27.009 --> 01:35:27.368
Totally.

01:35:27.368 --> 01:35:29.158
They're just pawns with a few more moves.

01:35:29.189 --> 01:35:30.288
We can go forward.

01:35:30.488 --> 01:35:31.038
Yeah, yeah.

01:35:31.078 --> 01:35:36.578
Uh, and they, you know, but they're, they're certainly not the queens or the kings on the chessboard.

01:35:36.599 --> 01:35:40.639
They, they're pawns that just, they can go two moves instead of one.

01:35:40.719 --> 01:35:41.078
Right.

01:35:41.078 --> 01:35:41.448
That's it.

01:35:41.469 --> 01:35:41.673
Right.

01:35:41.673 --> 01:35:42.679
You know, and.

01:35:42.788 --> 01:35:50.948
I heard an interview, uh, with, uh, With Justin Trudeau's brother on Tucker Carlson, uh, which I highly recommend if anybody's curious.

01:35:51.229 --> 01:35:53.298
I don't know if I can export anything Tucker Carlson's doing.

01:35:53.309 --> 01:35:54.578
Well, I don't know.

01:35:54.819 --> 01:36:02.639
Uh, like Trudeau's brother is literally like an old school hippie, like a seventies style, kind of a hippie guy.

01:36:02.668 --> 01:36:08.179
And one of the statements in that was, you know, Justin's not the boss.

01:36:08.189 --> 01:36:10.378
He's, he's not like the owner of the team.

01:36:10.389 --> 01:36:11.509
He's not like the manager.

01:36:11.509 --> 01:36:12.399
He's like the coach.

01:36:12.439 --> 01:36:12.769
Yeah.

01:36:13.418 --> 01:36:20.384
Well, it's different though, in the Canadian system, because The monarchy still has control to shut down the government.

01:36:20.384 --> 01:36:22.333
I believe the last time the monarchy Oh, is that right?

01:36:22.333 --> 01:36:25.474
Yeah, the monarchy shut down the Australian government in the 70s, I believe.

01:36:26.014 --> 01:36:27.524
So, you'll hear it a lot of times.

01:36:27.533 --> 01:36:28.573
France is going through it right now.

01:36:28.573 --> 01:36:29.953
They just elected a bunch of people.

01:36:30.163 --> 01:36:32.394
And they have to, have to quote, form a government.

01:36:32.484 --> 01:36:32.844
Right.

01:36:33.054 --> 01:36:37.974
And so, The American system's a little bit different, that we elect people and that is the government.

01:36:37.974 --> 01:36:41.373
The government is formed by election, whereas they still have to form a government.

01:36:41.573 --> 01:36:51.884
They have to agree on what the rules are going to be, who's going to have power, who's going to All the centrists and the leftists together bonded to say, let's keep those right wingers out.

01:36:51.884 --> 01:36:56.444
But now they have to come up with new rules on how they're going to govern so that they can form a government.

01:36:56.564 --> 01:36:57.194
Oh, wow.

01:36:57.234 --> 01:36:59.043
And so, if you So it's literally like, what?

01:37:00.524 --> 01:37:00.923
Yeah.

01:37:00.993 --> 01:37:12.113
And so, so the, the prime minister, um, has to go basically to the queen and say, I, or the king now, uh, I have formed a government in your name.

01:37:12.113 --> 01:37:12.743
Oh, that's fair.

01:37:12.753 --> 01:37:13.573
Do you approve?

01:37:13.604 --> 01:37:14.163
Right, right.

01:37:14.163 --> 01:37:14.573
Okay.

01:37:14.573 --> 01:37:24.423
So that's, uh, I guess that's a pretty good, uh, metaphor or explainer for me on the difference between a Trudeau and a, and a Biden.

01:37:24.453 --> 01:37:26.969
And a Biden is that our president is the president.

01:37:27.418 --> 01:37:28.529
They are the NWL.

01:37:28.578 --> 01:37:31.288
Right, well theoretically, but obviously not.

01:37:31.319 --> 01:37:40.069
And the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court just basically ruled that we have a king, so long as the king has advisors and the advisors are the Supreme Court.

01:37:40.078 --> 01:37:45.269
So the latest ruling basically from the Supreme Court gives presidential immunity.

01:37:46.019 --> 01:37:50.948
Uh, for nearly all actions that the president does.

01:37:50.979 --> 01:37:55.609
And those who determine in an official capacity who, yeah, but who gets to determine that right?

01:37:55.689 --> 01:37:56.819
The courts, right?

01:37:56.878 --> 01:37:59.828
So now that is a king with advisors.

01:37:59.849 --> 01:38:01.488
The advisors are the Supreme Court.

01:38:01.538 --> 01:38:05.759
They are strong and they get to decide whether or not the king has acted appropriately.

01:38:06.198 --> 01:38:08.673
So we are, we are, we are.

01:38:09.404 --> 01:38:16.944
We are now just a few hundred years away from being, uh, a kingdom that has a government formed in the king's name.

01:38:17.354 --> 01:38:19.064
You know, we're, we're on our path.

01:38:19.323 --> 01:38:20.793
I don't think it'll actually go that way.

01:38:21.083 --> 01:38:24.913
No, I don't think the American people will ever willingly let that happen.

01:38:25.453 --> 01:38:29.469
Um, I think we're terrified now because it has, It is now law.

01:38:29.529 --> 01:38:36.359
It has been interpreted by the Supreme Court as that is essentially now I've given it fancier words than it or less fancy.

01:38:36.359 --> 01:38:40.088
I suppose we have more layman's more layman's terms than what they gave.

01:38:40.458 --> 01:38:48.618
Um, but essentially we we have that our president does have true authority to do whatever they want.

01:38:48.918 --> 01:38:55.488
If the courts will back them up, if they can make a good enough argument to the court system saying that these were official facts, function of their role.

01:38:55.578 --> 01:38:55.939
Yeah.

01:38:56.059 --> 01:38:56.689
Then fair enough.

01:38:56.689 --> 01:38:57.469
It's then it's legal.

01:38:57.529 --> 01:39:00.859
Although I, you know, I think it, it bites a hard edge.

01:39:00.859 --> 01:39:05.099
Like I've, I've read thoughts on both sides of that Chevron.

01:39:05.099 --> 01:39:05.338
Right.

01:39:05.344 --> 01:39:06.838
Is that the, the Chevron decision?

01:39:06.838 --> 01:39:07.559
Just, yeah.

01:39:07.559 --> 01:39:07.618
Yeah.

01:39:07.828 --> 01:39:16.238
Um, and if you, if they decided the other way, then a president could be like.

01:39:17.979 --> 01:39:23.029
Limited by decision based on what their liability might be.

01:39:23.229 --> 01:39:24.149
But shouldn't they be?

01:39:24.729 --> 01:39:26.738
I suppose so, to an extent.

01:39:26.899 --> 01:39:30.219
So the sheriff of Larimer County is an elected officer.

01:39:30.219 --> 01:39:30.488
Sure.

01:39:30.649 --> 01:39:30.969
Yep.

01:39:31.779 --> 01:39:35.219
The sheriff is limited by what he can prove he did legally.

01:39:35.373 --> 01:39:35.833
Right.

01:39:35.934 --> 01:39:40.404
He, if he But he's ultimately pretty much the big shit in this county.

01:39:40.404 --> 01:39:45.154
He's the big swinger for the county, and if Hmm, but what he did legally.

01:39:45.203 --> 01:39:49.514
If he does something that the voting public doesn't like, we have two options.

01:39:49.543 --> 01:39:54.354
We can vote him out, or we can press to take him to court.

01:39:54.423 --> 01:39:54.724
Yeah.

01:39:54.923 --> 01:39:55.314
Right?

01:39:55.838 --> 01:40:00.899
And so he's not above the law, is the law in Larimer County, but he's not above the law.

01:40:00.929 --> 01:40:01.288
Right.

01:40:01.298 --> 01:40:03.498
We have several layers of courts that can go above that.

01:40:03.828 --> 01:40:13.279
And basically the way the Supreme Court decision reads is that the Supreme Court, the last court in the land gets to decide whether or not the president was acting officially.

01:40:13.279 --> 01:40:15.139
Well, this limits it to very few people.

01:40:15.139 --> 01:40:17.738
So that's arguably a power grab by the Supreme Court.

01:40:17.738 --> 01:40:18.349
Yeah, I think so.

01:40:18.349 --> 01:40:20.029
Which is what the Supreme Court has been doing for the last 40 years.

01:40:20.029 --> 01:40:23.198
Which means we should definitely add six members to the Supreme Court.

01:40:23.208 --> 01:40:23.788
Minimum.

01:40:24.238 --> 01:40:26.029
Why should we not expand the Supreme Court?

01:40:26.389 --> 01:40:27.948
Think about the population, the U.

01:40:27.948 --> 01:40:28.059
S.

01:40:28.059 --> 01:40:31.689
population, uh, in the 1950s versus today.

01:40:31.748 --> 01:40:34.958
Massively larger population, same number of justices.

01:40:35.208 --> 01:40:36.712
So we have the same number of justices.

01:40:36.712 --> 01:40:38.519
I would say the House of Representatives, yes.

01:40:38.809 --> 01:40:39.798
But that's the whole point.

01:40:39.819 --> 01:40:41.649
The House of Representatives is, is adjusted.

01:40:41.649 --> 01:40:43.189
The committees get unwieldy.

01:40:43.198 --> 01:40:47.929
You know, a nine person court is bad enough, but a frickin thirty one person court?

01:40:48.083 --> 01:40:56.404
I would, you know, but why not 23, that's a good number, you know, and so, so I'm just saying that we don't have enough justices now.

01:40:56.863 --> 01:41:10.503
Um, now what's there, there, uh, I forget the woman's name, but she, she actually came up with a systemized way of adding justices where it's not the current president, it is adding them through a certain system.

01:41:10.863 --> 01:41:12.913
And the other thing that I think most people.

01:41:13.179 --> 01:41:17.248
Uh, I think most Americans can get behind is, is term limits to the justices.

01:41:17.469 --> 01:41:17.639
Uh.

01:41:17.649 --> 01:41:18.328
A hundred percent.

01:41:18.338 --> 01:41:18.689
You know.

01:41:18.698 --> 01:41:19.359
Yeah.

01:41:19.738 --> 01:41:20.418
I think so.

01:41:20.498 --> 01:41:22.779
An appointment for life, I understand the idea, right?

01:41:22.779 --> 01:41:25.779
Which is, you don't have to worry about your job for the rest of your life.

01:41:26.069 --> 01:41:30.639
So you can make decisions that you believe are the right decision under the letter of the law.

01:41:30.929 --> 01:41:31.378
Right.

01:41:31.559 --> 01:41:32.788
And your job is safe.

01:41:33.458 --> 01:41:36.408
However, you're now in your 80s.

01:41:36.939 --> 01:41:37.269
Right.

01:41:37.309 --> 01:41:38.469
Your job was safe.

01:41:38.548 --> 01:41:40.048
You should have retired by now.

01:41:40.359 --> 01:41:40.948
You know?

01:41:41.319 --> 01:41:44.529
If you were a general in the army, we would have forced your retirement.

01:41:44.538 --> 01:41:44.828
Yeah.

01:41:44.828 --> 01:41:51.529
I haven't really heard that scaling based on population as much for the Supreme Court as I have for the representatives.

01:41:51.569 --> 01:41:51.859
Yeah.

01:41:51.918 --> 01:41:57.958
Because, like, right now it's, what, one representative for every 750,000 people or something I think.

01:41:57.958 --> 01:41:58.229
Yeah.

01:41:58.319 --> 01:41:59.788
I'll have to believe you on the, on the ratio.

01:41:59.788 --> 01:42:00.779
I mean, that's a ton, right?

01:42:00.779 --> 01:42:05.099
Like, I don't know, but you know, states have two senators per and Yeah.

01:42:05.099 --> 01:42:05.338
Yeah.

01:42:05.399 --> 01:42:09.238
And that, but the representatives was supposed to be kind of like, this is my representative supposed, that's supposed be ours.

01:42:09.238 --> 01:42:09.359
Yeah.

01:42:09.359 --> 01:42:10.859
Hey, I'm one of your 70,000.

01:42:10.859 --> 01:42:14.269
But when we started, it was one of like 1200 or something.

01:42:14.269 --> 01:42:14.270
Mm-Hmm.

01:42:14.323 --> 01:42:14.673
right.

01:42:14.854 --> 01:42:21.738
And so like we could with electronic means, like instead of 435 representatives, there could be.

01:42:21.809 --> 01:42:22.828
14, 000.

01:42:23.738 --> 01:42:24.009
Yeah.

01:42:24.118 --> 01:42:35.418
And everybody just Zoom meetings and they vote according to the little hand raiser things and you've got a much smaller district now where Your people could actually say, Hey, I want some representation on this thing.

01:42:35.479 --> 01:42:35.809
Yeah.

01:42:35.998 --> 01:42:39.969
I mean, we could move more towards a true democracy if we were going that way.

01:42:40.009 --> 01:42:40.328
Yeah.

01:42:40.509 --> 01:42:48.488
Um, and that's, you know, one of the, the battle cries that you hear on, on social media all the time is we are not a democracy.

01:42:48.488 --> 01:42:49.349
We are Republic.

01:42:49.349 --> 01:42:49.759
Yeah, yeah.

01:42:49.759 --> 01:42:53.908
You know, and so How about the notion of, uh, you should have skin in the game.

01:42:53.918 --> 01:43:02.490
Like, you should pay 50, 000 in income taxes before you're allowed to vote, or you should own property before you're allowed to vote, or something like that.

01:43:02.490 --> 01:43:04.003
If you're living here, if you're living in this country.

01:43:04.269 --> 01:43:06.708
Whether you're a citizen or not, you have skin in the game.

01:43:06.798 --> 01:43:07.139
Okay.

01:43:07.189 --> 01:43:08.378
If you're living here, you have skin.

01:43:08.399 --> 01:43:13.158
So do you think the recent 10 million immigrants or so should be allowed to vote in the federal elections?

01:43:13.208 --> 01:43:17.378
I'm not sure that simply living here will, should give you a right to vote.

01:43:17.408 --> 01:43:20.509
I'm just saying that living, living here gives you skin in the fair.

01:43:20.519 --> 01:43:20.828
Fair.

01:43:20.828 --> 01:43:25.809
You are beholden to stuff by being here and stuff.

01:43:25.809 --> 01:43:31.088
So, and the idea, the government is spending, but the right, so if you're only receiving and never.

01:43:32.118 --> 01:43:33.618
Giving, should you vote?

01:43:33.649 --> 01:43:33.958
Right.

01:43:33.958 --> 01:43:34.259
I don't know.

01:43:34.269 --> 01:43:41.628
But if you say the only people who can vote on where that spending goes are people who own things, well, the people who own stuff, we're never going to give it up.

01:43:41.689 --> 01:43:42.788
Own things or pay things.

01:43:42.958 --> 01:43:44.048
But yeah, no, it's a good question.

01:43:44.048 --> 01:43:44.418
I don't know.

01:43:44.429 --> 01:43:51.908
Who, who, who's gonna, you know, cause, cause you might at an individual level go, yes, I could take a small sacrifice if it helps the people around me.

01:43:51.908 --> 01:44:02.309
But when you can't see who those people are, cause, cause they're, they're obfuscated through the social metrics that we have available to us, you know, like, this is called the vanilla valley.

01:44:02.644 --> 01:44:03.764
You know, we live in Fort Collins.

01:44:04.014 --> 01:44:04.564
Vanilla Valley.

01:44:04.564 --> 01:44:11.104
I call us, uh, uh, I say we're a melting pot here in, in northern Colorado, especially Fort Collins, but it's a white cheese fondue.

01:44:11.543 --> 01:44:15.583
It's a white cheese fondue, but there are actual huge pockets.

01:44:15.684 --> 01:44:16.043
Oh, yeah.

01:44:16.113 --> 01:44:28.529
Uh, of, um, The Latin American folks that live in this town, and they are underrepresented, uh, in politics, and they are underrepresented in business, and they are, they are the background characters.

01:44:28.529 --> 01:44:34.889
And to say they, they don't have skin in the game because they don't yet own property is not a fair argument, you know?

01:44:34.899 --> 01:44:40.564
Well, and it's, I mean, there's a lot more than just, you know, Hispanic people that don't own property.

01:44:40.804 --> 01:44:44.543
Um, there's a lot of just young people, young white people and whatever.

01:44:44.963 --> 01:44:49.173
Um, I was thinking to myself about, it's an interesting dynamic and you're right.

01:44:49.194 --> 01:44:54.984
I mean, I, I experienced it regularly because Alma is like outside of her work with local think tank.

01:44:55.073 --> 01:45:01.344
She's mostly engaged with the Hispanic community through her church and through her kind of husband's work and community and whatever.

01:45:01.654 --> 01:45:05.944
And so I'm her, we're each other's little window into those.

01:45:07.279 --> 01:45:07.488
Yeah.

01:45:07.488 --> 01:45:08.319
In some ways.

01:45:08.809 --> 01:45:12.219
Um, but Mayor Martinez was a long time ago.

01:45:12.229 --> 01:45:12.599
What?

01:45:12.668 --> 01:45:13.958
Like, early 90s?

01:45:13.979 --> 01:45:14.469
Yeah.

01:45:14.519 --> 01:45:14.918
Ray?

01:45:15.328 --> 01:45:15.618
Ray?

01:45:15.628 --> 01:45:20.529
And he was more Hispanic cultured than not, probably, in his upbringing?

01:45:20.939 --> 01:45:21.168
Yeah.

01:45:21.168 --> 01:45:21.609
For sure.

01:45:21.649 --> 01:45:23.408
But it didn't I don't know.

01:45:23.408 --> 01:45:36.229
It hasn't really translated to, and of course there's Gallegos and different families that have had really successful business, but it hasn't really translated to that population engaging with the business community at large.

01:45:36.288 --> 01:45:36.639
Yeah.

01:45:36.759 --> 01:45:39.418
Well, I, I, I, so I'd like to try to foster that as well.

01:45:39.469 --> 01:45:39.729
Yeah.

01:45:39.729 --> 01:45:45.809
I think your, uh, your think tank and your podcast have a great opportunity to help engage in that.

01:45:45.838 --> 01:45:46.208
Fair.

01:45:46.288 --> 01:45:46.529
Yeah.

01:45:46.529 --> 01:45:49.939
Well, except I don't speak Spanish, so I'm going to need you to come in and translate for us.

01:45:49.939 --> 01:45:50.559
Thanks.

01:45:51.578 --> 01:45:53.788
You'd be surprised how many of them speak great English.

01:45:53.788 --> 01:45:54.538
No, it's true.

01:45:54.538 --> 01:45:54.769
Yeah.

01:45:54.769 --> 01:45:55.099
Yeah.

01:45:55.429 --> 01:46:07.649
Um, so like, if you were going to sum up your, I'm, I'm sensing a pretty strong Trump's evil and potentially like destructive to the future of our nation kind of thing.

01:46:07.649 --> 01:46:12.064
So regardless of how, old and decrepit Biden as we should vote for him.

01:46:12.274 --> 01:46:14.134
Um, RFK, any thoughts on him?

01:46:14.184 --> 01:46:19.014
To, to be fair, the two of, uh, the two big ticket, uh, guys are four years apart.

01:46:19.033 --> 01:46:20.333
They're both old and decrepit.

01:46:20.634 --> 01:46:21.033
For sure.

01:46:21.054 --> 01:46:24.243
To make this about age is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

01:46:24.253 --> 01:46:25.503
No, I think it's about capacity.

01:46:25.503 --> 01:46:30.149
I mean, it's obvious that Biden is, you know, slowed down more than Trump has mentally.

01:46:31.628 --> 01:46:32.158
Yes.

01:46:32.189 --> 01:46:36.158
I, I, they're, but Trump says bananas things all the time.

01:46:36.368 --> 01:46:43.538
He just says them faster, you know, like just because you can rattle off dumb shit faster, does it make you smarter?

01:46:43.538 --> 01:46:50.038
You know, and that's how he quote won the debate is he just lied and didn't answer the questions at a much faster pace.

01:46:50.618 --> 01:46:54.458
Um, Do I think Biden is right for America?

01:46:54.458 --> 01:46:55.019
No.

01:46:55.078 --> 01:46:57.359
Do I, uh, Do you think he's gonna drop?

01:46:57.498 --> 01:46:58.488
I don't think he will.

01:46:58.679 --> 01:46:59.238
You don't think so?

01:46:59.238 --> 01:47:00.168
He'll go to the polls?

01:47:00.168 --> 01:47:01.338
I think he'll go to the polls.

01:47:01.408 --> 01:47:02.679
Um, Do you think he should?

01:47:02.719 --> 01:47:06.128
I'd like to see the age for, uh, presidents be lowered.

01:47:06.328 --> 01:47:06.719
Mm.

01:47:06.729 --> 01:47:11.173
You know, um, is Ocasio Cortez, Uh, of legal age to even run for president.

01:47:11.484 --> 01:47:12.264
Barely, if she is.

01:47:12.274 --> 01:47:13.444
If she is, it'd be barely.

01:47:13.463 --> 01:47:15.514
She was 29 when she first got office, so.

01:47:15.514 --> 01:47:17.304
She's, she's incredibly intelligent.

01:47:17.573 --> 01:47:20.554
And that's the kind of person that I disagree with most of her politics.

01:47:20.743 --> 01:47:22.974
But I would, I would jump behind her.

01:47:23.033 --> 01:47:23.503
Interesting.

01:47:23.503 --> 01:47:24.713
Or somebody like her.

01:47:24.734 --> 01:47:25.094
Okay.

01:47:25.154 --> 01:47:27.064
Who's just insanely intelligent.

01:47:27.073 --> 01:47:28.404
And I wish that's what we had up.

01:47:29.083 --> 01:47:30.094
That's my problem.

01:47:32.184 --> 01:47:37.953
Well, actually, uh, W, um, he, he was a guy that I want to have a beer with him.

01:47:38.384 --> 01:47:41.463
He seems like a genuinely fun guy to have a beer with.

01:47:42.663 --> 01:47:46.043
In terms of intelligence, I don't, I shouldn't be smarter than the president.

01:47:46.043 --> 01:47:51.064
When he was running for president the first time and I was like, 14 or something like that.

01:47:51.064 --> 01:47:54.304
I was like, I'm pretty sure I'm smarter than this guy.

01:47:54.684 --> 01:47:57.014
And it changed my whole view on politics, frankly.

01:47:57.043 --> 01:48:04.203
And that's how I feel is like you shouldn't, the average human, the average American should not be smarter than their president and the two big tickets.

01:48:04.264 --> 01:48:10.003
And even if you want to include, uh, RFK in there, all three of them, most Americans.

01:48:10.908 --> 01:48:29.168
Seem to have a better grasp of common sense intelligence than those guys do at the moment And I push back on RFK though, cuz I've listened to a lot of long podcasts with him and he's pretty freakin smart Okay, well like he might have some views that you disagree with but that doesn't mean he isn't hyper intelligent I will tell you that I have largely ignored.

01:48:29.179 --> 01:48:42.719
I I've watched maybe two to three minute clips of what he has to say Uh, that have probably been curated by Reddit of all places, you know, and so maybe I haven't given him his due, but I haven't given him his due because we're not a three, a three party system.

01:48:42.729 --> 01:48:43.059
Right.

01:48:43.298 --> 01:48:45.628
Well, but he got blackballed out of the democratic primary.

01:48:46.099 --> 01:48:50.139
Like he would have won that if it had been allowed to continue, if they hadn't changed the rules.

01:48:50.564 --> 01:48:56.323
of engagement, I think, which, you know, I think we need to, that right there is part of the problem.

01:48:56.413 --> 01:48:56.694
Right.

01:48:56.694 --> 01:48:58.314
Being a party system.

01:48:58.333 --> 01:48:59.684
Let's get rid of the two parties.

01:48:59.684 --> 01:49:03.863
Let's, you know, let's equalize a lot of that and financially equalize it too.

01:49:03.884 --> 01:49:04.413
Yeah.

01:49:04.463 --> 01:49:05.554
No, I'm down for that.

01:49:05.564 --> 01:49:13.243
So, um, it'd be, it'd be amazing what the campaigns would look like if all parties had to had a maximum they could spend.

01:49:13.243 --> 01:49:13.404
Right.

01:49:13.404 --> 01:49:18.863
If you get this much public interest from your website or whatever, then you get a million dollars.

01:49:19.439 --> 01:49:19.889
And you're done.

01:49:19.958 --> 01:49:20.488
And that's it.

01:49:20.498 --> 01:49:21.418
That's all you're allowed to spend.

01:49:21.469 --> 01:49:21.878
Right.

01:49:22.298 --> 01:49:23.538
It'd be wildly different.

01:49:23.569 --> 01:49:24.689
Oh, totally different.

01:49:24.689 --> 01:49:25.009
Yeah.

01:49:25.009 --> 01:49:27.279
I have no idea how to predict that even.

01:49:27.498 --> 01:49:28.958
So what's your prediction for the fall?

01:49:28.958 --> 01:49:30.109
You think Biden's going to win?

01:49:30.128 --> 01:49:30.939
You think Trump's going to win?

01:49:30.939 --> 01:49:32.088
Is Trump going to jail?

01:49:32.088 --> 01:49:34.588
I have no idea.

01:49:34.798 --> 01:49:36.338
Um, you know, I have no.

01:49:36.349 --> 01:49:36.889
It doesn't really matter.

01:49:36.899 --> 01:49:37.588
I have no predictions.

01:49:37.588 --> 01:49:39.988
William Oliver's will continue as it has been.

01:49:41.474 --> 01:49:45.453
There, there is not an outcome that I see that I like.

01:49:45.463 --> 01:49:45.814
Fair.

01:49:46.623 --> 01:49:47.384
I agree with that.

01:49:47.823 --> 01:49:50.253
Um, faith or family next?

01:49:50.304 --> 01:49:51.073
Let's go faith.

01:49:51.194 --> 01:49:51.453
Okay.

01:49:51.923 --> 01:49:53.314
Um, I don't know.

01:49:53.654 --> 01:49:54.854
Irish Catholic background?

01:49:55.064 --> 01:50:09.764
Uh, you got, I don't know, uh, any Yeah, I suppose theoretically I should be super Catholic with, uh, Irish and Scottish side and the Mexican side, but, uh, I did grow up around the Catholic church.

01:50:09.764 --> 01:50:15.484
My grandmother's Catholic, um, but I, I was never baptized into, into that church.

01:50:15.564 --> 01:50:19.293
Um, and, uh, or any church or did you go to church at all?

01:50:19.363 --> 01:50:20.203
Went to church a lot.

01:50:20.203 --> 01:50:29.109
So, um, when we were, uh, In a small town in, in Pennsylvania, we just basically went to the church that was, it was the farm church.

01:50:29.118 --> 01:50:30.908
It was the one you could get to, you know.

01:50:30.908 --> 01:50:31.378
Right, right.

01:50:31.439 --> 01:50:33.309
And I believe it was Methodist.

01:50:33.368 --> 01:50:33.698
Okay.

01:50:33.729 --> 01:50:35.198
I'm not a hundred percent sure.

01:50:35.198 --> 01:50:35.729
Yeah, yeah.

01:50:36.439 --> 01:50:40.529
Um, no, I've, I've, I've, I am a follower of Jesus.

01:50:40.529 --> 01:50:47.868
I, my whole life I've, uh, Counted myself as a Christian, um, but I don't really subscribe to any specific church.

01:50:48.189 --> 01:50:53.469
I think dogma is what gets people into the weeds, into the wrong, the wrong way.

01:50:53.479 --> 01:50:55.884
That was what kept me from approaching the truth.

01:50:56.774 --> 01:51:24.779
Christianity for a long time because it was like when the Irish Catholics were bombing the British Protestants and stuff like that It's like if if Christians treat each other this way, that's dumb Yeah, I saw something something online that was you know, it was being anti muslim and it just said like, you know When is the last time somebody has used the Christian God in to justify death and I just like Are you unaware of the entire history of Christianity?

01:51:25.099 --> 01:51:38.288
Like, um, all faith does that at some level and, you know, so no, I, I do consider myself Christian, but, um, but haven't really been actively involved for decades, even really, maybe.

01:51:38.298 --> 01:51:38.748
Yeah.

01:51:38.788 --> 01:51:41.958
Um, there was, uh, do you read the Bible ever or anything like that?

01:51:42.029 --> 01:51:42.498
Yeah.

01:51:42.519 --> 01:51:45.423
Um, Um, I study religion a lot.

01:51:46.024 --> 01:51:48.048
Um, I'm a Freemason as well on top of it.

01:51:48.048 --> 01:51:48.338
Oh, interesting.

01:51:48.338 --> 01:51:51.274
And to be a Freemason, you, you don't have to believe in a particular faith.

01:51:51.283 --> 01:51:52.823
You have to believe in a higher power.

01:51:52.854 --> 01:51:53.134
Yeah, yeah.

01:51:53.234 --> 01:51:54.154
You have to believe in deity.

01:51:54.743 --> 01:51:58.573
Um, and so Is that a family heritage thing or something you signed up for?

01:51:58.583 --> 01:51:59.564
Something I signed up for.

01:51:59.564 --> 01:51:59.923
Okay.

01:52:00.203 --> 01:52:01.213
I got a big scholarship.

01:52:01.224 --> 01:52:04.713
Not big, but I got a 500 scholarship from a Freemason organization.

01:52:04.724 --> 01:52:05.104
Nice.

01:52:05.184 --> 01:52:06.724
Like, out of the random for college.

01:52:06.774 --> 01:52:14.219
Colorado Masons, we literally just did our, uh, our annual Um, uh, scholarships.

01:52:14.529 --> 01:52:19.498
Um, and so it was something like two and a half million dollars in scholarships.

01:52:19.498 --> 01:52:24.679
Um, and Mason's worldwide are the largest private, uh, education scholarship.

01:52:24.679 --> 01:52:28.679
And I suspect it's like smart poor kids, mostly.

01:52:28.953 --> 01:52:29.554
Mostly.

01:52:30.184 --> 01:52:33.304
Because I was a smart poor kid, you know, and I got 500 in a random.

01:52:33.314 --> 01:52:38.774
You know, we, we actually don't really publish what the criteria are because we want everyone to apply.

01:52:38.793 --> 01:52:39.083
Yeah, yeah.

01:52:39.094 --> 01:52:45.684
And so, um, but generally speaking, if you are of means, you'll get excluded pretty quickly.

01:52:45.743 --> 01:52:45.993
Yeah, yeah.

01:52:46.024 --> 01:52:56.458
Um, if, if we have a lot of people that we're going to, um, the people who won the scholarship this year, uh, are some of the most gifted kids I've ever, ever, uh, like seen resume wise.

01:52:56.458 --> 01:53:01.618
I mean, they're not even 18 or just turning 18 and their resumes, it's like the stuff they've been involved in.

01:53:01.618 --> 01:53:05.128
And we've been doing rotary club scholarships for the Fort Collins breakfast.

01:53:05.128 --> 01:53:07.099
Rotary is a group that I'm involved in.

01:53:07.139 --> 01:53:07.458
Okay.

01:53:07.569 --> 01:53:08.269
You might like that.

01:53:08.269 --> 01:53:08.809
Actually.

01:53:08.859 --> 01:53:10.338
I know of them, but I have not.

01:53:10.338 --> 01:53:13.298
It's a ginger and Baker on seven o'clock on Thursday mornings.

01:53:13.418 --> 01:53:15.259
So let me know if you want to visit sometimes.

01:53:15.259 --> 01:53:18.859
But, um, but those kids that.

01:53:19.229 --> 01:53:26.868
Win or or even are considered for our scholarships come in and talk about it afterwards and stuff And it's like dang.

01:53:26.958 --> 01:53:34.259
I was not that grown up or responsible or thoughtful when I was 17 Yeah, yeah close.

01:53:34.998 --> 01:53:53.168
I you know, I thought I was pretty hot shit These kids just put you to shame, the stuff they're doing and, and the circumstances, the odds that they're overcoming to do it is even more, a lot of them, so many applicants come through that not only are they 4.

01:53:53.168 --> 01:53:58.658
0 GPAs and involved in extra, uh, extracurricular activities and in sports and they're charitable in the community.

01:53:58.658 --> 01:54:02.429
They're holding down 20 hour a week jobs, you know, on top of it.

01:54:02.668 --> 01:54:07.899
And it's just like, so they're talking about masons.

01:54:08.859 --> 01:54:10.908
Is that something you've been involved with a long time?

01:54:11.599 --> 01:54:12.708
It's like a secret society, right?

01:54:12.708 --> 01:54:13.918
You can only tell me so much.

01:54:13.918 --> 01:54:14.509
Can I sign up?

01:54:14.838 --> 01:54:15.219
Yeah.

01:54:15.259 --> 01:54:15.908
If I wanted to?

01:54:15.948 --> 01:54:16.698
Theoretically.

01:54:17.158 --> 01:54:18.208
They probably wouldn't let me in.

01:54:18.658 --> 01:54:20.078
Do you know what Kiwanis means, by the way?

01:54:20.529 --> 01:54:21.038
Tell me.

01:54:21.279 --> 01:54:22.429
Couldn't get into the Rotary Club.

01:54:25.889 --> 01:54:31.198
Um, yeah, no, it's, uh, it's an organization I've been involved with for a long time.

01:54:31.599 --> 01:54:36.238
since 2013, I think, or 14, 2014.

01:54:36.309 --> 01:54:41.038
So since really, 2012, cause you're a made man through the, through the masons.

01:54:41.408 --> 01:54:45.099
2014 I became a master Mason as they call it.

01:54:45.198 --> 01:54:49.349
And uh, so next year will be 10 years that I've been a master Mason.

01:54:49.429 --> 01:54:53.769
Um, and yeah, it's a, it's an organization that I really do enjoy.

01:54:53.819 --> 01:54:57.819
Um, I'm part of a very small group that we actually broke off and created our own lodge.

01:54:58.779 --> 01:55:02.099
Cause I live close to the Masonic Lodge in Old Town.

01:55:02.139 --> 01:55:08.238
Yeah, so the temple downtown was two different lodges and I was originally a member of one of the two lodges that was there.

01:55:08.238 --> 01:55:08.519
Yeah.

01:55:09.029 --> 01:55:21.878
And, um, meetings can be kind of boring, you know, they can be business meetings and we wanted more esoteric and like, let's talk about things that nobody was willing to talk about.

01:55:21.878 --> 01:55:22.319
Interesting.

01:55:22.779 --> 01:55:30.488
And so like right now I'm, I'm pretty heavily into studying the Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism and stuff like that.

01:55:30.488 --> 01:55:34.168
And as a Christian to jump into that world, it's really fun.

01:55:34.953 --> 01:55:39.673
This is a group of guys that I can go into and, and just talk about conversation about it.

01:55:39.713 --> 01:55:40.703
And they're all about it.

01:55:40.703 --> 01:56:00.413
Let's have, let's talk more, you know, as opposed to, you know, you, if I bring up a Jewish mysticism around my wife or most of my other friends, I'm like, okay, and I've, I actually was just shooting darts and I got locked on this idea that was just this, this idea of the four worlds and in Kabbalah and, and I'm just shooting darts and I'm talking about it.

01:56:00.423 --> 01:56:03.083
And my buddy just comes over and he goes, will you shut up?

01:56:04.094 --> 01:56:04.333
Right.

01:56:04.524 --> 01:56:05.863
Save this for your Mason meeting.

01:56:05.863 --> 01:56:07.014
He's like, we're shooting darts.

01:56:07.014 --> 01:56:08.573
I don't want to talk God right now.

01:56:08.573 --> 01:56:09.743
It's like, okay, fair enough.

01:56:10.274 --> 01:56:10.863
Interesting.

01:56:10.993 --> 01:56:20.713
So it almost sounds like, um, an intellectualism first kind of an organization in some respects and philanthropy, I think, right.

01:56:20.713 --> 01:56:21.484
And brotherhood.

01:56:21.663 --> 01:56:24.923
I think, uh, yeah, uh, brotherhood's probably the highest.

01:56:25.033 --> 01:56:29.634
And then, um, philanthropy is probably the lowest of those three, you know, but yeah.

01:56:29.929 --> 01:56:30.628
It's interesting.

01:56:31.059 --> 01:56:31.359
Yeah.

01:56:31.359 --> 01:56:33.418
It's, it's, it's a fantastic organization.

01:56:33.418 --> 01:56:36.149
You can tell me more after we finish this, cause the rest of it's probably secret.

01:56:36.559 --> 01:56:37.418
I don't want everybody to come.

01:56:37.708 --> 01:56:38.779
There are no secrets.

01:56:38.798 --> 01:56:39.828
Do you know Chris Palomino?

01:56:39.828 --> 01:56:41.838
I do.

01:56:41.849 --> 01:56:50.599
Rhonda Palomino was my, frankly, probably the, one of the few employees I've had in my lifetime that were comparable to Alma on my team right now.

01:56:51.078 --> 01:56:53.088
And Chris was a, was a Mason.

01:56:53.179 --> 01:56:53.479
Okay.

01:56:53.479 --> 01:56:53.689
Yeah.

01:56:53.689 --> 01:56:54.479
I thought so.

01:56:54.479 --> 01:56:54.918
I thought that name.

01:56:54.918 --> 01:56:55.658
He's Hispanic.

01:56:56.179 --> 01:56:58.908
That's the, that's the Palomino name as well.

01:56:59.208 --> 01:57:13.319
Um, and, uh, Rhonda was, uh, you know, white cheese fondue, but, but they had a great relationship and I hope they're still married anyway, if you're listening, Rhonda, it's been 10 years.

01:57:13.668 --> 01:57:25.208
Um, anyway, like Chris was one of my few kind of windows into the Mason realm, if you will, just because we went to an event over there one time at the Mason Lodge and he was like, yeah, we're Mason.

01:57:25.559 --> 01:57:26.229
He's like, oh.

01:57:26.573 --> 01:57:27.434
That's weird, tell me about it.

01:57:27.434 --> 01:57:27.934
It's a cool building.

01:57:27.934 --> 01:57:28.974
That building's haunted, by the way.

01:57:29.043 --> 01:57:29.344
Is it?

01:57:29.344 --> 01:57:30.173
Majorly haunted.

01:57:30.184 --> 01:57:30.734
Interesting.

01:57:31.014 --> 01:57:31.404
Yeah.

01:57:31.453 --> 01:57:33.923
Um, is it the ghosts of salsa dancers?

01:57:33.963 --> 01:57:35.293
Because I know they had salsa dancing there.

01:57:35.293 --> 01:57:35.634
They do.

01:57:35.634 --> 01:57:36.713
So the, the basement.

01:57:36.713 --> 01:57:36.904
Tuesdays for a while.

01:57:36.913 --> 01:57:40.434
The basement has a world class floating wood floor.

01:57:40.434 --> 01:57:41.613
There's very few of them left.

01:57:41.613 --> 01:57:42.184
Oh, that's amazing.

01:57:42.184 --> 01:57:43.253
Yeah, it's, yeah.

01:57:43.264 --> 01:57:45.073
So it is, that is down there.

01:57:45.104 --> 01:57:49.644
Um, so, Faith, do you feel like you've covered that to your extent, do you wish?

01:57:49.644 --> 01:57:50.243
Yeah, probably.

01:57:50.503 --> 01:57:51.514
Go, family.

01:57:51.613 --> 01:57:56.804
Um, do you One thing we always do is a one word description of your children.

01:57:57.344 --> 01:57:58.154
Amazing.

01:57:59.203 --> 01:58:00.104
As a group.

01:58:00.194 --> 01:58:00.873
That is them.

01:58:00.894 --> 01:58:03.024
And then how about if you take them individually?

01:58:03.024 --> 01:58:07.359
Do you have one word descriptions that you can, uh Process them down too.

01:58:07.578 --> 01:58:08.788
We do allow hyphens.

01:58:08.929 --> 01:58:13.179
Um, my youngest is naturally funny.

01:58:14.109 --> 01:58:18.099
Uh, and my oldest is naturally smart.

01:58:18.338 --> 01:58:18.548
Oh.

01:58:19.198 --> 01:58:23.828
Um, but they are, uh, they, you, I have two teenage girls, you know.

01:58:23.838 --> 01:58:26.569
I have two high schoolers and everybody that knows.

01:58:26.609 --> 01:58:28.918
A dad, dad, uh, what is that, girl dad.

01:58:28.969 --> 01:58:29.679
Yeah, girl dad.

01:58:29.969 --> 01:58:30.399
Damn.

01:58:30.738 --> 01:58:32.939
You know, everybody's just like, Oh, good luck with that.

01:58:33.769 --> 01:58:35.488
It's like, I don't need it with these two.

01:58:35.509 --> 01:58:43.859
They are truly phenomenal human beings that, um, my wife and I just feel blessed that they are part of our life.

01:58:43.859 --> 01:58:44.019
Yeah.

01:58:44.019 --> 01:58:44.279
Yeah.

01:58:44.319 --> 01:58:45.588
Like they, they include us.

01:58:45.588 --> 01:58:46.868
They keep us engaged.

01:58:46.878 --> 01:58:50.899
They, you know, they, they still every now and again, come tuck us in.

01:58:51.139 --> 01:59:03.229
You know, we'll be sitting there watching TV and they'll want to go to sleep so they'll come and they'll, they'll tuck us in and I don't know, they've, they've just been phenomenal and it's my wife and I believe our, our sole job as parents is to create.

01:59:03.833 --> 01:59:06.724
independent, contributing members of society.

01:59:06.913 --> 01:59:07.274
I dig it.

01:59:07.333 --> 01:59:07.783
That's it.

01:59:08.033 --> 01:59:12.234
And so everything we do as parents is just trying to push them down that path.

01:59:12.373 --> 01:59:15.354
That's so, uh, countercultural almost.

01:59:15.873 --> 01:59:22.474
Like a lot of people's parenting is like, I will protect my child from any harm until I can no longer do it.

01:59:22.554 --> 01:59:22.854
Yeah.

01:59:23.024 --> 01:59:23.923
And then I will die.

01:59:24.583 --> 01:59:33.798
We saw it when they were little with, You know, parents who were, who's friends and whatever, parents of friends, and they would not be allowed to have candy in their house.

01:59:33.849 --> 01:59:34.099
Right.

01:59:34.118 --> 01:59:35.578
And we always have a candy bowl.

01:59:35.729 --> 01:59:38.069
Why, I mean, I brought in a flask of nerds.

01:59:38.118 --> 01:59:38.838
Yeah, I would have some nerds.

01:59:38.969 --> 01:59:39.838
Yeah, have some nerds.

01:59:39.889 --> 01:59:41.479
Oh, we should talk about that whiskey too, by the way.

01:59:41.559 --> 01:59:41.828
Oh, yeah.

01:59:42.238 --> 01:59:44.099
Um, but we always have a candy bowl.

01:59:44.288 --> 01:59:46.639
And it's easily accessible, and there are no rules on it.

01:59:46.639 --> 01:59:47.788
You can hear it in the microphone.

01:59:47.948 --> 01:59:49.868
A nerds flowing out of a flask.

01:59:50.319 --> 01:59:50.868
Um.

01:59:51.764 --> 01:59:56.104
And kids would come over from the neighborhood and they'd be like, so what's the rules on the, on the candy?

01:59:56.173 --> 01:59:58.234
And, and they'd be like, well, you can have as much as you want.

01:59:58.734 --> 02:00:00.333
And they would just go to town.

02:00:00.333 --> 02:00:06.213
It's like, well, if you, if you put on strong breaks and bumpers and stuff against your kids, then.

02:00:06.753 --> 02:00:08.804
That's, they're just going to push against it.

02:00:08.913 --> 02:00:13.384
So we, we're not quite hippie dippy enough to just let them have free reign of the world.

02:00:13.793 --> 02:00:14.594
We're somewhere in between.

02:00:14.833 --> 02:00:15.123
Yeah.

02:00:15.394 --> 02:00:16.654
Which is probably my whole life.

02:00:16.663 --> 02:00:17.743
I'm just somewhere in between.

02:00:18.234 --> 02:00:21.003
I was raised a pretty free reign ish.

02:00:21.173 --> 02:00:27.904
Like I could let 15, if I came home at one o'clock in the morning, well, I wasn't dumb, but.

02:00:28.474 --> 02:00:28.963
Okay.

02:00:29.024 --> 02:00:29.703
I have that.

02:00:29.753 --> 02:00:33.793
Um, my mom, she said, um, that curfews didn't matter.

02:00:33.793 --> 02:00:35.173
So long as you did what you have to do.

02:00:35.234 --> 02:00:35.503
Yeah.

02:00:35.554 --> 02:00:37.083
And my sisters couldn't handle it.

02:00:37.083 --> 02:00:44.493
So they had curfews because they would complain about going to school and I'd come home at two or three in the morning and I'd wake up at six and go off.

02:00:44.854 --> 02:00:48.154
And so she's like, well, he doesn't have a curfew because he can handle it.

02:00:48.293 --> 02:00:52.623
So my, my wife blames my mother for, for the fact that still to this day, I, okay.

02:00:52.793 --> 02:00:57.274
Don't go to sleep till 4 or 5 in the morning, and I get up at 8 and, you know, start my next day.

02:00:57.283 --> 02:00:57.913
Wow.

02:00:58.054 --> 02:00:58.474
Interesting.

02:00:58.484 --> 02:01:01.573
Even if you're not bartending, you're just like, do stuff till late.

02:01:01.684 --> 02:01:08.073
If I'm lucky, I might fall asleep at midnight, uh, but I will wake up at 2.

02:01:08.104 --> 02:01:11.213
There's something in my head that's like, it's 2am, it's closing time.

02:01:11.594 --> 02:01:13.394
Um, I have broken myself of the habit.

02:01:13.394 --> 02:01:19.884
I used to always check the cameras, and I tried to convince myself that it was checking to make sure my staff was okay.

02:01:19.894 --> 02:01:20.203
Right.

02:01:20.429 --> 02:01:22.798
But the truth was I, I just didn't know how to let go.

02:01:22.819 --> 02:01:23.099
Right.

02:01:23.128 --> 02:01:24.889
Um, but I still wake up at two.

02:01:24.939 --> 02:01:25.189
Cool.

02:01:25.479 --> 02:01:27.559
Um, so talk to me about Tiffany.

02:01:28.009 --> 02:01:29.639
It's clear that you think she's.

02:01:29.984 --> 02:01:31.274
She's pretty much out of your league.

02:01:31.283 --> 02:01:31.953
She's the bee's knees.

02:01:32.243 --> 02:01:32.703
Uh, yeah.

02:01:32.743 --> 02:01:33.194
Yeah.

02:01:33.203 --> 02:01:35.154
Um, well, you, I mean, you're pretty cool too, but.

02:01:35.184 --> 02:01:39.434
I think in every relationship, there's somebody who realizes they settled and it wasn't this guy.

02:01:41.493 --> 02:01:45.984
Um, she is, uh, yeah, she is phenomenally smart.

02:01:46.064 --> 02:01:49.444
Um, I, I don't know if you've ever even got to meet her.

02:01:49.634 --> 02:01:50.194
I don't think so.

02:01:50.283 --> 02:01:54.304
Um, if she's ever at the pub, she's very, very much background.

02:01:54.304 --> 02:01:55.753
She doesn't like to be.

02:01:56.259 --> 02:02:00.609
Um, she loves being in the foreground, but like the invisible for right, right.

02:02:00.618 --> 02:02:07.538
So she'll be like pouring your beer, pouring beer or doing dishes and where she can hear everything, but she's not forced to engage.

02:02:08.019 --> 02:02:08.788
She loves that.

02:02:09.128 --> 02:02:12.849
Um, she'll, well, you were definitely the personality as you guys were opening and stuff.

02:02:12.889 --> 02:02:16.988
You were in the paper a lot and different things, jokingly always say I was the pretty face, right?

02:02:17.168 --> 02:02:20.279
Anybody who knows, yeah, way much of a lie.

02:02:20.939 --> 02:02:24.269
Um, yeah, no, she is, uh, yeah, she is.

02:02:24.529 --> 02:02:25.628
She's been a person that.

02:02:25.873 --> 02:02:31.963
Um, literally since I was a teenager has been influential in my life and is just a person that.

02:02:32.453 --> 02:02:38.734
It accepts people for who they are, and lets people have faults, and, you know, it's amazing.

02:02:38.764 --> 02:02:44.344
What do you think, I think I remember you telling a story where her mom was like, you're gonna date your brother?

02:02:44.354 --> 02:02:45.873
Yeah, ooh, that's like dating your brother.

02:02:45.923 --> 02:02:51.033
Talk to me about your in laws and like, what that was like in those earliest months.

02:02:51.243 --> 02:02:51.703
Um.

02:02:52.088 --> 02:02:57.448
Yeah, I've always had a really good relationship with the woman who became my mother in law.

02:02:57.509 --> 02:03:04.618
Yeah, her name's Marsha and Side side story to that is I didn't actually know her name for the longest time.

02:03:04.639 --> 02:03:05.988
I've been hanging out at her house.

02:03:05.988 --> 02:03:06.309
Mrs.

02:03:06.338 --> 02:03:17.309
B Yeah, I called her lady and and she always thought it was me being like, oh, she's the lady of the house Right very feminine And more you were like Beastie Boys.

02:03:17.309 --> 02:03:21.639
Uh, yeah, it was, I don't know.

02:03:21.639 --> 02:03:24.259
I'd probably been married to Tiffany for 10 years.

02:03:24.259 --> 02:03:27.198
And I was just like, uh, yeah, it came out.

02:03:27.198 --> 02:03:28.548
I was like, yeah, Marsha, I called you that.

02:03:28.548 --> 02:03:29.509
Cause I didn't know your name.

02:03:32.038 --> 02:03:32.328
That's awesome.

02:03:32.328 --> 02:03:39.088
Um, yeah, no, uh, my father in law is, is a, a no shit rocket scientist, um, like an actual.

02:03:39.088 --> 02:03:40.649
Like Lockheed Martin or something, something.

02:03:40.649 --> 02:03:46.158
He spent his, the vast majority of his career in the Air Force, um, doing things that he probably still can't talk about.

02:03:46.158 --> 02:03:46.418
Right, right.

02:03:46.429 --> 02:03:52.819
All I know is I was at his retirement ceremony and they said that when the work they did became declassified, his name would be in the history books.

02:03:53.628 --> 02:03:55.048
I said, not our name, not our group, him.

02:03:55.298 --> 02:03:55.719
That's interesting.

02:03:55.759 --> 02:03:58.198
Um, uh, do you think aliens exist?

02:03:58.448 --> 02:03:59.029
I do.

02:03:59.069 --> 02:04:00.069
I definitely believe.

02:04:00.069 --> 02:04:00.859
Do you think he's seen any?

02:04:01.118 --> 02:04:12.679
Uh, I convinced myself as a kid, I've seen some, and Dwight, uh, has always said that he, at the, uh, Pentagon, there's small doors for the aliens.

02:04:13.759 --> 02:04:17.078
Um, but, I don't know, I don't know if he genuinely believes.

02:04:17.088 --> 02:04:20.229
It's a big universe, it would be kind of shocking if there wasn't some.

02:04:20.288 --> 02:04:21.109
something out there.

02:04:21.109 --> 02:04:21.668
It's gotta be something.

02:04:21.698 --> 02:04:24.689
We just watched Independence Day on 4th of July, my wife and I did.

02:04:25.208 --> 02:04:26.279
Oh, that's a super good one.

02:04:26.279 --> 02:04:26.828
Super good.

02:04:26.828 --> 02:04:27.479
I love it.

02:04:27.479 --> 02:04:28.738
As an alien movie, I love it.

02:04:28.748 --> 02:04:31.038
Cause it, it makes them weak like us.

02:04:31.078 --> 02:04:40.219
You know, they're, they're just, they're just, uh, a humanoid sort of creature that's just as vulnerable, just as, and they're just better technology.

02:04:40.219 --> 02:04:45.429
One of the interesting things I, and I've brought it up on this podcast before, but you probably remember when you were a little kid.

02:04:46.219 --> 02:04:50.948
Like it was, either there was God, or there was the Big Bang.

02:04:51.029 --> 02:04:52.649
Like you could choose this, or choose that.

02:04:52.649 --> 02:04:57.738
And now that the big telescope is out, they're kind of like, Oh, this Big Bang thing looks pretty planned.

02:04:57.849 --> 02:04:58.189
Yeah.

02:04:58.219 --> 02:05:02.979
And, like, intelligent design is kind of, but then how do you get the no God thing?

02:05:03.809 --> 02:05:06.788
What did, uh, um, Pete Holmes new stand up?

02:05:06.788 --> 02:05:08.399
He had a really good bit about that.

02:05:08.399 --> 02:05:09.099
Oh, I haven't seen it.

02:05:09.139 --> 02:05:12.649
I'm not going to be able to paraphrase him to do him any justice.

02:05:12.649 --> 02:05:21.529
But basically he's, he's like, if, if you believe that nothing created the big bang, that's a pretty amazing thing to believe in.

02:05:23.279 --> 02:05:28.038
If you believe that when you die you go back to nothing, you're going back to your creator.

02:05:29.658 --> 02:05:32.149
We believe in the same thing, we just have different words for it.

02:05:32.149 --> 02:05:34.469
I like that.

02:05:34.519 --> 02:05:41.229
Um, I've, my whole life I've, uh, I've always thought that religion and science were not mutually exclusive, you know?

02:05:41.238 --> 02:05:41.748
Yeah, fair.

02:05:42.594 --> 02:05:50.663
So, I, I think it's, it's one of those things that Yeah, I think, well, a lot of the best scientists kind of tend to be more religious.

02:05:50.684 --> 02:05:50.984
Yeah.

02:05:51.054 --> 02:06:00.344
Like, the, the mid level scientists are kind of like agnostic or whatever, but Well, the more you dive into anything, I think the more you realize you don't understand.

02:06:00.344 --> 02:06:00.713
Totally.

02:06:00.713 --> 02:06:04.663
And so, the more you dive into science, the more you're like, there's a lot that can't be explained.

02:06:04.734 --> 02:06:04.993
Totally.

02:06:05.014 --> 02:06:14.793
And if you're willing to just look for a second into This other phenomenon that's called religion and go, well, what if some of that was true?

02:06:14.974 --> 02:06:15.123
Right?

02:06:15.123 --> 02:06:30.139
What if I just start with, some of it might be true and it could explain some things that are unex, currently unexplainable and there are diehard scientists who will just go, well, it's currently unexplainable, but X-rays were unexplainable at some point and now we know that, so we just, we just gotta learn enough.

02:06:30.279 --> 02:06:32.163
God is unexplainable because we don't know enough.

02:06:32.194 --> 02:06:32.613
Yeah.

02:06:32.613 --> 02:06:32.614
Yeah.

02:06:32.673 --> 02:06:35.194
And I'm like, well, what if they're one in the same?

02:06:35.283 --> 02:06:38.913
What if science will get us to a point of proving God exists?

02:06:39.738 --> 02:06:41.698
Why can't I still believe in God the whole time?

02:06:42.219 --> 02:06:42.649
You know?

02:06:42.668 --> 02:06:43.588
What's the harm in that?

02:06:44.099 --> 02:06:44.958
Yeah, I dig it.

02:06:45.149 --> 02:06:49.569
So, um, Do you feel well covered on the faith, family, politics?

02:06:49.569 --> 02:06:52.288
Anything you want to say more about your parents, your mom?

02:06:52.738 --> 02:07:02.213
My mom is, uh, She's one of those phenomenal people that, She, she held down three, four jobs at a time to raise us.

02:07:02.274 --> 02:07:04.913
And was your stepdad not there the whole time?

02:07:04.963 --> 02:07:05.253
No.

02:07:05.253 --> 02:07:07.823
So the guy I considered my father's, his name's Tony.

02:07:07.854 --> 02:07:16.764
And, um, he was only married to my mother for gosh, maybe six years or so.

02:07:17.373 --> 02:07:17.753
Okay.

02:07:17.764 --> 02:07:24.644
And so my little sister, that was what, like middle school up to, through most of high school, a little bit, you know, but he never, he never left our life.

02:07:24.694 --> 02:07:25.003
Right.

02:07:25.033 --> 02:07:35.389
Um, But it's, it's, they weren't married anymore, but they weren't married and, you know, and I mean, I'm sure he threw child support towards my little, actually, that's not true.

02:07:35.429 --> 02:07:36.979
Um, my mom and him had an agreement.

02:07:36.998 --> 02:07:37.979
They were both broke as shit.

02:07:37.988 --> 02:07:38.859
So they just had an agreement.

02:07:39.439 --> 02:07:41.578
Do you keep a roof over your head and I'll do the same.

02:07:41.599 --> 02:07:42.418
It's pretty much.

02:07:42.448 --> 02:07:47.918
And so, um, my little sister lived with him some of the time, lived with us some of the time.

02:07:47.918 --> 02:07:55.104
And, uh, but he never stopped being my dad, which I thought was a very, very cool thing that even though financially it wasn't, it wasn't Sure.

02:07:55.113 --> 02:07:56.923
Something he could take on two households.

02:07:56.923 --> 02:07:56.944
Yeah, yeah.

02:07:56.944 --> 02:07:57.623
He never stopped.

02:07:57.663 --> 02:08:01.073
In my whole life I've gotten Christmas presents from him.

02:08:01.224 --> 02:08:01.243
Yeah.

02:08:01.623 --> 02:08:02.253
You know, so.

02:08:02.613 --> 02:08:05.054
But my mom was, you know, like I said, my mom was uh.

02:08:05.054 --> 02:08:06.764
She's a real gem in your family tree.

02:08:06.774 --> 02:08:09.934
Three to four jobs at a time to make sure we always had something.

02:08:10.283 --> 02:08:16.054
Well, that example really probably was the tipping that said, Hey, I got two little kids.

02:08:16.234 --> 02:08:18.944
I got a full time job, but let's start a pub.

02:08:19.003 --> 02:08:19.514
Yeah.

02:08:19.774 --> 02:08:20.123
Yeah.

02:08:20.163 --> 02:08:20.543
Yeah.

02:08:20.993 --> 02:08:21.163
Right?

02:08:21.173 --> 02:08:23.033
Like seeing her work like she did.

02:08:23.594 --> 02:08:23.833
Yeah.

02:08:23.923 --> 02:08:25.033
Had to have been a big impact for you.

02:08:25.033 --> 02:08:30.344
My grand, grand, my grandmother, her mom was the same way and worked and worked until, pretty much until she died.

02:08:30.463 --> 02:08:30.644
Yeah.

02:08:30.703 --> 02:08:34.123
Um, my, my grandmother-in-Law on my biological father's side.

02:08:34.128 --> 02:08:34.993
Same way.

02:08:35.024 --> 02:08:35.384
Yeah.

02:08:35.444 --> 02:08:39.913
Just, I come from, I come from a big group of hardworking women.

02:08:40.123 --> 02:08:40.333
Yeah.

02:08:40.423 --> 02:08:42.139
um, the, the, the men.

02:08:43.958 --> 02:08:45.109
It's like a lion pride almost.

02:08:47.479 --> 02:08:50.139
Um, we have one final segment.

02:08:51.099 --> 02:08:52.559
The Loco Experience.

02:08:52.599 --> 02:08:56.389
The craziest experience of your lifetime that you're willing to share with our listeners.

02:08:56.448 --> 02:08:57.229
Oh, okay.

02:08:57.359 --> 02:08:57.939
Um.

02:08:58.238 --> 02:08:58.783
Could be a big one.

02:08:58.894 --> 02:09:00.814
Moment a day a week a month a year.

02:09:00.833 --> 02:09:03.094
So a few years back.

02:09:03.123 --> 02:09:06.634
This would have been 2018 maybe okay.

02:09:06.923 --> 02:09:24.184
I got to partake in what Grant's whiskey called the greatest job interview in the world Okay I don't know the numbers off the top of my head, but it was like they got 20, 000 applicants for the Grant's Whiskey Global Ambassador job.

02:09:24.274 --> 02:09:24.713
Okay.

02:09:24.793 --> 02:09:28.953
And the first round was you had to submit a video via YouTube.

02:09:28.993 --> 02:09:33.493
You can make it unlisted, but you had to submit them on YouTube a video.

02:09:34.009 --> 02:09:41.229
Uh, answering a few questions and it was like, if you got invited to the second round, what would you bring?

02:09:41.458 --> 02:09:42.279
That sort of stuff.

02:09:42.628 --> 02:09:45.759
And so I made the video of me sitting at my own bar.

02:09:46.804 --> 02:09:49.024
Interviewing me as my own bartender.

02:09:50.293 --> 02:09:53.024
So, uh, I made this fun little video back and forth.

02:09:53.024 --> 02:09:54.583
As if you had a twin almost.

02:09:54.604 --> 02:09:55.514
Yeah, pretty much.

02:09:55.594 --> 02:10:04.264
And, um, I said I would bring, um, a, a mixtape of 80s rock songs.

02:10:04.394 --> 02:10:07.703
Because there is not a person on the planet who doesn't know every lyric.

02:10:07.873 --> 02:10:17.623
to every 80s rock song, whether or not you like it or not, you know, all the words, you know, somehow I've learned, uh, living on a prayer like four times in the last two weeks.

02:10:17.814 --> 02:10:18.014
Yeah.

02:10:18.213 --> 02:10:18.894
Anyway, yeah.

02:10:19.413 --> 02:10:23.793
So, um, so yeah, I got to go, I made it to the top 20.

02:10:24.003 --> 02:10:24.384
Okay.

02:10:24.453 --> 02:10:26.474
Uh, and so they flew me to Scotland.

02:10:26.543 --> 02:10:26.974
Oh wow.

02:10:26.993 --> 02:10:39.844
And then I got to be part of a week long, kind of, uh, adventure in Scotland of all these people, these phenomenal human beings that, um, we had to read Robbie Burns poems with Scottish brogue.

02:10:39.854 --> 02:10:42.363
And we had to go into a room.

02:10:42.363 --> 02:10:44.514
There was one room there, like, what languages do you speak?

02:10:44.533 --> 02:10:46.854
And you'd write down any that you even knew a little bit of.

02:10:46.923 --> 02:10:49.974
So I'm like, well, I, I speak English and I speak Spanish.

02:10:49.974 --> 02:10:52.533
And I know a little bit of German and they're like, okay, go into this room.

02:10:52.993 --> 02:10:55.514
And in that room were people who didn't speak any of those languages.

02:10:56.054 --> 02:11:08.694
And so it was like, They're just like they were properly interviewing you or like telling you to like, tell us a joke and it's like, I don't speak your language and you couldn't use your languages to tell it.

02:11:09.404 --> 02:11:13.113
That was the only rule is that the languages you spoke could not be spoken in that room.

02:11:13.514 --> 02:11:16.168
And it was just like, Wow, it was so much fun.

02:11:16.208 --> 02:11:18.969
Uh, and then, uh, they narrowed it down to three people.

02:11:18.969 --> 02:11:21.389
I placed fifth, so I missed the top three.

02:11:21.389 --> 02:11:22.738
The top three people got to go.

02:11:22.779 --> 02:11:25.198
Each of them had to go to like four or five countries.

02:11:25.439 --> 02:11:26.939
It's like The Bachelor almost or something.

02:11:26.948 --> 02:11:28.868
Yeah, for, for a global ambassador job.

02:11:29.099 --> 02:11:32.128
The guy who got the job is a guy named Danny Dyer, who I'm still in contact with.

02:11:32.708 --> 02:11:35.248
Phenomenal human being, and I knew he was going to get the job day one.

02:11:35.368 --> 02:11:35.729
Yeah.

02:11:35.819 --> 02:11:37.229
Because we all had to meet in Edinburgh.

02:11:37.248 --> 02:11:38.849
The top 20 had to meet in Edinburgh.

02:11:38.899 --> 02:11:40.189
Uh, not in Edinburgh, in Aberdeen.

02:11:41.259 --> 02:11:44.359
And This, we're at a train station.

02:11:44.359 --> 02:11:48.448
We formed a little group and this guy comes over and he just looks worse for wear.

02:11:48.548 --> 02:11:51.168
And, and he's like, is this the grants thing?

02:11:51.269 --> 02:11:52.359
I was like, yeah, it's a grants thing.

02:11:52.359 --> 02:11:53.059
He's like, okay.

02:11:53.118 --> 02:11:54.418
I was like, yeah, you're doing okay, bud.

02:11:54.868 --> 02:11:57.578
And he goes, just got finished with a stag doing out in Edinburgh.

02:11:57.578 --> 02:11:58.509
It's not even over.

02:11:58.828 --> 02:12:02.219
He goes, I, I stayed until I could, and that's the bachelor party.

02:12:02.948 --> 02:12:09.769
So he basically kept partying with him till he had to get on a train to get to Aberdeen, hopped off the train.

02:12:09.939 --> 02:12:13.519
He was somewhere between drunk and hungover, not quite sure which one.

02:12:14.059 --> 02:12:16.088
And he slept the whole way.

02:12:16.088 --> 02:12:18.889
They took us on a bus to the distillery and he slept the whole way there.

02:12:18.939 --> 02:12:20.538
Everybody else is getting to know each other.

02:12:20.538 --> 02:12:21.139
Where are you from?

02:12:21.139 --> 02:12:21.969
All the normal stuff.

02:12:21.969 --> 02:12:23.128
And he's just out.

02:12:23.969 --> 02:12:26.838
And as soon as we get there, he sees a bar and he goes.

02:12:27.029 --> 02:12:28.448
Are we allowed to drink any of this?

02:12:28.479 --> 02:12:31.259
And the guy goes, yeah, if you want, it's nine o'clock in the morning.

02:12:31.298 --> 02:12:31.689
Right.

02:12:31.698 --> 02:12:36.809
You know, and the guy's like, yeah, if you want it, like one drink and he's like, he cracks it back to his normal self, back to his normal self.

02:12:36.809 --> 02:12:41.849
He knows that, you know, and he grew up around the distillery, like within 10 miles of the distillery.

02:12:41.859 --> 02:12:43.828
So I was just like, that guy's got the job.

02:12:43.828 --> 02:12:45.538
And then sure enough, that's the guy who got the job.

02:12:45.548 --> 02:12:48.769
He's a phenomenal human with some of the funniest stories ever.

02:12:48.838 --> 02:12:50.019
Let's, uh, let's talk about.

02:12:50.429 --> 02:13:03.809
Like we're pretty much a third and I think I probably drank quite a bit more than you did because I can tell I'm I'd say We're 25 percent a third 25, although, you know the American people Do you know that story that the quarter pounder versus the third pounder?

02:13:03.849 --> 02:13:17.179
No that the Quarter pounder didn't do as well or the third pounder didn't do as well because people thought a quarter pounder is bigger God, that's yeah So, uh, yeah, so what are we dented it pretty good.

02:13:17.189 --> 02:13:18.759
We put a little dent in this.

02:13:18.779 --> 02:13:25.488
Um, so this one's, um, makers mark does this phenomenal, uh, private selection program is what they call it.

02:13:25.948 --> 02:13:30.109
You get to go out to the distillery and makers mark only makes one juice all day long.

02:13:30.128 --> 02:13:33.998
They're still is just churning out one with same juice, same juice all day.

02:13:34.519 --> 02:13:43.649
And so they've got regular makers and then you've probably heard of makers 46, which is just makers with 10 French oak staves put in the barrel to finish it off for nine weeks.

02:13:43.679 --> 02:13:44.029
Okay.

02:13:44.604 --> 02:13:51.043
And that's all private select is, is you get to pick what 10 staves go inside the barrel for the last nine weeks of finishing.

02:13:51.894 --> 02:13:57.314
And you get to sit in, they've got two different facilities, um, that you get to choose between.

02:13:57.314 --> 02:14:00.444
One is up on the upper top of the pro, uh, upper part of the property.

02:14:01.184 --> 02:14:04.863
Overlooking this meadow and, uh, they're on the backside.

02:14:04.863 --> 02:14:09.873
You've got cows in the pasture that they're raising and, uh, a beaver pond.

02:14:10.003 --> 02:14:10.453
Right.

02:14:10.644 --> 02:14:10.904
Yeah.

02:14:11.203 --> 02:14:12.894
And it's a phenomenal room.

02:14:12.913 --> 02:14:16.514
Or you can go down in the cave where they actually finish the whiskey.

02:14:16.514 --> 02:14:16.984
Right, right.

02:14:17.043 --> 02:14:18.144
And for nine weeks.

02:14:18.144 --> 02:14:20.404
This is the authentic 62 degree environment.

02:14:20.463 --> 02:14:21.173
Livestove cave, yeah.

02:14:22.118 --> 02:14:23.668
And, uh, you can do it there.

02:14:23.668 --> 02:14:30.668
And the tours will actually pass by you, um, in going through the cave as you're, you're like, Hey, getting some of my whiskey staved right now.

02:14:30.908 --> 02:14:34.578
Um, so this is the third time we went out there for this one.

02:14:34.628 --> 02:14:38.769
Um, and it was, you know, it was last year.

02:14:39.198 --> 02:14:41.859
And it's just, you know, post COVID it's been tough.

02:14:41.859 --> 02:14:43.599
And so there wasn't a lot of room in the budget.

02:14:43.628 --> 02:14:54.708
And so I said, I don't know who we can take and, you know, whether the company can really afford to take four people as we've done in the past and pay for hotel rooms and eating out and airfare and all this stuff to go out.

02:14:54.719 --> 02:14:57.269
And it's a wonderful experience, but I don't know if we can really afford that.

02:14:58.109 --> 02:15:01.439
And my wife said, well, I'd really like to take my dad.

02:15:02.753 --> 02:15:05.024
She took her dad out for Father's Day.

02:15:05.024 --> 02:15:06.634
That was his gift for Father's Day.

02:15:07.024 --> 02:15:08.823
And he likes rye.

02:15:08.833 --> 02:15:09.814
He doesn't like bourbon.

02:15:10.144 --> 02:15:15.533
Um, so his goal with this was to create something that it's the same juice.

02:15:15.713 --> 02:15:17.033
It's just Maker's Mark juice.

02:15:17.033 --> 02:15:18.444
There's nothing different in the bottle.

02:15:18.444 --> 02:15:22.269
So to use staves in a way that would change the taste.

02:15:22.469 --> 02:15:23.418
The profile.

02:15:23.448 --> 02:15:30.128
So instead of being this nice, subtly sweet whiskey and the first sips you get from it are much more reminiscent of a rye.

02:15:30.219 --> 02:15:30.729
Totally.

02:15:30.998 --> 02:15:32.529
And if you look at the, the rye.

02:15:32.599 --> 02:15:32.979
So interesting.

02:15:33.309 --> 02:15:36.368
Um, it, it shows you the 10 staves that we put in.

02:15:36.368 --> 02:15:43.668
So they chose four of the seared French cuvee, three of the Maker's Mark 46, which are just a French oak that has been baked.

02:15:44.458 --> 02:15:48.418
Um, and then two roasted French Mondi staves are really cool.

02:15:48.418 --> 02:15:49.378
I'll tell you those in a second.

02:15:49.399 --> 02:15:53.048
And then two or one of the toasted French spice.

02:15:53.458 --> 02:15:57.198
And that French spice is what gives it a little bit more of that cinnamon and clove.

02:15:57.658 --> 02:16:03.484
Um, those Mondi on staves though are wild because inside the barrel, oops, I'm hitting the microphone inside the barrel.

02:16:04.304 --> 02:16:31.969
They don't do a whole lot that you'll notice, but outside the barrel, if you pour a little bit of this whiskey, taste it, let it sit for 10 more minutes when whiskey that has been finished on a Mondiant stave, and Mondiant, by the way, although those are either French or American oak, there's not, it's not different wood, it's a different baking technique, but when, when whiskey that has been aged on the Mondiant stave touches oxygen, It changes the flavor of it over time.

02:16:32.439 --> 02:16:38.259
And so this whiskey starts very spicy and then finishes quintessentially bourbon.

02:16:38.799 --> 02:16:39.789
It's, it's wild.

02:16:39.799 --> 02:16:40.769
I dig that.

02:16:40.818 --> 02:16:44.939
Uh, tell us where to find, uh, William Oliver's?

02:16:45.248 --> 02:16:46.728
Yeah, so we got three locations.

02:16:46.769 --> 02:16:48.918
Uh, one in Fort Collins along Timberline.

02:16:49.509 --> 02:16:52.009
Uh, one in Lafayette along Public Road.

02:16:52.158 --> 02:16:54.359
And then one in Windsor on Main Street.

02:16:54.429 --> 02:16:54.918
I dig it.

02:16:55.519 --> 02:16:57.578
Um, love you, appreciate you being here.

02:16:57.629 --> 02:16:58.388
Thank you for having me.

02:16:58.738 --> 02:16:59.168
This has been a blast.

02:16:59.168 --> 02:16:59.898
Talk to you next time, yeah.