Heroes in Business - Bill Handwerker former Executive and founder of Nathans Famous

Episode Date: April 26, 2024

Bill Handwerker former Executive and Grandson of Nathan Handwerker founder of Nathans Famous is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances Heroes show on amfm radio. Nathans Famous celebrating 100 years with book authored by Handwerker in honor of his grandfathers legacy.

Welcome back to Alliances Heroes, where heroes in business align. To be part of our super community and find out more about Alliances, visit www.alliances.com. Now, back to our super host, David Kogan, founder of Alliances. That's right. Thank you again, listeners. Well, you know, it's Thursday and it's all about heroes and it's been just an incredible morning. We started off the show with a hero who's the expert witness for fraud cases, even a million dollar judgment for one client. That's Paul Updike from executive financial management. We just had the inventor too

of a revolutionary remote control basketball system, high-Rez Hoops. We'll be ending the show with the president of a sales training network. That's right. Mark Kirstein from Sandler Training. And you're going to get hungry when I talk about our next hero. He is the former senior vice president and grandson. Now get this grandson of Nathan Handwerker. Does the name sound familiar? Well, it certainly should because Nathan, right, Nathan, the founder of Nathan's famous iconic Coney Island, it's a New York institution working alongside his grandfather and father Murray for 30 years. We have with that Bill Handwerker.

and Father Murray for 30 years. We have with that Bill Handwerker. Bill, how was it to grow up and be part of this iconic brand that everybody, absolutely everybody in America certainly knows, Nathan's Famous? It was a wonderful childhood growing up, and all I ever wanted to do as a kid was to get into the business. I mean, really, at what age, though, did you say, okay, this is pretty cool, this is what I want to do, this is what I want to be part of? For as long as I remember, I'd watch my father go off to work, and I'd say, I want to do that. And when I was, my birthday parties as a kid, was always going to Coney Island as a special treat.

And you could reach Bill Handwerker by going to billhandwerker.com. That's H-A-N-D-W-E-R-K-E-R.com. Or you can go to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. We'll also have the interview posted there. So your grandfather pretty much created the hot dog brand in America. I think that's pretty safe to say. How did he create the company and the brand that really everybody knows? Well, he came to this country in 1912 not knowing how to read or write English,

read or write English, and he had the grit and determination to start his own business in 1916. And he started in the food business way back when he was a child in Poland growing up, and I guess that's where he got the feeling that being in the food business, you never go hungry. I mean, and can you believe the brand itself that everybody knows? I mean, it's everywhere. It's everywhere. Everybody knows that. You know, hot dogs, they know Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs. And you mentioned that, you know, you wanted to be in the business as long as you can remember. Take us back to what was the first position perhaps that you had with the family business, Nathan's Famous. Well, my father always believed that you should start from the ground up. And I would come into the store at seven o'clock

in the morning. And my first job was to set up the counter, putting out all the paper goods and food products that were needed for the lunch rush. And that was the very first job that I had. Now, I think what's pretty incredible now, you've taken this history of everything that's gone on with Nathan's. You've worked there, you've gained all this experience, and now you're willing to share it with others because you're an author now. Your book is Nathan's Famous, the first 100 years. What was the inspiration to write this? Well, that was twofold. The first one was to celebrate the, you know, the, the hundredth anniversary, but secondly, and most importantly was to honor my grandfather. Uh, as I said before,

who came to this country, not knowing how to read or write and just had the grit and determination to, and the foresight to, to open up a business and, and same time the desire to have a family who could join him in the business along the way. And that's where it came from. And we're talking today with Bill Handwerker. You could reach him at BillHandwerker.com. with Bill Handwerker. You could reach him at BillHandwerker.com. That's B-I-L-L-H-A-N-D-W-E-R-K-E-R. He's the grandson, the famous Nathan's, Nathan's Hot Dogs, the founder of Nathan's Hot Dogs,

right? I mean, just unbelievable. Now, your book that you have, well, 100 years, I mean, that's incredible. Where can our listeners find your book to be able to order it? Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, and local bookstores as well. And you're a hero in business. If you're a hero in business, too, make sure you go to alliances.com. That's the place where entrepreneurs align, E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S dot com. Now, I think that, again, every person in the U.S. may have eaten one of your family's hot dogs, clearly. But what's the secret ingredient that makes it so good? It's definitely a combination of high-quality beef and seasoning that has a special flavor profile that my grandmother

worked with the manufacturer, the processor, to make sure that every hot dog had the same flavor profile as possible. Now, you no doubt have learned so much from your family business. That's another reason, too, right, to have written the book. I mean, what's one of maybe the most important lessons that you could share having worked in the family business of the famous Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs? Well, I think the most important that you could tell your listeners is when beginning a business is to differentiate yourself from the competitors. Being known as something unique will usually put yourself ahead of the pack. Now, you talked about, too, you know, working in the family business.

Yes. And, you know, here you come in and your father's there and that. And, you know, we have many parents out there that, hey, I'll have children. They maybe consider bringing children in. What advice, too, maybe would you give to children that perhaps dream of creating a brand? I mean, and it could be in any kind of industry or doing something successful, making themselves a good citizen. What advice can you give right now to our parents that are listening to be able to share with their children so they'll grow up, they'll be successful

like you have been? Well, the first thing I would do is try not to, I wouldn't stifle their creativity and tell them that they should not, their children should not be afraid to fail because you learn so much from failure that makes you successes. Make sure to, again, listeners, BillHandWorker.com, part of Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs. Incredible. All right, he was the grandson. Make sure you pick up his book, too.

That's Nathan's Famous the First 100 Years. You can go to Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com. But real important here, Bill, this is a very technical question here. Okay, you ready? I'm ready. Very technical, really. Does the type of toppings that someone puts on a hot dog determine their personality? So say someone orders a hot dog with nothing versus someone that orders it with everything.

I mean, does it make it who they are? Well, if it's any indication, I like my frankfurters with just plain mustard, a nice spicy brown mustard. And my father would say that the Nathan's Frank is the culinary symbol of America, democracy, and that anyone could choose whatever they want. And what does it mean, too, when someone says, okay, I want everything on a Nathan's famous? Well, that means different things in different places of this country. And obviously in Chicago, the garden on a bun means everything from lettuce and tomato and pickles.

In New York, it could be mustard and sauerkraut. You know, in the south, it could be chili. So, again, it's a regional thing. What could be considered everything. And my personal favorite, and my father and grandfather always taught me, the first bite should always be plain. This way you can tell the quality of the frank. Amazing. And let me ask you too, is this show is all about real heroes, but if you could be any fictional superhero, who would that be?

hero who would that be oh well superman was what i grew up with uh in the 50s so i'd have to say superman fantastic well a hero is one that can learn from others and then take that knowledge and share it with the world and that's what our hero has done today bill Bill Handwerker, be sure to get his book today, The First 100 Years. And thank you to our producer, Loopy Docs and Design. That's loopydocs.com for being the producer of the Alliance's Hero Show. And when we return, we're going to have the president of a sales training network, Mark Kirstein with Sandler Training, David Kogan.