This Past Weekend - E314 Jimmy John Liautaud

Episode Date: December 23, 2020

Theo sits down with Jimmy John Liautaud, the founder and former CEO of Jimmy John's, to talk about how he took a sandwich shop in a tiny, remodeled garage and turned it into a billion dollar chain. They also discuss their views on the entrepreneurial spirit of America today, and Jimmy gives advice on how everyone can find happiness and fulfillment in whatever they do.   New Merch https://theovonstore.com    This episode is brought to you by: Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/theo Headspace: https://headspace.com/theo BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/theo for 10% OFF your First Month Magic Mind: https://magicmind.co and use promo code THEO for 10% off Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/theo Grey Block Pizza: https://greyblockpizza.com   Music: “Shine” - Bishop Gunn http://bit.ly/Shine_BishopGunn   Hit the Hotline  985-664-9503   Video Hotline for Theo Upload here: http://bit.ly/TPW_VideoHotline    Find Theo: Website: https://theovon.com  Instagram: https://instagram.com/theovon Facebook: https://facebook.com/theovon Facebook Group: https://facebook.com/groups/thispastweekend Twitter: https://twitter.com/theovon YouTube: https://youtube.com/theovon Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiEKV_MOhwZ7OEcgFyLKilw   Producer: Nick Davis https://instagram.com/realnickdavis   Associate Producer: Sean Dugan https://www.instagram.com/SeanDugan/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's episode is brought to you by gray block pizza 1811 Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles on the way to the beach gray block get that hitter Today's episode is brought to you by magic mind as well You know flow state now comes in a bottle a Lot of times a procrastination gets you Well change that coffee's not doing it for you change it up Magic mind dot co and use promo code Theo for 10% off Today's guest is entrepreneur

business owner creator hard worker and human Mr. Jimmy John Lea toe You got started my mother's from outside of Peoria, Illinois, but you got started in Illinois and So take me through a little bit of how Jimmy John's got started. Oh, okay, cool. So I graduated in

In May or in June of 1982 and it was about March and my dad said to me he's like, hey, man He's Jimmy. What are you gonna be doing after after? High school cuz you got to do something you can't live at home And he said you need to start applying to college. You're gonna start figuring out what what you're gonna do and I college really was an option. I didn't do what graduated second to last on my high school class So it was last you remember. Yeah, Craig Schumacher great guy. He was last. Yeah, Craig Schumacher. Love master Craig Schumacher Oh, yeah, he was he was a classmate of mine Craig Schumacher. So not the comedian. No, not that you're not the maker No, okay different guy, but yeah, so I grew so anyway long story short is my dad. My dad was an entrepreneur and he said look

You're not going to college You can't live at home. You know, we'll start a business. You got to do something So I said why I kind of would like to open a Chicago hot dog stand I love a Chicago Portillo hot dog and a tamale and a and a French fry and and I said love to open a hot dog stand He said I'll tell you what he says I'll lend you 25,000 bucks and we're pretty good deal He says and here's the deal He said you get 25 grand if it makes it I own 48% if it fails You go to the army for two years and you don't have to pay me back

He really wanted me to go to the army. He fought the Korean War My big brother Greg drove a armor personnel carrier. My little brother Robbie was a ranger out in Fort Ord, California So you were you're the odd duck total odd duck total odd duck all three of those guys are fighters and every time I got in a fight I just got this shit beat out of me. I don't know what to do in a fight. I just open up a concession stand That's what you do. That's what you do. Yo, open up a Sandwich shop. So anyway, I graduated high school and I and and so I go to visit hot dog stands and In in in two weeks I visited 50. I knew what I had on them and need I knew what I had to have on the menu I knew what kind what equipment I needed to have and I made a list

I made a menu list and my equipment list and it was easy. I went to the library and got yellow pages We didn't have technology would have Google and they had the yellow pages in the library and I googled Restaurant equipment and then used restaurant equipment and I found places in Chicago that had it and I drove my car down to the city and I found a section which is now the West Loop, which is the hottest area in Chicago But storefront after storefront of entrepreneur owned little used restaurant equipment houses, right? So I had the list of equipment for my hot dog stand and and the cheapest price I got was $43,000 so I drive back to home to carry Illinois and they say pop. He's yeah, what's up? I said I need more dough. He said what are you talking about? I said you 43 grand just for the equipment

I got a fryer or steam table a hood. I got a grill. I got a flat top. I got a milkshake machine I got a he said hey, dude, it's 25 grand and I'm like and the bus stops here, huh? You're serious. He's I'm serious as shit He said so this is like mid-June and so just it was random But I was gonna go visit a buddy at Southern Illinois University that next weekend the Saluki's right is it that is the Saluki's It is the Saluki's so I drive down there and I'm partying with my buddy. He says let's go get a sandwich at Booby sandwiches. I'm like what's a little sandwich shop? It's great So I go to this little sandwich shop Theo literally it's got a refrigerator a coca-cola refrigerator

There's vegetables in it There's meats in it and there's beer in it and there's soda in it It's like like coca-cola gave it to him But he was using it all in the same fridge on the same fridge He had a little make table half the size of your desk little refrigerator to make table a meat slicer And he was making and it had bags of bread and a cash register the guys making sandwiches So I just came from fryers and steam tables milkshake machines and all this shit all this equipment and here I'm like there's a refrigerator. I said I can do sandwiches Wow

So so just like that so you went from so before that it was hot dogs And you just enjoy in that moment just changed it for you that moment changed my head I just came from 1820 pieces of equipment for 45,000 bucks. I knew I could get a used refrigerator for 400 I knew I could get a used make line for 500. I knew I could get a refrigerator for 250 buck or a cash register 250 bucks I and I knew I could get a new a used meat slicer for six seven hundred bucks I just bent through every restaurant warehouse in Chicago. Oh, and I bet yeah, especially in that area You're gonna have it probably the best opportunity because so many restaurants in Chicago have even getting into that kind of stuff Here's a video question that came in right here

We'll go to one early that came in for you John right here actually yeah, go ahead So this is a question for both you Theo Jimmy John you guys are two very successful business owners And I just want to know like what is it that? They Motivate you the most that gave you that drive that gave you that edge, you know I look forward to your answers either way Merry Christmas. Happy holidays to both of you gang gang Jimmy Jones Thanks, baby gang gang and I'll tell you this and I'll and I'll kind of add into what I was gonna ask and thank you for that young man and Yeah, cuz I was gonna ask you so to go from to switch from hot dogs to sandwiches

So it wasn't really about the was it still about the product as much or was it about because some people are like I'm selling hammers That's it and if you show them a screwdriver, they're not gonna change to that Yeah, so was it about business like did you realize at that point like oh, I just want to do business or is it just Food business like because that's kind of a pivot. I mean it's a you know that was a real pivot But what it was it was a critical pivot, but my homework was done and when your homework is done the answers were obvious I knew how much I could buy used equipment for I knew how complicated the hot dog stand was I knew how many items were gonna be on the menu and when I saw refrigerator meat slicer cash register boom Three pieces of equipment man. I knew instantly that I could do that

Especially with that first when the third one is the cash register. You're like, okay I'm like, yeah, this all makes sense. Absolutely. That other list probably didn't have a register on it and that's the one you need the most Absolutely, so that's interesting. So then yes, suddenly you're like, oh, this is a pared down kind of did it feel like okay This is a more pared down version of what I want to do or this is it was another option And so what I did is I just pivoted and I went and looked at other sandwich shops That were in even at that time subway wasn't baking in their own stores They were getting bread delivered one or two or three days a week So so they weren't baking so I went and I and I instead of just looking at hot dog stands around Chicago

I went to Milwaukee went to Madison I started looking at other sandwich shops and I found a sandwich shop in Milwaukee that bake their own buns and this and they and they They bake their own bun and and and you bought your sandwich on this homemade bun And and they and you got a soda pop and a 16 ounce returnable bottle when you gave them the bottle back They gave you your dime deposit back. That was before your time, right? And but the best thing about it was the bread and and so I after visiting enough sandwich shops I'm like damn I got to figure out how to bake bread. So I'm right back to the library It's now July

I'm right back to the library and I got books on baking bread at bake bread in my mama's kitchen and figure out how to bake bread And then I had then I figured that out. So that was the next step. So okay, so okay So you get to your bread. Yeah, and what are your parents doing during this? So they are they kind of impressed? I mean, they must be impressed with your Desire, huh? You know, my parents were I don't know that we were raised. I think we were basically fed You know, my dad was working my mom did I mean she we got four kids and we're all 13 months apart And there's four of us three boys and a girl. So they we weren't really it wasn't really, you know We didn't have sort any sort of traditional raising. Well, there's a lot of love in the house

We just didn't have a there just there wasn't a lot of time to nurture. So I was really on my own the feedback was you know What's this guy do? You know, I think they were probably shaking their heads and my dad was just hoping that I would just hang it up And go to the army. I think that's really what he was hoping was gonna happen I mean like when I think about it right now, I think that's what he was thinking about man Were you like so I got let me get a little bit more what you're like then were you like cuz you weren't a you weren't a dumb You did not well in your in your grades and stuff, but you weren't a dumb kid No, I wasn't a dumb kid, but I couldn't read and comprehend So I'm it's called dyslexia. You've heard of it. Oh, yeah. Yeah, one of my best friends has it good

I just can't read and comprehend so so even now I'm married to Leslie like if something comes in and it's a letter Somebody wrote it to us even a crit Leslie reads it to me I close my eyes and I listen to it and I can take it all in but I just cannot read and comprehend So I was sharp enough to do stuff. I could I was good at math But I just yeah, I just I couldn't read man And and I think it pissed the teachers off too and I think I think they got angry because I thought they They probably thought that I I should be able to comprehend and because I wasn't I must have been you know Oh, yeah, screwing around. Yeah screwing around and I wasn't I just couldn't comprehend, you know

It's like dance son. Well, I can't dance. Well, then you're a shithead. No, I'm not I just can't dance Yeah, yeah, and then they think if you're not dancing you're just loitering or something else You're just doing something. Yeah, you're kind of ruining the vibe then. Yeah, yeah, yeah So I was but then what would happen then I think teachers got a little angry They would rip me a little bit and be angry and be pissed at me and I was sharp enough to be to stick it right back to Them and I think that's probably what pissed the teachers off and made them angry because because I I could see what they were Doing and I I didn't know why they were angry at me because there was no but when they were ribbing me I would give it right back to them. I I was you know, that's just what I did. Were you funny in school?

Were you like a funny guy? Yeah, I was I was funny. I'm yeah. Yeah, I had a good time That's cool. Sure. Were you goofy funny or were you taught like word funny like saying stuff that was funny? Or would you like were you like truffle shuffle funny kind of guy or like just say stuff? No, I don't know I think I was I don't know what any of those things mean really. I don't know what trouble Shuffle were you like a goof or you like you would get up and do something physical or were you just you would the way you Were verbal. Yeah, me funny like I could respond to shit quick. I could say it. Yeah, yeah, yeah I mean, I just hit you know, I could I could have a good time with school It's a fun environment because you basically you have kind of an audience every day if the if the curriculum doesn't really engage you that much

Yeah Which sometimes dyslexia to me is just that it's kind of like the like the world of curriculum Just it's not as engaging for some people and so your brain just doesn't leech on to it So it's almost like dyslexia. Sometimes can be like a blessing. It's like, oh, what am I missing learning all this shit? That I don't really care about, you know, yeah So anyway, so we're so we're at the bread so you got the bread recipe that's being from Louisiana, man I respect that more than anything dude like a po-boy sandwich people are always like how what makes up? I'm like you have to have good bread like I don't care other cities. You have one Assault Lake City

This is dog shit. I want you have to have good bread. You gotta have good bread New Orleans has great bread great po-boys down there So gotta have the great bread so I figured that out. Yeah, so you got the great bread got the great I was there a day where you knew it cuz like I've read Michael Lindell's book ever in his book No, he wrote the he's the my pillow guy, right and he has a moment where he finally gets the fluffing right in the pillow And he just can't I mean he loses. He's just it's a great moment, right? Did you have that moment where you're like this is the bread? I had a moment and I got a great story about the moment. So I got the moment

I got the bread. I'm baking the bread the bread's good I'm going back and forth to the grocery store and I lived in Kerry and Dominic's grocery stores in Crystal Lake and I'm going back and forth buying meats and coming home and making sandwiches on the bread and I'm walking past a freezer section one day and I see this frozen bread dough in the freezer section had like Four like one pound loaves of bread this big in a freezer bag It was riches frozen bread dough and I grabbed a bag and I threw it in the cart So remember I hadn't I had my I had all my meats and then I had this frozen dough I take the dough home to the house

I thought one of these loaves out and I cut it in quarters and stretch it out and bake it off into a loaf and I baked the bread is a way better than the bread that I came up with. Okay, and I looked at the bread bag It said riches frozen products I think it was Pukipsi, New York and at the time the entire New York theory code was 2 1 2 So I dialed 2 1 2 5 5 5 1 2 1 2 and I said can I have the number of riches frozen products Pukipsi, New York and Director assistant says sure one moment, please and gives me the number So I call riches frozen products and I said hello may I speak to mr. Rich the lady says one moment, please No way. I swear to God

The guy gets on the phone. Hello. This is Bob Rich. I said hello, mr. Rich. He says yes, ma'am My voice it was you know, it's pretty squeaky now, but it's squeaky here then yes, ma'am. What can I do for you? I just went with it I said I said I'm opening a sandwich shop in Illinois and I said and I just tried your your bread dough And it's the way better than the bread dough. I made can you supply me my bread dough? He says you're opening a sandwich shop in Illinois. He says give me your phone number. Let me call you back so I hang up the phone and He calls me back in five minutes. He says, you know where Schaumburg, Illinois is I said, yeah

I live in Kerry, Illinois. He says well, my friend Lou Gonella is building of an addition on his frozen dough factory Right by you and I'm gonna and you go see him Can you be there tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock and he'll he'll go set you go go see him at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning I said really he said absolutely. Here's the address. Here's the phone number You go tomorrow morning. You go see my friend Lou Gonella. And how old are you? I'm 18 years old 18 years old dude. So I tried a Chevy citation man the hatchback. I drive was called a citation It was a Chevy citation man. It was awesome front wheel. That's a ticket. That's a parking ticket. I could do better Spin it backwards. You know, I could do 360 donuts. It was killer. Yeah, so I go so I go to I go to this factory

It's a construction site I walk in the front door and there's a woman there a receptionist and and there's two yellow hats there And one says Jimmy John on it construction ads and one says Lou so I go in I go in there and I go in there, excuse me Ron. His name was Ron and he was it was Lou's nephew or something like that But Lou owned it his name was Ron Lucchese. It was Ron and Jimmy So the one minute Ron comes out his son put that hat on but they come on with me We're you know, I go into this kitchen and here they got like 20 different breads all lined out fresh out of the oven

He says come on, let's play with some bread Let's let's eat some bread and see what you like and and we'll make some bread dough and they have mixers over here in About six hours between he and I and I said I like this one pretty good He's like well then that then we'll make that bread dough for you Wow, I'm sure there's no way in a million years. Did he ever ever think that it would be what it was sure enough I call him three months later. I said I got my location. I'm gonna do it Eastern Illinois University and Son of a gun if I didn't end up loyal to that family and that company and we are now their largest customer And I think there's over a hundred

Gonella family members that that our owners of this company and we're I think we're when we are their largest customer now So it was that was it was an incredible experience And it was so random that I called that phone number and the dude was there was a Bob rich and he picked up the phone I mean, what if he was at lunch? Yeah, and what and just the I mean that just makes me think about like When you do something hands-on for somebody a lot of things in life it takes somebody doing something hands-on for you to really Believe it you can do it for sure I can't even imagine you walking in at that age at that moment. We already kind of a little bit excited You're like here's adults are talking to me. They know about bread. What's even going on?

I drive over the hats there with your name on it like they went that extra step And I wonder if they if they couldn't be thinking this guy's a big sandwich entrepreneur that I was 18 years old I didn't even hair under my arms yet. Yeah, I was late bloomery call me ma'am No clue. I'm sure you didn't know if you're gonna get hair under your arms if they're calling you That's right And and you know and my dad is my dad was thinking the same thing But when I had this bread dough and then I started making sandwiches on that bread dough man I knew and I had I came up with six

It's now August came with six sandwiches invited my family over they voted on four and that was August and anyway It's so kind though. Just the kindness that I feel like they showed by just saying okay Here's just somebody who's young and curious and I'm going to Extend some time to them, you know, absolutely. I got to tell you a magical moment I met a grandson of mr. Rich who has now passed away and I I have a I spend the majority of the year in Key Largo, Florida and I was in Key Largo, Florida and I met a grandson of Mr. Rich and I told him the story of his grandfather the family also has a home down in that area and he was blown away He was blown away. It was so it brought me so it warmed my heart to share how that man

Literally without that phone call in that moment I wouldn't have pivoted there that which would become the foundation of the Jimmy John's brand for, you know 36 years before I sold it So it was an it was an amazing moment and I got lucky. I got lucky, but it was in it was in the bull's eye and I hit it and And so you got the bread now. I really it's really interesting to hear starting Especially like a sandwich shop starting any business in a college town Mm-hmm. I feel like it's such a strong move because if you can get a market that's excited that's young and it's something that's hip Then you know already other towns. It's gonna work in that exact type of place. You know, yeah, that's exactly right

Yeah, when you look back at that moment in your life kind of at that young moment So some of the cards were kind of laid out for you. It was like you weren't really College probably wasn't gonna be your thing, right? Your dad kind of gave you this amount that didn't really work out with you know with the with the list that you made But when you look fingers I go to the army. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's looking for you He's like jeez put the oven down and pick up a fucking gun, you know, um, but what was uh, when you look back at that Well, you know, what do you was it just some natural gifts that guy? Did you just think it was just some innate things like what are some things that you know?

I really didn't think about it. I really believe my dad. I mean my dad was a badass He was a tough tough tough man He was he was tough and I knew that I was out of there and I knew I had to figure it out So I really didn't spend much time About anything except I wanted to get a location. I want to go to Eastern Illinois, Illinois University The reason I chose you so my brother was coming out of the army in November He was going and I had two cousins that were there Mike and Steve right so I said I'll go to Easter And I'm gonna have family there. I'll open up the sandwich shop

I'll prove to the to the school that I'm worth a shit and I'll get the sandwich shop going and then I'll then I'll go To college and get a degree and sell it and go get a real job Wow, so that was my plan and did you have a lady in your life at this time? What was your what was the love life? Like at this point. I didn't know what love was really no I didn't I didn't have a lady in my life at all. Okay, not at all So not much not much lady luck it in the high school time. No, not at all, okay So you get over to Eastern Illinois. You got the first sandwich shop beautiful locale Is it still there today? It's it's right across the street. It's a tattoo shop now the original

I need him. It was only 630 square feet. It was it was a two-car garage The there was it was a house that was converted into a Dixie cream donut shop had a two-car garage attached to it There was a failed pizza joint I rented that garage for 200 bucks a month and there was a bar behind me There was a bar to the left of me in a bar in front of me So I put my sandwich shop right in that in that garage So when the bars closed they came to Jimmy John, so I chose that site the rent was 200 bucks a month And I anyway August when I went when I was gonna do it

I think when you know, you said like what was your family saying? I got the bread I figured it out. I had my sandwiches. I drive down to Eastern, Illinois And I came back with two leases the garage and I rent an apartment and I said pops I got to fund the account where I'm doing this and I it's I still really didn't have much feedback from them at all and then and then he funded the account and He gave me a checkbook and said you pay for everything COD So you live in reality you start with 25 grand So I did so I bought I bought my equipment. I bought a used refrigerator. I bought a used meat slicer

I bought a Sears chest freezer to hold my bread dough. My mom gave me her oven mitts her rubber-made cake spatula And she gave me her Tupperware to keep my tomatoes and And yeah, man, and and I opened up in this little tiny two-car garage at Eastern Illinois at 19 years old I I opened up my 19th birthday January a day after I turn 19 January 13 1983 I opened up my first store. So you knew so so the 25,000 does come into play So that money at this point. He's funding the account. So you have some money to help you go. Absolutely. Yeah, I had to remodel it I had to build a counter. I had to put paneling up I had to I had to plumb my sink right get my bathroom done

So I did and I did I spent 23,871 dollars I needed a thousand bucks for inventory and I remember the numbers and so anyway Yeah, I opened up January 1383 and I had a $1,300 balance to start with and Start it out man. That was it. Damn, dude. And how many Gary v Varner Chuck videos did you watch to help start all this? None, I bet I don't even know who that is. It's it's got Gary V. It's like they sell this Entrepreneurial spirit to a lot of people online a lot of times. Okay, it's not bad or anything It's just like it's kind of the same thing. It's just like get entrepreneur, you know, they're like get entrepreneurial, you know Um, I wish I wish it was like, you know, one of the kids asked he said, you know, what is it?

What is it that drives an entrepreneur? What is it? I think it's fear. I think it's fear of failure I think this was all driven by fear, you know, that's really what drove it all That's what you know fear of the army fear of the army fear of moving out. I had to keep the ball rolling I had to get funded. I think I think really the fear of failure is what really motivates is the original motivator You know, I just I just didn't want to fail, right? Right and I kind of failed my whole life So I think that's that was a real motivator because what the hell else was I gonna do and I didn't want to go to the army I mean, there's no way I was good. I was gonna get the shit beat out of me in the army Yeah, I mean, it probably would have been yeah, it probably wouldn't have been stoke

Especially if you don't want to go I expect well, yeah That's you don't want to be in there But you don't want to be the guy in the army who doesn't want to be in the army, right? I think that's kind of the bad the tough five, you know You need stress relief that goes beyond some quick fixes and a quick fix is something that just fixes you But it's is it good is it bad who knows it was probably made in China So you need something more realistic and that is headspace You know, there's so many things that is trying to get our attention these days on our phones and in the world and stop lights and go lights

That we don't have any space in our head Headspace is your daily dose of mindfulness in the form of guided meditations in an easy to use app You need some help falling asleep headspace has wind down sessions. They're members swear by that's right You're settling down the kids are in bed throwing some headspace. Relax You can even tell your husband or wife. Hey, I'd love to chat, but I need to headspace Headspace is backed by 25 public studies on its benefits 600,000 five-star reviews and over 60 million downloads You deserve to feel happier and headspace is meditation made simple go to headspace.com slash Theo

That's headspace.com slash Thio for a free one month trial with access to headspace is full library of meditations for every situation This is the best deal offered right now. The best one right now head to headspace.com slash Thio I use headspace and I thoroughly enjoy it The holidays are upon us But the season goes after Christmas. It's not just one day

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What's up Jimmy John? This is Mark coming at you from New Jersey as you can see my face kind of busted up right now Got some of that Caucasian abrasion from slipping on some black ice earlier. My question is for mr. Jimmy What's it like running a company with your name on it? Does it put extra pressure on you and does it ever make it difficult for you to separate your personal life from your business? Okay, that's a good question, man. That's a really good question. So Jimmy John is a character, right? And I'm really Jimmy Lieto and and I'm and I know Papa John really really well Papa John loves being Papa John. He really does he very that's his sweet spot and he just really loves it But I'm done with Jimmy John's I sold it. I'm Jimmy Lieto. It was a 36 year career. It was

Extraordinary, I don't know if you've ever been divorced before I have you know, I love my new wife is the love of my life I my ex-wife. God bless her. She's remarried and she's doing terrific But I like my you know, I really like my life. I like I'm really Jimmy that for me. It was a character It's easy for me to separate, but I think it's different for different people. So that was a really really good question For me, it's not hard. But so so some guys like being the character. Yeah, when did the character start to become Like yeah, when do you start to become the character? Like when does that happen throughout this journey? You know what it started to happen I think that that you know, wow, you're Jimmy John

Wow, you're Jimmy John like since it wasn't top of mind for me, you know, I was like this dude working my ass off all the time You know, yeah, and then I would forget that I'm Jimmy John because I'm working my ass off all the time I'm like, oh, yeah, yeah, that's right. I'm I'm totally Jimmy John. Yeah, how is it? Oh, it's awesome We get up at five in the morning and we work till three in the morning Seven days a week and we clean puke out of toilets and we reinstall that the urinals on the wall when the dudes tear them off The wall, it's great. You know, it's awesome being me, you know, come on and be me for a while It's the best so I was always I was always taken aback by it because I really it was never top of mind for me right never like, you know, I never sort of

But we you know, we were we were we we I spent ten years in ten different cities and And and and opened ten stores and that was my first ten years Wow And I didn't know how to do a bank loan or get a bank loan So I'd save up my money and replace myself at the sandwich shop and then and then move to another city and open up another store And then in order to have the experience be like it was when I was there I learned way back in an early age to cut my manager in on a piece of the action right so then they have some vested interest So then they got a vested interest. So so, you know, I just I never you know, so like when did I start being Jimmy John?

I would say probably 2000 we started growing 2005. We had 200 stores 2010 we had 500 stores and and then when it got to be really big, you know, yeah, I'm Jimmy John But you know, it's not that sexy dude. I mean, we got refrigerators and meat slicers and and salamis I mean, it's if you're impressed by that, that's fine, but it's nothing but a grind right. Yeah at that point I mean, but at that point probably you start to Make your way out of the actual store that you're in and I'm sure it gets you get into more of the corporate side of stuff Um, but I want to I want to go to where when you make the so you guys are things are going well Yeah, things are going well. You're right there positioned by the by the bars. Yeah, and you decide to do a second shot

Yeah So does it feel like like was that a risky move? Are you just were you trusting your instincts at that point where you trust in the numbers like where did the? Where does it come from to take that? Move so here's what happened Theo just simple. So we I opened up in January with two of my buddies and me So there's three of us. Mm-hmm. January February was great. Then one guy quit So you have seven day shifts and seven night shifts essentially So then one dude quit so I took seven days the other dude took seven nights. Jesus like the Bible

I feel like then then March came and there's and the night dude quit and they I get a call like 430 in the afternoon I'm in the sub shop and and the dude says hey man, listen, I quit I said you quit He said why I say why you quit because you're an asshole. Wow, and I said, okay What time are you gonna be in he's no no I'm out of here and the customers came in and the phone rang and one thing led to another It's two in the morning So I gotta and and so I closed the store two in the morning after and then then opened it up again in eight And I and this is like April of 83. So I'm working this thing open to close eight in the morning I didn't even know you could work from eight in the morning close to in the morning

If you have to if you ask the National Labor Relations Board, they'll tell you no no way you got to sue somebody for that, right? Oh, so would have some issues. That's right. So but the first week I did it It was really hard and I was freaking out but the second week man I'm like, whoa, I can do this and by the third week Theo So I am starting to know my customers who they are what they like if they're chubbier like me I'll give a little extra male if they were skinny like you I took a little off I used to use the ends of the meats that weren't so pretty but they were still salami and ham I'd sell those after one o'clock in the morning because nobody knew what they're eating anyway

Yeah, so I figured how to utilize the waste and I really started getting into into into running the sandwich shop after I Well, after I after everybody quit I just I survived I just made it happen then I learned I could work open to close and then I started keep member My dad said keep your bank balance every day pay for everything COD and I'm watching this bank balance go up And I'm watching it go up every day and I finished the semester in May and I started the semester with 1300 bucks And I had 18,000 bucks in the bank and I'm like man. I'm a millionaire Yeah, and so I totally started paying attention to this checkbook And so the end of the first year I did a hundred and fifty six thousand sales and made 40 grand profit

I split it with my dad. Okay, 48 52 right and then the second year did a hundred eighty thousand and made 55,000 I split it with my dad and I saved all my cash. I got paid 200 bucks a week That's what my pay was and I saved all the money less the tax So I bought my dad out in May of 1985 for the 25 grand plus 10% interest So I had exactly 30,000 bucks and I took it out of the bank and cash to go pay him off and and own it He's like dude compound interest. I'm like, what's compound interest? He's like, dude, you owe me another 1300 bucks Give me a break. So we got the 20 grand the first year 25 grand here to the original investment back

Then I owned it myself Then I worked another year and then I moved then I replaced myself I moved to McComb, Illinois Western Illinois University opened my second store 86 I moved to University of Illinois my third store 87 I moved to Michigan State Lansing, Michigan. And so that's that's that's what I did. Okay So at that point then you're on the go. I'm on the go you're on the go and Go back to the question of the guy calls and says you're an asshole. Were you an asshole? I'm an ass sometimes I started out as just being like fun and everything was fun

Yeah, and then once you get into business man It's the adjustment sometimes is really tough Yeah, and I have to think with another side of my brain and I have to be a business person sometimes Right and it goes totally against the whatever the fun side of things. Yeah, were you an asshole? What made the guy say that here's here's what I learned here was the deal no cuz I'm just not an asshole as an individual I'm I love people and I love life, but what I didn't I didn't know what a boss had to do I took the easiest shifts for myself. I took the easiest jobs for myself. I sliced the easiest meats myself I cleaned the easiest toilets myself and gave everybody else all the tough shit to do and so and then what I learned is that the

Boss takes the toughest shifts the hardest jobs Sets us people up to succeed when they fail. It's the boss's fault Typically, it's not the individuals fault because people really want to do a good job All they need to know is why and you just and if you catch them doing it, right? And the more often you catch people doing things right and say man I really appreciate the time you took to clean that bathroom that way there was not one hair left anywhere in that bathroom You took the time to do it You're a rock star and if you are as a boss take the time to thank somebody for that effort

They will say thank you sir and they will do it again And I had to learn that my guys quit cuz I just didn't know how to be a boss Right, then I learned how to be a boss man, and then I read a couple of books on one minute manager and leadership in the one minute Manager and I learned that yeah I had to lead by example that people do what I do not what I say and so them and my again It was out of fear survival I mean I had to do it and I learned to do it and then once I realized I could do it like man I can do this. I mean I'd never been successful anything in my life and I was killing it

So it was cool now were you like when you have the success so outside of working which I don't know how there's any time What what was your social life like like did you start dating and college me? There's more women in college was did you did you get a girlfriend? Did you you know like what what were you doing kind of for fun during that time? That's I use a frickin fun town, bro Yeah, Charleston is a fun town, but I was I was working You know at first I was having a lot of fun and then and then I was working and then I was really in the in the restaurant 24 7365, you know, that's why how we made 40 grand on a hundred fifty thousand sales

Well when your labor is 8% and I'm getting paid 82 cents an hour. It's really easy to make that to have that So I was really in the store, but yeah, I dated a little bit And I had a couple of girlfriends and and and then and I had you know a bit of a social life But nothing nothing that were at where I could really I always any time the sandwich shop called any time They needed anything I was there I was there because I had worked so hard to get it where I got it that I yeah I had a kind of a social life, but not a not not not not at not a college social life, but it was fine Yeah, it was it was great, you know, it was it was it was whatever. It's fine. What about like your first kiss

Let's just go could we ask everybody this? Oh my god. Do you remember mine? I think I think and mine is a question Let's all put mine out there, too. It's mine This girl I lost my virginity behind a bowling alley. Everybody knows that but My first one was this girl. She had kind of like a chipped tooth a little bit named Chrissy and She had her mom used to cut her hair like one of the singers from Leonard Skinner Like she would literally put a picture up of I don't even know who it was maybe I Don't even know who and then she would have her sit next to it and cut her hair just like it So she literally had

She had her hair looking just like one of them and some people just kind of we were that we were the same age in the neighborhood We were both kind of shy and They locked us in a room together one time and and we had to kiss, you know, and so we did, you know, but Yeah, my first girlfriend was Peggy. I remember my first girlfriend was Peggy I forget her last name, but I remember that really really good from college. Yeah, cool checker. No Yeah, that's I was you know, it was it was what it was, you know for me It was awkward, but it was what it was. Where'd you guys meet at? Do you remember? Yeah, we met at the bars. Oh, yeah. Yeah, what were good bars that were?

I they used to have a comedy club. No, did they have a comedy club there? We had rocks. We had mothers. We had Ikes and we had chinks Where we'd go there and do these slammer shots where you'd get half whiskey half seven up and they'd slam it and you go to Chinks and hit one of those and God, I would have what Marty's Marty's we had Marty's I don't the comedy club in Charleston I don't god. I don't remember a comedy club in Charleston I mean, I really socializing wasn't a huge top of mind for me, right?

It's just interesting to be that young and to be that Like even when I when I think of college or if I think of just meeting someone now Who's 21 22 years old and they're that focused on business it and maybe it's just because of the times now that would seem very Obtuse it seemed very unique Sure, so what did it was it that unique at the time or did a lot of young men that were just out of high school? And they started small businesses dude I I don't think that I was thinking about it the way you were thinking about it, man I was surviving right buddy. I was surviving I was paying my rent. I was getting the money to the bank

I was getting the sandwiches delivered I was figuring out how to deliver figuring out how to how to buy an ad how to how to make an Advertisement how to maximize my my my dollars and the advertising spend I'd save up my money and you know, I said well if I'm gonna put an ad in the newspaper I need to have a headline and if I have a headline that it'll grab their attention And so I would make up these poems and so I would have a headline Remember everyone the headline was party and said you plant it you love it You can't wait till it starts his dance and romance and then time to depart

But alas you just met a cutie that says your beauty if that is your fate It's never too late to impress that new love with a Jimmy John sub Jimmy John's we deliver So it's a party all that fill in the middle and then Jimmy John's we deliver and then and then and then I you know And you just made these up, right? Yeah, and when I did I did I did no greet no zits No pits no dale bread no grease no fries great subs instead And I put these ads in the paper But I had to think about this shit right and I and I and I wanted it to be somewhat Adorable or somewhat like it was worth it if you were gonna read it

You could just smile and they all look the same so I had to figure out I could I had to save up my money and buy an ad so I was surviving I wasn't really sort of like in a scene man I was like surviving and figuring out how to survive. Yeah, the ads. It's very charming. It's charming The ads are very charming. You're a very charming guy if you always had that if you just as it always been a gift I think there's something that's nice, especially when you're in high school to be able to laugh But also engage with the teachers. There's a level of of

Intelligence that's behind it, but there's a level of charm that makes it more palpable for everyone a lot of times Did you have you always thought that that's a gift that you had being charming, dude I don't I don't know that I really ever thought I was gifted I mean I was I was a fat kid and I was it was raised in a crazy household We went through two bankruptcies and my dad was you know, we ran out of milk, dude We drank powdered milk and I mean we had love and we made it and my dad ended up being a successful guy But my childhood like I didn't have a foundation

I I never really thought about you know that I was a charming anything. I just Just was you know, I really never really It was never in my head. I just was doing what I was doing. So I wasn't thinking about it You're right You weren't thinking about it, but you had some of you had survival instincts that were helping you hell Yes, was one of do you think just being a charming guy? Well, dude, I If it helped me out, you know, I mean I can talk to people if it helped me out I'll take it. Yeah, I can I can cook I can add a subject and I can smile and and I can tell it like it is

I don't care. Yeah. Now. What about the Like the striving to be good in business. Do you feel like you were trying to like impress your dad? What do you think in the end? Yeah, for sure I wanted my dad's approval more than anything in the world. Are you kidding me when I think about that, man? Oh, are you kidding me? They have your dad approved? Oh, man, you know, there's nothing like it and You know, my dad was hard. He was a really tough tough tough tough guy is that man? Well, I mean, yeah, even me just thinking about it, man It kind of makes me a little bit emotional. But like, yeah, like yeah, there's times where you do well in your life

And you think man is your dad still alive? No, he passed for a 16 2016 yeah, and it's like man, I would yeah, you're like man, my dad would be proud You know, there's something there's some innate thing and it's for me I start to feel in the back of my like so your dad still alive No, my dad was a 70 when I was born when he when I was born. He's an old man. Okay, but so he passed away in 80s 96 gotcha, but yeah, there's sometimes a moment where it's like man Yeah, there's still this weird connective tissue almost where I feel like if I make him proud that he can feel it Even though he's not here, which is really I think that's what makes it the feeling so unique. Yeah

Yeah, it's it's it's a it's a deep feeling It's and it's deep seated, especially if you had a connection with your father Yeah, and I had an amazing connection with him and and he was a great man and Do you think he was proud of you? I think inside he was I think inside he was like like I think to other people he was very proud of me, but but to me he was hard on me and And it just was the way it was, you know It just was the way it was and and my dad was old-fashioned and and he was very macho and he was very Gregarious and outgoing and and he probably thought a lot of those things that you asked me

He was charming and he was witty and but he believed you know with me I'm just like I get like okay, you know, but it's you know, but my father totally believed he was like he walked into the room He's like yo, I'm in the room. Yeah, I walk in the room like hey, man Nice to see it. You know, good. You know, whatever was just a little bit different What are some fun things that did you did your family feel like a party every it was there like a thing that your dad? Like like what was 4th of July man 4th of July. We have a we have a camp in northern, Wisconsin He told me a bishop gun performed there. Yeah, bishop gun played two years in a row there and what a band is bishop gun Oh my god, you guys get your asses back together man work it out get it together Travis. So good man unbelievable dude

They're so good So yeah, but might we would do a 4th of July and my dad was in charge of the fireworks and man My dad I remember the first year my dad in charge of the fireworks He got a couple of styrofoam Surfboards and he and he put all like the the the what are those balls that go up in the air Those where they shoot the balls up they go to and it shoots a ball Why don't you just like ten of them? Yeah, it's not a bottle rocket. It's not that well He had bottle rockets and and and these other things where you can hold the ball in there

Yes, yeah, and the ball would go up and then it'll blow up and he wired and he wired all this stuff together And I remember the first year he did it He had these two surfboards and he lit them both and and he spent like two days before taping the wicks together making Doing that my dad was an engineer just doing all this shit and he lit them both and push them It took them all both of them just blew up and then there was a total dud show and then he figured out those cannons As and then and then they would get those tubes, you know with the three-inch mortars and they figured out where to go get them I'm sure they were buying them illegally in Indiana or wherever. I don't know why I'm saying Indiana No, I remember something about Indiana a lot illegal shit in Indiana about and we will say that it's okay to say that

All right, so anyway, but that was my dad's deal the 4th of July party was great And and I remember my dad would take us to his company Christmas party and it was the only thing fancy You know we it would be fancy and we'd go to a company Christmas party It sounds like in hindsight like it sounds like maybe when you you were young and I'm not I'm not I'm not trying to get in Your life or anything here. I'm definitely fascinated. I'm curious about stuff like you know familiar Relationships and how that kind of plays into how we behave and stuff Yeah Because I wondered a lot about it in my own life and I still figured that out a lot

I feel like I had a lot of childhood trauma So I'm still kind of figuring that out out sometimes, but it sounds like you know you're That you were almost most like your father in a lot of ways even though when you were a kid It seemed like your brothers probably were you know, I I think that my brain was a lot like my father But my father had a natural confidence that he just you know We were just talking about Bobby Kidrock, you know Bobby Watson or Roman. He just he just he just owns it, right? Yeah, and and and my father was very much like that and that bravado kind of just bravado and just just owned it You know and he can and I just don't have

I whatever I have I've earned and I and I've earned and I and I pay and I and it's it just doesn't come naturally You know what I mean? I've earned it. I work on it I because there's a lot of insecurities being a fat kid being a poor kid or you know going through what we went Yeah, there's a lot of that comes with it And I think it comes with it forever and you get it and then I think that I fought the business so much and the business went from You know being the little sandwich maker guy into this giant behemoth $3 billion company and and so I went from you know making people smile and here's your sandwich and thank you sir Can I sell you some chips to to you know the evolution was it you know at the end of the at the end it was it was you know

All I can remember is litigation, you know is just one lawsuit after another right? You're freaky fast You must speed I know mr. We don't speed well you but you say freaky fast I know but we only deliver this you it's a five minute drive time during peak traffic and our and our computer system won't take an Order out of our delivery area. We don't speed. It's just we design the delivery system that way well But you you but you but people speed and you know it was so hard to convince You know that because we got sued often for crashes and shit. Oh really? Absolutely. Well, you're freaky fast But they didn't the people that we were freaky fast not because we were freaky fast because we I made the delivery area small

And I made the delivery area small so we could be really have really good service And I wanted to be the really good service guy instead of the great sandwich guy You know and so I focused more on the service than I did the speed But it was but at the end it you know the F it just changed a lot right and that's why I just you know I just it was uncle it was time for me to be out of it So but it changed a lot, you know, it was really romantic at the beginning There were long nights, but they problems I could solve and then it got to you know problems that I couldn't solve then it Just became a behemoth it it was a big big company when I sold and we're vertically integrated, right?

We supplied all the food to all the stores and oh wow so kind of like that Ray Kroc model kind of kind of yeah Yeah, I think didn't they yeah, they said end up supplying supplying all the stores a lot Yeah, supplying all the majority of the products we supplied so yeah now What point did you start to study other business, you know, was there a point where that were you like we started to become? Okay, I'm not a sandwich maker. I am a business man Like does that kind of start to happen at some point? Yeah for sure now for the first time is I'm learning how to make sandwiches Then I learned how to be a boss and I learned how to do math and I learned how to be an accountant Then I realized you know

I got to sell these things and I figured out how to deliver and then I figured out You know how to how to print a menu and then I figured out then I had to write a menu and then I had to get the menus printed And then I said you know what I'm gonna take these menus I'm gonna print them on a sticky card and people can tear them off and stick them You know on their dorm desk and so I had the I had my menus they were sticky menus And they were all over the campuses and people love stickers So I made my menus into stickers and I saw my my stuff all over the place, right? I mean I had dorm rooms decorated with my Jimmy John's menus

I figured out how to do that then I figured out you know how to do an ad and I placed an ad and didn't work and then I Started doing these big headlines so I figured out how to place an ad and then I figured out how to buy an ad So then it then I went through that then I went then I had to find real estate then I had to figure out What is good real estate and what works and what doesn't work and then I had to figure out what a leases and you figure out What a good leases by getting burned on a couple of bad leases Then you figure out what a good leases and then you get good locations Then you get good leases and then and then you got a and then and then from there, you know Then I had to figure out franchising

I had ten stores over ten years and I I wrote the opening and closing procedures and I did that during those ten years So all of those ten stores could be operated the same way and my customers had the same experience Whether I was there or not I compensated my manager with a piece of the action every time right every so that we could we're all Copacetic all symbiotic everybody's happy So you had to figure all that out and then as that grew then I then when I and when I started franchising Theo in 93 I joined this organization called young presidents organization and they said as a founder You got to give up your power or give up and hire up put a professional in to run your company because you're an entrepreneur So I took that advice and I hired some professionals from a large restaurant company to run my franchise company and dumb me

Stayed running the company stores. So in 93 I hired two execs and we started franchising the Jimmy John's model So I had to learn that I had to I just save up the money to do it And then I had to learn what a franchise contract is what a FDD is which is a federal disclosure document that the feds make you create I had to learn what that was then when I had to write one then I had to write a bad one to write a good one So I figured out how to write a good FDD, you know, and then and then and then to figure out what a good franchise He wasn't so from 93 to 2003 we opened we had 176 Jimmy John's franchise stores and had 23 company stores and this is a relevant part of this story

My 23 stores at that time were making me about four million bucks a year Just those 23 stores profit and I had no debt I didn't have debt because I didn't know how to get debt and my sales were going straight up in my 23 company stores My 176 franchise stores sales were going down and had 76 of them failing. So 93 to 2003. I was in denial I was taking the franchise fees. It was intoxicating. Yeah, how much are you getting now? How much do you get on the franchise 25 grand a pop? Oh, yeah, that was intoxicating money. Yeah, and finally James James North who's my president He came to me and he said Jimmy he's we got to stop selling franchises man

Why he's just because we got nothing this thing's we got we got half the stores are failing Why was it? What's that? What was the number one cause of why the stores are failing? Well, we we so we stop selling franchises But no, why were the ones that were right? The answer the question is they weren't following systems and procedures and they didn't put our process on a pedestal Because the company the people that I hired from this other company didn't have such systems and procedures that we had at Jimmy John's Jimmy John's is the most consistent chain that I mean Jimmy John's SBA loan was the highest performing lowest failure rate SBA loan in the country Wow, because we were said did you have you had consistent experiences at Jimmy John's? I have that's the reason that's the reason for it

So they weren't following our program We were so we fired all those guys and James and myself literally went on the road in 2003 I had Freddie was was Two years old Lucy was three. He's your children my children and here. I'm gonna go on the road again now after I'm on the road Twenty years. I'm gonna go back on the road again and turn around 76 sub shops that were failing So he and I did we went on the road. It was a 12-month plan We ended up on the road for 18 months who we turned around 70 of 76 stores ourselves with our own hands and from that point forward when we Got back

2004 ish late 2004. I said I'm gonna tell every single person that wants to open to Jimmy John's that this is a lifestyle This is nights. This is weekends. This is no weddings. No funerals. You can't get the sniffles You can't have hurt feelings. This is a brand that if you buy into this, it's like having children Yeah, it's it's it and I so I told people the truth about it because I didn't want to do that again I was done. I didn't I didn't have another one of those in me and when you say another one of those What do you mean like being on the road for 18 months 24 7 again? Did that ruin your marriage? You think no no way No, I was I was I got divorced back in 93 So I was I was with my current wife, okay, and no it didn't ruin my marriage

But it made me a lot man I mean when you say it it reminded me of stand-up comedy like so many of my friends funerals I've missed so many of our friend friends weddings. I missed yeah, and you you know it adjusts your friendship When you don't make somebody's wedding man, it adjusts your friendship with them a little bit You know and it's kind of weird because sometimes you get to the end of the some of the line and you have this career That's nice, but you've definitely There were a lot of stair steps that you missed along the way a lot of social ones and emotional ones with other people for sure for sure But after we got back from that and we did that road trip and when we turn the stores around literally you want to open with

Jimmy John's we told you the truth. We I mean it was making enough money remember I said my 23 stores before you just kind of hand in a mount. Yeah a little bit Yeah, but not anymore so now what do you have to change in the documentation on y'all's end to assure that people will run it a certain way Is there anything legally that you have to change? No, but what I did is I had a conversation like we're having Theo This is I'm Jimmy your Theo We're gonna have a conversation about real stuff and I would sit down just like this and say look it's nights It's weekends. It's it's not forgiving. It's not flexible. There are no days off. Do you really want to do this? Okay, if you do it, we'll give you one store. Great. You we train yet

We made it really hard way to come to Champaign, Illinois Train for three weeks and do a two-week internship somewhere else and a city like their stores gonna be made it really hard for them to do You know what I mean? Wow, and then they did that and then they opened up and we helped them And then if they were really good at it, we and they wanted to do another one We let them and if they hated it, we'd get them out really quick and so and so we teamed up with people that really wanted to Do it, you know, I was in the selling business. I was hustling so and then I realized well, I'm hustling but I'm hustling Bullshit, you know, and so I quit you know I started just telling it like it is and I remember I was in this beautiful situation because I didn't have debt

I had I was making the dough for my company owned stores So I said if I'm gonna have this growth vehicle, it's gonna be solid as a rock Amen, and that's what I wanted and you owe that to mr. North cut a lot. I mean, oh for sure. Absolutely that J That was that was his idea to do that and and Jay He's he's brand president right now working for Inspire Brands. Was it hard? Oh, wow Yeah, was it hard for him to stop to like get your attention because it wasn't no when he talked I listened and when I talked he listened greatest partner in the world. He's a what he's one of the greatest guys ever met I mean, he's he's trusted my children. I mean, he's he's a world-class man

Metta men metta men and in Cold Bay, Alaska in 1990. He was a high school kid and I just met him I said come on to America and and I'll teach you to be the greatest sandwich maker in the world He said tell me about your sandwich up. I said, it's great. We're open from 10 to 2. He says shit I'm just I'm just out of college. I'll come were you open to 10 to 2? He says I'll come so he comes all the way from New Zealand to join me. He says I didn't know you meant 10 to 2 a.m He said I thought was 10 to 2 p.m. He's like, oh shit. I'm here. So anyway, that's a true story. So he's still there running Oh, that's hilarious. Yeah, it's funny today's episode is brought to you by better help better help will assess your needs and match you with your own licensed professional

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ThEO and get your free year supply of vitamin D and five free travel packs today athletic greens comm slash Theo We have a question right here that came in from a young man Fio von hello from England Before I get onto my question for Jimmy John mr. Jimmy John. I'd like to say to you. Thank you for You know your consistent rare light shining through dark times Making these you know these uncertain times a little bit easier to deal with a little bit less of a struggle on a daily basis So thank you for the from the bottom of my heart for that and to you mr. Jimmy John

When I was over in Boston working over there, I got a taste for that freaky fast freaky fresh hitter The video and I was wondering when you plan on bringing your sandwiches over to England at all Mainly because at the moment all we've got a subway Oh, which sucks Yeah, and I made love to a girl near a subway once cost So did I hey brother? Yeah, Jimmy John's freaky fast freaky fresh International is it a possibility? Thanks guys gang gang gang brother and thanks for the nice words man. Merry Christmas to you man

I love you and thanks for being a part of this podcast Um send me your address and I'll the FedEx you some sandwiches anytime you want. I'll tell you what I'll do it for you Once a month you just send you can get my my email address from Theo and and I'll hook you up I'll FedEx him with ice packs and you'll get him fresh in England. I don't own it anymore, buddy Yeah, we'll send you some though. That's a that's very sweet of you. That'd be great Hey, look man. It's a Christmas gift for you from Jimmy John himself, man You know, I tell you guys group does good though, man. They set me up with a lifetime membership. Oh really? Yep I'll attack some I've been a long time Jimmy John each. I'm a turkey Tom guy

And so I would get the turkey Tom and I would just talk about it on snapchat or on Instagram story and then yeah one day they wrote me back and I remember I took the car to the guy here and the guy's like Dang, I don't even heard even seen one of these. He was like all stoked, you know, dude I thought I was the only one that gave those out. So good my guys were my guys were doing the right thing I don't think they're giving them to everybody though. So I know they're not it was nice that they that they did it though I still got it. I still got it. Yeah, we we were just we just shot a sketch this morning with Brett Favre Jr. Actually, and we were doing a we treated we Gave the card to my buddy go treat everybody to lunch. Oh nice. I came over here

Okay, so let's get into a little bit more of like so you got you have the business what What changed for you and you became were you guys rich when you were a kid? No, I told you we were we're poor twice So but we were bankrupt in 72 and 76 and I left home in 82 and then my father I would say he started he got out of debt in 76 and I when I was in high school. My father had a Cadillac So yeah, I don't know what your definition of riches or what your definition of spice He is but he had a Cadillac, you know And then when I left home and and he became way more successful after after I left home, you know

What business did he get into so my father was a book salesman and then he was a plastic molder My father invented the process of molding molten plastic around metal. It was called insert molding It was a technology that he was the he really created the technology and essentially what it did is Anytime you could take metal out of a part and and make the majority of the part plastic and just make the metal on metal contact Metal and the right you could remove cost out of a part So it you know, it was a great technology and so so the first time he just didn't do his books, right? And then 76 he developed a CB antenna and to make a CB antenna CB and I love CB antenna You had to coil copper wire around a magnet and and and it was your antenna base

Well, my dad molded it and by molding it He could make them very consistent make made them perform better and his top salesman top accountant top engineer Split stole the design and went and opened up a competing business and bankrupted him and that was in 76 And that's how he got bankrupt to the second time they they and and the government and the courts were so slow That by the time he got to the courts and got ensuing them the antenna technology had passed him Well, the the CB business had been flying and yet the basically and so but anyway, he learned and you know had a little humility and And work his ass off and that must have been heartbreaking though. You have your family going, you know You're working so hard on something you invent to you're creating something. Yeah, it's like a baby. It's like your thing

Yeah, yeah, and then somebody burns you like somebody burns you but welcome to the club, right? It's business man. It's also business. It's life. It's life But from that my father created a product called the K40 CB antenna that guaranteed it was guaranteed to transmit further and receive Clearer than any other antenna and he sold them over the telephone to independent dealers And and that became I that became a successful business and so yeah dad dad ended up doing well But I was gone. I I mean like I told you I was raised. We didn't we didn't have stuff We had a lot of love but not stuff. I think my younger brother and sister had a little little a little cushier time than my older brother and I Do you think your dad felt achieved by the time he passed away in his life? My dad was very achieved, right?

Do you think he felt it though? I understand that he was yeah, I would say Was he content You know as content as any man can be because contentment, you know contentment is just fleeting It's a it's a it's temporary, right? Perfections a journey not a destination, right? So, you know, I would say at moments he felt but my dad was pretty proud of himself He just was naturally But to be able to feel that I bet to be able to be it and then it actually kind of stuff it with the right cotton You know there you go at the end of the line. I bet that probably felt pretty cool

I would yeah, yeah, my dad was proud of himself and and and he should be yeah, he rocked it I mean he set the foundation for me to do what I did and I would listen to him when I was a kid He was working all the time. He's on the phone all the time and and and and doing his books after he after he didn't do His books right and you know, I learned to do my books because I knew I had to know my books And I know one of the kids said, you know, what do you got to do to be successful? You got to have a better product than everybody else You got to know your cost and you got to outwork the competition and if you can do those three things you can be Successful, but you got to be willing to do it. You can't just Google it. You got to do it

You got to get in there and be uncomfortable when most people don't want to be uncomfortable, right? That's how you did it. So I don't know where I'm going with that. You know, it's a good point. Look, I mean I remember walking out of uh, you know, Joe Rogan's studio and being like man, that guy has it made, you know, and and Then I remember thinking well, how could I do that and I started doing some podcasting in my kitchen You know and just kind of built it in and built a camera and I would get one of my You know bought a camera and got it, you know Just a thing on my desk and then my computer would record also Stay up edit it put in the music and then one day some people started listening, you know

It's putting it out there putting the product out there and then a guy called me from this place called gray block pizza It's a small pizza place and and LA and Bend, Oregon They have a branch and they were our charter sponsor for years and they still are and really that's where the term get that Hitter came from which is now one of our main merchandise pieces, but um, and he's still right now your guy Yep, he's still my guy this uh, this guy Thomas and he said, you know what man? I believe in you goes what you need to get You need to get a studio, you know, you just and he goes I'll give you a thousand dollars a month and I said well man I You know if you give me a thousand dollars, I'm gonna keep that thousand dollars. Yeah, I'm not spending on a studio man

You know I'm saying I'm gonna take that thousand dollars. I'm gonna retire right now Like that's where my brain was and he goes no man. You can't see it He goes you can't see it But if you get to here you're gonna be fine when you get there he goes you just never been there You know, you just never and it wasn't a big jump But it was yeah getting a place and then we bought a studio man the first year we released was take away this little enclave and it was just as big as this room and Man, we had some amazing guests came in there Dustin Poirier came in Jordan Peterson

Who's one of the premier like? speakers and and orders and and brains of our time Burt Chrysler Tom Segur just we had amazing guests in this little bitty space, you know and was it in Bend, Oregon? No, this was in in LA and LA this was in LA Yeah, but yeah We moved from our kitchen over to another place and then now we have two studios now and we have two podcasts and it's definitely It's a lot more work now, you know, you don't get to just sit there and be the fun guy sometimes, you know, you don't get to be the You know some friends of mine have been in sitcoms and they say once you get in the sitcom and it's about you

You don't get to be the guy telling the jokes You're the guy in the middle that everybody around you is telling the jokes and sometimes I think some of business starts to get Get to be like that. You don't get to be as much the The goof anymore a hundred percent of the time because you've got to be the glue a lot of the times, you know Or try to be both you got to be both and it's different things at different times, right? Sometimes you need to love sometimes you need to motivate and sometimes you need to correct and sometimes you need to celebrate and It's a it's a balancing act man. It's spinning plates and I think we have a very similar story I think a very similar story just different medium. I was doing sandwiches. You're doing what you're doing with your intellect in your comedy

Yeah, and you know, yeah, and it's the it's the it's the thing of self-serving. It's like how do I put out something? That's good. How meticulous am I? What were there times where you were too meticulous because I find that in myself sometimes I'm too on top of people about things and it Almost just it like debilitates me sometimes with the folk where my focus is sure that overall it hurts things You know 100% use you know was I was I ever too meticulous? I was very much pennywise and pound foolish So when the business got to be you know approaching three billion dollars in stales almost 3,000 stores 1900 in the pipeline. I mean this thing was a we were opening 30 stores a month selling 45 new deals a month

I mean it was a monster. I wouldn't even get a sleep if I was doing that. It was I couldn't it was crazy It was driving me nuts and when I actually talked to James north today that who's the current brand president And as I talked to him today, he's a real strategic big thinker and I'm an operator like okay shit's bad Okay, let's go get more drivers. That's but bake better bread. Let's clean the store better You know, let's let's let's make the lights brighter You know, I'm a real sort of a pragmatic operator and James was a real strategic thinker So I was focusing so much on on little stuff that I was missing sight of the big stuff You follow me and so that for me at the time that I mean how I got it as big as I got it

I have no idea I got so lucky and selling it and you know and and doing the final deal in October of 19 You know before COVID and everything I got lucky But but I was not a I got way caught up in the minutiae way the lawsuits were personal for the for and for big companies Lawsuits aren't personal for me It was another attack on me another attack on me like the shark another attack on Jimmy another attack on Jimmy That's not me. I'm not that's not me with the shark. Oh, yeah, that's Jim. No, it's not me Right, you know, but the the attack the attack. Yeah, that's you killing these drivers. That's not me, man It's like we just have a

Advertising plan like that's right Wow, so it's so so so I just so when I when you take things personally Yeah, and you take things personally work real hard. Are you started from the grassroots? It's all personal to you It is personal. It's extremely personal. Yeah. Yeah, so I'm just getting over that now And I'm actually when the when the sale first went down. It was weird, man, you know, because you got sold for what? 150 What do you guys sell for? Dollars 150 billion. I was gonna say no, you know what? That's insane. I mean, I love to tell you but I'm

You can't tell that's fine. It's confidential. So you guys so now when you sell then let's go to this when you sell What does that mean you sell? What are you still a chairman? Are you still do they are you still questions? Are you still doing? Sometimes man, so let me let me tell you how it works So you said like Jimmy, when did you start to think about getting in under other businesses? You asked me that earlier in 2007 I sold 28% of the business and so I had a chunk of dough and I didn't know how to invest So I bought farm ground and I bought gold

Okay, and let me tell you how naive I was my brilliant Jewish partners. There are awesome guys Michael Lazarus He says he says, oh, you bought gold. What gold fund did you buy? I said, what's a gold fund? He says you took physical possession of gold. I said, yeah, man. I bought 400 ounce bars and He said you he said you just buy a fund. I didn't even know what a gold fund was So but I understood farming, you know, you buy the she so so I started thinking about other businesses and you know at that time I I sold 28% of it and then in 2006 then I gave my employees 7% of the company And I still own 65 in 2016. I sold 30 points of my 65 points to a company called work capital And they own, you know, they they they they have like 30,000 rest and they own they own ant-ans. They own carvel

They have a come off-shoot inspire brands who we merged with they have Arby's Buffalo Wellwings Sonic and Jimmy Johnson now just bought Dunkin Donuts, right? Oh, wow. So so I sold So I sold 30 points to them in 2016 and then 35% I merged my final 35% with inspire brands and so now I'm a I'm a large shareholder of inspire brands And so that's how it works and that's how it worked for me. It's not how everybody does it It's how I did it and and that that way just worked for me Are you pleased with how you did it looking back? Yeah. Are you kidding me? I think I mean that come on I mean, are you kidding me? Well, but when you're a perfection when you are someone who's to the minutiae are there things

Are there things you would have done any differently looking back? Um Because look man, I'll be slaying in a fucking gold coffin Complaining about something. I got rid of the gold bars. By the way, I sold them at the right time too. Oh, thank god, man Yeah, that's a tricky business, but uh You know, are there things that I wished I did different gosh. Yes, you know, I wish I I wouldn't have Uh, there's a lot of things I wish I would have done different But you know, that that that's the beauty of life and that's that's the beauty of age and wisdom and and and and with With wisdom and with experience comes some peace and and in my brain

I got a side of my brain that's been able to grow now That that wasn't grown because of the noise the noise was so intense and and and the noise was just so intense I mean right my resting heart rate when I wake up in the morning I was under 60 and I weighed 275 pounds, you know, and it was like a hundred, you know So it's it's uh, the noise is gone and the pieces here and and and my family's here And you know life is good and my timing. I got lucky with my timing feel give me a break. Yeah, get out of here I got lucky. Okay. I'll take it right. I'll take it. Yeah Sometimes you put a hundred bucks on red when you spin the wheel and you hit red. I'll take the hundred

Take the fucking red. Yeah. So there you go. Yeah, that's a good point Yeah, sometimes there's even this weird like thing about taking like luck, you know It's like it feels like it wasn't like yours But yeah, it's like you got to take that man. That's life. It is like because it'll get it could just as easily go the other way And it does. Yeah, and it most often does. Absolutely. It most often does Let's say a question right here from a young fella right here. Come on. Jimmy John one question What do you get at jimmy johns? Fucking mind-blowing. Oh you like subway better

Right on so I love a turkey time with onions and oil and vinegar added to it I love a turkey time that way But if you get it that way, you got to eat it immediately. You can't wait my go-to sandwich is the new east coast hoagie So you got to get the new number seven east coast spicy hoagie. That is my favorite one right now For sure. I think it's the best sandwich that we've ever we've ever done I like the frenchie a lot, but inspired brands got rid of it. Did you have the little frenchie? Nope. I never had Uh, nope. I never had it. I've always gotten the turkey time except for the last couple times. I went I got a club Um, italians. Yeah, italian nightclub. Yeah number nine. So but I um

I've been a turkey time. Got my whole life, man. I'm a real I kind of stick with what works for me You know, uh, so you're 40. Yeah, I'm 40 now You know now that I I'm just sitting here thinking jimmy johns is part of your whole life. Oh 100 jimmy johns is only part It was half of my life. I have a hard time with the obvious. I just realized you were you grew up with it Dude, it's crazy. So if i'm a tourner i'm in a different city and wherever I get the first thing on my way into town I will see if they have a jimmy john. I'll just have him bring one right to the hotel. So when I get there I have a jimmy johns man

It's one thing that I do feel about jimmy johns is It is as reliable of food That exists out there. I every time it's going to be the same and it always gets there fast, man It's just there. It's like It really is it's just there the other shit. I don't know what's going to happen People somebody might get shot on the way deliver. I have no idea but with jimmy johns It's straight up now. I had I actually got I had to got a I hooked up with jared from subway sister a long time

I go in the french quarter this is a long time I got away So I've had some some unique interactions with some you know with some sandwich experiences over my life but um And then I used to talk about quiz nose a lot of times Now quiz nose went under right? Yeah, and here's why I think and this is just a straight mail, you know Quiz nose I would go into quiz nose, right and you get the toasted sandwiches toasted, right? Which I like it's cool, you know But the problem with quiz nose was there was just men in there eating them So when you have a toasted sandwich and you're like bringing it up to your mouth

And it has like this kind of like this big open mouth kind of vibe and you're just sitting there There's other men in there. You're just looking at each other It had this extremely homoerotic vibe for me at quiz nose And I wouldn't bro and I think I really believe that it hit a lot of them in that way and it It just it kind of made it too tough for me to go get quiz nose And sometimes that it would burn my mouth It would like kind of chat me up a little bit and it just felt kind of homoerotic eating those in there Because it was only men in there. I think they only really cater to men. I have no idea

I know this first time I ever heard this in my life Oh, this is a big theory out there, but a lot of women won't go get a toasted sandwich. It just You know, there's a good toasted sandwich is potbelly. It's not dainty enough. I like potbelly. They don't toast them too hard, right? I like that but um But anyway, those are just some sandwich experiences that I've had But did you uh, was there another sandwich place that you really enjoyed over the years or another business that you watched grow over the years? Yeah, I think that uh, let's what what business is I think pretta manje does a great job I mean for me with them. They're they're london based mcdonalds owned them and then they opened some stores in new york

They do a really good job with sandwiches. I think portillo's hot dogs did a great job Portillo's is good. They're out of chicago, right? Yeah, so my friend dick portillo He sold about the same time just about a year before I did so another another great guy. I love portillo's a lot Um, what else do I respect a lot? Um, I really respect chick filet. How can you not respect chick filet? So I mean what they do I mean my pleasure is getting a little old, but I respect it and that's what they do and it's what they say I guess freaky fast could be getting pretty old do but um, I think chick filet is incredible respect I think mcdonalds new quarter pounder with cheese with the fresh burger. I think it's an incredible product

I've had that yet. Yeah, they're using a fresh meat patty now. Really? It's really a big difference. It's big time Yeah, you ought to try it. How can you not respect in and out? I mean, it's kind of a grilled cheese sandwich flavored with vegetables and a little bit of meat patty But it's still pretty damn good and the price is really really really good. Yeah, um, what else do I really respect a lot? Was there a good brand that came through that didn't make it that you were like, man? What happened here because this thing was That didn't make it kfc. I do not I don't I'm a potpies guy, you know, but I love potpies Chicken sandwich their their chicken is just bro. If they made a heroin, I would buy it

It's so good. Popeyes is good. Oh if Popeyes made a heroin Dude, I don't think america would exist anymore But yeah, they're there's just something about there. Did you ever meet that guy? Uh, what was that? Al Copeland? Yeah, and his son Really? What was that like because he I'll say this so living grew growing up in that area. He put the big christmas lights up By the edge of the lake and people would get pissed because they had to drive their car by him and then like people were like I'm getting old. I can't see the end of the bridge when I'm driving So there was always he was always this like flamboyant like, uh,

Larger than life. He was like that was like my dad But go ahead. Oh, wow. Yeah, he was just like that. He was like larger than life like the big christmas lights And we're doing this and we got a you you felt like he had a cigar in his hand even if he didn't have it in his hand You know, he was just larger than life. He was he was I used to watch his offshore power boat racing Remember he did that the cigarette boats He would take hot girls back and forth from our town over to new orleans and then bring them back like a month later A month later But I love that stuff so much and I ended up creating a

Or being part of a offshore power boat with the jimmy johns offshore part and we won the world championship No way row and I that was all inspired by that dude Al Copeland. I thought it was so cool I thought it was the coolest thing in the world, man. It was uh, yeah, he was a hero remember his sunglasses and his gold chains Oh, yeah, big black hair. Oh, yeah, he was killing it. He I I don't know if he was italian. I don't know what he was copeland. I'm not sure he wanted to be italian Yeah, he wanted to be for sure a great call. Yeah, he was a he was the legend around our town around our area growing up Because he was just he bought this big place right when you got off of the causeway bridge in new orleans And they had he put all of his boats in his truck everything was big

He put it just it was in these big glass windows You could just see when you drove by for no real reason But just to be like, hey, this is what I you know, here's what's going on. Here's my shit. Yes. Yeah, yeah Did you um Were there some what are some other big entrepreneurial type guys? I'm sure you that's one thing It's probably happened that maybe you didn't even expect is like you probably got to cross paths with system amazing entrepreneurs over the years You know what I have and you know, I'm kind of do a shout out to somebody sure So it's 1987 and my father knew this guy named jamie colter is a pizza hut operator out of wichita

And my dad asked him he and he met him and my dad was in this ypo group I told you about and my dad asked jamie to visit with me and talk me out of these dumb little Sandwich hops that I had I had three of them at the time or four of them at the time. So I met jamie colter and jamie had 25 pizza Huts stores I met him and at the time he made twice as much money at his pizza huts than the chain average And we're talking together and he called my dad and he said Uh, uh, big gem. He says i'm sorry. He said your son believes in what he's doing here And i'm going to champion him and support him because he believes in it and he can do it So jamie colter ended up building those 25 pizzas to 125 sold them

He created lone star steakhouse created sullivans and then bought del frisco's and jamie's been my been been my mentor since 1987 And he's now just turned 80 years old and he is a young 80 and he is he has coached me my entire life He's taught me he's taught me how to how to how to tie a tie How to how to drink wine how to how to how to talk to people how to how he he's taught me about life He he's he's been a he was a he was with me. So jamie. I love your brother and he's an awesome awesome dude And uh, he and I are partners in a new brand uh, that uh, that's called seven brew out of northwest arkansas We have nine little drive-thru coffee shops and and so he's my partner in that so that's a that's a new venture that we're doing So jamie colter and then I have met so many of the of the great entrepreneurs

um in america, I mean, I don't you know dick portillo from portillo's hot dogs and um Uh, I mean, I've I've I've I've met the coke family and I I met uh, uh Henry cravis from you know the kkr and george roberts and from those guys and date james colter from tpg and and So many I mean it's endless how many entrepreneurs and then I and then I was fortunate enough to to be nominated to the Horatio elder association. You guys want it, right? I wanted two years ago and just in that in that alone I mean it was it's me. It's the ceo or the the warren buffett's right-hand guy. It's uh, roger penske's there Peyton manning, you know, it was just crazy company. Oprah winfrey, you know, it's like whatever How did a sandwich guy get here? Like, you know, are you a magician?

I'm a magician. Yeah, maybe you find it hard to talk to some of those people in certain circles Or is it not really? Yeah, what do you find do you find because like what are you gonna? I don't know what I would even say to Theo, let me tell you something. Yeah, they are so refreshed by refreshed People that don't have an agenda. I'm not I'm not I'm not beholden to anybody. I don't have any debt I don't owe anybody anything. I have everything. I own is mine and and I and I'm always helped when I can be helpful I'm not virtuous, but I am just a just a just Jimmy and so when I talk to somebody I think when you talk to him real

I think their guard goes down and then I think they kind of want to peel off and like hang within say, you know Hey, what's up hanging out? What's up? You know, what are you doing? What's new and I they they are very endearing to me When I meet high-level people Um, they they're I seem to be able to just talk to them and I talk just like this Yeah, and I don't think that most people talk just straight up like this, right? And and I find that it's really really easy to the the more you are you The more they can be them and and you they realize you don't have an agenda and they just shine Yeah, yeah, and I think that's with any human being not not wherever they are

I think all human beings react to authenticity and genuineness and real man. And that's all people want. It's a fair shake. Yeah Yeah, there's something new about uh, I think especially in these days in this age about vulnerability and how that Is becoming like a commodity, you know, or just being able to relate, you know Hey, I think vulnerability just saying look, this is kind of where I'm at This is like some of my things that are going on. This is someone I can relate to you. This is some way I think it's why podcasting has done so well because there's just more of a conversation Like there was some like I Pardon me for a long time wish that Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump would have been on the same ticket

Because I felt like they were such opposites, but it would be great to see such opposites on the have to work together That is fascinating to then make a move forward, right? How about that? And I've always thought that maybe why does the vice president just get to be the same like let's pick the Let's give an antithesis so that there's some real Vitrol between the two heads before they really make some choices, but um Boy, that is amazing that you the what what a way to think that would have been a fascinating team And you know what I think Bernie and president Trump might have really done a great job together

I agree too because I think Trump had an inability to kind of just He just he was just a you know, he's a great business guy But his I think he's just his his way of kind of speaking to the everyday person. I don't know I don't know and I don't want to get into that. But um But talking to people that are when you're authentic people dig it, dude People people dig when you're real and they know if you're real you're not real they know Right people tell if you really care people know you care And if you care people will talk to you and they'll respond as long as they're in a place of of being

That's true, and you know and I think that the the people that are more present and living in are those are the people You want to talk to any with those that are so caught up in this world of of electronics and all that as much as they are the new The word you told me it's the new fossil fuel Yeah, tech is the new fossil fuels tech is the new that's that that's my gem that I got from Theo today That is incredible. So, you know, but I think when people are are living real They're they they they respond to real and I think that everybody at different times in their life has different You know, there are different stages of their life. Yeah, you have to be not only you have to be in in front of something That's going to affect you, but you have to be open to there's only that's the funny thing

A hundred people can tell me the same thing, but it's that one moment where it just gets through whatever the Chasms are the way they're lined up and where it really hits. Um, how do you meet your second wife? How that how did that come up? Leslie you said her name was yeah, Leslie So I was at McCormick place and there was a my buddies have a beef jerky company called jack links beef jerky And it was from up in northern wisconsin where our camp is where bishop gun played right into minong wisconsin So they were at McCormick place and I had bull's tickets. I was living downtown chicago and michael jordan was playing This is back in the back back in the late 90s the best time the best dude

I saw strong every single game dude. I was there really? Yes. It went home home in chicago. Yes for sure And your your was your you weren't your brain wasn't doing good then. No, you weren't oh, shit I had uh, well, I had like 17 or 18 stores in late 90s. I was I had all those deposits Oh, I thought I was making money out of my company stores I was I've been I've had I've been rich for a long time. I thought it was later than that I thought I didn't know that your business aligned uh, you're some of your early success aligned with uh, when the bulls are still playing Oh, yeah Well, remember I had my company stores and even though the franchise stores. I had 76 failing stores

I was still getting paid right because they had to pay me a royalty right. I said look we're gonna run out of fuel We need to stop this truck and we need to refuel it. Yeah, so they were two separate entities So my company stores always made money But so anyway, I'm at McCormick place to at a at a grocery store show and the link boys Have their beef jerky booth and their hustling jerky at their grocery store show And so and I said and I had four bulls tickets So I always kept two and sold two and it paid for my tickets, right? So my buddy Jay says he's listening. He said we're going to bulls game

He says I got this girl that's working at wells blue bunny ice cream booth right there around the corner I want to take her to the bulls game. He said, you know, can I said, okay? Well, let's go check it out So we walk over there and this red-headed girl is there and and with this blonde-headed girl that Jay was going to take and And they were friends. I said, would you like to go to the bulls game? She says, yeah, but you know just friends I said for sure 100% just yeah So we all four go to the bulls game that night. We went to the start net lovers Yeah, that's right We went to the bulls game and at the united center

They sold these these bob chins my ties and you could get an extra floater in there on the top for an extra buck So by the second one, I was irresistible and I got the hand on my knee I was I was just irresistible Oh, yeah, right. That's a freaking car. That's a yeah, that's funny shit, man So anyway, I got the hand on my knee and we went to Gallagher's on the corner of Racine and Racine and Altgeld in Chicago to Gallagher's and we went to the bar after the bulls game and walking back to my house We totally made out And uh, and then she came back the next weekend for the restaurant show which and and and she was doing the well's blue

Bunny ice cream booth at the at the restaurant show at the corner Did you have a booth at the restaurant show or no? No, no, no not yet So I go so I I took her I took her out Friday night and I said listen It's 10 o'clock. I need you to take you back to your hotel because I just can't do this I I you've got a Boyfriend and and and I just can't do this and I'm taking back to your hotel So I drove her back to her hotel. I called her at three o'clock in the morning. I said you up. I can't sleep As I'm coming to get you

So I came to gatter and that was devil's and then she moved to Chicago a month later I asked her to move in with me. She's like dude. I'm not moving in with you and she had a she had a four-year-old son And his name was Spencer and she was 22. She had him as she was a freshman in college Had a child So she got she got a job at WL. What's the mood that you go to you know, uh, she went to southwest Missouri state Oh, you'll get a four-year-old there You get four-year-old there. She got a four-year-old there and I was lucky enough to adopt him So he's my oldest son. Oh, that's cool. But anyway, it just all worked out man

We got engaged the following valentine's just Leslie and we've been through it all We've been through everything that a couple could go through dude. We've been through it. We earned it We love this shit out of each other and and we're rolling. You know, we got this thing. So that's my story of my love Dude, that's awesome. Yeah. So if you after let's go to this question real quick And then I'll ask one more and we'll finish up. What what does this guy have here? Thank you for calling brother Hey, yo, yo, jimmy. It's Dave from Louisville I just wanted to hear you guys's thoughts on this tattoo. I've had for about 10 years now Shout out to jimmy jones on the sub hand gang gang dude gang gang that rocks nice work

I guess that's a hand eats his subs with that left-handed sub eater. I hope that's the hand eats his subs Yeah, me too, bro. Who knows what else he's doing, man Uh, that's beautiful, man Actually, I feel like they could have done the artwork a little bit better if I'm really going to be honest with them But at the same time, I totally respect it, man Right on buddy. Um, have you seen a lot of people or these that have done some weird things like that for you or not? And I'm not saying you're a weird brother But are there people that have really shown up with some tattoos and buddy there

I used to do a convention in vegas every two years and I we'd have three four thousand people at the in vegas at a convention and I and we I'd give away prizes and And Rolexes and recognize great performers and bring in rock stars kid rock would come play or zack brownie come play bishop gun and come play and And uh, man, I saw some I saw some big jimmy john tattoos in some crazy places, man And i'm sure that they're sorry that they put those jjs where they put them because I saw some shit, dude Yeah, I've seen a lot. I've seen a lot. Anyway, it is what it is. You've seen some stuff that's not on the menu I've seen some stuff that's not on the menu for sure. Um, all right, let's take one more here

And then I'll hit you with a question and we'll finish up. What's up, thea. What's up, jimmy? Hey, buddy So my question for you is what's the craziest customer experience that you've ever had? Um, I think mine would be when I worked at jimmy johnson downtown wilmington Um, it was the first night me and my manager, you know working there till three four in the morning We got those bar drunk people coming in and one guy had ordered and he comes back up and he goes Hey, man, I think some uh, naked guy just came in through the back and went upstairs And I'm like, are you serious? He's like, yeah And uh, so I gotta get my manager and next thing you know, he goes upstairs and he's bringing out some naked guy

And I'm like, what is going on? Subs are making people crazy Hey, man, free smells dog right on Um, did you ever have any wildness like that? I'm sure you do right there and uh, you're anything that stands out Buddy there there has been so much wildness that I have seen 36 years on college campuses with sub sandwiches Buddy, I've seen porn on the internet done in jimmy john's bathrooms And that which has been nicely emailed to me

Uh, uh, I have seen I have seen I have seen stuff. I've seen I don't even know where to go with it. It's it's overwhelming Uh, I think it's just human nature. I don't think it's jimmy john's I think that you mix alcohol in late night and and people I think that people just like like is they turn into raccoons and they start doing, you know, they start crawling around Yeah, doing weird shit. Oh, you'll find your fucking cousin and they're a cycling band Do you wagon if there's enough drugs and booze around? Yes, sir. Um, sir, what about uh, What about so in life, you know, you've I feel like for me. I noticed in my life. There's like a

Uh, I found like an like I in the past two years. I've started to make a little bit of money in my life And I never had any money. Yeah, and money was always and I think in a lot of people's lives It's always it's a goal. It's a motivator. It's a And I don't know if it was my motivator. I think some type of a success was maybe my motivator and I've achieved some success Hell yeah, but I felt like it's not as There really isn't it's not as joyous as you would It doesn't pay off really exactly like you've kind of For me, it hasn't paid off exactly like I felt like I felt like it would I thought I thought it would

Yes, it's not what you thought it would be. Let me tell you. So I'm 16 years. I'm 56. You're 40, right? Yeah So here's here's happiness is hard work, brother And it's it's it's hard to make it. It's five times harder to hold on to it. That's number one thing with money Okay, it's five times harder to hold on to it. Number two money doesn't bring you happiness You want to be happy? You got to watch your sugar. You got to drink a lot of water You got to exercise in the morning You got to keep your house in order keep your life in order and you want to and and I have to hang around people that I aspire to be like or want to be like because it rubs off on me

You got to have a presence of discipline. You got to have a presence of balance And and you got to have a little bit of fun and you got to forgive yourself for being human When you over-season your steak, which we happen to do once in a while as human beings And you can take that any way you want to take it and forgive yourself She can get back on the track of happiness and happiness is hard work, man um, it is it is it is i'm a i'm a i'm obviously a billionaire, right and uh But you know, you can have you can have 10 cars and and 10 boats and 10 houses And you can you can you can eat yourself three chocolate cakes and six big macs and six jimmy john subs

And you're gonna feel like shit. Okay, and it's gonna be horrible and you're gonna be a one horrible rich motherfucker Okay, and so really happiness is hard work. So and genuine genuine happiness. I mean real not baloney bullshit You know, right being party. That's fine But real contentment happiness, man It's hard work and it takes work every single day to do that and when you do it You know when you do it every day or have a presence of it and then you have better weeks So then you have better months and you have better quarters and then you have better years, you know I wish I would have known this 10 years ago. I'm learning this now since I don't have all that the pressure of jimmy johns

So I'm learning this stuff now and this is for me. It's I don't know what's for you But this this is the wine. I like to drink. I'm not gonna tell you what kind of wine you like to drink But this is you know, I had a wine class one time. I paid $200. He says, okay, you're ready for the class Good wine is wine you like great class over. Let's drink. Wow. So I'm like, thanks, man Thank you. What are the what's all that shit they're doing the rest of these? That's all bullshit. They're making all that stuff up because I felt so stupid with wine, right? Yeah, now I own a couple wineries very well, but that's besides the point So, you know, it's it's whatever it is to you

But for what I found is, you know, I've been rich for a long time and In my in my world rich for a long time and and I made my first million dollars in 93 and had no debt You know, so I have no debt. It's huge huge. I didn't know how to get it I didn't know how to fill out the paperwork. Well, it's funny your dad said that, you know Yeah, yeah, and those bankruptcies scared me and I was poor and I didn't ever want to be poor again And uh, so I was a real saver and still I'm a very conservative I only invest in things that I totally understand, you know, or a person that I totally understand I really tend to bet the jockey not the horse

Interesting man. Yeah. So that's the list people the list is if you want to uh, if you want to have happiness in your life I feel like you started off by making a list Of the things you need in your kitchen And I feel like you kind of ended up by giving us a list of your experience of the things that we need if we want to You know have some sort of happiness, you know Um, is that your is that do you feel like that's where your A lot of your motivation is spent now kind of these days like finding just feeling good finding some happiness 100%

I think contentment Theo. I think that um, you know Private planes are convenient, but you can be miserable in a private plane You know, all those all those perceived, you know, Kardashian amenities, right or whatever Hollywood amenities all those things are great But but to feel good you got to feel good and uh, and it's hard work to feel good And so I'm filling in a lot of a lot of gaps that I that I wasn't able to do because I was fighting the battle for 36 years And I was just overwhelmed at the end. It was just so big and so I was I was like drinking through a fire hose and now You know really being addressed my weight my health and really every single day through this thanks This this hunting season and Thanksgiving and Christmas and and really trying to balance myself man

I've done a better job this year than I've ever done in my life Like this is this is my the best life that I've ever lived and I'm in a great direction And I think a year from now if we had a podcast I think you'll see me 20 or 30 pounds lighter and and um, and it's just what I'm doing right now and it feels good Yeah, it feels good to sleep good. It feels good, man It feels really shitty when I drink a bottle or two of tequila, which I did last week with With bobby and and uh and clint boyer We went hunting deer in texas and we drank a lot of tequila man and and man. I paid the price for three

Three days. I mean hangovers at my age are are a week now. It's almost not worth it. Yeah Oh hangover your your stock will dip, you know online You know So anyway, yeah, man I just see you know a little peace and contentment and relationships with my kids and and uh, just moved to franklin, tennessee And in june and I love it here. It's like old america here. It's uh the neighbors We we we we get to our house where at our house three days the neighbors bring over a fire pit

Made out of iron that a local guy welded and an eight adirondacks chairs and a stack of wood And set it up and brought a cooler appearance and welcome to the neighborhood lit a fire I mean this where I live I live in america man This is america where people love each other and help each other and look after each other And that's how I felt coming here to nashville and and and franklin and it's just it is it's an awesome place And uh, yeah, I'm gonna bring my whole um bring everything down here. And so, uh, yeah Where could we we're definitely dipping our toe in it for sure and seeing what that feels like we wanted to kind of make Just like I have a different option

You know, we had a mortician come on from uh, kentucky and he was like one of our best gas ever just really Oh, he said look bro. He said if you kill somebody man kill him in like kind of a rural area because a lot of times It goes straight from the policeman to the mortician So there's not a lot of interior detective work So if you can trick that first policeman into thinking oh, this is a natural cause Dude, it's straight to the mortician And it's straight to the ovens bro. You know that guy's making a different kind of bread, but you know, uh, but anyway So just some of the things we had um a female trucker on that was a really amazing episode

We're just trying to get back into just like people that are hardworking people that uh You know just capturing of a strong bit of a sense of america that's still left, you know, absolutely Absolutely, do you believe that entrepreneurial spirit in the the american dream is still alive? You know what I do I I think it is still alive. I think that um, I think that there were some unintended consequences of some decisions that were made by some people that didn't run businesses but made business decisions and I I believe everybody deserves happiness, right? But I think happiness is hard work, right? So when that for example the minimum wage you raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks, okay? And then you and then you throw covet on top of it every small mom and pop business in america is done

And so they wanted to make sure that the small guy could make a living wage at 15 bucks an hour Their hearts were in the right place beautiful. Thank you. You know so such virtuous thinking But look who's got all the money now. Jeff Bezos got all the money and everyone and then every time one of these little mom and pop shops Is selling on amazon as soon as it reaches a certain level amazon just knocks it off And then there's some then the mom and shop pop shop is gone So it was the minimum wage really a good thing while the it was a good idea But the function of wait wait till you see what happens after covet at the oh so there there's some there's some there's some You know, I think the entrepreneur spirit is alive and I think that um

That that it's going to be there always, you know as long as everything is fair And we're playing with the same set of rules and elections are fair and it's real and and that everybody, you know It has to play with the same set of rules as soon as there's two sets of rules That's when there's going to be problems. So we need to get back to you know, we need to you know Fences make good neighbors. We need we need to have the same set of rules. I think so so I believe that um Do you feel like someone that that what will happen to entrepreneurs after we come out of covet? Do you think it's there's going to be a good opportunity for um people that want to start something? Absolutely

I think there's going to be huge opportunity. You know that's good to hear Theo The opportunity is also in the tradesman the electricians and plumbers and construction workers and the real and the pipe These guys the opportunity in that stuff is going to be astronomical It's because things no matter what things have got to get built right So I think I think that the wage in that stuff is going to be up up north of a hundred bucks an hour So I think that's huge. I think that that that entrepreneurs that haven't got their ass kicked really hard And and and and aren't licking their wounds. They're going to be ready to go You know, I'm jumping back into this new coffee business and I'm really excited about seven. That's what it's called seven brew seven brew

Keep my keep it. He said northwest Arkansas that has started. Yeah. Yes. Do you guys want to support a jimmy john brand or it's inspire brands? Uh, well inspire brands is jimmy john's seven brew is myself and jamey colter my mentor and a couple buddies That's cool, man. That is cool. So yeah, the entrepreneurship is alive. Absolutely. It's alive. Look what you're doing. Look. I'm here, dude I know look this is a this is a mate. It's like it feels good It's so funny all the the dream guests that we've wanted over the years We've had three of them and uh, and they've all happened now, which is really interesting Wow, it's interesting But you're right though and and no it's just good to hear from you because I feel like you've been through

It's just like you said you have to get burned in a few leases to know if the lease is good Like you've been through the burn leases to be able to look at the rest of us and say hey guys Things, you know, it just it hits us in the spirit like you can still do this, you know, you can you can Um, jimmy john. Thank you so much, man. This is uh, this has been awesome, man And um, I appreciate you being here and we'll have to go do some fishing sometime or something I'd love to do that. It's really a pleasure to be here and a real honor to be here My kids think you're a rock star and you are you're a real humble smart witty Guy and I appreciate your interest and having me here. I really do

I've never done this before so, uh, thank you very much You bet man, when bishop gong gets back together, we'll go to one of their shows. Let's do it For me to set that parking brake and let myself on my Shine that light on me I'll sit and tell you my story Shine on me Shine on me and I will find a song I will sing it just for you And now I've been moving way too fast on the runaway train with a heavy load of my past

And these wheels that I've been riding on, they want something that they damn they're gonna I guess now they just won't