How hard are you willing to work to reach your goals? Really? A lot of people will talk about how hard they will work and others do it. Our guest in this episode, Raymond Griffin, is a living example of how hard work and great mentorship can create something incredible.
Griff shares how with just a 9th grade education he has been able to build a national cajun food restaurant franchise. He started with just one bowl of Gumbo and has grown the business to 26 restaurants nationally generating more than $20 million in annual revenue.
Our host, Tom DuFore, has had the honor to be a part of Griff’s journey from the very start of his franchise expansion efforts.
You can learn more about The Lost Cajun restaurant and franchise by CLICKING HERE.
If you would like to have an operations manual or a franchise manual created please contact us at: info@bigskyfranchise.com or by visiting: www.BigSkyFranchiseTeam.com.
If you are ready to talk about franchising your business you can schedule your free, no-obligation, franchise consultation online at: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/ or by calling Big Sky Franchise Team at: 855-824-4759.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (00:01):
You’ve worked hard to build your business and now it’s time to grow. Welcome to the Multiply Your Success Podcast. I’m your host, Tom DuFore, CEO of Big Sky Franchise Team and serial entrepreneur. I am so thrilled to have our guest today, Raymond Griffin, who’s the founder and the President and CEO of The Lost Cajun. It is a restaurant group with now over 26 restaurants from one location that he started up in Frisco, Colorado, and now expanding across the country. He is been a client that I’ve had the privilege and the opportunity to work with. I’m so grateful for the time that we’ve been able to spend together. Griff shares with us how he’s gone from one bowl of gumbo to over $20 million in revenue in his restaurant enterprise that he’s building and all of the trials and tribulations along the way.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (01:00):
To open up with a question here that Griff brings up in the episode, which is all about hard work. How hard are you willing to work to get what you want? Truly, there are a lot of people who talk about it, a lot of entrepreneurs too, myself included. How hard are you really willing to work to accomplish your goals? To reach your dreams? To create that success, that vision of success you have in your mind? I don’t know the answer to that question for you, but our guest today, Raymond Griffin, shares that with us. So without further ado, let’s go ahead and jump into that interview with Raymond Griffin.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (01:46):
My name is Raymond Griffin, I’m the founder of The Lost Cajun restaurants. We’re a little restaurant company that was originally started in Frisco, Colorado in 2010. I’m a Cajun guy. I’m from a little town called Barataria, Louisiana. So I’m going to tell the story about The Lost Cajun, but let me set the stage right upfront here. Number one, I have a ninth grade education. I don’t have a degree in anything except for hard work and people skills. Number two, so I’ll hopefully get everyone’s attention, 2019, our company did over 20 million in sales. So we just celebrated our 10 year anniversary, so that leads me up to telling everyone how this all started.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (02:35):
Being a resident of South Louisiana, I had to deal with all the hurricanes, Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike, the big oil spill, all those things. I had a fishing lodge down there, and after all those natural disasters and manmade disasters, my late wife and I decided we’d had enough. We wanted to get out of there and do something different. She wanted to be up in the mountains in Colorado. So I said, “Okay, well, I’ll try that.” And so we went up there and found out through just friends that we met, that they liked the food that I was cooking, a little gumbo for a little party and some fried fish, things like that.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (03:13):
One thing led to another and I opened up a 10 seat restaurant in downtown Frisco, Colorado, and the rest, as they say, is history. I opened the first one in 2010. We opened a second one in 2012 in Breckenridge, Colorado. Then people start telling me they wanted to franchise. And of course, that’s where I met you at an early stage of this thing going on. You were still very, very young and just out there running around, but here’s one of the things I want to say right now. It’s one of the things I want to talk about later is you were willing, okay? You were willing to jump on a plane from wherever you were at the time and fly to Frisco, Colorado, and meet a guy that had two little bitty gumbo shops up in the mountains that no one had ever heard of. Most people didn’t even know what gumbo was, but you were willing to come up there and to see what we were doing. Well, in 2012, we opened number two. 2014, we started franchising and it was like I got run over by a train. It was so overwhelming, and the response was so overwhelming. In 2014, ’15, we opened 10 stores in one year. Today, we have 26 stores nationwide. We just opened the new one recently in Florence, South Carolina and us, like everyone else, is dealing with the pandemic.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (04:41):
That’s the truth. That’s what we’re dealing with right now. But as a business person and a leader of a company, you got to figure out how to do it. You can’t just fold your tent and say, “I’m not going to do anything.” You have to figure out how to deal with it. And honestly, our sales are almost 50% this year. And what’s it going to take to rebuild? You know what? I don’t know the answer to that right now. But what I do know is whether it’s three years, four years, five years, we started this thing from one bowl of gumbo in 2010. However long it takes us, we will eventually rebuild the company. Now, is it going to look different? I don’t know the answer to that. Is it going to be as many stores as we have now? I don’t know the answer to that, but what I do know is I’m willing to do the work. I’m willing to put in the hard work.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (05:28):
Because one of the things I tell people all the time is there is no substitute, none, for hard work. There’s just none. There’s no magic wand. There’s no magic phrase. There’s no magic book that you can read. The only thing that makes people successful is hard work. I tell people a lot of times 40 hours gets you a nice paycheck. If you work hard, 40 hours gets you nice paycheck. 50 hours gets you a little overtime, but when you’re willing to work 60, 70 hours a week, six and seven days a week, that’s when you separate yourself from the “I want to be” to “I can and I will.” I believe that there are a lot of components that make entrepreneurs successful. I believe there are also a lot of components that make some people that want to think they want to be an entrepreneur fail.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (06:25):
And we can talk about those as we go. I’m an old guy. So I have a lot of sayings. One of the things that I have is that “I’ll break your heart with the truth, but I’ll never lie to you.” I’ll look you right in the face. So don’t ask me if that dress makes me look fat. I’m going to tell you the truth. Okay? You’re not going to like the answer sometimes, but there are some truths in business that you can never get away from. One is surrounding yourself with people that are smarter than you. People say, “Well, how do you do that?” Well, you know what? They’re experts in every field out there, whether it’s franchising, like yourself, or whether it is supply chains or whether it is HR or whether it is writing an ops manual. There are experts out there that you can either hire or you can get to know through relationships or mentors. Okay? Mentors is a big thing for me.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (07:22):
So there are a lot of paths to success and how you can get there. But the overall number one that I’ll always say is “Number one, it’s going to be hard work. Number two is going to be surrounding yourself with people that are smarter than you.” I will tell you all a quick story. My first business I ever had, I was seven years old and I started selling Kool-Aid on Saturdays and Sundays on a golf course. I figured it out by just walking by the golf course and around the ninth hole, I could see these guys out there… That was before the invention of beer carts. Okay? The guys would walk around there and they’d have a water jug or whatever. And I saw these guys getting out sweaty. So I said, “Hey, for five cents, I can buy a pack of Kool-Aid and some water and get some ice from my mama.” And I’d go out there and set up a little stand and sell Kool-Aid. Five cents a glass. I had a thousand percent profit, and I did pretty good at it. I made enough money to have spending money at seven years old.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (08:24):
My second business that I had was mowing grass. A lot of kids do that when they first start off, but I had, from the very beginning, an entrepreneurial spirit. I went out and asked all the older ladies and gentlemen in my neighborhood could I mow their grass. Well, surprisingly, almost everyone I asked said yeah. Well, I couldn’t do it by myself. So I started sub-contracting, okay? I started getting the other kids in the neighborhood to borrow their mom or dad’s lawnmower and come out and help me cut grass. Well, back then, I was getting three bucks. I would give them two, I’ll keep a dollar.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (08:56):
And so, I was already multiplying back then. I figured out how to do that. Well then I went one step further. I brought that Kool-Aid stand I had on the golf course when I was a kid, brought it to my front yard so that after they [inaudible 00:09:09], they can buy Kool-Aid in my stand. That’s always been in my DNA is I want to build things. I want to create things. And if you’re going to be an entrepreneur, if you’re going to be successful, one of the things you have to have is a drive and a passion is to make people better, to grow people and make them better. One of the lessons, I’ll always teach all of our new franchisees and our owners is that the easiest thing we can do as a leader of a company, a manager, a GM or an owner, is to fire somebody.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (09:49):
That’s so easy to do. You just say you’re fired and it’s over. But here’s what separates a great leader or a great entrepreneur is you take that person that’s struggling a little bit, that’s not quite doing as well as everyone else, and you pull them along. You mentor them. You give them extra work, extra attention. You show them that you care, you show them appreciation, and you give them a reason to want to strive to do better. I call it pulling them along or dragging them along, make them better. Then as you grow them little by little by little, now you created an atmosphere of cooperation and other people seeing how that person is going from a pot washer to a manager or to a front house manager or shift manager or even a general manager, and in some cases, an owner, if you do it right.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (10:42):
That’s where I talk about not only do you want to pull those people along, but then you also want to try to push them in front of you. You want to try to make them so good that they can do better than what you’re doing. It does a couple of things. The first thing is it makes you a better manager, a better general manager, better owner, but here’s the key. It makes you a better human being. When you can help uplift people and make those people better, to help them improve their lives, and you truly care, you truly, truly care about their wellbeing and how they’re doing, are you helping grow that person. Then all of a sudden you become, by your hard work, a good manager, a good owner, within a better human being. And we need better human beings in this world. We really do.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (11:31):
When you create that environment of cooperation, and we call it our environment of courtesy and respect. We always treat you with the courtesy and respect, we treat ladies and gentlemen like ladies and gentlemen. When you create that environment, then all of a sudden you’ve created this environment of success and growth that is unstoppable. You get a team of people, a group of people, that love what they do. They’re dedicated to what they do. They love the brand. They’re dedicated to the brand. They treat it like it’s their own business. Then you’re unstoppable. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling sponges or if you’re selling lawnmowers or dishwashers or gumbo or cars, or… It doesn’t matter. In whatever station you’re at, there are people around you that you can assist to help become better at what they do. Better speakers, better salesman, better technology, whatever it is. If you’re able to help spread that environment around there, then they’re going to help the people around them. Then all of a sudden you’ve created this environment of cooperation. It’s basically impossible to fail. So that’s one of the ways that we’ve got ourselves to be successful. So what questions do you have for me, sir?
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (12:50):
Yeah, no Griff. That’s amazing. That’s amazing. I love it. That’s inspiring, uplifting. It’s charged. I hope everyone’s ready to charge into the battlefield behind you. Like, let’s go. I’m ready. I’m pumped up. Yeah.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (13:06):
I’m going to give you a saying for today. Okay? When we get up in the morning, the first thing I want you to tell yourself, you look in the mirror is “I am inspired, on fire and ready to go. I am inspired, on fire and ready to go.” I’m doing the checkup from the neck up. How’s my head today? Am I ready to be successful? Do I want to achieve something today? Who am I going to help out today? Who am I going to lift today? Who am I going to make better that’s going to make me better? So be all inspired. Inspired, on fire and ready to go every day and do a checkup from the neck up to make sure your head’s right and you’re ready to go.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (13:45):
Ah, amazing. Amazing Griff. Well, I’d love to jump into our just kind of little formula for some of our questions we like to ask every guest as they come through. And the first question we ask is about a miss. And this idea was there a miss along the way here or there, maybe a lesson you learned that you could share with the audience?
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (14:07):
Sure. One of the things I tell people all the time is don’t be afraid to fail. Okay? Swing. Swing often, swing hard, swing so hard that you fall down in the dark and get back up and do it again. One of the things that when I first started business, I was scared to fail. The hardest step that people take is the first step. So one of my biggest misses when I first started was being scared of technology, being scared of new things that I didn’t know. And I would drag my feet. Literally they had to drag me, kicking and screaming into the technology age, like a Zoom meeting. Oh my God. Or all the other algorithms and all the other searches and stuff, I was scared of. Had I embraced that from day one and understanding the world we live in now, because I’m 66 years old.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (15:06):
I mean, understand, I didn’t see a cell phone until I was 26 years old. Oh my God. I didn’t know what a cell phone was. Had I embraced technology sooner and all the things that it can do for a company and growth, then I would have grown twice as fast and my growth path would have been smoother and more straight instead of zigzagging all over. So I can tell you now that when someone brings me… Because there’s lots of stuff you can waste money on, but if you understand what your needs are, there is something out there from a technology standpoint that can help any business thrive. That’s a big miss.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (15:44):
No. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that’s a great lesson. I think a lot of folks that are tuning in, owners, entrepreneurs, we’ve all… It’s intimidating when it’s not your specialty. You know just enough to know that you don’t know and trying to figure that all out. Well, thanks for sharing that Griff and… Well Griff, let’s flip on the other side. Let’s talk about a make or two that happened in your career and some things you learned from it.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (16:17):
I guess the biggest makes the things that… There’s several of them, but a couple of them that took me from a little gumbo shop in Frisco, Colorado. When we first started, we were literally making every single pot of gumbo and it’s an old, old process. It’s a hundred year old process that takes six hours. Well, I had to learn how to replicate that process and bringing them into what I call the new world and learning how to reverse engineer or learn how to take a process, an old process, and bring it into a new form and trusting that process was one of my biggest things. Then I went from making one pot of gumbo to making 500 gallons of gumbo at a time. So learning a process, you start off with A, and then you have to… You can’t go from A to Z. You have to follow a process.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (17:24):
I also learned during my time that, as a founder and CEO, head Cajun, head cook, pot washer, that… One of the those things is that you can’t enforce anything unless you write it down. You can’t enforce anything unless you write it down. So I learned very early that people want to… They want to do their job, but they want to be able to do their job consistently. So if you have a plan, an action plan, an outline, so they know what their job that you’re going to do is everyday, it’s the same job. When they come in, we’re not going to change it up every day. We’re not going to do everything backwards. So learning, having a process in place, and then teaching that process, living that process, believing in the process and getting everyone to buy into that process makes it all work better.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (18:17):
Now it can be the simplest thing as, excuse me, as how you open a restaurant in the morning. Meaning what lights you turn on when. Well, there’s a reason for it. You don’t turn on your big power stuff early because it makes your bill surge. So you teach your employees I don’t need the front house lights on until X time. So we have a checklist. Number one, turn on vent lights, turn on gas. And so, it’s a checklist every day. Then when it’s time to close a restaurant at night, it’s a very simple procedure. We don’t just say, “Okay, when it’s time close and we’re going to do this and this.” We have a process. So they know if I do step one, step two, and step three, I can get out of here early. I follow the process and the process makes me do my job better.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (19:04):
So one of my big makes is learning how to write a program, write a process down, a guideline, a past success, and then getting people to buy into it and follow it. That is the biggest make that I had. I can tell anyone out there if you’re starting a new business, the first thing you need to do is write down your success path on everyday tasks. No matter how small they are, write down your success path so every day, you know where to start and you know where to end. And whether I learned it by accident or it was a natural instinct, I don’t know. But I found that every owner that I’ve dealt with, and we’re doing this, is they appreciate to have that book, that process.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (19:46):
Yeah. I think that’s… You’re spot on with that, Griff, and you can see that right away. And especially just in the franchising business, certainly we see that happen and processes evolve and change and they get more detailed over time. And you iron things out with each franchise, in each location you open… I’m sure those first five or 10, you learned a lot and now opening up each new one, 26, 27, 28, 30 as they come down the road here, you’re still learning, but just not as extreme, maybe, as those first few.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (20:23):
I am, I am. I am still learning. I am still learning every day. And you have to be able to learn every day. I mean, we just opened one and we learned… An owner brought us something and said, “God, why didn’t we think about that?” Well, I took… It’s my idea. I told him, “I’m stealing your idea.” But yeah, you got to do the process and learning as you go. It’s very important.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (20:40):
Absolutely. Absolutely. Completely agree. And let’s talk about this idea of a multiplier, Griff. Is there a multiplier or two that you’ve used or gone through that you’d like to share?
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (20:50):
Yes. Absolutely yes. My biggest multiplier and success in my business has been mentors. Everyone knows someone in their life that has been successful or you look up to. It doesn’t matter what type of business you’re in, what segment it’s in. We all know someone personally that… A rich uncle, a friend that’s done very well or whatever. We know someone like that, at least one person. Mentors have had more impact on me than anything else. Now, a lot of people say “Well, I’m a little embarrassed or shy to go ask him or her for advice on what to do or how to do it.” Don’t be. Okay? If you know them casually, then you’ll find that most people that are successful are more than willing and want to share their paths to success. What they’ve done right, what they’ve done wrong, what they wish they could have a do over or mulligan on.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (22:05):
I have probably five mentors that still to this day… Some are my age. Some are much younger than me. Some are in totally different deals than what I’m at, but there’s always a common thing that most successful entrepreneurs have, whether it’s a tunnel vision of their goal and what they’re going to get done, or whether it is a process that they’ve learned on how to build an organization. It could be any number of things. I still to this day, give credit to my mentors all over the country, from different industries. I can say car business, restaurant business, construction and building businesses. And as you ask these mentors about how to do certain things and you ask them, “Is there someone that you could tell me that I could talk to that could maybe give me more information?”
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (23:06):
You know what? Now you’re networking. You’re networking mentors, okay? That mentor introduced you to someone else, and all of a sudden that person opens a whole new world, a whole new field to you. When you find these folks that are highly successful, that are highly motivated, you’ll find that they are willing… And you got to be cognizant of their time, but they’re willing to take your call when they won’t take anybody else’s call. They’d rather talk to you and talk about their successes then talk to the CEO about the next meeting, the plan, the next meeting for the next meeting. I promise you, okay? They had much rather give you some input and then when they see you at some success, then you know what? You talk about open up the doors, okay. Then they want to really be involved and you know what they want from it? Nothing. They want to hear you say, “Thank you.” That’s it.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (23:59):
So mentors have been the most giant multiplier that I can think of and I would implore everyone that if you’re in business, if you’re wanting to go in business, seek these people out. I’ve got people that call me all the time now. They want to open up a franchise and they are surprised at the time that I will take to talk to them and tell them about the missteps that I made and the things that I did right. Things that I wished I could start over and do again from the very beginning. When I tell them, “Here’s my personal cell number. You can call me,” they’re surprised when I answer the phone to take their call and walk through and listen to their problems. And I’m going to tell you something funny about it. Most of the time they already know the answer to their problem. They just want to get someone to verify that they’re on the right path. Okay? Sometimes you know what? I tell them, “you’re goofy. You’re not thinking this through at all. What are you doing here? Okay, really? You got something that works and you want to go to this? Stop it. Don’t try and reinvent the wheel. Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s successful.” So my biggest multiplier is my mentors.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (25:14):
Well, I relate to that very well. I feel fortunate to have had some quality mentors in my life, and I resonate very deeply with what you’re saying. So impactful, life changing trajectory, just make a big difference. So thank you for sharing that, Griff. One of the last questions we like to ask everyone is what does success mean to you? You’ve had a lot of success and wins and makes along in your career, what does success mean to you, Griff?
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (25:56):
Wow. That’s a surprising question. For a lot of people, success means monetary win and listen, we’re all doing this. We’re not doing this for fun. We want to have fun while we’re doing it. But we’re all doing this to try to create wealth for our families, for our children, for their children, for our piece of security. So you don’t have to worry about making your house payment. And unfortunately in the world we’re in right now today, there are a lot of people that don’t have the money to pay their rent or to go buy the food. Is all of this going to pass? Yes, it will. What success means to me? Success means to me when I am able to reach out and help someone else be successful, whether it’s showing them how to write a simple business plan and I get feedback that it worked, that’s my success.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (26:59):
I tell people all the time, you know what? Making money is not hard. Keeping money may be hard. Okay? Making money is not hard. You just have to have the desire to go do it. Look, you can go today. Anybody that’s watching this podcast can go today and get a part-time job. Everybody’s hiring. If you want more money, you’ll get another job or go get another job. Okay? It doesn’t matter how menial is. If you want more money, you can go get a job. Okay? If you’re willing to go out there and sacrifice some time to do it. Making money is not that hard. A lot of people make it harder than it is. Some of the problems may be actually keeping it in once you get it, because once you create wealth, then it brings all a whole nother set of problems.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (27:44):
But success to me is being able to pass on what I have done, that knowledge that I’ve done, and see other people become successful because of what I’ve been able to show them. I’ll give you a great example. I talked earlier about creating that culture and lifting someone up instead of firing them and then pushing them forward. There have been cases in my life to where I knew that the person I was dealing with or talking to was actually better at doing what I was doing. They were better doing what I was doing. They were better at it. So I found a way to push them up and forward. A lot of those people now are millionaires. I recognized their value and push them upward and wasn’t worried about them going past me. I wasn’t worried about the jealous factor or them outshining me. I pushed them upward. Well, those people are now fans, mentors, friends, and they have gone on to great success. So the biggest satisfaction that I have in my life is helping someone else to be successful. It is my life’s work. It’s what I love doing, I love teaching people. I love giving and sharing ideas and say some of my ideas are great. Some of them are horrible. But I’m going to swing. I’m going to swing and swing again. Okay?
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (29:04):
I love that passion for that, Griff. And even what you’re able to do through your franchising. I mean, that’s what you’re doing. You’re mentoring, you’re coaching, you’re training. You’re giving this opportunity. So it really fits in well with what you’re looking to accomplish and grow well. Griff, is there anything you’d like to make sure that you haven’t had a chance to say that you were hoping to? Or would like to leave the audience with?
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (29:31):
Be willing. Okay? I said that in the very beginning. That’s the biggest thing I can tell people. Don’t talk about doing something. If you’re talking about doing it and then not actually it at that moment, you’re kidding yourself. Be willing. Have the discussion with two of you, and say, “Well, we need to do this.” Well, then be the one that stands up from the table and they go, “What are you doing?” “Well, I’m going to do that. We said we needed to get it done. I’m going to go get done now.” Be the most willing person in the room. Be the person that takes the first step, the first scary step. Be willing to sacrifice, be willing to go the extra mile, be willing to read the extra chapter, be willing and you will be successful.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (30:15):
Wow. That’s amazing, Griff. Thank you so much. And by the way, before we go, if someone’s interested in learning more about The Lost Cajun, how can they do that?
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (30:24):
Hey, go to TheLostCajun.com and hit on info. Okay? And, restaurant business is a tough business, but you know what? It is one of the most gratifying business in the world when you see somebody take that bite of food and their eyes light up. Or you see that kid’s eyes light up when they get something they love. Or you see that family group there that is enjoying a birthday or anniversary. I love the restaurant business because I like to give service. So TheLostCajun.com and it tells you all the story about who we are and what we do and our culture. And it tells you how to get into a franchise business if you want to.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (31:00):
Great. Thanks so much Griff. I really appreciate it.
Raymond Griffin, The Lost Cajun (31:03):
All right. Hey, everyone have a great day. And as we always say in Louisiana, “Laissez les bon temps rouler. Let the good times roll.”
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (31:13):
Griff, thank you so much for that fantastic interview. It’s just been a joy to work with you over the years and be a part of your journey and contribute. So thank you for the opportunity and thank you again for this interview.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (31:25):
So let’s go ahead and jump into today’s three key takeaways. So the first key takeaway from our interview with Griff is that there is no substitute for hard work. I think Griff made that very clear. It doesn’t matter what your educational credentials say, how many acronyms and three letters you have at the end of your name, it makes no difference. There is no substitute for hard work to get you to where you want to go. Number two, surround yourself with people smarter than you and find mentors. So I thought that was a really, really good one here that he talked about, not only finding a mentor, but as you grow and mature in your career and in your field of expertise, find mentees or proteges, people that you can now be a mentor to as well. So not only finding mentors for yourself, but giving back to help others rise up to where they’d like to go in their career and in their life.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (32:29):
And number three, don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t be afraid to fail. And even as an entrepreneur, I know at some point, you had to take that leap of faith and jump. And very often I find, in working with entrepreneurs, and I should say in myself as an entrepreneur, sometimes you look at it and you say, “Boy, I don’t know.” Or you forget about getting uncomfortable again and making decisions to push yourself forward. So Griff, that’s a great reminder to not be afraid to fail. And now it’s time for today’s win-win. So today’s win-win is what Griff just closed with, which is to be willing. Be willing. Be willing to try, be willing to work, be willing to do it. Be willing to go after it. Be willing to find those right people to be doing it together with.
Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (33:30):
So as you go forward today, be willing. And that’s the episode today, folks. Thanks for tuning in. Please, please, please subscribe to the podcast. We’re here every week. Share this with your friends, share this with your colleagues, anyone you think who could benefit from the messaging that we’re sharing here, we greatly appreciate it. And as a final closing note, if you’re interested in documenting your processes or getting things put in place, we are experts at helping you build those manuals and get those processes out of your mind and onto paper and into a manual for use. So we look forward to having you back here next week, folks. Thanks and enjoy the week.
