The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast - David Grutman On The Truth About Power, Access, Success, & What It Really Takes To Build An Empire

Episode Date: April 16, 2026

#962: Join us as we sit down with David Grutman – visionary entrepreneur, hospitality powerhouse, and founder of Groot Hospitality. From redefining Miami's nightlife to building a globally recognize...d portfolio of restaurants and clubs, David has set the standard for modern hospitality. In this episode, David breaks down what it really takes to build an empire focused on excellence – from obsessing over every detail to the importance of cultivating relationships, playing the long game, and the hard truths of turning vision into reality. Plus, he shares lessons and unfiltered insights from his book, Take It Personal.   To Watch the Show click HERE   For Detailed Show Notes visit TheBossticks.com   To connect with David Grutman click HERE   To connect with Lauryn Bosstick click HERE   To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE   Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE   Head to our ShopMy page HERE and LTK page HERE to find all of the products mentioned in each episode.   Get your burning questions featured on the show! Leave the Him & Her Show a voicemail at +1 (512) 537-7194.   To learn more about David Grutman and Groot Hospitality visit https://groothospitality.com. To shop Take It Personal visit https://bit.ly/DG-TakeItPersonal.    This Episode is sponsored by The Skinny Confidential  Shop the limited edition Eden Rock x The Skinny Confidential collab at https://boutique.oetkerhotels.com and at http://shopskinnyconfidential.com. While supplies last.    This episode is sponsored by Boll & Branch Upgrade your sleep during Boll & Branch's Annual Spring Event. Take off 20% sitewide plus free shipping at http://BollAndBranch.com/skinny with code skinny.    This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp You don't have to be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at http://BetterHelp.com/skinny.   This episode is sponsored by Just Thrive Get your health in check and save 20% on your first order at https://justthrivehealth.com/SKINNY with code SKINNY.   This episode is sponsored by Paleovalley Head to http://paleovalley.com/skinny for 20% off your first purchase.    This episode is sponsored by Lululemon Visit http://lululemon.com to learn more.    This episode is sponsored by Alice + Olivia Visit http://aliceandolivia.com/skinny for 15% off. Exclusions may apply   This episode is sponsored by Xyzal Visit http://xyzal.com for more information. Produced by Dear Media

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Starting point is 00:00:01 Welcome to the Bostics, starring Lauren Bostic and Michael Bostick. Together, they are the Bostics. Hello everybody. Welcome back to another episode of The Bostics. Today we have our friend David Grutman. David is a visionary entrepreneur, hospitality titan, and founder of Groot Hospitality. I'm sure many of you have been to some of his places in Miami or Vegas, places like Live Nightclub, Poppy Steak, Gecko, and more. But his influence extends far beyond the Miami and Vegas nightlife scene.
Starting point is 00:00:29 He's also one of the most well-connected people in the world with relationships that span industries. He's a serial investor and entrepreneur and a great father and husband. Most recently, he's just written his first book called Take It Personal, which we talk about in this episode, and where he shares all the things that he's learned along the way from turning resilience into long-term success, relationship building, the importance of a grounding partnership, and how to find success in any venture. This book is not just for the nightlife entrepreneur or the restaurateur like we discovered in this episode.
Starting point is 00:00:57 It's really for anyone trying to build anything. I think this is one of the most personal conversations David's had on a show like this. And with that, he shared a lot of insights that I don't think he's shared in other places. We had a great time with him, as always. With that, our friend, David Gretman. What's the first epiphany that gets you into the hospitality industry? Do you remember something even before you got in that you were like, damn, I really did like hospitality always? So I always thought bartenders were probably the cool, it was probably the coolest job ever.
Starting point is 00:01:23 And when I started bartending, I was like, this is very cool. But then I would watch the managers on the floor leading the, like pacing the whole experience for people. And that's when I was like, I need to be a leader. I don't want to just be a bartender. What are you like as a bartender? Like, let's talk about you. I was in my 20s.
Starting point is 00:01:40 Lord, I was very good looking. Let's start there, right? But he's starting looking. And I was throwing, I thought I was cocktail from Tom Cruise. And are you like on stage, Mr. Performer?
Starting point is 00:01:51 By the way, great, great. By the way, Tom Cruise is the greatest of all time. Same birthday. Funny you say that. I had this debate with our, Michael, go like this. Did you see Tom? Did you see Tom? Okay. I could see him. But he doesn't get, I think that like, you know a lot of big names, a lot of big people. I think like that's the white whale. Like you don't really see that guy popping in your place is too often. I saw him one time at a friend's 50th birthday and he was doing splits on the dance floor. This is like, this is a great story actually. This is like maybe a year ago. It was Victoria Beckham's 50th birthday and he's about to leave. Bit of a name dropment. Yeah, let's cut that out.
Starting point is 00:02:30 Let's start over. No, I've got it. I'm not going to do. He's fucking around. We're not cutting anything out. We're cutting this out. We're cutting this out. So anyway, so he's about to leave.
Starting point is 00:02:42 And I'm there at the friend, my friend Ben Gorham, and both are just regular guys. And the door's about to open. And he looks at us and he goes, I'm going in, boys. And he puts his sunglasses on. And they open the door. And one million flashes happen. He's like, I'm going in. And he just.
Starting point is 00:02:59 knew what he was about to go through. And he just went for it. A lot of celebrities are very attracted to you. And don't downplay it. They are. I don't know about that, but okay. What is it? I think they feel safe with me.
Starting point is 00:03:15 I think they know I'm just not trying to be, like, trying to scum them. Also, I want them to have the best experience in Miami. It's the greatest city ever. And I think I put a lot of my friends into deals that I do, too. investment deals. When you started bartending, did you have the thought process that you would build it into something this big?
Starting point is 00:03:37 Or was that not even a seed in your head? For context, for this audience, a lot of people are aware of you, but when you describe who you are and what you do at this point in your career, how do you describe it? You have a lot of spaces now. So I'm in the fun business.
Starting point is 00:03:49 Let's start there. So I have, I mean, many of your listeners have definitely danced on the tables at Live Nightclub. So Live, Live Nightclub, I mean, Live Beach. Poppy steak, which is one of the most fun restaurants with David Poppy. I don't really like she loves that.
Starting point is 00:04:04 Casa Donna, Gecko with somebody else, and Komodo. In Komoto, I have one in Miami, Dallas, and in Las Vegas. How many venues now in total? Not that many, eight, nine, ten. But they're very well known. And these are the hot places. Yeah. Okay, so did you know when you're bartending that you want to build this empire?
Starting point is 00:04:24 No, no, no. I had no idea. I just wanted to become a manager. That was the first step. Okay. So what happens after you become a manager? Become a general manager. And then I do marketing at a nightclub and I see about events and sponsorships and stuff like that.
Starting point is 00:04:39 And then I started a marketing agency to activate these brands trying to come into Miami. And then I run a big nightclub group in Miami. And then from there I ended up with a small little nightclub called Live. What do you think some of the biggest lies people believe about owning restaurants and nightclubs are. You know, there's something funny. I've been seeing on Instagram and TikTok. There's this viral thing where people think a restaurant owner comes in, it has like an espresso waiting for it. And then it shows what it's really like. And he's holding boxes and the, I mean, first of all, you're in the people business. So it's not so controllable as, you know,
Starting point is 00:05:17 people do stupid shit, as you know. And it's, there's always something going on. I mean, my dad owned restaurants my entire childhood. So I, did you work in the restaurants? I've worked in a bartender. 14 to 25. 11 years. What did you do at 14? Hostess? Hostess went from cocktail server.
Starting point is 00:05:35 Cocktail server at 17. Cocktail server to bartender for 10 years. Did you do this in Arizona? Nope. California. California. Yeah. And I saw the grit of what it takes.
Starting point is 00:05:48 What's so cool about you is that you are a practitioner because you've done every single area of the business. Where I see owners that are fucked is when they make some money at a different venture and they think just because they made money at a certain venture that they can go open a restaurant. No, no, I love when somebody that's made a lot of money in a different industry comes and goes,
Starting point is 00:06:10 I'm buying three nightclubs and five restaurants and they don't realize how quickly you lose money in these spaces. And they're like, why didn't anyone tell me? They all think they know the magic without, you know, Why don't you open one first? Get that one going. How did you learn, though, to master the business?
Starting point is 00:06:30 Because it is such a hard business. It's a very hard business. People think it's just, again, you just show up and it's like a party going on and all that. I always talk about the daytime makes the nighttime. It's really the daytime stuff. The parties, the experience, all that is just part of from everything that you do during the daytime. And how I, listen, I'm a student. And so I'm sure, like anybody else, when you find something that you love and you're passionate about, you just, you're so thirsty to find out information and find out, you know, how do you do it?
Starting point is 00:07:02 You know, another thing I saw in the business is a lot of people getting sucked into the alcohol, the drugs. Sure. And of course, I had my stump with that for sure. Think I had great people around me that said you're about to lose everything that you worked so hard for. So that's why I had to go sober. Walk me through that. Okay, let's put it this way. Is this a year ago?
Starting point is 00:07:23 10 years ago. 10 years ago. Congratulations. So maybe 11 years now. But Liv is rocking and rolling. I'm drinking my own Kool-Aid. I think I'm the coolest guy in the world. And of course I was parting a lot.
Starting point is 00:07:36 I was single. I was parting. And my true friends came to me and they said, listen, I think you need to go away. And I'm like, go away. What are you talking about? Where are we going to go? Central Pay.
Starting point is 00:07:46 Where are we going? They're like, no, there's a special place in Arizona for you. and I'm like, okay, what do you want to do it? And I thought in my head, of course, this is exactly what a cool club owner should be doing. And they're like, let me tell you something, my man, you're going to lose everything. Not only that, you've worked so hard your whole life to build your reputation, and it's going to be gone in one second. So there's a very nice place that we found for you for 30 days, and you're going to go.
Starting point is 00:08:14 And I went and I came back with a completely different mindset. And it's just now I'm out there and I see people really wasted. And it's not about partying and having a good time. It's about like really hurting themselves. And that's what I used to do. I used to do it so I would hurt myself. So now I wonder, I'm like, what happened in their childhood? What traumas did they experience for them to have to medicate like this?
Starting point is 00:08:39 When you look at your own experience, what trauma were you medicating for? Wow, you're trying to make me cry. I told you were not going to make me cry. I'm really not trying to make you cry. No, but listen, I was a single, again, we talked about I was a single kid. I probably felt like I was insignificant growing up, didn't have a lot of supervision. I went to boarding school for high school. I was just never had that hardcore family like I tried to give with my girls and my wife.
Starting point is 00:09:04 That's so interesting because to me you are in a business of significance now. Yes, but listen, I think that's what drew me maybe, you know, subconsciously to the business. Right. It makes sense. So how do you maintain your sobriety with all of this going on? Can I tell you that's the easiest thing. People are like, how do you go into a nightclub or how do you like, it's my job, first of all. But like I don't need to have a cocktail in order to be around people. I feel like I'm confident enough now to be with to sit with anyone and be able to have a conversation. And if you need alcohol or drugs in order to make you feel like you're going to be okay just to sit down with somebody, I think you're. need to figure that part out. Well, we know you personally, obviously, and we know your beautiful wife and we've met your kids and you're a great father and husband. And Lauren talks about it all the time
Starting point is 00:09:56 and we mean that as a compliment. Do you think that this industry is compatible for most men? Or do you think you need to be wired a specific way? Because I imagine for a lot of people, there's a lot of temptation. There's a lot of room for mistakes. There's a lot of room for party. You have to be really intentional, I imagine. More so than like if I show up to the office. Yeah, listen, I don't know. Your office has a lot of people working here. I'm sure there's plenty. There's no music.
Starting point is 00:10:22 They're not shaking butthole and doing like dances and, you know, doing like some bottle service and there's not alcohol. It's a little bit different. We could have arranged that today in the studio, but. I mean, the dear office are lit in there. It's crazy what's going on over there. Listen, I think like anything else, you have to put boundaries on everything. Like I'm not trying to be in the nightclub until 5 a.m. I mean, I don't know.
Starting point is 00:10:44 I have boundaries. I play tennis early at 8 a.m. So I'm not going to be able to make that tennis if I'm whatever. I make sure I schedule early meetings whenever I travel. I mean, I just do a lot. So how do you, so if someone's going to be your partner, one of your restaurants,
Starting point is 00:10:59 or if they're coming in and they are going to work with you, how do you coach them to be able to make sure they don't get caught up into the party? So listen, there's only so much code. People will, listen, I have Poppy steak, and Poppy's my partner. And Poppy, listen,
Starting point is 00:11:14 He is a party, right? So, but even Poppy knows how to regulate himself to not go past that point. I don't think it's endearing to people if you're just the party guy all the time, because then you're too accessible anyway. I think part of my business is not being so accessible. That's interesting. Let's talk about that more. Hold on.
Starting point is 00:11:34 I need to hear about that. You think about absence as much as you think about present. Well, listen, you don't want to be not present, but you also don't want to be so accessible that people could just access you all the time. Who wants that? I totally agree with you. Well, there's a power in saying no.
Starting point is 00:11:50 Let's start there. And it's funny because especially in the hospitality business guys, in the restaurant, in the nightclubs, the quickest way to get someone to stop going to your nightclub is to give them a VIP card. Because if there's not that little bit of, oh, no, am I going to get in? I don't know if it's going to happen.
Starting point is 00:12:05 If they just have a card that just gives them instant access, that eliminates them from coming to your nightclub. Now, the restaurant business is the opposite. You want to be, hi, how are you? It's so happy you're here. You want to be recognized. You want to remember their cocktail. You want to know their favorite food.
Starting point is 00:12:22 You want to make them feel like this is their home. So it's two different kind of mentality. How did you learn that? I learned it from opening restaurants and nightclubs and seeing it. But even in your restaurants, your restaurants are some of the most popular restaurants in Miami in the cities you're in. In Las Vegas, at the film of the Las Vegas. Yeah, Michael, you got to say the whole thing.
Starting point is 00:12:42 I need to go out there in October. I'm going to call you. So how do you decide? He might be able to get you in. How do you decide who gets a table and what table? So listen, I would love to say it's all coming through my desk. I have an amazing team. And they know that tables and even in the nightclub, they're like real estate place. So, and then you also want to be able to pair people against each other that you think will have champagne wars,
Starting point is 00:13:08 as you know, being a bottle server. And same thing with restaurants. We always leave a little room for those VIPs that we know that we have to take care of. And then we want to make sure there's room for people that save their money all week and they want to go let it rip in one of my places. From your perspective, when you're looking at a room when your restaurants is packed, and there's everybody's in there, who's the real power in the room? Is it the money guy?
Starting point is 00:13:33 Is it the famous person? Is it the network? When you're sitting around, you're like, oh, that's where the, the, the real energy of the room is gravitating towards. You know, when people have come up to me and said, hey, there's a billionaire over there. There's a billionaire. I'm like, there's a billion.
Starting point is 00:13:47 Okay. Like, there's always a billionaire. And it's always, they're always like, that billionaire wants to hang out. And I'm like, okay, I'm happy to say, even if it's like, anybody just wants to say hi. And I happen to be in their restaurant and someone's there. I'd love to say hi to them.
Starting point is 00:14:03 But people always want to stress that that's a billionaire. And I'm always like, okay, man. But it's so funny that a lot of these billionaires, and I see with artists a lot, like, certain artists, they're manager, be like, hey, there's, there's billionaires. You need to go say hi. I don't know why you have to go say hi because they're a billionaire. All they want to know is how come they're not recognized like you're not recognized. Maybe their life is not as fun and whatever it is.
Starting point is 00:14:27 But listen, I love power of industry and anything. It's great to meet great people. But I don't know. Whoa, what are you doing? Coke zero. You better believe. it. Don't you think in a Baccarat cup with crushed ice? Hope you're looking at the details, Dave.
Starting point is 00:14:44 Thank you. Thank you, Emily. You can, we need to get a little table. That's, that's, look, he found another edit. You thought he wouldn't find another edit. He did. You are married to someone who is her own powerhouse in her own right. New show now?
Starting point is 00:15:06 What's the, what's the, what's the, real story because it's conflicting on Instagram about how you guys met and who like to. The conflicting thing is if she called me the next day or I called her. I'm telling the truth. She called me. She loves to say that I called her. But like even when like it's true, it's true that she called me first. I have to tell you it's like it's conflicting. She doesn't want to look like she did that, but she did do that. So you meet her? Do you fall in love immediately or was it a slow burn? No, so I take her to lunch the next day. after meeting her the night before.
Starting point is 00:15:39 Hey. I fly back. She's in New York. I fly back to Miami. Her friends are all coming to Miami that weekend. I convince her to come. Her friends don't end up coming. She thinks I set the whole thing up.
Starting point is 00:15:53 That being said, she comes on a Friday. I just never wanted her to leave again. I got engaged nine months later. And, you know, we're having our 10-year wedding anniversary in two weeks. You probably had girls throwing themselves at you, and I'm sure she had men throwing themselves in her. I don't know if she had men throwing themselves in her. I don't know. I'm going to say she did.
Starting point is 00:16:16 I hate to break it to you. I bet she had a line out the door down the street. You have access to all this different. What makes her stand out? I know my answer, but I want to hear it from you. So let's forget. Obviously, she's the most special person outside and inside. We know all that.
Starting point is 00:16:32 All that's fine. But a life with my wife is doesn't even, it is. It's so amazing compared to, I feel bad for single people out there that have to keep going and going and going and going. It seems to me, like that's just a really dark, not that I'm, you know, if you're not married, don't, you have to get married. But for me, life is just 10 times better with my wife. Like being able to share experiences, kids, love, everything. And having a partner, it's the greatest thing in the world. For what you've accomplished or trying to accomplish, and I think about this a lot, I look at some of my friends.
Starting point is 00:17:08 that are running around doing that of everything chasing. And I'm like, it's such a distraction. You gotta be on all these dates, talking to all these people, you're stressful. I could even imagine dating now, hey, would you like to go to dinner? I have no clue. Like, what do we say? No, but I mean, I just think from a pure output and focus perspective, if you're having to manage all of that chaos,
Starting point is 00:17:25 and how are you able to then, like, really focus on your ambition? Well, listen, then there's still kids and love and all that with my wife. It's not like there's not a focus that goes into that. Because, you know, like anything, relationships, But I'm talking about like how distracting all the dating is. I don't even know this world you speak of. Yeah. Like, same.
Starting point is 00:17:45 How do you and Isabella keep it hot? So, you know, you go through these. We try to make sure that we were, we, you know, do things every other day and stuff like that. Because once you start, you know, it's very easy in a marriage to start going to that once a week or once every two weeks things. And I think that's when it goes. And I think we just really strong. which is great for me to make sure it's, it's, it's a lot. Her career has taken off.
Starting point is 00:18:14 How do you support her career as a husband? Like, are you giving her any advice as she grows as an entrepreneur? So she'll ask me for advice here and there, but she's very smart. She's actually way smarter than me, but she'll come to me sometimes on how do I structure something or, you know, what do I think about that? But she's a boss. My wife is really good at what she does. first of all, her jewelry is so, she really found her sweet spot.
Starting point is 00:18:42 I think, as you know, all the girls love to wear is a drummond jewelry. And I think that hopefully the brand lives past her. Like, I think that's what's so important right now as she's growing. If someone was describing your style in business, are you like, are you like a golden retriever? I don't know what that means. I mean, are you, are you, are you soft? Are you hard? Are you, like, are you, what's your business style?
Starting point is 00:19:11 So I want people to think twice about trying to screw me over. That's for sure. Let me not forget that because I am in the nightclub business. But I also want people to know that I do win-win business. And it's something I preach about a lot. Like if we do a deal together and I'm the only winner and you're the loser, it's not, it's not going to be a relationship that's going to stick around for a long time. And it's not where I'm like doing the touchdown dancing.
Starting point is 00:19:34 I got one over on this person. I'd much rather for me you run around saying, oh, I did this deal with David and we killed it. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Let's talk about mental health. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and it's so important to put a focus on your mental health, take care of yourself. We've had so many high performers come on this show over the last decade and talk about how important it is to take care of their mind and how important it is to talk to someone
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Starting point is 00:25:55 You're a really, really savvy investor. I've watched your portfolio on Instagram and I know behind the scenes. What gets your attention when it comes to investing? I think it's just seeing the engagement in how it makes me feel inside as well. And then I kind of go from there. But, by the way, my wife's taste is very good. I saw her eating skinny dipped in bed. And my wife doesn't eat anything with sugar or nothing, anything.
Starting point is 00:26:19 The fact that my wife kept ordering skinny dipped. And then when it came across my desk and I could be an advisor and an investor in it, I jumped at it for the single reason that my wife was eating it. And I know how much she loves skinny dipped. That's interesting. So you're looking at what she was doing. And you, and you, I look at pop culture. I look at what people are doing.
Starting point is 00:26:41 I think I'm big into energy and seeing what people. people love. Symbiotica too. Wow. That's a good one. It's a great one. Symbiotica, I mean, great founders. Shahadurata. I mean, they're amazing and the fact that I could work with them and help raise money for this for this round that they just did. And I think we brought in the best people in the world. But the greatest thing was everyone thinks I'm some magician with it, but everyone was already using it. It was so easy to go to like the weekend and be like, hey, man, you want to invest in Sybiotica? And he's like, yeah, it's on my writer. Like, yeah, of course.
Starting point is 00:27:16 Like, everyone did it. Maybe you should invest in Coke. Maybe you should... Coke Zero? Or maybe we should say it's Ollipop. Ollipop. It's the Ollipop vintage cola. I did invest in Ollipop.
Starting point is 00:27:30 Now, listen, you know, Poppy, listen, congratulations to Poppy, but I wasn't really sold on the Poppy flavors. I like the Oli Pop nostalgic flavors way better. It was a much higher valuation than Poppy was at the time. And I went, and listen, poppy has crushed it they they got a great exit i think rohan is rohan is a genius with beverage and uh so happy for everyone that was in that deal i hope olipop too will have an exit i don't i think
Starting point is 00:27:58 it'll be a great one it does it does great i know you love vacation the sun the sun i love vacation i really appreciate all your posts on it's great the shimmer oil you guys on vacation use vacation when you're on vacation put the shimmer on your leg it gives you the prettiest, like most subtle glow. I like that a lot. But you're also like you're involved in a lot of brands that I think also embody a lot of what you do in your lifestyle. They're foreign brands, right?
Starting point is 00:28:25 You're not like in some random thing that would have nothing to do with you. It just won't, it doesn't get me excited. For me to add value, I have to be excited about the brand. Authentic. What about when it comes to you spotting talent? I see you with a lot of new talent, and I know you've made a lot of introductions that have led to things. What do you think about spotting new talent in a certain way?
Starting point is 00:28:46 I have to. I have to see like what's bubble. What's going to be the next hot thing? If I just follow the trend afterwards and I, I miss it. So I try to be, I use every resource at my disposal to try to find what, what's the next hotness. So what are you looking for? Like are there certain themes or there's certain character traits? Like what are the, how do you spot that early? Is it something you see in the restaurants close? I mean, on a product, it's what kind of engagement is it getting on, socials and stuff like that. On talent, I'm looking to see what's the, it's not about how many, it's like, what are all the kids talking about? What's the youth talking about?
Starting point is 00:29:22 What are they talking about right now? Well, funny, you say that. They're definitely talking about Prospa, these two DJs. They're talking a lot about Prospa. Okay. Ketama, John Summit, of course, three years ago, I, you know, I made that big investment. He's, of course, just outside, he's on fire, crushed it. Disco lines. You're doing your show with Almond. Alex Earl. I'm producing a show with Alex Earl and her family, and it's so good. You guys are going to love this. It is.
Starting point is 00:29:50 Wow. Yeah, that's great. And not just about Alex. It's the whole family. TJ, the father, the stepmom, the mom, you know, the sister, the young kids now are TikToking. But the whole family, it's a full unit. The video of you dancing at Super Bowl went viral.
Starting point is 00:30:07 You saw that? What do you mean? You saw that. Stop. You saw that thing at Super Bowl? Stop. Stop. Stop.
Starting point is 00:30:13 And we don't see it. It's pinned to your top post. No, no. I mean, it was a very viral moment for me. What happened after that moment? Like, are you getting DMs from everybody? What's going on? First of all, I never got, I've never received so many texts.
Starting point is 00:30:28 Yeah, I'm sure. At one time. Like, people I haven't talked to in 20 years, text. But like this, like this, like this. Funny, we're on our way home from Super Bowl that night. And all my, it's, we're flying overnight. and my friends are all sleeping. And of course, I'm nonstop on my phone, just seeing everything.
Starting point is 00:30:50 And we land, and they're like, oh, we had a great, I'm like, oh, I wasn't able to sleep. They go, yeah, because you're a sicko. You said, how you're paying nonstop seeing that. Insane. Well, because it's just, I don't think it was on anyone's bingo card. Really? Like, he was like, what do you, like, you just, like, popped out there and then you're just, like, in the house, dancing.
Starting point is 00:31:06 Listen, you looked good. My wife was like, I never seen you dance like that before. and they said to me, first of all, there's a big screen in front of you, right? You see the big screen jumbotron. And I'm seeing myself, I'm like this. And they're like, damn, why did you have to keep looking up and dancing? I'm like, because I'm seeing myself up there.
Starting point is 00:31:23 Yeah, it's cool. Come on. Everyone's looking at themselves. Yeah, right. Everyone's going to do it. Of course. Okay, so people see the fun stuff that see the restaurant. What is your real schedule look like day to day?
Starting point is 00:31:33 You're up to tennis every day. I play tennis every morning, eight to nine. Then I do, you know, very heavy weights, obviously, from nine to nine, 20, I call it the executive workout. 9 to 920. And then I start going into my, sometimes it's 925, but I go into my meetings and stuff like that. So your meetings are only your house we heard. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:53 Why? I mean, you've been to the house. It's beautiful house, yeah. I have to say, I have to say you have one of the most beautifully designed homes I've ever been in. Because you know how like some people will buy like a huge mansion and like, like, I say this nicely. There's like no taste. Right, there's no taste.
Starting point is 00:32:16 There's white marble and fake polar bear couches and like something they saw. I don't know. My house is a little, our house is a little bit different. I have a Brazilian wife, so I've become obsessed with Brazilian furniture and design. And my wife, yes, she has great taste. No, but it's a beautifully curated space. Right. Right.
Starting point is 00:32:35 It doesn't just look like you just went to a furniture store. It was really hard for me to focus on conversation at your house. I'm just telling you. The whole time I was like had to take in every last detail. I love that. The, the, the glasses above in the kitchen.
Starting point is 00:32:50 No. In the kitchen, you have that wall. The show kitchen. Oh. And then also I started like spiraling because you guys opened your fridge and everything is organized. Isabella has like the wood caps and the silver caps and there's like green juice that's
Starting point is 00:33:06 labeled and there's like a lemon tea. Like everything. And there's literally. with death, Olipop, and now Symbiotica is in that fridge lined up as well. Do you think you have OCD? Beyond. Yeah. Yeah. Because I get fixated on stuff. No, no shit. Let me tell you. So yesterday morning, I was in Dallas and I did Good Morning, Texas. Okay. And I look in the waiting room, there's a thing for Wi-Fi guys. You have to log in, get an email, then get a code and that, da, da, da, and I got so fixated on the lady, I go, I go, and I took
Starting point is 00:33:40 a picture of the Wi-Fi thing. So throughout the time, I kept saying going back to lady, but can we talk about the Wi-Fi situation just to get it? Why can't it just be Wi-Fi, guest, whatever? But it was login, code, someone's email that to verify that they could get Wi-Fi. And I'm like, but I was so fixated, even in my interview, I'm thinking about this Wi-Fi code situation for the building. What were you thinking about when you came here, the rebrand, where you were throwing off a little bit
Starting point is 00:34:08 on the rebrand? Yeah, let's talk about that guy. Okay. I'm happy to. Go ahead. Have an intervention. I knew it. So I've been very excited to do your pod.
Starting point is 00:34:15 As you know, the fact that I'm here at Austin, you didn't come to Miami to do the pod says a lot. Let's just start to. I don't like to leave my house for nothing. That being said. I wasn't invited to your home to do the podcast. You should have said that. I think we put it out there. That's for sure.
Starting point is 00:34:29 No one said it to me. No, no, no. My wife was like, I went to Austin. You need to go to, I go. But why can't they bring it? We can reenact this in the house. I would have done it with your house as a back. drop. No one told me. Okay, so anyway, so I'm here. I've been dying to do this and all of a sudden
Starting point is 00:34:47 you decide to do a name change the week before my pod's about to happen. You go for, I mean, who does that? It's a good thing for you. I'm telling you there's more eyes on it now that we did the rebrand. But why could you just wait for the week after our show? You don't, you want the rebrand. I'm telling you it's a better thing. The fact that you thought I should be the guinea pig for the rebrand. No, we've had a couple more. We've had a couple more. We've had a couple of couple more. Who have we had? We did RFCK Jr. He was the guinea pig. He was the guinea pig. It's a good thing I promise. We're like we need we need like a no name like bring RFK I want to do we bring RFCA. Oh yeah. No name. Fine. Do you decide because you don't need the money right and you don't really
Starting point is 00:35:27 need the thing. Do you decide to write the book take it personal? Yes. Because you want to give information to the next Dave who's eight or 10 or 11 or 20 that's about that wants to do what you do. What's the Do what you do. What's the motivation? Can you throw me that book, please? So the reason why I wrote this book, guys, and I'm glad you asked, it's not just for the hospitality. It's not just for the entertainment business. It's not just for venture capital. It's for life. It's like a blueprint that I used for my life, whether you're opening a car wash or you're a sales clerk or you're a realtor or whatever it is. The things that I wrote down in here, it's going to help you in your life.
Starting point is 00:36:06 It's not about being a celebrity. It's not about opening up black. A restaurant to nightclub. It's about living your life, starting relationships, and really being able to succeed and fail and succeed again. Do you ask Kim Kardashian to write the forward? And give us the history of that. I mean, I've known Kim, and I've been taking care of Kim for longer than I can remember from when she was Paris Hilton's cute friend.
Starting point is 00:36:32 You know what I mean? Like from back then. So, yes. and we have a coupon system. So I asked her very nicely if she could do my forward. Could I tell you, she'd even blink right away. And that's how loyal Kim is. I mean, she's just an amazing.
Starting point is 00:36:52 But she also inspires me not just by being Kim, but how into business is she? Like the fact that she built skims and she builds brand. And this girl does not stop. She'll sit in the glam chair at 5 a.m. And again at 5 p.m. and do meetings all the way through. And oh, and by the way, be a great mom.
Starting point is 00:37:10 So when she writes your forward, what was that like for you to read what she said? Well, I mean, it was, it's, for me, I just, I feel like I'm a great friend. She's a great friend. But as you know, your friends are, by the way, if I asked you guys to do it for, I know you would do a very endearing forward.
Starting point is 00:37:29 Of course. It's important. You can't get Kim next time. Forward by Michael Boston. Exactly. Formerly known as a skinny confidential. No, no, no. We're just the Bostic.
Starting point is 00:37:41 We rebranded. What I said is I was always known as Bostic. I feel like that's my. He's been in front of a pink cover photo. I've been trying to escape that fucking pink for 10 years. Is that what it is? You feel weird about being in front of the pink for 10 years. But there's a lot of rolly things.
Starting point is 00:37:54 I would say, though, listen, Dave, you're a very comfortable, a confident man. But a lot of these guys, you'd ask him to come on the show and they'd be like, oh, it's pink. And I'm like, you know. Wow, really. Yeah, some of these guys. Kind of insulting to our phenology. You don't know, you would think they'd get a little bit, you know,
Starting point is 00:38:08 be a little bit nervous about it. First of all, not only am I married, but I have two girls, six and eight. So I'm in pink and flowers and colors and this and that all the time. That's the hottest thing in a man. It's called quiet confidence. I like that. My advice, if anyone's listening, it's the most important quality in a man. A man who is quietly confident, there is nothing sexier.
Starting point is 00:38:27 It's not in your ego. It's not loud. It's not obnoxious. It's subtle. You know, I'll tell you what happened. This is the truth with the rebrand. It was a start at all. off of her media property, the blog and 20 years ago.
Starting point is 00:38:40 And then we thought it was just going to be like a fun random thing. It was him and her. We just added it. We built a brand. And then what happened was we built the other brands and people would be like, wait, who is this? You're married? What's the show?
Starting point is 00:38:50 What's the brand? It was confusing. So now I'm like, okay, there's two people. We're married, the Bostics and then there's these other things. It's about building an ecosystem. Tell me about the competitor's mindset. It bothers the living shit out of me. You got mad at us one time.
Starting point is 00:39:02 We came in and we ended up going to, I think it was like the Four Seasons restaurant. And you were upset. I remember that. No, no, it wasn't the Four Seasons restaurant. It was another restaurant. Which one was it? Which was it? That was the last time you were there.
Starting point is 00:39:10 Which one was it? Because I asked you, I go, where are you guys going? You're in town for one night and it was a restaurant that wasn't mine. And I was very upset with you. Yeah, that's rude, Michael. We're not going to do it again. Michael sets it up. I didn't know it upset you so much.
Starting point is 00:39:20 I was like, I felt bad. Yeah, I got very up. And by the way, even went after her. I know, you went after everybody. Let it rip. So what, tell me about the competitors. I think you scream to my daughter's face. Again, guys.
Starting point is 00:39:28 I mean, you yell at my child. No, I'm just kidding. It's part about taking it personal. I mean, again, you're my friends. We're friends. We spend an amazing day on the boat. You're in my house. And you think it's all right to go eat at another restaurant that's not mine?
Starting point is 00:39:43 I like the honesty. Yeah, it's like a little fucked up to me, no? Even though we ate at the restaurant for lunch, you want us to go for dinner. There's other restaurants in one restaurant that I have in my catalog. I just want to make sure for next time I go to Miami. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can have lunch at Casa Dana and then go eat a gecko or Komodo or poppy stick or whatever it is. Next time we're going to hit every spot in a two-day period.
Starting point is 00:40:05 We're going to do breakfast, lunch, dinner. I'm here for it. Let me help. What is something that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have taught you? I know you're very good friends with them and we had a little barbecue. I want to know how you, like what they've told you that's like really great advice. Well, let's start with Ivanka. Vanka's great.
Starting point is 00:40:23 You know what Vanka is the best at is she sends you the best. and I try to do it too, but she's so much better at it. She'll send you messages, just cheering you on all the time, right? She's very good at that. She's like, hey,
Starting point is 00:40:35 I just saw this. I'm so proud of you for doing this. No one else could do this but you. And she'll send you notes, like, what a great win that was. And she does it with my wife nonstop. She did it with us with a rebrand. Did she?
Starting point is 00:40:49 Yeah, she did. I just did that because I want to just stay on with you. But keep going. Keep going. Okay. Right. Jared just gives you very thoughtful advice. Like he really takes that second to like think about it and be very thoughtful on how you should handle something very strategically.
Starting point is 00:41:08 Both of them are thoughtful and purposeful in their friendships. It seems like they don't just have relationships just to have them. No. And Ivanka and my wife have a very special relationship. You know. And when they first moved her, you didn't know, right? My wife was like, oh, I don't know. And then she's so obsessed with Ivanka
Starting point is 00:41:26 that Ivanka just does so many great things for her and wants my wife to win so much. It's really special. You have Tom Brady on the back of your book. Weird. That's on the back of your book. Okay. That's a pretty big deal to have the goat
Starting point is 00:41:41 write a testimonial. There's a few goats on there just to be clear. I haven't gotten down the list. I'm starting with Tom Brady. Don't worry. I won't miss the detail. Tom Brady to give you a testimonial. Right.
Starting point is 00:41:53 That's a big deal. It's, yes, I think it's a huge deal. It's so nice of him to be able to do that for me, which is great. Again, Tom lives in Miami, so I'm a go-to person for Tom. But I just want, you know, listen, it's been great to see Tom, you know, go through retirement. Tom go through a new, you know, a new family situation. And to watch him win over and over again and just keep going. There's a reason why Tom's Tom.
Starting point is 00:42:24 What are some advice that these people that you have access to? What's some advice that they've given to you? You have Tom, you have Serena Williams, David Beckham, Mark Wahlberg. What's advice that they're telling you that really helped you? Rich Klaman. I mean, all in their different ways, you know. Not like I need, I love having mentors, but I'm so lucky to come across some of the greatest people in the world, not just celebrity-wise, but also in business. And I think the way I look at things is I try to extract things from people that I really want to learn from.
Starting point is 00:42:57 And there's, of course, with every person, you're not going to like everything that they believe in 100%. There's just no way. So to have the ability to be able to take great things from people and then leave out the stuff that's not, you know, that's not for you is how I really get the most out of stuff. I want to switch gears a little bit and talk about Miami specifically. With the greatest city in the world. Yes. Should we move there? To you.
Starting point is 00:43:18 I've been begging you guys to move there. Okay. But then you're like, then you're like in Tampa. Well, I don't have to visit my hands. And I'm like, are you a stripper?
Starting point is 00:43:27 Is there? Are the Bostics going to open a strip club? She's not a stripper either. I had to go to visit my aunt and say hello. Is she a stripper? Not anymore. No, I'm just kidding.
Starting point is 00:43:36 She's never was. It was a joke. I hope she's going to visit that. Because you're in, you're in Tampa a lot. Okay. Okay. I want to know,
Starting point is 00:43:43 really, from Mr. Miami, what it actually took to break into that city and get to the top of the heat. because it is probably one of the most competitive markets in the world. And continues to grow competitively. And people think it's the gold buying over there.
Starting point is 00:43:58 And also, if you read the history of Miami, like there were some rough and tumble people there that have controlled Miami, maybe for a long time. So I wonder what it actually took for you to break into that and what it would take. Listen, I think I had to dominate my field in order to make it in Miami. I dominated, dominated, dominate it. I didn't do tennis. I didn't do this.
Starting point is 00:44:17 I focused on my work. I went the extra mile. I was in early, last out. So what did that look like actually in the early day to day? Like, what did you have to do to say? Yeah, I had to get there by 9 a.m. and I had to leave it. Like, I'd take a break at 5 or 6 to take a nap,
Starting point is 00:44:30 have some food and go right back in. But like, no one, my friends will tell you, and people in the business will tell you, no one will outwork me. Nobody. So that's what it was just like pure, grit, determination of hard work. People like, oh, it just, like, oh, it just happened.
Starting point is 00:44:44 No, man. And I'm there to make sure it's perfect. Even today. I just did like the players party, a gecko for the Miami Open. I sat almost every table myself just because that's how important it was to me that nothing happened bad at that experience. Let me tell you about the easy five pant by Lulu Lemon. First of all, Lulu Lemon just knows how to design to flatter women. I have been wearing Lulu Lemon since high school.
Starting point is 00:45:12 I remember going to the Carlsbad Forum and just stalking their whole site. Like, I used to work right next door to Lulu Lemon and after work, I would get off and I would go into their store and I would just be obsessed. From the leggings to the tops, I wore it all. And I was a peer bar teacher. So I, like, was into it. Okay. And I still am into it now. They just know how to design. Everything flatters. So there's this pant, okay? It's called the Easy Five pant. It's like a structured pant that has just the right amount of stretch. For me, post-partout, I'm still in the midst of losing 15 pounds. This is very important. It feels broken in this pant. There's no like stiff break in period and I can move so I can weight lift. I can wear them all day.
Starting point is 00:46:00 I'll wear them from like the gym to get my cappuccino at Swedish Hill to come into the office to go home. I love a comfortable like buttery structured pant and this is the one. Definitely check out the easy five pant by Lulu Lemon. They know what looks great and what Lasts. Here's the thing you need to know, Lulu Lemon does limited color runs. So when those new styles drop every Tuesday, they go fast. You don't want to wait. If it's not for you, Lulu Lemon offers free returns, no risk. That's Lululemon.com. New drops every Tuesday. Go now. So I do this manipulation with my children. It's called chocolate water, okay? And what I do is I mix Paleo Valley's chocolate bone broth protein into raw chocolate milk. So good. I get at the farmer's market. I'll just mix in the paleo valley protein. They don't even notice. And what I like about it is they're getting this really amazing protein. It's like a bone broth protein. And they're also having a little bit of milk, which is fine. They love it. They ask for it. It's like a milkshake. I also just like their protein for myself. I do two scoops of their bone broth protein. I am the chocolate all the way around. I love.
Starting point is 00:47:17 love, love their chocolate protein. I even told the founder, when she came on the show, she's been on twice. I was like, this is my favorite protein. It's the best. You could even have it, like, heated up in water. It's delicious. It's not like chalky gross protein. They also have beef sticks. So while you're on their site, grab some beef sticks for your handbag. And then they have an organ complex. And you guys know how I feel about organs. I eat my organs. I have changed my hair and nails. I really think the organs have helped so much. Because all the vitamins and minerals and aminos. You can't go wrong on Paleo Valley. Truly, like they just really think of everything. It's real ingredients, quality sourcing, no junk, no filler. They hit all the things.
Starting point is 00:48:00 Head to paleovalley.com slash skinny or use code skinny at checkout for 20% off your first purchase. That's paleo valley.com slash skinny or use code skinny at checkout. Let me tell you about bowl and branches' signature sheets. These are made from 100% organic cotton. Now, I am someone, one that believes in frequencies. And I also believe that the fabric that you use has a frequency. I mean, this is like actually science. This is not lore in science. This is real. And when I sleep, I want it to be the best. And 100% organic cotton is the move. It's breathable. You feel luxurious. It's buttery. You fall asleep faster. You stay comfortable all night. My kids love it. They're always in my bed. So it's important that I have a really nice fabric. Bullen Branch signature sheets.
Starting point is 00:48:47 they just hit it. Okay, they hit all the things. 100% organic cotton, like I said, instantly make your bed feel breathable, inviting. And it's a one-time upgrade that pays off every single night. There's no setup, no habit building, no guesswork. It's just noticeably better sleep. So turn your red light on, get your mouth tape on. You got to get the skinny confidential mouth tape and then fall asleep in your buttery soft, 100% organic cotton sheets. That's the move, okay? I think that the ultimate skincare hack is getting good sleep. So just master your space when it comes to sleep. Check out your sheets, get your mouth tape, and get all the things around you dialed out.
Starting point is 00:49:29 Upgrade your sleep during Bullen Branch's annual spring event. Take off 20% sitewide plus free shipping at Bullandbranch.com slash skinny with code skinny. That's Bullen Branch, B-O-L-L-L-A-N-D, branch.com slash skinny code skinny to unlock 20% off. Exclusions apply. See site for details. Eden Rock St. Barts times the skinny confidential. This collaboration has been years in the making. I have been going to Eden Rock properties for a very long time and I fell in love with the way that they thought about branding. Every single detail, they don't miss anything. It's such an experience. And when I thought about what brand I wanted to collaborate with, Eden Rock immediately came to mind. So we went down to St. Barts.
Starting point is 00:50:14 And we sat with their team and we conceptualized what this collaboration would look like. And so it's here. The Eden Rock St. Bart's Times Skinny Confidential Red Ice Roller. It's in their signature red. It has a gorgeous, like look at this. Ah, silver roller. It's so beautiful. It's very summer, you know.
Starting point is 00:50:36 I could see this in an ice bucket while you're on the beach enjoying some rosé or a margarita. It goes right in the ice. And then we also launched mouth tape. So it's red too. So you're going to get those red lips, very summer-esque. And again, it's in the Eden Rock, St. Bart's branding. And then we launched facial towels. Everything is limited edition. It's very exclusive. Once it's gone, it's gone. And these facial towels are plastic-free. They don't have any formaldehyde in them. And they're so adorable to throw in your beach bag. I use them to wipe my kids' hands. I use them. I use. them after an oil cleanse. This collection is so major. I'm so excited about it and it's so fun to see the Skinny Confidential come to life in red. You can shop our collaboration at the link in the show notes or on shop skinny confidential.com. You can also shop at the Eden Rock St. Bart's Boutique and the spa. Eden Rock St. Bartz, wherever you are. If you were coaching the next young guy that's trying to break into that city specifically, what would you tell them they need to do in order to make a
Starting point is 00:51:39 guy, girl? Build the best relationships with all the key people in Miami. for sure because, listen, the locals are going to drive you business no matter what. You want to make sure you know every great person in Miami. And then I think you need to make it like, you need to really focus on the details. I think people come into my place. I'm hyper-focused on my details. You say build the best relationships. If there is someone listening that doesn't know how to go about building the best relationship. Start in elevators. Say hi to somebody. Listen, people are like, oh, you're so confident. I didn't start off so confident. I was, Listen, if you see some of these old photos on me,
Starting point is 00:52:15 I was kind of a heavier set guy. I wasn't the best looking guy. Thank God for peptides. That being said, I think I started off just in an elevator, being able to get enough courage to say hello and say, are you having a good day? And that, da, da, da, and keep going about it that way. And then you start hosting some people for dinner.
Starting point is 00:52:33 I love hosting people for dinner. When you're inviting someone to dinner and you're hosting them, you're kind of like in that, it's a different level for you, right? because they're not, you're not like, see the conductor. Yeah. And listen, then I started curating experiences for people. When people came to Miami, I would take them to Winwood. At that time, it was just a bubbling street art area.
Starting point is 00:52:53 I would show people parts of my city that no one else would show them. And they felt like they were in the know and they connected with me. And then when I would take them out to eat, I would try to find the off-the-menu items, the ones that, the dishes that blew me away, I focused on that. Any chance you could get to show somebody, an experience that they just can't do themselves, changes the relationship. That is a great tip.
Starting point is 00:53:17 It sounds like, but everyone says, oh, how do you just have so much? Like, it didn't happen overnight. And no, I wasn't so confident
Starting point is 00:53:22 that I thought I could talk to anybody at any time. Being a bartender definitely helped, right? Because people are always like, oh, I want to, I want to act.
Starting point is 00:53:32 I want to go, you should go do some imprompt, you know, impromp, what is it called? Improv. Improv. Because improv really gets you in that mindset,
Starting point is 00:53:40 too of being able to do stuff off the cuff. If someone were to follow and shadow you for a week, what would they be surprised about and what would they be disappointed in? So it's a great question. I make all my interns spend a day with me. And we don't know, it's just whatever, you don't know if so-and-so is going to be there
Starting point is 00:53:58 or another way is going to be there, right? I think what people would be surprised with is how hyper-focused I am, because I'm meeting hour after ever like this, that when someone comes to a, meeting with me, I'm really present in that meeting with them. I'm not on my phone. I'm not trying to do a thousand other things while they're there. To me, someone that's meeting with me is the most important person in the world at that time. How do you think about social media and your own
Starting point is 00:54:22 social personal brand with what you're doing? So I think it's important for me to just to show what's authentic to me. I don't, I do my own Instagram. There's nobody doing my Instagram for me. I think it's also a great way for people to get a snapshot of your life. I think I have a, listen, I, I, I, I think I think I have a pretty cool life and there's some interesting things that goes on. And I think to be able to share that on social media is great. You have spoken with Gary Brecker. Yeah. We all love. And it seems to me, and I might be speaking out of term, but it seems to me that he's helped change your health. Is that correct? Yeah. I mean, and his daughter Madison, another great, great person. Gary met me like right before, like right before COVID. And I was already starting to go
Starting point is 00:55:06 through that transition with a great trainer, Anthony Rhodes. And then, And COVID happened and I had the time to really hyper focus on my health and getting skinny and getting strong. And he's really been such a big part of that. What are the things that you did to take control of your health? What are all the little things? You mentioned peptides. We want to know what peptides.
Starting point is 00:55:27 I don't know the formula that I take, but I know it's a lot. It was a lot before. But is it for like, is it for weight management? Is it for mind? Is it for sleep? No, sleep. I take the neurogum sleep. I love neurogum sleep, the dissolvable.
Starting point is 00:55:42 It changed my life. Oh, I've never heard of that. You never heard of neurogo? No. Okay, I'm going to send you some. Okay. Proud investor. No, but it's neurogum's top 10 TikTok shop every week.
Starting point is 00:55:56 Gen Z, the next generation, this is how they sleep get. Yeah, because there's caffeine in it as well for the, there's a daytime and the night time. And the neurogum daytime has like a half a cup of coffee in it is for you. Without the crash, without the burn. No nicotine? No nicotine in there. Although I do love, I do unfortunately love nicotine, but I love sesh. A cigarette or like a...
Starting point is 00:56:18 No, I would never smoke a real-life cigarette. Now I do the sesh. Investor in Sesh? Investor and Sesh. Okay, all right, all right. Just going to get into this. Best flavors. It's the better for you, nicotine pouch.
Starting point is 00:56:28 Sesh. Okay, so go on. You do your peptides? I want to keep knowing all the little things that you do for health. Weird, weird. Okay, weird. Anyway, so what else?
Starting point is 00:56:42 I have a physio who does dry needling twice a week and stretches me. I'm very old, so I need to keep my body in a good position. I do the peptites. I take symbiotica every day. Which is your favorite symbiotica?
Starting point is 00:56:59 Well, I mean, listen, at this point, it's changed. So I used to love their, oh, I still love it, the methylated B. I do the vitamin D, I do the vitamin C. You don't do the creatine? No, I don't do the creatine. I love the creatine right before tennis or weights.
Starting point is 00:57:10 Do you do the goo creatine or do you like the powder powder? I don't know that they... No, no, I don't know what the powder is. I do the vanilla. The vanilla. It's so good. It's their new creatine. You know, every time...
Starting point is 00:57:19 It's stacked. Every time Chhabadurana or Chervian come in, there's like 18 new products and I'm like, I'm trying to keep up. No, no, no. Here's the sleeper cell that no one is talking about. The elder berry. People love the elder berry. It's great.
Starting point is 00:57:32 So good for your immune system. That's what I was going to say. Sparkling water. No, the number one, number one, the glutathione. Really? So I get, oh, I also get an IV once a week of Myers Cocktail with a Gluteoth. And I get exosomes once every six weeks. Exosomes, like a facial. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:57:47 What do you mean? So it's an IV. It's like, it's the top part of a stem. It attacks all inflammation just goes fucking nuts on your body. And you don't feel any different from getting the IV. But when you get your test results, I used to, listen, I'm a Jewish guy. So I like, everything. All of it's gone.
Starting point is 00:58:04 I don't know what that means. It means we're probably the most unhealthiest rate. There it is. Okay. It means it's just not good when you get your test results. This is making it better. It makes it amazing. Did you buy Prince because you like tennis or did you play tennis and then buy Prince?
Starting point is 00:58:21 So I did Prince with ABG before I even played tennis. When I grew up, Andre Agassiz, to me was like watching him play in the U.S. Open and watching, you know, all these great tennis players play tennis with Prince. And to me, it was a historic American country club brand. And I always look, it was the first brand I ever really did. And to be able to partner and have an iconic American brand like this, IP, I forget about tennis. And then during COVID, I pick up tennis. And now I become obsessed with tennis.
Starting point is 00:58:54 I'm like, I have this tennis brand. I don't play tennis. I'm just worried about country club and collaborations and all that. And now I care more about the encore than I do about the off court. What was it like for you in Sabalinka? thanked you in her speech. It was great. It was like the Super Bowl.
Starting point is 00:59:10 I mean, that's pretty major. I don't have anything. It was like the Super Bowl day. I still can't believe you saw that. She thanked three people in her speech and one of them was you. Yes. So that's great. I mean, listen, you build relationships.
Starting point is 00:59:23 You try to add value over and over again like we talked about. And in my book, I talk about that's the main thing in a relationship is you don't go into a relationship to see what you can get out of it. You go into a relationship is how can I. add value to that relationship. How can I make this person's life better? And seeing the look on their face when something great happens for them that you helped orchestrate is amazing. How do you think about your relationship with Noah? I know that. Noah Tepperberg. Yeah, of course. I feel like, I feel like he's sort of done. It seems to me. I don't think it's a win-win relationship
Starting point is 00:59:55 for Noah and I. I get, I take so much from him. Uh, I really do. Well, it's interesting because you guys are obviously like in a weird way, like in the same info. Same frequency. Like, different, but like competitive in a way, no, but all. Yeah, for sure, especially in Vegas. Yeah. Like, it's, you know, it's a very competitive market. That being said, I would love to tell you it's a win-win relationship between me and no, but I do, I take so much from him.
Starting point is 01:00:21 He's such a great man and he gives me such great advice. Michael Rapino, Live Nation, the same thing. I would love to say, hey, it's a win-win relationship, and it's just not. I go to these guys for everything, and they come back with just words of wisdom. for me, Jeff, so I'm lucky enough to have great people around me that I could go to for real advice. What are you going to them for and what's the advice they're giving back? I mean, there's a million things, guys. I would love to tell you that I think I know it all or how would I deal with that situation or let me ask you a question.
Starting point is 01:00:55 Is this feel weird to you like it feels weird to me? When something doesn't make me feel right, I always want to ask maybe I'm looking at it wrong or maybe I'm misunderstanding. But my intuition is usually right, to be honest with you. I should learn to trust it even more than I do. Are your parents blown away at what you've done? So my father passed away, but before he passed away, Liv was already ripping. And for him, it was great for me to be able to tell him the numbers each night.
Starting point is 01:01:20 Because my dad was the president of SunTrust, who was a very conservative banker. And the opposite of what I do, right? My mom's still alive. She's just, you know, she's like, this is crazy what goes on with you. We've talked a lot about a lot of the good stuff. mentioned this earlier a little bit. What's it like when someone gets on your bad side?
Starting point is 01:01:41 So I try to let things go more now, but I mean, listen, I try to be in their cereal any chance I get when someone's just, I don't know, I just, now I'm at that place in my life where I don't think I have to like. In your younger years, what are your younger years were really bad. What were you? Go on, be honest. This is, this is the plastic. You got to be honest.
Starting point is 01:02:04 Looking around, if we were spinning confidential, then we can get into it, but now it's the boss sticks. No, but listen, when I was younger, I would really try to ruin people's lives. Like, that would cross me or whatever. I remember when a new club would open against me. I'm like, you know, listen, live on Sunday is a very dominant night, and this new nightclub had opened. They tried to start a hip-hop night against me. And I would make the talent cancel the day of. That's diabolical.
Starting point is 01:02:30 And always say, and make you make them say, wait, and make them say, family emergency. So they knew every time that this talent would cancel they would say family emergency they knew who it was. And I would send them my sales from Sunday night
Starting point is 01:02:44 Monday morning to their emails and saying how was your night? Here's how my night's going. No, no, I was a really sick human being. Sick, sick. No, but I mean, like I think it's honest and how would you get that talent to do that? Because obviously you have to have a pretty good relationships.
Starting point is 01:02:58 Would they go play at live? No, not when they were already booked there. And then if I thought, I would say, listen, you took this job. I'm never going to book you again for the rest of my life. Not just for Live on Sunday, but for the, or live, but for the rest of my life. And let me tell you something. I'm not going away anytime soon. This new club, they're from out of the country.
Starting point is 01:03:21 Nobody knows who they are. I think you should really think about your relationship with me over the long game with them. What happened to the new club? They don't. They're gone. They're gone. So what happens now? Send them to my sales.
Starting point is 01:03:34 You know what? I see them once in a while. They talk about it. They go, Dave, you know how fucked up it was that you would send me your sales from the night before?
Starting point is 01:03:40 And this is when Live on Sunday was just the pinnacle of it. So what made you evolve? Was it your kids? My wife maybe a little bit. She called me to, Noah. Also,
Starting point is 01:03:52 people around me like, you don't always have to, like, sometimes not doing any, just, you know. So what happens now someone tries to come up against one of your husband? There's so much competition.
Starting point is 01:04:01 There's no way I can, control it like I did before. People were like, how do you let all these New York restaurants enter Miami? I'm like, okay. I can't stop someone from coming to Miami. But what I can do is try to build relationships so big with people that they feel, at least for that split second, maybe they shouldn't go to that other restaurant before coming to mine. And I want them to at least make sure they stop in one of my places while they're there for two or three days. But that's relationship-based, guys. And that's focusing on that and making sure that person knows what's important to me is that you come and support my places. When you go now, I see you doing this a lot. When you go and speak at schools,
Starting point is 01:04:37 you have a course too, right? A class. So I taught a college course for five years at FIU. No one? Five weeks, three hours. I just wrote a book. The course inspired the book. Oh. So I wanted to spend the time to take those five years of courses to put it into a book. That's cool. So back in the at that time and now it's in the book, what was the main thing that the schools were basically booking you for or working with you? Like what did they want for me? So they said, listen, anyone could I go to every school and go tell your story and they bring 50 or 100 kids, 200 kids. I want to do 500 students. I want to teach a college course that they get college credit for.
Starting point is 01:05:11 And I want to talk about the things they don't teach you in school. And I think that's what's really important. They don't teach you about how important IP is. They don't teach you about relationships. They don't tell you about long game and like go all the way. You know, all these kids want to graduate school and open their nightclub or open their restaurant right away. But now there's platforms, there's ways for them to be entrepreneurial, right?
Starting point is 01:05:31 They don't need, like for us, it was very hard to be entrepreneurial back then. Maybe you traded some baseball cards, you were an entrepreneur. But now there's so many ways for them to start their own businesses. It's amazing. What mistakes do you see young kids making on YouTube or opening a restaurant or just running a business or being an entrepreneur in general when they're young? Not really taking it as a business, thinking that it's like a fun time kind of thing. Like for me, these are real assets.
Starting point is 01:05:57 These are real businesses. And you have to treat it like a business. You have to build real infrastructure. You have to have HR. You have to know what's going on. You can't just be the talent anymore. You have to have a real business sense. I bet you really had to do HR with everything you got.
Starting point is 01:06:12 You have the gnarliest HR in the United States. With his eyes and that smile. Your HR is literal rigamortous catatonic dying. So we have a very, wait, listen, I have a very good HR. I have the best HR. Julie Howell, greatest HR. By the way, let's give her a shout out. Julie Hal.
Starting point is 01:06:31 Let's make sure we give each other. It has taught me many things to not scream and not say you're going to find their kids. I thank you, Julia Howe, for that. What are you like as a father? You have two girls. What are you like? Are you soft? I would think that my girls, yeah, obviously, they know to come to me.
Starting point is 01:06:50 Okay. We like to call it 90-10. 90% Isabella, 10% me on any decision. What do you mean? My kids say it too. They go, Dad, we know. we have to go to mom because she's 90% of the decision making and I'm 10% of the decision making. Okay. And what are you like as a dad?
Starting point is 01:07:08 I just want to be cuddled in love by my kids so much. There are two different kids, by the way. I'm sure it's, you know, but I think it's the coolest thing in the world. I really don't take it for granted at all. I have pink shoes on right here. You know what I'm saying? How are they different? They're complete opposites and it's the same mix that made them. What do you mean? Is one more like you and one more like Isabella? So the first one is Kaya.
Starting point is 01:07:36 And my daughter, Kay, well, doesn't want sugar, drinks green juice, doesn't hurt anyone's feelings. She cares about everyone's feelings. She just wants happiness for everybody. Then there's Vita. And Vita loves her and up to me. Daddy, Daddy, that the person tripped
Starting point is 01:07:51 or the person spilled something on them or they felt because they know that I love that when people trip or somebody like hurts, you know, she knows I love it. Oh, like you like the trip. Like if somebody said you do it. Oh, I love when someone. trips on stairs or like gets mustard on their shirt from the hot dog i'm gonna start saying i love that i'm
Starting point is 01:08:06 gonna start sending some memes so and she knows she's like daddy so and so and i'm like so i connect with them on different levels i see a lot of myself in vita i see a lot of myself in kaya and i see a lot of my wife in both i just want to say that they were so nice to my kids both like i have like they were so sweet to both of them right like very very nice And you should see them when they walk into a room, they go, hi, I'm Kyda. Nice to meet you. They introduce themselves. They do the whole thing.
Starting point is 01:08:36 All right. Who should buy your book? Take it personal. I'm so happy you ask, who should buy my book. I really feel like everyone should buy my book. And I'm not just saying it like that because there's life lessons in there for everybody. It's not just celebrity. It's not just hospitality.
Starting point is 01:08:50 It's life. I am so excited. I got this custom book. You guys have to see it if you're on YouTube. This is so major. Thank you for bringing this. The next time you come on this show. show. Let me look in the camera. What will the name of the show be? What will the name of the show be then?
Starting point is 01:09:05 It might just be the Lawrence show. I like that. You never know. Second marriage. I might have a new last name. You never know. The next time I do this show with you, it's in Miami at either one of your restaurants or your house with Isabella, him and her perspective. So you really, guys, I think you guys kept asking me, is my wife coming, my wife coming? Did you really wanted my wife and not me? Are you using me to get to my wife? No, I didn't want, we didn't want her on the show, and I'll tell you why, Isabella, if you're listening. We already had her on the show. She did great.
Starting point is 01:09:38 She did great. We want to get the lay of the land. So then we want to get the lay of the land with you. But the next time you come on, it's together. This is the honest truth. Sometimes couples want to come on because we're a couple and they're like, talk to us both. But if it's the first time you're doing an interview with someone, no, no, you've got to get the way. It's awkward because you're like, you're trying to have two different.
Starting point is 01:09:53 It's like a three-scent. So like people will come on. They'll be like, okay, come on with me and my wife. And I'm like, yeah, we could do that if we had an additional conversation. But we couldn't have this conversation about your book and what she was here. No. Yeah, because then we'd be. It would all be about her jewelry brand is a Grutman jewelry.
Starting point is 01:10:08 Yeah. And listen, next time. But the problem is it's a really hard first. He's an investor. And by the way, we don't necessarily like it when people try to interview us as a couple because they don't know what to do either. There's a very few interviewers that know how to interview like two people at once. But the next time I'm just putting it out there.
Starting point is 01:10:23 We're at the restaurant. Or the house. Or the house. And that's the background. and we're interviewing both of you together. I love that. We'll get the relationship juice. No, we've got a Miami trip coming up.
Starting point is 01:10:34 We've got to figure that. Is that true? It's not a bus stop in Tampa for Monzeno. No, there's no Tampa. And then you go. I got to go check the, yeah, I got to go check the registers. Odyssey 2000. Where can everyone find your book and find you on social media?
Starting point is 01:10:45 Well, at David Gretman is on social media. And the book is everywhere from Amazon to Barnes and Nobles to everywhere. Which restaurant should they start with in Miami and Vegas? Okay, great question. Only one. Poppy steak for sure in Vegas That was built for Vegas But Komodo I'm telling you
Starting point is 01:11:01 It was amazing in Las Vegas at the Felon Blue And then you follow up by Liv And then the next day go to Live Beach I have not been So we're going to Vegas in October In October I'm gonna go see Metallica in the sphere I'm really excited about it
Starting point is 01:11:12 Are you? Are you excited about that? I'm not so excited about Metallica in the sphere to be honest I'm excited about it I'm excited about the spa and your restaurants But I want to go because I know Symbiotica's doing something
Starting point is 01:11:21 with you guys over there We have a symbioticic Wellness Bar there Yeah I'm gonna go even have the vitamin C in the salad dressing. That is cool. I'm going to stay at the font blue. I'm going to go.
Starting point is 01:11:32 I'm going to check and I'll go to your restaurants. Okay. And we're going to do the whole thing. I'll not go anywhere else. You're a visionary entrepreneur. I'm so inspired by you. Thank you for coming on the show. Thank you for having me.
Starting point is 01:11:41 Thank you for my custom book. Congratulations on the book. It's going to crush.

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