Barbell Shrugged - How to Provide the Best Service, Hands Down- Business of Fitness #67

Starting point is 00:00:00 All right, everybody, and welcome back to the Business of Fitness podcast. I'm Jason Kleep, and on today's episode, we have Patrick Yumel. Now, Patrick started off cleaning dishes. Now, he's the president of the MENA Group with over 40 or close to 50 restaurants globally and opening one new restaurant every six weeks or so. Patrick is the man. He practices what he preaches. Every time I'm around him,

Starting point is 00:00:26 I get super inspired just to be better at what I'm doing. Today's topic was this concept of, I put out a podcast on our Amrap Mentality channel about, you know, everybody's good at something. And when I sat down with him, he's like, look, I'm going to take it a step further. Not only do I think everybody's good at something, I think everybody has a desire to be good. And I was like, ah, he says, when people start off at our company, everybody starts off wanting to be good because they're applying for this job. And our, and our goal as a company is how do you foster it? How do you continue for them to want to be good for them to want to be great?

Starting point is 00:01:03 And today's, today's episode is awesome. Please take a listen. If you're in the service-based industry, whether that be restaurants, you name it, we could pick up something from what Patrick has to say. The guy's the real deal. I can't wait for you guys to enjoy this episode. Before we dive into it, just want to remind you, if you haven't checked out the NC Fit Collective session plans, programming, and business tools,

Starting point is 00:01:26 please do so. Email collective at nc.fit to check it out. Now, guys, let's hear what Patrick has to say. Let's get better every single day, and let's dive right into the episode. All right, everybody. So I am here with Patrick Hummel. We're at his beautiful house. And I thank you for taking the time today. You have so much knowledge and I cannot wait to dive into it. How have you been? I've been great. I'm pumped up. I'm excited to be here again with you. Things are going really awesome. So Patrick, as I said earlier, he's the president of the MENA group

Starting point is 00:02:08 and they have restaurants all over the place and they've been opening up about one restaurant a month. I'd say one every six to eight weeks. One every six to eight weeks. And so he knows all about systems, processes. He knows all about motivating and inspiring a team. And one of the things about systems processes. He knows all about, you know, motivating and inspiring a team. And one of the things that him and I were talking about earlier was I had put out a podcast on our Amrap mentality channel about this idea that just because you're

Starting point is 00:02:36 good at something doesn't make you better than anybody else as like a, maybe what you're good at just happens to give you notoriety, but everybody's good at something. And he kind of took a step further where he's like, I agree. I think everybody is actually good at something. But what did you say? You said something that just resonated with me really well. I think that not only is everybody good at something or somebody has something that they're good at, but I honestly believe that everybody wants to be good. And that was really interesting for me to hear. And I think it's something for all of us to pick up on, especially as business owners. And you could be in any industry

Starting point is 00:03:10 as Patrick's in the restaurant space, we're in the fitness space. The way you switched it up on me is you're saying everybody has a desire to be good. And now how do we play into that? We're not playing to that. It's probably not the right term. How do we go down that, how do we go down that

Starting point is 00:03:25 path where we support them along that journey? So you talked about when someone comes in and originally they're, they're interviewing for a job, they have a desire to actually be good at that job. Right. I mean, right. Take me through that. I mean, especially when you're operating at a certain level, you know, at our level, when people come in to apply for the job, they already have a preconceived notion of what it's going to be like to work there. They know that they're working at a, you know, a restaurant that's at the top of its game at, you know, kind of within its market, that it's something special, that they're probably going to be pushed pretty hard. And so they're already kind of manifesting in their head what they think

Starting point is 00:04:04 reality is going to be like. And they're saying, yeah, I want their head what they think reality is going to be like. And they're saying, yeah, I want to be part of that. I want to join that organization. I want to be pushed in a certain way. I want to do that because it's either going to make me better or make me more money or develop me or educate me. And so automatically when they're coming in, they're saying, I want to be good. I want to be special. I want to be special. I want to be part of that. And so, you know, for us as employers or as leaders, our job is to

Starting point is 00:04:31 continue to take that enthusiasm and grow it and evolve it and, you know, and constantly make sure that we're holding ourselves accountable to delivering what they thought they were signing up for. I think that's such a really interesting take on what I had been saying is that when people come and they apply for you, you're right. They do know what they're getting themselves into. And even if you own a mom and pop shop and you don't own a, you know, what do you guys have? 50 locations now? Uh, 46. Yeah. So even if you don't own a multimillion dollar business and you own a, you know, a ice cream shop, if someone comes and applies for a job with you, there's something there that they feel

Starting point is 00:05:09 like there's gonna get fulfillment. Yes, money is one thing, but it's also just this kind of like path that they wanna go down and specifically at these high performing jobs. And so what you said to me again, that really resonated was, it's the employer's responsibility

Starting point is 00:05:23 to then harvest what originally got them to apply and assuming that you accept their application that you hire them well you must have seen some type of potential in them of course so what type of things is the MENA group doing to foster that right well we you know we talked about it before as far as you know we talked we spent a lot of time in the last time we got together as far as training and holding accountable. But we didn't dive into the nitty-gritty of what that is. And for us, it's systems, right? First and foremost, it's making sure that people are trained on systems and that they understand the systems.

Starting point is 00:06:01 Not only do they understand what the systems are, but they understand why we do the things that we do. So for us at the global level, we have what's called the book of law. Book of law. The book of law. And basically it's- We could edit this out. It's a series of SOPs and documents. It's a series of SOPs and documents that basically almost any process that can happen in a restaurant,

Starting point is 00:06:32 we've documented it. We've said this is exactly how it needs to be done. These are the steps, whether it's how to do a conference call to the daily meeting that you should have, how to treat a VIP, what happens when somebody sends back food, you know, every single thing that happens in a restaurant, we've, we've got our whole team together and we do this every year. We go through all of our SOPs and make sure that they're still North. It's still right for us.

Starting point is 00:07:01 And, um, and then we redistributed through the restaurants in our, it's up to our team members to make sure that, um, they're holding our, our team accountable to fall on them. So the book of law is the systems and procedures for VIPs, this, that, I mean, everything is, is documented. Now, a question for you is when someone comes into the organization, what if you have too many, um, systems and procedures? You don't allow the restaurant to kind of act in his own judgment. What happens there? Because I'm always curious about that with our company. We started off with nothing. Now we've kind of gotten a lot of systems and procedures because you kind of need them. But when is too much, too much?

Starting point is 00:07:38 So I don't think it ever is, right? If you look at me, you look at fitness, you know, how to do a power clean, right? There's a set system. There's a way to do that, right, properly. And if you teach somebody on that system, then their capacity is going to then take it to the next level, right? And so for us, if we teach somebody how to come in and be a champion within the system, then they're going to have the freedom to use that system as a springboard to take things wherever they want to. Right. Yeah. You know, and for some people, it's a little awkward and a little cumbersome. I mean, I remember I used to play golf along, you know, a lot when I was younger and I was I was OK. I was pretty good, you know, in the 90s, low 90s.

Starting point is 00:08:24 You know, sometimes I would break 90, get into the high eighties. And, um, and then I decided to get lessons and, you know, I never, I had never really gotten lessons, you know, formally. And so I decided, you know, I want to get lessons in the coach completely tore apart every part of my game, right? He, my swing, my stance, where my head was, you know, my follow through. And what happened was I got worse, right? It was uncomfortable. It was awkward. I wanted to go back to the right way, but he kept on me and kept on me and kept on me. And what that yielded was a better golfer, right? As soon as I got accustomed to the system that he set up within me, I was able to go into the eighties more consistently and started to get to like a 14 or 16 handicap.

Starting point is 00:09:07 But it was only because I followed that system. And so it's like that for us in the restaurant business. You know, we hire a lot of people that have a lot of insight. They have a lot of formal training. But we think that we have the recipe, the formula, the system for success within the type of restaurant that we want to operate. That's going to make anybody, if they follow the system, be the best them that they can be. And so I love that analogy with the golf. And I think originally when you start implementing the system, I know for me, at least with Olympic weightlifting at first, you're like, man, my numbers went negative, but through that process and focusing on kind of like these systems and the

Starting point is 00:09:45 fundamentals after a couple of months or whatever it takes, all of a sudden you never hit the ceiling. You keep progressing because you have this beautiful foundation laid out. So as your organization, you have this foundation that becomes the foundation of everything else. Now, when you hire somebody and they're trying to be good, you're providing them this, this, this kind of playbook and you're saying, Hey, this is going to help you reach your goals. Now, as they're developing these fundamentals, what types of things do you guys do to further even enhance that? Or how do you even identify the right talent that would even be interested in enhancing where they're at? Or do you think you've done such a good job as an organization that they wouldn't even seek you out unless

Starting point is 00:10:28 they were prepared to do that? So it's like, you know what I mean? What, what came first? Did you set the expectation that everybody you hire is this kind of entrepreneurial or leadership perspective and they know that coming in, or are you able to foster that and then develop that? I think, you know, for us, there's a unique set of individuals that gravitate towards our restaurants because, you know, at this level, at the way we operate, we're not necessarily the easiest restaurant group to work for, whether you're a busboy or a manager. There's, you know, you know what it's like. You come into our restaurant. We were just talking about a bad experience that you had in one of the restaurants. And that that's an anomaly, right?

Starting point is 00:11:09 Because for us, the at the at this level, what the you know, what our guests pay, you know, they're paying a lot of money, and they expect in demand of being to be treated a certain way, they expect to be welcomed a certain way, they expect for the experience to be flawless. And in order to orchestrate a flawless experience, it takes a number of different people working really hard, not just in that moment, but also there's an enormous amount of preparation that goes into that. And so to want to be put through that, it's a special individual. It's somebody that already knows that, you know, it's like they know it's going to be a little hard and they kind of appreciate the grind. They appreciate what they're being put through. They appreciate that challenge. And so as your, as your team starts

Starting point is 00:11:56 to grow, you've done a really good job of maintaining consistency across your restaurants. I mean, you and I were talking, I've been to at least 30 of them and maybe 20 of them, and you do a great job of keeping a consistency. But what I want to talk about with you today was just this concept that everybody is good at something, but you're saying that they have a desire to be good at something. I want to kind of pivot this. How do you identify when your new teammates come on board? How do you foster skill sets and then help them determine what they're actually uniquely good at? Do you, do you have managers that go through any type of trainings to do? I mean, what does that process look like? That sounds like a

Starting point is 00:12:35 really tough thing to do is to kind of foster somebody to direct them towards something. They're actually better at what if someone wants to be a chef, but they're actually better being a, you know, a restaurant manager. Yeah. So I think there's a balance, right? Because as we're looking at assessing talent, obviously we want people, we want to put people in the right positions to make the right moves, right? So if somebody is uniquely talented at something and it's, you know, second nature to them, we want to capitalize on that as much as possible. But at the same time, it's just like, you know, maybe, you know, second nature to them. We want to capitalize on that as much as possible. But at the same time, it's just like, you know, maybe, you know, you're great at, uh,

Starting point is 00:13:13 you know, doing, uh, pull-ups, but you're terrible at, you know, at squatting. Well, you also want to work your weakness, right? And so it's a balance of, okay, putting the person in the right position, you know, to, to capitalize on all those strengths, but also, you know, that's what you do, like, when the lights are on and, you know, when the clock, you know, when the bell rings, you put them in the position to execute all their strengths. And then behind the scenes is when you get down and start working on kind of their weaknesses and how do you, you know, okay, you're not good at finance. So let's bring in our accounting team and let's work with you once a week for a couple hours and try to get you better at that. Or maybe you're not, you're,

Starting point is 00:13:49 you're not good with people and you're really good at all the back office stuff, but you're a little shy and we'll do things like media training and are, you know, put them in different situations. So they get exposed to that more. And so you actually set that up ahead of time. Cause like speaking from a gym owner perspective, you'll have, let's just say a coach who's really good or even an owner who's really good at coaching on the floor. And that's when the quote lights are on. I like that analogy when the lights are off and maybe the gym is closed. Maybe that's during the middle of the day or it's in the evening. Do you set up then with someone you, you evaluate them and you say, Hey, I think you're really strong here, but we need you to – here's a weakness.

Starting point is 00:14:28 We'd like you to improve that. I think by improving that weakness, they're probably going to improve their overall self because they're going to find ways to even improve their strengths. Right. So then do you set up like specific meetings that are reoccurring for that particular person and then put them on a trajectory to improve their weakness? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And that's where that whole thing is. Everybody wants – I truly believe that, you know, people want to be good.

Starting point is 00:14:49 They want to be good. They want to improve. They want to be better. And so, you know, sometimes, you know, when you're going through that process, people might, you know, other team members might say, oh, don't waste your time. You know, they're going to be resistant towards it. And they're not because they want to be good, right? And so as long as, for me, it's more of like, it's the belief I have every time I go into a restaurant of ours. It's a belief I have every first day of training is that all these people, they want to be part of something special and they want to be good. And that's the starting line for us. And now it's my job, it's our job to keep them on that

Starting point is 00:15:32 trajectory day in and day out and make sure that they always remember that they want to be part of something special, that they always remember that they signed up for this and they signed up to be great. And then I break it down to them that, you know what? So, you know, obviously I'm going to do my job, but I'm going to create the environment. We're going to create the systems. We're going to create everything possible for you to be a champion at what you do.

Starting point is 00:15:55 But it's your decision on a daily basis to do it, right? So, you know, I always, you know, joke that in every restaurant manual ever written, there's, I guarantee if we can pull them all, that it says don't chew gum on the floor. Every single one says don't chew gum on the floor because it makes people think they're eating food or whatever it is. Every manual. So then why do people chew gum on the floor? Why do people in some restaurants, you'll go to PFG, no, sorry, you go somewhere.

Starting point is 00:16:27 You'll go somewhere and there's somebody, you know, chewing gum on the floor. They go up to the table and take your order and they're chewing gum. And it's because they made a decision. They, that single person made a decision not to follow something. Right?

Starting point is 00:16:39 They made a decision. And then there just, there was no accountability for their decision. And so I, you know, these are the things I can keep going. I actually really like this because back to your point, um, one of the keys in our handbook, for example, is like, you can't use your phone when you're on the floor coaching. And I think for most people are like, yeah, that makes sense. If you're on your phone, you're not coaching. It's like a massage therapist being on their phone well you're paying them for a massage like like they're right they got to use their hands right and and so i think that's just a prerequisite for us is that when you're coaching you're not gonna be on your phone

Starting point is 00:17:12 so back to the gum example i think that makes total sense is that now that you bring it up i mean for those of you listening who aren't in the restaurant space i never even really thought of it but it sounds to me like it makes sense but But I want to dive a little bit deeper into that because that was a really interesting topic you said. So now people choose to not listen to that. So what do you do about it is what you're saying? Right. Well, exactly. And so for me, the concept is this, it's like, and I just bring it right back to the start. You came here because you wanted to be part of something special. That specialness is only, it only happens when it, what your actions to support it. Right. So when we're opening a restaurant and we've got, you know, you know, 50, 60, 70 people

Starting point is 00:17:58 all together in a room and they're all, we're all here. And you know, the, you know, the, whether it's the cooks or the waiters. Everybody's there because they want to be part of something special. They want to make more money. They want to be part of a restaurant that's great, right? Well, you don't just put water on that and that happens. The only way that that happens is if every single person in the room is committed to their actions supporting that notion, right? So whether I'm a cook that's committed to continually developing my skills, making sure that I'm seasoning food right, making sure that I'm cooking, following the proper recipes. If I'm a waiter, making sure that I'm learning about the

Starting point is 00:18:34 food, making sure I'm holding myself accountable. So the things that everybody are signing up for, the beauty of it is, is that they are directly responsible for making that happen, right? It's each and every single one of their contributions. And obviously we have to orchestrate it together, but it's their contributions that will manifest that into reality. They're ultimately the custodians of that dream. Of that dream. Right. Yeah. It's really interesting. So guys, I mean, if you're listening to what Patrick's saying, and he's talking about 50, 60, 70 people that are then, you know, you're the custodian, you're kind of like the, what's the guy in front of the orchestra?

Starting point is 00:19:10 The conductor. The conductor. And everybody kind of has to do their part. And if the pianist is out of sync, I mean, it's a problem for everybody. But if you've ever gone into a Michael Mina restaurant and they could visit the, what's michaelmina.net? Right. michaelmina.net. I'm telling you.net i'm telling you right now if you go to one of their restaurants you will have a premium experience you will bourbon steak in particular is one of my favorite but what he's saying you're putting your money where your mouth is because

Starting point is 00:19:36 i've been a lot of your restaurants and your team acts the way you're talking and i think it leads from the top where you take a lot of pride in what you guys are delivering and it shows. And so that pride I know was fostered back in the day. You start off as a, you know, dishwasher and you kind of worked your way up. But on a daily basis, what kind of things are you doing? Because you and I just got done talking about hot cold work. You're exploring keto. You and I, we're always talking about different stuff to try and kind of stimulate us and do something different. What kind of things are you doing on a regular basis that really is trying to force you to kind of be the better, uh, conductor for lack of a better term? I mean, so, I mean, for me on a daily basis, um, I've got, I've got a routine. I,

Starting point is 00:20:18 you know, I wake up every morning at 5 30 AM and I meditate, I, I, I read, um, you know, I, I, I spend kind of, you know, a little bit of time, just time by myself, you know, digesting thoughts or philosophies, uh, you know, different, you know, of different, you know, forms. Um, so, you know, I do that. Um, and then I, then I work out, right. Yeah. And, um, and I, you know, for, you know, maybe, you know, an hour, you know, anywhere from 50 to 70 minutes a day, every day I work out every day. I feel I have to break a sweat in some way, shape or form. And so I do that. Um, and, um, you know, while I'm working out, um, digesting some type of content, whether it's podcasts or books on Audible or whatever. I'm listening to something.

Starting point is 00:21:06 I'm working out at the same time. And, you know, TED Talks. And then, you know, I don't have a sauna or anything at all. We're getting one. But, you know, every day I commit myself to taking a cold shower. And, you know, it's a little easier now, but at first it wasn't, you know, um, but I just think that we should all try to do something hard every day, something that we don't want to do. Maybe, uh, you know, maybe it's a cold shower. Maybe you get used to doing cold showers. Maybe

Starting point is 00:21:36 it's working on squat cleans and you hate squat cleans. Maybe it's having a conversation with somebody that you really don't want to have a conversation with, but it's time that you do. Uh, maybe it's calling a friend that you, you know, you need to apologize to. I just think if you focus on doing something hard every day, it's going to build mental toughness. And, you know, like David Goggins says, callous the mind, you know, and, and so when, you know, you're, you're, those are deposits that you're making into yourself that will provide you with a platform for later on, whether it's, you know, when you're going to open a restaurant or you have to make a tough business decision or whatever it is, you can draw back on that and understand, hey, you know what, I've been able to face this.

Starting point is 00:22:22 I've been able to face this. I've been able to face that. I've been able to maintain my composure, calm myself down and make the right decision. And within a very difficult moment, this is nothing. Right. And so I do, I do all these, all these things and I'm, you know, playing around with, you know, diet and all this other stuff. Um, because I want to be the best me I can be for my family, but also for the people that, that work in our company. And I want to be able to be, um, you know, a searchlight or, you know, some, you know, something that a resource for them to, whether it's, they want to learn, you know, more about spiritual spirituality or meditation or fitness or whatever it is, I can be that resource for them and help guide them, um, along the way. And, you know, when we go out and my, you know, my whole focus, when I go out

Starting point is 00:23:06 and we open a restaurant or I'm working in a restaurant, um, is I want to make sure that I'm leaving behind some residue with every single person there and having an effect and impact on them. And whether it's an impact because I just talked to them and we're, we're hanging out and we're, you know, uh, having a couple of laughs, or it's because I showed them to them and we're hanging out and we're having a couple laughs or it's because I showed them how to do something in the restaurant or I taught them how to be better at something or just like cause a little spark of hope in them for something. And so that's always my focus. And the only way I can do that is by kind of going through the routine I told you about earlier. I love that. I love that. Patrick, I mean, I got to tell you, man, I've been in your

Starting point is 00:23:44 restaurants. I've seen the way you act. I've seen that when you started with this organization years ago, how many years ago did you start with the Michael Mina group? 19. 19 years ago. When you started, you probably started with the same intent. You wanted to be good at something. You wanted to be greatest and you wanted to join an organization. And now you've been able to play an integral role in that, but you still on a daily basis are asking yourself how to kind of pursue that even better and better and better. And I think you're looking from within and then it helps without, right? So you're talking about your workouts and your cold showers, et cetera. So guys, I mean, Patrick is a really good example of someone who practices what he preaches and he's leading a large organization.

Starting point is 00:24:23 I mean, how many employees does the MENA group have now? We've got about 60 corporate employees. And then within the restaurants, there's over 3,000. So 3,000 people, each with unique personalities, and you're out there trying to spearhead different concepts and ideas. Some have worked great. Some maybe haven't worked as great, and you've been able to learn from it. And I love talking to you. We did another episode with Patrick maybe a year ago. And I'm sure we'll be doing more because I think it's really important with the Business of Fitness podcast. Yes, you're not in the fitness space. I mean, you like to work out, of course.

Starting point is 00:24:55 But I think it's really important that we can learn from you because you're in the service-based industry just like we are. And we have new employees coming in where I love what you're saying because they come in and they're, they're already at a high level. They already want to be good. It's kind of like, uh, you know, everybody's innocent until proven guilty. Like you come in, you're already at the top, right? Then is your job not to, not to, it's their job not to mess it up. It's your job to cultivate it. Exactly. I love it, man. Well, thank you for your time today. If people want more information about you, if they wanted more information about the Mina group, and we already explained the website, but where could they go? What could they find? Obviously,

Starting point is 00:25:32 michaelmina.net. They can, you know, for me, they can find me on Instagram at Patrick underscore Yuma. You know, there's chef Michael Mina on Instagram. So there's various places to find us. And check out their restaurants, guys. Let them know we sent you. And I'm sure you'll have an amazing experience. Thank you again for listening. Thank you again, Patrick. Thank you.

Starting point is 00:25:51 Everybody have a great day.

Barbell Shrugged - How to Provide the Best Service, Hands Down- Business of Fitness #67

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