← In Search Of Excellence
In Search Of Excellence
John Terzian: The King of LA Nightlife and Building The h.wood Group from Scratch | E156
01:02:09
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- [00:00]
John Terzian
Tell us how someone gets banned from the Queen Mary.
- [00:02]
Don Terzian
Rented out Queen Mary. They don't do like rentouts like that at the time. So I had convinced them it was a wedding and this party was absolutely insane. The Queen Mary was completely thing almost got shipwrecked. The guy that I convinced, when he came in and saw that it wasn't a wedding, the look of disappointment on his face to me was so sad. So they put me on a very serious ban list.
- [00:22]
John Terzian
You're working for DJ AM. He's with Travis Barker on his Lear 35. A jet. The jet crashes.
- [00:29]
Don Terzian
I had stopped working for them five months prior. The plane went off the Runway. It was a very rough situation.
- [00:42]
John Terzian
Welcome to In Search of Excellence, where I get to meet some of the most successful, iconic and interesting people in the entire world today. My guest is one of my closest friends, Don Terzian, who's the co founder and runs the Hwood Group, which owns 11 incredibly successful and iconic nightclubs and restaurants around the world, including Bootsy Bellows and Nice Guy Delilah's. And they have six more. They're building on the horizon. John, thanks for being here.
- [01:05]
Don Terzian
Thank you.
- [01:06]
John Terzian
Welcome to In Search of Excellence.
- [01:07]
Don Terzian
Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
- [01:09]
John Terzian
I always start my podcast with our family because our family helps shape our values, our personality, and our future. Your dad, Dick, was a lawyer who represented the city of Malibu, among other things. Your mom, Kathy, was a schoolteacher. What was it like growing up in Westwood and how did your family influence your future?
- [01:26]
Don Terzian
Yeah, I grew up in a. You know, it's funny, I was like, didn't realize it till later, but I was kind of like the black sheep of the family. My, you know, my mom's a teacher, music teacher, and fourth grade teacher my whole life. My dad's an attorney, loves the law. That's why I ended up going to law school. My brother's a die hard lawyer. And so, you know, they, I think the whole life I was the only one that was a little different. I was an artist, you know, I was in sports, you know, things like that. But I had a. You know, they really shaped me because at the very end of the day, you know, the best people, they were the absolute best people. And that was the only thing they asked of me, is to be a good human. So that's something that it's really like stuck with me and kind of who I want around me as well.
- [02:07]
John Terzian
I mean, I met your parents several times at our charity event. They're incredibly proud of you and it's fun to just see them. If I can use a Jewish word or, you know, ask my son up there. Look at, yeah, look at what he's done in his life.
- [02:22]
Don Terzian
Yeah, well, they thought I was, you know, look, it's nice that now they thought I was insane. When I got out of law school and didn't pass the bar, I went to work for a dj. So they at that time thought I was absolutely out of my mind and thought I was going nowhere. So I think it's good now that they're like, they can be proud of me.
- [02:37]
John Terzian
You're very cool guy. You make fun of me that I'm not that cool and I'm not that cool. But when you were.
- [02:43]
Don Terzian
I appreciate your non coolness. I think it's a good aspect, it's a good attribute. Why?
- [02:47]
John Terzian
Why is that a good attribute?
- [02:48]
Don Terzian
I think it's better to be that way. You're just natural.
- [02:50]
John Terzian
I, I, it's funny because you'll make fun of me that I'm out past 10:00 at night, which, which I do.
- [02:58]
Don Terzian
On occasions so often you get, you.
- [03:00]
John Terzian
Take it, I take it.
- [03:01]
Don Terzian
You take it late night.
- [03:02]
John Terzian
Yeah. When Madison gets all dressed up and then I, you know, we've been at nightclubs in, in Vegas who've been to some of your places, and I'm in there for half an hour and it's like, you know, why, why do you want to go home if I got all dressed up and we're here for the night?
- [03:14]
Don Terzian
So I think it's amazing.
- [03:16]
John Terzian
Take a nap. What were you like between ages 3 through 10?
- [03:21]
Don Terzian
I don't think I've ever really changed who I am, which is pretty, which is pretty interesting in the sense I've kind of always been the same way. I mean, I'm interested in what I think, why, I think I, whatever success I've had in hospitality, I think has to do with my natural liking of a lot of different things. I have a, you know, love of art and a love of sports and, you know, love a history. Like I'm in like different pockets of like, life and I've been that way since I was a little kid, you know. And so I think, you know, my thing was always, even when I was a little kid, I remember Even at like 6 and 7, I was always the one to bring everyone together. So if it was my family, I was the one to make them all laugh. I was the one doing skits. I was the one, you know, and then that went, that went into elementary school and high school. Like my House. And what I did was always the glue of everyone around me, my friends and family. It was like my thing was always like being kind of like the center of bringing everyone together, you know, and that's kind of always how I've been, you know.
- [04:27]
John Terzian
At some point you picked up a football.
- [04:29]
Don Terzian
Yep.
- [04:29]
John Terzian
And you must have been pretty good at football because you started for a very competitive high school in la. Why don't you tell us about when the first time you picked up a ball?
- [04:37]
Don Terzian
Well, I played, you know, basketball was my main sport my whole life and I absolutely, like, loved it and lived and breathed it. And then, you know, one day I was like, I want to try, you know, in flag or whatever it was. I can't remember, I think seventh grade. And you know, while I, while I don't have the speed I had, I had a good arm, you know, I just was naturally able to do it, which a lot of people, I guess aren't. And I ended up going into it and loving it, you know, and so played at Harbor Westlake. And I think it really shaped a lot of what I do because of, you know, as a quarterback. And at the end of the day it's, it's very. That the skill set for that has to do a lot with being a leader in business, in life. And then I went on and was a walk on, on the USC team, you know, as a quarterback, as like six string, but.
- [05:22]
John Terzian
Right, we'll get to that in a minute. But what did you do to train to become a quarterback? I mean, I, I have a great arm as well. I can throw a professional ball 50 yards with tight spiral with some heat. I could have never played because I couldn't take a hit and I wasn't that athletic and I was very thin. I mean, you're small for a quarterback as well and you were playing at a major, major high school.
- [05:46]
Don Terzian
You know, one thing I did, I, I have a, I have an insane work ethic, you know, much like, much like you, from what I know. And I had that at a young age and I didn't know how. I mean, I'm a crazy work ethic. And I, and I just were, I, you know, I was, I was doing, you know, morning trainings and weekend trainings and like everything, you know, under the sun of what it would take to be a quarterback. And you know, I didn't have that in my family. No one was in sports. No one was in, no one was in that really. So it was really me learning that and just working my ass off you.
- [06:20]
John Terzian
Know, so you went to USC on an art scholarship, but you didn't take the art scholarship. And as you said, you're a walk onto the football team.
- [06:27]
Don Terzian
I went. I was going to go to Michigan. I got an art scholarship to Michigan.
- [06:30]
John Terzian
Man, you made the wrong choice.
- [06:32]
Don Terzian
I accepted. I went to Michigan. And it was. I know you're, you're, you're a Michigan guy. My entire life, I grew up on the Fab Five. And I was obsessed with going to Michigan because my whole family went to usc. I was, I was like, I had to do something opposite. And I just love Michigan, and I go to Michigan. It was good. It was fine. I was going to do it, and I was going to do art there. I was gonna give up football because the only ones that were really interested in me in football were very small schools. So I had to make a decision if I'm gonna go on to be football or if I'm gonna go on to have a normal college career. And so that's what, you know, that's what I decided to do. And, you know, art was still, is my passion, you know, So I was like, okay, I'll do that. And then I had a friend was a little older than me or a year older and was like, come down to a party at sc and I went to usc and I called my parents and I'm like, I don't know why anyone would not go to this school. I'm not going to Michigan. And they were like, well, you've already accepted. I'm like, I. Because I had applied to like five schools and USC was one of them, and I had gotten in. I was like, this is the only school I'm going to. So went to usc and I wasn't on the football team or anything, but I get a call midway through my, like, freshman year from the, from the coach. I thought it was a prank call, to be honest, but the coach of the time, Hackett was his name. And they wanted my. The tight. The starting tight end for me was the star of the country for. In high school, Alex Holmes.
- [08:04]
John Terzian
Alex. Yeah.
- [08:05]
Don Terzian
And they wanted him so bad, and he said he'll only go if I play, if I walk on. So I, I, you know, I was like, look, I'll take it. So I walked on. And I mean, it was grueling. I, I was the, I was the lowest totem pole, but I, it was really good. You know, I have to say, looking back on, it's amazing, but it's, you know, 5am workouts every day. Then Practice, then class, then practice and film. Like, I mean it was, it was intense, you know, and I. You don't get a red shirt when you're as low totem poled. So I mean you get annihilated.
- [08:35]
John Terzian
Great student. I think you had a 3.7 GPA at USC.
- [08:39]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [08:39]
John Terzian
And one of your roles there was to help recruit the players.
- [08:42]
Don Terzian
Yep.
- [08:43]
John Terzian
So tell us. Hey John, this is coach Hackett. We got some guys coming in. We'd like you to take them out to restaurants and nightclubs.
- [08:53]
Don Terzian
No, yeah, it didn't, it didn't exactly look at that. But it, but it like morphed into that, you know, which is interesting because I do credit almost everything that I'm doing today with stemming from that actually because basically the coaches started to recognize that this like fist string football player who was never going to play in the actual game. I was friends with all the players, like I was hanging out with them and they were like, you know, you have a good, like you're from la, you kind of know the thing where you get along with all the players and you know, we're, we're in the, we're in the hunt on recruiting. Why don't you take out, I can't remember at the time, the first person take this person out, he's coming in town, we really want him. And so I did and I really got along with that family. And they were like, whatever you did was amazing. Could you do that more to me with, with incoming recruits? And so I did and I ended up like really putting together a program with Alex, to be honest. Holmes of like taking these recruits out, having like a really good time, showing them, like showing them like what it, what it's like to come to la, usc, you know, everyone, you know, one of the big things is being homesick. Your kid from Georgia or Florida or whatever it might be, it's like so they got to feel a family, you know. And I learned that at a young age and I, and I, and it really grew big and I, and like what I'm doing today with Hwood, a lot of it grew out of that thing because I did that for years and that, and that's how that came about.
- [10:21]
John Terzian
Today the best players go for the money, right? Nil. They have. Michigan paid Bryce Underwood number one player in the country, reportedly $10 million. There are all kinds of people who got involved with that. Back then it was different. The players could not take money. And one of the things I wanted every school, and I know this from players and coaches, the Recruits would come, and part of the fun of the party was helping the recruits have sex with women. I mean, that. That was going on everywhere.
- [10:49]
Don Terzian
Yep.
- [10:50]
John Terzian
Did you see any of that at usc?
- [10:51]
Don Terzian
I. I really didn't, actually. I know that's a big thing now. You. You would have parties where you'd have, like, girls and whatever, but I really didn't see anything as crazy as that in that regard. I think that was like, a lot of, like, older years of things, but that was not anything that, like, went down with, like, what I was in. What we were involved with. Ours was more like entertainment, fun. Like, you know, you would take. It's funny, you would take, like, a restaurant that, like, was, like, dead on a, you know, late night, and we just fill it with, like, the, you know, fun people and, you know, in college. So it's like, you know, you create a little. A little fun vibe, and that's really what it was. And more handholding on, like, their family and stuff. But, you know, back to your point, on the people take the money. That is only I have learned because I'm pretty active in the. In the USC nil world. What I've learned is, is that goes for a certain top person, you know, be tough to tell a kid to, like, not take $10 million, you know, or whatever it is. But those only. There's only a few of that. Everything else under. Under that. I will say that this still comes down to, like, having the right feel and the right people, and it's not just about the money. And I. And I've met. I've met, you know, a good amount of these kids and, like, and their families. And I think if I think more, I think it's. I have to say, I think it's swung back a little bit that it's, yes, you need some aspect of the money. It can't be nothing anymore. But I do think it's more about the right fit, you know, which gives some hope because the nil world's out of control.
- [12:27]
John Terzian
You were throwing parties in college, and you were basically bringing people to restaurants, including celebrities. So how on earth does a kid in college know celebrities well enough to say, hey, come join us, and we're gonna have a fun time at this restaurant?
- [12:42]
Don Terzian
Well, I didn't know, you know, this first of all, way back then, totally different time. There wasn't even paparazzi, you know, and so part of my. Part of something that I'm fortunate about was that I was from. I'm from la and a handful of my friends Started to become pretty big, you know, celebrities, acting and music and things. And so when I was doing parties and bringing people together and they would come just because they're my natural friends, it became a thing, you know, and so that's really how it worked then. And, you know, at the end of the day, even to this day, you know, mo. Like, it's a natural thing. It's a genuine relationships, you know, that's. That's the way it works best, you know.
- [13:25]
John Terzian
So who are some of these people back then, when you're in college, who became celebrities as and you were bringing to these parties?
- [13:30]
Don Terzian
I don't know if it was bringing to them, but it was more like the ones that were around were like, you know, the Paris Hiltons of the world and the Olsen twins. And, you know, they were. They were all in the same, you know, circle of friends, you know, if you will, you know, and so that's, you know, Lindsay Lohan, you know, like that at that time, it was like everyone was around, and then you'd have. You'd have a good mix of people, and I kind of went from there.
- [13:56]
John Terzian
You know, there's a concept that goes on at restaurants and nightclubs. Nice. Nice restaurants and nightclubs. That restaurants will actually pay people to bring in beautiful women and models and they eat for free. And that's a foreign concept for people who don't live in LA or New York. Was that. Was that happening? Was that part of the deal is you're going out and. Wrangling is the word that I hear lots of times where you're a promoter and, hey, you know, your job is to find beautiful women and bring them in and get paid for it.
- [14:27]
Don Terzian
Well, I was a promoter, A promoter for a lot of years. I don't think. I don't think. I don't. It's not so much for restaurants, for nightclubs. Nightclubs, you. Nightclubs, You. You get paid to bring people in for restaurants. It's pretty rare where you're paying for. I don't know of anyone paying to bring. Bring people to restaurants, but they eat for free. A lot eat for free.
- [14:49]
John Terzian
Yeah. My wife said she never paid for a meal in New York.
- [14:52]
Don Terzian
A lot eat for free. That's just crazy.
- [14:54]
John Terzian
I said, gosh, that's so unfair. That's discrimination against guys.
- [14:59]
Don Terzian
That. That's different because that. That would be. You know, first of all, New York is a different, different, different situation. But, yeah, they would do. Tons of cops know, celebrities get comped all the time too.
- [15:10]
John Terzian
Right?
- [15:10]
Don Terzian
You know, so that's that's part of it all.
- [15:12]
John Terzian
Do yours pay when they come into the nice guy in Delilah? Yeah, everyone, it's, Everyone pays.
- [15:17]
Don Terzian
It's too hard to like. It's too hard. The nightclubs are different. The nightclubs, you, the nightclubs, you comp a lot of people. You, you, you have to, you have to do that to create a party.
- [15:26]
John Terzian
So if Bieber's coming in a nightclub, he gets a table, he's got the alcohol and he's, he's not paying.
- [15:30]
Don Terzian
It's more about whoever is a friend of mine, you know, and that is there. You know, I think that's, that's more of how, of how it is. Or me or my partner Brian, like one of us. If we're, if we're, if it's the right thing, then, yeah, you know, but that's very. That's the nightclub world versus the restaurant world.
- [15:48]
John Terzian
Tell us how someone gets banned from the Queen Mary.
- [15:52]
Don Terzian
How'd you know that? Did I tell you that?
- [15:54]
John Terzian
No.
- [15:55]
Don Terzian
Oh, my gosh, that's so good. The Queen Mary. I think I'm still on their band list. Pretty sad, actually, because my wife, my wife one year or one of us was like, we should take the kids there. I'm like, in my head, I was like, I don't know if we can.
- [16:09]
John Terzian
Go there where you can't go back because they've got your photo somewhere.
- [16:17]
Don Terzian
The USC parties that I was doing got really big. Really, really big. I grew a really big company, actually. I did it. Two of my best friends, Rick and Brandon were with me on it and we did this thing where we, we really grew this thing to be. It was a pretty massive company and ended up being passed down. And so we, you know, in the height of it, I basically rented out. Not basically rented out, Queen Mary, however.
- [16:48]
John Terzian
What does that cost, by the way? I mean, that's a huge give. Give people a sense of. People don't know what the Queen Mary is. It's in Long Beach.
- [16:55]
Don Terzian
It's in Long Beach. Yeah. I don't remember what it was. I, I want to say a few hundred grand or something.
- [17:01]
John Terzian
I mean, the ship must be a football field. Long football field.
- [17:05]
Don Terzian
Wrong. But it was an off night. It was like a whole, like a Monday or something. And. But this is where, you know, I'll admit it and I, they, you know, they don't do, they don't do like rent outs like that at the time. And so especially not to a college kid and especially not for. So I had convinced them I really like Went in and convinced them a whole other story of what it was. It was a. It was a wedd. And it was like a whole thing around it. Like, I did this whole thing. Like, it was. It. You know, it was, you know, looking back on it, not something I should have done in that regard. But I really wanted to do this event there. Right. So rented it out. And this party was absolutely insane. It was like one of the best events we've done. I've done ever. Ever. Like, it was insane. But the place just got. I mean, the Queen Mary was completely. The thing almost got shipwrecked, you know, and.
- [17:56]
John Terzian
And you obliterated the Queen Mary.
- [17:58]
Don Terzian
And the guy that I conv. I'll never forget the. The head of it. When he came in and saw that it wasn't a wedding, I mean, his. He. The look of disappointment on his face, to me was so sad. I was like, oh, my gosh. Like, I, like, felt really bad. And so they put me on a very serious band list.
- [18:14]
John Terzian
That's why that same night, he said, man, you're done.
- [18:16]
Don Terzian
Oh, they. They took down. I mean, it was. It was not pretty.
- [18:20]
John Terzian
Did they kick everybody out that night? Or. Or you couldn't. They did.
- [18:22]
Don Terzian
We had thou. We had thousands of people there. We do. Because when I was doing this at the time, it was like ticketed events and things, you know, it was like a whole.
- [18:31]
John Terzian
People pay to get in, and then you make a profit based on the revenues, less the rental costs.
- [18:38]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [18:39]
John Terzian
Where they're more sponsored sponsors. So what kind of money were you making on an event like that back in college?
- [18:45]
Don Terzian
You know, I don't remember on that event, but I was. I was. We were making good cash at the time. Like, it was.
- [18:51]
John Terzian
It was real $10,000 a party.
- [18:53]
Don Terzian
More.
- [18:54]
John Terzian
More.
- [18:54]
Don Terzian
Yeah. In college, it was great. I. You know, I was like, I'm. This is, like, this is the life.
- [19:01]
John Terzian
Yeah. I mean, my son, you know, Charlie.
- [19:03]
Don Terzian
I continued through law school.
- [19:04]
John Terzian
Yeah. So let's talk about law school.
- [19:06]
Don Terzian
They want to hear what Charlie did.
- [19:08]
John Terzian
What? Oh, no, he. Well, you know, Charlie does a lot of things, but he is 21 now, legal, and so, you know, he'll pay in high school. He'll pay 50 bucks to get in some. Someone rents out a house, they trash the place, by the way. So I don't know who these idiots are renting out their house. And, you know, Charlie says they're packed with people. So these guys are making, like, you said, cash, you know, taking cash at the door, you know, 100 bucks ahead he said, there's 500 people there. I mean, that's 50 grand.
- [19:34]
Don Terzian
No, no, I was, yeah. And I had a whole system. I had a big event once a month, and then I had multiple small events during. So I was making, you know, big events. You'd make, you know, 15, 20 grand. Small. Small events. Few thousand, you know, so it's crazy. And when you're in college, it's like.
- [19:50]
John Terzian
You know, you go to law school, your dad's a lawyer, your brother Jim is a lawyer.
- [19:54]
Don Terzian
Yep.
- [19:55]
John Terzian
And you didn't pass the bar?
- [19:57]
Don Terzian
No.
- [19:57]
John Terzian
Did you try?
- [19:58]
Don Terzian
I did. Twice.
- [20:00]
John Terzian
You did. And what was it? You just didn't study? No, I studied, but it just wasn't your thing.
- [20:04]
Don Terzian
It's a very big thorn in my side.
- [20:06]
John Terzian
Yeah. It makes you, makes you stronger.
- [20:08]
Don Terzian
I, yeah. Although I never passed. It's a hard one, you know, in that regard. No, I really, I really did. Now I was working, you know, I was, I was at the time I started to work for. Upon going on to the second one, second bar, I started to work for the kind of the first celebrity dj, DJ Am and his manager Larry. And I was fortunate enough that they spotted me and took me in. They were like, you know, do your thing with us. You're great. So I was kind of like an assistant and, like, everything for them, like, literally. And so I think on the second one was. And we were opening the first club called lax. I think on the second one, I was a little, ironically, I did. When you're close enough, you, they send you how many points you missed. And so I was off by like nine. Like, it was crazy. First one, I clearly just didn't, you know, and then I was like, you know what? It's just not for me. I was never going to law school to be a lawyer, ever. There was a chance I wanted to be a sports agent because I worked for a sports agent. And I obviously liked that. You know, every, every guy loves, you know, has that dream of the sports agent world at some point, you know, type of thing. But I, I, it wasn't for me. I really went, you know, my dad was pretty serious about. He was like, the one thing I ask is you, you get a law degree no matter what you do, I don't care what you do in life, have a law degree. And I'm very thankful for that because my mind is so artistic, like, so off into artistic land that law school really grounded it to speak, read, write, and think in a processed way, like tenfold. And, and really speaking, it does a Does a whole thing for some, for someone like me. And so I think that's why I'm really appreciative of that. I went, even though it was not fun for me.
- [21:58]
John Terzian
Right. As you know, I also went to law school. Hated every minute of it, hated practice. I had probably the worst start to a career. Three jobs in eight months. Basically told to leave. Well, one's told to leave for sure, and the other move. Move or leave. So I had a record. But me, I. I feel the same. Like, I. Today, I learned how to think in a different way. A structured way, a very focused way that I didn't have before. But it was very painful. Reading every day case law and just like every word. I just can't stand what I'm reading and what I'm learning. But I think graduate degree is a helpful thing for a lot of people. Do you agree?
- [22:33]
Don Terzian
I fully agree. I think look, to each their own, you know, I know a lot of successful that don't, but. But I do think it ma. I do think it helps you see a difference. At least myself, there's a difference in level of reading, writing, thinking, processing. It's definitely a big difference.
- [22:51]
John Terzian
So when we work for people, crazy shit happens sometimes. You're working for DJ AM. He's with Travis Barker on his Lear 35. A jet. The jet crashes.
- [23:00]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [23:01]
John Terzian
When did you learn about that and tell us about your fear of the PJ now.
- [23:06]
Don Terzian
Yeah, it's. It's rough. Yeah. I mean, I, we. I had. I had left. I had stopped working for them, for AM and them, I don't know, maybe five months prior, six months prior. And they took. He took a different, like, assistant on the. On the trip, you know, because I didn't leave his side in that regard. And the plane went off the Runway and everyone passed away. And besides Travis and AM and really, like, haunting to think. A, I would have been on that. B, really brutally sad for the people on that that passed away and their families.
- [23:53]
John Terzian
People died in that because they didn't die, though.
- [23:56]
Don Terzian
No, they jumped out. But it was a rough scene. It was a very rough situation. And I. It's been, you know, I'm. I'm better on the. On the private jet now, only because there's. There's. I don't know, but it's been a. It was a fear. I mean, I would not take one for years and years and years. And to this day, I went to therapy over flying overall to this day. And I have to travel quite a bit. And to this day, I Dread every moment of getting on a plane.
- [24:30]
John Terzian
You planned my bachelor party. And we'll talk about that later. Later for sure. That was an incredible weekend. But I remember one of the guys in the group got us a private jet and he said, I'm not going on a private jet. So you and I sat back and coached, I think on a Delhi Southwest flight. Oh, I could, you can see everyone piling a private jet. Like, you know, John's my guy and obviously we're, we're going together.
- [24:53]
Don Terzian
Sorry for that.
- [24:53]
John Terzian
No, I'm sorry. It was great.
- [24:54]
Don Terzian
I don't think I would do that today again. You know, the jet was too small. They're a lot better.
- [24:58]
John Terzian
They were cramped.
- [24:59]
Don Terzian
I, I will not take a, I mean I sound like a. I, I can only say this because I don't own a private jet, but I would not take, I would not go on a small one. Yeah, I go on heavy set ones only. Then I'm, I'm okay.
- [25:09]
John Terzian
Right?
- [25:09]
Don Terzian
But I am absolutely hate it.
- [25:12]
John Terzian
Right?
- [25:13]
Don Terzian
Hate every aspect of flying.
- [25:14]
John Terzian
Madison. I, we, we had a portfolio company. They were having a kickoff party up in San Francisco and I, I couldn't make it because of the kids. I said no one. So one of the guys sent us a VLJ, very light jet. HondaJet Eclipse, I think it was. And it's a four seater. And I, I just wondered if I could get into it because I'm very claustrophobic. And we get in and the thing is decked out. It's very, very nice. So we get there, we fly into a rainstorm that was coming okay. A little shaky on the way there, on the way back. We nearly died. We're, we're coming into Santa Monica airport, which is where people on the west side flew take off and land from the jet was like a salt and pepper shaker. I've never been any, I've never seen anything like that. We're going to die. I said to Madison, we're going to die. We're going to die. She's calm as can be. You know Madison very well. And I'm dying. And then I was worried the plane was going to break apart and the two pilots, young, 30 year old Marines, stocky, and you could see the forearms of these guys just. And I kept trying to talk to them. We okay, we okay. No response. And they were trying to get me. This was jet suite before they had the, before they had, you know, you could fly commercial. You know, they wanted you to buy into their partnership or whatever. We get to Santa Monica Below the clouds. And I'm like, all right, this is so great. We're going to be fine. And there's a system on these jets where the, like the mayday system comes on if something wrong is happening. So we're coming down to the Runway and the lights start blinking. Abort, abort, abort. And you could see this thing going like 3ft off the Runway, 4ft off the Runway. We're going to land. If we land, we're going to land on one of the buildings, the hangars. And all of a sudden you could see these guys again, just thrusting. You could see their muscles bulging. And we get up through the sky, we're fine. We're like, that was the craziest shit. That was probably the closest I've come in my entire life to dying. We land at Burbank and we're like, okay, so we gotta get Uber back to Santa Monica. Our car's there. It's like one in the morning. The guy picks us up in the Uber and he has three teardrops coming right outta the eye tattoos. And for those people who don't know what that is, those are kills. Those are gang guys. If you have a teardrop, that's a kill. So we're driving back with some guy with three teardrops. And I'm saying to Madison. So we pretended to get on the phone with someone fake, and said, oh, yeah, we're getting picked up. Yeah, this driver, he's cool, his name is Miguel. Whatever. We're in this car and it's like, yeah, the ride's easy. The ride's easy. We kept the phone open the whole time.
- [28:08]
Don Terzian
I bet you won't fly a small plane again.
- [28:10]
John Terzian
No, I'll never get in that plane again.
- [28:12]
Don Terzian
That's the, that's the thing.
- [28:13]
John Terzian
Yeah. You know, some of our friends have planes and it's. It's nice. You know, we've. We ride a couple times. I don't like taking things from people. I feel obligated. So we'll fly coach sometimes when people. People ask, but, you know, the private jet is. Is the ultimate luxury.
- [28:28]
Don Terzian
Totally agree.
- [28:29]
John Terzian
Lax, you don't own it. You work there and you mop floors. One of the things today that I think a lot of our generation, they don't like doing the shit work. How important was doing the shit work? Like mopping floors to your career?
- [28:43]
Don Terzian
I think it made. I think it was the make or break for me, I have to say. You know, And I hate to. I hate to. You're right. And I hate to sound like the old guy, but I have noticed the generational issue where it's like they're skipping so many steps. But yeah, I like, you know, mop the floors, I counted the cash, I made sure the repair maintenance, I made sure the promotions were good. Like, it was like all of the above doesn't happen anymore at all. And like, I don't where I think the issue is. My theory always is you could drop me in the middle of a foreign town and I'm going to figure it out with my business. I'll figure out. Figure out the restaurant, I'll figure out whatever. Because I had that background, I think where a lot of the new generation, I won't say everyone is. They're skipping that major step of learning the building blocks and learning the work ethic that goes into it. And who knows? We'll see what happens and shakes out from it.
- [29:47]
John Terzian
All of your venues have people who work in the bathroom full time. Most of your venues, the nicer ones, you got people who work full time in the bathroom. They're dressed nicely. They have the mints there and the toothpicks and whatever else. They have tip jars there. And I like taking surveys in my head and just counting what percentage of people are leaving tips for men and women who work in the bathroom. I mean, if you think about this, the bathrooms are smelly, the people are drunk, the guys are sometimes peeing on the floor. They got to clean it up. I always make sure to tip everyone 20 bucks in whatever venue that I go into. And it just, it makes me mad that everyone just ignores them, basically.
- [30:32]
Don Terzian
I know. I agree.
- [30:33]
John Terzian
How, how hard are those jobs to fill or how many people are applying to work full time in one of your bathrooms?
- [30:39]
Don Terzian
You know, we. I think we use outside services now on making sure to find that because it's not easy to find to find staff. It's not easy at all. You know, so you're. It's good that you do that because not enough people do. Not enough people are like treating people well like that. It's crazy.
- [30:57]
John Terzian
I mean, they love me because I'm the biggest tip in the jar. And then when I come back to the bathroom, we had a few beers or whatever. It's like, you know, they're your best friend.
- [31:04]
Don Terzian
Yeah. Yeah.
- [31:05]
John Terzian
At our charity event, you know, that we had at your venue, and we'll talk about that 100 bucks, you know, just to make up. Just to make up for it. Because, you know, people are just not tipping. Like, that's our, our event. You Know, we invited people there.
- [31:18]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [31:18]
John Terzian
And it's like, you know.
- [31:19]
Don Terzian
No, you gotta, you gotta. You gotta take care of people that are working. I. I always really try to, like, you know, my big thing is always like, bussers. They're the ones killing themselves.
- [31:28]
John Terzian
Yeah.
- [31:29]
Don Terzian
When you look at a busser and they're. And everyone's kind of ignoring them, so it's. It's always really good to like, pay attention to those. To those jobs and in these places.
- [31:38]
John Terzian
So let's talk about the busters. I was a waiter in college and in law school. Chi cheese.
- [31:44]
Don Terzian
Chi cheese.
- [31:45]
John Terzian
The Olive Garden.
- [31:46]
Don Terzian
Oh, it wasn't all of.
- [31:48]
John Terzian
Oh, no, both, Both, both. All right.
- [31:50]
Don Terzian
We split chi cheese and olive.
- [31:52]
John Terzian
Yeah. You know, like it. Chichi's had a little tight with shirt. Spanish style with little frills on the arms. It was not the most masculine thing.
- [32:03]
Don Terzian
I like it though.
- [32:04]
John Terzian
Yeah. Good, good, Good experience. You really learn the customer service business when you're a waiter.
- [32:09]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [32:10]
John Terzian
Tell us how the split works. So you get a tip. Talk about the restaurant split, and then the bottle girl split. In terms of who gets. Who gets what do the waiters have to give to the busboy? Give to the tip jar, to the general staff?
- [32:23]
Don Terzian
Well, so one thing's very important. We cannot get involved in tips as a. As an owner. So you have to be very careful on. On that. That's. That's number one. Number two are you're referring to. So when you're saying bottle girls, that's for the. Or bottle. That's the nightclubs.
- [32:39]
John Terzian
The nightclubs. But so restaurant. Like when I was a waiter.
- [32:42]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [32:42]
John Terzian
I had to give a certain amount to. I forget what percent of my tips. And then that was split between the bus boys.
- [32:49]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [32:50]
John Terzian
Who don't get tips.
- [32:51]
Don Terzian
Right.
- [32:51]
John Terzian
And that was a big part of their comp.
- [32:53]
Don Terzian
So we do pooling. And so the, you know, the pool. The pool will decide on what they're going to tip out to. Bussers and whatever. It honestly varies. It varies everywhere. Bartenders sometimes have their own tip pool. So it can vary, but we have to stay very careful about not being involved in the tip process, because California law. So. But yeah, that's. That's how it goes. We do it. We're. We're a house tip pool.
- [33:24]
John Terzian
Let's talk about your first club that you actually raise money for. The Stork next to a mall.
- [33:29]
Don Terzian
Yeah. Well, attached to a mall.
- [33:31]
John Terzian
Yeah. Attached to a mall.
- [33:32]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [33:33]
John Terzian
Two story building, Warhol windows.
- [33:36]
Don Terzian
Well, I put those in.
- [33:37]
John Terzian
You put in the Warhol Window.
- [33:38]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [33:39]
John Terzian
So it was an old.
- [33:40]
Don Terzian
Yeah, it was an old Carl's Jr. At the side of Hollywood and Highlands. I have no idea what I was thinking. I was just a complete moron, you know, But I had a vision. I think I was a little ahead of my time with it because what I built there is really what I'm doing today with places. But it was like an old, it was an old Carl's Jr. It was like a bad space to take. And then we rebuilt it all and I, and I went super, you know, had Warhol windows shipped.
- [34:09]
John Terzian
What does that mean, a Warhol window?
- [34:11]
Don Terzian
I'm a big, I'm obviously big into art and furniture and stuff. And so I'm a big vintage. Vintage shopper. Right. Sorcerer. And the, the Warhol's factory was up for auction. The. You know, the factory in that he did all his art in. In New York. And so there was a way to get the windows which were like gorgeous. These gorgeous windows that did not get made today. And like crazy colored glass, like a slightly frosted glass, like, you know, stuff that doesn't get made today. It was like really cool. And shipped them from, you know, New York and did a bunch of things like that, right. And built this insane. I think it was like 14, 000 square feet, two story. Called it the Stork, which was a. You know, I've always had a love of history and historical old school places. The Stork Supper Club in New York was like one of the cool old places. And so that was, you know, we raised money from friends and family and, and launched it. And it was my first thing, but I went a little too hardcore. Like, you know, you had to recite a poem to get in the door. You had to do.
- [35:23]
John Terzian
Well, let's talk about the tea room separately, because that was separate, right. From historic.
- [35:27]
Don Terzian
No, tea room came later.
- [35:28]
John Terzian
But I thought the poem was for the tea room.
- [35:31]
Don Terzian
No, it was for. In historic.
- [35:33]
John Terzian
Okay, so that's sort of nuts.
- [35:35]
Don Terzian
Yeah, it was nuts.
- [35:36]
John Terzian
So that's pretty cool. It's very cool. I mean, it's very different.
- [35:40]
Don Terzian
Very different.
- [35:41]
John Terzian
So how old are you at this time, at this point when you're, when you open the store?
- [35:45]
Don Terzian
I was 27, I think 28. It was 2007, it opened, so. Yeah.
- [35:54]
John Terzian
And you raised 2 to 3 million dollars for it?
- [35:56]
Don Terzian
Yeah, yeah. And who'd you go to?
- [36:00]
John Terzian
I mean, your parents, right?
- [36:01]
Don Terzian
Parents, friends and family, you know, and it's a great learning lesson. Unfortunately didn't work out, but we built everything off of it, you know, we were always able to bring good crowds. So we brought such big crowds that it actually became a. Ended up becoming a public nuisance. But the tea room that you're talking about, the tea room was actually a pretty cool story. And why, what I think I learned from that is what we ended up kind of building off of with H Foot.
- [36:38]
John Terzian
Can we just go back before we get into the tea room for one second? Who did you go to to raise money at 27 year old, first time raising a lot of money like that. And then how did you convince people to invest?
- [36:52]
Don Terzian
Well, I went to, you know, I had a pretty great network. You know, fortunately, thanks to Harbor, Westlake, usc, Pepperdine, Law School, you know, family and friends, I had a, I had a good network. You know, I'm, I think most, I think everyone, whether, whether they be hard pressed to find someone to not say that I'm extremely above board. And so I think that's always really important for an investor. So even at a young age, and I think, I think that's always good that I had gone to law school because at least I had some experience, some under me. But I think even at a young age, with zero credibility for owning a place, the one thing was, was having that, you know, people knew that. I've never done a drug in my life, you know, I'm not into it for, you know, anything other than business and being above board, you know, and we didn't, you know, I didn't take a salary that whole time. Stork. I mean, I lived at home with my parents, you know, so I did stuff that people wouldn't do. You can't predict success or failure, but you can, you can behave in a way that makes people, you know, trust you and know that, you know, you're in it for the right reasons. And that's how, that's how I was. That's how I am to this day, you know, and we had like 30 investors, literally 30 or 40 investors, like a public offering.
- [38:14]
John Terzian
So 25 $50,000 checks.
- [38:17]
Don Terzian
25 up to like 150, I think, was, was what it was. Yeah.
- [38:21]
John Terzian
So tell us about Samir and the Tea Room.
- [38:23]
Don Terzian
So the Tea Room. I wish I still had it. Very special place. Basically what we realized was at the time we, we changed the name from Stork to H. Wood and it was this big place. It was a restaurant, nightclub, lounge, everything. And one thing that we did have going for us is we were always bringing, at the time, the paparazzi world was getting big and we had, we were bringing big, like, friends that were becoming pretty big celebrities and they needed a place to like, have a privacy. So we had this dead space. It was legitimately a storage closet. It was like the size of, I mean, it was, I think, a thousand square feet, which is very small. And I had my friend from high school, Samir, who had come to me about his family was big in the tea world and he had this idea about this is all at the same time, he had this idea about doing tea infused liquor and making it like healthy and wellness and kind of all the above. So we had this idea of putting together this kind of interesting idea where it's called the Tea Room. So it's like people feel kind of good saying they're going to the Tea Room, even they're going to a bar and making it the most exclusive place, like by a landslide, since it's small and like off to the side. And that's what we ended up doing. And it became literally the biggest hit in la. Like, that was like, that was the place that everyone wasn't.
- [39:52]
John Terzian
Katy Perry coming to the Tea Room. And that helped, People knew, knew she was coming there. So that helped sort of put you on the map.
- [40:00]
Don Terzian
Yeah, she was a massive supporter. You know, stuff like that, like made a massive difference, you know, and we had a handful of those that, that would come and be there. And it was just, honestly, it's a good little, good little vibe. And the dj. The DJ was on a piano, so it was like a fun, you know, different thing. It was just, it was cool, you know, it wasn't, it wasn't stuffy when you got it, like when you were able to get in, it was just like, you know, you, you, you had gotten in and it was like a good little vibe.
- [40:29]
John Terzian
We'll talk about why it shut down in a minute. But Stork shut down and then you reopened it a few months later as H. Wood. Correct. So now let's talk about you being harassed by the police.
- [40:45]
Don Terzian
Yep.
- [40:46]
John Terzian
And picking you up, driving you around, dropping you off in the middle of nowhere. Crooked cops.
- [40:54]
Don Terzian
Yeah, they were, they were, they would come in and arrest, handcuff me. They, they took my partner, they took Brian to jail, you know, handcuffed, took him in.
- [41:05]
John Terzian
He was put in a cell by himself.
- [41:07]
Don Terzian
Yeah, they, they, they would handcuff me and drive me around. They were wanting a payoff because I think vice was getting paid off by everyone else.
- [41:17]
John Terzian
5K a month, was it going right back then?
- [41:19]
Don Terzian
Something like that. And, you know, there was in my head at one point, I was like, man, do I just. Like, what do I do? But I've just. It goes back to how you're raised. You know, my, my, my dad and mom are so above board and you like, thank God that that's how I was raised, because can't ever go back when you change that way. So I just, I stayed super firm. And look, I lost the battle because they ended up getting us shut down. But thank God I never paid anyone off and thank God I never did because they turned out to be crooked cops. They got caught. The guy, the main sergeant, got caught years later on taking bribes and whatever, but unfortunately he had, you know, done this thing with us and run us out, you know, And I'll never forget, you know, we went to court on this public nuisance. And I will never forget sitting there, the entire LAPD force came in to testify. It's crazy. It was so sketchy.
- [42:20]
John Terzian
The police brotherhood and what's crazy.
- [42:24]
Don Terzian
And so now. And ironically, I'm so active for the LAPD now, and they're amazing. I'm on, you know, I help with the lapf. And I think it was just a bad. It was just a bad, you know, sergeant, bad cop, honestly. So bad little bad little section.
- [42:41]
John Terzian
It's crazy.
- [42:41]
Don Terzian
They're all out.
- [42:42]
John Terzian
Well, it's crazy that they took these bribes for a long period of time and they didn't get fired.
- [42:49]
Don Terzian
Well, they got fired and I think they got fired in the end. Years later. I'm not sure what ended up happening, but. But pretty sure got fired or went on whatever. But it's crazy. And it's like they don't teach you that stuff in, you know, when you're coming out. It's like they don't teach you how to handle that, you know. Very scary getting handcuffed and driven around. Very scary.
- [43:11]
John Terzian
I've been handcuffed before in a police car. It's. It's crazy. And, and I'll tell the story here. You know, the first time, there may or may not have been a second time, but I had a girlfriend who lived in Brentwood. I lived in Brentwood. And I was on the enter list and I had a key. I left my key at home. And she, you know, we were in a fight and then she texted me, okay, come on over. So it's like 12:00 at night, and I go over there in my big Detroit Red Wings hoodie and my sweatpants. I've got slippers on. And. And her roommate hated me because when you have a boyfriend as a roommate, and the boyfriend takes over. Then you're blowing off your roommate so they're no longer friends. So she really despised me. And so my girlfriend at the time was drunk and had taken some nyquil. So I get in because they let me in. I'm on the list. And I get in there, and I'm knocking, like, on the wall, and I'm saying, hey, I'm not going to mention her name, but I said, hey, hey. And I gotta know who it is knocking on there. I'll tell you when we're done shooting. And I'm knocking on the door, and, you know, I'm like, hey, let me in, let me in, let me in. And I'm standing out there for maybe five minutes. The next thing I know, elevator opens and. Have you ever had a gun pointed at you with one of the red lights? No. Circling your chest?
- [44:38]
Don Terzian
No.
- [44:39]
John Terzian
So these two guys, three people come out of the elevator. They're shouting on me, get down, get down, get down. And there's a red dot circling on me. Down now. Down now. They come up and they basically push me onto the floor. Knee in the back, handcuffs behind the back. I'm thinking, oh, my God. Like, this is fucking nuts. What's going on here? And I saw my whole career flash in front of me, right? Like, I'm this successful businessman. I think I have a good reputation. And I'm on the floor with a knee on my back like I'm a perp. And the guy stands me up, leans me on the wall. They frisk you.
- [45:18]
Don Terzian
Yeah, right.
- [45:19]
John Terzian
And then he said, you know what. What are you doing here? I was invited. My girlfriend lives there. When I said, I have a BlackBerry, you know, let me get it. Like, I'll reach it from your pocket. And there was some code when you call in. Breaking and entering. Yeah, there's some code that goes out on the radio. And these cops will put the sirens on 100 miles per hour. You get where you're going, someone could get murdered right now. And they blow through stoplights, they put themselves at risk, and their adrenaline's pumping when they see someone standing outside someone's place. And so I said, let me get out the BlackBerry. And I said, no, he'll put it out. Turn it on. I still have the cuffs on. And I had to turn it on and give the guy the code, the. The password. And then he said, uncuff him. Because I said, hey, come on over. And the cops were fucking irate. Absolutely irate. And. And I. I Said the cops, you should arrest the girlfriend. And by the way, to this day, to this day, the police report is still there. Like you can't waive it from your record, huh? Yeah. They told me, you know, no one would ever find this. And I deposed one day.
- [46:37]
Don Terzian
Oh, my gosh.
- [46:38]
John Terzian
Here you go. Here you go. But I did something very smart, by the way. And again, we'll talk about preparation and how that's a key part of my success. I thought about in the future. I said, all right, not going to marry this girl. I gotta get something in writing.
- [46:55]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [46:56]
John Terzian
So I had her write a letter to the police.
- [47:00]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [47:01]
John Terzian
This was completely unfair. It never happened. It never should have been. And then I had notarized. Right. Just thinking ahead, you know, not that I'm gonna run for office, you know, that would never happen, but I thought, hey, I gotta never know. Gotta speaking career.
- [47:14]
Don Terzian
You never know.
- [47:15]
John Terzian
I know. I definitely know. So you have a lot of failures.
- [47:20]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [47:20]
John Terzian
And you're 27 years old, you're penniless.
- [47:23]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [47:24]
John Terzian
And you move back into your parents house in your childhood bedroom.
- [47:27]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [47:28]
John Terzian
Tough time.
- [47:29]
Don Terzian
It was a low time.
- [47:31]
John Terzian
We've all been there. What were you thinking when, you know, can you remember the day where you, you actually were moving back in and you got your suitcases or boxes sort of sitting on your bed that night?
- [47:41]
Don Terzian
Yeah. I mean, I do remember. I do remember moving back in. And I do remember. It's so weird because I think I have like, I think I have like almost sometimes an unhealthy optimism, but it's gotten me through life, so I can't knock it because I just, I think I all, you know, most, I think most people at a time would be so depressed. And I was more the opposite. I was more like, I'm gonna find, I'm gonna work harder. I'm gonna like do X, Y and Z better. I'm gonna, you know, it's like a crazy fire under me. You know, at no time, I remember my parents one time were like, okay, what are you gonna do now? I'm like, what do you mean? And they're like, you want to go to. You want to go, you know, figure out job wise? I'm like, no, I'm. I'm doing this. And they're like, literally nothing. Like, so it was a low time. However, I really put a lot of fire under myself. You know, that's, that's like, that's how I get through it, through things.
- [48:42]
John Terzian
How part. How important is failure and resilience to our future success?
- [48:47]
Don Terzian
It'd be hard pressed to find not failing to be successful. I don't know how. I don't know how it happens because you almost have to. And it's unfortunate because I'm sure there's people that are very successful that had no failures. But I don't know, I mean, it's crazy because you need that drive. I always say that I. I work like Kobe played, where it's like you just. I always have to have some sort of like anger in me. And. And I don't mean that in like an actual way. I mean it like I'm like driven to like, I gotta like win. I gotta like have. I gotta have it be the best I got, you know, and if you don't have that failure under you, I'm. I'm very thankful that, you know, knock on wood are my big failures were early. But you never know. We have failures along the way constantly. You know, it's just all how. It's all how you take it and pivot and react and we have to.
- [49:40]
John Terzian
Take a step back sometimes to take a step forward. So the next job you got was at the Beverly as a promoter. So, you know, you no longer own a club, you're back to a promoter. So you're taking a massive step back. You're getting paid to bring people in to the Trousdale. So tell us about, well, to the Beverly. And then tell us about Guy Starkman, the relationship there and then how that basically turned back to where you wanted to go.
- [50:08]
Don Terzian
Yeah, it's like, you know, it's. You never know where life's going to take you. So I'm really big on relationships and kind of like just believing in letting things like, come as they do good work and see how things play out. And so Brian, my partner Brian, who we started H Wood together in store, he was always really close with Guy Starkman. And Guy was like an older version of us. He had Guys, he had Jerry's Deli, his family was Jerry's Deli. And he had Truesdale nightclub. And then he had turned his one nightclub called Guys into the Beverly. And Brian was like, you know, we lost Hood, we lost all of our clubs. You know, he's like, I'm either going to go back to business school or. And I'm like, can't. Like, we have to. We'll rebuild, we'll figure something out. And he got us. You know, Guy was like, I'm opening this, why don't you come? Like, really be a major part of it. So me and Brian went and did that, opened it, and were promoters for it, which, you know, I absolutely hated that. Going back to that. However, I embraced it and like, you know, both of us, and we did a good job. And luckily, you know, we're. We stayed close with him and luckily, you know, he came to us one day and he had another club and he was like, if you guys could raise some money, why don't you. I don't care anymore about this. He's like, why don't you buy Trousdale for me? So we did. We raised some money and $2 million. I don't remember what the total was at the time, but around that. Yeah, around 2 million.
- [51:42]
John Terzian
One million, I think, went to Guy and another million went to build out the club.
- [51:46]
Don Terzian
I'm not. I don't remember exactly the thing, but. But whatever. Whatever it was, it was. It was. It was probably around that, but we. We bought it and we had this idea. I had. I had been. I had mutual friends with David Arquette, who was just coming off of Beecher's Madhouse, and he had this whole idea that I love to do this experiential nightlife nightclub world, which was really innovative, innovative at the time. And I love the fact that all of our. All of our big, like, friends and family and clients were all in that West Hollywood area so we could like, really capitalize. And so that's. That spot ended up becoming Bootsy Bellows, which was a wild success. And we named it after his mom. His mom was a pinup girl in the 60s. Her name was Bootsy Bellows. So we had this whole thing where puppets walking around and burlesque girls and it was just a fun, very interactive nightclub and that. And it was really that. That, you know, got us back on our path. And we were like, we can. We can really do this. You know, that's. That's from. From there. So thank God, you know, for Guy and doing. Taking a step back, as you said, because, you know, had. I had too big of an ego and said, no, I'm not going to go be a promoter. I would have never really been in that position. I wouldn't be here today.
- [53:09]
John Terzian
One of the biggest mistakes for people in the workforce when things aren't working out or they're not happy, is they're not willing to take. Take a step back to move forward. I think it's absolutely crazy.
- [53:18]
Don Terzian
It is. It is crazy. But you have to. It's. You have to. You have to learn how to do it, you know, suck it up. You have to learn how to do it and not hold on.
- [53:27]
John Terzian
A lot of our success, cool things happen at specific moments. July 5, 2012. Katy Perry's movie comes out that night. And she brought everyone back in a van to Boosie Bella's. I think it was your first night opening. So she had Justin Bieber in the van. Big, big night for you.
- [53:44]
Don Terzian
Yeah, that was a big night. That was a good night.
- [53:47]
John Terzian
You weren't expecting her to bring. Come up, come that night and bring all these cool people.
- [53:51]
Don Terzian
No, but, but she's like, you know, she's. She's one of the greatest supporters to us. So, you know, that's a, that's a. That's a good one. But yeah, that stuff like that, like.
- [54:00]
John Terzian
Really catapulted us, you know, that I am responsible for almost burning down Bootsy Bellows and Katy Perry, saving Bootsy Bellows from burning to the ground.
- [54:12]
Don Terzian
Why? I don't know about this.
- [54:14]
John Terzian
So the story was, I'm single and it's really awesome for a not that cool guy like me to have friends like you that are cool. And I remember said, hey, Randy, what are you up to tonight? And I said, oh, I've got this date with this girl. It's a first date. Said, why don't you come by? Katy Perry is having a private party for this guy Faraz, who she just signed. He's a piano player who's gonna be the next Sam Smith. Like, no, I'm not sure. He said, come on by. So went to Boa Steakhouse across the street. And then I went to Bootsy Bellas. You know, you wanna go there? I wanna go there. And Bootsy Bellas had a second room in the back for those people don't know. There's a piano there and beautiful booths. And we had one right next to the piano and there were these little votive candles. And at some point, I'm sitting there talking to this date, first date, and it starts smoking and there's smoke coming up everywhere. And she had this beautiful white leather jacket that actually caught on fire like there were flames there. And Katy Perry comes over and notice it and takes the jacket that was burning and starts slapping the votive candle like this. And it was just. It was a crazy story. The story gets a little. Yeah, I saved you. The story gets a little crazier.
- [55:35]
Don Terzian
Sounds like Katie saved us.
- [55:37]
John Terzian
Yeah, Katie saved you. Yeah, it was my fault.
- [55:40]
Don Terzian
You were the arson.
- [55:41]
John Terzian
Very unresponsible guest. The story gets a little crazy, by the way, and I'm going to divert this For a little bit, because it comes back to Katie. I went back to her apartment that night, and she had all these nice clothes, and she just moved to Los Angeles. She was a model. Her dad was a police officer up north. Her mom was a hairdresser who was cutting hair in a small town for $12, a haircut. And so she had moved here, and she had only been here for two months. She had all these nice things, Barney's bags in the closet. And I later learned that she was. And this happens in la. I didn't know this thing was a thing, but I found out that a wealthy man was paying her a certain amount of money a year to give her a car and clothing allowance. And then he could. I mean, you've heard these stories. I mean, I didn't know this even existed. Right. This was in the movies. And so this was your first date? This was our first date.
- [56:44]
Don Terzian
How'd you meet her?
- [56:45]
John Terzian
On Facebook, she wrote. And by the way, my wife knows the story. She thinks I was creeping, by the way, when I was single, people would set you up on these blind dates. Oh, is she beautiful? Whatever, whatever. And then you get there, and it was like false advertising sometimes. And so you go to Facebook and 30 pictures don't lie. And so this woman had posted. I'd friended her weeks out and said, who's going to Vegas this weekend? I had no plans on going to Vegas, but I said, hey, I may be there. And so that started the conversation. And then, you know, et cetera, et cetera. So I learned this. Of this relationship. I'm like, okay, this is absolutely nuts. We're done. The Grammys, as you know, has this charity function the night before and where all the people who are playing at the Grammys play. So I was invited. I went. And I mean, everyone was there. I mean, Bruce Springsteen was the main guy, played seven songs, but I mean, everyone. Neil Young. Katie played, and I saw Katy, who was sitting, you know, two tables away, and, you know, I love Katy Perry. And I wanted to go take a picture of him, so. Hey, Katie, I'm Randy. I met you with John. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She didn't know who I was, but yeah, yeah, yeah. And I said, do you remember the fire and you slapping down the Jag? And she said, yeah. And she said, you still dating her? And I said, no. And I just gave her the one lighter, and she said, what a fucking bitch. So that was the last time I saw Katie.
- [58:16]
Don Terzian
I like that.
- [58:17]
John Terzian
There you go. So I'm glad I didn't Burn down your van. Actually, I'm glad I'm not responsible for burning that. Bootsy Bellows.
- [58:23]
Don Terzian
Very glad. Thank God.
- [58:25]
John Terzian
So Bootsy's a hit. And right around the time that a little later, you had a concept for a West side venue at a hotel. I'm not sure how much you want to get into this, but someone stole the concept. It became massively successful. And the guy told you, you're going to be a no 1, so I'm going to take advantage of you.
- [58:47]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [58:48]
John Terzian
What happened? What can you say publicly? And then how did that motivate you and say, hey, screw you, I am going to be somebody and we'll see what happens.
- [58:57]
Don Terzian
Yeah, you know, I won't. I won't name names, but yeah, we created a whole really cool concept that I was. And this is actually right before Bootsy Bellows.
- [59:07]
John Terzian
They were kind of.
- [59:08]
Don Terzian
Same time. Yeah, I, you know, since I long time west side and I knew that, like, there needed to be some sort of new nightlife in the west side. I grew. I'd grown up there and my family's all Santa Monica and all that. So I was like, you know, there's gotta be something there. So I created. Or we had my company team and I had created this, like, really cool concept to do at a hotel. They stole it and, you know, really, like wrote me a, I don't know, 10 grand check or something, which to me was a big deal to like, I couldn't not take a. To like not sue them. Right. So I was so angry that, you know, I went and convinced. I went and found another bar next to Giorgio's. I started to go in there, total shithole.
- [59:55]
John Terzian
Total shithole called the Hideout.
- [59:57]
Don Terzian
Called the Hideout. Yeah. I took my wife on our first date, was basically there at Giorgio's. And I was like, I want to see this place next door. So we went in there and she was like, there's literally holes in the wall. Like, it was. It was absolutely crazy. Flies on, like the bar and stuff. It was pretty bad. But I had convinced, you know, it had been dilapidated. And fortunately I had waited around long enough for weeks, and I had convinced the owner to give me a shot. And I think the way I convinced him is I said, I told him the story of how I'd gotten screwed. And I said, I'm so hungry. I'm going to. Literally anything my entire life is going to live and breathe this place. I'm going to crush it. And so he was like, okay, it's yours. And he gave me 100 grand to redo it, which is insane. But I redid the place for 100 grand and turned into what I called Shore Bar. Had a hybrid model where there was a members room up top, everyone had a locker. It was a whole touch and feel thing and became a massive hit. Massive hit. It really like, was like the west side nightlife. And so, you know, we don't, we, as of last year, we don't have it anymore. But it was a 12 year run. Long time for a bar. Yeah, yeah.
- [61:16]
John Terzian
You made me cool because I got, I got the membership. Yeah, it was packed. There were lines out front. I'd just be like, oh, you know. Yeah. Randy. Yeah, you remember? Oh, yeah. I mean, they all knew that we were really good friends.
- [61:27]
Don Terzian
Yeah.
- [61:28]
John Terzian
And so there was a second level where that was really cool. There were lounges. I mean, downstairs there are a couple of booths, stand up tables, and then there was a big lounge upstairs. We had your own bartender. So.
- [61:39]
Don Terzian
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's funny, that model to this day is what I, I see. What works is that very de touch where it's like, you know, you have that people want to have that extra level of care and so that's. That really worked there.
- [61:53]
John Terzian
Welcome to part one of my incredible interview with one of my closest friends, John Terzian, who's the founder of the H. Wood Group, which owns 11 of the most successful nightclub and restaurant venues around the world. Stay tuned for some of the craziest customer service stories you've ever heard in your life.