WOWCast Ep2 "Building Relationships" (Ryder Simoneaux)

In this episode of the WowCast, the host Chris Williams interviews Ryder Simino about building relationships. Ryder shares his background in the restaurant industry and how he got into management. He emphasizes the importance of consistency in building relationships with teammates and the community. Ryder believes that genuine enjoyment of people and a willingness to listen and offer solutions are key factors in strengthening relationships. He also mentions that relationships may start one-sided but can evolve into a two-way street over time. How's it going out there today walk-ons? We are in episode two of the WowCast. Today's episode we are talking with Ryder Simino and we're talking building relationships. Buckle up. Last week we talked a lot about living with integrity with Mr. Mike Lester. This week we have Mr. Ryder Simino and we're going to be talking about building relationships. As always, I'm joined here with Lexi Gibbs and Charlie Kelly. My name is Chris Williams and now we're going to go ahead and get started with Mr. Ryder. So Ryder, before we get into talking about building relationships, I'd just kind of like to ask you about your restaurant career, kind of how you've gotten to where you're at today. Mr. Ryder is out of Brulee, Louisiana, which for those of you who do not know where that's at, just take a look at a map, look for Baton Rouge and then go a little bit left and you will find Brulee. A little bitty old town of Brulee. A little bitty old town of Brulee. So with that being said, Ryder, could you just give us a little bit of your history, man? Let us know where you came from, where you're at now. Yeah, so I started off in restaurants in college and as I was switching majors however many times, I realized that I loved the restaurants and ended up getting into management in the restaurants and did that for a while until I had kids and got into sales and then was able to make my way back into the restaurants a few times over the years and have actually been a part of the Walk-On's family in some way, shape or form for, shoot, probably 15 years or so. Yeah, did four years in food sales and missed the restaurant. So I was at Burbank for a year and a half, two years, something like that. And then I tell everybody all the time, my wife was about to shoot me or divorce me because the kids were young and it was a lot. So got back into sales and the company I was working with is now PFG, but Reinhart. And as the district manager for Reinhart and then director of sales for Reinhart, I had the relationship with Walk-On's continued. And then the kids got old enough to fix their own ham sandwiches, so the wife, I was ready to get back into it and what better place to talk to than Walk-On's? And she said, as long as it's not Burbank. I said, no promises, but let's see what's out there. And as lucky as I was, the general manager for the Brewery location had quit like a week or two before and I live literally two miles behind this restaurant. So it aligned perfectly. Came on as the general manager in August of 19, in the middle of COVID, July, 2020, bought in as an owner and have been rocking and rolling ever since. So I'm sure Charlie will probably ask you a little bit later about some of those wild stories from Burbank back in the day. No, we're not going to talk about any of those stories. I agree, Ryder. We're going to do it. Thank you. Some things are best left in the past. That's good because we do have a wide audience here and we try to keep things at least PG-13. So we're definitely not talking about them. Well, I appreciate the backstory. So just a question. So what kind of drew you to restaurants to begin with? When, well, my mom's not going to listen to this, so it's okay. I grew up in Divorced Parents and I grew up in White Castle and my dad lived in Baton Rouge and I really did not like my mom's cooking. So when I would go visit my dad, you know, in White Castle, we didn't have much for cable TV. We had the WG where the Cubs and the Bozo Show was on. But when I went to my dad's house, they had the Food Network. So I would watch Emeril Lagasse and Bobby Flay and Mario Batali and all these guys. And I decided at that point that I wanted to learn how to cook because I didn't love my mom's cooking and I didn't want to rely on someone else having to cook for me when I was grown. And that just kind of led into my enjoyment of the restaurant. While in college, I got in and started off as a salad cook and worked my way through the restaurant. And I just enjoy it. That's awesome. So Lexi, take note, we are going to have to find Ryder's mother's email address to make sure she gets a copy of this. Absolutely. She's a very sensitive woman, so that would probably break her heart to know that. She enjoys my cooking, so that's a plus side to it. There you go. There you go. Bringing it up in the family. Bringing up the culinary skills. All right. So let's slide it over to Lexi. If you want to start getting into building relationships, let's start talking about our guiding principle there. Yeah. So I think it's really, really cool to take note of your pathway going from sales to the restaurant and both of those career paths really being relationship oriented. And a lot of what that arena is for both of those is really about what relationship you form with your teammates, your boss, everyone you meet. So I think it's very interesting with your story to know that you've truly been building relationships since day one. No matter what element you were in, that was the biggest drive for you in your role. So I guess from your perspective now, being part owner of the company and running the brewery location for so long and being in the restaurant business, what is something that you've noticed is vital to building those relationships with your teammates as well as your peers in the business world and in the restaurant? Being consistent, I think, is the biggest factor in building relationships. You know, for me, relationships are everything. With the team, without having those personal relationships with the teammates, it makes things more difficult. It makes things more challenging to get the buy-in to do the things that are needed. And with the teammates, if you're not consistent, if you're not willing to listen and offer solutions when they want and just listen sometimes when they want and show people you care, it means everything. And with the community, it's the consistency factor again. We do food drops to schools all the time. It's not because the teachers are starving or whatever. It's just to say hello, just to remind them that we appreciate what they're doing. And it's great for us. It's great for us personally because we have some great relationships with people in the community. You know, it's great for the business because they're our biggest fans. To me, it's a win-win for everyone. That's awesome, especially your point about the community aspect. It also, I think it gives that feeling that someone else is there for you as well. You know, outside of maybe your immediate family or, you know, your immediate friend group, you get to go and, you know, go to a job that you kind of have that feel of home, you know? And that comes from building that relationship with your teammates. You know, with your peers, with the community, it's like someone else is there for you. It's not just, you know, that home life or something. You have a home away from home. So, I think that's huge about, you know, the community aspect with building relationships that you talked about. Charlie, do you have anything to add on that? Yeah, I'm going to kind of, I'm going to echo what she said and what you said, Ryder, and then form that into another question. You know, the saying out there is that when you got it, you got it. And trust me, I've definitely got a special place in my heart for you. You're one of those people, Ryder, that I want to consider to just have it. Thank you, brother. And we've seen you exercise your ability with building relationships for, you know, I've known you for about a decade plus now. So, my question to you is, the power of building relationships, obviously, is a two-way street. It takes, you know, you as the individual to want to create the relationship and do it well. Likewise, on the other end, the person that you are committing to building the relationship to has got to be receptive and kind of meet you in the middle. And now you've got a relationship going. I'd like to know, based on when you got it, you got it, I knew you had it, you know, 10 plus years ago, Ryder. When you were young in the industry and you understood how to build a relationship then versus at your time, tenure, expertise from, man, working in the restaurant all the way to ownership, what would you say about the power of building relationships? From the time you started, and then you got better at building relationships to where you are now, tell us how you've been able to strengthen your ability over the years to create better relationships. Oh, you know, you say when you got it, you got it, I've never known that I had it, you know, and I've never known that I had it. I've never known that I had it. I've never known that I had it. I've never known that I had it. You know, you say when you got it, you got it, I've never known that I had it. You know, I just, I enjoy people and I enjoy having fun. And I think that when you do that, and it's a genuine enjoyment of other people that I think that comes through, you know, over the years, it's, you know, a lot of failures, a lot of mistakes, you know, that you learn from. And, you know, you look back, man, I could have done this differently. And then next time, you know, you go at a relationship in a different manner. I wish there was a secret sauce that I could write down on a piece of paper, because I would definitely write it down and give it to every one of my managers. You know, but it's just being genuine. You know, I think that no one's perfect. No relationship's perfect. And, you know, very often you say it's a two-way street, and it doesn't always start as a two-way street, right? I talk with my people about an emotional piggy bank. You know, you got to put into that emotional piggy bank. If you're ever going to want to or need to take out of it, you know, and it's with the team, it's with the community, right, it may start very one-sided. It may start by just showing someone you care. And you do that enough times. And if they didn't want a relationship before, you know, they eventually they will, unless they're just cold-hearted, you know. Cold-hearted, you know. But, like, you have to make deposits into people, you know. Otherwise, you're not going to get anything out of it, and they're not going to try and make deposits into you. I don't know if that answered your question, but. It's an excellent response. And it's real, and it's raw, and it's true. And I like how you stated deposits, but also positivity. Let me throw that in there. From the day I met you to now, you know, there has been this aura of positivity despite challenges or, you know, times of low or times of hardship. That consistent piece that, you know, you talk about, you have consistently portrayed a very positive manner about yourself for, again, the better part of a decade. So, you know, I look at you and I consider you to be one of those people that I want to build a relationship with. And I think you do it well enough. Obviously, we want to highlight you here on this podcast, but, you know, people probably want to mirror what it is that you have and your ability to create, you know, meaningful and long-lasting relationships. So, and I'm thankful to know you. I'm happy to see you do your life's work and impact so many people, you know, with relationships in such a positive way. It really is a great, it's a great thing to see, especially in the Baton Rouge community. But, you know, just being an ambassador for our brand, it's a pleasure to work with you and see you do your good work, man. Thank you. Thank you, brother. Let me say something real quick on that positivity piece. You know, think about it. We work a lot. We're in here a lot of hours every week. I am in the restaurant more than I'm at my house. My wife reminds me of that every day. Negativity is draining. It's exhausting. And, like, we've all had someone that we've worked with that was just as low as me and Debbie Downer. And, you know, it's exhausting. We work way too much and we're around these people way too much to have that, right? And if, yeah, there's, we go through tough times and there's times where I've slammed my hands on the expo line because I'm pissed off because we're running long tickets or whatever it may be, right? But, you know, I go and give everybody a hug and apologize if I threw some foul language out there after, right? Because it's exhausting to be negative. So if we can surround our teammates with more positive people and everybody's positive, it's much easier to put in 60 hours a week. I can promise that. Yeah, I kind of want to, I want to just say one thing that you really, you just said something that stuck out to me huge, but also the emotional piggy bank is like how you were explaining it, you know, you put so much, you put time into it. You consistently, you know, put into that and you might not get the immediate return on it, but you keep working at that part. You know, you keep investing in your, in your teammates and your managers and you keep showing them, you know, what a good positive relationship can bring. Kind of like you said, that negativity is so draining and so exhausting on top of working so many hours already. And it's just, you know, sticking with that consistent positive mindset that even if you do have to slam your hands on the expo line, you go and give that, you know, that hug and that apology right after. Because that also is building that relationship and, you know, showing your teammate and your manager that, hey, you know, it got tough for a minute, but I'm still here for you. I'm still that family for you. I'm still, you know, that ear when you need it and that person, you know, by your side. And I think those two things were huge, what you pointed out. I'll tell you a fun example of this, right? So, number one, you never get, you know, you never get an immediate impact. It takes time of making deposits into that emotional piggy bank. I'll tell you something interesting, right? Every day when I leave, I don't care what time it is or what time of day or night or whatever. When I leave this building, I walk the line and I give daps to everybody in the kitchen. I do that every day. I've done that every day since I've started. It's just a thing that I do, right? And whoever's on the expo or in the house, I'm giving them daps. I give everybody daps. There's been twice since I've been here that we did not execute to the level that I know we were capable of. And I was so frustrated that I just left and I didn't give everyone daps. And both times I had two to three kitchen employees send me a text saying, I'm sorry, bro. We dropped the ball tonight. We're going to get it next time. You know, and that's when it means something. You know what I mean? That's when you turn your ass around and you come back up and give people daps. You know, like being a baby and, you know, so yeah, it takes time. But, you know, once you have that with your team, man, it makes getting through difficult times a whole lot better. Well, that's the two-way street, right? So you've poured a lot into emotional piggybanks, you know, with your team, and clearly they could see that you needed relief and or that uplift of positivity. I think it's very refreshing that the culture you've created there says, you know what? They can approach you and say, hey, chef, you know, hey, boss, you know, I got a high five for you. But you know what? Come meet me in the middle, man. This isn't like you. Help me help you. And man, how refreshing is that? Like they're holding you to the standard that you created there and they won't let you get below that positivity line either. So that alone, Ryder, is proof that, you know, it works. It absolutely works. And it's a very foreign thing when it's absent. Yeah. It's excellent. I wanted to just kind of piggyback on some of the things that you guys were talking about there with the emotional piggybank. So oftentimes when I'm talking about building relationships and trying to explain it to people, I liken it to building a relationship as you would with a family member. So, you know, we consider people in the restaurant to all be our greater family group. I know you mentioned being at the restaurant more than being at home. Like we really have to create that family atmosphere. And Lexi mentioned it earlier. But, you know, when talking about it to kind of, I guess, talk about something that people don't necessarily always relate to building relationships, and that is the capability to hold people accountable. So, like, if I look at my family, you know, I've got four kids, my wife, you know, there's probably nobody in this world outside of maybe myself that I hold more accountable than my family. And I do it because I love them, right? And I do it because I want what's best for them. So can you talk about how accountability kind of lives within that emotional piggyback? Because sometimes you do have to make some withdrawals, right? You've got to rely on that trust and that relationship that you've built in order to have tough conversations, too. Can you talk about that for just a second? Yeah, I think that that accountability piece of it is a lot easier when you're consistent, right? Like, yes, there's times where you have to hold someone accountable and they don't yet understand why, you know. But those are typically the one-offs. You know, more often than not, being consistent in your actions each and every day, it doesn't take much to hold people accountable. You know, it doesn't, sometimes it's just a simple look, sometimes just walking in a room, people, you know, and more often than not, even if it upsets them in the moment because they, you know, whatever, more often than not, they appreciate it after. I've had guys that, you know, I had to let go, some managers that I had to let go for one reason or another. And, you know, since then, I've seen them and, you know, they've thanked me because it's what they needed. My God, I've never had anybody thank me, but, you know, but it's sometimes when it comes to holding people accountable in the moment, they don't appreciate it. But after the fact, it's like, OK, I get it. It's funny that you said giving them that look, like I'm envisioning that mom or dad look, you know, to where it's almost a level of disappointment. And because you've built such a strong relationship with some of your teammates and you can do that, they don't want to let you down. And there's accountability that lives within that as well is because they're like, oh, man, you know, I'm sorry, Ryder. I know I didn't do that right or whatever. And you don't even sometimes you don't even have to say anything. You just give them a look like, hey, you know better. And that's good enough, you know. With my front of house, I get that a lot, you know, just be mad at me and yell at me. Don't give me that look. You're disappointed in me and that hurts. I'm like, well, you know why I'm disappointed in you. So let's do better next time. We'll be all right. I still love you. We're good. I mean, there's a reason that it's worked for eternity for parents, right? Yeah. Those that are good parents, they can just give you a look and you're like, oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll fix it. And then to bring it to kind of the business side of things and kind of let our greater audience here know, you know, not only are you great at building relationships, but it's certainly been fruitful at your restaurant. You know, it's kind of bared out in your results. So, I mean, just so everybody knows here, how many people live in the township or community of Brulee? Oh, I would be lying to you. Brulee itself? Yeah. I think it's like 2000 people or something like that. It's something like Brulee itself. It's very small. It's yeah, not even a city. It's a town. We do have additives, but you know that I talk about it all the time. You know, we're the west side. Yeah, we're in Brulee. But, you know, from Port Island to, I don't include Donatheville because I went to St. John and we didn't like Donatheville. It's Catholic. But, you know, basically this whole west side from Port Island to Donatheville, we're all the west side. And it doesn't matter if, you know, something happens in Brulee or something happens in Plaquemine. Everybody supports everybody. And, you know, it's fun to watch that. It's sad when it's for a tragic, you know, event. But, you know, when this community, when this west side, you know, we say all the time, west side is the best side. When this west side community comes together, it's an amazing thing. Yeah, and I only point that out to ask you the next question. That is, what are you guys doing in sales a week? It's the slow season right now. We did 92 last week. Slow 92 is a good thing, my brother. I had that conversation at pre-ship this morning, you know, because like, oh my God, it's so slow. I'm like, guys, when I got here in 2019, if we did 78, we thought we got our asses kicked. Right. And now y'all are fussing about 92. We did 96 the week before, 95 the week before. It's a slow season. Wait till baseball and softball starts up, and we're doing 115, 120. And that's what they're ready for. They need, they want that. They're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we want that. That's awesome, man. Slow mid-90s, it amazes me. I'm like, God, y'all gotten spoiled is what it is. So what, what would you say, as far as on the relationship side and the community side and taking care of the West side, as you said, how much of an impact do you think that building those relationships has had in building those sales over the last three years? You said 2019, it was, you were much slower. What impact do you think that's had? Ah, huge. It, it, it means, it's everything. It's, I can, I can see it on a, on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis of, you know, you know, how much time I'm able to spend here versus not and, and, you know, how sales are impacted with it, or if my other managers are, you know, doing things with the community, like you can, you can see the sales ups and downs based off of how active we are. Right. And all my employees, you know, Facebook's for old people. Yeah. But guess what? A lot of old people look at Facebook and when we're active, it's a reminder to them. Like, hell yeah, walk on. Let's get that. Right. And I, I tell, I tell everyone, you know, that the, as a matter of fact, I just told somebody this the other day, the, the same, you know, be the mayor of your town, be the mayor of your community. That is, that is the most important thing in, in this business. And that's, I believe that more than anything. You know, yeah, we got to execute good food. We, for us, and I think for everybody, but for us, we have to produce a level of service far better than anybody else around us, because if it comes down to price, we lose, you know, but having those relationships has gets people coming back two, three, sometimes four times a week instead of, oh yeah, we'll go, you know, every other week, you know, when, when it's paid pay week or whatever, you know? Yeah. Well, I think that's it. That's a very astute way of understanding how relationships can impact business. And for those restaurants out there that may be struggling with sales a little bit, take a look back, see how much you can get involved with the community. See how your, your team's taking care of every guest as they walk in to create fans, regulars that want to keep on coming back time and time again. And I think that's a really good place to start wrapping it up. So I'm going to, I'm going to slide it over to Lexi and Charlie to offer any final thoughts, and then Ryder, we'll finish up with you and my friend and anything you want to share before we finish up here. Yeah, I just, I really, this has been so refreshing to hear this, you know, building relationships from your perspective, especially, you know, with the dynamite of a restaurant, you know, you've been leading in Brewerly. It's just, it's huge how, how tied, tight knit the community is there. And really knowing that that consistency aspect and that accountability is really where that, you know, where that stems from. And I just, I think taking that accountability factor and zoning in on that and saying, okay, you know, keeping it consistent, filling that emotional piggy bank consistently is where, you know, you'll develop that relationship and that accountability. And I think that's, that's a huge aspect of what, of what we've been talking about today. Charlie, you have anything? Yeah, Ryder, for, for being someone who has gone, again, from the hourly level to management, young management, professional management, sales, and then to the top as owner, what kind of advice would you give to your younger self, the budding, you know, entry-level manager, maybe going from the key to management, you know, just now establishing the, the professional career? Because we've got a lot of, a lot of them out there. Congratulations to all the blue chippers that have made their way in the future. Blue chippers as well. Give them some advice here and now about, you know, what you would do to, to, to learn and build relationships. Surround yourself with good people, you know, the more you can surround yourself with people better than yourself, then the more you can grow, not only in your career, but as a, as a person and hopefully a friend and a spouse and, you know, all those things, you know, um, you know, it's, it's, uh, I'm a little bit older, so it's a little bit of a different generation when I was younger, but, you know, there is, there is zero substitute for hard work and that's, that's, you know, sometimes physical work, sometimes emotional work, um, you know, making deposits in the emotional piggy bank, like it takes work. And for anyone who thinks that, that everything we do doesn't take a hell of a lot of work, then, um, man, put the work in, put the work in and good things will happen. Great advice. Thank you for that, Ryder. We love and appreciate you, man. Thank you, bro. Back to you, Chris. All right, Ryder, do you have any closing words of wisdom for us? Anything that you'd like to say that, that we haven't covered here today? No, um, we got a lot of great people in this, in this company and a lot of people that know a hell of a lot more than I do, um, you know, and, uh, I think the more we can network with each other and, and, and use each other to, to solve problems. I, you know, shout out to my boy, Mike Miller over in, uh, in Alabama, he and I went to training together and, you know, we talk just about every week, right? And, you know, having, having a relationship with someone outside of your four walls, um, is great. And it, it can, it can, it can be someone, somebody to vent to at times, it can be somebody to help you solve a problem. Yeah, I would strongly suggest that to, to everyone, you know, especially as you're going through training, you, nine times out of 10, there's another MIT, uh, that you're training with, build those relationships and keep those relationships. It'll help you for sure. I love it, man. And that's just another great example of how building relationships can, can really, really impact everything that we do. All right, everybody. So that was episode two, uh, behalf of Charlie Kelly, Lexi Gibbs, Ryder Semino. I'd like to thank everybody for listening today and be on the lookout for our episode coming out next month. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thanks. Bye, Ryder. Thanks, guys. Bye. I appreciate it. Bye.