Every decision we were like, we are going to make this work. There was no other option. We had to make it work. Every day for 5 years, open to close. Like that's wild. I'm going to put a restaurant in a place where a restaurant failed.
We're going to put everything on the line. Our house, any cash we have to save everything. We're either doing this or we're not. What the tipping point was to say we're going to go do this. From South Bend to Evansville and everywhere in between, this is Get In, the show focused on the Hooser State and the incredible stories happening here today. I'm Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, and I will be your host for today's conversation.
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And let's get into the episode. My guests today are Mark and Lauren Weghorst. And they are Indiana born entrepreneurs leading one of central Indiana's fastest growing restaurant groups. Since opening their first Slapfish location in Noblesville in 2019, they've expanded to multiple communities across the state, creating a family-friendly, healthconscious, seafood concept known for fresh flavors and approachable dining. They are also local superheroes because they are raising three children in Caramel and remain deeply committed to community partnerships and school givebacks. We actually talked about this.
This might be their first date they've had in several years getting to spend some time on the podcast. Just kidding, guys. But welcome to the show, y'all. Thank you. Thanks for having us. Thanks for having us.
Oh, I'm glad that we could, you know, all come and hang out and enjoy. I mean, we have our Speed City H2O water uh fresh from the White River. Come on. Um, but I'm really excited to dive in cuz this story is kind of all about water when you think about it. Throw about seafood concepts in Indiana. True.
Kind of a stretch there, but I tried to put it together. Um, well, I want to know, you know, where does this whole journey start opening a seafood concept in central Indiana, you know, almost a thousand miles away from any ocean. Where did this idea originate from to start Slapfish? Google. Oh, I I'm so excited. Okay, so you Googled fast casual seafood concepts.
Fast casual sea. So, this is like not long john silvers. No, no, it's uh and That's what attracted me to slapfish. It's It's something that's different. Yeah. It's not Long John Silvers.
It's also not Ocean Air, you know, white tablecloth. So, something in the middle. I I I felt like Indiana in general was missing that approachable seafood where it's healthy, but you can do it on a regular basis. You can cut the grass, come in, have seafood. You know, most places it's it's more of an an occasion, an an event to have seafood. Growing up in my family, it was like once a year we might go to Red Lobster for like a special occasion, like a birthday or an anniversary, and it was like we're getting seafood or like Joe's Crab Shack for your like 12th birthday.
Such a vibe. So like like seafood was special. It wasn't like something you'd have, you know, on a frequent basis. That kind of makes sense. Were you like restaurant people? Did you have a background in food service?
Not really. Um, so my father is Broccoli Bill, which is kind of a hidden gem. It's a small little grocery store in Noblesville, the Noblesville, Westfield, Caramel kind of corridor there. And I grew up working in the grocery store. That was kind of my upbringing. And we had some small cafes that did breakfast and lunch and office buildings.
So, I had a little experience, but no real restaurant experience. Um, so no, I mean, in in terms of a full-on kitchen, front of house staff, zero experience. What were you doing in 2019? Like before you guys took this journey, like what were you both doing? I was working at broccoli bills and then also working in these cafes. Okay.
So you were working in the family business, you know, like getting a little bit of food knowledge on the grosser side and then you Google fast casual seafood concepts and somehow that Google search, you're like one of the one in 10,000 that actually acts upon it and creates a business from it. Just to back it up a little bit, we we enlarged broccoli bills in gosh, it was probably 17 16. And for people that don't know, uh, so give me a little context on what Broccoli Bills is. So Broccoli Bills is, it started out my my dad started it and he was an well he's not an Omalia, but from the Omalia family and there was a local grocery store here called Omalias. Some of the younger people don't know it, but it was like the OG Whole Foods. Oh, it was so like a a nice uh quality grocery store.
It was really a specialty place that, you know, people that grew up in Indiana in the '7s, ' 80s, '9s, early 2000s, Omalias was kind of a staple. So, so my dad grew up in that business and in 1994, I think it was, he decided to leave and open up Broccoli Bills. So, I was 14. I was born in 1980. And, you know, he opened Broccoli Bills and I just grew up, you know, kind of in the grocery business. Also, sports were a big part of my my childhood and even adult life.
So, um, but was always working in the grocery store, kind of brought up in that that background. And so, I I I was involved with food, but never in the restaurant world. Yeah. Okay. Wait, you're 14. So, you're like in your formative years.
Your dad leaves. So, is he working at Omalia's before? Yes. He was the produce manager of So, his my grandma was Joel Malia's sister. So, Joel Malia started Omalia's. He was he was the guy.
Great uncle Joe. Yep. And so my dad was the produce manager for I believe it was all the Omalia stores and he decided he always wanted to do his own thing. So I think he always had that entrepreneurial spirit that you know was kind of passed on to me and he decided to go at the time it was in the middle of nowhere. It's it's it's right now by Garren High School and Bridgewaters across the street, but in 1994 it was all corn fields. No way.
Yeah, it was nuts. Now, was that something you're 14, 15, your dad leaves a stable job to go start a grocery store? They call it broccoli bills. Like, did you feel like that was risky or did you think that was cool? Like, what was your perspective as a like a teenager seeing your dad take this risk? I thought it was cool.
I mean, it was, you know, was something we could all get around as a family and it was, you know, it was a family. It still is a family business. So, you know, to me it was exciting. I, you know, I'm 14 years old. I I really don't have any concept of money or anything, you know, the risk of like, no, I had no idea what my dad was doing. It was it was crazy, but he was following his dream.
Yeah. Well, I mean, I love that. I think that that says a lot. Uh because entrepreneurship was not as celebrated in 1994 as it is in 2026. Like now it's so cool if you quit your job and like go chase your dream and if you fail, whatever. But it's like 94 this is like work at a stable job, get your 401k maxed out, like retire and chill, you know, play golf, not necessarily go and start your own business.
Especially not like, you know, I just have to assume there's a lot of upfront cost in starting a grocery store, you know. Oh, yeah. I mean, you know, they they went all in. And that's how I grew up. And that's that's how my mind works. That I I I don't know any different.
To to me, it it doesn't even register that I would go get a stable job and do all those things. I would that that would be horrible. Amen. My kind of guy. Okay. Lord, do you remember your first time visiting Broccoli Bills?
Oh, yeah. I I mean, so I'm four years younger, so our lives when we were younger, I mean, four years is big, a big difference. We went to different schools. Um, but my best friend was an Omalia. Colleen Omalia grew up with her kindergarten through college. So, I always knew the white horse.
We'd go to Broccoli Bills. I would nanny over the summer and take five kids in and see this one and be like, "Oh, you know, our brothers played hockey. We were, you know, I I remember going to Broccoli Bills with my dad, getting fresh produce. They carried wine. I remember, you know, getting stuff for our family and uh you know, sing this one. Yeah.
Okay. Wait, so when did when did you guys meet and become like a couple? We met after college. We were both living at home. Mark was working in the delies. I was nannying for a family.
And I kept going in with them one summer and Mark was so overwhelmed and he said I said, "Hey, Mark." And he's like, "Hey." She was coming into the grocery store basically in a bathing suit. So, well, we were headed to the pool. I mean, we were getting and I said, "Hey, let's go get ice cream. Let's go get a sandwich.
Let's go." And I would stalk you a little. Look at your schedule. It worked. Let's go. The rest is history.
the See, how am I supposed to focus on the deli and the produce here? I'm trying to get a date. Yeah, it was it made it fun to go to work. Amen. Maybe Lauren will come in today. Yeah, there we go.
Come on. All right. I love it. So then obviously you guys end up, you know, getting married, having kids, the whole nine yards. And then at some point you have to decide, hey, we're going to start this business. Well, I would say it was even riskier than that before then because at the time I I played golf in college, went to Miami of Ohio.
So, won the MAC championship my junior year, turned pro, and I was off and on playing professional golf when I met Lauren. I would I would save up money, go down to Orlando, playing professional events for a couple years. When the money ran out, I'd come home, work some more. So, I I I kind of met Lauren during one of these uh hiatuses away from You are a risk taker. Yeah. Okay.
Like, you know, you're at home working at the grocery store. You're like, you know what? Like, I'm 23, 24. Like, are you pretty young at that point? Yeah, I was. Yeah.
24. Like, you're 24. It's like I get like 15 grand saved up. I'll be good for a few months. Like, I'll go rip it. Hopefully, I win some tournaments.
Like, that's awesome. That's how it went. What a great I mean what a risky lifestyle but like you I'm sure you have plenty of fun stories. Did you ever Okay, so now this would have been what like what years are we talking about in the golf scene? Uh so I graduated from high school. I went to Burbuff graduated in 99.
Okay. So I went to Miami, Ohio. Um Indiana people uh Jeff Overton he was at IU when I was at Miami Ohio. I played a lot with him. Yeah. um you know and and had I I had a great college career and had some sponsors turned pro you know did the whole golf thing and you know I was as you can see I'm 5'6 140 lbs soaking wet and golf was you know courses kept getting longer and longer and longer this was the Tiger Woods era and between the length of the courses and I just wasn't good enough to make it up, you know, to keep progressing in the game.
And, you know, I I worked hard. It was it was my passion. It was my life. I never thought of anything else until I stopped playing golf professionally except golf. It was my life. What was the pinnacle of your professional golf career?
It professional golf wasn't too uh amazing. I I finished second in the Ohio Open one year, won some money there. Um, it was not glamorous. Lauren knows. I mean, it it mini tour golf is rough. It's I I lived in Orlando.
Mini tour. Mini. So, mini tours are kind of like single, double, AAA baseball. That's That's kind Is it like the corn ferry today? Like what that is? Cornfairy would be like AAA baseball.
I was playing in single doublea is is kind of how I would describe it. There was at the time there was the Hooters tour. Um there was the Moonlight Tour. I played a lot of those events. So, you know, just you're you're you're managing the money you have and these entry fees are expensive. So, you're just trying to get as much experience as you can and not blow through all your cash.
Wow. So, it you know, I mean, I could have like an hourong conversation just on that. Like that's that's wild cuz you think today there's like so much from like the social media side and the live golf and this that like golf is it feels like getting more and more popularity all the time and you know more and more uh people are able to make a lifestyle off of golf. Even like there's like trick shot guys like don't even play on like tours. There's like sure doing trick shots and or like people who are really bad like me and it's like if I go out there people want to watch me suck at golf just to you know make fun of me or whatever but you end up giving up. So the dream of professional golf.
Well, I towards the end of my career, I I always loved studying the golf swing and learning mechanics. So I had the opportunity to learn from a guy named M. Oo Grady and got into the teaching end of golf. And a buddy of mine who I was kind of living with at the time, his name's Drew Steckle. He and I kind of started this teaching kind of going down that road and I decided to move back home. Drew decided to go to California and fast forward I don't know 10 years he's got a handful of guys in the PGA tour and and the the whole time he's he's kind of getting more popular and popular he's saying Mark you know we you and I'm I'm thinking if I tell my wife I'm going to chase another dream that might be it.
So, you know, I I I moved home, started teaching at a driving range in Zansville, built the Mark Way Course Golf Academy. I still get phone calls about that. Um I mean, we were doing Groupons. Groupon. Yeah. We literally when we moved home, this was I mean, we've been married almost 18 years.
So, this was 19 17 years ago. We moved home. Se 16 17 years ago we moved home. I was a photographer. Mark was a golf instructor. We were like, "We need to make it, you know, we have to pay bills."
And we both ran a Groupon ad. And we were photography. I was photography. Mark was golf. And we were just portraits, portraits. You were golf.
G golf. I mean, we'd see people who would be like, "I took golf lessons from your husband and now I'm taking their family pictures." I mean, it was nuts. And yeah. Yeah. Just, you know, still following our dreams, no kids at the time.
and you know having a ball kind of getting our lives started got a house you know but doing it from this but not having like corporate gigs like not like working anywhere there's like stability no yeah I don't know about stability we were it was really fun though like as hard as golf that whole world was and I kind of jumped in knowing nothing I was just like having full faith in Mark that we would have this like great life together and you know we're in Orlando It's like hot. Really hot. You're not near the beach. No. Like the like arguably the worst part of Florida. Yeah.
Oh yeah. It's like it's like your armpit. It's It's like 100° every day. So humid. I'm nanning down there. Flying home to do wedding photog like flying home to do weddings.
And but we had I mean it was sort of the foundation of our marriage. And it was just the two of us. You know Mark had you know golf some golf friends but not like we didn't have lives outside of you know each other. And Mark was at the course, I was a nanny. And it was a great we look back and we're like, "Oh, it I mean for us too, like that was a great part of our life. I mean, prekids, pre you know, we were just really getting to know each other.
We would make dinner and watch The Office. I mean, it was great. It was great. Yeah. So, you know, the whole teaching things going and I'm building my my clients and teaching golf in Indiana is difficult. You really can't do it in the winter.
It's It's almost impossible. So, a couple years into teaching, my dad says, "You know, Mark, I got to kind of make a decision with Broccoli Bills. You know, do you want to get more involved or do you want to go down this teaching road?" I I I I think he was kind of alluding to maybe he'll kind of start forming his exit strategy. and I said, "No, you know, I'm going to stop teaching and I'm going to come and work full-time in the family business." Did you have siblings?
I have a brother. Yes. He's 10 years younger than me. At that time, he was he was not working at the store. He is now. He's kind of kind of in charge of the broccoli bill stuff along with other people, but um at at the time he was he's a car guy.
He was working at uh Dryer and Rinbold or So, he was he was doing his thing. And I said, "Yeah, Dad, let's let's do it." So, I I left teaching, went to work full-time, and our idea was we were going to add on to Broccoli Bills and bring a restaurant in. What year is this? 2016. Okay.
Probably. So, 2016, you go back to work in the family biz. Broccoli Bills. Come on. And you decide and your dad, you guys come together with a plan of we're going to expand this. We're going to put in a restaurant.
Did you have any idea what like if I thought like maybe like a salad like a salad and sandwich shop seems like a very natural choice for a restaurant attached to broccoli bills? Yeah. So he he had a a friend of his that um had a had a restaurant and the idea was let's add on to broccoli bills cuz at the time it closed in the winter so we wanted to be open year round. So, the idea was bringing a restaurant in will bring continual people. We'll bring more activity to the area and, you know, that's how we can get this thing open year round and I'll I'll kind of take the baton from there. So, add on to the building, you know, that means more debt, more, you know, but we have a lease.
We we have a restaurant coming in. So, that's that's how it started. And there was a restaurant and couple years after they were open, they let us know they were going to leave. So it kind of Oh, so you guys weren't You were just the landlords of the restaurant. We were landlord. Yes.
You were not the We were not operating. You were not operating the restaurant. Oh. Oh. So So it was it was a little I mean it it was kind of scary. What was this?
You said that your dad's friend had restaurants. Yeah. His family did. Yeah. And so was that one of the restaurants that went in there originally? Yes.
So was that like did that make things a little bit uh I mean that's a friendship but it also puts you guys in a hard spot cuz you have this place that needs to be leased. Yeah. I mean no it it it I it didn't work for them and sometimes that happens in the restaurant world. that their their concept didn't work and we had this space and there was a kitchen in there. So, we're scrambling going, you know, okay, what are we going to do? And that's where Google comes in and I Google fast casual seafood concepts.
First thing that comes up is Slapfish. So, at the time it was a franchise. I call them or, you know, kind of do my work and get to somebody and they say, "Well, you know, they they they give me this thing to fill out and the one of the first things is you need liquid capital of $500,000." I mean, we we we are savers. We're we're very frugal. I think we had $20,000 at the time, you know.
Oh, yeah. Just $480,000 to go. I I just kind of was like, "Ah, that doesn't matter. I I don't worry about the money. I'm your guy. I just kept, you know, I I I can do this and we have a location.
They were out of Huntington Beach. And I said, I'm your guy. And it took 6 months to a year to beat them down to at least, you know, get to the point where they would take me seriously, even though I still, you know, we didn't have any money. Um, they flew out. They did like the idea of broccoli bills and slapfish. So, we agreed to go forward.
Then I kind of had that panic of, oh my god, we we do need money. How how are we gonna do this? So, you know, but I'm the guy. I'm the guy, you know, and but I I truly believed in it. Looking at it on Instagram is really all I had. But had when did you how far along this process did you actually eat slapfish?
Ah, oh man, really far along. I mean, you're like flew out there, basically convinced them to give you a shot, but that was way down the road, but you're like convincing them to come to Indiana and you haven't even tasted the food before. Just pictures on it. But it was one of those things you could look at it and I just went I knew immediately this will work. I and and I don't know how to do it, but I'm going to do it. And let's talk about this as well.
A restaurant had just failed in the spot that you were saying. We are making every all the wrong decisions. I mean, this is like in in the Kelly School of Business. This is day one business class of what not to do. There is no doubt. I mean, we had three littles.
So now you have kids. We have three little kids. We have three little and I'm telling, you know, that's why Lauren, if you know, okay, I'm running this thing and Mark, Mark, Mark, but if she doesn't agree to let me do this or us to for us to do this, none of this happens. You know, I'm I'm just a wild man. I I I get ideas and but I have to have the support. We We've got three kids.
We do have bills to pay. And you know, I'm going off on this wild tangent of I'm going to put a restaurant in a place where a restaurant failed and make it work. And and we're going to we're going to put everything on the line. Our house, all any cash we have saved, everything. Everything. I was working our kids on the line.
I mean, I was working full-time at Makea-Wish carrying insurance. You know, that was our steady income for for years. And I mean, it was nonprofit, so it wasn't like amazing. Yeah. And Yeah. We had three kids under four.
I mean, we had a four-year-old and twins that were two. No way. It was insane. Insane. And And I have no experience, too. Let's just put that in there.
Look at that. But but he's the guy. You forget he's the guy. Okay. So, I want to know at the height the conversation that you two had to have where it was we're either doing this or we're not. and like what the tipping point was to say we're gonna go do this.
I knew the second I saw the pictures on Instagram. But okay, so also the lesson here is Instagram sells. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I I've always been a little bit more cautious.
He's been the the you know spearheading these ideas and you know I've I've always felt I don't know exactly where our path is going to go in life but with Mark I know that we're going to be okay. Like the two of us together are a really good team. We support each other. I I just remember, you know, Mark having this really strong like he needs to figure out what's going to go in that space in Broccley Bills to kind of save that that business. And you know, we were both a little nervous. I mean, we we literally put everything on the line.
There was no other option. We had to make it work. Yeah. And every decision, we were like, we are going to make this work. And and I do think you know even though we are making all the wrong decisions when when you have to make something work that can be that can overcome so many like poor business strategy or whatever. It's like nope I just have to make it work.
There was no other option. Yeah. There was no other option. We we we did have some things some some wind at our back and being in broccoli bills. So, I knew the landlord. That did give me an edge.
And we did have customers coming in there that I knew. And, you know, they had seen something not work in there. And and and Broccoli Bills has the best customers ever. I mean, they they are the most loyal group. And I would say the reason SL the one of the biggest reasons Slapfish is here is because of the broccoli bill customers. They support my family, Broccoli Bills, and they got behind what we were doing.
And that is that. And you put we had to make it work. And you know, I'm I'm in my dad's store. I I want to make him proud, you know? I mean, I I I I want to show him that, you know, I can I can do something, too. So there's there there's all kinds of great things in this recipe that that there are some horrible decisions, but there are some phenomenal things that that you know really help make it work.
Yeah. So how do you finally convince Slapfish to take a chance and put a location like so it's a franchise at the time? So you they make you a franchisee. Y so let you be a franchisee, open up this seafood concept in you know in in central Indiana. I I think it was just my willingness and and desire to sell to them that that I have what it takes and and you know I can make this work and and I I truly believed it and you know they they agreed you know that but we so in the franchise world we we had to sign all these papers documents and we had to agree to open two locations even though I was there I was never going to open a second location. In my mind, this was it.
This was a one-off. I'll agree to do it. We'll deal with that down the road. So, we we had to pay $80,000 for two locations. And the only thing Well, how did you talk him out of $500,000? I think we just had a show I think we had to show that that's what was like we had that in our worth, like net worth.
Oh. And so we were like, uh, yeah. I mean, you know, what do we have here? They did their due diligence and you know I mean we did did we have it in cash at the moment? Maybe not. But we did get an SBA loan, you know.
So we So you are you're literally though putting it all on the line. We we literally put it all on the line. All of our cash, put the house up for collateral, you know, the the whole deal. It was it was all in and you know, we like we said, we we we just had to make it work. One, hell yeah. That's sick.
Two, I mean, also insane. Like, congrats to you guys to, you know, you're still standing here today. Uh, but what I want to know, okay, you put everything on the line. The house, the SBA loan, your credibility, everything is on the line. They say, "Sure." So, day one, you wake up, you have the green light to open a res.
You've never done this before. You have like, "How do you know what you're doing? And where do you start? Like what is the first thing you do to open a restaurant when you've never done it before? So, I went out to California for a week and trained. Um, you know, I learned as much as I as much as you can in one week.
Um, and you know, things were tight. I was still working in the family business up until that week I went out to California and then I flew back and we we we were kind of making changes to the store. I was still working in one of these little cafes we had. So go to California to train for a week and you know I got bills to pay. We're we're I I was hiring people before I left for this one week. Order food.
you know, the the the whole thing happened so quick and in a matter of like a couple weeks, this thing was up and running and I had to get it up and running because I needed money to come in. So, you know, I mean, money's flying out and we we got a $120,000 SBA loan. 80,000 goes out for the franchise rights for the area. We have 40 grand. And in the restaurant world, that's not even a computable number. Most restaurants now when you open them, it's 1 to 1.
2 two million if it's a new build to get open. So, I mean, we we have nothing and you know, it's I I still don't know how I don't know how we did it. You go through Did you have to like get branding in the whole nine yards? There was like a packet. Yeah, there there was like Google Drive and um I mean it was it was nuts. It was like what about a sign out front?
Like we had like a little banner. It was really all we had. I mean, it was we we we still really don't even have much of a sign. I mean, there's a little sign on the road that's very faded. It's faded. But, um, it it just, you know, I so I had to project to the bank, you know, what I do the first year in sales.
And I to get this SBA loan, I think I projected 400,000. And, you know, it ended up blowing that out of the water. But, you know, you're you're you're you're kind of going, "Okay, I I I need I have this much money left and oh my god, payroll's coming." You know, that my my first payroll run and you're going, I I this isn't going to work. As the kids would say, this math is not math. The math was not mathing.
And I needed to get the thing open. And so, I kind of, you know, convinced them, hey, I got to open this like now. And they let me do it. So, grand opening grand opening was crazy. We were so busy. It was the coolest thing.
This is like Nicole Pence with PMG. She I had known her from the Makea-Wish world and we kind of connected and stayed in touch and she had recently opened PMG and we were one of her first, if not the first client. And she freaking knocked it out of the park. She did too good. There was a DJ, balloon artist. A balloon artist.
Yeah. I mean, it was super family friendly because that area attracts. I mean, the community is super family focused and you know, the as stores had opened in the past with Slatfish, it was the first 100 customers get a free lobster roll. So, we got it out there. I mean, there was a line and we It was incredible. It was incredible to see.
And we were like, it was cool to see, but on the operations end, it was terrifying because one of the one of the things, you know, in any business, but for sure in a restaurant, if you don't really know what you're doing and there's a line out the door, that's a problem, you know. Yeah. Because you also only get one chance to make a first impression. Exactly. So, and and the the first couple months were I was so angry. I was so overworked and uh I didn't know what I was doing and all I'm thinking is I'm ruining this.
We're not doing a good job. And I'm I was mostly in the kitchen, you know, just trying to do all I can with the few workers I had to try to get this product out. So, I wasn't really talking a whole lot to the customers. I remember being back there just throwing things saying, you know, oh my god, I you know, this this is not good. And then I' I' I'd ask the people out front, "What are the customers saying?" My My dad would be there.
I'd say, "You got to go talk to people. See what they're He's Mark, they're they love it." And I'm I'm just kind of dumbfounded like this is horrible. Like, this is not good. There there's no way they're happy out there. But they were.
And and that is a testament to the broccoli bill people who were the ones at the start, those customers that my father and mother over gosh 20 years, 20 plus years had built that client base up. They were the ones that that gave me kind of a a chance and maybe a second chance if it wasn't great. They kept coming back. That that is a testament to what my parents did. Wow. you know, getting, you know, training the almost training the customers and, you know, boom, it just it took off.
And there wasn't there wasn't anything else like it in Indie and especially, you know, in that little lobster rolls and, you know, I think people were excited. They were excited to get healthy bowls and salads and lobster rolls and grouper sandwiches and, you know, things that you had to kind of, like you said at the beginning, like plan for. Now it was just a regular lunch and dinner that they could, you know, go with their book clubs or the girlfriends or, you know, go on a walk and get, you know, it was it was easily accessible now. Yeah. And people were loving it and it was incredible. How quickly after opening the first location were you able to breathe a little bit and like, okay, we're not going to lose the house.
Never. Never. I mean, you know, there's there's there's things that you you do like uh you know, payroll. Um most businesses do direct deposits. I I I do that now for the first I don't know, probably year. Businesses can print checks and then what happens is that money doesn't come out of their bank account until Monday.
So, you have the weekend of sales to help cover payroll. And that's, you know, things like that where you're pe people that have never and I had I had not owned a business. I did not know the stress that something like payroll or paying your vendors and things like that. The you know, you you've got to run this business. And then also on the back end, you've got to pay the bills. Yeah.
And you know, I did a lot of people think, oh, you know, you didn't have to pay rent. No, I I was I was contributing. This wasn't a free ride. you know, we we we had the increased debt with, you know, adding on to the building. So, you know, at the start it was just an effort to help the family out really. That's that it truly what it was was I just want to help out.
Yeah. That's where it started and then it snowball, you know, just got bigger and bigger and bigger and and then CO came because we opened 6 months before CO. So, we you know, that whole thing. Yeah. And Mark wasn't I mean, he wasn't paying himself. He had to make sure everyone else was taken care of so they would show up to work so that the product would be on the table for these people.
I I didn't pay myself for at least the first year or two. I mean, you you you can't you're you're going, you know, I I' I've got to pay my employees. I've got to pay my vendors. I've got to pay all these bills. And, you know, 99 times out of 100 there's no money left. So you you know that's and and that's another thing that in in the business world and it just I I went to Miami of Ohio and did uh get a major in marketing but I didn't learn anything about business.
You know paying yourself last is really like that there there's there's things that you need to be able to do if you want to run a business successfully. And one of the most important things is you know you eat last or you leaders eat last there there that is the only way to do it and you know I I think a lot of businesses do fail there but but going through that you know and this is where having a supportive wife and having you know my my mom and dad were were instrumental too and but having that that strong foundation allowed me to really dig again and and figure out how to make this work. Yeah. And so we have co Does that help or hurt your business? It ended up helping and some of it was the timing of CO um it happened during Lent. And if if you are in the seafood business, those Fridays during Lent are your busiest days of the year.
Oh yeah. So CO happened and you know people needed to eat seafood and we didn't close. I mean that was another thing I I I couldn't close. I had I had bills to pay. The money had to keep coming in and at the start nobody knew what was going to happen. There was no money.
There was no idea that you were going to get money from the government. So we just did what we you know what all restaurants did that stayed open. you you cook the food inside and you took the food out into the parking lot and but it was during Lent and the the the first week was slow and then we started doing things that we hadn't ever done saleswise and it was oh see some businesses felt that way where it was like okay people still needed to eat and they ended up growing through that experience from you know online ordering or calling ahead to carry out take like everything was carry out obviously like the Door Dash of the world like I crushed. I I I think one of the things another thing we had going for us looking back you can see you know oh wow yeah that there there's so many things that we had going for us that I didn't even know at the time but being a new restaurant and co hits everything's upside down in the restaurant world.
Black is white and heads is tails and it it nothing makes sense. So when you're new, you're you're willing to change. You're you're willing to do anything. Oh, we'll do Door Dash. We'll do GrubHub. We'll we'll do Uber Eats.
What whatever it is. Restaurants that were established in their ways didn't really want to adopt those things off the bat. And you know, to me at the time, it was just, okay, this is another challenge. Let's let's let's go head head first into Door Dash and how are we going to do this stuff and how are we get you know all the inner workings of how to make this work. We were still really hungry to do anything. Yeah.
So we jumped in to those third party things. We didn't close. So I you know having a 3 to six month jump start on everyone else we we kind of had momentum going. Well, I mean it it clearly starts to go pretty well because you end up opening more locations where again where along that journey did and at some point there's a like uh because it was a franchise like how many locations were there across there was 26 locations when we opened you know and co was not kind to Slapfish as a whole. To us it worked. Yeah.
But the other stores got into trouble and you know you fast forward to today and the only other slapfish out there is a a franchisee in the LAX airport. the the whole brand kind of you know went through its thing and yeah so what ends up happening with that so I want to before we get into expanding and growth I want to talk about how you end up being like the lone survivor almost of the slapfish brand and what that means like was there ever a moment where they were like hey we have to shut this like yeah what's the relationship there co kind of just broke everything apart and We we were growing and you know we're we're doing our thing and I had heard things were going on and you know we we just kept going and yeah at that point we had the broccoli bills in the Massav location. Right. Okay. So you had two at that point. So you had followed through on your original promise to open too.
Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah Massav's going and you know and did that was that one an instant grand slam too? Yes.
I feel like that was the first place I had it was at the Massav location. Like I didn't even know. I mean, grant I don't venture that far north of the time, but it's like the perfect little spot on Massav, you know, like it's a total vibe. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, they they had about four or five months after we opened, I think, they they opened Massav to dining on Massav and that that was I mean, we were so busy.
It it it it was you know and we got two stores going now and they're both busy and that was difficult and you know I was just kind of focused on what we were doing and you know it it it wasn't until Fisers opened that the brand started stores started closing and that was kind of uh you know again I'm just focused on what we were doing. Yeah. Like are you getting support at all from like the overarching brand? Like as I mean they're probably worried about stores are closing on on the West Coast and you're like, "Oh, we're ripping out here." Like people love it in Indiana. I I wouldn't say there was no support.
I wouldn't say there was a ton a ton of support. We got our seafood and and and one of the questions we get asked all the time is where do you get the seafood from? And the seafood comes from a company called Food America. They're out of California and we just kept getting our product, you know, and I mean there there was some wild times during COVID where we were drive I was driving and Lauren's dad drove to New Jersey to get our seafood because we couldn't get it. The drivers weren't showing up, you know, there was that shortage of drivers and so Mark was like, "We got to get it." So it was things like that where the the brand along with many other brands, this wasn't just a slapfish thing.
This was this was the restaurant world. you you couldn't get your product and you know we rented refrigerated trucks and drove and got the product and drove it back and I was just not going to allow something to stop us like well were you ever worried that what you had built was at jeopardy because the brand you know was struggling like as a whole weirdly no no no okay so then like how does it end up shaking out like today you it you have what four locations with a fifth one opening up soon and then there's one franchisee in LAX but the other 20 whatever are no longer so like do you is it still technically a franchise is there still an owner of the Slapfish like how did that all shake out? Uh, so Slapfish was um purchased by a group in Texas and you know they're we're kind of doing it with their blessing and their partnership going forward. So it's you know really it's just us now going forward trying So there's still a there's still like a a franchiseor like there's still someone who owns the franchise somewhat.
Yeah. because it kind of would have been nice if it was like, hey, no longer because you don't have to pay like your franchise fees anymore and you've been like, hey, we we survived and made it. Let's go. Yeah. There we we we have a relationship with this group in Texas and you know, so that's our our you know, the the intent is to grow this in the Midwest. So that's what we're focused on now is continuing to build the brand with, you know, how it was started and, you know, how how it worked for us.
Yeah. You know, because I think that's another piece is, you know, maybe in a place like California, there are so many concepts that, you know, that it's not as unique as it is here in Indiana where you're like, "Oh, this is perfect." like it it takes off um special occasion fish, special occasion seafood off the table and makes it more accessible from day one. Worked here and and I I do think the whole this is a unique thing here in Indiana. If if if you go to Huntington Beach or if you go to the east coast somewhere, a lobster roll or seafood is it's you you you kind of see it everywhere, but here it's unique. And that's the whole reason I wanted to do it is, you know, there's burgers, there's pizza, you know, we we do a lot of those things good in Indiana, but there is no seafood that is approachable, that's affordable, that you can do on a on a regular basis.
And that was, you know, that and I I wanted to see if I could run a business. Yeah. I mean, clearly it's going I mean, what you have the Massav location, Fisers, Noblesville, you're in the Caramel Market District, and then you have the new spot here like Meridian, Kesler, just outside of Broadripple, like that location at 49th and Penn. Yep. Right. Which I mean, great location.
Yeah. That When is that one opening? Uh, fall. Sometime. Fall. Exactly.
There we Exactly. It'll be open this fall. Uh, I love that. What I'm curious about is the logistics. Like, does it make it harder to operate a seafood restaurant in the Midwest versus like if it was a pizza restaurant? Like, does sourcing like product or like you know that whole logistics piece, does that make it more challenging here in Indiana?
It's definitely more challenging. Um, we we do have great partners in Food America that from day one with Slapfish, they were the seafood provider and I have continued that relationship and it's a great one and they do the lion share work of finding and sourcing the seafood and their whole, you know, business is founded founded around sustainable, healthy, responsibly sourced seafood. So, I can lean on them to do that work. Now, it it is challenging. It's because seafood is ever changing. So, you know, things come and go.
Not not regularly on the menu, but we do have to change some things up based on availability, pricing. You know, we're we're trying to stay affordable. So, sometimes certain species of fish, the the price just spikes, so you've got to go to another one. But Food America really really is they're the ones that make this this seafood affordable and for us to get it in Indiana. The original story, the original thought was you're going to open one location in Brackley Bills and it's just going to be, you know, we're we're bringing these customers in for Brackley Bills. They can also get lunch, they can also get dinner, whatever it might be there.
Like you're chilling now. It seems as though no, we're going to grow this thing across the Midwest. What was again what I keep asking for the tipping point. What was the tipping point that led you from maybe like one or two locations to no we want to expand and grow this thing. So one of the things that that I did that was really just what I had learned from my dad in operating these cafes is we kind of operated under a commissary model in the cafes. So when we got to three stores it was getting very difficult.
What is commissary model? Does that mean cooked in one place and set? Well, prepped in one place. So, when when you start opening multiple locations in the restaurant world, one of the probably the hardest thing is consistency across all the stores. And it is hard if you have three different places and they're all prepping the food and and making we we make all the sauces in house. Everything at Slapfish is made in house.
It is the real thing. This is not a joke. We don't buy pre-made sauces or anything like that. We do make it from scratch. So, with three locations, I was starting to notice, you know, this cook thinks that the lobster grinder should be a little spicier, so she's putting more Sriracha in it. And then this one thinks our salsa isn't chunky enough.
So, they're kind everyone was kind of doing their own thing. And you're going this and and you hear it from the customers. You hear a customer come in to Fishers and say, "Oh, man." you know, this tastes different than Noblesville. And you go, "What? What do you mean?"
Like, "It's not as spicy." And, you know, I'm I I am a perfectionist, so I'll immediately drive over there and I would try and be like, "God, it is more spicy. What you know, what are you guys doing?" And, you know, you uncover all these things. And in restaurants, this this happens. So, I went, "Okay, this I I can't get mad.
I I I I can't blame people. I got to figure out a way around this. And so at Broccoli Bills, there was enough room there to start a commissary where we make the sauces and do a lot of the the the prep there and then deliver it out to the stores. So that's like its own store to be honest. It's it's its own entity that is prepping, processing the seafood, making sure the portions are all the same, and then we deliver it out to So really all we're doing in the stores is cooking. Yeah.
Making keeping your quality consistent across all the locations. Yeah. And so once you got that process started to streamline, then you're like, "Oh, we could do this in becomes a real estate game, right?" Yeah. It opens our minds too to grow in, you know, these other locations a little a little easier, you know, to keep it consistent, to keep it the same, to keep customers happy when they go and, you know, get meals at other locations. And the the the nice thing for me is and and I live in the stores.
I'll all I I I do love doing this and I love being involved in the stores. I love the employees. I love talking to the customers. So, I'm in the stores all the time and I know whatever store I'm in, it's going to be the same at that store, at that store, at that store. So, I don't have to have this, you know, neurotic thing going like, "Oh, I wonder how they're doing over there. Oh my god, what's happening over there?"
I can be in one place and I can know that it's the same everywhere else. So, I don't have to. Now, obviously, you you need to get around all the stores and talk to everyone, but I know the product is going to be consistent. And so once that and that took a couple years to get that really working well and functioning and consistent, but now you're going, "Wow, you know, this is this really is like you just said, finding real estate." Yeah. And so 2019 success looked like keeping your house.
Yeah. It looked like having a successful restaurant within broccoli bills. Now 7 years later, how has the thought process of success changed for you guys? How are you measuring success when thinking about Slapfish today? It's things are more stable. There's there's no question.
Where where over the last seven years did you realize, okay, we're going to be able to keep the house? Uh probably about four or five years into it, we realized that four or five years. Yeah. I mean, Mark was there all day, every day, 7 days a week, all day. Yeah. And and people say this, and Lauren can attest that is the truth.
I mean, I would the first five years I worked every day open to close, every single day. And I mean, you know, you you you start missing things with the kids and you know, Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year. You know, Lauren has to sacrifice that. We We were closed still are closed two days a year. So, you know, two days. Two days.
Yeah. So, what? Easter and Christmas? Yeah. Christmas Eve though, we're still slinging lobster rolls. You better believe it, right?
You know, it it's it that's what it took. Yeah. And I it when I look back at it, it it never felt like a sacrifice. I mean, it it was a sacrifice with the family, but the the work and and people, you know, oh, how do you work? So, it still doesn't feel like work. It never felt like work to me.
Well, that's like when you're a builder and you're like build like I get from my perspective like creating and building like gives me fulfillment. Like I enjoy it far more than like lounging on a beach or like you know sipping a my tai or whatever it might be. So like it's clear that like being a builder it's like you get enjoyment from that. And the you talk about you mean working your way up to be an elite golfer. It's like that took a lot of process and time and dedication to your craft. Like having that same dedication for your business like five you look back it's like oh it's only 5 years like every day for 5 years open to close like you know that's wild.
That's th those are things that a lot of business owners that start businesses they don't realize what they're getting into. And that is the kind of stuff it takes. And so, you know, now what is what is success? I I truly, you know, being able to have more balance is something that that and Lauren will kind of go roll her eyes. Finding more balance in this whole thing with family life. That is a big thing that is in my mind on on how how do I not step away from the stores, but how do I kind of how can I empower these people to run these stores without me having to be there so I can, you know, put some time back into the family.
Yeah. And and that's Well, it's like are you building yourself uh a more extreme job or are you building a business? Like that's I feel like the tough part when you go from Okay, I can just will this into existence, you know, like my sheer force of will will get this to a certain spot. But at some point, if you want to continue to grow, it's like, okay, allowing people to like try and fail and, you know, have good people that step in there. That's I think that's really hard. We've had a lot of entrepreneurs on the show that like like making that transition can be so challenging, right?
And that's, you know, finding the right people and trusting them. And, you know, when I I do think there is a progression, at least what I'm seeing, when when you start something and it starts working and, you know, you can pay the debt off. So, you know, there's no you you put that away there there there's layers that you peel off where now you can breathe a little more. And now, you know, I I I think some of that not trusting people and not stepping away is more I've got $2 million of debt, you know, you know, and it it's it sounds so easy to say, oh, empower people and step away and don't work in the business, work on the business. You know, I I I hate that phrase, but um you know, once those things are peeled away, you can kind of breathe a little more and you go, "Okay, you know, I do need to trust people." And and honestly, by me not backing away, I'm stunting their growth.
So, you know, I'm realizing these things and it's it takes time. You know, I it's hard. If you want to hear an interesting one, we had Scott Weise on the podcast, the founder of Scotty's Brew House and his story. So like he went the opposite direction where instead of like he says if I could go back I probably would have grown at a slower pace because every story he was taking on a million of debt and he opened 20 of them something like like 17 of them. So it was like every like our first one hit, then they opened Bloomington hit, then they open West Lafayette hit, 86th Street hit. He's like, "I only hit winners, but at each one they were rolling over a million dollars of debt and he continued to build that out and then um when he ended up selling to private equity."
It's a it's a really fascinating story, but his whole, you know, the like the whole house of cards ends up coming down at the end and it's a really unfortunate ending, but he was very uh like if he he talked about what he would go back and change if he could do it again and it was that exact thing like, "Hey, don't grow for the sake of growth. like you're still running a business here. It's like pay off your debt and be smart, you know, and cash flow, the whole nine yards. And it really opened my eyes to I mean, a lot of people think it's it's recipes and customer. Again, it is recipes and customers, but there is a whole business aspect of the restaurant development and growth game that is uh is a fun equation to figure out how to how to grow. And clearly you guys seem to be on the right track.
Location number six, five. Location number five is opening up this fall. What was desirable about Meridian Kesler? It's a little smaller footprint than what we normally have, but knowing the area, the community, how tight that community is. I I really feel like when we get in there and we are a communitydriven brand, that we will be accepted by that community. Yes, that's that I I I I feel like we fit Murdy and Kesler very well and we will get involved in the community and that's something we love doing and and it you know did our homework too and you know we've we've learned a lot with demographics and our locations ones that do really well, ones that do okay and you can kind of see you know Meridian Kesler checks all the boxes for us.
Mine Gestler, you want to win in there, just slap in a save the Rivy sign and everyone Mer Guestler is going to love you. Right. Right. Like that was like the biggest news of the MK in the last like decade was what's going on with the Rivy. Yeah. Um I love it.
I think that it's an awesome story. I think that your teamwork is so evident. Like the fact that you are a great team so evident and the fact that you're Mark especially you're not afraid to take risks. No. Like I think that there is a healthy pressure that comes when you don't have an option. Like when the option is succeed like failure literally is not an option, you know, like we're not going to we're not going to give up.
We're going to make this thing happen. What I would like to know kind of last question before we talk all about the state of Indiana. Think about your dad taking the risk to start Broccoli Bills when you were 14. Now being parents, what do you hope you know 20 years from now your kids come back, listen to this podcast, hear about the story and the journey, what do you hope they learn and can take away from your your guys' entrepreneur journey in life? You you you really need to follow your gut. You need to listen to the voice inside.
And I I I hope they can see that, you know, yes, you can make pros and cons lists and all those things and and and those are good, but follow your heart because that's what's going to make you the happiest and what makes you the happiest. And if you're doing it with, you know, a spouse that you can grow together, that's what it's all about, you know, money and making money or or or whatever it is. That's all good and well, but true happiness is when you you you follow that voice inside and you're not scared to take a risk to get out of your comfort zone and trust in yourself and if it works great. If it doesn't work great, you're going to learn and you're going to go forward. I mean, I could do a whole podcast on all the failures I've had and and I I I love the line by Steve Jobs where you can't connect the dots going forward. You can only connect them looking back.
And when I look back, I can go golf did this. uh you know all these things that I did that I failed and you go okay I I can see now what I learned there and I can see how that did this and I can see how learning about not wanting to have debt and the whole goal is getting rid of debt and you know you can see all those things looking back that just try stuff and don't be afraid to fail. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We have a quote board at home.
I just change it randomly when I feel inspired and it just says do hard things. And I think, you know, thankfully Mark and I are supportive of each other through this whole process. Mark just kept saying just trust me. Just trust me. Cuz I'm like, ah, what are we doing? I never see you.
You never see the kids. Do you love us? You know, all these things in our lives for many, many years. When our kids were little, they we were a parallel, but we weren't always with each other, you know. And now when Mark is home for an evening, he's trying to come home for two dinners a night. The kids are like, "What?
Dad, why are you here?" So that's balanced now is I come home two nights a week at at at like 4:00 I'll leave. So I'm still working seven days, but I'm coming home two nights a week. And they're like, "That's amazing, Dad. What did I Okay, we got to refigure out how to work with Mark in the house, you know." Um, but just just knowing and trusting their gut that they can do hard things because life's hard.
It's really, really good and fun and amazing, but you can do hard things. Hear that, kids? You can do hard things. I love it, y'all. This was so fun hearing your entrepreneur journey and your Yeah. the risk tolerance, the hard work, the sacrifices that were made.
Like, I I think that again, we live in a year. We live in a time where entrepreneurship is very romanticized. It's like everyone wants to be the I was sleeping on my buddy's couch and I was the entrepreneur and then I made a billion dollars. And it's like what you don't see in a lot of those journeys is seven days a week open to close is, you know, te-ball games or baseball games or just like dinners, you know, and like figuring out what the goalpost is for success. I feel like I've just loved having this conversation and I'm really excited for the one to come here in Meridian and Kesler. I can't wait.
I'm going to be a regular. Let's go. Uh, we're going to close out with a couple fun questions all about the state of Indiana. So, this question is brought to you by our friends at JC Hart. They're a leader in creating enjoyable living experiences at apartment communities all across Indiana and beyond. Check them out at home isjart.
com. My question for you all, why do you call Indiana home? The people. And and and we didn't always live in Indiana. We lived in Orlando. And Indiana is just feels like home.
the community. Great place to raise a family, you know. Yeah. Awesome place. I love that. Okay.
What's the go-to order at Slapfish? Powerball. PowerB. So, because you say Powerball, I can't say that, but that would be mine. Um, I would do a menu hack. I would do the epic shrimp burrito, but get salmon in it.
Oh, we got to alert. We have a menu hack. The epic shrimp burrito. Shrimp's good, but get it with salmon. Wow. I love that.
I mean, one, I'll just say fantastic product pictures on the website. Like, those look very appetizing. Those were from yours truly. Yeah. Oh, the the photograph is connecting the dots. Looking back, it really is the photography.
All the things in both of our past lives like collided and it's slappish. Wait, you're telling me that these didn't come in that Google Drive that you guys got from the start? Best golf course in Indiana. Favorite golf course in Indiana? Crooked Stick is really good. It's always in good shape.
Phenomenal place. That's probably the best golf course in Indiana. My favorite golf course I I grew up playing at Woodland Country Club. It's not a Well, Woodland's still there, but the old course the before they changed the whole thing. Uh, that's that's my favorite. All right, those are good.
Old Woodland Country Club circa 1980. Circa 19. So, yeah, he was zero years old, but he still remembers. Um, what is your best advice for aspiring food entrepreneurs? Don't do it. I'm just kidding.
Be ready to not get paid for two years. Okay. Two years, no money. Yeah. Yeah. I would say have a good support system whether it's a spouse, family, community, because you're gonna you're going to need it.
You're also going to work every day for two years and not make money. So, if if you can wrap your head around that and and you still want to go forward, you have a chance. It's an investment in your future. I love the idea that people have used pop-ups and food trucks as kind of like trampolines into full concepts like um and like unique like uh I think you need a lane too, you know, like the lane of fast casual seafood. Great lane to run in. There's a a local baker that's blowing up.
She runs the Cavity Factory. Yeah. Have you heard of this? Crazy. They just do like delicious baked goods and they kind of do them in drops. sold out like every day like worked just continued building up building up building up building up and I'm like such a genius move.
Um so I would say yeah be ready to work and not get paid and then maybe you know kind of stairst step your way into it versus convincing convincing a franchise to wave their $500,000 fee committing to two restaurants. Don't don't blow the bank on the first location. I mean it it you know if if if the debt is too much it will swallow you up in the restaurant world. All right we have the final three questions that we ask every guest who comes on. The first I want you to think back through all the memories of being a hooer. What is your favorite Indiana memory?
I think summers as a kid. I think we were talking about 1980. I feel like if we could just go back to like 1993, getting on your bike, riding your bike to your neighborhood pool, spending all day, you know, your parents have, they think you're at the pool, you know, playing flashlight tag, you know, you come home for dinner, do a couple chores, check off your summer reading, and then I mean, that's all summer long. Yeah. It's just living that carefree summer childhood. And I don't know if our kids have that these days, you know, like it's different.
And I feel like we were so fortunate to have that. That's a good one. Yep. Yep. Digging in uh we my my best friend growing up, his name is Chuck Perur, we used to dig in the side of our yard in the summer and just, you know, like Lauren said, you know, I don't know if kids, our parents would just let us go all day long, you know, and just hearing those they were cicas, but we didn't know what they, you know, just those the the smell and the feel of summer. Yeah.
Come home when the street lights come on. Like that was it. Okay. Now, this is your opportunity to shed some light on a part of the state that more people need to be talking about. Could be a restaurant, a park, could be a sports venue, could be anything. What is a hidden gem in Indiana?
Broccoli bills. Yeah. Yeah. I it's it it still kind of is hidden even though it is in a very popular area with Garren High School right there and Bridgewater across the street. It's so you know local corn, tomatoes, peaches, watermelon, the produce in the summer at broccoli bills, you will not find that at any grocery store. It's not the same.
It's it's locally grown stuff. Even if it's, you know, watermelon that aren't from Indiana at the time, they're from it's it's the real deal and you can taste it. There's nothing like it. And the people around there that that have found it, that's just where they go. That's they So, that is 100% Yeah. what I would No question.
All right. Broccoli Bills first. I love it when I get a first one. No one has said broccoli bills is a hidden gem. That's a good one. Yeah.
Final question for you. This is where we source new guest ideas and learn about other people in the state of Indiana that are doing amazing things. Who's a Hooser we need to keep on our radar? Someone who's doing big things. I would say it's people under 30 that can still communicate and form relationships with people and are willing to work hard. Those are it I I don't that is like a hidden that's a hidden gem is finding those people because we are in such demand of the younger people that can communicate.
you you just don't see it and you know we've got close to 100 employees and we are in the customer relationship business and it is so rare and when you find someone like that if I mean all the talk is AI and and and I get that you know there there's a lot of good things happening there but what is being missed is being able to sit at a table like this and communicate with people and the younger people that do have that skill have such a head start on good degrees or high IQs or things like that and everyone's going to AI but I you know I'm kind of always been I've been a contrarian and that is what I would be going towards. I would I would be spending all my time learning how to communicate with people because that's if you talk to business people that's what they want in in the younger audience. I love it. So, you could be a Hooser we need to keep on our radar listener out there. Yeah, it could be you.
Y'all, thank you so much for coming on the show, sharing your story. The the journey of Slapfish is incredible. Uh from putting all your chips on the table in the first location to now growing to your fifth location, opening up this fall. It's incredible. I feel like um one, the Marine CER community is going to welcome you with open arms. I love that.
Um, if people want to learn more, they want to connect with you or they want to try your food, where can they do that? I'd say find us on Instagram or at Slapfish, uh, any of our locations. Mark is always at one of them, so you will see his beautiful face. Um, yeah. Yeah. I mean, any of the locations is great.
And we do respond to everything, you know, any any comment on Instagram or any Google review. So, I mean, I constantly check them and read them and it's uh, you know, love our customers and they're the reason we're here. I love it y'all. Well, hey, thanks for stopping by and we'll talk soon. Thank you. This show is made possible by our friends up at Sweetwater.
Whether you're looking to start a podcast or take your content to the next level, click the link in the description to see all my gear recommendations at Sweetwater. If you want a behind-the-scenes look at everything we're doing across the state, make sure you follow me on Instagram and Tik Tok, Nate Spangle. Thank you so much for listening and being a part of what makes the Hooer State great.
