Inside Pitching Shark Tank and How Old School Businesses Win in an AI-Powered World with Sabin Lomac

Summary

Podcast Summary: Help Wanted — “Inside Pitching Shark Tank and How Old School Businesses Win in an AI-Powered World”

Host: Nicole Lapin (Money Expert)
Guest: Sabin Lomac (Co-Founder, Cousins Maine Lobster, OG Shark Tank Success Story)
Date: May 28, 2026

Main Theme / Purpose

This episode dives into how traditional, “old school” businesses can thrive and scale—even in an AI-disrupted world. Nicole Lapin interviews Sabin Lomac to unpack the origins and growth strategies behind Cousins Maine Lobster, their Shark Tank journey, franchising dos and don’ts, the myth of instant success, how to franchise with integrity, and building business culture that can’t be replicated by AI. The show ultimately tackles: Do you need to be an AI company to succeed right now?

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Shark Tank Backstory: The Realities of Pitching

• Origin Story: Sabin and his cousin Jimmy started Cousins Maine Lobster in LA, opening for the first day, making $65k the first month and $100k the next (05:40). They were invited to Shark Tank immediately but initially declined—out of fear their idea would be “poo-pooed” on national TV and skepticism about needing mentorship (05:16).
• “We were worried that they were going to sh*t on the product. Like, what if they ate it and they didn’t like it? What if they were rude?” – Sabin (05:40)
• Behind the Scenes Truths: After filming, contestants—deal or not—must have a mental health check with a psychiatrist due to the emotional rollercoaster and pressure (08:03).
• Equity & The Deal: Eventually, the Cousins accepted $55k for 15% equity from Barbara Corcoran, emphasizing that it was never about the money, but mentorship and opportunity (07:15).

2. Business After TV: What Really Happens

• The Barbara Corcoran Experience: After the deal, Barbara came to Maine, stayed with Sabin, played Scrabble, and made herself “family” (13:29).
• Barbaraism: “She looks over at Jimmy’s parents... ‘So, Julie, Steve, how often are you having sex?’” – Sabin (14:59)
• Distribution of Profits: All stays the same; Barbara is the only outside investor. Their structure: if the founders take a profit distribution, so does Barbara (16:00). “We’ve done over a billion in sales.” – Sabin (16:05)
• Biggest Misconception: Shark Tank doesn't make you rich or famous overnight—“That’s not the case. These sharks aren't going to work for you. They expect you to do your job.” (16:23–17:03)

3. Advice on Funding & Growth

• On Raising Money & Mentorship: “If it's just about money and nothing else, then do it yourself. But if you really can utilize what [the sharks] have to offer ... it's unbelievable.” (18:07)
• Barbara’s Greatest Lessons (19:09–22:43):
  • Be authentic and yourself—even if unpolished.
  • Be fearless in taking on new challenges.
  • Ask questions (“She’d interrupt me and say, ‘What does that mean?’ … She has no ego.” – Sabin)
  • Develop business humility: “If someone’s talking to me and I don’t understand ... I’m like, yeah, I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
• Nicole Lapin re: acronyms: “You can know a lot about business but not know specific jargony acronyms.” (21:28)

4. Franchising: The Real Playbook

• Franchise Origin: Barbara suggested it. Sabin: “What does that mean?” (25:18)
• Key to Franchise Success: Local owners know their markets—vital for mobile businesses like food trucks (25:49). Franchising enabled growth to 110+ locations (26:51).
• Who Should Franchise? Strong niche stories—especially in food—travel best. “Storytelling is really important. And if you have a really interesting story that can be told and replicated...” (27:02–27:56)
• Addressing ‘Landlocked’ Markets: Landlocked, non-coastal markets have been among the most successful. “Oklahoma City is one of our best locations. These smaller markets ... want good food.” (28:57)

5. Vetting Franchisees: Integrity over Growth

• Extreme Selectivity: Only 10 out of 2,100 leads were chosen after Shark Tank (31:27).
• Best Franchisees: “I look at them and I go, ‘Would I want to work for you?’” (30:02) • People skills, humility, and willingness to follow rules are non-negotiable.
• Unique Strategy: They’d take prospective franchisees out, get them drunk, and intentionally have their food order messed up to reveal character (32:17–33:38).
• “If you’re rude to the waiter, it’s a no for me.” – Sabin (34:02)

6. Franchise Economics (35:36–37:41)

• Cost to Own: $40,000 franchise fee (one-time), ~$300,000 for truck build-out (can be financed), initial inventory of $50-70k.
• Royalties: 8% of gross sales monthly + 2% to marketing fund. (36:28)
• Sales Potential: Some trucks do $100k–150k/month; exceptional case: $370k in 12 days in Albuquerque (37:07).
• Scalability: Most owners expand to multiple units; “One guy has 25. Food trucks are very entrepreneurial ... really the American dream.” (40:42)

7. AI, Tech, & the Old School Advantage

• Do you need to become an AI company? Sabin’s answer: “Hell no, you don’t.” (02:50)
• Adapting to AI: Sabin and Jimmy hire “young staff” who get AI and tech. “We hire people that are not like us ... 20-year-olds in our office implement AI for ordering, inventory, spinning back numbers.” (41:51–43:05)
• But: “Robots can’t create culture or community.” (44:48) • Sabin insists genuine human connection and culture-building are irreplaceable by AI.
• Integration, not Replacement: Use AI for efficiencies, but “the hard work is that interpersonal stuff.” (45:21–46:07)
• Nicole's takeaway: “Bring sexy back to franchising, to old school businesses.” (46:13)

8. Authenticity, Family & Legacy

• Business as Family: Barbara is “fam”—vacations, sleepovers, Scrabble, personal connection (23:07–24:14).
• Succession: Sabin’s kids are involved—son Enzo dreams of “being the boss.” (49:57–50:19)

9. Lobster Rolls: The Final Question

• Maine or Connecticut style? Sabin: “Connecticut … warm with butter” is top seller, but for loyalty and roots, he’s “Maine.” (48:13–49:29)
• Fun trivia: Lobster was once “prison food” in Maine.

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Notable Quotes

• On Authenticity:
  • “She taught me … to be myself and to be authentic and not to be anyone else.” —Sabin Lomac on Barbara Corcoran (19:09)
• On Franchisee Selection:
  • “If you’re rude to the waiter, it’s a no for me, dog.” —Sabin (34:02)
• On AI-Proofing:
  • “Robots can’t create culture or community … You can’t duplicate the heart and soul that I have.” —Sabin (44:48, 45:21)
• On Misconceptions:
  • “People think once they go [on Shark Tank] they're famous … they're rich and don’t have to work anymore. … That’s not the case.” —Sabin (16:23)
• On Making Money:
  • “If you want to appreciate, appreciate.” —Nicole Lapin (47:04)
  • “If you want to make money … you have to put in the work.” —Sabin (47:22)

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Important Timestamps

• 03:36 — Sabin Lomac joins the show
• 05:16–05:59 — Early doubts, cash beginnings, why they first turned down Shark Tank
• 07:10–09:07 — Shark Tank psychology: mental health eval after taping
• 12:26 — Mark Cuban’s push to nix the “network equity” clause
• 14:35–15:19 — Barbara Corcoran’s family style: real stories from her first Maine visit
• 16:05 — “We’ve done over a billion in sales.”
• 19:09–22:43 — Barbara’s lessons for entrepreneurs
• 25:18–26:51 — Franchising origins and key benefits for Cousins Maine Lobster
• 28:57–29:51 — Success of landlocked franchises
• 32:17–33:38 — The “mess up their dinner order” franchisee vetting trick
• 35:41–37:41 — Unit economics and real sales figures
• 41:36–43:49 — How blue-collar business can use, but not be replaced by, AI
• 44:48 — “Robots can’t create culture or community”
• 48:13–49:29 — Lobster roll debate: Maine vs. Connecticut
• 49:57–50:28 — Family business legacy; Sabin’s son Enzo

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Takeaways for Would-be Entrepreneurs in the AI Age

• “Old school” businesses can thrive by leveraging, not fretting about, AI — but their true defensibility lies in authenticity, human interaction, and localized culture.
• Franchising is a powerful (and underappreciated) model for scaling real-world, people-driven businesses.
• Shark Tank isn’t a golden ticket—it’s a platform; the work starts after the cameras turn off.
• Integrity, humility, and people skills matter more than pedigrees and pitch decks—for both franchisees and franchisors.
• The most enduring value-adds are hands-on mentorship, family culture, and never pretending to be someone else for the sake of “business polish.”
• AI and tech are tools; human connection is the differentiator.

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For entrepreneurs, managers, or hustlers worried about falling behind in an AI-powered world, Sabin’s message: Focus on what is irreplaceably human, and hire for what’s not.

Transcript

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[Jason Pfeiffer]

This is Help Wanted, the show that makes your work work for You. I'm Jason Pfeiffer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine.

[Nicole Lapin]

And I'm money expert Nicole Lapin. On Tuesdays, Jason and I answer the helpline and help callers solve their work problems.

[Jason Pfeiffer]

And on Thursdays, I give you one way to improve your work and build a career or company you love.

[Nicole Lapin]

And it starts now. So I know the last few episodes of Help Wanted have looked a little different, and that's because everything this show is about looks different. The biggest conversations I'm seeing play out in every industry these days is about how to future proof your career. And in this AI disrupted world, how the heck do we still make money? And that's what you'll be seeing coming out of Help Wanted. Jason and I are going to be having conversations about how to make money in this rapidly changing AI powered world. Today I'm talking to Sabin Loback, the co founder of Cousins Mainline Lobster, who is one of the OG Shark tank success stories. And the question we're tackling today is do I have to be an AI company to be successful right now? And Saban says, hell no, you don't. Saban low back.

[Sabin Lomac]

Yes.

[Nicole Lapin]

Welcome to Help Wanted.

[Sabin Lomac]

Hey, thanks for having me.

[Nicole Lapin]

There's so much help that is wanted. Here, let me. I need my glasses.

[Sabin Lomac]

What's your glasses?

[Nicole Lapin]

First question that got snuck in here.

[Sabin Lomac]

Okay, this feels like a trap, but okay, first question. Saban Lomac, you and your cousin were invited?

[Nicole Lapin]

No, no, the top one, my producer

[Sabin Lomac]

from Maine and she said, why are the best people ever from Maine?

[Nicole Lapin]

Oh, okay. So yes, my producers remain. She tried to sneak in this question. Why are the best people for Maine?

[Sabin Lomac]

We're genuine. We're hardworking, we are blue collar, we're kind or fun. We don't really see the sun that much. So when the sun comes out, we're already on. I'm the sun. Thank you.

[Nicole Lapin]

I feel like I've had two key amazing hires from, from Maine. And I have seen now just by being around Mainers that once two people from Maine meet each other, it's unlike anything I've ever seen in my life,

[Sabin Lomac]

is a special thing. It's because we have a bond.

[Nicole Lapin]

It's a.

[Sabin Lomac]

We have a special, special bond. And whenever. And, and here's to be fair, when you grow up in Maine, you feel like no one else is ever from Maine because it's so small. So when you're out in the real world or in Los Angeles and you meet someone from Maine, you're like, oh my God, how did you.

[Nicole Lapin]

You're A unicorn secret society. And you're like the poster boy from Maine now.

[Sabin Lomac]

Wow.

[Nicole Lapin]

With. With the business. You're like the favorite son of the state. So you and your cousin were invited to appear on Shark Tank?

[Sabin Lomac]

Yes.

[Nicole Lapin]

But you said no off the bat, right?

[Sabin Lomac]

Yes.

[Nicole Lapin]

Why?

[Sabin Lomac]

Well, great question. We were only open for the first time, was for a day. They. The first service. We came home, we were counting cash on a table just like this. We were baffled with what just happened. They emailed us to ask us to go on the show. I didn't even know what the show was. It was. They're approaching season four and we didn't want. We didn't want our idea to get out. We were worried that they were going to. Can I curse on the show?

[Nicole Lapin]

Yeah.

[Sabin Lomac]

Okay. We were worried that they were going to. On. On the product. Like, what if they ate it and they didn't like it? What if they were rude and know we don't need it? The first month we did like 65,000 in sales. The next month we did close to 100,000 in sales. So we were rolling in money. We were the hottest thing in la. We were like, we're good.

[Nicole Lapin]

What do you mean, cash? Like actual green cash?

[Sabin Lomac]

Yes. Actual green cash? Yes. On the table, like a drug deal.

[Nicole Lapin]

Damn. Okay.

[Sabin Lomac]

It was crazy. So you were just in my one bedroom. I had a one bedroom in West Hollywood. And we would come home, my cousin would sleep on my air mattress, and we just look down and be like, oh, God, my. Like, oh, what's happening?

[Nicole Lapin]

And did you deposit it or what do you do with actual green cash?

[Sabin Lomac]

Well, back in the day, you deposited it. Now we don't do that anymore. We. We take only credit because it's too complicated with cash. But, yeah, we deposited and we started our business. That was the beginning of the business.

[Nicole Lapin]

Okay. So then a producer stopped by the food truck.

[Sabin Lomac]

That was the first night. First night the producer came to the food truck.

[Nicole Lapin]

And then what was the second time that you got asked?

[Sabin Lomac]

Well, we initially said no. Then we stayed in contact with one of the producers. We said, yeah, because they were from Maine. One of the casting people were from Maine. Shout out to Mindy. We love you, Mindy. She's from Maine. So we stayed in contact with her. We said, okay, fine, we'll do it. And then we changed our mind. We said, no, we're not going to do it. And we said, yeah. You know, we went back and forth until finally the head. One of the head producers called me, was like, this is gonna be the biggest Mistake you're gonna make if you don't do this. You need to do this. And so we said yes.

[Nicole Lapin]

So you were mostly scared that you would get rejected.

[Sabin Lomac]

We didn't need the money. We weren't there for. And we, we only partnered with Barbara for 55, 000, so we didn't need any money. It was really about mentorship. And we were, we weren't sure how real the show was. We weren't sure that the mentorship was going to be a good exchange for equity. So we were. And we, and we were worried that what if they poo pooed it on on air and people dogged us.

[Nicole Lapin]

But they didn't.

[Sabin Lomac]

They didn't. No, they did not.

[Nicole Lapin]

Not even a little bit?

[Sabin Lomac]

No. No, they did not. I like you. You're great.

[Nicole Lapin]

Thank you. I like you too. So Barbara gave you 55k for 15 of the company. Right. So what happens behind the scenes at Shark Tank? When do you actually get that money? How does it work?

[Sabin Lomac]

You mean after the shoot? Yeah, well, after the shoot, little known fact that you go back into like your little trailer holding room and they bring a psychiatrist or psychiatrist. Do you know that?

[Nicole Lapin]

No.

[Sabin Lomac]

They bring a psychiatrist to check on your well being. Because a lot of people go on the show thinking they're going to become like instant millionaires and they don't get a deal or like Mr. Wonderful shreds them.

[Nicole Lapin]

Wow.

[Sabin Lomac]

So they want to check on your mental well being. So that's the first step.

[Nicole Lapin]

So they send a shrink regardless of whether you got a deal or you didn't, just to make sure. Okay, so the mental health professional comes

[Sabin Lomac]

in, Mental health professional comes in and you're like, what the hell just happened? Because you're on stage for close to an hour. They edit it down to about 10 or 12 minutes, but you're on stage for about an hour getting peppered. So, you know, you come out, we got a deal. But you know, we're like, holy, that was crazy. Like, what? You know what happened? We went home.

[Nicole Lapin]

How did you feel? Were you in a daze? Were you?

[Sabin Lomac]

I felt good initially, and then I felt a little uneasy. Like I went home and I went into bed and I was not pleased. I was like, fuck, what do we do?

[Nicole Lapin]

Why, like remorse sellers, Remorse.

[Sabin Lomac]

We gave up more equity than we wanted. We were originally offered 5%. Again, it wasn't about the money. And, you know, I just didn't know. You don't know what you don't know. Especially nowadays. Like now. That show is a beast. And you can do more vetting. And you can say, okay, yes, the sharks really do help you. Yes, the show really does help you. At that time, it was a really pretty new show, so I didn't know what Barbara was going to do, so I was kind of like. And I got over it. And we went to Barney's and got drunk.

[Nicole Lapin]

Barney's Beanery?

[Sabin Lomac]

Yes, right next to my house. We lived there for, like, the first five years.

[Nicole Lapin]

You went with Barbara?

[Sabin Lomac]

No, not with Barbara. With Jimmy. Although I've been there with Barbara. No, I went with my cousin Jimmy. He was. He was like, yay, we did it. Come on. He's like my little cousin. He's like, yippee. It's like, shut up. We up. I was negative.

[Nicole Lapin]

And okay, so right after you get off, you have a wellness check, a mental wellness check, but you don't get money at that time?

[Sabin Lomac]

No, you go through a due diligence. You go through.

[Nicole Lapin]

Right.

[Sabin Lomac]

So it's like a vetting due diligence period.

[Nicole Lapin]

So they vet that. Everything you said was legit on the

[Sabin Lomac]

show previous to going on the show. They do some vetting as well to make sure that you're not just, you know, completely wasting everyone's time. Since we've been on, the vetting has just gotten better and stronger and more dialed in. But they vet, you know, they find out everything about you, do background checks and so on and so forth. And the deal gets consummated. Assuming. Assuming. Assuming you don't have anything to hide, which we didn't.

[Nicole Lapin]

But is it a serious process? Is it like a financial colonoscopy or is it just verifying regular?

[Sabin Lomac]

No, I think each shark is different. It's independent. It's independent to the shark. So it's not like a Sony or ABC thing. It's up to the shark as to what they want to do. And they have their own teams. So Barbara's at the time was, I think, pretty easy. I'm sure since then, it's gotten more arduous.

[Nicole Lapin]

So there's no schmuck insurance for the network? They don't take any percentage of it?

[Sabin Lomac]

No.

[Nicole Lapin]

Do you know if that's still the

[Sabin Lomac]

case or does the network take a percentage of the deal?

[Nicole Lapin]

Like if the deal exploded, like Scrub Daddy?

[Sabin Lomac]

Great question. You're good like that, Vanessa. They. In their contracts, they originally had a clause that said that they could take either two and a half percent. I can't quite recall, two and a half percent equity or 5% equity if you air two and a half. If you don't something along those lines, I can't quite remember. But if you, even if you didn't air, so you go and you shoot, you don't get a deal, and they

[Nicole Lapin]

cut you out of the show.

[Sabin Lomac]

Cut you out of the show. They don't even air the episode. They could still take your sales or they could take 5% of. I can't quite recall what it was, but that was one of the reasons we said no too, originally.

[Nicole Lapin]

But then you struck that out, or

[Sabin Lomac]

we got that struck. And Mark Cuban was a huge advocate of getting that out of contracts because he said it's going to dissuade good entrepreneurs from coming on the show, which he's. He was right because, like, we're giving up equity already to the shark. Why would we give up further equity? We don't know how this is going to go. And, and also, what if the episode doesn't even air? What if I don't get a deal? You know, so we can't control that. So Mark Cuban got that nixed, I think, from all the contracts.

[Nicole Lapin]

So you sign your version of the deal. Good on you for redlining that thing. You get Barbara to give you 55k just verbally. You get your wellness check, you go get drunk, you give them your financials. And then what happens? Then Barbara sends you a check.

[Sabin Lomac]

Yeah. Barbara wires over some money, we put in an account and we're partners. That's it. And then she comes to Maine and stays at my house. Want to hear the story?

[Nicole Lapin]

Seriously? Of course.

[Sabin Lomac]

Okay. So I'm on the phone with Barbara Corcoran. This is probably the first, is probably the second time I've ever talked to her. First time was on like a. One of the due diligence calls or something. And so I go, she's coming to Maine. We've now done the deal. She's coming to Maine because they're shooting a at home package for our episode where before the episode comes on, they shoot us in our, in our natural lives. And so she's coming from New York and I say to her, well, you know, I'll get your assistance, some hotel recommendations, you know, in Portland and this and that. You're welcome to stay with me, but, you know, she's like, okay. And I was like, what? She's like, yeah, yeah, I'll stay with you. And I'm like, what? Like, who the. Who does that? You know, no one ever takes you up on that, on that offer. She's like, yeah, I'm gonna bring my daughter too. I'm like, okay, so, you know, a week later, she's at my house. It's just me, Barbara, and her daughter Kate, shooting all day. Then at night, Kate goes to bed. We're in our pajamas playing Scrabble, drinking white wine. And I'm like, what is happening?

[Nicole Lapin]

Wow.

[Sabin Lomac]

Then we go over to my cousin Jimmy's house for lobster dinner. And Jim's parents are like, nice, normal parents. They're like, hello, how are you? Like, my household's different, but Jim's parents are nice. So it's Jim's parents, his sister, me and Barbara and Jimmy. And we're sitting there at the table. First question. She looks over at Jimmy's parents and she's like, so, Julie, Steve, how often are you having sex?

[Nicole Lapin]

Stop it. Barbara.

[Sabin Lomac]

That's Barbara.

[Nicole Lapin]

Okay.

[Sabin Lomac]

So I tell these stories a lot because people are like, what's Barbara really like? I'm like, this. I tell them this to start because it's like. And we've been partners with her for almost 14 and a half, 15 years. So I tell them the story because they're like, dude, that's unbelievable.

[Nicole Lapin]

That's insane.

[Sabin Lomac]

And then she loved the Maine so much, she stayed. She's like, can I stay longer? I was like, sure, why not? Made a vacation out of it.

[Nicole Lapin]

Oh, my God. And So over those 14 years, has she gotten paid out dividends? Like, what have you done with your cap table?

[Sabin Lomac]

We. Everything has stayed the same. We have just paid her.

[Nicole Lapin]

She's the only outside investor.

[Sabin Lomac]

Yep. Yeah, we've paid her just like a

[Nicole Lapin]

profit share each year.

[Sabin Lomac]

We get. No, we get paid. We. The deal was with her. We take money, she gets her percentage. We don't take money. We roll it into the company. Nothing changes. So.

[Nicole Lapin]

So if you and your cousin take a distribution.

[Sabin Lomac]

If we take a distribution, then she shares in it.

[Nicole Lapin]

So how much has she gotten so far?

[Sabin Lomac]

I have no clue. Millions.

[Nicole Lapin]

Millions.

[Sabin Lomac]

We've done over a billion in sales. Yeah, we've done well. Hell, yeah. Yeah. So she's made her money. And. And so, yeah, it's been nice.

[Nicole Lapin]

Congratulations.

[Sabin Lomac]

Thank you.

[Nicole Lapin]

What's the biggest misconception people have about going on Shark Tank and how it will affect their business?

[Sabin Lomac]

Well, I think that people. I think their biggest misconception about going on Shark Tank is that once they go on, they're famous. Once they get a partner, they're rich and they don't have to work anymore. And that's. That. That's not the case. So these sharks aren't going to work for you. They expect you to do your job. And it's just a platform to leap off of and to continue spiraling and getting bigger and bigger and better and better. That's all Shark Tank is, along with a really good partner, assuming you get that partnership. But, but people go on that show so unprepared. It's astounding. And even if they are fortunate enough to do a deal, we've seen so many of these guys just, just do horrible because they don't work. And they think that their 15 minutes of fame is going to last forever.

[Nicole Lapin]

Have you been recognized?

[Sabin Lomac]

Oh, yeah, yeah. I, I, Yes. And it makes me feel great every time.

[Nicole Lapin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sabin Lomac]

I tell my wife I'm a big, I'm a big deal. She's like, just, no, be quiet.

[Nicole Lapin]

I mean, the show has really popularized and made it really sexy to raise money.

[Sabin Lomac]

Yeah.

[Nicole Lapin]

And that's not for everybody taking on private investment. If I was coming to you and asking for advice about funding my business, what would you say to me?

[Sabin Lomac]

Just generally, what would I say about your business?

[Nicole Lapin]

I mean, if I was asking whether or not I should go on Shark Tank to raise money or if I should try to, you know, bootstrap my business,

[Sabin Lomac]

I mean, it depends on, I guess, how willing you are to listen and take critique and take what a shark has to give you. Because if it's just about money and nothing else, then I would say do it yourself. But if you really can utilize what, like, they have to offer, which is, like, immense value, it's unbelievable. Like, what she's taught us and what I know the other sharks personally and what they've helped us, it's a really small knit family, actually. And so if you can take that and actually do something with it, then, yeah, you go on. You, you try to get on the show. It's a beast. It's, you know, millions of millions of people. Our brand is recognizable and largely due to the fact that we've aired. We're the most aired business ever on Shark Tank. So if you ask 10 people, seven of them are going to go, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that, you know, it's pretty cool for a young business.

[Nicole Lapin]

So tell me what Barbara taught you. Well, give me the barber lessons.

[Sabin Lomac]

She taught me first and foremost to be myself and to be authentic and not to be anyone else. And when you're young and you're new in business, you really don't know what that means. And when you're, when you're growing a business, you don't know what your voice is. You don't Know what? That you're not confident in, that you're trying to be. Maybe what your. The books read that you read or the person that you once studied or something. And it's easy to kind of, like, take on this identity that's not really yours. Barbara is so herself. And I tell those stories a lot about, like, you know, how inappropriate she is, but that's truly who she is. So it allows you to be like, oh, my God, if Barbara's like this, then I can be like myself, too. I can. I. You know, maybe my ideas are good after all, because I'm not. I. None of us, we didn't go to business school. We're not polished. We're from small towns in Maine. We are not like this. These savvy business guys, certainly for the first beginning decade. So what she taught us was to be ourselves. She. She encouraged us to be fearless. I always say to be fearless. To, like, take on challenges, not knowing how it's going to go, but to actually do it. Most people don't want to do that. Most people don't want to fail. Their. Their egos can't handle failure. And then a really big thing is, is she asks a lot of questions. And I've noticed that from all the sharks. Like, when I hung out with Kevin o' Leary for the first time, he asked me so many questions about, like, Maine and the lobster industry and this and that, and I was like, bro, what does this guy care? You know, he would ask so many questions. They just want to get better. They. They never want to stop learning. And Barbara constantly, when we first started talking, would interrupt me and say, what does that mean? You know? So I'd say, well, we're doing this, this. And she's like, what does that mean? And it was very, like, blunt, and it didn't sound very intelligent the way she frames it, you know? And I'm like, what the hell? I thought, is Barbara Corkin? How do you not know what the hell I'm talking about? But she really didn't know. But she. Her ego. She has no ego. So she's just genuinely asking. So I do that now. So if someone's talking to me and I don't understand what the hell they're talking about, I don't. And go. I'm like, yeah, I have no clue what you're talking about.

[Nicole Lapin]

Yeah, it takes you a long time to get to a point where you're comfortable enough in your own skin and your own business acumen to do that. I mean, I was a business News anchor before this. And I remember getting to a very specific point when I heard an acronym. And business and finance is full of acronyms that I didn't understand. I could feel confident enough that if I don't understand it, a listener or viewer is not going to understand it either. And there are acronyms for so many different parts of business that it doesn't. You're not stupid for not knowing them. There's like a whole set of acronyms for. Or, you know, maybe the lobster business and maybe the real estate business is different and has different acronyms. Or like bonds and stocks don't exactly have the same jargon either. And that's cool. You can know a lot about business but not know specific jargony acronyms.

[Sabin Lomac]

And, and by asking, you get the answer. You're an intelligent woman, you're not going to forget, you know, so you're automatically better so that those big things stick out with me, with Barbara and, and she's not a polished you. You've interviewed her and if, you know, like, she's wild, but she's, she's so authentic. And so it taught me that I can come in, I can be myself and I'm a good person, you know, like, I'm cool. I'm, I'm. There's, I'm nothing to hide.

[Nicole Lapin]

You're cool. I've. I co. Sign.

[Sabin Lomac]

I'm great. You know what I mean? Like, like I can just be myself and I don't have to be anyone else. I don't have to be this, this Harvard guy. I'm not that guy.

[Nicole Lapin]

And thank God, once the world has enough Harvard.

[Sabin Lomac]

Once, once I learned that and once we understood that, then we really started cooking.

[Nicole Lapin]

Off to the races. So how often do you guys talk?

[Sabin Lomac]

Whenever we want. I mean, we don't have scheduled calls. So at this point it's really. More. Truthfully, it's more like based on like life and family. We, you know, when we met, we were single and living in one bedrooms. Now we have kids and life and businesses evolve. So truthfully, it's more, I'd say it's 50 now about like, hey, let's meet, let's do some PR. Let's shoot some fun social media content. Or 50 is like, hey, I'm in the city, I'm gonna come by, I stay at her house. We, we. She'll not even be in the city and we'll stay at her house. Just like, you know, she's very cool.

[Nicole Lapin]

She's fam.

[Sabin Lomac]

She's fam.

[Nicole Lapin]

What's it like to have a sleepover with Robert Corcoran?

[Sabin Lomac]

Really good takeout Scrabble. We play scrap. I'm a huge Scrabble fan. She's a big Scrabble fan. So we always play Scrabble. Some wine. We talk. We talk about life. My cousin, she has a. She had this amazing vacation home in Utah.

[Jason Pfeiffer]

We.

[Sabin Lomac]

She always extends to us, so we'll meet there a lot and go skiing. And she's just. She's just a normal family person. She's. She's very cool.

[Nicole Lapin]

And if you needed an intro or you've. I go to something over the years.

[Sabin Lomac]

Yeah. So usually what I do is I will think of something or a concept and PR related and I'll say, hey, I saw this or this. The celebrity mentioned that.

[Nicole Lapin]

How do we get to them exactly?

[Sabin Lomac]

And we usually.

[Nicole Lapin]

And she always.

[Sabin Lomac]

I'd say 8 out of 10 times we have been successful or there's a hook. We want to get on Good Morning America and talk about, you know, summertime lobster tails and selling them on our E. Commerce site. Or we're franchising. And I'm. I'm gonna have a big party at our Jersey Shore restaurant. And we want you to come. And. Because she's from Jersey, so, like, things like that, those are more calculated PR opportunities. But she's amazing at that.

[Nicole Lapin]

And it was Barbara Wright that made you think about franchising?

[Sabin Lomac]

It was her idea. I had no idea what franchising was. She said, you should franchise this. And my exact words were, what does that mean? What is that? I had no clue. You know, I know you. There's multiple McDonald's. But I didn't understand the concept. So again, like, she's like, you duplicate it. You know, this is that and the other. And then we did it.

[Nicole Lapin]

But that decision changed everything.

[Sabin Lomac]

Changed everything. Changed everything.

[Nicole Lapin]

And so when you started to understand the ins and outs of franchising, what did you think with the pros and the cons were

[Sabin Lomac]

specifically for our business? There's a lot of pros because we have so many different local intricacies to our business. So let's just use an example of being in Charlotte. I know nothing about Charlotte, and I could pay someone to get me the best real estate in Charlotte for a brick and mortar. But I'm in the food truck business primarily. So we're moving every day, lunch and dinner. I know nothing about the farmers markets or the concerts or the parks or the churches or I know nothing. So finding someone locally that had that then has skin in the Game that wants to actually do this is a good for the franchise model for us. So that was a huge, a huge part of it. And the other part was like, man, it's hard to manage people. It's really hard. Especially nowadays managing staff, very hard. So we couldn't imagine doing it across the country and in these other small markets. So that's why we franchise. And it proved to be like the best thing we could have done.

[Nicole Lapin]

How many do you have now?

[Sabin Lomac]

We have about 110 locations. Yeah, 110 locations.

[Nicole Lapin]

What types of brands should think about franchising?

[Sabin Lomac]

I mean, I don't see why you wouldn't, you know, any brand. I think, like, I deal with a lot of people that have like really good ideas for good. Excuse me, not good ideas, really good stories. And I think that especially food based, like we have a great food story. I'm mentoring a group right now that I met a couple weeks ago that serve African food and their story is really beautiful. That's a great model that can be franchised because they could take that and take it to certain areas of the country that it doesn't exist and it'll blow up. So I think like, you know, so niche, unique foods. Yeah, I mean, I know the food business, so that's why I'm speaking on it. But I just think storytelling is really important. And if you have a really interesting story that can be told and replicated,

[Nicole Lapin]

then I don't know, I get concerned about fish type items. Like in the middle of the country where there's no water.

[Sabin Lomac]

Yeah.

[Nicole Lapin]

Were you concerned about that?

[Sabin Lomac]

You know, when we first started franchising, I was very concerned about anything. I didn't know that this would work anywhere else. And I didn't want to take someone's money and have them not be successful. So I remember using Raleigh as an example. And Raleigh's not necessarily middle of the country, but it's not like a coastal town. And we were busier in Raleigh, North Carolina than we were in Los Angeles. I was like, holy, this is interesting. As it turns out, if I would give you. If you're a franchisee, right. And I was to say, which would you like? New York City or Columbus, Ohio? What would you take?

[Nicole Lapin]

I would take Columbus.

[Sabin Lomac]

Why?

[Nicole Lapin]

I could be like the big dog in a smaller city.

[Sabin Lomac]

Even though it's landlocked.

[Nicole Lapin]

I mean, it does make it tricky for the seafood, just so psychologically.

[Sabin Lomac]

So we obviously I would take New York, right. I'd be like, oh, New York City. Or if I San Diego or Boise Idaho or New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico or Miami. South beach and undoubtedly Oklahoma. Like Oak, we have Oklahoma City. It is one of our best locations. These smaller market areas that are landlocked are filled with people that are thankful for the opportunity to be recognized and they want to try really good seafood or good food in general. It's not even about seafood per se, it's just about they. We pull into the parking lot and they're standing there in the line clapping because we're there. It's astounding. So I just think a lot of these, these cities, these small cities haven't really been given the option of amazing food. That's what I thought.

[Nicole Lapin]

Do you think that's more an indication of the city or the franchisee?

[Sabin Lomac]

Both.

[Nicole Lapin]

Like, what makes a badass franchisee

[Sabin Lomac]

number one? Great question. What makes a badass franchisee number one? You would have to. This is how I size up a franchisee number one. I look at them and I go, what? I want to work for you. My first question in my brain, would I want to work for you? Because if you seem like a person that I would want to work for, you seem firm but fair and cool and kind but hardworking and determined, like all those cool adjectives, then odds are a 25 year old kid would want to work for you. And that's who is going to be working. If I don't think that I would want to work for you because you're pompous, you're arrogant, you're disingenuous, you're not really interested, you're. Whatever you're doing, it's like a side business. Then you won't be able to staff and you won't be successful. So first thing you have to be like, of good, a good people person, number one. Number two, asking questions, humble, willing to, willing to follow the rules. So we've had people that are like trained chefs and I went to the Cordon Bleu and like, bro, we don't

[Nicole Lapin]

want, you know, you say no.

[Sabin Lomac]

No. We say no a lot. You say no way more than we say.

[Nicole Lapin]

So how does that work? So as the franchisor, like you're interviewing people that want to pay you money to franchise your brand and business.

[Sabin Lomac]

We've said no a lot. We've made people really mad actually.

[Nicole Lapin]

Based on what?

[Sabin Lomac]

Most of the time just gut feeling, but.

[Nicole Lapin]

And you just say no to the money. You rather just say, yeah.

[Sabin Lomac]

Well, to put it in perspective, after we went on Shark Tank, we had about 2100 leads and we sold 10.

[Nicole Lapin]

So why so picky?

[Sabin Lomac]

Well, at the time, we didn't know what we were doing, so that was like, a huge indicator is like, this is going to be hard, which it really was. With 10, we didn't want to bite off more than we could chew, but. And it proved to be the best decision. But these people are your brand ambassadors. Like, if they. On your brand, it's a wrap. It's. It's. It's not like people do that in

[Nicole Lapin]

an interview with you.

[Sabin Lomac]

No, not in an interview, but they do it later on. We've terminated franchisees. Like, we've wake. Over the years, we've gotten a lot better, but we give people homework as an example in the vetting process. So let's say you're interested in cousins. Yeah.

[Nicole Lapin]

Yeah. Can we roll?

[Sabin Lomac]

Yeah, let's role play. But, like, I'll get. Like, I. We'll. We'll find out. Well, I'll give you a good example. Example. What we used to do, we used to take them out and get them drunk, and what we would do is we would have the waiter mess up their food and on purpose, and we'd see how they reacted. And if they were kind and empathetic or if they were, like, chippy, we'd. We would. The more they drank, the more honest they got. They always would say, oh, yeah, I'm gonna make some money. And then you're like, I kind of pegged you as the guy that just was only doing this for money. Money is important. Everyone's doing things for money. But it can't be your sole source of joy, you know, at least not with us. It can be with other people. So. And then if the waiter is kind, but you're rude, and if you don't say thank you and if you're just not, like, if you're late on zoom calls, if your emails aren't followed up or punctuation is not correct, things like that, I think, matter, so. And over the years, we've gotten so much better at this vetting process. So much better.

[Nicole Lapin]

Wow.

[Sabin Lomac]

Yeah. And a lot of it's got. It's just gut feeling.

[Nicole Lapin]

I mean, messing up the order is genius. So you go to the restaurant beforehand and.

[Sabin Lomac]

Yeah, they know. It's like a regular check. Yeah. We would just go. We would say, hey, we're going. And they know everyone's meal will come out perfectly. Theirs will come out wrong.

[Nicole Lapin]

And then what do you look for? The reaction?

[Sabin Lomac]

Kindness, empathy, patience. You know?

[Nicole Lapin]

Have people been mean?

[Sabin Lomac]

Oh, yeah, of course. Yeah. People don't. People don't like to not feel special. They. They don't like that, especially. And then in the food business, which is our business, like, to think that you would be rude to another person in the food business is like, yeah, it's unheard of.

[Nicole Lapin]

So no for you, dog.

[Sabin Lomac]

It's a no for me, dog. Like, no, I'm not down with that. I'm not down with people that are rude because that's their best behavior. Right. Then with us, for sure.

[Nicole Lapin]

I mean, I had a former boss that would ask the drivers how the talent who was. Who were auditioning for the network treated them, of course, which I think is great. I actually wanted to pitch a dating show where the driver was like, the Bachelor.

[Sabin Lomac]

Yes. Yeah.

[Nicole Lapin]

What do we think?

[Sabin Lomac]

Yes.

[Nicole Lapin]

Should we go in on this together? I love the Undercover Boss vibe.

[Sabin Lomac]

When you're hiring, it's genius because people are who they are, and you will ultimately get to that. It's like dating, you know, you're like the first date, you're always like, a little buttoned up. Right. And you're. Oh. But like, you can sneak in some things and be like, you know, I'm getting the vibe that this guy is this way or the girl is this way. Right.

[Nicole Lapin]

Maybe sometimes you don't listen to it.

[Sabin Lomac]

Maybe you don't listen to it.

[Nicole Lapin]

Yeah.

[Sabin Lomac]

You know why you don't listen to it? Because you want to settle down. You want to have kids. You're getting pressure from your mom, whatever the. Whatever it is. So you settle down. And that thing that bothered you is still there, except now it's worse. And you're married. Same thing with business and franchising. So we've ignored those red flags for sure. Well, let's just give it a try. And I would say nine out of 10 times we were wrong.

[Nicole Lapin]

What do the economics look like? So not everything's about money, for sure, but there is a lot of money in franchising

[Sabin Lomac]

economics in our business. Or. Yeah.

[Nicole Lapin]

So, like, how much is a franchise franchise fees? 40.

[Sabin Lomac]

40,000 for a fee per year? No, total. That's it.

[Nicole Lapin]

One time.

[Sabin Lomac]

One time payment. You have to buy a food truck or a restaurant. You have to build out. But let's just stick with food.

[Nicole Lapin]

And that's all on you.

[Sabin Lomac]

That's all on you. That's around 300,000, which you can finance.

[Nicole Lapin]

And. But you already spec everything out. So, yeah, they just get the plans,

[Sabin Lomac]

they get the drock. We know how to do it. So for instance, they go to a third party vendor, they pay 300,000, they finance it. So they pay three grand a month for the next however many years. Four grand a month. They buy their initial inventory from us,

[Nicole Lapin]

which is how much?

[Sabin Lomac]

And 50 grand. 70 grand. That's food.

[Nicole Lapin]

And they're off like spices and spatulas.

[Sabin Lomac]

Yeah, that stuff.

[Nicole Lapin]

It's like, all regulation.

[Sabin Lomac]

Yeah, yeah, that stuff's all local. And then we take 8% royalty off of their gross sales. 2% goes to the marketing fund. So 8 plus 2. So 8. So you do a hundred thousand dollars, we take $8,000. You do a hundred thousand sales, we take 8. And 2% goes into a marketing fund.

[Nicole Lapin]

2% of the 8.

[Sabin Lomac]

2% of the. Of the total of the hundred.

[Nicole Lapin]

So they get taken from them each year. But what if they're.

[Sabin Lomac]

Each month. Oh, each month.

[Nicole Lapin]

And what's the average sales like? What are you guys taking in on average a month?

[Sabin Lomac]

Well, per truck, let's just say

[Nicole Lapin]

Mossa

[Sabin Lomac]

Meadows, $100,000 a truck a month. $150,000. 150,000 lobster.

[Nicole Lapin]

What are. What?

[Sabin Lomac]

We just had a truck. We had a truck do. $370,000 in 12 days.

[Nicole Lapin]

Yo, where are they?

[Sabin Lomac]

Albuquerque, New Mexico. 370, 000 in 12 days.

[Nicole Lapin]

Okay.

[Sabin Lomac]

Crazy.

[Nicole Lapin]

Okay, so you guys are taking what, 30, 40 grand of that?

[Sabin Lomac]

We're taking 8% of 300 and whatever. So, yeah, eight times.

[Nicole Lapin]

And then 2% to the overall brand marketing. I see. Okay. I think that in the world of entrepreneurship, there's a lot of sexy talk about raising money and angel investing and Shark Tank and all the rest of it, but I think that owning a franchise does not get enough airtime.

[Sabin Lomac]

I don't know why.

[Nicole Lapin]

I think that it should just. We should put sexy back into franchising. I don't think it gets enough airtime in the overall business discussion.

[Sabin Lomac]

I'll tell you why I think that is. You want to know my take?

[Nicole Lapin]

Please. Of course.

[Sabin Lomac]

Can I get a drum roll? We can do that again. We got that. The reason why, I think, is people don't like the idea of not being creative and coming up with something and not, like, having this, like, genius. It was my idea. I built it. I got the money. I funded. I did it because in franchising, you're following someone else's rules. Rules. Whatever the franchise is, you're saying, hey, hi, I like your model. I want to do it. Please tell me how to do it. And for that and for your IP and for all of your brand recognition, I'm going to pay you this. That's what that is. And I don't think people like that. I think people always want to be like the creatives. It's not like you can still be creative and be a franchisee. You can. We have incredibly creative franchisees that make our business better, but undoubtedly they're following a specific rule that we've created. And I think that for some people, that's not sexy.

[Nicole Lapin]

I mean, it's.

[Sabin Lomac]

How's that take?

[Nicole Lapin]

I. Yeah, I know. I. I hear you. I think, like, yeah, the entrepreneur magazines of the world, you know, they actually do a really big deal on franchising. Okay. So like the Forbes and the Fortunes or whatever, like, they're not. How they don't have, you know, the biggest Duncan franchisee on the COVID I don't know. I think it's big business and it's huge business.

[Sabin Lomac]

And it's incredibly challenging and it's incredible, incredibly profitable.

[Nicole Lapin]

Yeah. And there are a lot of interesting paths to make money. And not everybody is a creative or not everybody wants to come up with, you know, take that risk to come up with the playbook. So franchising is often sold as like, just be your own boss, but it's sort of like, be your own boss in a box. Is that an oversimplification?

[Sabin Lomac]

Yeah, no, I think that's. That's appropriate. I mean, but even just the way you say it, like in a box, it's like, oh, like. But who cares?

[Nicole Lapin]

I love a box. There's so many Amazon boxes.

[Sabin Lomac]

Let's make money. Jesus. Let's. Let's just. If it works, let's just do it.

[Nicole Lapin]

Okay, so approximately how much are the franchise is making a year?

[Sabin Lomac]

It depends on the location.

[Nicole Lapin]

Not top line.

[Sabin Lomac]

I can't really legally tell you.

[Nicole Lapin]

Okay.

[Sabin Lomac]

Yeah, I. I can't.

[Nicole Lapin]

We'll bleep it out.

[Sabin Lomac]

Yeah, let's bleep that part out. Yeah, I can't. I can't. Like.

[Nicole Lapin]

But they're making a good living. Like, you could have one food truck and, yeah, you can have one food

[Sabin Lomac]

truck and have a nice living. But the majority of our food truck owners have multiple units. One guy has 25. And they're all new to business. Food trucks are very entrepreneurial. They're very scrappy. It's very like it to me. It's like really the American dream. So, yeah, you can have one, but once you do one and you figure it out, you're like, I want another one. I want another one. I want another one.

[Nicole Lapin]

Okay. In the world of AI, everybody is hot and bothered about, like, the next big tech thing in pitch decks. You Almost have to have an AI component to it. You are a very old school brick and mortar, touchy feely type of business. So how does a business AI proof themselves these days?

[Sabin Lomac]

How does a business AI proof themselves? Having probably really intelligent, smart people that understand AI on their staff. Like for us we're, and I speak for Jimmy and I were like archaic and we're like, oh, what does that mean? How does that do it?

[Nicole Lapin]

Is that a shtick or is that real?

[Sabin Lomac]

That's real. I mean it's, it's a shtick too, but it's. We're not marketing guys, we're not ahead of the curve. We're not tech guys either. We have young staff and we hire people. We've learned to hire people that are not like us. We're attracted to people that are like us. That's like our ego. Like I'm attracted to women that are like me. No babe, no one else but you. But you know, like that's how I feel like people are attracted to other mirrors versions of themselves in life, in general, in work. I feel like we are attracted to other employees that remind us of ourselves. But you don't want to hire more Sabins. We want to hire the opposite. So we hire people that are young, that know about AI, that can implement things. So just like we have a, we have pre order apps, we have custom apps like a cousins main lobster, all designed by people that are like young 20 year old kids in our office that implement AI for all the ordering and the par levels and spinning back numbers that we used to like crunch and write down and draw and do the old school way. So am I answering your question though?

[Nicole Lapin]

Ish. I mean I'm basically trying to, I think I should understand. Yeah, no, I mean you guys are implementing tech on sort of the parent company level. But I'm trying to figure out like an old school business. You're not a boring business in the traditional sense of like H Vac, but like where do old school brick and mortar businesses fit in this aiification of business? So like if you were 20 years old, imagine today that'd be nice with no money. But you wanted to start a business, would you go for something online or how do you get somebody like that, a kid like that to go into the physical old school business?

[Sabin Lomac]

I would be more of an old school business guy because I'm, I'm too blue collar and not the smartest guy in the world. I would partner with a person that is smart and that would utilize AI and utilize all the new technologies that there are, especially like with social media. Social media is a huge aspect of our business and huge aspect of every business. I think that people don't necessarily do well and make sure that we're doing that well. So to answer your question, I would probably be the old school, like blue collar grinder, but I would want someone or hire someone that could take it to the next level.

[Nicole Lapin]

Yeah, I guess just in the business Zeitgeist. Do we undervalue like real world businesses culturally? Because you know, the robots will, it will take a while for them to take over and the rest of it, we're still going to need to eat right, we're still going to need to get our plumbing fixed. And I think that there's, it creates culture.

[Sabin Lomac]

Robots can't create an AI, can't create

[Nicole Lapin]

culture or community for sure.

[Sabin Lomac]

Yeah. So I'm, that is what I am very good at. And Jimmy, my partner, we're very good at that. Other people who are solely reliant on AI or clicking buttons, they miss that or, or they're just relying on making money. Making money is so important, but you can't make it. I don't think without culture. And some of these biggest brands, the ones that are successful, they have culture within.

[Nicole Lapin]

So you feel like you guys are AI proofed?

[Sabin Lomac]

I don't know. But no, I don't think I'm AI proofed. I, I think that we'd be silly to not utilize the benefits of it. But I just feel like to me the most important thing is you can't, you can't duplicate me and you can't duplicate the heart and soul that I have. And the same thing goes for my staff. Now you can spit out quick numbers and I don't want you working on something that could take five minutes. But picking up the phone, shaking someone's hand, those things are like really important in business. And I think that that's what younger generations miss nowadays. And they all want to get rich and they don't want to do the, the hard work. And the hard work is, is that interpersonal stuff.

[Nicole Lapin]

That's what I'm saying. It's all connected. Bring sexy back to franchising to old school businesses.

[Sabin Lomac]

That's what we do. But you know, we don't, you know, the way you describe it makes it sound a lot more eloquent, you know, but truthfully, that's what we do. We are very, very good at, you know, do we deliver a product, but we're kind, we shake people's hands. You Know your girl from Maine, she knows. You go into a restaurant, people are shaking your hands and saying thank you. That's what we do. We're appreciative. And that doesn't always result in billions in sales. You have to have AI and you have to have a good idea. You have to have some PR and you have to mix in all these things. But most people are forgetting that part and they're just doing the other stuff. And you can't shortcut that.

[Nicole Lapin]

I do have a line in one of my books that say, if you want to appreciate, then appreciate.

[Sabin Lomac]

There you go. Oh, I like that. If you want to appreciate, appreciate. It's true. You listen.

[Nicole Lapin]

Like being saved and approved.

[Sabin Lomac]

Saban approved. I love it. If you want to. If you want to make money. Everyone wants to make money.

[Nicole Lapin]

Yeah, dude, we're Money News Network.

[Sabin Lomac]

That's everyone wants to make money, but they can't shortcut and circumvent the process. And they can't trick the consumer. You can trick them for a little bit, but you can't, like, long term do it. You have to be a good person and you have to put in, like, the work.

[Nicole Lapin]

All right, I saved my most important question for last. This is serious Stretch.

[Sabin Lomac]

Take a Zen breath. My middle name is Zen, by the way.

[Nicole Lapin]

Is it really?

[Sabin Lomac]

My mom's a big hippie in my house.

[Nicole Lapin]

Yeah, I was just gonna ask.

[Sabin Lomac]

Not kidding. A lot of weed and everywhere.

[Nicole Lapin]

Lobster rolls, Maine style or Connecticut style?

[Sabin Lomac]

I was afraid of this. Okay. One of the more popular one. Connecticut style.

[Nicole Lapin]

Explain.

[Sabin Lomac]

Warm with butter. That's our best seller. However, if I was to answer anything other than Maine, I would get a call from my mom. It's probably smoking a joint right now, and she would yell at me and say that I'm banished to the cellar. It's very main.

[Nicole Lapin]

Is like the mayo, the maybe celery.

[Sabin Lomac]

No, not in our rolls. But yes, sometimes yes. If you want to. If you want to flirt with that, I'm going to send you some lobster. You can do whatever you want to do with it. With our rolls, it's just a little bit of mayonnaise. Lobster chilled. It used to be like a leftover thing. So let's say we did lobster for dinner. Woohoo. The next day you'd grab a hot dog roll, throw some lobster in there. She knows, right? And then you'd have a lobster roll. This is like a very blue collar, like leftover thing. They used to serve lobster to prisoners in Maine. I don't know if you know that. Did you know that?

[Nicole Lapin]

I didn't know that today.

[Sabin Lomac]

And they would revolt and say, this is unfair, because they'd serve it six out of seven days. But then it became popular and sexy. So to answer your question, I'm Maine. Most people, Connecticut.

[Nicole Lapin]

Are your kids like, no more lobster?

[Sabin Lomac]

Dad, they love it, man. My kids are so fun. My daughter is just starting to get it. But my son loves to go to the trucks. He likes to work. We were at an opening this weekend in Louisville, and he was, like, handing out stuff. Follow us on Instagram. You know, he doesn't even know what Instagram is, but he's like, follow us.

[Nicole Lapin]

Put him to work, man.

[Sabin Lomac]

I do. I had him working on the line this weekend, I swear to God.

[Nicole Lapin]

Let's go. We'll put him on payroll. You can start a custodial Roth ira.

[Sabin Lomac]

It was really cool. That's the best part is, like. And he. He's like. He's like, dad, I want to. Are you ever going to sell cousins lobster? I go, nobody. He goes, I want to be the boss.

[Nicole Lapin]

Like, okay, A. I love him.

[Sabin Lomac]

He was really cool. Oh, he's the man. Shout out to Enzo.

[Nicole Lapin]

Enzo.

[Sabin Lomac]

He's my guy. Yeah, he's my guy.

[Nicole Lapin]

It's Lorenzo.

[Sabin Lomac]

Enzo only.

[Nicole Lapin]

That's it. Love that.

[Sabin Lomac]

Yeah, he's a man. He's a man. I'll show you a photo after.

[Nicole Lapin]

He's the next CEO. You heard it here first.

[Sabin Lomac]

You go.

[Jason Pfeiffer]

Help Wanted is a production of Money News Network. Help Wanted is hosted by me, Jason

[Nicole Lapin]

Pfeiffer, and me, Nicole Lapin. Our executive producer is Morgan Lavoy. Do you want some help? Email our helpline@help wantedoneynewsnetwork.com for the chance to have some of your questions answered on the show and follow us on Instagram, Money News and Tik TokoneyNews Network for exclusive content and to see our beautiful faces. Maybe a little dance.

[Sabin Lomac]

Oh, I didn't sign up for that.

[Nicole Lapin]

All right, well, talk to you soon.