Latest / Forking Around with Flavor South Florida / Noel Martinez: CEO of Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce President & the Future of Business

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Noel Martinez: CEO of Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce President & the Future of Business · Forking Around with Flavor South Florida

• 0:02
  Thank you. Welcome to Forking Around with Flavor
• 0:06
  South Florida. I'm Kerri Paizzi, CEO of Flavor
• 0:09
  South Florida. We are sitting down with entrepreneurs,
• 0:12
  business owners, and influential community partners
• 0:14
  to talk growth, trials, tribulations, and more.
• 0:17
  These conversations lead into Flavor South Florida,
• 0:20
  the region's largest restaurant month, happening
• 0:22
  every September from the 1st through the 30th.
• 0:24
  If you're in hospitality or thinking about building
• 0:27
  something meaningful in this industry, you're
• 0:29
  in the right place. Pull up a chair and let's
• 0:31
  get into it. This episode is sponsored by Altima
• 0:38
  Caviar. Visit them at AltimaCaviar.com. Today
• 0:44
  we welcome Noel Martinez. He is the president
• 0:47
  of Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce. If you're out at
• 0:50
  events in Palm Beach County, I assure you, you've
• 0:53
  seen him out. He's the man. Everyone knows. Welcome
• 0:56
  to the show. Oh my God, Keri. Thank you so much
• 0:58
  for having me. I'm so excited to be here with
• 1:00
  you today. Thanks for coming on. I'm so excited
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  you're here. And you really are out and about.
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  Everyone says this about me, but you really are
• 1:08
  out and about everywhere. Every night. How do
• 1:11
  you do that? You are too. You are too. I know.
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  I see you out a lot. No, you know, it's part
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  of my job, right? I have to be everywhere. I
• 1:17
  think support our local businesses. So I try
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  to get out as much as possible. I enjoy it. You
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  know, it's part of my job. That's what I signed
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  up for. So what is your job exactly entail? What
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  do you do? So I'm president and CEO of the Palm
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  Beach North Chamber of Commerce. We are a membership
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  organization made up of businesses, over 800
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  businesses that go all the way from West Palm
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  Beach, all the way up to Tequesta. I think our
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  number one job, our most important thing that
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  we do is to advocate for our businesses, right?
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  We were started 77 years ago on the front porch
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  of a Riviera Beach businessman. It's home right on
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  his front porch because there was an issue that
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  he had to deal with. And he knew that if he brought
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  some businesses together, they would be stronger
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  together. So we've been doing it for 77 years.
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  You know, advocacy is number one. We do over
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  100 different events a year for our members to
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  be able to network and get to know each other.
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  We do some work in the education space that we
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  can maybe talk about as well later. And then
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  all kinds of marketing opportunities and opportunities
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  for our members to really develop relationships
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  in the community. Where is this man today? The
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  Riviera Man. Oh, I don't know. It was 77 years
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  ago. I would have loved to meet him. But I tell
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  that story all the time because it reminds you
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  of what we were doing 77 years ago, we're still
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  doing today. So I love to tell that story. Could
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  you imagine Palm Beach County 77 years ago? Riviera
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  Beach 77 years ago? Think about it in the last
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  5, 10 years. Think about how much it's changed.
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  Think about just the northern end of Palm Beach
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  County. It's nuts. So I will dive in here in
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  a second, but I just, I started coming here in
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  95. My grandfather moved to Stuart in 95. This
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  is the first time I came to this area. And just
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  from what I've seen since 95 in Stuart development,
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  I know you're Palm Beach, but well, even Jupiter.
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  So my grandfather had a hurricane shutter company
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  and impact windows. Well, it wasn't impact at
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  the time, but so Jupiter and Stuart, and it
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  was. Nothing. Not built up at all. And so just
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  to see the evolution of all of our county here,
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  Palm Beach County, is just insane. We have more
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  people coming. We have a lot more people coming.
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  Is that a fact? By 2030, we're going to have
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  over 170,000 people moving right here to Palm
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  Beach County. Where are they going to move to?
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  There's still a lot of growth. There's still
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  a lot of potential. I mean, you've seen all the
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  development going on in West Palm, especially
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  out west in Palm Beach Gardens, Lake Park, Riviera
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  Beach. I mean, there's so much development. We've
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  got to be ready for the influx of people that
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  are coming down. Where do you see the most development?
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  Like where's the growth happening? Any specific
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  spots? I think all over. We're on fire right
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  now. Like we live in a very, very special community,
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  right? It's not only gorgeous and the quality
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  of life is unreal and we've got good schools,
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  but it's also very business friendly. It's also
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  a place where the weather's nice. It's got a
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  good tax climate. People want to be here, right?
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  So that's why we have such an influx of people
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  coming in. But to answer your question, as far
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  as development, where they're going. Mostly,
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  I mean, you see a big chunk of them moving into
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  West Palm. You've seen what's going on in Palm
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  Beach Gardens, in Jupiter again, Riviera Beach,
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  Lake Park. I mean, that US-1 corridor between
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  like West Palm all the way through North Palm
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  Beach and Riviera Beach and Lake Park, in the
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  next 10 years, we're not going to be able to
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  recognize it. It's going to be completely different,
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  but it's all good stuff. All good stuff coming
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  here to Palm Beach North. Where are they moving
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  from? That's a great question, right? Really
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  from all over the place, but you'll see a big
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  chunk of them coming from the Northeast, right?
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  From the New York, the Northeast region. Believe
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  it or not, I've also heard there's a lot of people
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  from California moving here. Like I don't have
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  the exact statistics for you from where they're
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  coming from, but I do know a big chunk of them
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  are coming from the Northeast and I've heard
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  California as well. Huh, that's a lot of data.
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  What was your start before? You came into the
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  position you're in now. So you and I have talked
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  about this before, right? I've spent many years
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  in the restaurant industry and data and numbers.
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  I run the organization like if it was a business,
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  right? So I think I started in the restaurant
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  business. I played baseball in college for a
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  couple of years, waited tables, bus tables, bartended,
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  kind of to kind of get my way through college,
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  ended up going into it full time. I was a restaurant
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  manager. For, gosh, half my life. Traveled all
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  over South Florida opening up restaurants. I
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  was part of those, like, new corporate teams
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  that would come in and help open restaurants
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  for Bonefish Grill. Okay. When we opened up the
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  Bonefish Grill up here, my gosh, 20 years ago,
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  I joined the Chamber of Commerce. You know 20
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  years ago is 2006, right? It's crazy. Not 96.
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  Did I say 96 or 2006? No, that's what he said
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  20 years ago. I think 96. So I somewhere lost
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  10 years along the way. I graduated in 95. So
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  high school in 95. So crazy. Again, I joined
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  the Chamber of Commerce, fell in love with the
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  organization, fell in love with the community.
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  Before you know it, I ended up going to work
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  for them as their membership director. And that's
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  it. You know, I've been in kind of in the chamber
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  industry since then. I took a little bit of break
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  in the middle, but love it. Love what I do. I
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  get to be around people. As you know, you and
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  I both enjoy people and this is a people business.
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  So it's a good spot for me to land. So you said
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  you played baseball. Did you play baseball with
• 6:32
  J-Bird from the KVJ show? Have we talked about
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  that? No. That is crazy. We never talked about
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  that. Him and I played at Broward Community College together my sophomore
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  year. And I make fun of him all the time. Him
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  and I both played first base, right? So I spent
• 6:46
  a lot of time. I called him, that's Pennington.
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  We always called him Pennington. Now he's Jay
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  Bird. He's big and famous and he's a big deal
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  in town now. But back then we used to call him
• 6:54
  Pennington. We would just make fun of each other,
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  beat each other up all the time. How he is on
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  the radio is how he is in real life. He's always
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  been like that since we were like 19 years old.
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  But yes, I did play baseball with J-Bird down
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  at Broward Community College down south. Great
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  dude, great heart, and just hilarious. The guy
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  does the craziest stuff. Virginia told me that.
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  Did she? Yeah. That's how I knew that tidbit
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  of information. Okay, another great human. Isn't
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  that funny? We've got so many great friends,
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  right? We have the coolest community here. We
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  do. We do. Like, we really do. 100%. So you played
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  baseball at J-Bird. I mean, I would like to
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  see some footage of that. What was your baseball
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  team? By the Broward Community College Seahawks.
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  No, who was your team? Who was your, like, pro
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  league now? Oh, gosh. Now, I mean, I'm still
• 7:38
  a Yankee fan. Yeah, you better be. I'm a Yankee
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  fan. You know, growing up in South Florida, before
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  we had the Marlins, all we had was, in Fort Lauderdale,
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  the Yankees would come down for spring training.
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  Yeah. That was our old spring training home.
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  So that's how I fell in love with the Yankees.
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  Well, that and they're the best. They're pretty
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  darn good. Yeah, they're not too bad. Not a bad
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  team to root for. Great team. My team. So you
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  mentioned just a second ago that you stepped
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  away from the chamber for a little while. Why
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  did you leave and what led you to come back?
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  So I left because I wanted to grow. You know,
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  I had spent about five years as a director of
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  membership development. We were on fire, tons
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  of great things going on in the chamber. And
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  there were a couple opportunities that I thought,
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  hey, I have to go after it. Every once in a while,
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  you got to take a chance. Didn't work out. I
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  mean, I jumped into the private sector for a
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  little bit. Then I went to go. run a leadership
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  Palm Beach County. I was on their board. I kind
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  of got recruited to be their executive director,
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  which was an amazing job, amazing organization.
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  I still love that organization to death. And
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  then I did that for about three years and eventually
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  my old boss moved on to go do some other things.
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  And there was an opening at the chamber and I
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  still love the chamber. I mean, I've always been
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  a chamber guy at heart and I interviewed for
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  the position and some way, somehow here I am
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  six and a half years later as their CEO. Look
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  at you go. It's crazy. But it seems that it's
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  just like a really perfect fit, I feel like.
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  Thank you. You know, never in a million years
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  would I have ever thought that I would be running
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  a Chamber of Commerce. I'm just a Cuban kid from
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  like Hialeah, right? I probably didn't even know
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  what a Chamber of Commerce was back in the day,
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  but it's just a testament to how amazing this
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  community is, right? You know, I moved up here,
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  fell in love with it. And the right people just
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  kind of took me under their wing and introduced
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  me to the right people and just helped me grow
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  as a leader. And some way, somehow, I don't know,
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  I do got to pinch myself sometimes because this
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  is like my dream job. I absolutely love what
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  I do. So you're not leaving anytime soon, huh?
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  No, no, no. That's yours to keep? We got too
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  much work to do here in Palm Beach North. I mean,
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  you said 2030, look out. So under your leadership,
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  the chamber is named Chamber of the Year. How
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  did that happen? How did that make you feel?
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  That's a big deal. It is. And we're very proud
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  of that. And I know our board is very, very proud
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  of that award. I'll say this. There isn't just
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  one thing that I did or any of us did. I think
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  that's a reflection of our community and how
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  special our community really is. Right. I think
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  the one thing about Palm Beach North that is
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  different than any other community that I hear
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  about, because I work with chamber executives
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  all over the state and I'm friends with other
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  chamber CEOs throughout the state. What makes
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  us different is how well we collaborate and how
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  well we work together, how the private sector
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  and the public sector come together to do what's
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  best for the community. Right. Doesn't mean we
• 10:22
  always agree. Doesn't mean we're always on the
• 10:24
  same side of an argument, but at the end of the
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  day, we want to move this community forward.
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  And I think a lot of the chamber success is because
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  of that, because we live in such a special community
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  and have such an amazing board that is super
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  supportive of some of the crazy stuff that I
• 10:41
  come up with, right? whether it's starting a
• 10:43
  new program or creating our podcast or doing
• 10:46
  things with ArtiGras that are a little bit
• 10:48
  crazier than what we normally do. But we've got
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  just a group of people on our board that really,
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  really care about this community and support
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  me in helping me to do some fun stuff. So tell
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  the listeners that what is the chamber exactly
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  doing on the day-to-day? You just mentioned
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  ArtiGras, you have fun events, you're doing,
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  like, give me some really cool examples of...
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  Things that you're doing. Like, what does somebody
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  have to look forward to if they join the chamber?
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  All right. So I love that you asked that question
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  because I get asked all the time, what does the
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  Chamber of Commerce do? People don't realize
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  it. My short answer is, is that we do a lot of
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  the things that you don't even know are happening.
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  Right. We are a convener. We bring people together
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  to get things done. What does a day-to-day
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  look like? For me specifically, and then I'll
• 11:31
  get into the chamber. I'm everywhere. Like, you
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  know, just today I had a breakfast meeting at
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  8 a.m., ran to the office, had a staff meeting,
• 11:38
  then had a luncheon. Here I am recording a podcast
• 11:40
  with the legendary Kerri. You know, my day's
• 11:43
  different every single day. Sometimes I'm at
• 11:46
  a council meeting till 8, 9, 10 o 'clock at night,
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  11 o 'clock at night sometimes. My schedule's
• 11:52
  completely different. From a chamber standpoint.
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  It never stops. We have a team of 12 staff members
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  that produce over 100 events for our chamber
• 12:03
  members, and we also produce four economic-driving
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  community events. We talked about ArtiGras.
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  The ArtiGras Fine Arts Festival is one of the
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  top -ranked arts festivals in the country. Thanks.
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  You're an amazing partner to the ArtiGras
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  Fine Arts Festival. And that's every February.
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  President's Day weekend. Yeah. Every year, President's
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  Day weekend. This year, we're actually moving
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  it up a weekend. I don't know. I can't think
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  of the date right off the top of my head. Because
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  Super Bowl is falling on Valentine's Day that
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  weekend. And it's February 14th. Next year will
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  be. Did you know this? I did. Super Bowl and
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  Valentine's Day, same weekend. Who wants to go
• 12:38
  up against Super Bowl? What is going to happen?
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  There'll be a lot of wives upset. I think so.
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  A lot of girlfriends and wives upset because
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  a lot of guys are going to be watching the Super
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  Bowl. So therefore, ArtiGras will move up to
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  the weekend right before that. So that would,
• 12:49
  I guess, be the 6th and the 7th of 2027. That's
• 12:52
  correct. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yeah,
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  so it's the first week, the first week of February.
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  Super excited about that. Beautiful weather that
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  time of year. Oh, it's gorgeous. Perfect weather.
• 13:00
  Gorgeous. We also produce another arts festival
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  called ArtFest by the Sea, which is right along
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  US 1, which is a beautiful arts festival. We
• 13:07
  produce the Loggerhead Triathlon, which is a
• 13:10
  40-year-old sprint triathlon that's been going
• 13:13
  on here in Juno Beach and Jupiter. for 40 plus years.
• 13:16
  And then this new festival that we've started
• 13:18
  last year called the Jupiter HarbourFest, which
• 13:20
  is like a country coastal kind of music festival
• 13:23
  that we have at Harborside, which is a blast.
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  So on top of all the chamber stuff and all the
• 13:27
  government affairs stuff that we do, we also
• 13:30
  produce some events that we're very proud of
• 13:32
  because it drives some economic activity in our
• 13:36
  region. Those people already grow alone, gets...
• 13:39
  Tens of thousands of people to attend ArtiGras.
• 13:41
  Those people are going to get gas at the gas
• 13:43
  station, at our gas stations. They're going to
• 13:45
  eat at our restaurants on the way home. They're
• 13:47
  going to buy something at the shops when they're
• 13:49
  walking by. So we're really, really proud of
• 13:52
  those events as well. So you have a leadership
• 13:54
  event, right? And then you have, I know you have
• 13:57
  just like monthly just. networking events also,
• 14:00
  because I've attended a few. Yeah. From a chamber
• 14:02
  standpoint, you know, every month we have a chamber
• 14:05
  breakfast where we have anywhere from 150 up
• 14:07
  to 400 people attend a breakfast. What time is
• 14:10
  this breakfast? It's a little early. 7.15. Usually
• 14:13
  starts at 7.15. It's either at PGA National or
• 14:17
  the Palm Beach Gardens Marriott. Both great locations,
• 14:20
  but I am not a morning person. I know you're
• 14:22
  not a morning person. And I'm not a night person.
• 14:24
  So I can't ever attend the breakfast. You're
• 14:26
  going out when I'm going to bed. I think you
• 14:27
  and I have talked about this. Yeah, that's probably
• 14:29
  true. I'm an early riser and I go to bed 8.39,
• 14:32
  9 p.m. I'm out. I'm done. I like a six o 'clock.
• 14:35
  I'm not like a six o 'clocker. I like to eat
• 14:37
  dinner at six. I like to have a drink at six.
• 14:39
  I like to go out at six and maybe be home by
• 14:42
  like... Can you believe that we're going out
• 14:44
  to dinner at 6 o 'clock now? I like to eat at
• 14:47
  6 o 'clock. Who have we become? I do not. I got
• 14:50
  so mad. I went to a restaurant a couple weeks
• 14:52
  ago, and we had a 7 o 'clock reservation, and
• 14:56
  they didn't seat us until like 8.15. I was hangry.
• 15:00
  I was not happy. And I felt like I was really
• 15:04
  going to mess up my whole groove and my whole
• 15:07
  digestive system eating at 8 o 'clock. I'm like,
• 15:10
  this is so late. But that's me. I like an early
• 15:13
  bird dinner. A group of friends, we just went
• 15:16
  to Napa and Sonoma to celebrate one of my buddies'
• 15:19
  50th, one of my best buds' 50th birthday. And,
• 15:22
  you know, with the time change and everything,
• 15:24
  we had 8 o 'clock dinner reservations at certain
• 15:27
  places. That's like 11 o 'clock here. Right.
• 15:29
  Like, think about that. With the time change,
• 15:31
  yeah. Over there, I was falling asleep at dinner.
• 15:32
  It's crazy. But, yeah, I like to eat early as
• 15:34
  well. You know, I definitely like to be out.
• 15:36
  But, again, when you get up at 430 in the morning,
• 15:38
  you're toast by 7, 8 o 'clock at night anyway.
• 15:41
  Do you work out? I do. I try. Are you one of
• 15:45
  these people that like runs 5 a.m., 5 miles?
• 15:48
  I'm not a runner, right? And I'm not as consistent
• 15:50
  in the gym as I'd like to. But you're a morning
• 15:52
  workout, aren't you? I'm a morning guy. Yeah,
• 15:54
  I'm in the gym by 5. Oh, God. I'm in by the gym.
• 15:56
  I'm up at 4.30. I'm at the gym by 5, 5.15.
• 15:59
  You know, if I'm not lazy or I don't have a chamber
• 16:02
  event. I always tell my trainer, I would literally,
• 16:04
  so I work out at 5 p.m. I do my work for the
• 16:08
  day. And then I go work out at 5 p.m. And then
• 16:10
  I eat my high-protein dinner at 6 p.m. See
• 16:13
  how that works? It works. Then I drink at 7 p
• 16:16
  .m. See, it's great. Yeah, see, I'm sleeping
• 16:18
  by that. I'm ready to go. I'm already tired.
• 16:20
  5 a.m., I would actually drop weights on my
• 16:24
  head. I would. And that's exactly why I will
• 16:27
  not do that morning. The only time I'll get up
• 16:30
  that early is if I have a flight. And when I
• 16:32
  do take that 7 a.m. flight, which is once every
• 16:35
  other year. I always get mad that I did it. And
• 16:39
  every time I'm like, I'm never doing this again.
• 16:41
  And what do I do? Do it again because it's $200
• 16:44
  cheaper. It's not worth it for me. All those
• 16:47
  years of me working in the restaurant industry,
• 16:50
  I used to get home at 12, 1, 2 o 'clock in the
• 16:53
  morning every day. Yeah. I never realized how
• 16:57
  miserable I used to be that late at night. Yeah.
• 17:00
  See, I'm fine. If I'm in my bed by midnight,
• 17:03
  my sleep time is like midnight to 8 a.m. And
• 17:07
  then I drink my coffee from like 8 to 9, check
• 17:10
  my emails, and then I talk to humans by 10. And
• 17:14
  everybody knows that. And my phone is on do not
• 17:16
  disturb till 10 a.m. But I will also answer
• 17:20
  a client's call at 8 p.m. So that's like my,
• 17:23
  it's so weird because that's like my time, my
• 17:26
  work time. Yep, I get it. Like right now it's
• 17:29
  midday and I'm like, let's go. Let's do things.
• 17:32
  Now I'm like, right. And you're probably winding
• 17:34
  down. I feel like I'm done. I'm like, I just
• 17:36
  started. Let's go. Let's do things. So you sit
• 17:39
  on multiple boards and operate pretty high levels
• 17:43
  across the state. So how do you decide what actually
• 17:46
  deserves the attention and what doesn't? You
• 17:48
  know, I try not to say yes to everything, right?
• 17:52
  I do. I'm very lucky to get asked to serve on
• 17:57
  multiple boards. Why do I say yes to certain
• 17:59
  things? I mean, there's certain organizations
• 18:00
  that I really care about. I'm very involved with
• 18:02
  Leadership Florida, which is an organization
• 18:04
  that I love that's had a huge impact on me, both
• 18:06
  professionally and personally. So that's why
• 18:08
  I've continued to be engaged with Leadership
• 18:10
  Florida. There's another organization, the Florida
• 18:12
  Association of Chamber Professionals, that I
• 18:15
  am about to end my tenure as chair. Another organization
• 18:18
  that I owe so much to. Because I feel like I
• 18:22
  would not be a chamber CEO if it wasn't for that
• 18:24
  organization. Do you want to name that organization?
• 18:27
  FACP, the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals.
• 18:29
  Yeah, FACP. And then, you know, there's multiple
• 18:31
  organizations that I'm involved with that are
• 18:34
  somewhat work related. Like I serve on the Discover
• 18:37
  the Palm Beaches board. Oh, I didn't know that.
• 18:39
  Yeah, that's a huge economic driver for us here
• 18:41
  in our region, right? And they've got great leadership,
• 18:44
  great board. I'm very honored to be a part of
• 18:46
  that board. I feel like those go hand in hand
• 18:48
  in my head. The chamber. And discover the Palm
• 18:51
  beaches. A hundred percent. Yeah. I agree with
• 18:53
  you a hundred percent. And that, that is very
• 18:55
  aligned with what I do every day. Right. I think
• 18:58
  if there's anything that has to do with economic
• 19:00
  development, we'd love to get involved and help
• 19:03
  and support, because I think the closer we work,
• 19:05
  the more collaboration that happens, the better
• 19:07
  it is for all of us. I agree. I agree a hundred
• 19:10
  percent. And that's why, you know, I guess ultimately
• 19:12
  we met through Flavor South Florida and that's.
• 19:16
  The collaboration effort with that program is
• 19:19
  just tremendous. I tell everybody all the time,
• 19:21
  it's not my program. It's the community's program.
• 19:25
  That's why if you look at Flavor's Instagram,
• 19:27
  it's not my face all over the place, or at least
• 19:29
  I try for it not to be. It's other people's experiences
• 19:33
  of local restaurants that I collaborate with.
• 19:36
  And I'm like, this is your page. This is your
• 19:39
  page. This is your page. You all, let's make
• 19:41
  this a community effort, right? I also really
• 19:45
  adore Milton. You introduced me to Milton. He
• 19:48
  is the CEO of Discover the Palm Beaches. And
• 19:53
  he's lovely as well. We should have him on the
• 19:55
  podcast. But I met him that one time at the party
• 19:58
  that we were at, the flavor sponsor party. And
• 20:02
  it's just really fascinating the passion that
• 20:07
  you both have for the community. That's what
• 20:10
  it comes down to. It's passion. He's the best.
• 20:13
  I love that guy. I think he probably would say
• 20:14
  the same thing. I mean, a lot of people say that
• 20:16
  about you too. Milton is one of the best in the
• 20:19
  business. We are so lucky to have him here in
• 20:21
  Palm Beach County. And I work with Chamber CEOs
• 20:24
  all over the state, in the country. I've got
• 20:26
  friends all over the country that run Chambers
• 20:28
  of Commerce. Yeah. Not everybody has a Milton,
• 20:30
  right? And the work that Discover the Palm Beaches
• 20:33
  is doing for our brand here in Palm Beach County.
• 20:37
  Oh, they're monsters. They're unbelievable. I'm
• 20:39
  very proud of the work that they're doing. They
• 20:41
  do a fantastic job and they're growing it. They
• 20:44
  do the campaign, the Love the Palm Beaches campaign,
• 20:46
  which is great. We do a lot of partnership advertising
• 20:49
  with them for flavor. And we did a Brightline
• 20:53
  campaign last season. We've done quite a few
• 20:56
  things with them. They have really great resources.
• 20:58
  And, you know, in addition to flavor, I think
• 21:02
  you know that I also own a marketing company
• 21:04
  and a music booking company. And in the marketing
• 21:08
  company, people will come to me all the time
• 21:10
  and say, Oh, any industry, not just a restaurant.
• 21:12
  What should I do? And the first thing I say to
• 21:14
  them is, have you joined the chamber? I'm serious.
• 21:18
  That's the actual first thing I say to them.
• 21:20
  Because to me, that's the most logical thing
• 21:22
  to do. Be amongst your peers, especially if you're
• 21:26
  new here. Meet people. Get out. Go to the breakfast
• 21:29
  or the dinner where you'll find me instead. And
• 21:33
  get into the community. You can do all the social
• 21:37
  media marketing you want. You can play billboards.
• 21:39
  You can do newspaper, TV, radio. Think about
• 21:42
  all the marketing aspects. I think the chamber
• 21:45
  is so incredibly valuable. I really do. I'm not
• 21:48
  like blowing smoke up your ass right now. I'm
• 21:50
  going to have you start selling sponsorships
• 21:51
  for us. But it's true. And it's cost effective
• 21:54
  too. It's not a crazy amount of money. And it
• 21:57
  makes sense. As a matter of fact, we, Amber,
• 22:01
  who works for me with Flavor, her and I were
• 22:03
  at an event and a chamber event. We met. Amy,
• 22:06
  who owns Oceana Coffee. Guess what? Now, Amy
• 22:10
  is going to be Oceana Coffee. It will be, it's going
• 22:12
  to be a flavor sponsor this season. So you'll
• 22:14
  see some Oceana Coffee tied into flavor. I'm
• 22:18
  not giving away too much, but have you heard
• 22:20
  of BNI? A hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah, of course.
• 22:23
  So I was in a BNI chapter here in gardens for
• 22:27
  many, many years and I made. A lot of really
• 22:31
  great friends who I'm still friends with. I'm
• 22:32
  talking about this was 10 years ago when I first
• 22:34
  moved to Florida, maybe longer. And I'm still
• 22:36
  friends with them to this day. And that group
• 22:40
  taught me so much, similar to the chamber, just
• 22:43
  the way of thinking, the way of networking, the
• 22:46
  way of approaching people. And I feel like you're
• 22:51
  the same way. We're not takers. I feel like we're
• 22:53
  reciprocators and givers. And I feel like that's
• 22:58
  the best way to do business. always, or at least
• 23:01
  that's my business model, because like, I'm never
• 23:04
  going to look at somebody and say, what's in
• 23:06
  this for me? My first attempt is always to help
• 23:09
  them. And usually karma comes back and it helps
• 23:13
  me back, you know? And I feel like you're the
• 23:15
  same way. And I think that's important in a leadership
• 23:17
  role. And I think your leadership is so commendable.
• 23:21
  Thank you, Kerri. That's super sweet of you
• 23:23
  to say, you know, business is about relationships
• 23:25
  at the end of the day. People are going to do
• 23:28
  business with people they know, like, and trust.
• 23:30
  Right? I think we have 13 chambers of commerce
• 23:32
  here in Palm Beach County. Right? There are a
• 23:34
  lot of chambers. 13 chambers of commerce. And
• 23:36
  we've got some great chambers. I can. Can I name
• 23:40
  them all? You probably could if you tried. But
• 23:43
  I tell people all the time, I don't care what
• 23:45
  chamber you join, but you should be a part of
• 23:47
  your chamber because you're supporting each other.
• 23:49
  You're supporting. The mission of making our
• 23:53
  community a better place. And it's not just the
• 23:55
  business communities, the community as a whole.
• 23:57
  You know, for years, Chambers have been viewed
• 23:59
  as, you know, the networking event where you
• 24:02
  go and you mix up, you know, you exchange business
• 24:05
  cards or you show up to the business hour after
• 24:08
  hours or the power networking event. You meet
• 24:10
  a billion people in 10 minutes. Chambers are
• 24:13
  so much more than that. Like Chambers are. really
• 24:15
  helping shape the future of communities. They're
• 24:18
  bringing people together that normally would
• 24:20
  not be able to be in the same room together.
• 24:23
  They're giving small business owners like you,
• 24:25
  Kerri, a voice. Yeah. They're giving you a voice
• 24:28
  in Tallahassee, right? Fighting to make this
• 24:31
  community a better place, right? So I think you
• 24:33
  should be a member of your local chamber. I'd
• 24:36
  love for you to be a member of our chamber, right?
• 24:37
  Of course. But if you live in another community
• 24:39
  or there's another chamber, you've got to get
• 24:42
  involved. But you can be in multiple chambers.
• 24:43
  You can. And there's no better way. There's no
• 24:46
  better way to get engaged. So I belong to your
• 24:47
  chamber. I belong to Palm Beach Chamber. I belong
• 24:50
  to Stuart Chamber. I used to be in Jensen, but
• 24:53
  I'm not in Jensen anymore. So yeah, I'm in three
• 24:55
  right now. Great chambers of commerce, doing
• 24:57
  some great stuff for the community. And all different
• 24:59
  people and different demographics. 100%. And
• 25:01
  I enjoy it. And the thing is, I feel like when
• 25:05
  you say networking event, the first thing that
• 25:07
  goes through your mind would normally be, because
• 25:11
  In the past, you know, I would go to someone
• 25:13
  and say, oh, let's go to a network. And I'm talking
• 25:14
  like 10 years ago, like building businesses and
• 25:17
  things like that. And I would go. And it's kind
• 25:20
  of a little bit short of a really bad like blind
• 25:25
  date. Like a bunch of people like that were just
• 25:28
  trying to get a date in a way, you know. But
• 25:32
  that's not what the chamber events are by any
• 25:34
  means. And that's not what the BNI groups are
• 25:36
  by any means. There's some groups, and that's
• 25:38
  what I was saying to people all the time. It's
• 25:40
  like. These actually make sense. One thing that's
• 25:43
  so valuable to me is my time and where I'm spending
• 25:47
  it and who I'm spending it with. I would 100
• 25:50
  % say, yes, it is absolutely worth your time
• 25:52
  to spend two hours in that room at a chamber
• 25:55
  event. So if you don't already belong to your
• 25:59
  chamber, join your chamber. I think that's just
• 26:02
  important. Sell it. Sell it, girl. So on to my
• 26:06
  next. piece of questions here. If you had to
• 26:09
  give a small business owner one brutally honest
• 26:13
  piece of advice right now, what would it be?
• 26:17
  Aside from joining your chamber. This episode
• 26:20
  is sponsored by Altima Caviar. Experience exceptional.
• 26:24
  Visit them at AltimaCaviar.com. Well, I mean,
• 26:29
  you know, get out in your community, serve your
• 26:31
  community, you know, serve first. I think the
• 26:35
  business will come. We live in such a special
• 26:37
  place, right? And we need good people to get
• 26:40
  involved. There's so many different ways to serve.
• 26:42
  You could serve on the chamber and the chamber
• 26:44
  boards. You could run for office, serve at a
• 26:46
  city council or in the planning and zoning committee.
• 26:48
  Get involved. If there's one piece of advice
• 26:50
  that I give any business owner is get involved
• 26:52
  because there's so much going on behind the scenes
• 26:54
  that you can't even imagine what's going on behind
• 26:57
  the scenes. So get involved in the community,
• 26:59
  get out there, meet some people and the business
• 27:02
  will come. I don't think you could say that any
• 27:04
  better because it's true. And I think we're in
• 27:09
  a world, especially now, where people don't resonate
• 27:12
  with a business per se anymore. They resonate
• 27:15
  with a person. Don't you agree? 100%. Like they
• 27:18
  need a face to that business to want to visit
• 27:21
  the business and actually support it because
• 27:25
  they know they're supporting Jim, not Jim's subs,
• 27:30
  right? A hundred percent. I agree with you. I
• 27:32
  agree with you a thousand percent. Are there
• 27:34
  any businesses that you feel like need a little
• 27:36
  more attention that don't get enough attention?
• 27:39
  We have such a diverse economy here in Palm Beach
• 27:42
  North. I think if you take a step back and you
• 27:45
  really look about what's going on, the healthcare
• 27:47
  industry is actually exploding. It's exploding.
• 27:50
  We've got like three brand new hospitals being
• 27:52
  built here. We just had the grand opening at
• 27:54
  the Alan B. Miller Medical Center two weeks
• 27:56
  ago. We've got two brand new hospitals being
• 27:59
  built out in Avenir. The healthcare industry
• 28:02
  is absolutely exploding. Not that they need any
• 28:05
  love, but I want people to be aware of the quality
• 28:08
  of healthcare that we have here in Palm Beach
• 28:10
  County is unbelievable and it's getting even
• 28:12
  better because you've got these hospitals coming
• 28:15
  in and competition just makes it better. So got
• 28:18
  to give our healthcare industry some love. Of
• 28:20
  course, we had the financial services sector
• 28:22
  that's really blowing up. You hear about this
• 28:24
  Wall Street South movement. That is real life.
• 28:27
  It's happening. It's happening in West Palm.
• 28:30
  You know, we get a lot of that overflow here
• 28:33
  in the northern end of Palm Beach County, right?
• 28:35
  So that's another industry to pay attention to,
• 28:37
  right? Our restaurants, and not because I'm on
• 28:42
  your show here today. Talk to me about restaurants.
• 28:45
  Do it. But we have a very underrated, like, food.
• 28:48
  drink and wine scene here, West Palm beach North.
• 28:52
  Nothing against anybody down South. Cause we've
• 28:54
  got some great restaurants there as well, but
• 28:57
  my God, like we are spoiled. Like, and people
• 29:00
  aren't talking enough about the amazing restaurants
• 29:02
  that we have here. So tell me, tell me, give
• 29:05
  me your top, like five to 10 favorite dishes,
• 29:08
  favorite chefs. All right. Go to throw on my
• 29:12
  shorts, flip-flops, t -shirt, hog snappers.
• 29:15
  Okay. Oh, man. I forget the plantains with all
• 29:21
  the, what do they call it? The something where
• 29:24
  they just got all the meat on top of the plantain.
• 29:26
  That thing is unbelievable. I love their whole
• 29:29
  fried snapper. I love because you really can't
• 29:31
  get that in many places up here. Their sushi
• 29:33
  is phenomenal. Yeah. Right. Great sushi. Ela
• 29:36
  Curry & Cocktails. My wife and I's favorite
• 29:40
  like little Friday night hangout. We go and sit
• 29:42
  in the corner of the bar and grab some of those
• 29:44
  amazing tater tots. Unbelievable. There's so
• 29:48
  many. There's too many names. I don't want to
• 29:50
  forget somebody and get in trouble because I
• 29:51
  know some of my friends. Don't. You won't. Just
• 29:52
  give me three more. Three more. Three more. NEVS
• 29:53
  Barbecue in Palm Beach Gardens. NEVS just got
• 29:57
  something. Something just happened with them.
• 29:59
  Yeah. They were on the Food Network. They were
• 30:01
  on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
• 30:04
  Yeah. I mean, amazing, amazing barbecue. We all
• 30:07
  know it. Great family. Local family that's been
• 30:09
  here for a long time. Evo Italian another. Like, just
• 30:13
  staple. Again, I could go on and on and on and
• 30:16
  on, but I don't want to forget any of my friends.
• 30:18
  They're all different. You hit Italian. You got
• 30:20
  your sushi. You've got barbecue. All right. Blackbird's
• 30:25
  amazing. There's a little Asian flair. We had
• 30:28
  them on the podcast, the Blackbird guys. Yeah,
• 30:31
  it's a great concept. They're awesome. What a
• 30:32
  great, great concept. They're awesome. You have
• 30:34
  to check out that episode. What's the new one?
• 30:37
  The new Arthur and Sons. Oh, Arthur. Have you
• 30:39
  been there yet? Amazing. Very hard to get in.
• 30:41
  What'd you order? Oh my God, we ordered too much.
• 30:43
  I'll tell you, that's what we ordered. But my
• 30:45
  wife and I went in there, sat at the bar, which
• 30:47
  is usually our go-to. We just try to kind of
• 30:49
  sneak in and sit at the bar. And we ordered way
• 30:51
  too much food. Like, you know, we each ordered
• 30:53
  an entree and a salad and we ate maybe half of
• 30:56
  one of the entrees. But spectacular, like New
• 30:59
  York, Italian food. So good. So, so, so good.
• 31:02
  Did you get the chicken parm? I think we did
• 31:04
  get the chicken parm. It's like the biggest chicken
• 31:06
  parm I've ever seen in my life. It's the size
• 31:07
  of this table. I know. Yeah, it's really good
• 31:09
  stuff. It is a big chicken parm. That's all sticking
• 31:12
  out to me. We ate a lot of the food, but actually,
• 31:16
  they're having a pasta night tonight I was invited
• 31:18
  to, and I might scoot over there after this.
• 31:21
  I might go with you. What time are we going?
• 31:23
  It's late, man. It's past my bedtime. Six o 'clock.
• 31:25
  Past my bedtime, sorry. But yeah, no, we actually,
• 31:29
  we really do have, we had 107 restaurants on
• 31:33
  Flavor last season, and this year we are looking
• 31:35
  to, I could probably confidently say that we'll
• 31:40
  have more than that this year. Our summers aren't
• 31:42
  as slow as they used to be. No, they're not.
• 31:44
  Our off season is getting shorter. We've got
• 31:47
  more and more people moving here. I know it's
• 31:49
  hot outside, but you know what? But we've got
• 31:51
  to support our local restaurants in the summer.
• 31:52
  Yeah. It still is a very slow month because if
• 31:55
  you think about like, they have these spikes,
• 31:59
  right? So like May, they have Mother's Day, holiday
• 32:01
  time, they're busy. There's certain things, Father's
• 32:04
  Day, they'll get a little something. Easter,
• 32:07
  Valentine's Day. There's nothing much going on
• 32:10
  for restaurants in August or September in general.
• 32:13
  So just that in itself, I think it's with or
• 32:18
  without it being like a snowbird situation. It's
• 32:20
  just statistically has been and probably will
• 32:23
  be forever. Somebody asked me recently, would
• 32:27
  you do a flavor in Nantucket or somewhere else?
• 32:32
  And yeah, I would, I think, but it wouldn't be
• 32:36
  September. It would probably be like... When
• 32:39
  everybody's here. Right. So you kind of got to
• 32:41
  do it for those locals. That's the point of the
• 32:43
  program. So, you know, you talked about, you
• 32:46
  know, why that happens. There's a lot going on
• 32:49
  in August and September. Kids are back in school.
• 32:51
  You're taking that last minute vacation right
• 32:53
  before the kids go back to school. I mean, it's
• 32:55
  just there's so much going on. So I understand.
• 32:58
  I get it. I can see why restaurants are a little
• 33:00
  slower. So Miami Spice does August and September.
• 33:02
  They do two months. And so a couple of the restaurants
• 33:05
  have asked me if. we could start in August. And
• 33:08
  I said no, and I will continue to say no because
• 33:10
  I think that takes the allure away. I think by
• 33:14
  September, people are going to be kind of like,
• 33:16
  well, over it, honestly. And I'm not, it's nothing
• 33:19
  to do, Miami's a different animal. Miami's not
• 33:21
  us. No. Right? Nothing against Miami. I love
• 33:23
  Miami. I'm from there. I just said I'm a Cuban
• 33:25
  kid from Hialeah. I love it. But our community,
• 33:28
  I just don't feel that that's what it is. I feel
• 33:31
  like August kids are getting back to school and
• 33:33
  you're getting into a routine and it's kind of
• 33:34
  a... a bumpy month. And the restaurants actually
• 33:38
  do put out prix fixe menus or usually a summer special
• 33:42
  in August. It's not a flavor menu till September,
• 33:45
  but they do. And I think they should. I mean,
• 33:48
  it's slow. Do what you got to do, you know? I
• 33:50
  would love to see the data on the restaurants
• 33:52
  where they were before flavor and after flavor,
• 33:55
  like over the last few years, right? Do you have
• 33:57
  that data? I have their numbers. Yeah. I have
• 34:00
  how many like menus they've sold. I've had. Like
• 34:03
  you're saying like a September they didn't do
• 34:05
  flavor versus a September that they did. Yeah.
• 34:07
  And the impact on sales and how it's affected
• 34:09
  their restaurant. Well, I could tell you there's
• 34:12
  one restaurant that last season that did $100
• 34:15
  ,000 in flavor menus in September. The average
• 34:19
  is probably about $20,000 to $30,000 in flavor
• 34:22
  menu sales. And that's not including alcohol.
• 34:25
  That's not including any additional anything.
• 34:27
  That's just their three-course flavor menus.
• 34:31
  If you're getting anywhere from $20,000 to $100
• 34:33
  ,000 extra in September, that's a big number
• 34:38
  for a restaurant at that time. Especially in
• 34:40
  the summer, yep. Yeah, and they're going to tell
• 34:43
  you, any chef will tell you, that they're down
• 34:45
  at minimum 30% in September. We've got to tell
• 34:47
  that story better. We've got to get out there
• 34:49
  and tell more people. Yeah, I think for me, the
• 34:52
  financial aspect is, I know the data. I have
• 34:55
  the data, and I'm happy to share the data. But
• 34:58
  I think I like to keep flavor to be a very, happy,
• 35:02
  fluffy program to the public eye. But there is
• 35:06
  a dark side to it. The reason that people are
• 35:08
  doing this, it's real. There are some restaurants,
• 35:11
  if they don't make those extra $30,000 in September,
• 35:13
  guess what? Their doors are going to close. That's
• 35:16
  the reality of it. So I'm not the hero here.
• 35:19
  The heroes are the diners that are out dining
• 35:22
  during September. Well, you know we love you
• 35:25
  guys. And whatever the chamber can do to help
• 35:28
  promote it, we do it every year. We think it's
• 35:30
  really good for our region. It's really good
• 35:32
  for our businesses, our chamber members, our
• 35:36
  non -chamber members. At the end of the day,
• 35:37
  we want the best for the business community as
• 35:40
  a whole. So we've got your back. And whatever
• 35:42
  we can do to help you get the word out, we're
• 35:44
  there. The chamber, like I said, you guys do
• 35:46
  a great job. I have a question that you, I wonder
• 35:50
  if you know the answers to this. Let's test your
• 35:54
  knowledge right now. And if you can tell me the
• 35:57
  top 10 professions in Palm Beach County, doesn't
• 36:00
  have to be in order, but the top 10, what are
• 36:02
  they? Oh my God, Kerri, top 10. You're putting
• 36:04
  me on the spot here. All right. So I talked about
• 36:07
  the medical, the healthcare industry. So that's
• 36:11
  got to be up there, right? Healthcare workers,
• 36:13
  number one. Number one, boom, done. Hospitality
• 36:15
  and tourism. Number four. That's a big, big part
• 36:18
  of it. Retail. Two. Two. Yep. Man, I'm knocking
• 36:22
  out of the park. We have a lot of retail here.
• 36:26
  Construction. Construction has to be on that
• 36:28
  list. Construction workers. Number seven. Number
• 36:30
  seven. Education. The school district is one
• 36:37
  of the biggest employers in the county, if not
• 36:38
  the biggest. Number six. Number six. You can
• 36:42
  put that on there. I could cheat a little bit
• 36:43
  if I needed to. No, you can't see it. I talked
• 36:45
  about education. We talked about hospitality.
• 36:48
  Financial services. Financial services. We've
• 36:50
  talked a little bit about that as well. Gosh,
• 36:52
  how many do I have so far? What is that? Six,
• 36:55
  seven? You've got six. I've got six. So I've
• 36:57
  got four more. What else? What else we got there?
• 36:59
  What else do we have on that list? We've got
• 37:00
  number three, office and administration staff.
• 37:02
  Okay. I would have missed that one. Number five,
• 37:04
  management occupations. I probably would have
• 37:07
  missed that one. Business managers, operation
• 37:08
  managers. Number nine, transportation and logistics
• 37:12
  workers. Okay. And number 10, professional services.
• 37:16
  Oh, yeah. Professional services. Yep. Those are
• 37:18
  the top 10 professions in Palm Beach County.
• 37:21
  It's crazy. And you know what? That list is changing
• 37:23
  every day. Yeah. Every day. I mean, that financial
• 37:26
  services piece, those jobs are growing more and
• 37:29
  more. And it's crazy how quickly that list could
• 37:32
  change. Yeah. But interesting that you mentioned
• 37:34
  healthcare workers. And there it was, number
• 37:36
  one. It's crazy. Look, we don't get enough credit
• 37:39
  on how good our healthcare is here in Palm Beach
• 37:41
  County. Right? People just don't talk about that
• 37:43
  enough. So yeah, healthcare, number one. All
• 37:46
  right. So what's a leadership mistake that you've
• 37:49
  made that, that made you better ultimately? Oh
• 37:53
  my God. I've made so many mistakes. Did you fire
• 37:55
  the wrong guy ever? Well, I will say that, you
• 37:59
  know, I've made a lot of mistakes over the years,
• 38:01
  a lot of mistakes. I think early on in my career,
• 38:06
  I tried to do everything right. I wanted everything
• 38:10
  to be perfect. I am. borderline OCD, right? I
• 38:14
  like everything in a spot. I like my desk organized
• 38:17
  in certain ways. I like things to get done in
• 38:19
  a certain way. So I would say probably the biggest
• 38:21
  mistake that I made early on was trying to do
• 38:24
  everything myself. Whereas now I try my best
• 38:28
  to empower my team to do more for them so that
• 38:31
  they learn, so that they grow. And it gives me
• 38:33
  the opportunity to really focus on what's really,
• 38:35
  really important for our organization. Yeah,
• 38:38
  that's the biggest mistake. I think early on,
• 38:40
  I thought I had to do everything myself to do
• 38:42
  it right. And that was a big faux pas. You're type
• 38:45
  A, huh? Very. Oh my gosh, very. You're a micromanager?
• 38:49
  No, not at all. No, right? No, not at all. Not
• 38:52
  at all. And my team will tell you that. I'm a
• 38:55
  big believer in hiring the best possible person
• 38:59
  ever. even if they're not, they don't have the
• 39:02
  experience for that role or they're doing something
• 39:04
  different, but hire the best person and get the
• 39:07
  heck out of the way and just support them. Give
• 39:10
  them the resources that they need. Give them
• 39:12
  the vision, right? Steer them in the right direction
• 39:14
  and get out of the way because there's a reason
• 39:16
  why you hired that person. And, you know, you
• 39:19
  go back to a lot of the success that we've had
• 39:20
  at the chamber. It's because of my unbelievable
• 39:23
  team. I've had most of my teams been with me
• 39:26
  for a long time. Two of our newest staff members,
• 39:30
  one of them I coached when she was little. She
• 39:32
  played basketball with my daughter. The other
• 39:34
  one, she's a professional athlete. She plays
• 39:36
  flag football. We've got another one that has
• 39:39
  multiple years of experience in the chamber world.
• 39:42
  And those are my three newest people. The other
• 39:44
  ones have been with me for a long time and just
• 39:47
  share the same passion we have for the community.
• 39:49
  And I just stay out of their way. Stay out of
• 39:52
  their way and let them have some fun and hopefully
• 39:55
  they enjoy it. I think that's a really good leadership
• 39:59
  qualities, like tremendously good because micromanagers
• 40:04
  aren't leaders. I've had some bosses where they
• 40:07
  were micromanagers, but they're not teaching
• 40:09
  you. They're not leading you at that point. So
• 40:12
  I think to be type A and to not micromanage is
• 40:15
  like the perfect recipe for a good leader. I
• 40:18
  grew up playing sports, right? And you think
• 40:19
  back at. You know, the people that have influenced
• 40:22
  me over the years and they've always been people
• 40:25
  that have helped me grow. Right. Right. That
• 40:27
  have helped me grow, whether it's my job or as
• 40:29
  a dad or as a youth sports coach or as a leader
• 40:34
  in the community. I mean, to this day, I still
• 40:36
  have people that mentor me and help me and I'm
• 40:38
  learning from every single day. But that's the
• 40:40
  kind of boss that I want to be. Yeah. You know,
• 40:42
  I want to be the boss that 10, 15 years from
• 40:45
  now, you know, my team saying, oh, that guy,
• 40:47
  you know what? He really helped me get from here
• 40:49
  to here. Right. Noel helped me get there. And
• 40:53
  I think that would make me really, really proud.
• 40:55
  Yeah, no, I mean, and you said your daughter,
• 40:58
  so you have one child or? I have four amazing
• 41:01
  kids. You've met my daughter, Bella, who's just
• 41:05
  spectacular. My son, Gio, who's amazing. He's
• 41:09
  a manager at Trader Joe's doing some great stuff.
• 41:10
  Oh, nice. My other daughter, Avery, who is a
• 41:14
  sophomore at Dwyer, almost a junior, getting
• 41:16
  ready to get her license, by the way, which is
• 41:18
  super scary. And then my awesome, sweet little
• 41:21
  Colin. who's just amazing. He's starting to play
• 41:24
  some football, doing some great stuff. All four
• 41:27
  of them are absolutely amazing kids. And I'm
• 41:29
  super proud of them. And your wife? The best.
• 41:33
  How long are you guys married? We just, you know
• 41:36
  this, right? But we just got married about a
• 41:37
  year and a half ago, last January. And we met
• 41:40
  through, my daughter Bella's best friend was
• 41:43
  her intern. And random, random. Bella's best
• 41:47
  friend was her intern. Oh, okay. Bella's best
• 41:49
  friend, who was her best friend since they were
• 41:52
  in eighth grade, or I think kindergarten, actually.
• 41:55
  They grew up together. Her name is Bella, too,
• 41:57
  by the way. Imagine having two Bellas in your
• 41:59
  life that are both strong women. They introduced
• 42:02
  us through a text, and we've been together ever
• 42:05
  since. Heather's amazing, sweet, patient, kind,
• 42:09
  beautiful. Yeah, I've met your wife. She's beautiful.
• 42:12
  She's awesome. I'm so lucky. I don't know how
• 42:14
  I landed her, but I'm a super lucky guy. So Bella,
• 42:18
  funny story that I want to share with the listeners.
• 42:20
  I met Bella through a work event of some sort.
• 42:25
  And I think we followed each other on Instagram,
• 42:28
  Bella Martinez. And then months later, I met
• 42:35
  you. No, maybe, but I knew you already. Either
• 42:38
  way, I run into you. And that's, I think then
• 42:42
  we followed each other on social media or something
• 42:44
  like that. Well, anyway, I met you separately.
• 42:46
  And then you had posted a picture on Facebook
• 42:49
  of your family. And I go, why is Bella in Noel's
• 42:55
  picture? Because I didn't even know it was a
• 42:57
  family picture. I was just scrolling through,
• 42:59
  you know. And I'm like, this is so confusing
• 43:02
  to me right now. And I could not for the life
• 43:04
  of me put together the relationship of what was
• 43:08
  going on. And I'm like, how do you know each
• 43:11
  other? I'm like, no idea. It's crazy. Then I
• 43:15
  texted Bella, actually. And I was like, are you
• 43:19
  really? It's Noel? She goes, it's my dad. I'm
• 43:21
  like, what? And you had to see the smoke and
• 43:25
  confusion come out of my brain. You're like,
• 43:28
  that guy's old. God, I didn't know how old that
• 43:30
  guy was. So I don't even think I knew Heather
• 43:32
  at this point. So I'm like, is Noel dating
• 43:35
  Bella? Or like, what's happening here? But that,
• 43:38
  I mean, that doesn't make sense in age range,
• 43:39
  but I didn't know how old either one of you were
• 43:42
  either. So I had no idea. I was just very confused
• 43:46
  for a minute there. I don't blame you. Like,
• 43:47
  you know, Bella does government affairs. Because
• 43:49
  she's so mature for her age. She is. So it's
• 43:52
  like, I almost, you know, would probably would
• 43:55
  think she's like, and she doesn't look like in
• 43:57
  her thirties, but. maturity she could be i feel
• 44:00
  you know so she's she's unbelievable you know
• 44:03
  she's in government affairs for a waste and recycling
• 44:05
  company here in palm beach county so we're a
• 44:07
  lot of the same stuff Like I could be at a city
• 44:09
  council meeting and here comes Bella and sits
• 44:11
  right next to me. It's so weird. How cute is
• 44:13
  that though? It is super cool. And then she'll
• 44:15
  be speaking at a community event somewhere or
• 44:18
  a council meeting or something. And like elected
• 44:21
  officials will send me pictures of her. Look
• 44:23
  at Bella. We're so proud of Bella. They've known
• 44:25
  her since she was little. She's unbelievable.
• 44:27
  She's so cool. Crazy world. Like I actually want
• 44:30
  to be her. She's just traveling. We should get
• 44:33
  her on this podcast. We should invite her. Oh,
• 44:35
  she should have been on. I'm going to have you
• 44:39
  finish this sentence. Palm Beach County becomes
• 44:42
  the best place in the country for business when?
• 44:45
  Oh my God, I know this is easy. This is easy.
• 44:48
  When we work together, 100%. Like collaboration
• 44:52
  is key to everything that we're doing. We've
• 44:54
  been talking about this the whole time, right?
• 44:56
  I think that's what makes this community special.
• 45:00
  That's why everybody and their mother wants to
• 45:02
  move their business here. That's why everybody
• 45:03
  wants to live here. That's why. We love where
• 45:07
  we live is because we have a community that works
• 45:09
  together, right? Doesn't mean we're always going
• 45:12
  to agree. It does not, right? It's okay to have
• 45:17
  a healthy disagreement, right? But when we work
• 45:21
  together, we could get things done. We could
• 45:24
  get things done better. And I think as long as
• 45:26
  we continue to do that, we're going to be one
• 45:29
  of the best places in the world to live, work,
• 45:33
  and play. We really are. Because we've got all
• 45:35
  the assets. We've got everything we need here
• 45:37
  in Palm Beach North. But collaboration is key.
• 45:40
  You live in Gardens, right? I live in Ju - I
• 45:43
  live in Abacoa. I live in the Heights. Oh, you're
• 45:44
  in Heights. Okay, okay. That's - so have you
• 45:47
  - you go to Abacoa events, don't you? All the
• 45:50
  time. Yeah, we take it - we're on our golf cart
• 45:52
  every weekend. Like, we never drive. There's
• 45:53
  so much music going on right now. They're doing
• 45:55
  a great job there. Like, I'm really enjoying
• 45:56
  the music. Again, another thing that makes our
• 45:59
  community special is, like, we can walk there.
• 46:01
  We can take our golf cart there. Like there aren't
• 46:03
  a ton of communities that you could do that.
• 46:05
  You know who else is a flavor sponsor this season?
• 46:07
  Who's that? Jupiter Toxy Taxi. Oh yeah, yeah.
• 46:11
  You know them? I see them all the time. She can
• 46:12
  golf cart you right over there. You don't even
• 46:14
  have to have a golf cart. You just call Toxie
• 46:15
  Taxi and they'll take you. I actually have her
• 46:18
  number in my phone somewhere. Jess, she's cool.
• 46:19
  In case I ever need her. She's awesome. I do.
• 46:21
  I have it. I've met her out and about. Does she
• 46:23
  belong to the chamber? I don't know, but we need
• 46:24
  to get her to. We're going to get Jess to join
• 46:26
  the chamber. All right, Jess, you hear this?
• 46:28
  Wherever you're at, Jess, we're going to get
• 46:29
  you on. You got to give her like the friends
• 46:32
  and family rate. Okay. All right. We'll make
• 46:34
  it happen. She'll do it. She'll do it. She'll
• 46:36
  get the Kerri rate. So what is one Palm Beach
• 46:39
  business everyone should try? It doesn't have
• 46:42
  to be a restaurant. We can cut that one if you
• 46:44
  want. I got this. I got this. I got this. No,
• 46:46
  no. Sara's Slow Jam. Okay. Sara Cohen. We
• 46:50
  have a big event this week, our big awards dinner,
• 46:52
  and she's one of the finest finalists for our
• 46:56
  small business of the year. amazing woman started
• 47:00
  this business on her counter. She just likes
• 47:03
  to cook and started making different jellies
• 47:05
  and jams. And next thing you know, she's at the
• 47:08
  green market and she's doing this all on the
• 47:11
  side and has really grown a really, really cool
• 47:15
  business. Go look it up. Google it. Sarah's Slow
• 47:18
  Jam. Go to her website. Buy it. It's so good.
• 47:21
  I have her jam on my counter. It is so good.
• 47:23
  Well, I have one in the fridge because it's open.
• 47:25
  I have a strawberry in the fridge, and I have
• 47:27
  a mango on the counter that's not open yet. Oh,
• 47:29
  she's so good. Mango jalapeno. Oh, that's good
• 47:31
  stuff. Try that with some white cheese. Okay.
• 47:34
  Fire. I'm ready. I already have it. Because at
• 47:37
  ArtiGras, you got to make it right there in
• 47:39
  front of me. We already discussed this, but I
• 47:42
  had this question anyway, so I'm going to ask
• 47:44
  you anyway. Coffee? Or cocktails, work meetings.
• 47:49
  Coffee. Sam, cocktails. See, we already knew
• 47:51
  this. But you know me. I enjoy a cocktail just
• 47:54
  as much as anybody. But I prefer early morning
• 47:59
  meetings. I know, you do. Oh my gosh. I can't.
• 48:03
  I want to be at home. I'll go. With my amazing
• 48:05
  family. I want to be at home at night. Yeah.
• 48:07
  I mean, look, I have spent plenty of time with
• 48:09
  my son. It's just like... I didn't mean it like
• 48:12
  that. He's also a night owl, too, though. I didn't
• 48:14
  mean it like that. No, I know that. I just meant
• 48:16
  I want to be at home. But what's funny is my
• 48:17
  son is a night owl, so it works out just fine
• 48:20
  for everybody involved. Oh, yeah. So just in
• 48:25
  one word, give me what Palm Beach County's future
• 48:29
  is in one word. What are a few? One word. That's
• 48:33
  another one you didn't prep me for. One word
• 48:36
  that would describe the future for Palm Beach
• 48:39
  North. I'll say prosperity. Okay. Prosperity.
• 48:44
  I really think we live in one of the most special
• 48:46
  places in the country. And I talked a little
• 48:49
  bit about our growth. I talked a little bit about
• 48:51
  the diversity of our economy. The arts and culture
• 48:55
  is part of our fabric. It's part of our DNA here.
• 48:59
  We talked about our restaurants, our beaches.
• 49:03
  I mean, guys, we're an hour and a half boat ride
• 49:05
  to the Bahamas. We live in a dynamic place. And
• 49:09
  if I had to describe Palm Beach North in one
• 49:11
  word, like you said, or the future, it's prosperity.
• 49:14
  I love that we're an hour and a half from the
• 49:15
  Bahamas and we are two hours from Orlando, two
• 49:19
  hours from Miami, three hours from Tampa. Like,
• 49:21
  I can literally just get in my car and go to
• 49:24
  a different vibe of, I can go to Disney World.
• 49:27
  I can go party in Miami Beach. I don't do that
• 49:29
  anymore, but. Go to Tampa. I've seen your social
• 49:32
  media. You go down and party down there. Don't
• 49:34
  act like you don't. On the beach? No. I party
• 49:38
  in like the Four Seasons at Miami. You're right.
• 49:41
  Not on the beach. I didn't mean it on the beach,
• 49:43
  but you do go down to Miami and have a good time.
• 49:45
  I love the Brightline. Yeah, it's the best.
• 49:47
  I use it all the time. It's the best. Wife and
• 49:49
  I will go down there, have lunch, have a few
• 49:52
  cocktails. We'll do a little shopping and then
• 49:54
  we're home by six, seven o 'clock. I have it
• 49:57
  actually perfectly planned out. So if I leave
• 49:59
  my house by four, If I leave my house at 6, 6
• 50:03
  p.m., to get on a, like, 7 o 'clock Brightline
• 50:07
  for, I know it's a late dinner, but now we're
• 50:10
  talking about the weekend, 8 o 'clock dinner
• 50:12
  in Miami or Lauderdale, I'm home by midnight.
• 50:15
  It's fine. I can do dinner in Miami, no problem.
• 50:17
  Yeah. It's not hard. We could do it in Orlando,
• 50:20
  too. Think about that. We could turn around and
• 50:22
  go the other way to Orlando. I know. It's a little
• 50:23
  bit longer, though. It's about an hour more.
• 50:25
  I want, like, I think we need a northern stop
• 50:27
  for Brightline, too. They need, like, Fort. Fort
• 50:30
  Pierce or something. We would love one in Palm
• 50:32
  Beach Gardens. I'll tell you that. And we need
• 50:34
  more. It's like, we really need more. We should
• 50:36
  get Brightline on the phone. Alrighty. Well,
• 50:39
  I'm going to just show you a picture of an image
• 50:43
  here and I need you to, it's a person and you're
• 50:48
  just going to give this person like one word
• 50:51
  of advice. One word of advice. Just based on
• 50:54
  the photo. Okay. Okay. One word. So I'm going
• 50:58
  to look at the person. I'm going to say. You
• 50:59
  give a sentence. Okay. Just give this person
• 51:01
  some advice. What kind of advice would I give
• 51:02
  that person? Yeah. Oh, my God. Where did you
• 51:08
  find that? Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Where did
• 51:12
  you find that? Did Bella give you that? Because
• 51:18
  she's dead. Where did you find that? Bella's
• 51:21
  not dead. And yes, she gave it to me. Oh, my
• 51:24
  God. I told her you can't be mad at her. Oh,
• 51:28
  my God. What kind of advice could I give that
• 51:30
  guy? What do you give this guy? What advice?
• 51:32
  Look at this face. Oh, my God. Look at this.
• 51:35
  You're so dapper. Oh, my God, Kerri. You are
• 51:37
  dead. Oh, my God. That is, hey, nice little tuxedo.
• 51:44
  Look at the bow tie. At least he could dress.
• 51:46
  That guy could dress. You got swagger. You've
• 51:49
  got some swagger. Oh, my God. That is horrible.
• 51:53
  What advice would I give Noel? I kind of love
• 51:56
  it. What year was this? Noelito. Back then, they
• 51:58
  called me Noelito. That's what they would call
• 52:00
  me. This is Noelito. Yeah. What would I tell
• 52:03
  that guy? What year is this? Gosh, what am I
• 52:06
  there? 10, 12? No, probably 12, 13, maybe 14.
• 52:09
  Maybe 14 years old. You know what? That's a quince,
• 52:12
  right? So that's, I think I'm dancing someone's
• 52:14
  quince. So I have to be 14, 15 there. That's
• 52:18
  so crazy. I cannot believe that. I can't believe
• 52:20
  you pulled that out. Advice. Just keep grinding,
• 52:24
  man. It's going to work out. Just work hard.
• 52:26
  Keep working hard. You'll be all right. Someday.
• 52:28
  It'll all work out. But go get a haircut. Look
• 52:34
  at that face. Oh, my God. You're killing me.
• 52:36
  Imagine. I cannot believe you just did that.
• 52:38
  Isn't it cool, though, to know what this guy
• 52:41
  became? Oh, God. That guy's lucky. Right? That
• 52:44
  guy. Look, I am the luckiest guy you'll ever
• 52:47
  meet. Guys like me aren't supposed to be running
• 52:49
  a chamber of commerce. one of the most beautiful
• 52:52
  areas in the country. I'm very fortunate. I say
• 52:55
  it every single day how lucky I am to be leading
• 52:57
  such an amazing chamber, such an amazing organization,
• 53:00
  being a part of a very special community. So
• 53:03
  that guy that you saw in that picture is one
• 53:06
  lucky dude, you know, and he's got a great life
• 53:08
  and I'm very thankful for it. Want to wrap with
• 53:10
  that? I'm good with that if you're good with
• 53:12
  that. I'm good with that. Thank you for coming
• 53:14
  on the show. This was fun. Thanks for embarrassing
• 53:17
  me. We're good to go, but it was a blast. Thank
• 53:20
  you so much for having me. Thank you. Thanks
• 53:22
  for joining me on Forking Around with Flavor
• 53:24
  South Florida. If you're in the industry, a business
• 53:27
  owner, or just want a better understanding of
• 53:29
  what goes into keeping restaurants alive and
• 53:31
  thriving, make sure you subscribe and share this
• 53:33
  episode with someone who should hear it. Flavor
• 53:35
  South Florida takes place every September from
• 53:38
  the 1st through the 30th between Palm Beach County
• 53:40
  and the Treasure Coast. You can find all the
• 53:42
  amazing dining deals and participating restaurants
• 53:44
  at FlavorSouthFlorida.com. Until next time.
• 53:47
  Keep supporting local and keep forking around.