Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / The Mentality Manager: How Rachael Camden Transforms Restaurant Culture | Restaurants & Franchises Series

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The Mentality Manager: How Rachael Camden Transforms Restaurant Culture | Restaurants & Franchises Series · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of Inspired Stories, where leaders
0:07
share their experiences so we can learn from their successes,
0:10
how they've overcome adversity, and explore current challenges
0:13
they're facing. Welcome to another edition of
0:18
the Inspired Stories podcast, where leaders share their
0:21
experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired
0:24
by how they've overcome adversity.
0:26
My name is Anthony Kotaspodi and today's guest is Rachel Camden,
0:30
General Manager of The Dodo Restaurant.
0:32
The Dodo is a beloved eatery in Salt Lake City known for its
0:37
upscale casual dining and award-winning desserts.
0:41
Since its founding in 1981, it has become a neighborhood hub
0:45
offering quality food and a welcoming atmosphere.
0:48
Their mission is to be a staple of the Salt Lake dining scene,
0:51
providing fresh and friendly service to everyone who walks
0:54
through their doors. Rachel joined the Dodo in August
0:58
2020 and has been instrumental in continuing its tradition of
1:01
excellence. Before taking on her role as
1:04
General Manager, she was the bar Manager at Prasanti Health and
1:08
Hirthen Bar, where she curated their cocktail menu for three
1:11
years. Rachel was named Best Bartender
1:14
in 2019 by Park Record in Park City and has been recognized as
1:19
Employee of the Month at previous establishments.
1:22
Now, in addition to her passion for creating memorable dining
1:25
experiences, we will hear about how she views part of a role now
1:29
as a mentality manager for her team and we'll ask her about
1:33
some of the local awards that the Dodo restaurant has won.
1:37
Now before we get into all that good stuff, today's episode is
1:39
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1:43
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2:06
Now back to our guest today, the General Manager of the Dodo
2:08
Restaurant, Rachel Camden. I appreciate you making the time
2:11
to Share your story today. Yeah.
2:12
Thank you for having me on. I appreciate it.
2:15
Yeah, and I tell you what, we're going to edit out this next part
2:17
because I'm just realizing that I need to update the backdrop
2:20
here. One moment, no worries.
2:39
Apologies for that, I had my last call run over a little bit
2:42
and didn't get a. Chance to I was wondering I was
2:45
reading that and I was. Like, reset that.
2:47
Yeah. So here we go.
2:48
Today is all about you. So, Rachel, let's talk a little
2:54
bit about your background before we get into the Dodo restaurant.
2:58
Specifically, tell us about your time in Park City and how it
3:02
influenced your career before moving to Salt Lake.
3:07
Park City, I actually started working in the restaurant up
3:10
there because I was looking to get into the real estate
3:13
business. So I wanted to network with the
3:16
high hitters and the big hitters.
3:17
And I knew that Park City was kind of that place for it.
3:20
So I started out there. But very suddenly, because Park
3:24
City's such a small town, at least it was when I was up there
3:27
during COVID, I think a lot of it got bought out, but it was
3:31
only like 9000 people year round.
3:32
So really small town. Everybody heard new bartender in
3:35
town from California, everybody goes here.
3:38
So it's kind of how I started to build my bar business a bit was
3:41
just from people in the city talking about it.
3:43
And then I just took the advice from the customers.
3:46
You know, people were like, I love coming to your bar and
3:48
seeing there's no dirty towels on all the counters and that
3:51
you're doing busy work while you're waiting for customers.
3:54
And I took all of that into consideration and just ensured
3:57
that my service was top notch up there.
4:00
And then what prompted the move from Park City to Salt Lake
4:03
City? COVID, there's nothing else
4:06
besides COVID. I would have stayed in Park
4:08
City, but I'm a bartender in and out, and when they take away the
4:12
bar and you can't sit at a bar anymore, it just didn't feel
4:15
like it was my job. And I wasn't passionate about
4:17
being a server, I was passionate about being a bartender.
4:21
And so were you able to be a bartender in Salt Lake?
4:24
Were the the rules the COVID rules different there?
4:26
I actually just went to management.
4:28
So I was a bar manager up in Park City.
4:29
I was bartending while managing the bar during the inventory,
4:32
all of the other stuff that comes the schedule, everything
4:35
that comes with running the bar side of things.
4:37
So I ended up coming down to Salt Lake and I just went
4:41
straight to managing at the Dodo restaurant as a floor manager.
4:44
I didn't start out as GM. And how did that door open up?
4:47
How did you get connected with the Dodo folks there?
4:51
Just applied online that was and I was just looking for
4:53
employment and I was like ah, it's a bit closer to home rather
4:56
than Park City so let me try it out.
4:59
And I honestly only planned on being there for like a couple
5:02
months so then I was going to move on to something else.
5:04
But hear him 4 1/2 years later. What was it about you that about
5:09
the dodo that kept you there? The structure for sure.
5:12
I really appreciate the structure that the owner has put
5:15
into place for his restaurants. A lot of restaurants, the staff
5:18
kind of runs the restaurant and in our company, that's not how
5:22
it goes at all. We're definitely run it as a
5:24
business. Say more about that, how it's
5:28
different from other places that you've worked.
5:30
I just feel like a lot of other places are just kind of lenient,
5:34
you know? I recently hired somebody who
5:36
used to be a back of house guy. He was a cook and now he's
5:38
working front of house as a server.
5:40
And we were joking about something in the restaurant and
5:43
I was like, whatever, You really don't like me as a manager.
5:45
He's like, no, I love you as a manager.
5:47
You actually do your job. And a lot of managers out there
5:49
don't do their job. They just kind of are hanging
5:51
out with the staff and babysitting them instead of
5:53
giving them direction and showing them little tips and
5:56
tricks to make a little bit more money and knowing what like the
5:59
guest perception truly is. Say more about that.
6:02
What's what is some of the coaching look like that you're
6:04
able to provide to your servers? It's still little things like I
6:08
always say, I'm like, if you're a career server, you're going to
6:10
come work underneath me and I want to break all of your bad
6:12
habits, like putting your hands in your pockets, wiping your
6:16
mouth, and then touching other stuff.
6:17
Like people notice that because they're doing nothing but
6:20
sitting down and every weird little thing that you do, people
6:23
notice that. And so I think I'm always just
6:25
trying to break those habits. Or you know, when you set a
6:27
plate down, you hug the customer.
6:28
You don't put your elbow in their face and try to elbow
6:31
them. But noticing that little stuff,
6:33
some people might feel like it's micromanagement, but if you're
6:36
looking to grow and you're willing, when you know about
6:37
suit of mentality and you're willing, then it's going to be
6:39
something that you're open to listening to and going to put
6:42
forth the effort. What do you mean you hug your
6:45
customer? You hug him when you set down
6:47
the plates. You got to hug your customer.
6:49
You. Wrap around.
6:50
Right. Exactly.
6:51
Yeah. So if your customer's on your
6:52
left, you always want to use your right hand, like hug them.
6:55
Otherwise if you used your left, your elbow can go like right in
6:57
their face. And nobody wants to scale but.
7:00
Something I never thought about or realized that.
7:02
Exactly. That's an approach, those weird
7:06
little bad habits that, you know, people don't realize.
7:09
So let's hear about the dodo itself.
7:11
Tell me a little bit about the history and why this is such an
7:14
iconic place in Salt Lake City. The Dodo is just a neighborhood
7:18
staple right now for the location that it's at.
7:19
I've heard I'm very particular about like I only know about
7:23
what our location has done, but I know the Dodo's had many
7:26
locations before. So the vibes have been kind of
7:30
different with where it's at from what I've heard from the
7:32
customers that have been regulars for many years.
7:34
But it's always been a neighborhood restaurant.
7:36
And that's the biggest thing is that it's always that go to
7:40
delicious Turkey sandwich with the BBQ sauce that all the
7:43
customers know. And it's just the level of
7:45
service that we give I think is what really keeps our customers
7:48
coming back. The consistency, consistency on
7:51
our food quality as well. We haven't ever really tried to
7:54
change our products or bring in like a lower quality product to
7:58
during this inflation. You know, we just unfortunately
8:01
had to raise our prices to a point to ensure that we kept
8:04
that good quality. But the Dodo's just really
8:07
taking care of the neighborhood. I think that's the biggest
8:09
thing. You know, we have our regulars
8:10
that come in, some are like there every single Saturday.
8:12
I have a guy who comes in every single day and he sits in the
8:15
corner of the bar every single day and it's just his go to, but
8:19
it's like hanging out with family.
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And that's the awesome thing about Dodo.
8:23
What was it like, especially during the early part of COVID
8:26
there? Nightmare.
8:30
There were tables of like the weirdest places because
8:33
everything had to be 6 feet apart.
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You couldn't pre bust the tables so you would have like a stack
8:37
of dirty glasses on a table. It was a little intense and
8:41
crazy and the protocols were hard.
8:44
The cleaning solution ruined all of the wood in the restaurant.
8:48
It just ate like all of the, the coating on it, all the wood, it
8:52
just ate away at it so bad. So that's something that we're
8:55
still trying to recover from as well as kind of fixing all of
8:58
that stuff from the COVID cleaner.
9:02
So how did you and your team at the restaurant adapt to some of
9:08
those challenges that were posed by COVID, especially during
9:12
those first early months when things were even more intense
9:16
and locked down? So I came a little bit into
9:19
COVID, right? COVID started in Utah about
9:22
March, right in the beginning of March.
9:23
And I was actually working in Park City.
9:25
They kicked us all out of the city.
9:27
We couldn't, even if you didn't live in Park City, you couldn't
9:29
even go up there. So I couldn't even go get my pay
9:30
stubs or anything of that matter.
9:32
You literally just could not go to the city if you didn't live
9:34
up there. So that made it a bit difficult.
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But as far as our team goes with the Dodo, I'm not exactly sure
9:42
how they transitioned. I know that there was a drive
9:44
through that they did that. Everybody came outside and I
9:47
heard it was a little bit crazy sometimes.
9:49
But the customers really kept us in business.
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It was the customers and their support that really kept the
9:54
staff going and kept everybody excited because you really
9:58
weren't allowed to see a lot of people.
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And when all you saw was like your family members and then a
10:02
couple of the regulars, it would be a nice surprise for everybody
10:06
to just see a familiar face during such crazy times.
10:10
And were people allowed to sit there by the time you got there?
10:13
Or yeah, by the time I got there, no, we were sitting down
10:17
in the restaurant. But again, it was just, you
10:19
know, it wasn't every booth. It was like every other booth.
10:21
And then where the booths are and the waiting area, we put
10:25
tables there and there was no waiting inside.
10:27
You had to wait outside the restaurant.
10:29
So it was a bit different for sure.
10:31
Yeah, tell us more about sort of the the food and the cuisine and
10:37
what the the internal ambiance is like.
10:40
Like kind of paint a picture for folks who haven't been there
10:42
before. The Dodo is to me like a really
10:46
healthy, more of a healthy eatery, right?
10:48
We don't have a fryer in our restaurant, so nothing is really
10:51
fried. If anything is it's like
10:52
roasted, baked, something like that.
10:54
But we don't have a fryer in our restaurant.
10:56
So some people are indifferent about that, having their
10:58
sandwich with a super salad. But it's also for people like
11:00
me. I appreciate that only that
11:02
option. Otherwise I wouldn't get the
11:04
French fries and be unhealthy. But it's really that American
11:07
food. It's really kind of a simple
11:09
eat. It's not super chefy, which I
11:12
feel like a lot of super Chevy food.
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You can only eat so much of it before you're like, hey, that's
11:16
a lot of flavor. You can only eat so much.
11:18
The Dodo kind of has that mediocre delicious.
11:20
You can eat it many times. It's kind of like, you know,
11:24
having a crazy Margarita. If you have a crazy spun off
11:27
Margarita, you're only going to have one or two.
11:28
But if you have a normal Margarita, you're probably going
11:30
to have four or five, right? And Dodo has that really nice
11:33
balance of having that good, delicious food with flavor, but
11:37
not too much flavor where you're like, OK, I don't need that for
11:40
another month, you know? Yeah, sort of like if you're a
11:43
beer drinker, it's nice to have a real tasty craft beer, but
11:47
maybe just one of them if you're going to kind of sit and, you
11:50
know, throw a few of them back. Most people anyways would prefer
11:54
kind of a lighter beer. Still got some flavor to it, but
11:57
nothing super crazy and heavy. Yeah, you're usually not doing a
12:00
double IPA, like four or five of them for sure.
12:04
Yeah, maybe. But.
12:05
So tell me what it means to be a mentality manager and why that
12:12
has been an important role for you to take on with your team.
12:17
It's I just think mentality is what's really helped me grow in
12:21
life. Personally, I was a little bit
12:23
of a rebel when I was younger, so I had to to buckle.
12:27
Like business really kept me buckled down and really gave me
12:30
like drive and purpose in my life.
12:32
And I think that mentality was the biggest thing, right?
12:35
Like I had to read a ton of books and change.
12:37
My mentality is who I was and how I perceive things.
12:41
Perception's a really big discussion in my restaurant
12:44
right now about how you perceive things and what people are
12:47
trying, truly trying to get out of you, right?
12:50
Like I know a lot of times when we're younger, we look at our
12:52
managers and we're like this guy, he's a stickler.
12:55
He just wants to follow the rules, you know?
12:57
And that's my job at the end of the day.
13:00
But it's also teaching them like, why are these in place?
13:02
You know, like, why do we have this structure?
13:05
Like what is it really for? It's employees only thrive in
13:07
consistent, stable environments, right?
13:09
So if you're continuously letting them do whatever they
13:13
want, they're never going to thrive as employees.
13:15
But when you have a structured balance with all of your
13:17
employees, whether or not they like it, it's just like
13:20
parenting. It's always going to help grow
13:23
them as a human being for sure. So a couple of things I want to
13:27
dig into there. You were a bit of a rebel when
13:30
you were younger. That's true, yeah.
13:35
Yeah, let's, let's hear more about that.
13:37
What? What is it?
13:38
What did it mean to you to be a rebel?
13:40
I just didn't want anybody to tell me what to do for sure.
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That's why I'm a manager. I say it all the time.
13:44
I'm like, I get it. We're all in the restaurant
13:45
industry because we hate people telling us what to do.
13:47
But if you just do your job correctly, nobody tells you what
13:50
to do. And that's, you know, and that
13:52
was just the rumble in me. I was just young, little wild,
13:55
you know, wanted to have a lot of fun.
13:57
I in California, my old roommate was a professional freestyle
14:02
motocross rider. So we did like the X Games and
14:04
all the action sports and kind of the fun madness rock star
14:07
party lifestyle for a really long time and it was just crazy.
14:12
But business though? Junkie then.
14:14
I was, yeah, totally. I love it.
14:16
I love trying new things. I love, you know.
14:19
So I've got two boys, they're 8:00 and 10:00 and I try to
14:22
teach them something very similar to what you just said,
14:25
especially my 8 year old. He's he's really stubborn and
14:28
defiant and he gets mad at me when I tell him to do the same
14:32
thing over and over again. And I tell him I will stop
14:35
telling you what to do over and over again when you just do it
14:38
on your own. And that's, that's exactly what
14:41
you're saying to your employees. Like, I don't have to be, you
14:45
know, jumping down your back if you're doing the job that you
14:49
know how to do. That's exactly it.
14:51
I'm gonna follow up because no matter what, I'm going to do my
14:54
job. Whether or not you want to do
14:56
your job is up to you. So I will always do the follow
15:00
up and I will always try to teach them because they're just
15:02
gonna need that continuous guidance.
15:03
Like I had a guy who worked for me and every day he forgot his
15:06
name tag and in the city of Utah it's actually a $300.00 fine for
15:09
the employee, not the employer so to not.
15:12
Have a name tag. To not have a name tag because
15:14
we have licenses out here with liquor licenses and with our
15:17
food handlers permit that their name tag has to match what's on
15:20
their license if the undercovers come in.
15:22
And they want to ensure that, you know, everyone's license are
15:24
up to date. So it's up to the employee.
15:27
But I'm always trying to protect the employees.
15:28
And I'm like, hey, that's $300.00 fine for you, you know,
15:31
not for me. So probably wear that.
15:33
But after what this guy, for months, he never had his name
15:36
tag. Every day I'd see him and I'd
15:37
just do one of these, you know, like, where's that name tag?
15:40
And then after that, it was, you know, every time he saw me, if
15:43
he didn't have it, I didn't even have to say or do anything.
15:45
He would immediately like check for the name tag because I did
15:48
so much follow up that now no matter what, I can guarantee you
15:50
for the rest of his life that man will never forget his name
15:53
tag. So it's repetition.
15:56
That's what I should do with my kids, Just keep up the
15:58
repetition. I feel like you lose.
16:01
Yeah, 'cause if I feel like you lose, like I feel like they're
16:04
like, I you give them the employee, the power.
16:06
Once you're like, OK, I give up my.
16:07
I'm throwing my hands up. I'm done.
16:09
Not gonna try anymore. That's not what a leader does.
16:11
The leader leader's gonna keep pushing.
16:13
You leader's gonna be like, OK, I'm sorry, you're done.
16:15
But if you want to keep going, we're gonna keep pushing and
16:17
you're gonna, and I'm gonna keep feeding this down your throat so
16:19
that you can get it, you know? Any pointers on how, because you
16:24
don't want to be an ad, right? And you don't want that to
16:27
create more friction between you and the employee.
16:29
Like how do you approach that in a way to where you're
16:33
reinforcing it, but you're not creating some, you know, short
16:38
term or long term strife between the two of you?
16:41
I don't because I don't say it every shift, right.
16:43
Like I did have an employee recently who was like upset I
16:46
asked them to learn their 23 red wines and three white wines for
16:49
like over a month and 1/2. I didn't ask him every shift.
16:52
I asked him about once a week. That was it.
16:55
You know, they never learned them.
16:56
And so finally they got that little chat in the office.
16:59
You know, I was like, I'm not being mean.
17:00
I'm not jumping down your oh, this is your job and I'm simply
17:04
asking you to do your job. And I think just kind of getting
17:07
on that understanding level of, you know, nobody's after you,
17:10
nobody's trying to make you feel bad.
17:12
Nobody's trying to create tension, but the second you
17:14
learn your wines, guess what? I won't ever ask you.
17:16
So that's on you again. It's accountability, it's
17:19
perception. It's what are you willing to do,
17:22
you know? So the interesting thing you
17:25
said is that, at least if I understood this correctly, in
17:28
order to serve food in the state of Utah, you have to have some
17:33
kind of a license or a permit. Yes, you have to have a like.
17:35
As an individual. Individual, correct.
17:38
And you have to keep it yourself.
17:39
So us as companies don't pay for it because you have to have it
17:42
at any restaurant you go to. And it's not just held with the
17:45
license, it's held with the individual and you have to have
17:47
a liquor license. And then of course, your food
17:49
handlers, everybody has to have, but the liquor license is that
17:52
weird thing that isn't really a known thing and anywhere else
17:56
I've been. So a bartender has to have a
18:00
special license in order to be able to serve alcohol.
18:02
Correct, the servers do as well. The servers do as well.
18:05
Correct. Anybody who has who serves
18:07
alcohol at all touches, handles alcohol, has to have a liquor
18:10
license because the laws out here are pretty strict on how
18:13
you can serve alcohol. So they're leaving it up to the
18:16
individual to uphold those laws. And if not, then they do get
18:20
arrested and it is they lose their license for five years.
18:26
Wow, that's intense and. What's the process?
18:28
Make it pretty serious. You just have to go online and
18:31
take the test. It's like a couple hours, but
18:34
yeah, it's just take a test online.
18:35
It's pretty simple. Is there a?
18:36
Fee that goes along with. That there is a fee that goes
18:38
along with it as well. It's probably like 15 bucks.
18:41
Is this something that if I'm working at a fast food
18:44
restaurant that I need to have as well?
18:46
No, you're not serving liquor there.
18:49
Oh, so it's specific to liquor? Liquor alcohol license.
18:52
Yeah, it's a liquor license to serve liquor.
18:54
OK, so I misunderstood. If you're just handling food,
18:57
this is not something that you need.
19:00
Correct. Yeah, like, but people who are
19:02
in the gas station who sell liquor and alcohol, they have to
19:04
have their own license as well. It's like a different type of
19:07
license so I'm not too familiar with it.
19:09
OK, yeah, I've never heard of this anywhere else.
19:11
Is is this? Is this weird?
19:13
To Utah. It is because the liquor laws
19:16
out here are a bit intense. They want to ensure that
19:20
everybody is upheld and knows the rules.
19:24
OK. You mentioned that perception is
19:28
a big part of what you guys are talking about at work right now.
19:32
Yes, say more about that. I just, I think right now it's a
19:38
great thing that mental health is such a big conversation in
19:40
everybody's lives, right? I think that's huge that we
19:42
recognize this because having happiness and balance in our
19:46
jobs is not something that we talked about really 2025 years
19:49
ago, right? That wasn't, it was like just go
19:51
to work and shut up. But now it's like, OK, where's
19:54
my balance? Where's my happiness?
19:56
But I think we focus so much on mental health that sometimes
20:00
that's all we focus on and we don't have room to live.
20:04
And so I think that's the biggest thing that I've been
20:06
trying to teach my staff is like, nobody's ever
20:09
intentionally trying to offend you.
20:11
Nobody's ever intentionally trying to attack you.
20:14
You know, just those little things of remembering that
20:17
people are just having conversations and people are
20:19
just living a normal life and you know.
20:22
They're pretty sensitive right now.
20:24
You know, a customer says one thing to them that irks them and
20:28
they kind of fly off the handle a little bit.
20:29
And you got to bring them back down to getting grounded and
20:32
just realizing that, you know, everyone's not going to speak to
20:35
you the way that you want to be spoken to.
20:37
And that's just part of life. Again, it's just perception.
20:40
Do you find that this is a new or a heightened reality since
20:49
COVID? Like has this evolved since then
20:52
or because of the some of the experiences in COVID or this is
20:56
just the way it's always been? No, I definitely feel like COVID
20:59
changed the way that humanity really works.
21:04
Honestly, I feel like it kind of changed our culture a lot.
21:08
I feel like everyone just got stuck in their house behind the
21:11
computer and had to like just put their feelings out there and
21:16
that was it, you know, like nothing had to come back to
21:18
them. And they feel like when you go
21:19
out in the real world, that's not really how it works, right?
21:23
I feel like, I don't know, it just people want to work very
21:28
less for the most money. That's another big thing because
21:31
you have to pay your employees more just to get people to work,
21:34
right? Nobody wanted to go to work.
21:35
Everybody was scared. They didn't want to do anything.
21:37
They definitely didn't want to work with the public if they
21:39
were scared of COVID. So it was, it's something that
21:44
you have to like, give them money, you know, like just show
21:48
up to work, please, here's a few extra dollars, like, please just
21:50
come to work. And then now that that's kind of
21:53
changing, right? Our wages are getting back to
21:55
like a normal sense of a wage. And people are not really happy
21:58
with that because I feel like they should do like the least
22:00
amount of work for the most amount of money.
22:01
And that's just not the way reality really is.
22:03
Those weird times, that's all. Do you see a difference across
22:09
different age brackets in this type of attitude or did the
22:13
COVID experience sort of reshift everybody's expectations in a in
22:18
a work environment? I feel like it's kind of
22:20
everybody, right? I don't feel like, I mean mostly
22:25
for the people who had to work with the public.
22:27
I think that was probably the people who have shifted their
22:30
mindset the most because they were the ones who had to be paid
22:32
the most to go out there and get the job done.
22:34
Because so many people either used as used it as an excuse to
22:38
be scared or were truly scared and just wanted to collect that
22:42
unemployment check, which it was nice, let's be honest.
22:44
But you got to get out there and live life after a while.
22:48
Do you see is there any sort of a trend yet of people kind of
22:53
letting go of sort of those expectations that came out of
22:58
COVID or is there still quite a bit of resistance to shifting
23:02
back into a post COVID reality? I feel like right now is
23:08
actually that time that people are starting to see that, you
23:12
know, life's going back to normal, you know, because even
23:14
still for the past four years, I've been like sick.
23:16
And they're like, I think I have COVID.
23:18
I think I have COVID. I need to be in quarantine for
23:20
10 days. And it's like, that's not what
23:23
it is anymore. It's actually just a common cold
23:25
and flu now. And I think now that more
23:26
they're going to their doctors and doctors don't even want to
23:29
really test for it anymore because of how expensive it is
23:32
from what I've heard from my staff.
23:33
And that the doctors like, it's just like a normal sickness 3
23:36
days that it's kind of helping people get back to a normal
23:39
sense of reality. Like, OK, we're not living in
23:40
this crazy world where there's some virus out there that's
23:44
going to kill everybody. Do you feel like there were a
23:48
percentage of folks that were trying to take advantage of the
23:52
the COVID scare and cause like were they were they getting paid
23:56
if they tested positive for COVID and they couldn't come in?
23:59
Well, most people would just say that they were scared and they
24:01
didn't want to come to work. You know, that was something
24:03
that I dealt with at my restaurant in Park City was, I
24:06
remember like we got called back to work and I'm like, okay,
24:08
because you still got a portion of your unemployment because
24:11
your hours were still not the excess of what they were because
24:14
you weren't fully open as a restaurant, right?
24:17
But there would be those people who would just be like, Nope,
24:19
I'm too scared. I'm not coming back to work.
24:21
And it's like, if you refuse to work, then you can't get
24:23
unemployment, you know? So unfortunately we had to do
24:26
some hard realities with some people because a lot of people
24:28
just wanted to hang out and sit at home and drink, which is
24:31
nice. We did it for a while, but you
24:34
know, after a while it's like, hey, the world still spins.
24:36
So we got to keep going, you know?
24:38
Right. So a lot of this staff training,
24:42
team building mentality, manager work that you do is, you know,
24:48
all geared about around as I see, it's sort of two things.
24:51
One is helping that employee become the best version of
24:54
themselves possible. And then two, allowing them to
24:58
provide the best customer experience possible, right?
25:01
Because restaurants are built on your regulars, It's built on
25:06
word of mouth, like what if the customers had a good experience?
25:09
Like that's the the best marketing that you know that
25:13
that, that you could create in an environment like that.
25:16
So I'm kind of curious to hear maybe about an exceptional
25:23
customer service experience and and just kind of maybe how that
25:28
unfolded. Like with me personally, like my
25:32
somebody who gave me good customer.
25:34
Service no, no, no from you and your staff, like something that
25:37
you guys were able to provide to your customer base.
25:40
I think the biggest thing is our attentiveness to our tables.
25:43
I think with the steps that we are really big.
25:46
It's following our steps of service.
25:48
Right before I went to the Dodo, I had already known my steps of
25:52
service working at higher end restaurants.
25:54
And when you bring in a lot of people, they've worked at
25:56
Denny's or you know, they've worked at other restaurants that
25:58
are like little Mon paw shops and all they know is to run up
26:01
to the table and grab an order. So us kind of giving them that
26:04
structure of like, OK, you actually need to go out there,
26:07
greet the table within one minute, have a drink on the
26:09
table within two minutes. You need to do suggestive
26:12
selling as well because that's going to help get you yourself
26:15
offering a specific appetizer. You know, just really hitting
26:18
those steps of service is really where I feel like the Dodo
26:21
separated itself from other restaurants because other
26:24
restaurants are like, you breathe, you have a pole so you
26:26
can take an order, cool, go out there, you know, and we're like,
26:28
and that's not going to work for us.
26:31
Can you, I'm going to put you on the spot here.
26:33
And if, if you can't, if there's not an example that pops to
26:35
mind, that's all right. But is there maybe a specific
26:37
example of an instance where you or your staff like really went
26:40
above and beyond to help a a customer?
26:44
I feel like we really try to do that with everybody, you know,
26:47
like we're not like picky choosy, you know, like whatever
26:50
we try to do, we try to do the best and try to help any
26:54
customer with whatever they may have.
26:55
Like on Thanksgiving, we're slammed with Thanksgiving pies
27:00
because we're really well known for our bakery and our house
27:03
made desserts. So we had people at the end of
27:06
the during the day calling and I'm like, they're like, we don't
27:08
have a pie for Thanksgiving. I'm like call at 9:30 tonight
27:11
before we close. And if there's anything that we
27:13
can do, if nobody came to pick up their pie, I'll sell it to
27:16
you. You know, anything that we can
27:17
do to make anybody's guest experience better, I feel like
27:21
we don't really single that out. And I feel like we try to do
27:22
that with every single customer because if it's not for the
27:25
customer, we wouldn't have a business.
27:28
I'm true. How about some future plans for
27:34
the Dodo? Are there any kind of
27:35
interesting or special projects going on there?
27:38
Right now we're working on our sunroom, our interior designers
27:41
getting everything made-up of. We have like this little side
27:44
patio that during the summer time is kind of a hangout
27:47
waiting area. But during the winter we put
27:49
tables in there. And last winter was our first
27:50
winter in there and it's kind of cold, not really too decorative,
27:55
you know, not too much ambience. So right now we're really
27:57
working on putting in like curtains or fans, new lights,
28:01
some really cool things to spruce up that.
28:04
But I think our main focus in our business with our
28:07
corporation right now is that new restaurant that we're
28:09
building that will be done. I think April first is what the
28:12
owner said that he gave the contractor his final date on.
28:16
Tell us about the new restaurant.
28:18
Where's it going? Is it the same name and concept?
28:21
No, it's completely different. So it's called Henry Baker.
28:24
It's more of like a five star, very high end restaurant.
28:27
During the day it's going to be coffee and crepes.
28:30
And with our coffee, we actually have one, the roaster that the
28:33
owner had bought, there's only one of three in the state of
28:35
Utah. It looks like it's like the
28:38
Cadillac of all of the roasters. You know, it was beautiful.
28:41
It's orange, it's gorgeous, and he has some really cool
28:46
decoration ideas. We have a really cool wine
28:47
cellar that's going to be in there.
28:49
So during the day it's this coffee and crepe shop, and then
28:51
some of the walls actually kind of move out to get into the
28:56
restaurant. It's gonna be reservation only,
28:58
so you're gonna have to have a code before you even go in
29:00
there. So it's gonna be really private,
29:01
more high end dining, really high booths.
29:04
There's a private dining room in there as well.
29:07
We have brought it. He bought this big, huge wood
29:11
beam that is from the railroad actually, and it's over.
29:14
No, it's over 100 years, maybe 200 years old that he had gotten
29:17
from one of the guys who bought all the property by the Great
29:20
Salt Lake. So it was part of that railroad
29:22
in there. And then like the old school
29:25
blue telephone lights, he has those in there as well.
29:28
So some really historic items are going to be inside this
29:30
restaurant as well with the build out and it's going to be
29:32
really cool. It's beautiful.
29:34
It's so gorgeous. Yeah.
29:36
You're excited about it. Are will you be involved with it
29:38
at all or you you're anchoring the Yeah, yeah.
29:41
I don't think so, yeah. I was like, there's some chirp,
29:44
chirp happening, but we'll see. I mean, whatever the owner
29:46
thinks is best for the restaurant, I'll always support.
29:48
But I would definitely, you know, always love that
29:50
opportunity to do something. Would this be an expansion of
29:54
your role or would it be potentially, you know, moving
29:57
from the Dodo to Henry Maker? I wouldn't know.
30:00
That would be up to the owner. You know, I know that he time
30:02
will tell. Yeah, that time will tell.
30:04
We'll see that he ends up deciding on.
30:05
But you know, I definitely put it in his mind to keep me in
30:09
mind. So I see you've got quite a bit
30:13
of artwork there, and a lot of folks I know that have a lot of
30:17
tattoos. There's quite a bit of meaning
30:19
to them. Are there meanings behind the
30:22
artwork that you have there? Oh yes, absolutely.
30:25
I've lived, like I said, a pretty crazy rebellious
30:28
lifestyle when I was younger. So a lot of stories, a lot of
30:31
living life, you know, OWL is for all the knowledge that I've
30:36
gained and you know, all the lessons that I've had to learn.
30:40
Clipper ship because I'm always set and sail.
30:42
This is actually the longest I've lived in one place my whole
30:45
life. So I'm usually out every two to
30:49
three years. I move, but I'm planning my feet
30:52
now, so that's been nice. And then a compass with no
30:55
direction because I never really know where I'm headed.
30:57
I'm just kind of always winging it and going with the flow of
31:00
life, you know? Any reason why you chose that
31:03
particular arm? No, I don't know.
31:06
I just started. I was when I was really young, I
31:10
this is all a cover up actually from this part up.
31:13
So when I was young I started on this arm and then covered it up
31:16
because it was not pretty. All right, so I hear that
31:22
there's a sandwich that you guys are pretty well known for.
31:25
Tell me about that. Yes, our Turkey sandwich, our
31:28
Turkey is literally the best Turkey in the world.
31:31
I don't care what anybody says, there's nobody that could beat
31:33
us. And I even thought the same
31:35
thing, like I have celiac disease actually.
31:37
So when I first started working at the dildo, I tried the Turkey
31:41
and I'm like, yeah, well, Turkey like because I didn't actually
31:43
have it on a sandwich, right? Because we didn't have any
31:45
gluten free bread. We do have gluten free bread now
31:48
so that's a great thing. But our Turkey, we smoke it in
31:51
house, we brine it in house and the flavor of our Turkey is so
31:55
good. Like I can't even explain it.
31:57
Anytime I go anywhere else to get a Turkey sandwich, I'm like,
32:00
this is not good at all because I'm so spoiled that the dodo.
32:03
Our Turkey is so so good and then you dip it in a BBQ sauce
32:08
which I am allergic so I've never had the BBQ sauce but I've
32:11
heard it's amazing. Now are you allergic because of
32:13
the celiac? Is there?
32:14
Yes. Gluten.
32:15
Yeah. OK, yeah, there's gluten in it,
32:16
so I can't unfortunately have it, but I've heard it's the best
32:20
thing. Then everybody comes for it.
32:22
Like no matter what. Even the day after Thanksgiving,
32:24
people were there eating their Turkey sandwiches and we were
32:27
laughing. We were like, not enough Turkey
32:29
yesterday. They're like, it's not as good
32:30
as this, OK. It's really funny.
32:35
Where do you think your leadership tendencies or
32:40
abilities come from? Or either of your parents kind
32:44
of inspirational in that way. Yeah, I definitely get it from
32:47
my mom. Both my parents, well, my mom
32:50
and my stepdad are both entrepreneurs, so I have been
32:54
lucky to have it in my household.
32:56
And anytime like I want to network with business, I always
32:58
can call my stepdad or my mom and really get some great, good
33:01
business advice because they've built businesses from the ground
33:04
up. They recently sold one of their
33:06
businesses and looking to step away full time.
33:09
But it's kind of hard because, you know, when you work so much
33:12
of your whole life, it's really hard to just be like, I don't
33:13
want to work anymore. Yeah.
33:16
So my parents are really great influences in my life and have
33:19
really shown me some great direction in business.
33:22
Do you ever think about going out on your own and doing
33:25
something? Absolutely.
33:27
I think one day I will end up owning my own business.
33:30
I'm not sure that it would be something in the restaurant
33:32
because restaurants are tough man.
33:34
Just being AGM is hard. I can't imagine being the owner,
33:38
being AGMI have so much work and being the owner.
33:41
I just couldn't imagine. But I think one day I'll
33:44
probably end up owning my own business.
33:47
Any idea what it might be and any thoughts?
33:50
No, I'm winging it. It'll pop into my lap one day
33:55
and I'll be like, you know what? This is it.
33:56
This is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life.
33:58
Yeah. Let's shift gears for a minute
34:00
and maybe Rachel, tell me about a particular challenge, personal
34:06
or professional that you've overcome, what that was like and
34:10
some lessons learned going through.
34:12
I would just say maybe this past year, this past year, I've done
34:15
a lot of focus on my mental health growth.
34:20
I've been sober so I haven't drank at all, which is hard and
34:24
different for me being in the restaurant industry.
34:26
I love being a bartender like that was I was a chef with
34:29
cocktails. That's the way I always said it.
34:30
Like I absolutely was passionate, loved it.
34:33
I love wine, you know, just the different flavors, the Blues,
34:36
the Reds, the dries, the tendons of the wine, just everything
34:40
that kind of comes along with alcohol being in this industry.
34:43
And it's been gone 298 days today.
34:47
So I had quit drinking and I'm just taking a year break.
34:51
And I just wanted a lot of mental clarity to see my growth
34:54
as a woman and what I truly want for like the rest of my life.
34:58
And I think to do that, you have to get rid of all temporary
35:01
satisfactions and anything that might influence your mental
35:06
health and just kind of have a clean slate.
35:08
And that's what I've done this past year.
35:10
It's been difficult, but you know, it's a lot of independent
35:14
time and a lot of solo time. You know, it changes your group
35:16
of friends. It kind of changes every single
35:18
thing in your life when you take that big step back.
35:22
What has been maybe your biggest learning from all this?
35:27
I would just say I've learned to appreciate myself more.
35:30
I've always been pretty tough on myself.
35:33
I'm, I mean, I think everybody's really their own biggest critic,
35:36
right? But I'm even more of my own
35:39
biggest critic and I'm pretty tough on myself.
35:41
And growing up, I started modeling when I was young.
35:44
And so I think kind of always being in the limelight and
35:45
people judging you all the time, like you always had like that
35:48
sense of insecurity. And I think this past year I
35:51
really gained my my power back, you know, and I've really just
35:54
kind of taken that power and that confidence that I lost
35:57
along the way a little bit and took control of it.
36:00
So that's been really big. Who has been able to kind of
36:04
support you on this path in the past year?
36:08
My staff has honestly been insanely great.
36:11
Like my staff, I have so many people who have gotten sober
36:14
actually underneath me as well, just because it's so easy in our
36:17
industry to get off work, sit down at the bar, have a drink.
36:20
It's been a long shift, you know, after you have a long
36:22
shift to go hit the gym. It's hard.
36:24
And so that's something that I think I've been trying to really
36:27
push and I have some guys that work underneath me and they're
36:30
all hitting the gym now and they're just really doing their
36:32
best. And I think that's really cool
36:34
to see to kind of plant seeds. I always say like, I'm a seed
36:36
planter. You know, you might not hear me
36:38
today because you're in that part of your life where you're
36:41
not willing or you're not ready or, you know, you're just not
36:44
there yet. But I know I'm going to plant
36:46
that seed. Maybe in a couple of years,
36:48
you'll think back to that conversation that we may have
36:50
had. And you're like, you know what?
36:51
This is what Rachel's saying, and this is what Rachel meant.
36:54
And I'm open to this growth. Now, whether for yourself or for
36:58
any of the employees, were there like 12 step programs involved
37:02
that were helpful or just kind of like decisions that were made
37:05
that just starting today I'm done.
37:08
No, because it wasn't an addiction thing.
37:10
It's more of a lifestyle thing, right?
37:12
It's not so much that I'm addicted and I need this and I
37:14
can't survive without it. It's more of just like these are
37:17
the lifestyle habits we've created throughout our life.
37:19
And so to change those, you have to literally change everything,
37:23
right? Because that's been your
37:24
lifestyle your entire life. And the same with all of the
37:27
employees as well. It's just a part of the
37:29
lifestyle to get off, sit down at the bar, go out with the
37:32
other servers, go hit another bar and have a drink, you know,
37:35
and just kind of, it's just that lifestyle.
37:37
So none of us are addicted. I've never been addicted in my
37:40
life. I will drink again one day, but
37:43
this year I just have taken that break to really just push myself
37:46
mentally and really grow as a woman.
37:48
And especially being in this industry, it's a man's industry,
37:50
let's be honest. So to make moves as a woman, I
37:53
think you got to kind of really be level headed.
37:56
Oh, say. Say more about this.
37:57
Say more about what it's like to be a woman as a general manager
38:01
at a nice restaurant like that. Well, we're, I mean, it's just
38:05
the, I think it's just the industry itself, right?
38:08
So when I bartended in California, I bartended in
38:10
Fullerton, CA at this place called the Continental Room.
38:13
It's one of the oldest bars down there and it was one of the bars
38:17
that I bartended out down there. But I remember I had to work the
38:21
VIP back bar because women were allowed to bartend.
38:24
And like we're like, imagine saying that in today's day and
38:27
age, like this was only 20 years ago, 15 years ago.
38:31
I don't know how old I am. Well, 15 years ago, but you
38:35
know, it's, Can you imagine like nowadays being like, sorry, you
38:37
can't bartend because you're a woman, but you can go in the
38:39
back in the VIP bartending and that's where you're allowed to
38:42
bartend because you're a woman, right.
38:44
So for me, it was just kind of, I think even since I was like,
38:48
that was when I was 21 and 22. And I think just kind of making
38:52
moves as a woman and being like, OK, well, that's kind of weird,
38:54
you know, but I'm willing to do it because I'm going to push and
38:57
make moves with where I can fit in in this little box.
39:01
And then I think even with my employees, they, a lot of them
39:05
are University of Utah students or Westminster students.
39:08
And they just say, like, I'm learning in my business class
39:10
now that, you know, women are always like, you always think of
39:13
like women managers as a bitch. But then you think of a man as
39:16
like a strong man. And it's like, why do we not use
39:18
that word with men, but we use this word with women because
39:21
they're strong and they're direct.
39:23
And, you know, women are supposed to be feminine and
39:25
quiet and not really supposed to speak up or really have much of
39:28
an opinion. And that's not just who I am as
39:30
a woman. And that's not what I want to be
39:33
as a woman. And some people want to be that.
39:35
And that's totally fine. But for me, that's not it.
39:36
I came here to make moves. And when I won best bartender in
39:40
Park City, I was actually the first woman to ever win in 2019.
39:43
I was like in 2019, the first woman.
39:46
Like, that's kind of ridiculous, don't you think?
39:48
Like, why have all these years gone by and no woman has won
39:52
this, you know? But I came here to make those
39:55
moves, so. Well, and it blows my mind even
39:57
more that you're talking about where you were in California,
40:00
that you, you just weren't even permitted.
40:03
Like it just wasn't even an option. 20 years ago, that's not
40:07
that long ago. We're not talking about, you
40:10
know, when my parents were growing up.
40:11
Exactly. That's how I'm like, yeah.
40:15
So I think it's just because I've had that.
40:18
It's something that's driven me a little bit more, you know,
40:20
because those setbacks and like, oh, you can't do this because
40:23
you're a woman or you shouldn't do that because you're a woman.
40:25
It makes me just push a little bit harder to do it because I'm
40:28
a woman. So I want to talk a little bit
40:32
more about that challenge of the past year of deciding that you
40:38
were, there's no addiction, but hey, I'm just going to take a
40:41
year off from drinking. And a lot of the time that you
40:44
may have spent socially, you know, kind of doing those
40:47
things, hanging out at the bar afterwards, maybe, you know, go
40:50
into another one with your friends.
40:51
Like that was just sort of the routine and the pattern and
40:54
you're you're kind of your social process, your social
40:57
network is kind of built around those habits.
41:01
What were you able to fill those with as you eliminated that?
41:08
The biggest thing is the gym. I joined this program called
41:11
Reliant Fitness that one of my friends back in California, Brad
41:14
Dunn, had started. It's this big fitness program
41:16
and it comes along with sobriety, which is the big
41:18
reason to why I pushed you to be.
41:19
So where he's like, you have to not drink.
41:21
And I'm like, OK, so I go to the gym and that's like, honestly
41:27
been my mental clarity. And there's a lot of people in
41:29
there that now, you know, you walk in, you're like, hey, you
41:32
fist bump half the people that are there because I'm in the gym
41:34
so much, which I never thought would really be me.
41:38
But it gives me like that mental clarity also gives me time for
41:40
myself, right? Because being in the restaurant
41:42
and always being around people all the time, it's kind of nice
41:45
to decompress and literally just have time for myself, put my
41:48
headphones in and turn the world off.
41:51
I really like concerts. I still go to concerts.
41:52
I just went to Zach Bryan last week.
41:55
My sister was drinking. I wasn't, you know, so it's just
41:58
kind of, I don't mind. I don't care if people drink
42:00
around me. But when it gets to that point
42:02
where everybody starts to get drunk, it's my sign to go.
42:04
And I'm like, OK, you guys are on another level than me, but I
42:08
still go out here and there. I just don't.
42:11
Nothing like I used to, right? It's not.
42:12
Again, my lifestyle has just completely changed.
42:14
And I think it's just a lot more well balanced now with a lot
42:17
healthier things like the gym or going out and grabbing coffee,
42:20
spending time with my family, taking my dog on a walk.
42:23
Just healthier things than drinking.
42:25
I. Want to go back to your staff,
42:29
you obviously you go out of your way to help them, to teach them,
42:34
to train them, to help them sort of develop in their profession,
42:38
in their jobs. You know, and one of the things
42:42
I hear from most of the folks that I talked to is that labor
42:47
market still relatively tight. So finding good folks and
42:51
holding on to them can be a big challenge.
42:55
I'm curious some things that you've tried and found success
42:58
with on both the recruiting side as well as the retention side.
43:04
I think it's a little bit more difficult in Utah, I feel like
43:07
because the servers out here only make 2/13 an hour, right?
43:10
So the entirety of their income is based off of TIPS.
43:13
And with the inflation this past year in America, I think it's
43:16
been a little bit harder. We all know that eating out is a
43:18
luxury, right? That's not something that we all
43:20
can afford every day of the week, but that's something that
43:22
when we go out, we want to make sure that it's a great
43:24
experience. I feel like with our staff,
43:29
that's kind of how we kept everybody is again, we're just
43:33
that neighborhood restaurant and they really loved the job.
43:36
When times have gotten hard, like we had construction this
43:38
summer where we had zero access to the front of our restaurant.
43:41
And then when you went to the back, the city had signs.
43:43
It was like local traffic only when it didn't say anything
43:47
about how to get to the Dodo. So unless you were local, you
43:49
really didn't know how to get to our restaurant.
43:52
And I think our staff just really appreciated all those
43:54
customers that came in, all the family time that we have with
43:57
them. And I think for me is my
43:59
leadership. It's just, I don't know, I'm
44:02
kind of indifferent about this, but like treating them like
44:04
family, right? Because I am very understanding
44:07
because I was a rebel. And if I didn't have a boss back
44:09
in the day who had given me chances and kind of kicked my
44:12
booty a little bit, then I wouldn't be the woman I am in
44:15
Business Today. And I can definitely say that.
44:17
And I think that they kind of need that too sometimes, you
44:20
know, and I think that's where I step in is, you know, I can see
44:25
when someone is just kind of a jerk.
44:26
And I can see when someone is kind of a rebel and just needs a
44:29
little bit more Titan on the reins, you know, So I work with
44:34
the people who really try in life and maybe just haven't had
44:36
that direction the entirety of their life.
44:38
And now they're getting out into the work world and now they have
44:41
to have direction and they don't know what to do because they've
44:43
never had that structure at home growing up.
44:46
And I can always recognize that and kind of give them that
44:49
little Mama bear love and but also kick their butts when they
44:53
need it. You know, I've shown up.
44:55
Because you've been in their shoes before and you had
44:57
somebody help you in a similar way.
44:59
Exactly. You know, I've had to fire an
45:01
employee twice. He actually still works for me
45:04
now because I hired him back three times, killing it now.
45:07
But those are like, I showed up at his house one time and I was
45:09
like, get outside and he's like in the back seat of my car
45:12
crying as I'm like yelling at him to like quit drinking
45:14
because it was just his partying.
45:15
Like, you know, it's like, I know you're at that college age
45:18
and you want to party, but like, you have this job that you
45:20
absolutely love, but you can't show up to work because you're
45:23
drinking all night till 5:00 AM and, like, what are you doing?
45:27
You know, and, like, sometimes you just have to have reality
45:29
checks. And I'm willing as a human
45:31
being, not just as their manager, to come sit down with
45:33
them and be, like, wake up and shake them.
45:36
You know, sometimes you have to do it a couple times.
45:38
But again, with that kid, I knew that his potential.
45:40
And now he's thriving. Like, he's doing so well for
45:43
himself. And I'm very proud of him.
45:45
Still works for me. Yeah.
45:48
Rachel, you've said several times you, you know, bit of a
45:51
rebel. You've had a, you know, kind of
45:53
an interesting past, done a lot of crazy things, maybe something
45:57
we haven't specifically touched on.
45:59
Would be interested to hear something fun or interesting
46:03
about yourself that we haven't already talked about.
46:08
Jeez, I don't know, I was like, I'm not really that fun.
46:12
I love to travel. That's like one thing.
46:13
So earlier where's? Your favorite place?
46:16
Well, earlier in Sierra, I went to Saint Thomas and I went by
46:18
myself. So I went on my first solo
46:20
travel ever, which as a woman is so scary, but at the same time
46:24
it felt really liberating and it felt amazing.
46:28
But I went to Saint Thomas and then we took like a ferry over
46:30
to Saint John, but hanging out with all the locals, just like
46:33
popping up in a bar, talking to the whole staff, you know?
46:36
Then I ended up becoming friends with like the bartenders.
46:38
We all went to the pool after. Then I ended up like going and
46:41
exploring the islands with all these people and it was so much
46:44
fun. But it was, I remember like
46:46
getting on the plane, like what am I doing 'cause I remember
46:48
when I booked the trip, I was like, just do it.
46:50
Just book the trip 'cause you hear about women going on solo
46:52
trips and like really having a lot of personal growth.
46:55
So I was like, you know, let me try it out, let me see what it's
46:57
like. Then I did it and it was
46:59
amazing. And I think I'm actually gonna
47:00
do it again next month, so we'll see.
47:02
Where will you go this time? I'm thinking about going back to
47:05
Saint John, honestly. Yeah, I was like, I or St.
47:09
Saint Thomas and then go to Saint John a little bit more
47:11
because I only spent a day there.
47:12
But it's such a beautiful island.
47:14
A lot of it's just natural reserve.
47:16
And just I saw a sea turtle for the first time and I swam with
47:19
sea turtles. I'm like, it was just so cool
47:22
and so much fun. Like I thrive by the ocean.
47:24
Being from California, my soul is so happy by the ocean.
47:28
But I think it's really neat that you were able to connect
47:30
with the locals and have a little bit more of a locals
47:34
experience rather than just sort of doing the, all the touristy
47:37
stuff, 'cause I know the times that I've travelled, you know,
47:41
they've been instances where maybe I'm on a work trip.
47:43
And so, you know, my suppliers or, you know, whoever my
47:46
business relationships with are able to kind of show me, you
47:49
know, a little bit more of the, the behind the scenes.
47:52
Or maybe I've got family somewhere and it's the same kind
47:54
of thing. And it always ends up being my
47:56
favorite part of the trip when, you know, we're not just going
47:59
to the Coliseum or, you know, we're not just going to the
48:01
temple that everybody goes to. It's like, no, this, this is
48:05
what we do here. And it's it's just really neat.
48:08
Yeah, that's my favorite thing to do when I travel.
48:09
So I like to stay in Airbnbs or Vrbos more than I like to stay
48:13
at a hotel, because then it forces you to get out and
48:16
explore, right? Otherwise you're in the hotel
48:17
and you're like, book this Paracel for me, book this zip
48:21
line for me, you know what I mean?
48:22
And everything's kind of just there at the hotel and you don't
48:24
explore. So it's something that I do like
48:27
to do. I went to Jamaica one time at my
48:29
old job in California with some girls too.
48:32
And I remember we like got on this bus and I'm like, let's
48:34
just go see the local Cuz I always want to see the local
48:36
stuff because that's like in the restaurant industry especially,
48:38
you know, it's like that's where you grab the good food.
48:40
That's where you get the local drink.
48:41
That's like where you actually experience what the locals are
48:45
experiencing, right? And that's what I always want to
48:47
see. But I remember going to Jamaica,
48:49
we like get on this bus with some random guy and it's like
48:51
four or five girls, you know, and we're all young, like young
48:55
20s, mid 20s, takes us into town like scary little shop.
49:00
And like all these women are coming out after us and like
49:03
dragging us in different directions.
49:05
And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Nope, Yep, Nope.
49:09
And like I was the only one. Like all the other girls were
49:11
like so scared. And I like came out very strong.
49:13
Like, Nope, that's not what I want.
49:15
That's not what we're doing. Like, and I kind of had to push
49:17
it and they, but it made them respect me.
49:19
They all came out and the women were like, you're a strong
49:21
woman. Like you're really strong.
49:22
And I was like, yeah, they're like, they're all scaredy cats,
49:24
but like, you're good. I was like, I was like, I'm not
49:27
gonna let you guys kill me out here today.
49:29
That's it. Like, I'm gonna make sure, you
49:30
know, my vibe is like, I'm putting up a fight if you're
49:32
trying to kill me. And we all got back on the van
49:35
and we were like, that was a little bit scary, but it was
49:37
like a lot of fun too at the same time.
49:39
Just saying, like how the local women had to, like, get their
49:41
hustle on and all the little shops that they had.
49:44
And God knows where we were, we were the only white people
49:46
within sight. Like, like they were literally
49:49
waving at us because we were the only white people there.
49:51
Was a little bit sketchy, but it was fun.
49:53
They're probably accustomed to taking the tourists and being a
49:55
little bit more aggressive with them and steering them into
49:58
whatever it is that they had in mind.
50:00
Totally. And I was like not and you're
50:02
not killing me today. Sorry if that was their plan, I
50:06
don't know but. Probably not, but better that
50:08
you didn't have to find out. Exactly.
50:10
Yeah, I let them take all my money.
50:12
I bought everything. But that was.
50:15
Good. Any specific mentors, books, or
50:18
maybe other experiences that have been really helpful in
50:21
shaping you? So I'm, I'm pretty spiritual.
50:26
My great grandma on my dad's side is 100% Native American.
50:29
And I'd always say like, you can't explain it, but you can
50:32
feel it when you're native, right?
50:33
Like this intuition that I have, like sitting down with people,
50:35
feeling their energy. Like I can't ever explain it,
50:38
but I love this book. It's called Many Lives, Many
50:42
Masters by Brian Weiss. And again, I'm just a spiritual
50:46
person. So it just has to do with like
50:47
past life traumas and how that can kind of come into your
50:49
current life and how that affects us if you're somebody
50:52
who believes in that type of stuff, you know?
50:55
Which you are. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
50:58
Yeah. I really like the book Necessary
51:00
Endings as well. That was great.
51:02
When I was in California, my he wasn't like a therapist, he's
51:06
like a life coach. His name is Armando Perez.
51:09
He owns Self Help Los Angeles and he really pushed my
51:12
mentality a lot. His style of again, it's not
51:16
really, we did like some hypnotherapy with it as well and
51:19
just some different things, but it's a lot of accountability and
51:22
I think that's really helped me grow.
51:24
And ever since I worked with him, it really catapulted my
51:27
life, just really helped me because I have taken
51:32
accountability for a lot of what goes wrong in my life.
51:34
I don't look at other people like why did that happen?
51:36
Why did it? And like why did I allow this to
51:38
happen? You know, like what is it about
51:40
me that allowed this to happen in my life?
51:41
So he was a great inspiration and I know he wrote a book, I
51:46
can't remember, but he wrote a book with one of the guys who
51:48
wrote the book, The Secret. So he really has like that
51:51
catapulted mentality. Rachel, I've just got one more
51:56
question for you. But before I ask it, I want to
51:58
do 2 things. Everybody listening today, I
52:00
know that you love today's content.
52:02
How could you not? So please hit the share, like or
52:04
subscribe button on your favorite podcast app.
52:06
Rachel also want to let people know the best way to get in
52:09
touch with you. What would that be?
52:12
Instagram, that's my social media.
52:16
If you're looking to get a hold of me in business, of course,
52:18
always call the restaurant. Call the restaurant line.
52:19
I'm usually there. If I'm not there, then I don't
52:21
want to be there. So don't call my cell phone with
52:23
work, but the Dodo restaurant, call that line or my Instagram
52:27
handle. It's at Rachael Camden.
52:29
Rachael Camden Like the Camden Yards?
52:33
Great. So last question for you,
52:35
Rachael, I'm kind of curious how you see lots of times when I'm
52:41
talking to a, you know, a business founder, you know, how
52:43
their industry or how their business is going to evolve in
52:45
the next couple of years. But I guess I want to maybe
52:48
change the angle of the question a little bit and say, how do you
52:50
see your own life evolving in the next couple of years,
52:54
whether it's with Dodo, with the new restaurant, something else,
52:58
maybe even want to answer it from like a personal development
53:01
standpoint. What do you see sort of
53:04
unfolding for you in the next couple of years?
53:07
I see a lot of positivity, to be honest.
53:09
I see I've put a lot of sacrifice and hard work into
53:12
myself this past year. And that's something that I do
53:14
recognize. And I think that is just the
53:17
start of the ground level of what I'm supposed to rise up to,
53:20
right? I do see myself being with the
53:23
dodo for a little bit longer. You know, I'm not looking to
53:25
make any changes anytime soon, but if an opportunity arises and
53:29
I know what business I want to start, I'm going to start my
53:31
business. But I honestly just see myself
53:35
continuing to grow as a woman, continuing to learn and really
53:38
just understanding people and really just trying to grow
53:41
people. Because I think that's a lot of
53:44
what gets missed is, you know, people sit on their complaints
53:47
and they sit on their negativity and they kind of sit on problems
53:50
rather than solutions. And I'm a solutions person and
53:53
I'm not a problems person. So I'm excited to see all the
53:56
solutions I can keep handing the staff and really just continue
53:59
to grow people and grow myself because the only way up is up.
54:06
Fun stuff. Rachel, I want to be the first
54:08
one to thank you for sharing both your time and your story
54:11
today. I'm really grateful for.
54:13
It absolutely thank you so much for having me.
54:15
I do appreciate it listening to me.
54:17
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
54:20
podcast. Thanks for learning with us
54:22
today.