Full Transcript for The Buzz | Sam Campbell - International Chef

me in that, and I, and, and just, yeah, passionate is one probably keyword 00:05:38 Speaker 1: 100% and I think too with that um. 00:05:43 Speaker 1: Because, you know, and we're gonna get to this about what your what your businesses are like now, but you've very much got that farm, you've got that fresh, you know, element to your venues, you know, now, so. 00:05:55 Speaker 1: Would it be fair to say that that was, you know, the key contributing factor was your upbringing to have bring that farm to table ethos into your businesses now? 00:06:03 Speaker 2: Absolutely, yes, absolutely. Yeah, it's the, it is the core foundation, uh, of so many great chefs and restaurants and businesses, and it's so much, you know, it's so difficult these days. 00:06:13 Speaker 2: to operate in a very competitive market with, you know, shrinking margins, but, um, as long as you have, you know, the opportunity to educate and work in businesses and be mentored, and, and be really clear about what you want to do and your your path, even though there are decisions that you make that are, you're wrong or just all about learning and growing and that's how you get better and sharper and 100%, 00:06:37 Speaker 2: you know, so, 00:06:38 Speaker 1: yeah. OK, so you've done the 00:06:40 Speaker 1: Swiss school. How long was 00:06:42 Speaker 1: that? 00:06:43 Speaker 2: It was 3 00:06:43 Speaker 2: years. 00:06:44 Speaker 1: OK. And then out of that, where did you 00:06:46 Speaker 1: go? 00:06:47 Speaker 2: Um, so within that, I we had internships for 6 months each year, so my first was 18. 00:06:54 Speaker 2: Years old, uh, sorry, I was 18 and I went to London. I was the first student in that school, um, which had been operating for 5 years to go so far abroad. I have got English ancestry, but I packed a backpack. 00:07:09 Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought I knew what I was doing and got a job at a really beautiful hotel in central London in Covent Garden at one Aldrich and got hired, um, before that, obviously, and and did my six month internship working in food and beverage on more on the front of our side. So I was serving guests and rooms and serving, you know. 00:07:29 Speaker 2: Dave Attenborough's brother and like yeah um Courtney Love served her breakfast in bed, which was pretty hilarious. That was a funny interaction. Can you tell us, can you tell us why it was funny it was early in the morning she was having breakfast. 00:07:46 Speaker 2: But, um, you know, so, and then the second year I did an internship in the US, which is when I thought, oh, and I was a skier. I grew up skiing in New Zealand, very fortunate. Yes. So I was in Aspen at the Saint Regis um with my mates from college. The 4 of us went over and had jobs. So we skied and we had the summer there and that's the side of it I thought I really liked as well. I was the front office, reservations, concierge, you know, phone PBX operator, yeah, with a big team and I got to really see big business. 00:08:15 Speaker 2: Corporate hotels, you know, how the East Coast New York Americans were versus the West Coast and like visiting dignitaries from Europe and financial people, you know, and that's when 9/11 happened, so I went through a whole lot that year, but, um, I knew exactly what I was, you know, what I wanted and I was really so happy to be doing that, that course. 00:08:37 Speaker 1: So you say you knew what you wanted in, in that, or did you or cause that was gonna be my next question, like, did you? 00:08:44 Speaker 1: Think during those times, oh, I want my own venue. This, I want my own business. I want to do this myself for myself? Or were you just happy to know? No, 00:08:52 Speaker 2: you got, I mean, I've always wanted, even from an early teen, I wanted my own, I want my own, I still want my own boutique hotel and that was weird for a 12 year old to. 00:09:02 Speaker 2: Sort of know that and my parents have always reminded me of that and they've always backed me, um, and that's, you know, I'm only 42, so there's things happening and I'll hopefully get that at some stage you will when it when it comes together, but that has been my passion and my goal since I was a little kid, you know, and I love because I love hospitality and looking after people. You do, you're amazing and that and but also having our own business and my own own business in in Bangalow and Byron Bay with my partner Andy. 00:09:31 Speaker 2: You know, that's just the, the first step to getting to that big place and you know, life throws you challenges, but we get there. It 00:09:39 Speaker 1: does. OK, so you've finished, um, you've, you've had your time of say, September 11th hit. Are you coming back home, back to New Zealand, back to like Australia anytime soon, or are you still overseas pursuing other things? 00:09:57 Speaker 2: Um, I actually did a quick stint after I graduated in Sydney. 00:10:02 Speaker 2: At a restaurant, a hotel group for a year and then went straight back to London and, um, to think I was going to work in a hotel and I thought, I don't know if I want to work in a hotel. I want to go ski and cook. Yeah. And you know I've done, I've done all my training and cooking training at college at the hotel management course, um, with my lecturers and you know, Swiss chefs. So, you know, and that was my, my strongest subjects with cooking and 00:10:27 Speaker 2: Got all the, got all of my qualifications that way and then went straight to France to um Mirabel with my twin sister and we ran a chalet and worked bums off and we were ski bums and we worked and we partied and we had no money, but you know, ski and ski our chalet, so. 00:10:46 Speaker 2: And then from that I met other private chefs and went to Spain and went and then landed jobs on super yachts and worked under amazing chefs for other, you know, Saudi royal families and living in, yeah, it's it's a pretty big, 00:10:58 Speaker 1: incredible. It's a big journey. It sure is, you

have, but that's a great snapshot of, of where you got. I know in 2017 and 2018 were particularly big years for you with your first. 00:11:11 Speaker 1: TV show. Was that right? The Healthy Food Guide. That's it. Yes, and then opening your own venues. Yes, yeah, so how did you come across the Healthy Food Guide opportunity? Um, 00:11:23 Speaker 2: so I was still traveling. I was being a suitcase chef, still contract private cheffing for the Saudi royal family in the Seychelles and, um, also back up in the states, um, with people I used to work with on yachts and became very close with. 00:11:36 Speaker 2: So, you know, might have been working for Tom Hanks and a few other people like that in Sun Valley in Idaho, which is basically my second home, and I really miss living there. Um, but I was living in Auckland contracting in Auckland and overseas and then landed a gig on a little TV show. 00:11:55 Speaker 2: Um, with not a lot of training, but, um, just really, I'm always saying yes to anything exciting and new and gave it a crack and I really enjoyed it. It was a sponsored show, so, you know, it was shown all about healthy food and it was shown in hospitals first and like waiting rooms and then on TV straightaway, of course, on, on their, on their network. So and then, yeah, it was a, it was a good learning experience. And I thought I could do more of this, but with a bit more training and. 00:12:20 Speaker 2: Yeah but I really loved the voiceover, um, uh, aspects at the end of the, of the film. It was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done. Why? It's very physical, you know, you're cooking, you've got to angle the, the, the brands that are sponsoring the show and yeah, and you got to put your own creativity into it and it's hopefully it's, you know, comes across as your recipe that's sort of a whole lot of other people have put, put the recipe together with you. 00:12:45 Speaker 2: Yeah, so, and it's, you know, I didn't wasn't eating the right food in the morning to keep the brain focused after 8 hours of filming. It was, you know, it was a lot, but it was fun. So it was always, you know, once again, giving everything a go and if it's right, and I really enjoyed 00:12:58 Speaker 2: it. 00:12:59 Speaker 1: And was that like a short term, so that was a short-term project, or did you have opportunity to, to make that sort of more of a permanent gig? 00:13:06 Speaker 2: We wanted to make it more permanent. 00:13:08 Speaker 2: Um, but that's the same time I signed up to, um, invest into a business in Christchurch. OK, so, um, I was all over the place. I'm trying to also do private shift contracts in New Zealand and picking up any media. So I worked for Ceres Organics as a brand ambassador back in 2017, yes, which was, you know, my first brand ambassador gig, and, and I thought, oh, this is a whole another side of. 00:13:32 Speaker 2: Life as, yeah, you know, large scale business in central Christchurch, 00:13:37 Speaker 1: yeah, right, 00:13:38 Speaker 2: moved life from Auckland down down there, which was 00:13:42 Speaker 1: quite a lot, big, 00:13:43 Speaker 1: yeah, quite different, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:13:47 Speaker 1: And so, um, how did you find the brand ambassador work? Was that, was that something? Did you have an agent at that time? Yeah, yeah, OK. Yeah, great, great. So they're actively sourcing you, you know, new opportunities. Yeah, 00:14:02 Speaker 2: yeah. 00:14:03 Speaker 2: You know, the whole Auckland thing obviously was friends with a lot of media people out there and everyone's always trying to help each other and that's why I love about yeah kind of that world. Yeah. And, and in the US, everyone's always trying to help each other rather than knock you down. even though there's a little bit of that happening. 00:14:18 Speaker 2: You know, in certain parts, 00:14:20 Speaker 1: oh yeah, yeah, yeah, but, um, 00:14:21 Speaker 2: so had a great time, had a great experience. Yeah, and then, 00:14:25 Speaker 1: yeah. So then what made you, so how, tell me about how you got started with this business in Christchurch, 00:14:33 Speaker 2: um. 00:14:33 Speaker 2: During my 8 years in Auckland, I ended up working for a large restaurant group in Britomart, which is downtown Auckland. We had a bunch of venues and eventually I was running and operating and helping to operate 5 different brands and 5 kitchens and, um, and I met a colleague from New Zealand, but he was ex-Melbourne and um he 00:14:59 Speaker 2: And I thought we'd have a crack in in Christchurch for the rebuild, and I thought it was a great idea at the time, so managed to get some money together rather than thinking about buying a house in Auckland. So I thought I wanted my own business, but yeah, 00:15:12 Speaker 1: yeah. And at the end of the day you do that right, and that's gonna generate the income for your house. Yes, and continue generating income, right? And so what, so how did it roll out? 00:15:24 Speaker 2: I think we were operating about 2.5 years, um, down there. So I was on the sideline a little bit with in terms of the, um, you know, running of the business. I was more in the kitchen and that was great, but I wanted more about to be a part of the business and, and, and the growth pattern and, um, once again, a little lesson, well, big lessons to, you know, wrong time and the business was a really. 00:15:47 Speaker 2: Melbourne concept, uh, a very large 400 square meter kind of warehouse pub space and with insanely good food, Middle Easternly kind of food. So we, we, you know, the food was great. The location sucked. Um, the population weren't ready to come back to the center of Christchurch and the rebuild was still well behind schedule. So, yeah, it was definitely a wrong time, wrong. OK. 00:16:11 Speaker 2: Warrior. 00:16:12 Speaker 1: So what happened? So did it go bust? 00:16:14 Speaker 2: COVID kind 00:16:15 Speaker 2: of helped 00:16:15 Speaker

1: COVID, 00:16:16 Speaker 2: yeah, put the nail in the coffin in a way, um, yeah, and my, during that time I traveled and worked in Australia, of course, as many private chef gigs as possible. Drake was one of my last major gigs. 00:16:27 Speaker 1: Very cool. 00:16:28 Speaker 2: Um, so that was an awesome 2 2.5, 3 weeks here in Australia. Gold Coast, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne. 00:16:35 Speaker 1: And are you with them like the whole time? Are you doing the breakfast, lunch, and dinners? Like, is that, are you with them the whole time? 00:16:42 Speaker 2: Yes, and breakfast for said artist starts at sort of 6 p.m. once they've risen and 00:16:49 Speaker 2: Because they're out, you know, they're performing very late, and then then they're out doing their thing after that. So it's quite a while. It's got more of a rock star on tour, private chef, yeah, it's to more family stuff which I was used to. So it was, it was definitely interesting. Yeah, but that's how I did meet my mate, sorry, my my my. 00:17:07 Speaker 2: My, uh, my current partner of 7 years now, Andy and Sydney, so, and that we sort of started a trans-Tasman relationship. 00:17:16 Speaker 1: OK. 00:17:17 Speaker 2: And, um, during that, we were thinking, do we like Sydney? Do we like Christchurch? Do we like Bay of Islands, which is where I was working a bit. Do we like 00:17:25 Speaker 2: Queenstown, which I was also working a little bit and, um, but then we saw Warren Bay 00:17:33 Speaker 1: and you're like, hold up, hold up, hold 00:17:35 Speaker 2: up. Um, but yeah, it was sad. There was a, uh, towards the end of my time in Christchurch, my, um, COVID had had happened and we were rebuilding, what the hell were we doing? um. 00:17:46 Speaker 2: And my dad had a pretty nasty stroke. 00:17:48 Speaker 1: OK. 00:17:48 Speaker 2: And, Andrew and I had been looking at business in, in Byron Bay, which we just fast tracked and then ended up we were fortunate, you know, the timing was really perfect to buy wood. Um, COVID had sort of helped get the sale price down where it needed to be. Yeah. And, um, yeah, we just jumped on it and moved countries during lockdown and my dad was, after a few weeks of rehab, he was OK, so we left, we left Christchurch in 24 hours, went home. 00:18:16 Speaker 2: Had 2 weeks and then moved to basically move 00:18:18 Speaker 1: wow. 00:18:20 Speaker 1: So how do you, how do you do that? Like, you know, just thinking, you know, for the listener who might be in that tricky situation where the business just isn't going anywhere and they need to make a change. Like, what's some advice or what's some information that you would have liked to have known? 00:18:36 Speaker 2: Um, that's a great question. I would have loved to have known the truth about what's going on in the business. I was always sidelined. I was railroaded. 00:18:45 Speaker 2: Um, never included in the top, you know, in the financial meetings, and the real meetings. I don't really

know what was going on, and I, I wish I had more transparency or maybe more guts and balls to, 00:18:56 Speaker 1: to say, no, I need to be at that table 00:18:58 Speaker 2: what the hell was going on. I didn't know that there was that that loan that kept the business going and then it was like the nail in the coffin and you know, everything was just all. 00:19:07 Speaker 2: Um, sugarcoated and yeah, I just, yeah, it felt really disappointing and um, yeah, it was really 00:19:13 Speaker 1: so was this a partnership? 00:19:15 Speaker 2: Yeah, it was my 00:19:15 Speaker 1: business partnership. It was your business partnership, yeah, yeah, yeah, you 00:19:19 Speaker 2: know, the operator is a great operator, great guy, but it was just, you know, I learned a lot and I just wish I'd been, um, across it more, um, and for anyone out there just. 00:19:30 Speaker 2: You know, you can be ballsy and start a business, but just, you can't trust everybody. And I lost a lot of money. I'm talking, you know, 6 figures plus, you know, a lot. And, um, it was very heart-wrenching. 00:19:44 Speaker 2: And my parents backed me 100% still during all of that and were so supportive of me to get out of there because I was pretty depressed and pretty unhappy. And, um, yeah, so just having the courage to know what, what's actually happening. I shouldn't really know, and it was kind of the writing was on the wall, and, um, it was, we were operating for a few years, but just don't trust 00:20:07 Speaker 2: anybody. 00:20:07 Speaker 1: Well, yeah, and I think, yeah, there's, there's also that element of, um, 00:20:12 Speaker 1: You know, business partnerships. 00:20:16 Speaker 1: Really tricky. 00:20:18 Speaker 2: We can be friends, but uh. 00:20:20 Speaker 2: Yeah and 00:20:23 Speaker 1: make sure you're across all the elements, even if they're not your area of expertise, right, just even if you have to bring in a, an accountant or a lawyer. 00:20:32 Speaker 1: From your end that is looking out for you. 00:20:36 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, yeah, exactly, yeah, it was, it was, yeah, very disappointing for everybody involved. Yeah, 00:20:42 Speaker 1: absolutely. 00:20:43 Speaker 2: So it was a lot of money that went down there. 00:20:45 Speaker 1: So. What was the most challenging part of juggling all of that? Because you had your family, like you had your dad, you had the business, you had this new relationship, like. 00:20:58 Speaker 1: You had the, the, the, you know, what are we gonna do next? Like, there's a lot of things going on there. There's 00:21:04 Speaker 2: a lot. I was ultimately not that happy living in that, in, in Christchurch. Um, I'm not from that part of New Zealand, from the North Island, and, uh, it was, you know, it was a challenging time for everyone from there, the rebuild post earthquake. Um, but at the end of the day, 00:21:21 Speaker 2: Even during the COVID, it just reshaped what I actually really wanted was not to be there.

It was to have my own business. And, um, and Andrew was my biggest supporter. On top of that, and my family, and he was always like shouting like he'll play the confidence man song every time I was in a downer mood and little did my business partner know any of this, but he just would. 00:21:44 Speaker 2: You know, it was, it was obvious that I wasn't happy, but, um, we, it all just sort of, you know, just having, having the partner actually is, is so big, or you, or someone, 00:21:54 Speaker 1: someone, I think that's the other thing, right? I often talk about support network here, um, because, you know, I don't care what anyone says, you need a support network, whether it's your profession professionally or personally. 00:22:08 Speaker 1: It's so much easier with someone propping you up, right? 00:22:12 Speaker 2: Absolutely. And it's a nice memory that I've just thought of with Andrew backing me, you know, because I always wanted to do right, but I was always afraid of failing. 00:22:21 Speaker 1: Of course, because 00:22:23 Speaker 1: you would feel, not that I don't know, correct me if I'm wrong, but not that you were responsible for 00:22:30 Speaker 1: All of that. And it wasn't a failure because you learn a lot. But at the end of the day, it was a lot of money and not that you were, gee, what am I trying to say? Not that you equate failure with losing money, but it's, you know, it's, it's a tough one to come back out of, I think. 00:22:49 Speaker 2: But yeah, it was very tough. Um, but it was great to just have. 00:22:53 Speaker 2: That clarity when it all did happen and knowing that I was on the right path finally and I was, you know, really happy to, we'd made the decision to buy the business in Australia. Yeah. 00:23:04 Speaker 1: How did you know you were on the right path though? Like, is it for you, is it sort of more that logical everything lines up, or was it that gut feeling? Like, what, what is it for you that you go, no, that's the right decision? 00:23:17 Speaker 2: Got for sure. Uh, I've done a lot of research, um, outside of what was happening in Christchurch with people I knew with my networks in Australia, and it turned out a lot of Melbourne, New Zealand networks, um, were friends with my family that were living in Byron Bay, and they helped me scrutinize the business sale document and like really come, you know, see the, see the lights with it and to be more critical and, um, analytical about why is it that price. 00:23:44 Speaker 2: So you're weighing on your um your networks and your your business networks networks is is a big um 00:23:52 Speaker 2: A big aspect of, I think, doing the right thing, but also trusting your gut, um, and you know, following what your heart tells you to. 00:24:00 Speaker 1: mm, 00:24:02 Speaker 1: yeah, absolutely. 00:24:04 Speaker 1: So I wanna just go back, actually, I missed this earlier, but I wanna talk about your time on super yachts. 00:24:12 Speaker 1: Pretty huge part of your life, cooking for Saudi, um, royalty, International Directors Act, as you mentioned, you know, um, the one and only Tom Hanks. 00:24:22 Speaker 1: How, and, and then we just, you know, we spoke about, um, you know, Drake and the different patterns, the sort of non-traditional, um, meal schedule. How do you adapt to meeting, you know, the distinguished palates and the dietary preferences of these high profile clients and, and, and doing what you do naturally? How do you, um, 00:24:50 Speaker 1: How do you adapt to that? 00:24:54 Speaker 2: One of the big things I, I've learned as a private chef, mostly working on the sail sailboats, motor yachts, super yachts, then land-based for the billionaires. 00:25:04 Speaker 2: You have to learn to adapt by best being very flexible. And I'm a pretty, pretty levelheaded dude, you know, you get kids and they want crepes and chocolate and Nutella, and then someone's GF but you actually just have to do it. Um, you have to just, I was always known as being super flexible, being the yes man, you can't just have to be the yes man in those arrangements. And you learn, you can be a yes man, but subliminably, you can also be a no man by being smart with how you learn because you teach yourself when you're a yes man. 00:25:34 Speaker 2: Yes, um, and I think I've always been super flexible as a private chef and, and which adapt to, you know, which is, excuse me, transferable into any hospitality and most businesses in their worlds, um, yeah, 00:25:50 Speaker 1: absolutely I 00:25:51 Speaker 2: think that's why core. 00:25:53 Speaker 2: Aspect of 00:25:54 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. I love it, I love it. So from that time, is there a memory that has always kind of stuck with you, that perhaps impacted where you are today as a, as a business person? Whether it's a piece of advice, maybe an experience, an encounter with, um, some of these, I mean, these are very powerful. 00:26:15 Speaker 1: Powerful people and, and very successful. What kinda, is there a moment that you feel like, sort of rubbed off when you thought, oh, yeah, that's a decent takeaway? 00:26:25 Speaker 2: Yes, well, I mean, there's many when I think about it, but I'm sure one that kind of pops to mind that I'm probably allowed to say. Yeah. Um, you know, we're in Monaco. It's late. 00:26:37 Speaker 2: The guests are off having a fun night ashore. We we're in the marina and you know, they come back super happy and had had a great time and it's about 2 in the morning and they decide we gotta move. So we, it's kind of like you're not supposed to leave a marina that late at night. And then they all wanted burgers, of course, because they're Americans, so they were fun people. Yeah. And I'm like, I've got no burgers and fries, and I'm like, I don't have that. Yeah. 00:27:05 Speaker 2: And I just somehow pulled it out of the, I don't know, you just, resourcefulness, you just have to be resourceful. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, that's, that's

probably the main thing. And and that actually that same scenario played out a number of times, but on bigger scales, you know, when you're working for the Saudi royal family in Seychelles at the insane property of 300 staff or whatever. 00:27:27 Speaker 2: The requests are wild and they can be 2 in the morning, 4 in the morning um. 00:27:33 Speaker 2: So, but because I'm so passionate about hospitality, I will just get up and deliver the goods, yeah, time and time again, and you know, you don't have something they want this, they want that, they want a souffle. 00:27:44 Speaker 2: You don't have the right cheese, you just work it out and, 00:27:46 Speaker 1: uh, how do you work it out? Like, do you get someone to the shop or if you're in this remote location. Yeah, I was gonna say you're in this remote location. It's like there's no shops open. How do you, how do you do that? 00:27:59 Speaker 2: Um, you know, 00:28:00 Speaker 1: how do you pull together the souffle with no cheese? I would love to know. Uh, 00:28:06 Speaker 2: obviously, chefs are pretty, we're pretty, uh, uh, creative, um, and. 00:28:11 Speaker 2: You know, you have, you have, you have certain things on hand and because you know, through time and experience and cheffing around the world and different restaurants and whatever, yeah, you just, you have a repertoire of recipes and you 00:28:21 Speaker 1: just make. So there's an anticipation from all that experience, there's an anticipation of you can 00:28:27 Speaker 2: pull it together and serve the the client as well. Like that's what I love and that's what I'm really good at because I can like you can talk it through and you are good I think a lot of chefs are confident. 00:28:38 Speaker 2: Enough to go out and make a set a table and make a cocktail at 3 in the morning and serve, you know, some, all these different girls that are on the boat all of a sudden, or, you know, um, with the client. So it's all about, um, being able to have a conversation and chat. That's the difference between private cheffing, personal cheffing and kitchen chefs, you know, restaurant chefs. There's a real difference. Yeah. And, and I've done all of that. Yeah. And it's just me because I'm passionate about hospitality and delivering the best I can. 00:29:05 Speaker 1: And I think 00:29:06 Speaker 1: that's transferable actually into business too, like, you know, if you're having conversations, you're communicating, you're resourceful, you're adaptable and you're flexible. 00:29:19 Speaker 1: You can't lose in business 00:29:21 Speaker 2: and communicating with people like if you're in a downer and you need some advice, sometimes that little piece of information. 00:29:30 Speaker 2: Is that right there. You just got to ask for it or you know, have the confidence and the courage, um, and not shy away. 00:29:38 Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, 00:29:40 Speaker 2: it's definitely a journey and I'm only 42 and I've gone through a lot, lost a

business, got a great one, just started a new one, yeah, you know, it's all, it's the accumulate the accumulation of all my experiences which just kind of got me to this point, especially at woods. 00:29:55 Speaker 2: Because I've done dinners and now I'm doing offshoot private catering and growing a little thriving catering, um, you know, day to day business on the side of that and trying to be a part of a strong community and being a good, um, kind of a business leader as well and learning because I've learned a lot in 4 years actually, sorry. Yeah, I've learned a lot. 00:30:16 Speaker 1: So good. So what's been, um, 00:30:21 Speaker 1: The most, let me just go back to that sort of um exclusive space, what's been the most rewarding aspect? 00:30:31 Speaker 1: Of working in, in that environment. God, 00:30:34 Speaker 2: I've been so lucky with a lot of the jobs and the contracts, all the clients I've worked for. I really enjoyed cooking for Peter Jackson. Excuse me, Sir Peter Jackson, yeah, on, on the Lord of the Rings, and they started filming that I was there for with him for a year. 00:30:50 Speaker 2: Um, in meeting all the actors, yeah, it was so cool, and I was just cooking for him and then, um, for his family in the evenings that was 6 days a week, but I was also able to, I also cooked for you know Cate Blanchett and the list goes on and on, and that was just cool and they were just, they were all really amazing people and Peter's got a. 00:31:11 Speaker 2: He's got a way of pulling together his team of actors. I don't know, they're really, they're pretty special. 00:31:16 Speaker 1: So did you get some, so you would have got some inspiration from that, like, you know, if you're observing that kind of leadership, that, and you really admire it, you can't help but have that. 00:31:29 Speaker 1: You know, um, blueprint to then go and, um, 00:31:34 Speaker 2: especially in the creative field be a 00:31:35 Speaker 1: similar leader in the creative field. That's right, because you're not dealing with a certain personality type. 00:31:42 Speaker 2: Exactly. The probably the most recent and more relevant, I think, is, um, I've been working at Copperstone, which is part of the range estates. Um, it's the, the Lane family, Tom and Emma Lane. They started the farm in Byron Bay and 00:31:58 Speaker 2: The range and uh copstone, um, it's a pretty, pretty big property. Um, it's equestrian, it's very rural. It's like how many acres it is. The kitchen's insane. They've got a big wood-fired oven in there in the kitchen, in the second kitchen, which is on display. So, and I'm the in-house private chef for them and. 00:32:19 Speaker 2: You know, for then they design people too, so just see their craftsmanship and working in homes like that, I just, it's so cool and I love delivering the food, setting the table, making the drinks, you know, provisioning, using all the local food and doing my spiel when I'm introducing the meal. I, I absolutely

just love it so much. So that is what makes me so happy. I wish I could charge a bit more, but, um, I love that on the side that feel, that feels my cup, the private chefing, the exclusive. 00:32:47 Speaker 2: um, um, platform, that exclusive level. Yeah, you know, and it is, it might come across as a bit wanky, but that that's just the way the world 00:32:56 Speaker 2: works at the moment. 00:32:57 Speaker 1: No, and but I feel like for you, it's much more deeper than that there's this real service element, right, that you just love to, and that they would be very like discerning clientele for you. So for you to be able to just really wow them and deliver them the most incredible. 00:33:16 Speaker 1: Service would be so fulfilling. It's 00:33:19 Speaker 2: that entire package, you know, 100% the messaging, the, the emails, the, the invoicing, like the way I communicate and, and you, you find a connection with a client and it's, it's 00:33:30 Speaker 1: special 100% it is. Now I've seen you in action. 00:33:34 Speaker 1: And you're a pretty cool cucumber. Chefs are known for their hot tempers and irrational demands. How do you manage the pressure, you keep such a cool 00:33:45 Speaker 1: hit? 00:33:46 Speaker 2: Well, I just don't want to come across as a dick, to be honest. Um, that, that for me is one thing I've learned since, um, having woods is I've done a lot of work, a lot of self-study on, on modern hospitality businesses and how to operate them current time. 00:34:03 Speaker 2: You know, Gen Y's and Z's. Everything's different to when even I was training, and I, I've had to retrain myself, and it's, you can't just tell someone off in a certain way. You can't do this. You can't just expect people to show up and do a 17 hour shift and etc. you know, I've learned a lot about culture and running a business and hospitality, especially. 00:34:26 Speaker 2: Getting your culture right and what is your culture, you know, you need to think about all of that. I've done a lot of study. Ari Weinberg, um, during my COVID lockdown days, I found this great online pod and amazing online resources all out of the US, um, and it's all about a modern, uh, hospitality business and. 00:34:49 Speaker 2: And it's hierarchy and actually there is no hierarchy. It's a flatline approach. It's all about your people, your supplies, to stakeholders, your shareholders. It's all about how you communicate. 00:35:02 Speaker 2: There is a lot online out there on for self-study, and this was the thing that's given me my new approach to hospitality, which is, you know, flatline approach, collaborative, everything in our hospitality world and our business is an ecosystem, so you run it like a nature-based business model and it is the only way. 00:35:22 Speaker 2: I, I believe it's the only way to run a modern hospitality business. 00:35:27 Speaker 1: Hot tip for someone starting a hospitality business. 00:35:30 Speaker 2: Big hot tip, 00:35:31 Speaker 1: big hot tip. 00:35:32 Speaker 2: Whenever I'm feeling lost or there's an issue, I just refer right back to that, um, that theology or that ethos, and it serves me right every time and I'm always ahead afterwards. It's, yeah, love it. 00:35:44 Speaker 1: It's really 00:35:45 Speaker 1: great. Yeah, love it. Um, OK, so now we're gonna talk a bit more about 00:35:52 Speaker 1: Your Baby Woods bungalow in Byron Bay, famous for its fresh, seasonal, big flavored dishes. What led you to settle in, well, we actually know what led you to settle in, in Byron Bay, but how does the local vibe kind of influence your, um, your ethos and your menu? 00:36:14 Speaker 2: Byron Bay, as a lot of people probably already know, is tropical green lush rains surprisingly a lot more than I was hoping. Um, it's very warm. Everything grows great there. Um, we've got a lot of small farmers, so the market, farmers' market scene there is thriving. We've got the, you know, ocean shores or New Brighton Market, Byron Bay Market, Banggalow Market. 00:36:39 Speaker 2: Ballina Market Mullumbimby market. So there's 5 there already. 00:36:43 Speaker 1: Do you do 00:36:44 Speaker 1: those personally? 00:36:45 Speaker 2: I do the bangalow market, um, often. I, we're about to start going to the Byron market on Thursday, yeah, nice, which is a lot bigger than our little baby in Bangalow, um. 00:36:55 Speaker 2: And it just, you know, when I'm doing my private chef stuff and those menus, which I basically, you know, uh, this, a similar kind of style to woods, um, it doesn't, you don't have to do much to it because it's just so damn tasty. So that's what I kind of say when I'm, you know, creating menus. I, I am very influenced by Middle Eastern Italian. 00:37:18 Speaker 2: Mediterranean style food with a touch of Asian here and there. And, you know, cafes, you can do that. You can have a bit of this, bit of that big flavor stuff. Um, and you gotta kind of know your little market. You gotta know your market when you're creating menus. You gotta know what they want. You can create a. 00:37:35 Speaker 2: Japanese menu, but you gotta make sure it's, it also relates to the locals, um, so healthy food is one big thing in Bangalo and Byron Bay, you know, it's that lifestyle, um, that people want, yeah, and you know, balancing carbs and 00:37:51 Speaker 2: Just having really fresh produce and using the seasons right. We're a fully outdoor venue, so in the winter, it's cool in the morning, but beautiful, sunny and warm from like 10 a.m. So, you know, soups at lunch and stuff, stuff like that. But in summertime, it's all about salads and clean, fresh, crisp. 00:38:09 Speaker 2: Hm. Um, and you know, a lot of proteins and stuff, but Byron Bay, it doesn't, you don't have to do a lot 00:38:15 Speaker 1: to them there. 00:38:16 Speaker 2: So we're really lucky to showcase, uh, that region on our plate, yeah, um, 7 days a 00:38:21 Speaker 2: week. 00:38:21 Speaker 1: Yeah, amazing. So in the

early days of, of, of having woods, what did success look like to you? 00:38:29 Speaker 2: The success, surprisingly, I thought I had to change it from a vegan cafe because it was vegan first when we took over. OK. Um, but being a chef owner operator and working in the business and on it was transformative for, for the brand, and we took over from a previous couple who weren't as involved as 00:38:52 Speaker 2: Um, Andy and I, and, you know, we, he, he's the aesthetics guy, so we, we were able to do a reno and expanded the kitchen and we, it's a lush green courtyard of succulent plants and planter boxes all around. It's very pretty. It's very special. Um, and by transforming it, transforming it, being there 24/7 for 2 years. 00:39:15 Speaker 2: You know, we won the, the locals over and we have, we have locals coming in there twice a day, 7 days a week, uh, you know, the, the people that have retired there or the local local people plus all the tourists that are coming through and all the young families. It's a hub for. 00:39:30 Speaker 2: Um, for those people, it's a safe space, you know, there's no, there's no traffic. It's the dogs are, are very welcome 00:39:37 Speaker 2: there. 00:39:38 Speaker 1: Yeah. So would you say success then was, um, in those early days, um, keeping that sense of community, but changing up the menu to reflect your kind of vision. 00:39:53 Speaker 1: Of that fresh, 00:39:55 Speaker 2: absolutely, 00:39:56 Speaker 1: yeah, land to table 00:39:58 Speaker 2: exactly 00:39:59 Speaker 1: to table, you know, 00:40:00 Speaker 2: and like I said about knowing your market, yeah, once I got there and we took over, I knew. 00:40:06 Speaker 2: That the people wanted more on that menu that wasn't just vegan, so yeah, and that is a new kind of trend at the moment anyway, just full grass-fed meat, yeah, 10 bone broth. So I had the confidence from my previous years of all of the experiences to know that I could throw on Turkish eggs with chili butter and, you know, a salmon dish or something, yeah, so 00:40:28 Speaker 1: and it would be received. So then when you look at, you know, obviously success in those early days. 00:40:35 Speaker 1: And you've achieved that. So what does success look like for you now at Woods? 00:40:40 Speaker 2: Success for now at Woods I'm finding is a new challenge. I'm not there as much because we have just opened a new little side business, new little restaurant. So bungalow tuck shop 00:40:53 Speaker 1: bungalow tuck shop 00:40:55 Speaker 2: play on those words, um, it's right next to the primary school. Uh, it's on the main street on a corner, so it's it's a good spot. 00:41:02 Speaker 2: But not being as present at woods, you know, 00:41:06 Speaker 1: I'm pretty, yeah, so then the success of the then your measure of success would be it's still running really efficiently without 00:41:12 Speaker 1: you. 00:41:13 Speaker 2: Yes, the wheels keep turning that's highly greased. You have

insanely amazing staff. We don't really have any staff turnover, um, 00:41:22 Speaker 1: we're so unique for the industry. 00:41:24 Speaker 2: We're known for our service because we care about our locals and they're our main. 00:41:28 Speaker 2: And people, so we get all those, get those fundamentals right and keep you know, reviewing them like checking in on, on your team with regular catch up to meetings is really important. 00:41:40 Speaker 1: Yeah, well, it comes back down to that communication piece, right? 00:41:43 Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah, 00:41:44 Speaker 2: yeah. 00:41:46 Speaker 1: So what's probably been then the biggest challenge in having those, well, maybe the one business was, and then, and then, and then Bangalow tuck shop like. 00:41:56 Speaker 1: What's been the, the, the toughest part of running those two local businesses? 00:42:03 Speaker 2: I, I guess, you know, building a brand new business from scratch has been uh an eye-opener. 00:42:11 Speaker 2: And also trying to, you know, maintain the consistency of woods and the, the high standards and its reputation, um, and, you know, we might not always get it right, and it's important to have the right people around you. And we wouldn't have done the second business if we didn't have the right team to support us to do that. 00:42:32 Speaker 1: OK, cause that was gonna be actually my next question. Like, yeah, it's, yeah. 00:42:38 Speaker 2: We definitely 00:42:39 Speaker 1: would. 00:42:40 Speaker 2: Yeah, be, yeah, 00:42:41 Speaker 1: not how do you overcome that challenge. It's like having the right, the right people around you, 00:42:47 Speaker 2: exactly, yeah, and then, you know, with any new stuff that you have to bring on, it's all the training and all the, all the, all the verbiage and language and your culture and so, and I just love that I'm like the culture captain. I wear that hat with pride and I love it and I love the HR side of um hospo businesses 00:43:05 Speaker 1: and you're 00:43:06 Speaker 1: one unique business owner. 00:43:09 Speaker 1: I think most business owners that I speak to, they ask, you know, you ask what the challenge is, and they all say the team. HR people managing. I didn't want to do that, but I'm doing it. And you're like, that's a highlight. I love that, Sam. Thank you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:43:28 Speaker 1: Now, I know your partner in life, Andy is also your business partner. How do you balance work life and home life? 00:43:36 Speaker 2: Being a traveler at heart and someone that is a pleasure seeker, according to my best friend James, yeah um. 00:43:46 Speaker 2: I 00:43:47 Speaker 2: We, Andy and I, we reward ourselves by taking trips and those trips are research trips. I came to Melbourne, but you know, it took us a while to get to that point where we could step away and we, we, we've got family overseas in England and etc. still. 00:44:03 Speaker 2: So having that as a goal to look forward to and that always just keeps us, keeps me particularly driven for, you know, achieving getting through the busy summer season and if it's not traveling, it's taking just a bit of down time. 00:44:18 Speaker 2: Just the two of us, uh, in the region and stepping out of the stepping out of the little bubble of bungalow and just exploring even Byron Bay and doing a hike, getting outside into the nature, going swimming, that's my new thing again at the moment, revising, revisiting. 00:44:36 Speaker 2: That passion of I used to be a competitive swimmer and a surf lifesaver, so getting back to the ocean's been my little um treat lately. And but you're living in Byron Bay for a reason, guys, you know, we, we got to get out there and enjoy some sun, enjoy the ocean and eat their food from the market in their fridge. That's, that's been my thing of the last sort of month or two months while I've been super busy with catering. 00:44:59 Speaker 2: And the businesses, it's just those small details, those small things, they just absolutely fill my, yeah, and they, my heart swells every time I get to the ocean, I'm ready for the day. I can take it on, you know. 00:45:12 Speaker 1: I am so the same. We've just spent two weeks in New Zealand. We got back last week and we were in Mahia. Um, we're actually in Tima here around the corner, and my son and I were swimming every day in this blue, blue water. Like, 00:45:30 Speaker 1: Doing, you know, decent, um, what what am I trying to say, freestyle. Like, we were swimming, enjoying it, but we're also giving it some. That's right. And I just feel so good coming back from that holiday. I'm so charged up. It's magic. It's absolute 00:45:46 Speaker 1: magic. 00:45:47 Speaker 2: That's the one. And we're so lucky that we live in amazing countries or we've grown up in New Zealand and live here. We can do that. 00:45:55 Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. 00:45:57 Speaker 1: OK, so when you look back at your career, what have been the key factors that have contributed to your success? 00:46:06 Speaker 2: Um, being fortunate to grow up in an amazing family of hardworking, um, independent, self-employed people, um. 00:46:17 Speaker 2: That's the main thing for me. And then also having parents that have been really supportive in terms of wanting us to have a crack at. 00:46:26 Speaker 2: Something new or different to the what any of them were, you know, have had done. So I'm I'm really fortunate. I've got a pretty big family and yeah, we're definitely my little group, we're probably the, my siblings, we're probably the most out there with what we've done, but the rest of my cousins have also done a lot of traveling and yeah. 00:46:44 Speaker 2: We're just, you know, we're all different. Yeah. And all of our parents have been supportive of, of 00:46:49 Speaker 2: that. 00:46:49 Speaker 1: Beautiful. That's a gift. 00:46:51 Speaker 2: That's. 00:46:52 Speaker 1: That's such a gift. I think 00:46:53 Speaker 2: I'll leave it at that.

00:46:54 Speaker 1: What about some of your personal characteristics that you would say have been responsible for getting you where you are today? 00:47:03 Speaker 2: I love working. I love food and, um, I love to see the world, you know, I really loved connecting my tertiary, well, sorry, my end of high school kind of. 00:47:16 Speaker 2: Courses, my art history. I was just a natural geek at it. I don't know what it was. Art history, geography, English, and I was a natural A grader and to finally get to Rome and Italy when I was 18, I thought, oh, OK, and just to see that way of life and the way the food connection it's been going on for 500 years or more, you know, and to be able to reward myself by going there and seeing that and that just gives me has still gives me so much inspiration and 00:47:44 Speaker 1: yeah, I love it, yeah. 00:47:45 Speaker 1: And I think when we, um, you know, you've also mentioned quite a, a few times about different things, um, characteristics that you have personally, those are the experiences, but characteristics you have personally sound like, you know, communicator, absolutely, flexibility, you know, um, 00:48:06 Speaker 1: There's, uh, an amount of resilience there, and there seems to be a, a, a, a real, um, faith in yourself and your expertise. 00:48:16 Speaker 2: Yes, having faith comes a bit of, you know, being a bit scared too, and it's OK to be a bit scared, um, but being resilient and picking yourself up, um. 00:48:27 Speaker 2: Because life is, is hard. My parents have gone through their hardships. A lot of people have a lot of business owners I know have had at least one big fail 100%, uh, or, so yeah, just remembering that you're not alone and it's OK. 00:48:40 Speaker 1: Mm, yeah, absolutely. So you've obviously worked across so many aspects of the culinary world. What would you say the biggest misconceptions, um, about being a chef or running a food business might 00:48:52 Speaker 2: be. 00:48:55 Speaker 2: Can I say that? 00:48:56 Speaker 1: Yeah, of course you 00:48:57 Speaker 1: can. 00:48:58 Speaker 2: Um, you know, it is, it's hard work, it's hard yakka, and a lot of people, a lot of parents, a lot of young people think it's not an industry, it's not a career path in hospitality, and I try and teach our juniors that. 00:49:10 Speaker 2: Who are 1415, 16, they might do a two hour shift, but to take it seriously and like come on guys, this is, this is a career path you, you can do this. I've done it. Yeah, Mai's doing it and he's doing it. He's 40 when he started Hospo. It's actually, you know, it is a career. It is an amazing opportunity and it's because it's the people game and it's really important, you know. 00:49:35 Speaker 2: The world needs us, 00:49:36 Speaker 1: and 00:49:37 Speaker 2: if you're passionate about 00:49:38 Speaker 2: serving people and being a part of their lives like I am, then go for it. 00:49:43 Speaker 1: And food's never gonna go and robots ain't never gonna cook. No, 00:49:48 Speaker 2: and they don't know how to make the extra, extra hot cappuccino on a car. 00:49:52 Speaker 2: Or the match of strawberry latte or the different 100%. We are here to stay and hospitality is, it's amazing. So yeah, I love it 00:50:02 Speaker 1: and that's so good. What about, um, you know, a misconception I have is that going into a hospitality business, you don't make money. Is it a misconception firstly, I guess, 00:50:13 Speaker 2: a lot of people, you know, a lot of businesses in hospitality. 00:50:18 Speaker 2: Fail and don't get money. Um, I'm learning that with the new one. Like it does take a number of months and years before you turn a profit. Um, but having the skills, having the, the preparation before you take on a business and or open a business, you need to know what your margins are. You need, you know, there's a whole, it's a whole lot to learn, um, and. 00:50:39 Speaker 1: So for the listener, what would be some of those key, um, financial things? 00:50:45 Speaker 1: Like almost like a checklist of financial checks before you go into a hospitality business. 00:50:50 Speaker 2: Like, I think what, what the one of the main things always is to start with a SWOT analysis, you know, is, you just do that yourself at home and in your market that you're hoping to have a business and just those things will give you the stepping stones forward, um, and also talking to a bank, uh bank manager or an advisor in the, in the industry is also smart, 00:51:13 Speaker 1: yeah. 00:51:13 Speaker 1: Yeah. Do you have a mentor? 00:51:16 Speaker 2: Terry, which is Lola Berry's mentor here from Melbourne, she, she introduced me 4 years ago to him. 00:51:23 Speaker 1: OK, um, 00:51:24 Speaker 2: I'm glad you asked that question. He was, I've had probably 5 or 6 sessions with him, yeah, a couple this year before we took on the new space, um, and. 00:51:35 Speaker 2: It's I think they're very important to have in your life. Um, yes, you can have them. They can be close to you. They can be a family mentor that you don't pay for, but you know, Terry is a high profile, um, insanely amazing and talented business mentor and coach, and I'm super fortunate that again a network friend gave me opportunity to chat with him. 00:51:58 Speaker 2: And just the transformative clarity in terms of having the courage and navigating some really challenging situations with landlords, previous landlords has been. 00:52:13 Speaker 2: Yeah, interesting and really 00:52:16 Speaker 2: important. 00:52:17 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:52:20 Speaker 1: So now you've got Woods bungalow thriving, you've got Bangalow tuckshop launching and also thriving. You've got such a diverse portfolio behind you. How has your definition of overall success evolved? 00:52:35 Speaker 2: Great question because you know, business is always evolving with anybody that's, um, you know, doing what they love, um. 00:52:45 Speaker 2: Trusting

your instincts, um, obviously knowing your numbers, knowing, knowing your business is thriving. 00:52:50 Speaker 2: But I always, you know, I've always wanted a bit more growth. I'm still in that young, young, sort of operator, entrepreneurial, um, phase, and having the courage from the previous business has been the most, I think, instrumental aspect for me to get to this new phase of success. And now I'm scared again about, you know, the current climate, but 00:53:18 Speaker 2: I'm also pumped and I know it's gonna be great. Um, and you know, we're doing really, we're doing really well there and I'm because I'm just also so happy that the accountant's happy and he's happy, you know, I don't 00:53:31 Speaker 1: want. You're living the dream right now. 00:53:34 Speaker 2: It also 00:53:34 Speaker 2: I've also realized I don't need millions and millions of dollars. That just brings headaches. But as long as we have a platform for stability and, you know, future, um, growth, which we've got, at least I'm happy with all of that, and I'm, I'm very happy with those things. 00:53:51 Speaker 1: So it's defining what you're happy is, right? What's really gonna make you happy? Yes, 00:53:56 Speaker 2: like we live. 00:53:59 Speaker 2: The community you're in, we're, we're a big employer. We've got over 30 staff. That gives me so much joy to talk, you know, to say that out loud, and they love us, not all the time or we don't love them all the time. But you know, those things, that's pretty successful for me. I, yeah, I. 00:54:17 Speaker 2: I love walking around on the main street saying hi to just like pretty much everybody because it's, you know, 00:54:22 Speaker 1: everyone is such 00:54:23 Speaker 1: a local hub. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:54:25 Speaker 2: That's for me is 00:54:26 Speaker 1: great. So what, um, at this time is most important to you in your 00:54:32 Speaker 1: life? 00:54:33 Speaker 2: The most important for me, I think, is being 00:54:36 Speaker 2: Independently, the the most important thing for me is having two independent businesses that have given me, even though I'm busy, more freedom and I know I can see that, um, that past I know once I get to 50, that's the my goal is to either have a boutique little hotel which I live on that land, but I know that. 00:54:59 Speaker 2: My path is, it's lit and it's, and I'm not lit on fire. It's lit with like growth and, you know, prosperity because we're already in that zone and in that lane and staying in my local lane, sticking to my guns about my core values of my business and now having full realization. 00:55:17 Speaker 2: About my personal life and not overdoing it in my work life and not burning out, which I did two years ago and going to, I've, I've seen, I've, I've got, I've got a a really great clarity to, you know, forward because I feel like I'm at where I need to be. 00:55:35 Speaker 1: That's so good. That's burning 00:55:37 Speaker 2: out sucks, by 00:55:38 Speaker

2: the way, 00:55:38 Speaker 1: yeah, like we kind of, we're wrapping up, but you popped that one in there. What? 00:55:45 Speaker 1: Can you just do a bit of a quick snapshot of it? 00:55:49 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean. 00:55:51 Speaker 2: It was, it was, it's quite it gets me a bit emotional thinking about it. We had floods up in Byron Bay, yeah, um, trying to build a business, yeah, working every day I could, trying to do dinners and lunches and breakfast and catering. 00:56:05 Speaker 2: But for wasn't all worth the the burnout. It was like about 3 months of just just overdoing it too much and, um, and just not being able to not switching off, not having some time for yourself, some quiet time, not exercising enough, and then ending up in hospitals and everything, yeah. 00:56:25 Speaker 1: Oh, so same, so. 00:56:29 Speaker 1: You obviously 00:56:31 Speaker 1: Not paying attention to any of the little signs, any of the little taps until the universe just bowled you over and put you in hospital. 00:56:40 Speaker 2: Yes, it was like a railroad, a little slap, big slap in the face. And, um, yeah, it was pretty, it was, it was intense and I like to use that. Yeah, um, that experience when I need to pop it out to other people. 00:56:52 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. 00:56:53 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it taught me a lot. Yeah. So listening to yourself. 00:56:58 Speaker 2: is important, not just the brain, like you listen to the inside. 00:57:01 Speaker 1: Yeah, 00:57:02 Speaker 1: yeah, and balance too, right? It's really hard to do that when you're in the throes of building, but yeah. 00:57:11 Speaker 1: I hate parts, yeah, yeah, OK, well, I'm glad you're all good now. You're all recovered and it sounds like incredible, um, lessons you've learnt along the way. 00:57:22 Speaker 1: So what's next for Woods? 00:57:26 Speaker 2: I think. 00:57:28 Speaker 2: For me, I think I definitely. 00:57:31 Speaker 2: Just want to maintain that consistency. 00:57:34 Speaker 2: The brand, yeah, we've got um a lease renewal just clicked over the last, you know, option, so learning about leases and landlords, developers and their aspirations for change or changing the precinct to something else, you know, so. 00:57:54 Speaker 1: So have you got that lease kicked locked in 00:57:55 Speaker 2: lease is locked in, um, for how many years? We've only, we've still got, we've only got 3 to go. Yeah, so 3 out of 7, yes, um, left, yeah, um, and then after that it, it'll be renewed hopefully for, yeah, whatever they, whatever they choose the rent to be. Yeah, yeah, this journey with wood has been interesting, yeah, learning with. 00:58:17 Speaker 2: In business, um, landlords aren't just landlords. They can be developers and, you know, they have big, big dreams or they might want to rip it down and put a hotel in which they wanted to do. So a lot of anxiety around that over the last 4 years and now I've got a clear path forward, um, of certainty, which has been great.

And 00:58:35 Speaker 1: how have you got that 00:58:35 Speaker 2: certainty, um. 00:58:40 Speaker 2: Well, the landlord's DA didn't exactly get, uh, a green light from the council. Uh, that's a bit of nitty gritty stuff there, um, just being a part of the community and fully succeeding with what we've only, we've only been there 4 years and transformed it from something to by just being in the community and and sticking to our guns and our core values. 00:59:02 Speaker 2: You know, we can, if, if whatever the landlord chooses to do with that site, I know if we change location, we can take that brand 00:59:10 Speaker 1: anywhere. You've built it so solidly, yeah, 00:59:13 Speaker 2: I've had dreams of maybe taking it to LA or to Noosa, um, so you know, I know now that we can do that and 00:59:23 Speaker 1: you've got the formula. 00:59:24 Speaker 2: Got the formula. 00:59:25 Speaker 1: That's it. That's it. What about, um, Bangalow Tuck Shop? What's next for that? The 00:59:30 Speaker 2: beauty of our little tuck shop is, it is a blank canvas. Um, it's had two previous, not so awesome businesses in that space. So the challenge is turning that brand around and just being here in Melbourne's given us that. 00:59:45 Speaker 2: The vision and inspiration and the courage to go actually let's do those things we we thought we needed to do aesthetically and 00:59:54 Speaker 2: And I know that we've got the groundwork there. The foundations are in place. People love us. We've got repeat business from the locals. It's just now we're, I can see we're gonna get, we're in that, I don't, I guess the actual growth phase, yeah, 100%, you know, it ticks over, it's OK. It just needs to be a bit busier, and we're about to be in the busy summer season, so all the things. 01:00:16 Speaker 2: are right there for us and it's a really long lease. I'm confident the rent is nice and low. It's, you know, it's a great, great rent, great landlord. Those things I wanted, I had my three things with the second business. Good landlord, long lease, and um. 01:00:34 Speaker 2: You know, a great location. So 01:00:36 Speaker 1: that's 01:00:37 Speaker 1: great, that's great, that's great tips for the listener who's looking to start a new business venture, whether it's hospitality, retail, or anything, particularly where you require space, that's your, that's your checklist, right? That's 01:00:52 Speaker 2: the checklist. 01:00:54 Speaker 1: Love it, love it. 01:00:56 Speaker 1: So for listeners passionate about food, but not quite sure where or how to start their culinary career, what advice would you share? 01:01:06 Speaker 2: Um, obviously it depends where you're living, um, what courses courses are available to you. I like the idea of if you're a little bit older in your career or you want to pivot from what you're doing, to see what's available. Short courses are great, online courses, talking to anyone in like the education space and hospitality is great, or any hospitality operators that want to give you. 01:01:32 Speaker 2: Um, just a chance at some work experience, that just helps 01:01:37 Speaker 1: volunteer capacity, you mean like to just go somewhere and go, hey, I want to try this out. 01:01:43 Speaker 2: Absolutely, volunteering is, you know, it's an oldie but a goodie, really is putting your hand up for some work experience just it 01:01:52 Speaker 1: helps. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 01:01:54 Speaker 1: And what about someone who might be struggling with their business mojo, or they might be facing a big setback or a, you know, huge loss? What would you tell them from your experience about finding their, their feet again? Some advice you would share? 01:02:10 Speaker 2: Um, it's a great question. I think taking a step back, however you can to really look at 01:02:21 Speaker 2: The business, look at what you're, what you want and how the business is doing and is it the right thing, um, and building a plan, a little roadmap out of that forward, and it can be. 01:02:37 Speaker 2: Some of the biggest decisions you'll have to make, um. 01:02:41 Speaker 2: But you want to be happy at the end of the day, and there is help out there in the business world, um, 01:02:48 Speaker 1: in the 01:02:48 Speaker 1: likes of like mentors, coaches, other businesses, 01:02:52 Speaker 2: yeah, and those resources, uh, can, I think, uh, some of them can be free through through banks and and government initiatives, but it is having courage to speak up and ask for help as well. 01:03:05 Speaker 2: You know, if you're not happy, if the business isn't doing great, just sort of you have to look at your network. I'm a network guy. I learned that from the US working over there, living over there, you know, you work to support each other, to boost each other up, and that can really help define the business, grow it, shrink it, put it back into a manageable, profitable. 01:03:25 Speaker 2: Space, I think. 01:03:27 Speaker 1: And 01:03:27 Speaker 1: also having that, um, you know, network, if you are feeling a bit lost or you've, you know, struggling with that mojo, having an accountability buddy, right, if you can share that with someone and say, Hey, can you check in on me next week? You know that. 01:03:47 Speaker 1: Can help 01:03:48 Speaker 2: absolutely 01:03:50 Speaker 1: yeah that's where that network comes in and really helpful again, 01:03:54 Speaker 2: right, yeah, a little, little buddy, 01:03:57 Speaker 1: yeah, buddy system. So if you go back and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be? 01:04:04 Speaker 2: Don't be scared um of. 01:04:08 Speaker 2: Uh, taking a step forward in business because you've got the goods there and, and, and you, yeah, and backing yourself a little bit more, even though I might have come across as someone that's backed myself a lot. There's little things in there that I, I wish I'd sort of maybe changed a little, but 01:04:29 Speaker 2: That's probably it. 01:04:31 Speaker 2: Mm. 01:04:32 Speaker 1: Yeah. Back. Back yourself. Love it, love it, love it, love it. 01:04:38 Speaker 1: I could speak to you all day, Sam. Thank you so much for joining me. It's been such a pleasure hearing about your, your journey. Like, it's incredible from, from those, you know, family farm, that family farm background in Taranaki to global culinary stage, and now as a multiple business owner. 01:04:57 Speaker 1: Um, yeah, your passion for fresh, for seasonal, your adventurous spirit, are, are truly inspiring. 01:05:04 Speaker 2: I appreciate that. I love the time here today with you. 01:05:07 Speaker 1: Thank you. I'm so grateful for your time for you coming to Melbourne, and I can't wait to see what's next. Bring it on. Bring it on, bring it on. Whatever it is, I know that it's gonna be brilliant, so thanks again, 01:05:21 Speaker 2: Sam. Thank you. 01:05:22 Speaker 2: Thanks Karen. 01:05:27 Speaker 1: Thanks you for joining us here on the buzz. For episode highlights and nuggets of inspiration to keep you motivated in your business, head to Karen Heartbuzz on Instagram. This podcast is available on all streaming platforms. I would love it if you could subscribe, rate, comment, and of course, share the buzz.