1258: Jo Irizarry, Serial Entrepreneur and Investor at Barbs-B-Q and Thorn & Bred

Summary

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Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast #1258: Jo Irizarry, Serial Entrepreneur and Investor (Barbs-B-Q & Thorn & Bread)

Release Date: March 5, 2026
Host: Eric Cacciatore
Featured Guest: Jo Irizarry
Episode Focus: The realities, values, and strategies behind building and supporting restaurant concepts—especially in challenging times, and the personal journey of transformation behind success.

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Episode Overview

This episode offers a deeply candid and wide-ranging conversation with Jo Irizarry, a self-described “serial entrepreneur” who has built a career investing in and mentoring restaurants, notably Barbs-B-Q and Thorn & Bread in Lockhart, Texas. Jo shares her personal and professional journey—from humble beginnings and early entrepreneurship, through struggles with addiction and grief, into recovery and vibrant business leadership. The discussion weaves practical advice about restaurant operations with broader themes of mentorship, community, mental health, and the evolving restaurant industry—culminating in a powerful call for authenticity, service, and transformation in business and life.

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Key Episode Segments & Insights

1. Mantra & Motivational Foundations

[04:47] Jo’s Core Value: Service to Others

• Jo opens with her guiding principle:

  “I feel like … the reason that I’m here, spiritually, emotionally, and physically, is to help others… to be of service to people who are trying to start businesses and don’t know even where to start. But they have a dream.”

• Host Eric emphasizes the cyclical nature of helping others as the driver of personal and industry growth:

  “The most successful restaurateurs out there, they figure that out. The more I help others, the more I get help. It’s a win-win and it’s beautiful.”

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2. Portfolio Snapshot: The Many Roles of Jo Irizarry

[06:13–07:57]

• Jo’s Current Roles: Restaurant investor (Barbs-B-Q, Thorn & Bread), accountant, property manager, launching a CPG (Thai sauce line), mentor for restaurateurs (especially women), and founder of a mental health nonprofit.

• Core Business Advice:

  “In the industry, the first thing you do is come up with an idea and have a passion about it. Why? Your why? And then find yourself an accountant. Like, immediately.” (07:57)

• On Failure and Persistence:

  “You have to do like 10 of things for one of them to work... Every time I get a no, like if it’s a failure, or it doesn’t work... I’m so much closer to the big yes or the big success.” (08:27)

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3. Barbs-B-Q: Operations, Labor, and Cost Realities

[10:04–16:35]

• Barbs-B-Q is a small (1,000–1,500 sq. ft.) counter-service barbecue restaurant in Lockhart, seating ~40 inside.
• Unique Barbecue Model: Different production, food cost, and labor structure versus other restaurants.
• Prime Costs & Profitability:
  • Labor: ~21–22%
  • Food Cost: Often 40%, sometimes as high as 50% (brisket prices have tripled since opening)
  • Profit margins: 10–15%, after all expenses, including rent (which is “a very sweet deal”).
• Labor Philosophy:

  “We do not require our people who work for us to work more than 40 hours a week. Ever.” (13:10)

• Scarcity/Sellout Model: Only open Fri/Sat/Sun, close at sellout, limited operating hours for efficiency.

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4. Thorn & Bread: Café Concept, Local Markets, Challenges

[17:00–22:38]

• Model: Café/counter service, homemade goods, grab-and-go, popup brunches; emphasizes working with local bakers and popup chefs (including vegetarian, vegan, and Thai).
• Challenges of Small Town Economy: Lockhart’s small population (~same 200 regulars), crowded with 8 barbecue spots; high food costs (~40%), slim profits, careful attention to pricing and market fit.

  “Those of us who do what we do here on the square, specifically, we are doing it out of love for the community, because we are definitely not making money.” (88:57)

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5. Personal Backstory: From Poverty & Early Work to Entrepreneurship

[25:51–44:33]

• Formative Experiences:
  • Grew up poor, started working at age 14 (JCPenney), supporting her family and learning the value of work and giving.
  • Early management roles in grocery chains.
• Entrepreneurial Spark:
  • Opened a sporting goods store after witnessing a “pain point” in her community (“Sporting goods isn’t for girls—it’s for men.”–ex-husband. “Okay, so the next day…[I opened my own store].” (32:56))
  • Built and later sold the lucrative business; went on to high-churn sales (Nextel, Sprint), then eventually found her passion pulling her into the food world.

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6. Culinary School, Struggles with Addiction & Grief, and Radical Transformation

[44:33–71:48]

• Went to culinary school at 42 “just to learn,” working full-time, active in alcoholism (“one or two bottles of wine a day”; eventually a “high-functioning” alcoholic).
• Personal Crisis: Loss of her son to suicide, two DWIs, deep depression.
• Pivotal Moment:

  “Physically, it was taking such a big toll on me... I go home and I’m like, OK, I’m gonna stop drinking. On March 27th is my final day to drink... I call 911, and they come and pick me up…I tell the doctor: ‘I don’t want to drink anymore’...he says, ‘I’m going to take care of it. But you have to do everything we tell you to do. Are you willing?’” (61:44–65:04)

• Recovery: Rehab, support systems, finding new community and purpose; decided “to only surround myself with people that were good for my mental health.” (70:25)

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7. Mentorship, Leadership & The Role of Authenticity

[45:55–51:54, 81:44–86:53]

• Philosophy on Sales & Business:

  “There’s a humanity to me, I believe. There’s a humanity and transparency and there’s an actual curiosity about people that really serves me well.”

  • Importance of vulnerability:

    “People want to feel connected...telling my story, being vulnerable...maybe they can find something in your story that can help them.” (46:19–47:09)

• Key Leadership Pattern:

  “People wanted to refer business to me...that’s what I grew into—being a very important connector.” (49:15)

• Advice to Others:

  “I have never seen a person who was not passionate about something become highly successful.” (87:33)

  • On partners: “I can see things for you that you can’t see for yourself…You might have a limiting belief about yourself, but I have an unlimited belief about you.” (87:14)

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8. Community, Events, the Transformation Economy & the New Role for Restaurants

[95:07–112:56]

• Winning Strategy: Host events that genuinely connect people—craft days, clothing swaps, DJ mornings, sober book clubs, grief groups, birthday and celebration parties.

  “What is shifting towards is events that bring together community...It’s almost like we’re going back in time to the 60s and 70s where people are really forgetting about their phone…” (105:36–106:48)

• Mentoring & Incubation: “Why can’t we be the incubator for these people who have product that we can bring in and showcase by having popups, by having chef guests?” (110:00–111:00)
• Industry Perspective:

  “The restaurant industry has gotten so transactional and so about media and so about awards and so about scale that we’ve lost sight of what it’s all about…the restaurant industry has always been about being a public space for people to come and congregate and be together, joyfully, with human connectivity.” (107:52–108:23)

• Transformation Mindset:

  “My job is to be the high vibration. I walk in a room, and I know I change the energy... I have a great life, and if we stop and think about it, we probably all have a pretty good life. But I want to be the person who’s here to lift others up.” (103:09–104:19)

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9. Barbecue & Business Operations: Numbers, Models, and Philosophy

[117:02–125:51]

• Why Scarcity/Sellout Works:

  “Having a scarcity model is pretty important…You can only get this food at this time, so you show up for it…that was the best concept for us.” (117:15–117:52)

• Empowerment Philosophy:

  “I always tell people who work with me: Imagine that this is your own restaurant. What would you do?...We’re giving you the authority to make decisions based on ‘if this is your restaurant, what would you do?’” (118:32)

• Dynamic Pricing:

  “If I raise this by a dollar and we sell 10,000 of them every year, that’s $10,000...that small, tiny dollar amount that people are afraid of actually creates new revenue.” (124:15)

• Key Numbers Discipline:

  “What you can do as a business owner is not just have the bird’s eye view, but do a deep dive. I look at my clients’ numbers every single day... I analyze those numbers, look for anomalies...numbers don’t lie.” (120:05–121:29)

• Don’t Focus on Cutting Expenses Alone:

  “If you tell me that you’re going to cut expenses, I don’t even want to talk to you. What I want to hear from you is how are you going to create additional revenue?...Most of your expenses, my friend, are static. You can’t change them.” (126:08–127:10)

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10. Technology, Fractional Executives, and the Future of Restaurant Support

[127:10–134:30]

• Rise of Fractional Accountants & CFOs:

  “Now I have this bandwidth—how do I make myself more valuable? You just have to seek out in your community, get some referrals for people who do that kind of stuff for you.” (128:03–129:43)

• Embracing Technology, Still Valuing Human Touch:

  “AI is great for helping us manage for stuff like that, but some things need the human touch. I don’t use ChatGPT for anything...for me, also having my hands on it, it touches my brain.” (134:09–135:44)

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11. Memorable Quotes & Perspectives

• On the roots of the barbecue industry:

  "There's a lot of barbecue across the world, there's eight barbecue places in Lockhart...There's probably two really memorable places...There’s no way you can grow really big and maintain the quality of the service or the food that you want to create." (90:47–92:31)

• On legacy and life:

  "When I die, what do I want people to remember about me? That Joe was always there for everybody. She always had time for you and she always gave you good advice. That’s my legacy." (139:36)

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Jo’s Final Advice & Wisdom

[139:51–140:03]

1. "Be kind to others."
2. "Love yourself first."
3. "Drink plenty of water."

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Summary of Actionable Takeaways

• Be of service. Focus on helping others in your community and business; the rewards are cyclical and profound.
• Know your numbers. Don’t shy from the “boring” work: daily financial scrutiny is crucial.
• Build authentic community. Foster connection—in your teams, with customers, through events, and shared passions.
• Don’t aim for scale at all costs. Prioritize quality, authenticity, and relational depth over expansion.
• Embrace mentorship. Success is multiplied when you help others find their way and encourage them to uncover their own solutions.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help—especially in areas where you’re not strong (e.g., hire an accountant or a business advisor early).
• Dynamic pricing and revenue generation beat penny-pinching. Focus creativity on income, not just cost control.
• Keep ego out. Lead with humility; create legacy through how you make people feel, not just what you build.

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Notable Recommendations

• “Find yourself an accountant immediately.” (07:57)
• “Success is about service, not ego.” (85:18)
• “Create opportunity for others and you will create it for yourself.” (86:01)

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Connect with Jo Irizarry & Resources

• Instagram: @therealjoirizarry
• Barbs-B-Q: @barbs_b_q
• Nonprofit: @asafeplaceinsideyourhead
• Recommendation: K Askins at Best Little Wine, Lockhart

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Essential Timestamps

• [04:47] – Success mantra, “to be of service”
• [07:57] – “Find an accountant...immediately”
• [13:10] – Labor policy: No one over 40 hours
• [44:33] – Entering culinary school at 42
• [54:48] – Alcohol struggles; “one or two bottles of wine a day”
• [61:44] – Hitting rock bottom, calling 911, entering rehab
• [70:25] – “Only surround myself with people that were good for my mental health”
• [92:17] – The limits of scale, “you lose quality”
• [117:15] – The power of the scarcity/sellout model
• [126:08] – "How do you create additional revenue?"
• [139:51] – Jo’s three pieces of wisdom

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This episode exemplifies the heart and head of the industry: gritty honesty, analytical discipline, transformative recovery, and the soul of true hospitality.

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Transcript

[Eric]

A couple things before we get started today. First, thank you so much for showing up week after week making my vision for restaurants Unstoppable come true. Your downloads are allowing me to do this show the way I've always wanted to do it. Boots on the ground, word of mouth, leaders, referring leaders, giving the industry an uncensored, no BS platform to share their perspectives and truth. That's on you. Thank you so much.

[Host]

And we're just getting started.

[Eric]

So if you're enjoying what we're doing here and you want to help us do it even better, please subscribe to this podcast on your platform of choice. And if you do that, I promise to do everything in my power to continue to improve the show. I'll deliver the restaurant tours you want to hear from and we'll continue to make everything you love about this show better. Thank you. Welcome to restaurant unstoppable. For 10 years and over 1,000 episodes, I've been traveling the country chasing word of mouth leads and having in person only long form discussions with the industry's finest owners and operators. Our mission is to inspire, empower and transform the restaurant industry by bridging the gap between this generation's leaders and the next. Listen to today's guest and so many others and get one step closer to becoming unstoppable. This episode is made possible by US Foods Running a successful restaurant takes more than just great food.

[Host]

With US Foods, you can expect more

[Eric]

high quality products, advanced tools and flexible deliveries to grow your business. Their industry leading moxy platform also does more than just place your US Foods order. It uses AI to help you take control, save time and increase profitability. Visit usfoods.com expect more to learn how to become a US Foods customer one more time, that is usfoods.com expect more this episode is made possible by Sir Bony your all in one bookkeeping and financial solution. We're talking about reliable tax preparation, business incorporation, seamless payroll and compliance reports, strategic CFO services that drive business growth, detailed custom reporting for complete financial clarity Dedicated support for restaurants in multi location businesses Did I mention bookkeeping late? Sir Boney handled the numbers so you can focus on the vision. Call Serboni today at 281-888-22413 to schedule your free 30 minute consultation and discover how Sibonic can streamline your operations and boost your bottom line. Limited time offer and exclusive to Restaurant Unstoppable listeners Mention this Message and get 20% off your first month of services. This episode is brought to you by Restaurant Technologies, the leader in Automated cooking oil management. Their total oil management solution is an end to end closed loop automated system that delivers, monitors, filters, collects and recycles your cooking oil, eliminating one of the dirtiest jobs in the kitchen. Restaurant technologies services over 45,000 customers nationwide. Automate your oil and elevate your kitchen by visiting RTI Inc.com or call 888-779-5314 to get started. This episode is in partnership with Giving Kitchen. The restaurant industry takes care of people.

[Host]

That's what we do.

[Eric]

But historically, we haven't always been great about taking care of our own. That's why I want you to know about Giving Kitchen. They're nonprofit, supporting food service workers facing real crisis, medical issues, accidents, unexpected hardship, the kind of thing that can really derail a career. Since 2013, they've helped more than 35,000 restaurant workers across the country and awarded over 17 million in financial assistance and stability resources. If you're an operator, chef, or anyone food service, this resource is worth knowing. A lot of restaurants choose a rally around Giving Kitchen because at some point, everyone in the business knows someone who needs it. Go to Giving Kitch to learn more and see how you can be a part of it in your own way with excitement.

[Host]

Allow me to introduce to you today's guest, serial entrepreneur and investor at Barb's Barbecue and Thorn and Bread, Joe Irizarry. Joe, are you feeling unstoppable today?

[Joe Irizarry]

I am, for sure.

[Host]

I'm stoked to have you here. Shout out to Chef Sarah Heard at Foreign and Domestic for putting you on my radar. She had amazing things to say, say about you. You. You took my request quick. We have a quick turn here. Two days later, I'm talking to you and I can't wait to get into it before we dive into who you are and what you're all about. Let's get that motivational inspirational ball rolling with a success quote or mantra. What do you got for us?

[Joe Irizarry]

I guess I feel like the reason that I'm here, like, spiritually, emotionally, and physically is to help others. So that is my core value, is to be of service to people who are trying to start businesses and don't know even where to start. But they have a dream.

[Host]

Yeah. So, yeah, I love that. And I don't think we fully comprehend as humans how important it is for us to contribute to something more and to give back. It's like we're tribal animals and we need the. We need to feel like we're adding value in some way, subconsciously seen, valued, appreciated for what we Bring to the world.

[Eric]

Right.

[Host]

And when we can lift other people up. That is such a great, great way to, to, to stoke that need, you know?

[Joe Irizarry]

Total. Totally agree. Before I get too far on that, I have a mental health nonprofit and our, our core motto is we rise by lifting others up.

[Host]

Yeah. And I think that the society rises by lifting others up. I think it's that simple and that hard is to, to really exist to create opportunity for others. And the most successful restaurateurs out there, they figure that out. The more I help others, the more I get help.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

You know, it's a win, win and it's beautiful. So I can't wait to dive into the whole come up and to discuss how you got to where you are today. But before we get into the story, where are you today? Like what is your portfolio?

[Joe Irizarry]

A lot. There's a lot. So I'm also an accountant. I have a property management company. I'm in the middle of a launch with a different business partner on a Thai sauces, which seems unusual, but we're trying to get into Whole Foods and Central Market and so we're in the middle of our branding and we're super excited about it. The product we know is going to be highly successful. We just need to get it to market. So I'm doing that.

[Host]

That's something newer product goods.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. So it's like that one is kind of central to me right now because I, I've been here in Lockhart for the last four years with Barbs and we're, we're running and gunning. Obviously the press is amazing. And then Thorn and Bread, we have been open for one year and so we're on year two and I feel like we have a good rhythm at this point. So I'm very type A and I have to be doing 1,000 things at one time. I can't just do like one thing. And I'm also like I said, an accountant. So I have a lot of clients and a lot of them are restaurateurs that I've connected with based on that they needed. A lot of them are women that are, that needed some help and like how to run their business. Like what is profitability? What does a financial statement look like? You know, like how do we change those numbers so that they're becoming more profitable or what works in like universally in business models to help business owners understand. Because a lot of these people are very passionate about what they do, but they're not accountants.

[Host]

Right.

[Joe Irizarry]

And so that's to me in the Industry. That is the, like I would say first thing you do is come up with an idea and have a passion about it. Why? Your why? What's your why? And then find yourself an accountant.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

Like immediately.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Host]

Those like accountant and lawyer are the first things if you're, if you're going to business. Like if you're going to go raise $500,000 a lawyer for sure.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

Like work into that budget. A lawyer, an accountant. That will save you so much money.

[Joe Irizarry]

And to do it on the back end. Because what I find is so many people think, I mean, they're just so excited and passionate about what they want to do. And I highly encourage that, like step in. I'm the person who does everything scared. Like I'm literally a scaredy cat all the time. But I just do it because what I find is I've also been in sales in my life. So it's a numbers game. So you have to do like 10 of things for one of them to work. Right. Like you got to reach out to 10 people in order for you to make that one sale. And so I've always had that. Like every time I get a no, like if it's a failure or it doesn't work or whatever, I'm like, oh, that's good. I'm so, so much closer to the, to the big yes or the big success.

[Host]

And every no you get is a lesson learned.

[Joe Irizarry]

That's right.

[Host]

Why? Why? No, if you ever hear notice why, you know, and maybe if you're going to a bank to get a loan, why? Well, they'll give you a list of things that they, you know, worked into their decision. Work on that list. Eliminate the no's.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

You know, and like it's all, all that is data to come back and do it better the next time.

[Joe Irizarry]

And so for me, being able to do that, like being an accountant, I also have clients that are not because I have a real estate background. So I have like with property management, I've been doing that for 15 years. So I have a couple of clients that I do run their property manage. I have my own property management company. And then I'm trying to think of what else I do. My mental health nonprofit.

[Host]

Yeah, you mentioned that. So let's get into the restaurants real quick just so our listeners understand the kind of operations that you're investing in supporting. So you have barbecue concept and you have a counter service cafe, which came first? The barbecue.

[Joe Irizarry]

Barbecue. Yeah. I, I, I opened my first barbecue restaurant in 2017. 2016. 2017. Out in Sisterdale, Texas. And it is, it is blackboard barbecue, which is still in existence right now. It was purchased by a young couple that are killing it out there.

[Host]

Awesome.

[Joe Irizarry]

And so what year was that?

[Host]

You said 2016.

[Joe Irizarry]

16.

[Eric]

Okay. Not that long ago.

[Host]

And when did Barbs open?

[Joe Irizarry]

Barbs opened four years ago.

[Host]

And how. What's the footprint of Barbs? How big is the business? Like, the actual, like, floor plan? Like square feet, approximately.

[Joe Irizarry]

We might be a thousand.

[Host]

A thousand? So maybe 1500.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. We can fit in inside the restaurant. We can fit 40 people. Okay. To be seated for service.

[Host]

That's what we're allowed. And it's counter service. I'm assuming it is counter service.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

Kind of assembly line. Like, what do you want? I haven't been inside the restaurant yet. Maybe today should definitely go over there.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

So. And what kind of. What are you working with? Like, percent profit, prime costs.

[Joe Irizarry]

So, I mean, the barbecue industry. And I was having a conversation with somebody else who's trying to open a barbecue restaurant the other day, and they gave me some financials and I was like, you don't know anything about the barbecue industry, do you? And they're like, no, it's like regular restaurants. I'm like, it's not at all. It's.

[Eric]

It's completely different without blowing them up.

[Host]

Where were they wrong? I'm curious. I don't, like, you don't have to mention food cost.

[Joe Irizarry]

Food cost? Yeah, food cost.

[Host]

So they were way low on their food cost.

[Joe Irizarry]

Food cost. And. Yeah, and then just like, general ideas about, like, what does it take to open a barbecue restaurant? Because the, the business model is different from a regular service line restaurant. It's very different because of. You have to think about, like, the production of the food. How long does it take? You know, a brisket is a 14 hour cook. What kind of model do you want to be? Do you want to be a sellout model or do you want to be an all day model? Because that's. Those are totally different things, you know, and. And they didn't have, like, they thought of it as a regular. They have regular restaurants and bars. So they were thinking it's like, oh, you just stay open all day. And I'm like, do you understand what that means to stay open all day? Because now you're saying you want.

[Host]

Great in theory, but in practice, if

[Joe Irizarry]

you want me to be a. A 20% payroll cost, I don't have enough money to have people here all day.

[Host]

And you don't want to be a slave to the business where you're there all the time.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. And so they didn't, they didn't realize that they were at 30% food cost. And I'm going to say that probably everybody would agree that we could be 40, sometimes 50% on food cost in barbecue. And it's just, it's only going up.

[Host]

I mean, barbecue. To your point, people are coming into the barbecue space, and that means there's more demand on brisket and, and there's only so many casts and, and it's

[Joe Irizarry]

more expensive all the time. Like, what we're paying wholesale for brisket is three times what I paid when we first opened 2060.

[Host]

Think back to the. Some of the earlier concepts. Like, you know, I don't know, some, like, I'm thinking like county line, like how long they've been doing barbecue or not. Yeah, county line up in Austin. You know, I'm sure it was way cheaper when they got started. So it's, it's. The game's changing. So what are your prime costs for barbs?

[Joe Irizarry]

What do you mean?

[Host]

What is your cost of goods? Labor? Like, where do you land on your. With those two percentages?

[Joe Irizarry]

I'm proud to say that we do 20, about 21 to 22% labor costs, which is great. We also, you know, like, we get, we get. We. We are the belief of, like, family values and not, like you said, overworking our employees. So we have a mantra that we do not, except for the owners. We do not require for our people who work for us to work more than 40 hours a week. Ever. Ever.

[Host]

What's amazing is when you limit that to 40 hours and you say, here's all the things you have to do. You have only 40 hours to do it. It's amazing how productive people will.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly.

[Host]

If you give people infinite amount of time to do things, like, they're going to end up working 20 extra hours.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yes.

[Host]

And the same amount of work gets done. But if you, if you know you have a limited amount of time, you're going to use every single second.

[Joe Irizarry]

The efficiency is. The efficiency is what works, you know, so we've, we don't. Our. Most of our employees only work like 32, maybe 35 hours a week. So that's not that bad. In the, in the barbecue industry, that is not bad at all because it's typical for people to work 10, 12 hours.

[Host]

So on an average shift, how many people are on the floor on a.

[Joe Irizarry]

So we're open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and on Fridays we have like on the cuz during open service because we only do to sell out. So we don't stay open all day long. We stay open till sell out. We will have, like, maybe we have the cutter. We have the. The register person. We have a sides person. So we might have three or four on Friday, and then on Saturday we have five, and on Sunday we have five. Because our. Our Sunday sales have grown to match almost our Saturday sales, which was pretty interesting.

[Host]

And then you have the pitmaster.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

And how many people do you have working on actually producing the barbecue?

[Joe Irizarry]

Probably like three or four. Four that.

[Host]

Are they all on the floor at the same time or do they split?

[Joe Irizarry]

No, like, there's. There's one person that comes in during the week at night, so that Chuck gets some relief so she doesn't have to be on the pit all the time. Chuck is the pit master, and she's the owner of Barb's Biq, and she's also the creator of the Barb's B Q name. So that's a fun name. Yeah. So I want to give her a fun brand too.

[Host]

I want to get some swag before I leave. I'm just gonna throw that out. Yeah, I'm happy to pay.

[Joe Irizarry]

Okay, cool. But so she'll. She comes in in the morning, and then she. She. She tastes everything. So she's gonna do the. The tasting of all the food before it goes out on the line. And then she checks to make sure, like, the briskets, like, she can touch them and tell if they're right.

[Host]

So you're at 20% labor cost. What is your. And I'm assuming right around 40% cost of goods. So you're at 60 prime. And in terms of profit, where you. Where you fall on the percent profit?

[Joe Irizarry]

I'm going to say 10 to 15% profit.

[Host]

10 to 15% profit. And I'm assuming that because of your other, you know, businesses, property management, you own that property?

[Joe Irizarry]

No.

[Host]

No. Okay.

[Joe Irizarry]

We rent it, we have it, and we have a sweet deal.

[Host]

Well, I was going to say, I mean, with 15% profit. I was wondering. Do. If. Are you not paying rent?

[Joe Irizarry]

No, no, no. That's. That's profit after all of the other expenses.

[Host]

Do you know what your percentage is for occupancy?

[Joe Irizarry]

No, I don't. That's. Would you.

[Host]

If you had a guess, I mean, I'm guessing if you're at 60% prime cost, 15% profit, you know, that puts you at 75%. I'm guessing it's less than 7%.

[Joe Irizarry]

I was going to say about 5%. We have a very sweet deal on rent there.

[Host]

That's awesome.

[Joe Irizarry]

Can't say the same thing about Thornbread.

[Host]

Yeah, but I mean that's a big part of the equation is rent, you

[Joe Irizarry]

know, and for us the idea was that we didn't want a really fancy place because you don't need it for barbecue. Because barbecue is about the experience. It's not about the like what it looks like. So barbecue is about the food and the experience and the communal.

[Host]

You almost expect kind of a like a rustic, dumpy place. You know, it's like it's part of what you're going for.

[Joe Irizarry]

Right.

[Host]

I mean. Anyway, and real quick, just before we move on to your story, we're at Thorn and Bread. What is the, what is the situation here? Counter service? How many people? I mean it's not really like a sit down kind of place. You have some chairs, but it's like I, I don't put words or thoughts into your mouth. What, what would you call Thornbread?

[Joe Irizarry]

So we're cafe. I would say we're a cafe. We do on the weekends, Some weekends, not every weekend, but we do do a, a pop up brunch. We do a lot of popup services where we bring people in, chefs in that will like of a specific genre, a lot of Thai. We have a vegetarian vegan girl that comes and does our brunches on the weekends. And so we, we'll bring in and then that's made to order. Those things are the only things that we do that are made to order. Everything else is comes out of our graze case or we have like soups that we get at the hot. Well.

[Host]

What's a graze case?

[Joe Irizarry]

So it's our case that has like sandwiches, salads, protein bars, like stuff like that that we sell for people who just grab and go, grab and go. And then we do breakfast tacos which is, and then we have a, a girl in town who does baking. And so she does a, a huge. We have a big pastry case up front and so she does a lot of different pastries for us. And that's what, that's what we, we sell mostly.

[Host]

Cool. And where are you at with you know, prime in percent profit?

[Joe Irizarry]

Okay, so let me think about this. Because we do have. Our food cost is, is unfortunately pretty high. It's about 40% also, which is not that great. And then I'm gonna say our payroll and we're trying to figure out food cost. So here's the bigger story about this. We're in Lockhart, Texas and the, the Local economy, because we're down on the square is so different from, like, if you're bustling in Austin where you can. You have more people to come in. We have a limited. We always say, and this is. I do books for a lot of people in town, is that we have the same 200 people recycling on who's coming down here and supporting the local economy in Lockhart. You know, like, on the weekends we have people. Guests coming in from out of town or whatever, people who come to buy other stuff or they actually. Barbs is a big draw here in Lockhart, so we bring in, you know, a hundred plus people that probably would not be in Lockhart if it wasn't for that Barbs was here.

[Host]

Yeah. I mean, I just want to point out too, like, Lockhart is coined the barbecue capital of the world. And you're not the only barbecue joint in this.

[Joe Irizarry]

We have eight. Yeah, we have eight.

[Host]

So it's not necessarily blue ocean effect here. Like, there's some competition. There's some bloody water. You, you know, like, you're, you're. You're fighting for that business.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly.

[Host]

And I think the blacks was. Is also in this town.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

And they're. They're the ones that are saying, like, we were the first. Right.

[Joe Irizarry]

Blacks was the first. Or Smitty's. There's. There's a. There's a big documentary on. On if you can Google it. There's a documentary about the, about the, the infighting between the people. Because it's really like everybody that started around that time, I feel like what I understand is that K was actually the first.

[Host]

Say that one more time.

[Joe Irizarry]

Kreitz. K, R, E, U, Z. I think that's how you pronounce it. That's how I've always said it. I. I feel like they are like, low key about, like, we were the first.

[Host]

Yeah, but we don't need you to tell us that.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. Yeah. And so then blacks and then. And then Smitties, their family that, like, busted up and they have like a. A big, you know. Yeah.

[Host]

There's Terry blacks in Austin.

[Joe Irizarry]

Well, then there's Terry blacks, which is one of the blacks. And then they have a terrible blacks here. They're going to open a sushi bowling alley here that's going to have three lanes. So we're pretty excited about that. But. But you don't, like, you don't have a lot of traffic in Lockhart as a general rule. So, you know, for us, we're trying to meet the, like, what we can sell Stuff for here versus like if I sold the same sandwich in Austin, I might sell it for $9 right here, but I could sell it for 15.

[Host]

I mean, Austin's a very big market. It's, it's also a very saturated market as well. But I would say Lockhart, just from driving in today, it's a much smaller market, but it's also a very saturated market condensed, because all that works today in retail space is food and beverage. So we're just opening more and more restaurants because you can't sell clothing or the things like hardware like that. Like you get all that online today or you go to big box stores.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

So like it's, it's creating a situation where like, it's just like there's so much space, you can go into those space, but there's not necessarily enough people to support all those restaurants.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. And that's the, that's the issue that like in Thorn and Bread that we're working through is that like we want to be affordable.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

But you know, like we have a large Hispanic community that doesn't come downtown. And they only come downtown during like some of the events that we have. Yeah. That are specifically for that, you know, culturally. And then because we're kind of spread out, it's not like Austin where it's really congested. Like Lockhart is a very spread out area. But we do find that the people who will come and get coffee out of our cafe and will buy like our sandwiches are the people who are in the surrounding like, neighborhood. So our goal this year is to figure out how do we reach out to these new homes that are being built to remind people that we're here downtown, that we can service them. So we're doing stuff like we're going to do doordash for coffee and pastry. Okay. Because we don't make food to order, we probably would not be successful in trying to do like food on the fly.

[Eric]

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[Host]

your first month of services. I have a ton of thoughts about all this. I think we're gonna get deeper into your restaurants as we go. But for just for now, it's a counter service. There's outdoor seating. There's probably about 30 people that can sit outside. You got maybe what room for 20 people inside at Chairs.

[Joe Irizarry]

And our, our inside is also like 40.

[Host]

Got it.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

And your. You said food costs 40 and what about where you at with labor? I saw only two people in there today.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. And we. There's generally one person.

[Host]

Okay.

[Joe Irizarry]

On, on staff. So. And then a lot of it is myself and my partner. So like we, we're not really labor. We should be considered like Labor Day,

[Host]

like cut a check or like how does it.

[Joe Irizarry]

We. We do okay. Yeah. It's not, it's not huge. We're not gonna be millionaires.

[Host]

We don't get into this business.

[Joe Irizarry]

That's right.

[Host]

You can become a millionaire.

[Joe Irizarry]

You could.

[Host]

You know, that's possible. Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

But it's usually the people that aren't trying to be millionaires that become the millionaires. They're just trying to create something special.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

You know, so. Okay. Anything we should know about your. So we unpackaged the portfolio. You're very busy lady. And I, I Mean, where. Where does it make sense to go back to start sharing your story? Like, when did, like, the entrepreneurial journey really start for you?

[Joe Irizarry]

That's. That's a great question. I was thinking about this the other day, because I did, because of my mental health background. I was at a. A thing last week where we write an obituary about either a thought process or something that's happened in our life. And we, like, it's a letting go, like, situation. And so for me, it was even though I'm successful and, you know, like, I know how to make money, my own personal. My own personal issue is having a poverty mindset versus a prosperity mindset. And that's just, like, internal in me.

[Host]

So scarcity versus abundance.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. So. And that's just because I grew up poor, you know, I was able to examine all of those things last week, and we have to write down an obituary. So you have to go through, like, what's happened in your life. Like, I have to talk about Joe. Like, I'm third person. And so I had to go through all the things I've done, and I'm like, holy cow, when did this start? Like, when did I decide to become an entrepreneur? And this is exactly what happened. So this is very timely because I examined this last week is when I was a kid rapport, and my parents wanted me to work. I needed to help the family have money. I had. At the time, I only had three brother or two brothers and sisters, but the family grew to six. And so at the end of the day, there were six of us. And my parents said, at 14, hey, we need you to work, so you're gonna. We're gonna get you a job. And back then, you could get a job at 14 and be okay. So I got this job, and I was working at JCPenney, and I was giving my parents my paycheck. And then I was like, man, I really want to have my own money. Like, how do I have my own money? And this is at 14. So I said to them, hey, if I promise to keep my grades up, can I get a second job so that I can have my own money and I'll keep it for me? Like, y' all can still get my 14. Yeah.

[Host]

My page jobs, full time school.

[Joe Irizarry]

So they said, as long as you keep your grades up and you can still help around the house, because that was another big thing. And then I said, okay. And I did it, and I did it successfully, and I graduated, you know, with great grades. I was in honors classes. The money, this extra money That I made, I used. Because my brothers and sister, my parents didn't have any money. So I really actually used it to help buy them clothes because I wanted them to feel like normal. Because we were poor, I wanted them to feel normal. So I wanted to give them things to make them normal. So that was my first, like, I

[Host]

guess like your relationship, your relationship with money is evolving at this point, Correct?

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

And you're using money as a way to give and create opportunity for others from the very beginning, which I think is really correct.

[Joe Irizarry]

Then I just got into traditional. Like I worked for a grocery chain for a really long time, but I was always in a management position. So I'd always had leadership skills that I understood. Like I could work my way up. Even if I had to start at the bottom, I could work my way up. And my goal was to always be like the, not the most important, but like a leader. It was always a goal to be a leader.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

And to teach others. And so then when I got to be like 23 or so I decided 24, 25. During this time I had children and other things, but I decided that I had my oldest son. I raised him by himself. His father was not part of his life. So I got pregnant at 22, had him. And then I wanted to have like a career. I didn't want to work at a grocery store for the rest of my life. So I want to have a career. So I decided to go to like an accounting school. But it was a trade school back then and it was like literally you went. It was the beginning of computers. You went and you like worked on the computer and you did like self paced courses. So I did my accounting degree in like one year because I could do it on my own.

[Host]

So is this like the 90s?

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

Okay.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

And so you got your. What was the, the course you went through? Say it one more time.

[Joe Irizarry]

Accounting.

[Host]

Yeah. But you said you got a degree or what was.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, yeah.

[Host]

Certificate.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. Okay.

[Host]

And at that point, are you, what do you like, are you working for other people as an accountant? Like, how did you.

[Joe Irizarry]

So then I went to go work for a cpa.

[Host]

Okay.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, I work for a cpa.

[Host]

So you worked for a cpa but you weren't a cpa?

[Joe Irizarry]

I am not a cpa.

[Host]

Okay.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. I'm still not a cpa. So I worked for a cpa.

[Host]

And I've heard that is a horrible, horrible process of achieving your cpa. And then once you become, I don't

[Joe Irizarry]

know, I don't have any Interested in the tax stuff part of it. So what I do is I work with CPAs, so I have like my. Either I have a CPA that I refer everybody to, and I love him so much. And he's in New York, so he's virtual. But so I. I worked for CPA and I got to see like a diff. A bunch of different business models, how they operated. Like, you know, a daycare center, a car repair place, a retail space, restaurants. Like, it was different because my, My account list was a bunch of different people.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Host]

And the cool thing about, from an accountant's perspective, you're seeing like, the. The health of that organization and different ways you. I mean, generally we organize business all the same, but there's little nuances for each business.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly, exactly.

[Host]

And you got to see that perspective. You got to learn from, like, diving in and really, like, dissecting. How does this work? Like, what works? What are good businesses? What are bad businesses? That's cool.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

So when did you start getting in, like. So it started as an account. You started getting interested in business because you're seeing how it works from the backside. When did the entrepreneurial bug of like, wanting to create your own business start to.

[Joe Irizarry]

So I had my. My. I decided I wanted to be. Have all my children by the time I was 30, met somebody and.

[Host]

How many kids do you have?

[Joe Irizarry]

I have three.

[Host]

Did you achieve your goal?

[Joe Irizarry]

I did.

[Host]

Congratulations.

[Joe Irizarry]

I was the last pregnancy. Like, I was not even 30.

[Host]

Was it a race?

[Joe Irizarry]

It was. Well, because I met somebody and then we had two babies in a row and they were like less than a year apart. And that was important because I just did not want to be pregnant after 30. So he was very traditional in that he wanted me to be a stay at home mom. And I have, like, he met me and I was already like, you know, like, very successful and independent, whatever. And I was like, well, you know, like, okay, I'll try this thing. And I tried it for like three months and I was like, I hate this thing. I can like, I can take care of babies and do other stuff. So, like, I started my own bookkeeping and payroll service.

[Eric]

Okay.

[Joe Irizarry]

And. And then my kids got to be a little bit older. They were like 2 years old. And we were doing like the peewee football, baseball kind of situation. And we were in a small town in Fort Worth called Saginaw. And so I went to this local sporting goods store called Larry Bob's at the time. And I was team mom because I'm always trying to be, you know of service to others. And I go to order my uniforms, and I go to pick them up, and they're like, they're not ready. You know, like, you can pick up your pants and socks. They're all in boxes over there. Like, get. You know, like, get your. You know, like, bring it up here to me, and I'll package it up for you. And so I went home that night. I was like, you know, the service. Customer service there was terrible. And this is the only place in town, Like, I wasn't the only mom team mom that was not getting good service. Everybody was getting bad service. If somebody could just come in and, like, provide. Like, be organized and provide service, they would be highly successful. I mean, I'm sure Larry Bob's is because they're the only game in town, but, like, this is a. This is a good business model for a community.

[Host]

Like, you better.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. And my ex husband said, oh, Joe, sporting goods isn't for girls. It's for men.

[Host]

You say ex husband?

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. And I said, wow. Okay. So the next day, I went and looked at all of. I went back to Larry Bob's and looked at all the tags of all of the. And this is way before, like, the Internet, you couldn't. Like, you had to call people and ask them things. And so I looked at all the tags, wrote them down, got my phone book out, and looked for names of these companies, like Fabnet, whatever, which eventually became.

[Host]

The manufacturer.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, yeah, the manufacturer. So I just started calling them and saying, hey, I want to open up a sporting goods store. Would you sell to me? And they're like, yeah, we'll give you net 30. Like, you just order. This is how you order. Fill out this form. Fax it to us. So I faxed these forms, and I started telling teen moms, hey, the next time you get ready to order something, because not only do we have this baseball season, but we have all stars. If you want, I can get you shirts and pants. Pants and socks. I started out with pants and socks, and then I. And then I got a lot of orders. I got a lot of people that wanted my help. So I had a. A friend of mine. She helped me, like, coordinate everything. And then within three months, I opened a sporting goods store.

[Host]

Oh, wow.

[Joe Irizarry]

And how long.

[Host]

What year was that?

[Joe Irizarry]

My kids were. He's 2. 30. It's 30 years ago. 30 years ago.

[Host]

So we're looking like, end of the night.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. Pogs. 1990s Pogs were very popular at the time because we had POG tournaments in Our sporting goods store.

[Host]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

So. So then I bought screen printing equipment, eventually got embroidery equipment, and I was a full service sporting goods screen printing embroidery shop. That was, that was within one year of starting what I. Yeah.

[Host]

And how long did you have that business?

[Joe Irizarry]

I had it for like four years, and then I sold it to somebody because I went to go work for Nextel at the time. And if you're familiar with Nextel, the radio company, they were just starting out and somebody said I was kind of getting burnt out. Me and my ex had split up and I had somebody else that was helping me and somebody offered to buy the business from me or take it over.

[Host]

Right.

[Joe Irizarry]

Because I was like, owner.

[Host]

Did you build it into like a profitable business? Like, was it a profitable, like, venture that you built and sold and for profit?

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Nice.

[Joe Irizarry]

And then so my friend's like, you can make a lot of money working for Sprint or Nextel. And I was like, I love making a lot of money. Yeah.

[Host]

So when, when you have a partner, you can spot, split up the help, you know, but when you're also trying to run a business and raise kids like it, I can see why at that point in your life it might have made sense just to go get the, the money. Right. And to show up and just have a job, do your job, and then find that balance with life.

[Joe Irizarry]

And plus, I believed in the product. I saw like the future of the product. I saw the technology. Even though next. Even though it was just a radio.

[Host]

Black brick.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. Even though it's just a radio, I could see like the future in it. And I thought I could, you know, like, I'm interested in this. And so I went to go work for Nextel and I, within a year, I was like one of the top salespeople in my market.

[Host]

That was my first phone, actually, a Nexel. It was literally like a black brick. The cheapest phone you could get. It was like 2002. I think I was a junior or sophomore in college before I got a cell phone. Now five year olds have iPhones. That's crazy.

[Joe Irizarry]

I know.

[Host]

So you go and what are you doing in your sales associate?

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, I was a salesperson. And then within a few years, that's when technology started rolling out and the first version of text messaging rolled out. And I'm like, man, I'm really interested in this. And they're like, we're creating this position. It's called a sales engineer. Data sales engineer. If you're interested in it, like you, like, you can interview for It. And then see if. And then I got the position because I was so interested in what. What did the future hold, like, with this little thing that we put in our hand, you know, like, I was mesmerized by it. And so I wound up being a data sales engineer, and then I was with. With government in the DFW area. And then I moved to Austin eventually because there was a position open.

[Host]

What do you mean by with government?

[Joe Irizarry]

I was doing the government sales position. So. So, like, I. I did corporate accounts. I did a big rollout in. In Dallas for AT&T broadband when they were like, back when they were Spectrum. Before that. Before that. Before that. So I was involved in these really big launches with gps. And it was so exciting. It was a. It was a great. It was great money. I got to meet so many great people. And then I come to Austin to work with Motorola for South by Southwest. And the guy from Motorola is my friend, and him and I are, like, working this whole booth, and we're also giving out phones to, like, people like his gratis. And so we were, like, the provider for cell phones that year. And so I'm in Austin, south by Southwest, and I'm like, man, how come I've never been to Austin? Like, I've just been in the DFW area. This is.

[Host]

Are you from that area?

[Joe Irizarry]

Originally, I'm from New York. I grew up in New York, and then we moved to dfw.

[Host]

But your. Your husband, Your former husband?

[Joe Irizarry]

I. I grew up in New York. I moved in when I was 12 to the DFW area. And then I just. Yeah, I. I just stayed in the dfw. I didn't travel. I wasn't like, got it. So savvy about any of that. So.

[Host]

So you're in Austin. You're like, why haven't I never been here? I bet it was a lot different. What year is this now? Like, early 2000s. Yeah, totally different city now. Or then the noise out. Or is it.

[Joe Irizarry]

It was like. It's like I. I liken Lockhart to what Austin was when I first got here.

[Host]

Yeah, I wish I could have seen it. I got here in 2018 for the first time, and even since then, I'm like, holy cow.

[Joe Irizarry]

It was like. It was so, like, it was just weird. Weird. It was great. And so I was, you know, like, get to Austin. And I tell my friend from Motorola, man, there. There's got to be a way I can get to Austin. Now I'm just like, this is my newest obsession. So I always like him. That I moved to Austin for Lucinda Williams because she was the headliner the night that we were like, the. The closing. And I said, after hearing Lucinda Williams, I have to move to Austin within two weeks. My friend from Motorola said, hey, Joe, I just heard through the grapevine that your position in Austin is, like. Is being backfilled. Like, they're going to be interviewing for somebody, what you do in Dallas. So I immediately. Because I'm not afraid, right? Like, I'm always going to ask for what I want. And I. And I immediately went to tell my manager, hey, I want to go to Austin. And he's like, well, you know, I don't want you to leave here because you're, you know, you're doing such a great job and you're highly successful. I'm like, I have to go to Austin. And he said, okay, I'll let you interview for the position. So I interview with a hiring manager in Austin, and he. And he says, if you want to, like, you can be here whenever you want to. So I go back to my manager, say, hey, Steve said it's okay that he wants to hire me. Like, when can I go? And I'm in this relationship also at the time. So I go home and I tell my partner, hey, I'm going to move to Austin.

[Host]

You coming?

[Joe Irizarry]

And no, no, because we were at the end of our relationship. So that was another impetus. I just needed a change in my life, right? My kids at the time were like, 15, 16 years old. They. My. Me and my ex have a really good, like, co. Yeah.

[Host]

What year is this? You had your kids in?

[Joe Irizarry]

The.

[Host]

Kids in the mid-90s. So this is the late 2000. 10. Like 2007. 8, 9.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's around that time.

[Host]

Yeah, got it. Go ahead.

[Joe Irizarry]

So my kids are, like, going between both of our houses, and I'm like, my kids could just stay with their dad and, you know, like, I could go to Austin. Maybe I could come back on the weekends, whatever, whatever. And so I tell my partner, hey, I'm. I've got this position in Austin, and I'm leaving in two weeks because, like, literally they were like, can you come in two weeks? We'll get you moved, blah, blah. But I. I didn't bring, like, my furniture and stuff. I just. I just moved and bought new furniture. But he's like, oh, great. You know, like, when are we leaving? And I said, no, we're not leaving. I'm leaving. I'll be back on the weekends, whatever. And so I Left, and I went to go work in Austin. And I didn't know anybody, like, nobody in Austin. And so I get this cute house and, like, and I'm on my treadmill.

[Host]

Back when you could buy a house,

[Joe Irizarry]

I'm on my treadmill and I'm like watching Food Network because I was obsessed with food. The other part to this is when my kids were little, I was the concession director for the peewee football and baseball. So I built out a restaurant, literally, in the pee Wee football concession stand. And it was like we had kids working for us. I had a smoker, I had a Pitmaster. It was insane. Like, it was insane. But we had the funds to do it. And so I had, like, you could come get dinner from us every night. And, you know, like, we had full service food on the weekends. It was, it was.

[Host]

This is what, Fort Worth? Not.

[Joe Irizarry]

This is Fort Worth. Yeah, yeah.

[Host]

So you didn't have. So you're starting from scratch, basically. You build up all these social networks, and now you got to start from scratch. I mean, you think Dallas, Austin, like, what's the big deal? Same state, but that's a four hour drive. Yeah, that's the equivalent of living in New Hampshire and moving to New York. Like, that's a drive. It's not down the street.

[Joe Irizarry]

And they're not the same people. Like, we're not. I'm not even connected to the same people. So I. I come to Austin, I'm on my treadmill, walking, walking, walking. And then I'm like watching Food Network and I see Lake Cordon Bleu on tv, and I'm like, I've always wanted to go to culinary school, but I didn't know there was one in Austin. Well, I didn't know that. Anything about Austin. Right. And back then, you just didn't know things because they weren't.

[Host]

Couldn't ask. You couldn't ask an AI.

[Joe Irizarry]

That's right. You couldn't. You just had to find things out for yourself. So I went to the school. I. They were telling me about it. I toured it. I was like, man, I really want to do this. And I can because, like, my job, I still have a lot of spare time. Like, you know, I could, I could manage this because I always manage a thousand different things at one time. So they, they take me in there, like, fill out my student loan stuff, and they're like, you know, it's really expensive. It's like $60,000, which is a lot of money back then. Right.

[Host]

And you, you just wanted to learn. You Weren't looking to start a career.

[Joe Irizarry]

That is correct. Yeah. I just wanted to learn.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

It was like a bucket list.

[Host]

That's a lot of money to spend for just a hobby.

[Joe Irizarry]

Well, that's true. My sister said. Because I call my sister. She's an attorney. She's my younger sister because I'm the oldest of all my. The kids. And I. My sister said, you know, like, I. Because they were saying you might have to have a co signer because this is a really big loan, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[Host]

Well, you also have a really good job at this time. I'm assuming that you have good credit, because I do.

[Joe Irizarry]

I did.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, I did. And. And so one day they came back in and they're like, oh, you got to prove by yourself. You don't have to. But I did call my sister just to, like, throw the idea out to her, and she's like, well, you know. And at the time, it was different because, like, being a chef, that was like the beginning of the Food Network. And it was like, there was lots of hype and hoopla about becoming a chef.

[Host]

It was a lot of smoke and mirrors.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. Like, you could do all of these things and you could be my sister. So she fed into that. She was like, you know, you know, I'm an attorney, and my. My education cost me a hundred thousand dollars. You should be able to make $60,000 a year. Like, she's likening it to, like, what is. What are you going to make every year? Yeah.

[Host]

When's the payoff?

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. So she's like, I'm, you know, like, I think you should do it. And. And so I did it. I went to culinary school and. And I stayed in Austin for the next two years. It was probably the hardest thing that I've ever done in my life was to go to culinary school.

[Host]

Being a mom working full time.

[Joe Irizarry]

Culinary school.

[Host]

Just culinary school.

[Joe Irizarry]

Culinary school. And I was also very active in my alcoholism at the time because I had been alone. And so I'm a person who's okay drinking by myself. And so. And Austin is a party town. And so there was always.

[Host]

How old were you at this time? Like, 30.

[Joe Irizarry]

30. I was 40, 42 when I went to culinary school.

[Host]

Oh, wow.

[Joe Irizarry]

I'm 63. Coming up on 63 in seven days.

[Host]

You look great.

[Joe Irizarry]

Oh, thank you. I feel great.

[Host]

Great energy. So I want to pause real quick because I'm think things I'm just curious about. You seem to really excel in the world of sales, and you had no education to suggest that you would be good at this. You were an accountant. You get into sales. You. You're doing excellent. I'm assuming you were making good money in sales if you could get any job you want. You bought a house as a. You weren't a single mother at this time, but you're working towards becoming a single mother. I mean, up to this point, like, this is an inspiration, what you're doing. What was it about you or it is about you today that you are good at sales? Like, what? I feel like everyone sells it at some level to sell as human. We're always selling visions, ideas, perspective, selling a job to potential employees. Like, what is it that you know about sales that or about you that makes you good at sales? That we can learn?

[Joe Irizarry]

There's a humanity to me, I believe. I believe there's a humanity and transparency and there's an actual curiosity about people that really serves me well. I feel like people think that I'm very authentic and I'm vulnerable with people. And so who I am, like, this is who you see. There's nothing different about me.

[Host]

Like, why is vulnerability important? When you're dealing with people,

[Joe Irizarry]

People want to feel connected. And so part of that connection is being able to say to somebody like, this is what happened to me. Right. Or this is what I've experienced. And it might draw them in and it might be. Especially. I found this out in the mental health space because of. And we didn't talk about this, but my oldest son passed from completed. Completed suicide right when I came out of culinary school. So I had a. Had a drastic three or four years before I became sober. And then everything changed for me. But so the vulnerability part is really important that people understand your story because maybe they can find something in your story that can help them. And so being vulnerable and. Plus just being authentic and being honest and is a good thing.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

Like, be who you are.

[Host]

If that person doesn't need the phone, then don't sell it to them.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly.

[Host]

And look out for their best interest. But when they know somebody who does need a phone, they're going to.

[Joe Irizarry]

They're going to be like, joe, she's such a nice girl. Look, when I talk to her, we talked about football. Like, I would always make it a point. First of all, I like to listen to people because I want to speak to you in the language that you can hear. Like, if. If I'm talking to you in Japanese and you're American, it's not going to be cohesive. So it's really important for Me to have good listening skills and figure out where these people are coming from so I know how to approach them.

[Host]

First, seek to understand, then seek to be understood and communicate in a way that's open and vulnerable.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly.

[Host]

I always like the image of, you know, you think about connection, like you have. And if you're watching the video, I have my hands up right now, two fists. And it's hard to make this connect. It just bounces off my two fists bouncing off. But if I open my hand, if I open up and I put my hands together now, I can connect.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Host]

And I love that visual of it. You have to open up first to be able to connect. And it's also you. We all love dogs, right. What is a dog is so emotionally and socially intelligent. What does a dog do? When you first meet a dog, usually, like, you know, like, not always, but

[Joe Irizarry]

they run up to you, they wag their tail, they want you to pet them. They'll roll over, like, you know, they just show you their stuff.

[Eric]

They get vulnerable in the.

[Host]

That's the whole idea. Like a dog. When a dog rolls over on its back and shows you its belly, what it's doing literally is it's getting vulnerable. It's showing you, I'm not a threat. Here are my vitals. You could kill me right now if you wanted to. I'm not a threat. But it's literally opening up and getting vulnerable in a physical way and that and that. Why do we love dogs so much? Because they, like, they love us, and they're. They're just so vulnerable, you know, they just completely, utterly trust us. You know, And I think that we can learn so much from these animals.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

Just by getting vulnerable and loving. When we love, when we open up, it reciprocates.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. Yeah, exactly.

[Host]

So any other lessons from your life of sales that are worth kind of really extracting and bringing to the surface before we talk about your life in culinary.

[Joe Irizarry]

I think also making. So I was highly successful because I was vulnerable and because I did ask people questions because I cared about what they wanted and I cared about them. But because of that, why I was successful and it carries on through my whole life, is that. Is that people wanted to refer business to me. And in sales, you have to have a good network of referrals. And so for me, that's what I feel like I grew into, is to being a very important connector. And that's what people will always say, Ask Joe. She knows everybody and she knows everything.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Host]

And I mean, when you're an entrepreneur. And one thing just from like understanding who you are and what you do, you invest in restaurants, you're not an operator, you're not there every day. You're, you're finding people, you're. You're listening to their dreams, their passions, and you're helping those dreams come true and you're putting things together and you're connecting. That's such a huge skill for entrepreneurs is to see the big picture, see how things come to come together and being, creating those win, win for other people by, hey, like, you have this skill, you have this skill. Like you two together would be unstoppable and just connecting those dots and. But you have to open yourself up to the world to find out where those opportunities are and pay attention and ask the questions.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, I'm constantly in, I'm constantly in, in meetings, collaborations with people. I don't like meetings, but in collaborations with people who just reach out to me and say, hey, you're successful. And I want to know how you do that. Like, what can you help me be successful also?

[Host]

So you're in culinary school. It's the 2010s, early 2010s. I don't know, what would you call that? 2010, am I saying that right?

[Joe Irizarry]

2000, I think it was like 2009, 2010.

[Host]

The second decade. Yeah, yeah, in the 2000s. So you're learning about culinary school was the hardest thing you had to do. Do you have a vision for yourself and at this point, what's your vision for yourself?

[Joe Irizarry]

No, at the time I'm sitting in class and I remember specifically, this is one of my teachers, he was, he was okay. But he, he made me think outside of the box about what I could do because I didn't want to go work in a restaurant for. At the time, you know, well, minimum wage was still the same. 725. I didn't want to go work in a restaurant for 725. I have this great career in sales, making a lot of money. But I love to cook. I like used to watch Jackpot Pen every single weekend on pbs. Like, I've cooked for my big families. I've cooked for, you know, like peewee football and you know, like, cooking is inherent in me. Right. And I didn't come from a family who cooked. My mom was a terrible cook. My grand. Like, there's no good cook besides me. There's nobody that's good culinary wise in my family. Like, I'm literally the only one.

[Host]

So this is really just, you know, passion just to Be a good cook. You wanted to learn how to cook for yourself.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly.

[Host]

So how long did it take you to graduate?

[Joe Irizarry]

It was two years. It was a two year degree.

[Host]

Okay.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

So like early 2010s you graduate, you also got vulnerable with us and you said you, you really had a drinking problem. At this time, your son passes towards the end of you finishing up your culinary degree. One more question before I move on to that. What was it so that was so hard for you about the culinary.

[Joe Irizarry]

It was just. It was. Because it wasn't. I'm going to say it wasn't inherent to me because it really was, but it was just, it was a different thing than what I was used to pursuing. Like, culinary is a craft and a skill and you have to really like. It was a lot of hours. It was hard work.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

You know, I was learning a lot in a very small period of time and I've always been very free flowing and you know, like education. I love going to school and I love being educated. I love having certifications, but very rigid. It was, this was completely different from what I was used to. Like when I did my accounting degree, I was able to do that on my own flex time. Like this is. You got to show up every day and you're there for five hours. You have two hours of homework every night. It wasn't hard because I managed my career. I was still successful in my career, but it was hard. And also the drinking part was really hard. Like I was losing it emotionally with the alcohol.

[Host]

So do you think being with culinary people, restaurant people.

[Joe Irizarry]

Oh, yes. I don't know. I can answer the question straight up.

[Host]

I mean, we, I mean, we have a reputation.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

We like to work hard and play hard.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. And I see, I think we're seeing the trend in the opposite direction. For sure. And I'm, I'm happy to see that for sure.

[Host]

So what was your low with the alcoholism? Like, how'd you know you had a change things?

[Joe Irizarry]

Oh, this is. So you want me to be for real? For real, yeah. Because I want, for anybody else who's going through this to understand.

[Host]

I appreciate you being willing to get real. I think it's, you know, I think low is relative. Right. So Milo might not be your low. And I think, you know, I think it's important to share, you know, what can happen if we don't self correct or if we don't come out of that.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

So if you're willing, I would love to hear.

[Joe Irizarry]

Absolutely. I think it's important. The, the Sobriety part is like, that was the whole turning point for me where I actually was able. Like, I, I have a. Like, I'm a. Like a completely different person. Like, people who knew me before. I mean, not completely different because I'm still inherently who I am. Like, that didn't change. But the people who knew me, that know me now didn't know me when I was drinking. Like, they, they don't have any perspective on it. And I was like, you know, at the end, it was my family and some of my friends could tell that I was in a problem, but basically I was still functioning. I was very high functioning.

[Host]

How often were you drinking?

[Joe Irizarry]

Every day.

[Host]

How much were you drinking?

[Joe Irizarry]

At least one or two bottles of wine a day.

[Host]

Okay.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. The low part was when I. One day it was like 10 or 11 o' clock in the morning, and I was feeling like every day I'd wake up and be like, I'm not gonna drink today. You know, like, today I'm gonna drink less or whatever it was. And I woke up and I was like, about. By 11, I was like feeling really shitty. Like, feeling shitty. And I was like, you know what? I think I'm. It's Saturday. I'm just gonna drink a glass of wine. It's 11 o' clock in the morning. Who cares? Like, I don't care. And it stopped that bad feeling. And then I said to myself, at

[Host]

that moment, your body was acclimating to that point.

[Joe Irizarry]

And I said to myself at that moment, oh, this is a problem. This is a problem. So what do I do now? And then I became very cognizant about the fact that it was a problem. But at that point, because of my drinking for such a long time and the amount of alcohol I was drinking, it was impossible to manage to not drink.

[Host]

All of your habits are centered around it.

[Joe Irizarry]

Well, physically, my body was connected to the alcohol.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

And so I had to go to social events.

[Host]

You go to where other people are drinking. You know, it's, it's hard to be around that.

[Joe Irizarry]

And I couldn't not drink because if I did, I would just get sick. So, like, my body would withdraw within a couple of hours. And so that, that was the point when I knew, like, here's now what do I do?

[Host]

Were you a bad drunk?

[Joe Irizarry]

No, I cried.

[Host]

But, like, you weren't ever like, you know, getting into trouble, doing things, like dangerous things or saying things, hurting people?

[Joe Irizarry]

No, not that part of it. I did wind up getting two dwi. And this was after I realized. I realized That I had a drinking problem, but I did get a dwi. Let me think about my first one. I had done a catering job. So here's this thing. I do a catering job for somebody. It's a Super bowl catering job. And I drive back home from this party. I'm driving back to my house, and I get pulled over, and I'd been drinking. So I. I did blow. And then I got. I got arrested, and then I went to jail. And then I had to go through the whole thing about the dwi. And then I couldn't drink for a while. You know, I could drink, but kind of not. And as long as this.

[Host]

Before you decided that you had a problem, what do you mean you came to a realization that you had.

[Joe Irizarry]

That was after. It was before my son died. It was a little bit. It was probably like six months before my son died. And then it just escalated. It escalated pretty bad. So then I got my first dwi.

[Host]

Know your son passes like you're in a depressed place. You're gonna turn to alcohol if you're an alcoholic?

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, I just couldn't not, not drink. Yeah. So I had my first dwi. And then I go to, like, to go meet with my. My probation officer, and my son's dead. And so, like, she's like, I don't even know what to do because I can't tell you not to drink because, like, what do we do now? Like, can you drink less? That's basically what she said. Just don't drink when you know you're going to come here because I got to test you, blah, blah, you know? And then I wound up getting my second DWI after another catering here in Austin. I was living back in Fort Worth at the time, but I came to Austin for a catering. So I got arrested. Here I go to jail, and then I go back home, and then here I've got two DWIs on my record. And that's. I'm not working at the time because I had worked for. I left Sprint because it became Next. I became Sprint. I left Sprint and I was working with, like, another person who was doing, like, GPS on phones. They had an angel investor, and then the angel investor pulled out, and then all of us got fired. So I had left Sprint. Then I go back to Sprint and work there for a while, and then I just. My son dies and I can't. Can't work. I had some money saved, so I was okay for a while.

[Host]

It sounds like this is. This point of your life is a real pivotal point. Where you decide, Decide. Like, when did you just stop drinking? When was, when did, when was your last rain?

[Joe Irizarry]

It was 13 years ago.

[Host]

13 years ago?

[Joe Irizarry]

March 27th. 13 years ago?

[Host]

2013. And how long after was the, like, you, you. How long was that after you finished culinary school?

[Joe Irizarry]

Years? Four years.

[Host]

So you finished like in 09? When did you have that realization?

[Joe Irizarry]

I finished in 05.

[Host]

Okay.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

When did you realize you had a problem? What year was that?

[Joe Irizarry]

That was four years before that? Four. 2013. 2009.

[Host]

For you to get sober?

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

What was, like the, what was the, the transformation during this time of realizing I have a problem getting sober? What was going on in your life? You're telling me about what's going on in your life. You're getting different jobs within the cellular space. When did things start to, like, change?

[Eric]

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[Joe Irizarry]

Right. And then I, I wound up being a personal chef, a house manager for a family. And so I lived with them for a year, but I started another business with somebody. So I started a landscaping business.

[Host]

Before you got sober?

[Joe Irizarry]

This is before I got sober. And so I start this landscaping company with these two guys. I'm still an accountant, so I'm still doing accounting stuff, right. And then I start this landscaping business with these guys and then, then I'm living with these people that, you know, like I'm, I'm living with them and then taking care of their home. They traveled a lot. So they were not in the country.

[Host]

The same people that you're the culinary personal chef for or different people?

[Joe Irizarry]

No, this is the same people. And, and they traveled a lot. So they were out of the country a lot. And they, I had full access to alcohol. Like I was close to it. I would go sit in the park and drink wine or whatever. And then, you know, like my son dies and I'm just like still trying to deal with everything and not doing a good job. And I just, one day I just like literally wake up and say, okay, this is it. I, this is physically. It was taking such a big toll on me because I could not, not drink. I had to drink. And it was, I was so depressed and I said, you know, like, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'd been to the, I'd been to the emergency room a couple of times trying to detox and they would put me in like a day, a 24 hour detox or give me medication, take home and then whatever, whatever. So I woke up one day and I'm at back in Fort Worth visiting my family and I look in the mirror and I'm like hanging out with my ex husband, which is like thinking like, oh, maybe him and I can get back together. And I don't know what to do with my life. I just don't know what to do with my life. And I'm like, no, this isn't gonna work. This isn't gonna work. I gotta figure out a way out of this mess. I go home and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna stop drinking. On, on March 27th is my final day to drink. And what I'm going to do, this is not a lie. What I'm going to do is I'm going to call 91 1, and I'm going to tell them that I feel like I'm going to die because I feel like I'm going to die. And they will come pick me up because they'll think that I did something, or they'll probably ask because I took some Benadryl and some other stuff. And. And so that morning, I get up And I call 911, and they come and pick me up, and they take me to the hospital. And the doctor on duty in the emergency room had already. He'd already seen me before for. For withdrawals. And so he said, oh, you're back. And I said, yeah, this time I want, like, for this to end. I don't. I. I don't want to drink anymore. I don't want to drink anymore. And he's like, well, you know, like, the only thing that's going to help you is I'm going to keep you here for three days, and we're going to detox you, and then you have to go to rehab. Like. And I'm like, I don't have health insurance. Because I was like. At the time, I was like, literally, like, this is rock bottom for me. I didn't have very much money. I didn't have health insurance. I wasn't living in my own place. I didn't have a car. Like, literally, I had nothing. And he said. And I said, I don't have any money. I can't, like, go to rehab. And he's like, I want you to think about it for a second. And he said, I'll be right. I'll be back. Like, just relax for a little while, because you're very stressed out right now. So, like, an hour later, he comes back in the room. He's like, I have a rehab center for you. And I said, I told you, I can't afford it. And he said, I'm going to take care of it. Wow. And he said, but you have to do everything that we tell you to do. Are you willing to do that?

[Host]

That's an angel right there.

[Joe Irizarry]

And I said, oh, yeah, I'm willing to do whatever you tell me. And so they sent me to a halfway house, like, a crazy halfway house in Austin where I lived with for two weeks with, literally, people who were unfortunately, very highly mentally unwell. I didn't have any clothes. I was wearing the same clothes for two weeks. I did not go home. I did call my. The people that I was working for, and I told them what was happening, and they were very supportive of me. They Said if you want to come back, you can come back. If you don't ever want to come back, we understand.

[Host]

And this is the company, the family you're cooking for, your partners and the landscaping.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, well, the landscaping company was completely different.

[Host]

Okay.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, yeah. So they were my, my client. So they said, we support you, whatever. And so I go to, I go to this halfway house.

[Host]

Before you get into that, you said that you were going to call and say that you were suicidal. Were you suicidal?

[Joe Irizarry]

I was, yeah.

[Host]

If you don't mind, like, mindset, like, what, what were you feeling that that made you think that that was a possibility?

[Joe Irizarry]

I don't, I didn't see any way out. Like, the only way out is death

[Host]

out of the, the grasp the alcohol.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly.

[Host]

Were you depressed in the sense of, like, where your life was and everything?

[Joe Irizarry]

Like, this wasn't me. Like, here I'd been so successful. I, I, I didn't mention this, but I went back to Austin. I mean, Fort Worth, and I was cooking for football players. I was on MTV Cribs. Like, I had a very successful career my whole life. And then this alcohol, like, had such a control over me, and I didn't, like, I was obsessed with it. I couldn't not think about it. How do you get rid of that? I'd gone to aa, and that didn't help me. It wasn't like. So I just didn't know where to turn.

[Host]

You felt like there was no hope for.

[Joe Irizarry]

There's no hope for me.

[Host]

No other option.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. Death is like, you know, like, you know. And then also my son died. And, and so typically, what you see is, I think that, and this might be wrong. I, I think what I've read is that, like, 40% of the people who are very highly affected by a suicide will attempt suicide themselves. Like, out of 100% of the people, like, if your, your family members are 10, four might do that. And we saw that in my family. We saw one of my sons attempted suicide after his brother died. It was. It's very common for people to feel suicidal.

[Host]

Is it genetic?

[Joe Irizarry]

Is it like, yeah, my mom's side of the family is crazy. That shit crazy. Can you say that?

[Host]

Well, yeah, you can say I'm talking to restaurant owners. I know. Okay, well, thank you for getting vulnerable again. My goal is, I just want to understand where you were mentally. And I know that we're about to turn a corner in your story. And I, and I think that just under, like, maybe somebody's listening to this.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

And they're not in a good place.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

And no matter where you are, how bad it is, you can turn it around.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

You know, and we're about to get into that story of how you turned it around. So you were in the clothes that you went to the hospital in. You're at this halfway house. You're there for two weeks. That's where you left off.

[Joe Irizarry]

Then they, they transfer me to. They finally had a place for me in, in a rehab center.

[Host]

What was that two weeks? That two weeks? Like, was it an eye opening, being surrounded by all these people that.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

You're like, I'm not supposed to be here.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. Like, what. Not that I'm better than this, but I'm not this. So like, what happens to me now and then? So I went to the rehab center with like thinking it was still going to be the same thing, and it kind of was. But what I did find at the rehab center was that everybody that was in that in these rooms with me were expecting, experiencing some kind of grief. And it wasn't like they lost their son. It could be they lost their grandmother and they turned to drugs and alcohol to deal with grief, or they lost a part of themselves or they lost their home. A relationship, purpose, like. Exactly. And every single person was dealing with grief and had turned to something to self soothe. And once I thought about that, then I thought, how can I not be dependent on it? And, and actually this is a really, like, I'm very, very spiritual. And I believe the obsession was taken away from me because I have zero desire to drink. Like, even when I smell alcohol, I'm just like, ew, how did I ever drink this? All the time. Like, I'm just like, I'm completely like disconnected from my alcohol experience. For my first 40 something years of my life, I got sober at like 50.

[Host]

Okay, yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

So I got sober at 50.

[Host]

So was there one like a catalyst, like a, a moment that you think helped you just kick that? Like, what was the thing that go into rehab for?

[Joe Irizarry]

Sure. Like getting some disconnection and seeing other people and then meeting other people that were like me? I, I never, when I came out of rehab, I never. And I don't, like, I'm not saying that you should do what I did, but I never went to another AA meeting. What I decided was, is I was gonna find people to connect with and they would be my help and my resources and it didn't matter whether they drank or didn't drink, but I needed to find people that match my energy. And I came out with that aspiration and is that I would only surround myself with people that were like, good for my mental health.

[Host]

Yeah. And that's a huge part when you go to aa, and I've never been to aa, but from my understanding, it's a lot of what triggers those habits is your environment and the people in your routine. So if you have a group of people and like their routines, their habits are going out and drinking, you have to kind of find a new pattern in your life. New people, new things to do to replace that time where you. You would be drinking. Your. Your environment and the people you surround yourself with is hugely influential.

[Joe Irizarry]

The. When I came out, I It also one of the things is they tell you have to stay, like, you have to be single, like, you can't date or anything like that. And I had always been in a relationship my whole life. Like, that was just. I'd always had like a guy or whatever. And then I had always been in a relationship. I came out and I was like, I really want to understand me. I really want to get to know myself better. And so I spent that first year with what. Because they told me you have to go live in sober living. So I went to go live in sober living. They told me you don't date for a year. So I didn't date for a year. Like, I promised that doctor that day, he gave me the gift of my sobriety that I would do whatever they told me to do. And so I did those things. Except for go to a meetings, I didn't do any of that.

[Host]

But so when you come out of this treating yourself for this addiction, you start surrounding yourself with the right people. What's the new vision? What's the new dream? What's the new hope for you?

[Joe Irizarry]

Well, I got a job doing accounting. And then. And then I also got a job at the mall. I went straight into, like, what my life was before, where I had multiple jobs with different things. Like the one where I worked at the mall, I was working at a place called Savory Spice Shop. So it was a spice store. So for me, it was the connection to food. And so the kids from culinary school would come in on Friday nights and we'd do salt tastings and stuff like that. So that was a lot of fun. And I also had this, like, fear that I was gonna be killed at a mall. Like, it was one of these abstract things that, you know, like, was a thing that I always thought of. So I'm like, I'm always trying to, like, how do I Beat my fear. And I'm like, I'll get a job at a mall. And then if I die at a mall, well, then it was meant to be, right? But. But maybe I can conquer the fear of being in a mall. So I did that. And. And then I. I got a job working for this. This lady who was like. Had a CPA service. She was a CPA and she had a service. And I was like a bookkeeper for her. And I met somebody who's very critical in like, the. The last 14 years of my life, because this is 14 years ago. So I. Or 13 years ago. So I meet this. These two gentlemen. Their name's Kevin and Paul. And I'm sure they'll be happy that I said their name, because they're a very important part of my life. And they were just opening a room. Real estate. They just purchased a real estate company. And so they came in and they were talking to the lady, and I was handed that account as one of my accounts. And so I did their books for them, got them all caught up, and then I wound up leaving, working for that lady and then looking for, like, another job. And then Paul calls me up and he's like, hey, Joe, do you know anybody who, like, I know you got that job over there, but do you know any other bookkeepers? Were looking for a bookkeeper for. For our real estate company? And I was like, are you asking me if I want to come work for you? Because, you know, like, you know, I don't have that job anymore. Right. And he's like, I know. And I was like. And he's like. He's like, yeah. And I'm like, okay, well, I can. And then I started this next step career with this client that I have that's very important to me, that I have done accounting for him for the last 14 years and 13 years.

[Host]

And this client is the real estate.

[Joe Irizarry]

The real estate company. Yeah.

[Host]

And their names again, you said you want to.

[Joe Irizarry]

Kevin and Paul.

[Host]

Kevin and Paul, yeah. What was this moment in your life with Kevin and Paul? How did this change things?

[Joe Irizarry]

Well, when I saw them immediately and I met them, I connected that they were going to be highly successful, and I would be there to. To see and experience that success with them.

[Host]

Yeah. And this is happening in the first year of you getting.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. And this is like, I didn't know them. I didn't know they were going to offer me a job, but I was just like, I want to hang my coattails on people like this. This. Yes, this is really important. As I get into my new life is that I find connections with people like this who are. Who are motivated, who are, you know, successful, like. And I didn't know anything about their success at the time, you know, so that was my first connection. And then I went to go work for them. And then they have other businesses that I do stuff with. And they were very supportive with me whenever because I. I tried to leave. And then they were like, can you just work part time? And I was like, okay, I'll work part time. Because I had met somebody and we were trying to open a restaurant together, but we got the opportunity. We did not try to open a restaurant together. We met each other through food and through like a stupid dating site like Tinder or whatever. I can't remember what. And he was a chef. And so we met and he. I went to go visit him out in the hill country and. And he's like, my friends own this restaurant. Well, it's been closed for five years. We should do a pop up there. And this is like within the first two months of us, like, dating. Okay. And so I was like, okay, well, he introduces me to these people. We go to go look at the space and it's ready to go. Like, there's like, we don't have to do anything to do this pop up.

[Host]

Was it just a one time pop up or.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, it was just gonna be a one time pop up. So it was gonna be like 4. He had a friend coming in from California who was also a chef. And then we, we asked the guy who owned the place originally if he could be a chef. And we were doing four courses, four chefs. And we were just opening up and. Because it had been the last version of this restaurant, because it'd been a steakhouse, it'd been a, like, all kinds of stuff. The last version was a barbecue place. We were like, why don't we do something with barbecue? Him And I don't have any barbecue

[Host]

background, but that's the least amount of work you have to do because space supports.

[Joe Irizarry]

There's the space smoker out there. Like, this place is built for barbecue. So look, why don't we do that? So we did this event. We put like, back then, we just put a sign on the side of the road. It's out in Sisterdale, Texas, like one of those flashing signs. And within 24 hours, we sold out the event.

[Host]

Oh, wow.

[Joe Irizarry]

And so we have this event. It's very successful. It was like, we'd been in that kitchen our whole life. Even though that was the only day we'd ever been there.

[Host]

That's crazy. So this is, what year is this?

[Joe Irizarry]

Oh my gosh, it's. So it's all running together. Let me think about. It was like 15 because.

[Host]

Okay, this is before you guys. 13 years ago you got sober.

[Joe Irizarry]

No, yeah, it was after. It was one year after I got sober.

[Host]

So this is like 12 years ago and this is the first time barbecue comes into your life, correct?

[Joe Irizarry]

14. 14. What is it? I don't remember, but it was like.

[Host]

Well, I guess one of the things I'm curious about. I mean, I've loved your story. I love the inspiration of your story. We cut, we shared earlier today when we first started, like where you are today. Property management, two restaurants. You're still an accountant. You, you're getting into consumer product goods. You got a lot going on. I mean, and it's only been like 13 years. You've got all this going on.

[Joe Irizarry]

How many properties are you managing within all the companies? 100. We have 100 personally in our portfolio.

[Host]

So you're still working for these two people?

[Joe Irizarry]

Well, I work for, I work for Kevin and Paul.

[Host]

Okay.

[Joe Irizarry]

I do, I do like, I'm an accountant, so I'm like a contractor to them. So I'm the accountant for the property management company. I don't have any like day to day in the operation, so I just do like the overall accounting.

[Host]

Got it.

[Joe Irizarry]

And, and they have 250 properties. Okay.

[Host]

And you have, you manage yourself 100 properties.

[Joe Irizarry]

And then I have another client that has about 250 properties.

[Host]

So all together, two. But you're not managing any of those properties, you're just doing their books.

[Joe Irizarry]

Well, one of them, I do actually do the property management. Like I do all the maintenance and all that.

[Host]

I like their cars loud in Texas, don't they? I've noticed this. It's like, why can't you just have a normal.

[Joe Irizarry]

It's the pickup, it's the pickup truck thing.

[Host]

Yeah. I don't get it. So, okay, so you're managing the, the, the, the, the properties that you manage. 100 units approximately. Do you own these properties?

[Joe Irizarry]

We do not own them.

[Host]

Okay.

[Joe Irizarry]

No, they're, they're clients that have properties.

[Host]

So when you say you're managing the properties, you're doing things like tenant like requests and stuff like that?

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, yeah. Giving the owners their money, working with vendors, like that kind of thing.

[Host]

And that is a business that you own? A property management business?

[Joe Irizarry]

Myself and my son.

[Host]

Okay. And the, this, these people contract you out to manage Their properties. I mean, what? I. I don't really know much. Like, when did you start that?

[Joe Irizarry]

That's when the first thing I did for Paul and. Okay, yeah. Straight out. Straight out of sobriety.

[Eric]

Straight out of sobriety at this point

[Host]

in your life 13 years ago. Let's get in the, the, the jet. We're gonna take off, we're gonna go to 30, 000ft and we're gonna cruise over the last 13. This, this, this helped me understand how it unfolded. And then we'll get into helicopter and we'll hover over those points.

[Joe Irizarry]

Okay. Property management. Yeah. Right. Then a restaurant in Sisterdale. Right. Stayed there for five years. Left. Right before COVID Me and my partner at the time split up, came to Austin, started another barbecue pop up business during COVID with a partner at the time. I also went to go work with Nathan and Sarah at foreign and domestic because everybody was leaving because of the COVID situation. And I didn't get any of the, like, money that everybody else was getting because I wasn't an employee. Right. Worked with them for five years. Disbanded my second barbecue concept. Met Chuck from Barbs somewhere in the. Right. The disband of me and my partner. So that was about five years ago. And then I've been with Chuck for five years helping build the Barbs concept. And then Lindsay, who's my partner here, she worked with me for 10 years

[Host]

with my client Paul, and that was 2023. You started this two years ago? Going on two years for what? This, this concept?

[Joe Irizarry]

No, we started last year.

[Host]

Okay. 2024 or 2025.

[Joe Irizarry]

2025. So me and Lindsay had known each other through because she was his assistant and I was his accountant. So we spent 10 years together as working beside each other, but in a different, completely different thing.

[Eric]

Got it.

[Host]

When do you go from popup figuring it out, restaurants to creating opportunity for other people? When does that start happening?

[Joe Irizarry]

It's all the time. It just never. It never ends. It feels like. It feels like it never ends.

[Host]

When I was talking to Sarah, she had this like incredible amount of respect for. She. She didn't just call you somebody she admires. Like, she called you a mentor and she that you really help her. How long did you work at Foreign Domestic?

[Joe Irizarry]

It was when Covid first happened. Like I had started 2020 in 2019. In November, I started working for them front of the house because she's like, sarah, I'm leaving. I'm leaving Sisterdale. And she's like, can you come work for me? And I was like, sure, you know, I'm coming back to Austin. I just have this one job right now. I need two jobs because one is never enough. And then I just started working front of the house for them. And then Covid happened and then everything went to a screeching halt because they had just purchased commerce here. And then, you know, everything closed. And it was just me and Sarah and Nathan for a long time. For months.

[Eric]

Yeah. How.

[Host]

How did you help? Why would Sarah say that you're a mentor to her?

[Eric]

What word?

[Host]

Like, without airing out her laundry, you know, reflecting back at where she was and where you help her get. Why would she say these things?

[Joe Irizarry]

I think what I. So I think Sarah looks up to me as a. An adult, a grown up adult. And I think maybe at that point that she really needed to have somebody to bounce stuff with, off with that could understand where she was coming from. So I like, definitely, like, listen to her speak. And I think that was a big part of it, is that if she needed to unload, she didn't have to like, get mentally mad about stuff. She could just be like, hey, Joe, can I talk to you for a few minutes? And then she could just like. Because what I really love doing with people is when they're in a mode of frustration is to allow them to get themselves out of that place.

[Host]

Place.

[Joe Irizarry]

I don't get them out of it. What I do is I allow them to tell me how they feel. Speak. I can, you know, like, I don't agree with them or disagree with them. I just help them find a way out of those places. And 100 of the time, people find the answers to their own questions. How do they want to solve a problem?

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

You know, like, if you have somebody to talk through that with you, then I'm a listener, you know, like. And then, you know, I've also, you know, I've got 30 years on Sarah. So for her, you know, like, if I'm going to reach out to somebody, it's generally going to be somebody who's 90, you know, like, because they've already experienced things and you want that. You want to be able to hear other people what they've done and how they've solved issues or accomplished things.

[Host]

Yeah. So when do you go from just, you know, pop ups, helping out other people in their businesses to really starting to thrive on your own independent entrepreneur? Got your shit figured out today. Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

So today is the beginning of that.

[Host]

So take me to today then. Like, we're at the point of the conversation. Really help me understand what you've built and how you've built it.

[Joe Irizarry]

You know, I don't. I don't know. I don't know how the snowball effect of it, how it happened. I just. Like, when I told you about me doing that thing where I did the obituary and had to, like, look at, like, look at my life and see what I. Like, what I've accomplished, because it was mostly about, like, accomplishing. Because I still. You know, I'm still. I'm 63, but I'm 12. Like, I'm still a scared little girl, right? I'm still poor. I'm still, like, not popular. I'm still all of those things. Those things, you know, Like, I work through them every single day. And so sometimes it's hard for me to believe I'm where I'm at, because how did this happen? You know, like, when we opened barbs, we never expected, like, it wasn't the goal to be Michelin. It wasn't trying to be Texas. Well, Texas motherly top 50 was definitely in our goal, but none of that. None of that other stuff. And so to have it happen just because I believe we don't have ego and we're super authentic about what we do, and we really do, like, hone in on, like, being the best in our craft for our community, not for, like, judges or anything like that. That's. That's been very successful to me. And then I also, like. I hear people speak, and if they need something, I want to help them with things. And I also realized in myself that I have this talent and I need to share it with other people.

[Host]

What is your talent?

[Joe Irizarry]

Being a mentor, I think. Being. Being a mentor to people, I think.

[Host]

Well, I mean, it's. I've definitely learned there's a pattern. The most successful restaurateurs out there are successful because of who they're able to surround themselves with. And they know that it's not about them. It's about creating opportunity for other people. And the more opportunity you create for other people, the more the thing, you know, elevates because you get more people coming in, and you're moving. You're replacing yourself and making room for those people. Like, as you ascend, there's a void underneath you, and somebody needs to move into that role. So you're constantly ascending and you're creating opportunity for room for other people to ascend. Your success breeds success. Is that what's happening with you?

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, that. That's interesting that you say that because, like, it's important for me, one of the first questions I ask everybody, when they say, can you help me? Like, I want to learn how to. Because I deal with a lot of women specifically, is, I want to learn how to grow my. I want to learn how to grow a business. First question I asked Lindsay for this particular thing was she's like. Because she said to me, joe, I want to be like you. I want to, like, have passion. I want to have this thing that I have passion for.

[Host]

Like, Lindsay's your partner at Thread and Thorn and Bread.

[Joe Irizarry]

And so. And she, you know, like I said, so what. What are you passionate about? And she came back to me later, and her and I had a discussion, and one. The first thing she said, I was like, I don't see that for you. But, you know, like, tell me why you see it for yourself. And then we had that conversation.

[Host]

You said that you didn't see what she said about herself in her.

[Joe Irizarry]

What she wanted for herself.

[Host]

You didn't see that for her.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. Initially, she was thinking about, like, a. Like a coffee truck.

[Host]

Okay.

[Joe Irizarry]

And I was like, I don't. You know, what is her passion?

[Host]

Coffee. Is that what she said?

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. Yeah. Her passion was coffee. You know, how did you come about that? My best job I ever had, whenever I was. When I was in college was at a coffee shop. And I really miss.

[Host]

It's damn good coffee, I'll say that.

[Eric]

Thank you.

[Host]

I was thinking about this.

[Joe Irizarry]

So I said, you know, like, because I tell people I can't work with that, or I can work with that, I can see things for you that you can't see for yourself. Like, you can't. Like, you might have a limiting belief about yourself, but I have an unlimited belief. Belief about you. Right. Like, that you can accomplish whatever as long as you're passionate, because you have to be passionate about it first.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

I have never seen a person who was not passionate about something become highly successful.

[Host]

Thomas Keller, I think, had a TED Talk or some kind of speech where he said, it's not passion, it's desire.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

And I think passion and desire go hand in hand. Like, you can kind of like. But, like. And I say this a lot, if you. If you're gonna do something, you have to get it. Meaning you have to understand the job. You have to want it. You know, you have to have that desire. It has to be a burning desire that you want this. You have to have the capacity to do it. Like, you actually have to have the skills and the ability to do the thing.

[Joe Irizarry]

That's a big thing. Right. There. Yeah, that's a big thing right there. Because a lot of people might want it, but they just don't have the skill set for it.

[Host]

And, like, I think that when I hear want it, it's desire. Like, how bad do you want it? Because it's gonna suck. You know, it's gonna be really hard. It's gonna be great, too. But, like, you're gonna have to swim up a river of turds before you get to the point.

[Joe Irizarry]

And it doesn't have to just do with the restaurant industry. Basically, what I tell people is, it doesn't matter what you're doing. It's gonna take you two years. Two years. You better be committed for two years of not making money.

[Host]

And you better have an operating, like, capital.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. You better. You better have a way to support yourself for two years. And then if you're in Lockhart, and I'm saying this, like, out loud so any Lockhartian listens, they can understand if you're in Lockhart. Those of us who do what we do here on the square, specifically, we are doing it out of love for the community, because we are definitely not making money.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

Like, most of our business models are barely surviving.

[Host]

And that's what I want to change. Honestly, when I say inspire, empower, and transform the industry, the transformation is we got to figure out a new way, because we can't lose the love for the thing. We can't lose the passion. We can't lose the soul. Yeah, I understand that. People that own. I don't think franchises and corporations are the devil. I think scaling to a certain degree is the devil. You can have a franchise that's hyper local. You can have a corporation that's hyper local. I like to use P. Terry's as an example. They never left the Austin market, you know, like, until they got to, like, 30 locations, you know, but they were the local burger. Like, that's like, they owned the. The. Like, the Quick Burger service, but they. They were part of that community. And I think what Patrick Terry does for his employees, I think he's. I think he's doing a good job. Unless I'm just getting lip service from him.

[Joe Irizarry]

I don't. I've never heard anybody that's worked for Pete Terry's that's ever. I've never heard a bad word about

[Host]

Pete Terry's, but, like, that's an example. In the industry never scaling, but in making an impact local, you don't have to scale across the country to scale. You can. It's weird. Like, when you scale. I think when people think of what we have to grow, we have to get bigger, we have to get better. I think they, they correlate that with expansion, like lateral growth. But why can't growth be. We need to do what we're already doing here, better, deeper, you know, like make a bigger impact. How many more people here close to us can we help? And I, and I feel like with the independent restaurant industry, with people who have a passion for their thing and they're seen by, for their, for their thing in their community, and that soul is worth preserving, but we can't preserve that if we're not taking care of the industry. You know. Am I rambling right now?

[Joe Irizarry]

No, no, what you're saying is absolutely correct. Because what I feel like this is what I also tell people that want to grow, that have a, like a growth like mindset. Great. But remember about how like we lose. Okay, there's, here's, here's the thing. There's a lot of barbecue across the world, right? There's a lot of, there's eight barbecue places in Lockhart, right? There's probably, I'm gonna say this and I'm gonna say it out loud, but there's probably two really memorable places. There's a lot of people who do larger services than barbs that make probably more money than barbs that are open seven days a week and they're open 10, 12 hour days. And the barbecue is like, it's average, it's good. Like you'll come here to eat it, you won't say bad stuff about it, but it's just like basically okay. So if that's your desire is to just be basically okay, then open a place like that. Like, if you're okay with that, but with growth also, there's no way, there's absolutely no way that you can grow really big and maintain the quality of the service or the food that you want to create, because then you lose your hands in it and as soon as you start. Because even like that, Michelin restaurants, they're small, they're not big, they're not huge. You know, like, they're not huge, you know, like feeding hundreds of thousands of people a day. Yeah, like really, the, the best food comes from the smallest places, really.

[Host]

And. Right. So the, the question is, at what point do we sacrifice quality for convenience and value? Right. And I think as you scale, you can offer convenience and value. But what are we losing?

[Joe Irizarry]

You're losing quality. Right. 100% of the time.

[Host]

I don't, I don't quality in product, but also quality relationships.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. Like you can't. And I've, I've. There's several big people who have. Have done that and I've seen they fail. Yeah. You know, like specifically in barbecue that have failed because they tried to grow. And their business model was so great when they were small and their food was amazing and even their soul was so much better that they lost so much in that. And I'm not willing to do that for food.

[Host]

Yeah. I mean, it's such a soulful industry. But the thing that scares me is that we're getting to the point where good people trying to do good, honest, soulful work. It's getting harder and harder for those people to do the right thing. They might want to support the local farm. They might want to offer a good wage in health insurance. You know, it's not an option. So what do we do when good people doing good work can't survive and they have an accountant as a business partner? You know what I'm saying? Like, everything you're doing and not to say that you're not making it, but like, I'm saying, like, people like you, you know, like, no, no matter what you do, to do the right thing, no matter how hard you work, no matter how much you put systems and processes in place. But you want to stay small because it's the thing that you love, not the idea of how big can I get this. What about how do, like, what has to happen to preserve that?

[Joe Irizarry]

I mean, we just have to keep doing this. We have to figure, okay, specifically in Lockhart. So what I see across here is how do we, how do we get more people in our doors? Right. Like Lockhart. If I'm going to write a demographic of Lockhart, Lockhart is we love one offs. We love like a special event, we love programming that's like, you only can do this this one time and then everybody shows up for that because it's like fomo. Exactly. That Lockhart has it really, really bad. And so those are the things that work. They work, but they're also hard on the people who are putting them together. Because we're doing like, tonight I'm doing a drag show right here. And so tonight I'm going to be here. I got here this morning to do this catering and then tonight I'll get here to, to stay open late for this drag show. But it's integral to my business that I do these things because these are the things that bring in the extra money so that when our Food costs are high. Then we have this great, like our case that has all of our drinks that in our coffee is the thing that brings in more money. And those are the people that are coming in.

[Host]

Was bringing the people in is the experience, the event. What's making the money is capturing increasing sales while they're there.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly, exactly.

[Host]

You don't charge at the door or anything like that for these things. What you're describing is the experience economy. Joe Pine. Are you familiar with Joe Pine, author of the Experience Economy? Really great book. And we are. He argues that we are. We were in the experience economy. Now we're actually moving towards the transformation economy. What I think is cool about your story is you're in the business of transforming people in your business partners. The people you mentor. Right. The people that come up underneath you. And I think that that just. That's so hopeful. I mean, so it's. It's about experiences, but experiences over time. Where today's experience leaves you better today than you were yesterday, tomorrow's experience will leave you better tomorrow than you were today. And it's helping people become that thing, that better version of themselves. Like we're in a society of ascending people. And it's about how do I find people and how do I serve them with my business. To ascend what. Maybe I don't know, like, what's. As I'm saying this, what's going on through your mind?

[Joe Irizarry]

It's making me think about, like, I don't want to get political.

[Eric]

So please, honestly, please get political.

[Host]

I think we need to talk politics.

[Joe Irizarry]

I have such a. So I have this experience that two years ago I was again on a treadmill. I seem to experience a lot of things around a treadmill. So on a treadmill at my house. And I'm listening to. Because I. I am a high believer in energy, astrology, astronomy, the stars, all of that kind of stuff like that

[Host]

is got to be connected.

[Joe Irizarry]

It's. It's. That's everything to me. Everything to me. So I'm listening to this guy and he's a. I like him the most out of all the astrologists that I hear because he connects the dots on energy, like cycles. Like what happened 60 years ago, 100 years ago, a thousand years ago. Like, how. How does. Like we just keep recycling these experiences and there is trends for like eight years. Yeah. Patterns and all.

[Host]

Book. I'm about to recall the generations and it talks about the patterns over generations.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. So he said in. And this was in 2024, because I was like you know, like, there's a lot of doom and gloom. Like, we've been through so much politically, and I try to stay out of it. I mean, I am absolutely. I got purple hair. You know, I got a nose piercing. You know, like, I'm a liberal. I'm a highly, like, liberal person. Am I connected to a political party? Not at all. I'm connected to people.

[Host]

What's the word liberal mean?

[Joe Irizarry]

It means I believe. I believe in. In. In people. I believe in that we're here to serve people and help people. So that is considered a liberal ideology. Yeah, I consider that being human. Yeah, I consider that the human experience. But unfortunately, in a society that we have, we have to classify things, and I'm being classified as a liberal. So I hear this guy talking about how in 2026, like, there will be an awakening, a reckoning, and there will be, like, humanity will come back, community will come back, that we will embrace the things that we have walked far, far away from over the last few years. And it's going to be difficult. We're going to have. We're going to have to get through it. We're going to have to push through this thing, and there's going to be a lot of bad stuff happening. But if you're. If you're, you know, like, if you're willing to, like, just be part of the solution, not the problem, then we can have this done. Because this happened in, you know, like, the French war and whatever. Whatever. So I'm listening to this, and I'm like, oh, man, I'm all in. You know, like, I'm curious about what happens. And so my mindset after that was like, I. Every single time something bad has happened, I'm like, this is part of it. Because I also believe in soul contracts. So y' all can listen to me and think that I'm crazy and I am. So. I'm an Aquarius. I'm very, like. I'm very. Is it ethereal? Like, I'm very, like. Like, I'm very dreamy. I'm very. I have a very. Yeah, you're an entrepreneur. So I believe that. I believe that we've. We come back. Like, our souls are recycled. Our body is recycled, but our souls stay the same. Right? So we have this soul contract that we. Whoever we believe in, God, God, universe, Mother Nature, whatever it is that we believe in, that we say, you know, like, we're there. And they're like, hey, you gonna do this? Are you willing to do this? And you're like, sure, I'll. I'll travel to Earth for this experience. So my soul contract was to be here to experience my son's passing, to live through this life of poverty, and then, you know, like, be an alcoholic. Like, all of these things were part of my soul contract. So I'm doing these things because by design, that's what I'm supposed to experience. I learn from them. And with this learning, then I become this person, and then I can teach others so they don't have to experience these kind of things. And, like, everybody has a different soul contract. Like the people who are going through the bad stuff right now. I already did that one in another life, so I don't have to do that one again. That's how I'm elevated to this position.

[Host]

That's a lot of what, like, ancient civilizations believe every life is a one step closer to ascending.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. So I'm always. This is the ascension that I have in this lifetime. And so I feel like in the last three or four years, I've who I am. Like, there's, there's not going to. Well, I'm always changing because I'm always, like, being interested in new things, I think they call it. And you can look this up. It's called a polymathic brain. So you can be interested in a lot of things and you can learn about a lot of things, but you don't necessarily have to pursue them all. Yeah, it could be. Some people call it adhd.

[Host]

I'm kind of like that too. Like I always say, I'm not good in the details, but my life is. Is zooming at 30,000ft and getting a lot of different perspective. But people like you and I, we

[Eric]

see the big picture.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly.

[Host]

We connect the dots because we're not lost in this rabbit hole. We're over the savannah looking at all the different rabbit holes, and we're like, oh, like there might be a network of rabbit holes or like we just see things differently.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yes, absolutely. So study about the polymathic. So part of my soul contract is to be here to do these things that I do. Right, Right.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

And so when he. When he said that in 2026. So it's. It's happening, it's unfolding, I think, so 100. Just like he said it was going to unfold. So instead of me, like, when I see Minnesota, when I see ice, like, this all has to happen. And I tell people who get, like, really, really, like, down and fearful of this is that, first of all, I'm here to my. My thing is for me to raise the. Raise the energy of people. Like, so I need to be at my highest level of good energy all the time, because I'm here as the person who's, like, if they can't lift themselves up, I'm here to help them do that. Right. And so when I'm. When I'm becoming fearful and when I'm becoming scared or when I'm becoming depressed, then I'm working with. With the negative energy, and I can't raise people up. So it's. My job is to always be here.

[Host]

Yeah. You're making me think of Johnny Carrabba. You know Johnny Caraba? Carrabba's.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Host]

He's. Yeah, I had him on the show years ago, Houston. And you think of Crop as an Italian grill, but, like, they. The original carabas, like the one in Houston that he still owns today, is something truly special. When I talked to him, he said that he emphasized enthusiasm. You have to be the most enthusiastic person in the room. Because when you come into a room, your job is to raise the energy.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly.

[Host]

And that same mindset, like your positivity, you have to be the most positive person in the room. Like, when you. When you feel that negative energy, you have to recognize with your frontal lobe, your conscious brain, shut that down. Like, that is not serving me. Like, I. Like, like, what is the goal? What is the aim? What is possible?

[Eric]

Possible.

[Host]

Let's go. Right? And, like, when you think like that, you pull. You know, you pull people up.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly.

[Host]

It's better to pull. Like, have you ever tried to help somebody get up? Like a. Like a. You climbing a rock or something? Like, you can get below and push them in the ass. It's not as easy as if you're just standing on top of the rock and using your whole, like, your legs to pull them up. It's so much easier to pull somebody up than is to push them up. But you have to ascend first.

[Joe Irizarry]

So my. My job is to be the high vibration.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

And so I think about that every single time. Like, when you say, when you enter a room, I walk in a room, and I know I change the energy. Without fail, I know I changed the energy. Yeah. And so for me, that means that I should be on my game, because, first of all, ain't that bad, y'. All. I mean, it is bad, but it's personally my ain't that bad. Like, I have this great life living in this nice small town and owning like or being part of two restaurants and developing this new food Product. And there's like 10 other things that I haven't even told you about that I have in the works right now. Yeah, that. That are all viable for me. So, like, I have a good life. I have a great life. And if we stop and think about it, we probably all have a pretty good life. Unfortunately, there's a lot of people going through bad things and, you know, like, I don't want to gloss over that. That. That's not the thing. But, you know, when I wake up in the morning, the first thing that I do, I have this, like, whole process and I'm single. I've been single for a long time, and it's been the best 10 years of my life being single. So. So I get up and the first thing that I do is I'm always grateful. I listen. I do listen to an astrologer. I try to stay away from my phone. I savor my coffee, I pet my dog. You know, I try to just get myself in the proper mindset about, like, what great things are going to happen to me today? And I say it out loud, what great things are going to happen to me today? I'm here for all of them. And I notice when I walk out the door, my step is different. Like when I drive down the road, when I get to meet my first person, you know, like, I can also change the energy to the opposite direction, and I don't want to be responsible for that.

[Host]

Yeah, yeah, 100%. I mean, it's the reason why I start every episode with excitement. Allow me to. Because I'm trying to come in with, with energy and I want to like, boom. Like, let's start high. You know, like. And that's why I have people share a success core mantra, like positive perspective. You know, like, it's like when you. How you walk through that door, how you walk out of that door, when you're going out into the world every day, leaving your home, you know, you gotta, like, hit a switch. You know, you gotta get into it. There's so many things we could talk about. I mean, I do want to try to get down into some of the nitty gritty with the business operations. You started talking about what works events in hosting those events. Can you give me any other detail in terms of, like, advice you can give our listeners for the types of events that you host, that, that work, that pull people out.

[Joe Irizarry]

Well, right now, what I feel like the, the what is shifting towards is events that bring together community. And it could be something as simple as, like, a craft Day, like for people, like for a family event. It could be a craft day. There's a bunch of people that are getting on that train right now in town. We had one, we have a, like a. We had the no Kings protest here. And so there's a. It's. It's this group called Indivisible Lockhart. And so we had a craft day here and 30 people showed up and they made, they made crafts, but they were based on like the political climate and they were aiming at ice and some other stuff. And so that was very successful. But we also see some more low key stuff where people are, are, are. It's almost like we're going back in time to like the 60s and the 70s where people are like really forgetting about their phone. It would be cool if we could have more events where your phone is taken away from you. I'm reading about that. That happens other places. We have a DJ pop up here once a month where we have DJ music at 10 o' clock in the morning. I do a. Here we do a sober. We do a sober book club. And so we have people come out on a Tuesday night and we read from some books.

[Host]

I love this.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, those kind of things that we're doing that you know, like we do pop ups and then tomorrow we have a clothing swap. So you pay $5 and this $5 goes towards some kind of donation to whoever's like hosting the clothing swap.

[Host]

You're pulling events that have a cost. I think that's the common thread I'm finding here is what like you're passionate about your restaurant, the food business. If you're listening to this, I'm assuming. But what else are you passionate about? What else, what are other cause are you passionate about? Use your space to be a thing to champion that cause and to find the other people in your community that say me too, I want to get behind that and then, and then bring people together and I gotta kind of like laugh it because like the Ireland in like, oh, we're having success in doing things with our community. It's like what the fuck do you think the restaurant industry was born out of? Like the fact that we've gotten so far from that, that it's like a. Oh, I know.

[Eric]

Be a place for my community to

[Host]

connect is like working like who would have thought that that's the path because we've gotten so far away from community.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly.

[Host]

The restaurant industry has gotten so transactional and so about media and so about awards and so about scale that we, we've lost sight of what it's all about.

[Eric]

The restaurant industry has always been about

[Host]

being a public space for people to come and congregate and be together.

[Joe Irizarry]

Enjoyful.

[Host]

Enjoyful human connectivity.

[Eric]

You cannot replace this. There's a reason I live in a

[Host]

camper and drive across the country because zoom sucks, you know?

[Eric]

And I have a community where restaurant

[Host]

owners get together and we talk over Zoom. But the only reason why I do that is because I want to people.

[Eric]

I want people.

[Host]

I want that to be like. Like. Like practice dating. Like, oh, like, I can go here, and I can. I can get comfortable talking to other restaurant owners, sharing information, finding people who, like, can help me with where I'm at. Take that mindset and bring it to your own community and do that in your own city. Find those people in your own city.

[Joe Irizarry]

And if you don't do that often, then what happens is that we lose that 100. We lose it. And that's why it's really important for us to, like, schedule monthly events here. Quarterly events. We're doing a grief one, so we have a grief group that's coming in. I'm bringing in an astrologer who. Who. Who does, like, she'll connect you with somebody that's passed. Like, those kind of things that are. Have become really, really important for people. That whole connection thing. We have a girl that has a wine shop. One of her things specifically is that she celebrates birthdays. Like, her place is the place that you want to go have your birthday party at. And she does, like, there's.

[Host]

She's master. That's her niche.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, we have a lot of very, like, we call them local heroes. People who've been around or important to this community. And she throws parties, like, big parties for them, and they're all based on, like, something that there's a donation somehow. We just did a chili cook off, and me and my partner, we won.

[Host]

Congratulations.

[Joe Irizarry]

We won. Fan favorite. So it was a Thai chili. So that ties into the fact that I'm doing a Thai. A Thai product that should come to market soon. So we all find the things that. And this is the other part that I love about Lockhart, which I wish could move everywhere else, is that here specifically, when me and Lindsay talked about this place, we didn't want to, like, we didn't want to make food. I'm not. I'm a chef. I'm, you know, like, I've got a degree. I went to culinary school. I do caterings. But what I wanted to do was give other people the opportunity to come into the community and have a space. Like they might not. Like the girl who's our baker, she doesn't have the money to pay rent at a space in Lockhart. But why can't Lockhart showcase her, her product? Why can't we be the incubator for these people who have product that we can bring in and showcase by having pop ups, by having chef guests. Like we did a, we did a omakase, we did a sushi pop up here. Like, why can't we do more of that? And I'm actually working with somebody that's opening up a new art studio and I'm going to be connecting with chefs and bringing them in to do pop up dinners for like under 15 people. And so that way people who don't normally have the opportunity to get an audience can get an audience. Yeah.

[Host]

You know, listening to you talk, it's just bringing me back. Two things are coming to mind. I do absolutely 100% believe we're moving into the transformation economy. The restaurant industry transfer forms people on an individual level. Our staff are like our, the people who are closest to us, but it also transforms communities. Right. And I'm thinking about, you know, Ken Wilber. I wouldn't be surprised if you know Ken Wilber, he's the author, he has a bunch of books, but he wrote A Brief or A History of Nearly Everything or History of Everything. And in that book he starts the book talking about like he describes how everything in the universe is a Holland, H, O L O N Holland. And Holland is defined as something that is complete on its own, but also simultaneously a part of something else. So you have the, you know, agency to be your own acting agent. That is, stands alone. But you also are tied to something greater, community. All things in the universe are held by these laws. And you're either ascending or descending. So you have four directions like that you can go, you can be serving in like the whole. You can be going in the direction of serving community or autonomy, serving yourself. And you can be getting better, you can be ascending or you can be dying, getting like we're moving in one of those directions at all times. The goal is to be at the peak of the top of the pyramid, right? Where you are finding agency.

[Eric]

Like you have your purpose, but it's also serving community.

[Host]

And you're ascending, you're going up and you're bringing people with you. Right. So that is transformation. That is transforming. And I, I love, what I love about the restaurant industry is that it creates space for communal transformation. And if you think like that, how can I create space to make my. My team and my community better? And that's listening to you talk.

[Eric]

That's what's happening here in Lock.

[Host]

Like, Lockhart, Lachlan. Where am I?

[Joe Irizarry]

Lockhart.

[Host]

Lockhart, thank you very much.

[Joe Irizarry]

It's happening, you know, totally happening.

[Host]

It's. It's exciting stuff. And I think that is 100. Like, I had a conversation with Joe Pine, the author of the Experience Economy, who's just published, like, literally, like last week, the Transformation Economy. And I wrote him an email being like, this is totally the restaurant industry. He's like, in what way is this the restaurant industry? I was like, just you wait. He's coming back on the show. I can't wait to have this conversation.

[Joe Irizarry]

You're. You're absolutely. You're absolutely right. And I'm like, I said for me to be like, Austin and Lockhart are two different animals. And I'm talking with somebody that's trying to open a restaurant in Austin, and what we're trying to do there is just completely different from what we can do here. It's exciting, but it's. It's so different because it's not like where we're at, community wise. I don't know. Austin's got there yet. I don't feel like they. They're still very influencer minded. They're still very, you know, like, the way the aesthetics look of their restaurants instead of like, what are their restaurant. How do their restaurants make you feel when you come in 100. You know, like, I always say that about one of the. The reasons that Barbs is so successful is, is that we have, like, some items on our menu that are nostalgic and it doesn't matter what culture you came from. Like, for instance, our pork stew. When Chuck said she first wanted to do it, she did it. And I tasted it, and it immediately brought me back to, like, a feeling, not a food, but a feeling of like, my grandma making whatever it was that she made on Sunday afternoon that comforted me and I was always looking forward to having. Right. And I hear it all the time when I go touch tables. People say, my grandma used to make chicken and dumplings. And I feel this way. It's not the same food, but it's the exact same feeling.

[Host]

Yeah. It's bringing you back as tied to the most cherished things.

[Joe Irizarry]

That's the most important thing that we can do that's going to bring people back. Like, I heard something yesterday.

[Host]

Can't do that with doordash No.

[Joe Irizarry]

I heard something yesterday that said you can come up with the most fantastic food idea and your food can be like the best food that somebody's ever eaten, and you might have the most gorgeous restaurant there is. But if your service sucks, then people will not come back. They'll come back. They'll come one time, they'll experiencing it, and then they'll be like, now service sucked. So I don't think it was great. But, you know, it's not really worth coming back for. You could have pretty good food. You could have, okay, you know, like, whatever around you, and you have this amazing service. People will continue to come back for that really good service. Whether or not the product, the end product, was the greatest they've ever had, they will still come back because they got the greatest service. It's really important you know that, like, as restaurant owners, we understand our customers. We know their names. Our staff does the same thing. People are always greeted. You know, you make people feel like family or home. You know, like, that's it. This is. We're third. We're trying to be third spaces. And we're not doing a great job at it some sometimes.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

I can't believe. Do you. Can you believe we're almost at two hours of recording time?

[Joe Irizarry]

No, because I was like, so, so fast. I was like, what am I going to say for two hours? Then I forgot. I'm really good at talking about myself.

[Host]

It's been so much fun. Like, I do feel like, you know, you've given us a lot of, like, you live in the clouds and it's clear. And I'm right there with you, sister. Like, I like to live up high, high in the clouds. And we've gotten a lot of your values, your outlook, your perspective of the mindset of what it takes. And not only just mindset, but also values. And what does the industry need? And there's like this, this change happening. And I 100 agree. 2026, I think, is going to be a transformative year because there's. The pendulum has swung really far in one direction and it has to eventually swing back. I think that that pendulum has hit. It's like peak swing and there's momentum going back in the other direction for so many reasons that we don't need to get into today. You, you are an accountant. You know the numbers. You own a barbecue joint. A lot of my listeners are barbecue places. Can you just drop some nuggets on us real quick? Of, like you said, you're a sellout. Why Is that the case? Like, you, you sell out? Is your approach. Well, because you're not a sellout, but

[Joe Irizarry]

your approach is having that. And I, I say the word scarcity. People say, that's not the way you say it. Scarcity model. Having a scarcity model is pretty important. And in, in your business, like, you can only get so much mindset, but

[Host]

in a scarcity model.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. So you, you can only get this much food at this. This food at this time on this day, and so you show up for it because this is the only time you're going to get it. We've had a line out the door from Barb since the day we've opened. Long lines since the day we've opened. And we were only open one day. And so from that, people still assume that we're only open one day sometimes, like, we'll get people that say, well, you're only open on Saturdays. No, we're open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It's just like, you don't know that at this point. So that was the best concept for us. And then also keeping the food, like, in the same consistent, delicious food required for Chuck to be part of all of it. Until we get people trained in, in this. We all know in the restaurant industry, it's really hard. Like, it's not easy to get people to treat the restaurant like it's their own. And that's one thing I always tell people who work with me is like, imagine that this is your own restaurant. What would you do? When they ask me a question like, what should I do, Joe? Should I do this or should I do that? Like, it's, whatever, whatever. And I'm like, well, you know, if this was your restaurant, what would you do? And have that mindset all the time. We're giving you the authority to make decisions based on, if this is your restaurant, what would you do? And watching us and working with us,

[Host]

like you own it.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. And then that's. If we don't. If we have people who are working for us that don't do that, then it's, It's. It's. That's a big problem.

[Host]

It goes hand. Like, I read this book. Tom Walter wrote the book Entangled Organization. Or. No, it's. It's my company too. And in that book, he talks about an entangled organization where you empower your staff with clearly spelling out, this is who we are. These are our values. Like, it's nothing new in terms of, like, mission, vision, values, standards. And, and you religiously teach your people These things, you echo them daily. They're a part of, like your daily routines that you're constantly resurfacing them so that you could walk up to anybody in that organization and be like, what are the core values? And then let's go.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly.

[Host]

But then they say, if you see anybody, whether you're the dishwasher or the executive chef, if you see an owner come in and they are not living the core value, call that out. It is your company, too. And you create this company where everyone's an owner, where everyone's living to those standards. And there you kind of. There is a hierarchy in a way, but it's not a control and demand hierarchy.

[Joe Irizarry]

No, it's a respect. It's a respect. It's a respect.

[Host]

One hierarchy is only meant for information to flow. There's somebody who has to make the decisions. But at every level of each one of those tier, all those tiers are linking the chain and they're all just as important. But we need hierarchy for information to flow right at the end of the day. But everyone's equal. Everyone treats it like they own it because you are crucial to the success of that organization. That's what I hear up when I. Yeah. Or that's what I think of when I hear you.

[Joe Irizarry]

So I think what you're trying to ask me, and then I just had these ideas pop in my head, so I'm going to throw them out, is that this is the thing that I think is really important that I've realized over the last three or four years. Not everybody is an accountant. So hire an accountant. If you don't have one, hire somebody to watch your numbers. But what you can do as a business owner is have a. Not just the bird's eye view of your business, but have like a deep dive into what's happening. Like for. For Chuck, she's. She's really busy and she's doing Pitmaster stuff and she's training staff. My job is for me to look at the numbers every single day. I look at all my clients numbers every single day. First thing I do is look at their bank account, make sure nothing weird happened overnight. And then I, when I do their sales and I put them in, you know, the accounting software, I analyze those numbers, and because I've been doing it for a while, it's really easy for me to go, wow, they had a bad day yesterday. And let me think of what it could be. And then I notice tips are down. Well, that says absolutely something about our service, especially if it's like last week, we did the same amount of sales and we did 50% more in tips.

[Host]

So you're looking for anomalies.

[Joe Irizarry]

I'm looking for things I can. I know, like specifically with Barbs. And now with Thorn and Bread, I have a. Like the, like, I'm this specific about, like, I know how much coffee we sold.

[Host]

I know numbers don't lie.

[Joe Irizarry]

I. I watch all of the trends. And so I watch the numbers every single day. Yeah.

[Host]

They'll tell you exactly where to look.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. And then I figure out, like, oh, we're selling a whole lot of this, but we're only selling it at this. If I raise this and I sell 200 of them a year, like, look at the extra money I can make. We did that at Barbs. The exercise at Barbs where we went up in our pricing because it's economy. We have to.

[Host]

That's the thing. I think we need to. Like, we are. It blows my mind when I hear people like, oh, we got to figure out how to add value, not add wage. I'm like, we need to be unapologetic about knowing what it takes to actually make it.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly.

[Host]

And this is what it charged for that.

[Joe Irizarry]

This is what it costs.

[Host]

And like, I don't know how we break from this. Like, I think by nature, people in the hospitality industry are generous in giving, and we always want to make sure everyone else is winning. But we've given too much and we have nothing less left to give. You know, we. We collectively have to start raising the bar so we don't. We're not beating each other.

[Joe Irizarry]

That means our pricing needs to match that. Our pricing. Absolutely. And we should not be apologetic about what it costs because I can go anywhere in the square just like. And for instance here, like, our sandwiches are very low priced. We could be competitive because our sandwiches still taste the same whether it's a $11 sandwich or a $9 sandwich. But we can be competitive with understanding the economy. Right now says that you people will pay $12 for a sandwich if it's the best. And it's. It's like it cost us more to make the sandwich now. But what going back to the Barb's thing is that when I, I sat down and we ran numbers and I said. And I did this with. Because I'm also affiliated with Johnny from Goldies. And so I helped. I helped him open Ribby's.

[Host]

Okay. And then I've actually introduced myself. I thought about getting them on the show.

[Joe Irizarry]

The Goldies guys are great. Johnny is on his own now. So he opened a concept called Ribby's, and it's doing very well, so I'm involved with that too. And then I'm helping him with another concept that he's trying to get off the. Nice.

[Eric]

So I'm headed to Dallas.

[Host]

Wink, wink.

[Joe Irizarry]

So when are you going?

[Host]

Tomorrow.

[Eric]

Today.

[Host]

Today. What day is today? I've been covering a lot.

[Joe Irizarry]

Today is Saturday, isn't it?

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

Tomorrow's Super Bowl Sunday.

[Host]

I know.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

I gotta get up there before so I can find a spot to watch the game. I'm from New England, baby.

[Joe Irizarry]

It's gonna be crazy tomorrow. So anyway, so I sat down and I did this exercise with both Johnny and both Chuck separately. Is that okay? Here? If we raise this whatever. And they don't think most people are not thinking about this because they're, like, driven by the chef talent. Whatever, whatever. If I raise this by a dollar and we sell 10,000 of them every year, that's $10,000. And then if I. We raise everything by say we just. Overall, we say 20%, 25% on everything. We just created enough revenue, additional revenue to hire another person.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

Or to pay the owners a little bit more that they're not getting paid. Or to upgrade our equipment. And it's incredible what that small, tiny dollar amount that people are afraid of actually creates in new. Yeah, it's.

[Host]

I think pricing should be dynamic. I think it should. And the cool thing about the world we live in today with a digital world, and most of the menus are digital as prices are changing. Like with AI like, we're not far from. Like, if this happens, then this happens happens. If I. If my costs go up with these ingredients and then automatically engineer that in the system to change the price. Why? We live in a dynamic, fluid world. Things are constantly changing. And it. With the technology to be instantly reflective of what the cost of doing businesses are like. Why aren't prices dynamic? Today it cost this much.

[Eric]

Tomorrow will cost this much.

[Joe Irizarry]

And unfortunately, it'll never go down.

[Host]

Well, we'll never go down, but it

[Eric]

should be steadily rise.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. And we can as. And I'm sure you've heard this from other people, is that we can. There's so many things that we can integrate with our. Like if you're using toast, Toast has this thing where it can take the information based directly off of your invoices and create your food cost model for you. And then why don't we just change our price that week for that or that month? Because we know brisket's going to be 650 a pound wholesale. And, you know, we know our waste is 25 to 30%. And then here's this week, brisket is worth $16. A half a pound. Never, not anymore. $24. Does a half a pound. Next week it's going to be 26. And that we shouldn't have to take the hit as business owners.

[Host]

I think if you're transparent and, you know, if you need to take. If you need to increase prices when times are hard, then do that. But also when like the cost of eggs comes down, down, then change your prices, you know, like.

[Joe Irizarry]

Or you get a different vendor and they. The cost of that is what.

[Host]

Right.

[Joe Irizarry]

Like you get a superior quality vendor, whatever. But those are the things that I think if you're not watching. The other thing that I want to say to people is I don't want to hear when I talk to you, if you tell me that you're going to cut expenses, I don't even want to talk to you. I don't even want to talk to you. What I want to hear from you is how are you going to create additional revenue? Yeah. Because that is the thing that saves your business not cutting. Most of your expenses, my friend, are static.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Joe Irizarry]

You can't change them.

[Eric]

Right.

[Joe Irizarry]

You cannot change.

[Host]

How can we do better?

[Joe Irizarry]

How do you. How do you increase. Get more revenue by bringing more people in the door? What do you do? Like, what are those things? I want to hear you say, how do I increase revenue? And if you don't have a plan for that, then you're not going to be a success, period. If you, you tell me any, if you mention the word expenses to me, how can I cut expenses, Joe? I'm be like, I'm not the right person to talk to because that's not what I believe in. I believe in how do I create more revenue. How do I create more prosperity for my team, myself, my business, my life, you know, like, those are the things I want to talk about.

[Host]

I. I'm curious because you are an accountant. I see this trend right now. I think it could be a solution for how do we, you know, it's getting harder and harder to, like, make it in this industry. Costs are going up, labor is going up. It's getting harder for independent operators to be able to afford an accountant, a cpa, some type of frack, like a chief financial officer to help you strategize with money. Like, how do you get to 10 locations if you can't get access to the people to Help you get to 10 locations. Locations because you can't afford each one of those titles. I just mentioned like, like a fractional executive or like a chief financial officer, that's $150,000 salary. You know, like how are you going to afford that? Are you seeing this trend that there's fractional, more fractional companies coming up? Like what are your thoughts on that?

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, because I actually work with a girl who, she helps out at the property management company. She also does some stuff in the real estate. Because a lot of times because of AI, like our jobs are kind of shrinking or becoming more like it could be either way. But a lot of people who are in, in the, not the service industry, but service, the people in the service industry are finding that technology is taking away work from them and so people don't need them for specific things anymore. Like particularly my property management company, they have developed this new AI system that will allow them to deal with the vendors. So now I have this time freed up. Like I have extra time still getting this stuff done. But like how do I, how do I make myself more valuable to other people? Because now with one thing, I lost 30 hours a week. Like literally lost 30 hours a week of work due to like automation. Automation. And so now I have this bandwidth. How do I become, you know, like where I'm fractional and which I am with a lot of people, I just, you know, like here's what I do for X amount of dollars, like I'm gonna put a number on it. $250 a month. I can do this for you and that's affordable, like you can afford it and it's, it's great for your business

[Host]

because I'm what can I take off your plate today?

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly, exactly. And then maybe teach you how to do it or maybe you'll say hey, you know what? I haven't watched this stuff, I haven't looked at these numbers and now you're telling me the stuff so I don't have to watch them anymore. And I can figure out how to create more revenue in my business. But I find that there's a lot of people that are like independent that are, that are doing that. You just have to seek out in your community, get some referrals for people who, who do that kind of stuff for you.

[Host]

Well, I think what's happening is the digitized, the digit.

[Eric]

Wow.

[Host]

The digitization of all these tools where now you know, where we used to need an accountant, a CPA and a chief financial officer in on our business. But with these new tools and technologies that are cloud based and centralized. If you're following the rules of the technology, like I'm thinking, I'm talking like a, you know, Restaurant Systems Pro or Restaurant365. They're laying out the step by step way for you to. Those are systems to manage the money and the processes. Like those are, like those are systems and processes. And you, if you try train yourself on those systems and processes and you use the tool and you execute the tool, it will take care of the things that make you profitable. Learning those things is a, an uphill battle. Getting those things with the right information, doing all the data entry to, to make sure that they're accurate representations of your business is an uphill battle. But if you have somebody who is a specialist to do this, to do those things and they do it for a hundred restaurants and then they have this center, they manage all like they use the, this AI and the software, the tool to manage all these different restaurants from one location. Because it's cloud based. You the, the, the technology becomes the manager and then the person, the, the specialist, the accounting CFO person goes in and make sure like you every morning check the numbers, reach out to the client when things are out of whack and then also strategize like, like look here, right? So I think what's cool is that like more and more people are now able with a fractional because we're all sharing the, we're all paying this one person's salary. So the costs are coming way down because we're sharing the expense. One person can help a lot of different people. It's a really exciting time, I think for people to lean into that because that's the sex. That's the part of the job that's not sexy. Right. It's the relationships, the soul that we're talking about earlier. Now we can offload this. The cost to have that be done for us is there. It's all centralized, it's all automated and we can just focus on being people again.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah, I have a.

[Host]

Sorry, that was such a.

[Joe Irizarry]

No, no, that's it. I have a perfect example of that. So I have a client here in Lockhart that they, their business is highly successful. We have 18 bars and they're one of the 18 bars. And they, they, they consulted with me about like accounting stuff. And so then we had a meeting and, and I showed them like because they wanted to learn. And then we came back and had it. We have like monthly meetings and she's like kind of saying, like, hey, you know, this is really tough. I thought that I could grasp it, but I really can't grasp it. And you know, like, what can I do? And you know, like, I don't know, like, I feel like I'm not moving forward on it. And you know, like. But I'm really, My business is growing and I really need to, like, be able to take care of my business. I really enjoy this. And. And so I said, you know, like, do you have like, X amount of dollars in your budget? Like, because I could do it for you, I could do this for you, but it's going to cost you X. And she was like, what, are you kidding? Because it's not. I don't like, I don't gouge people because. Because I know a lot of different ways to like, get the information done. Like, it doesn't require for me to have long hours to do it. And so she said, okay, you're hired. Like, just like that, you're hired.

[Eric]

So what is your text stack?

[Host]

What are you using to help all these restaurants?

[Joe Irizarry]

I mean, I use QuickBooks, toast, you know, like, you know, some AI stuff, but not a whole lot. I'm. Here's my take on AI. If it helps me to do like something especially in property management, it's really like, it's highly successful for what I do there because there's a lot of, like, going back and forth with people that I don't have the bandwidth for, but AI does. And so I set up like these things, these workflows that will do this for me.

[Host]

Agents. Are they agents who like training agents, like LLMs?

[Joe Irizarry]

No, no, it's like, so say I have a maintenance request and it comes from the tenant. So then I, I outsource the original call to somebody that's probably from another country who does the initial, takes the information. And then I get an alert saying this is. Has been opened. And then I have like a sequential. Like if we have a plumbing issue, assign it to this person.

[Host]

Like, if this, then that.

[Joe Irizarry]

Exactly. So I have all of that and now there's more AI built in it now where it's. It's gonna like, continue the whole process.

[Host]

AI is great for helping us manage

[Joe Irizarry]

for stuff like that, but I, I'm a true believer in this. Like, some things need to have the human touch. Like, I don't use chat GPT for anything. I don't write anything that I'm gonna write or say. And actually I just talk to people instead of using chat gbt. I just pick up the phone and talk to people if I need to. But what was the question?

[Host]

I don't know if there's a word to spitball right now. I was curious about what your tech stack is, what you're using. Toast QuickBooks.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah. But I also believe that. I mean, I have a. My brain works differently. So I feel like, because I've been doing it for such a long time, for me to create a journal entry and I have, like, one set up, then I just plug the numbers in. For me, also having my hands on that, it touches my brain. And so then I'm also. The awareness is like, while I'm typing that in, I'm like, oh, liquor sales were only $7,000 for this particular bar. And I know liquor sales on Saturdays are, like, $10,000. And then I can go in and immediately investigate, like, what the orders look like, or I can uncover, like, if there's theft or skimming or, like, because I did do that with one restaurant where we identified that a lot of stuff was going out the door. And we went from making no profit. Numbers don't lie to making $30,000 a month in profit. So it was a huge thing for that restaurant. But so for me, I feel like it's the. My brain that helps. Not so much. Like, I don't want to be so far removed from it that I don't see what's happening.

[Host]

Yeah, 100.

[Joe Irizarry]

But then I would also only take on X amount of clients at that point. I do have a good supporting team. I have people who do data entry for me. I have an assistant that I've had for 10 years that she's like. She's like, my. She's like, literally, I never speak to her. And she's in Austin. She sends me her timesheet every two weeks, and I pay her because I know the work's done, because I see the work's done. But I just have good people that surround me so I can be more efficient.

[Eric]

Joe.

[Host]

I'm feeling inspired. I'm feeling empowered. You know, you shared your story. It's definitely an inspiring story. From what. Where you've come from. Lows to highs. You share some really great knowledge, and you shared some really great values and perspective. And, you know, we also talked about where we think things are going, the future, and what's happening. So we've. We've checked all the boxes. Is there anything that you want to discuss that didn't come out of today's conversation that you would hope would come out of today's conversation?

[Joe Irizarry]

No, I think the last thing that I said was the important part is that you just get. Get an accountant, get somebody, a business advisor that can help you with that. If you're not good at it, just get somebody to help you stay in

[Host]

your lane and find people that are strong.

[Joe Irizarry]

I'm always like, I always tell people. I don't. I could mow my own lawn. But why? Yeah, like, I could, you know, like, do. There's a lot of things I could do. But why when my value, my dollar value is worth. Or my time value is worth so much more, doing other things that. That don't make sense and, you know, do what you're good at and then get other people to help you with it.

[Host]

I've loved today's conversation. A couple questions before we officially wrap up that I ask all my guests. What is one thing about your business? A system, a process, a value that makes you truly unstoppable.

[Joe Irizarry]

Oh, my gosh, that's a hard one. That's a hard one. I. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna revert back to the whole. The whole barbs thing about us having no ego and really, like, we're there for the right reasons. We're there for the customer. You know, like, I. I want to have my baristas to have a bartender mentality. I want for them to. To listen. I want for them to ask questions. I want that to make people feel like home. So I don't. I don't know how to say it in any other way, but the human. The human touch is the most important part.

[Host]

Yeah. If you got the. Sorry. The mission statement is to change the world by inspiring, empowering, and transforming the industry. We're going to do that by transforming one owner at a time. But how have you personally transformed. How are you a better woman today than the woman you were when you got started in this industry?

[Joe Irizarry]

Good. The no ego part of it is really important. And realizing when I'm wrong, I'm wrong. And taking that as a lesson for

[Host]

sure, you know, that's one thing I. That bothers me about this industry. There seems to be so much ego involved. And I think, like, it's, It's. And I think it's stoked by the culture that we're in of award culture and vanity metrics. And, you know, I think this. We like this. The. The media just, like, props up these individuals. And I gotta be honest, the media today, the journalism today is so lazy that we just see what other people are doing. We upcycle the same People, there's a reason, again, why I do word of mouth for this podcast, because I want to find the people that are in it. Not for the fame, not for the attention. And we keep on making an example of these people that the world thinks that this is the goal, this is the. This is what we all should be achieving. But it's not, you know, like, it's what you're doing. It's creating. It's being a part of a community, creating opportunity for people in a community, creating space for community to connect. That's the. The good stuff.

[Joe Irizarry]

That's my legacy. That right there is my legacy. When I die, I always think of my every day as when I die, what do I want people to remember about me? And that I think most people will say, jo is always there for everybody. She always had time for you and she always gave you good advice. That's like, really, I don't care about being a millionaire. I don't care about, you know, like, any of that stuff.

[Host]

Yeah, I'm gonna trying to stop you because I think you're getting to the last and final question. If you got the news, you'd be leaving this world tomorrow, all the memories of you, your work, and your restaurants will be lost with your departure, with the exception of three pieces of wisdom that you could leave behind for the good of humanity and your legacy. What are those three pieces of wisdom?

[Joe Irizarry]

Oh, that's so hard. Why are these questions so hard?

[Host]

It wouldn't be fun if it was easy.

[Joe Irizarry]

Be kind to others.

[Eric]

1.

[Joe Irizarry]

Love yourself first.

[Host]

2.

[Joe Irizarry]

Drink plenty of water.

[Host]

3. Joe, this has been so much fun. This is where I ask, like, this is how I find my future guest. This last question. Who do you respect and admire in the industry? Who's doing it right, making an impact and also making money while they do it? And while I know it's not all about money, I do think that it is super important that we're fiscally responsible so that we can provide security and opportunity for more people. So who is that? Who comes to mind?

[Joe Irizarry]

Absolutely, without a doubt, my good partner in crime. Kay Askins at best little wine. K Askins A S K I N S at best little wine.

[Host]

Look out. K Askins, I'm coming after you. I would love to get you on the show. Maybe not on this trip, but we're gonna. We're gonna put it on the spreadsheet for future return. I'll be back for sure. Love to get you on the show. And how can we connect with you if we want to Follow what you're doing. If we want to get maybe involved with your nonprofit or if we want to check out your restaurants.

[Joe Irizarry]

So I would just say the best way to reach me, period. I do not. When I said earlier, I like to make phone calls, I like to make phone calls. I do not like people calling me. So don't ever call me because I will never answer my phone. But my Instagram is like my like literally it's my address book for everything. So at the real Joe J O Irizarry I R I Z A R R Y. That's the best way to connect with me for basically anything. I'm on Instagram a lot. It's my favorite place to be. My algorithm is set so nice. So I enjoy all the things that I want to see and I don't see any of the things. I don't, I don't really use Facebook. Email is really tough. But the best place to get me on is Instagram.

[Host]

Yeah. And if you want to check out barbs, it's at barbs B Q. And then if you want to check out your non profit, it is a safe place inside your head.

[Joe Irizarry]

Yeah.

[Host]

All one word. And Joe, thank you so much for taking the time to get vulnerable, to open up, to be generous with your, your knowledge and your time. Two hours is a lot to ask from somebody. And this is where I say I cannot do what I do without people like you. There is no questioning. You are unstoppable.

[Eric]

Thank you.

[Joe Irizarry]

Thank you.

[Host]

Cheers.

[Joe Irizarry]

Thanks.

[Eric]

There's another conversation wrapped up here at Restaurant Unstoppable. I hope you enjoyed today's chat with Joe Irizarry.

[Host]

And if you did, then you can

[Eric]

join us live for Coffee with Eric on March 23rd.

[Host]

Joining us will be Joe and Skeeter Miller.

[Eric]

Episode 1255 and 1258. Head over to restaurantsoppable.com CWe will get

[Host]

you the link to join that conversation. The idea behind Coffee with Eric is

[Eric]

to connect my listeners with leaders across the nation. You are the average of those you surround yourself with.

[Host]

I'm on the road.

[Eric]

I'm using word of mouth to find these badasses and to bring people together to share knowledge. Because here's what I believe. I believe change comes from the inside out. Transformation comes from the inside out. And the best way to transform yourself is to surround yourself with the best in the industry. You are the average of those who you surround yourself with. And if we can get the best in the industry, giving themselves to more restaurant owners so we can share values, share perspective, share knowledge, share resources, share network. Then we can transform the industry and then we can change the industry from the inside out. That's the vision. That's the mission.

[Host]

Inspire.

[Eric]

Empower.

[Host]

Transform. We'd love to have you be a part of it. If you want to be a part of this conversation again with Skeeter Miller and Joe Irizarry, head out to restaurantunstoppable.com CWE.

[Eric]

They'll be live on March 23, 11am EST.

[Host]

And if you want to join the

[Eric]

community, head over to restaurantunstoppable.com live and

[Host]

be a part of every conversation.

[Eric]

Thank you in advance for your support.

[Host]

We'll see you there.