Latest / The Weekly Run / People See the Fun, Not the Hustle with Chris Cohen | Bagels with a Bestie Ep 4
Transcript
- Jeff Perera: Welcome back to the weekly run. This week is a special edition of Bagels of the Bestie, and I have my guest, Chris Cohen. He is opening his second Jeff's Bagel run right now, and I just couldn't think of a more perfect time to have him on. So take a listen. Let us know what you think We're live. Alright. Alright, well welcome Chris to Bagel with a Bestie. Thanks for being here today. Thank you for having me. What are you eating today? I am eating a salt bagel. it's hot. Look at that. Look at that. Man. I got a salt bagel as well. Shocking. We are best friends. But your what's your cream cheese? Chive and onion. Okay. I went sweet this time. I have the brown sugar cinnamon. I like, man, thing's piping hot. I love that. Now I'm kind of regretting the cream cheese. I almost wish I had butter. Butter would just melted. That's the best part when it gets in there and you bite into it and then Yes. I don't have the issue that you might have where like won't drip down into my beard, but like I have to like dab my chin to get rid of it, but that's awesome. well thanks for sitting down and taking a chance to have a bagel with me and just chat. Absolutely. Looking forward to it. Why don't you tell us who you are and how I know you. so my name is Chris Cohen. I am an owner-operator of the Celebration location. We purchased that store back in July. What's interesting is it it all kind of started with my love of Bagels being originally from New York, my family just grew up eating delicious New York bagels. And then when I stumbled upon Jeff's in a Ocoee it was just kind of like it was it was a meant-to-be kind of thing. But yeah, I've been in the restaurant world for about 30 years. It does kind of show my age a little bit. But no, nothing I would rather do. Just love working with people and what the restaurant world brings. It's awesome. Yeah. So your first experience with Jeff's was Ocoee Absolutely. Yeah, live in I don't think I knew that. Yeah, live in Horizon West out in the winter garden area. Used to hear about Jeff's all the time. Hate admitting this out loud, but it took me three years to get over there after hearing about it. And then once I tried it, I was like, okay, it can't be this good twice. And then it was that good twice, three times. And pretty much every time I went. That's awesome. And again, my wife and four kids, we all love the product. and again, it was just kind of it was an easy decision after that. But yeah, Ocoee was was the store that introduced it. That's awesome. Yep. That's so fun. I didn't know that, that's great, that's cool. Well, if you were gonna describe your relationship with that bagel, where would it be like right now? Like where are you in your relationship with the bagel? So my relationship with bagels is like a happy marriage. It was it was love at first sight. It really was. I think the first time I had a bagel, I obviously don't remember it because I was probably three years old. but again just dating back to every Sunday at my home in New York. And then it it it is it was love at first sight. It it really was. and it's Bagels are like a fairy tale. I it's it's happily ever happen. It's really what I feel like. you know, my dad says he he my dad thinks he invented bagels, but really what he is really good at is eating bagels, and I said there's a big difference. That's awesome. But I mean again it's bagels have been a part of my family for for for decades. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. You've been in the restaurant business for a while. Yes and your family as well. Yes. I would love to know more about what it's like to be a restaurant family. Because I'm new to this. Yeah. You know, I was a we were a retail family for a long time and we've only really been running, you know, Jeff Bagel Run Bakery now in pcoee as like a real business for five years. So it's like a drop in the bucket compared to a lot of people. So what's it like to be a restaurant family? What do people not know maybe? So it's You have to be a unique family in order to so my history started at McDonald's, worked for a local franchisee who I ended up working for him for 25 years. and then he became my father-in-law. So he has one daughter who, after sixteen years of working with him, and I thought I became mature enough to make that decision to, you know, date the boss's daughter. And so I got to see firsthand because they she has three older brothers, they're all involved in the business. And how they were able to navigate through that. And sure there are tough times in any in any relationship, especially when you throw restaurants into it. But they truly had fun doing this. Like they went to events together, they, you know, they worked in stores together, they supported each other. And then it was just kind of natural for my wife and I to kind of follow that into owning our own restaurants. We got into that in 2019 with another local brand. And and again, same kind of same kind of story. Like it wasn't always easy. You know, sometimes my wife wanted to punch me in the face. Sometimes she was really happy with things I was doing. But I mean, again, just the partnership and being able to work through it, watching our kids show up to events, you know, and not just support us, but you know, understand what it's like to support communities. And I think that's what people don't understand about restaurants is how much you truly support communities. You are in with just the conversations that happen around food. Yeah. And that's what's been cool for us. Again, it's not for everybody, but I think it's the part that people don't know a lot about, is just again the integral part of restaurants in local communities. Yeah, I think that's I'm gonna I'll talk so you can eat that beetle while still hot. But I think that's a really interesting point of view because you didn't have your own restaurant, you didn't start something from scratch. You were working as a franchisee. You in in a McDonald's, like the biggest the brand that started like American restaurant franchises. Yes. I mean like they are it when it comes they're the gold standard who want to, right? And so you grew up cutting your teeth there, learning about community, seeing what it meant to run a family business. Because even though it's McDonald's it was still your family business. And then now you're doing that again and you're doing it with two brands. I've actually met your father in law. Do you know that? I know I met him at an opening He told me He was like first in line. It was like 6 30 in the morning. He was just That's him. That was awesome. Yeah. But I think that is something that is also missing in like the restaurant space as a whole, is you see all these brands that you recognize as a consumer and you immediately almost associate this like corporate veil. Whether it's McDonald's or Dunkin and I'll never forget a early review that I got at the Ocoee location was: I can't believe they ran out of bagels at 11 a.m. And I walked in there and there were seven employees just standing around having A good time. You'd think they could make me some bagels. And when I first read it, and there's more to this review, but when I first read that part, I almost just stopped right there and like went immediately to like blowing up the guest, right? But she continued. And she continued and she said, now I'm forced to go to Dunkin and spend my money at this big corporation. What she didn't know was I know the franchisee of that Dunkin' Donuts on Colonial right there in Ocoee She's a wonderful human being who's just trying to run a business. And so my reply changed to like, thank you for supporting our community and visiting another franchisee and business owner in Ocoee Right. People don't get that. People don't see that, you know, there is a whole family unit that's Relying on McDonald's being successful. Absolutely. Jeff Bagel or Hugh McGoos or whoever it is. And those people live in your community. A lot of times. I mean, sure there are cases where maybe they don't, but a lot of times there are people who live in the community. How do we s how do we help that message get out? Like how do you tell that story? I think When we communicate that kind of stuff, whether it is on social media or just in having conversations, it it's funny you bring up that story because there was something similar where I live in Winter Garden and a restaurant brand opened up. And it's the restaurant brand we're discussing. And and I happen to know the family who operates that store. And right away it was like all of the negativity around, why do we need another fast food place or why do we need this? And and then I found myself defending him on social media and he doesn't need me, but it was just one of those, hey, this is a local family who has been contributing to communities for fifty years. They're a third generation operator. This is not this large corporation that you're thinking yes the the brand is but this is a family who this is what they do for a living and they're giving back to this community and they do good things in the community so I just think the more we can have shed that positive conversation on those stories I think it helps us all yeah I it's one of the reasons I try to always put our our names on the doors yes of locations that I operate because I I do want them to know first wait this is a family that owns this it's you know Whether you're a 90-store brand or 5,000-store brand, people quickly associate. now you're just a corporation. Like you're not the same. I never appreciated that little plaque on a wall that says, like, franchise owned by until we started franchising Jeff Bagel Run Like I didn't appreciate it in the same way. I would walk into a business and I would see this mark on the wall and As a business owner, I knew that there was there was something like there was sacrifice that they were making. I know the financial sacrifice it takes to open a restaurant, I know the time sacrifice it takes. So I I appreciated that. But I didn't, it wasn't until I was trying to help franchisees express how they're in their community. And like to some degree, you're Jeff. Someone walks into your store, they see you, they're like, are you Jeff? People ask me all the time. But it's a huge letdown when I have to tell them I'm just Chris. But if just Chris is awesome, like it's not it's got like they have to learn that, right? And they will over time. Yes. Because they'll be your guests, they'll be yours. I was was our second location, we opened College Park, Dustin, he might be like the second long he might be the, so Danielle and I are obviously employees number one and two. And then Dustin might be like employee like number three, who's left of the original. Like he's been around a long time. He opened that store at College Park with us five, four and a half years ago. And that store, when he was there, I remember him saying, man, I'm just trying to make the best, your bagels the best. And I was like, they're not your, they're not my bagels, they're your bagel. Like you're the one producing this every day, creating it for your guests who's coming in. Right. They're gonna quickly forget that Jeff had anything to do with this when you smile at them and you provide them great service. I was like, this is your bagel. And he's owned it ever since then. And I think that that same mentality has to like travel all the way through from every owner, every franchisee who, you know, wants to hang a shingle and say, I want to run a Jeff's bagel run. Absolutely. Because you are Jeff. Whether you like it or not. You know, like you know, like for your community. You can still be Chris. Well well and the coolest part is when when I tell people like Jeff still bakes bagels. They're like no. Like no no, he really does. Like Jeff will be in his own location baking bagels on occasion. He goes to news stores and bakes bagels and they are just blown away by that. Like they just they just love the story. That's yeah, it's a great story. I think there's a lot of there's a lot of fun in it. Bagels are easy, they're light, you know, you can sit down, have a conversation, chat. What do you think is one of the biggest myths people hold about restaurant owners? That they're all rich. Yeah. most so we we try to do this activity with our with our teams and not to make them feel sorry for us, it's not about that at all, but a lot of whether it's team members, guests, they just think when you get into a restaurant, like, well that guy's a millionaire or she's a millionaire. so we we kinda do the simple math. It's funny my wife does this with our daughters at home. and you just you know, you start at the top and everyone gets, wow, that's that's what you make? No. Then you just do the math equation all the way down and and then we kind of make it fun. We're like, wait, we forgot something. We forgot about insurance. Okay, that's gotta come off. wait, we forgot about the bank payment. Okay, that's gotta come off. And then it's funny that that the eyes wide open you got up here are the same eyes wide open you get at the bottom, but for a different reason. Yeah. And you know, so it's I I think it's just helping people understand that as well, because obviously. Obviously we all want things cheaper. But when you look at the true cost of really running any business, but especially a restaurant and what we have to navigate through, I think it's a huge myth. And one I probably wouldn't understand if I wasn't in the world. Like I would just, well, how come I can't get this sandwich for $2 anymore like I did in 1997? Well, let's let's talk through that. I'm glad you said that because I think that's so true. And I have this dialogue with my kids as well, you know. Mine are, my ages are spread out. I'm 22, 20, 11, and 8. And so, you know, the the 20-year-olds, they get it. A little more. My eight-year-olds like, hears Danielle and I talk about how the shop did. And he was like, whoa, you made that much money. I was like, no. That's those were the sales that we brought in. I was like, but we have to pay employees and we have to buy the products that make the bagels and we have to pay for the rent and the air conditioning bill and the water and all those things. And you go that it's an interesting exercise. And it's certainly one that I think is absolutely true. I think people definitely think restaurant owners. are rich. Yes. And some are. Some are. Some are, for sure. I do you think that ties in though because like they are in the community and they interface so much with like real people all the time? I I mean I think that's the like for me personally, people are always coming up to me, they're like, my gosh, what's it like? And I'm like Hard work. Yes. I'm tired. I'm like grinding. I've traveled I don't know, if there's two hundred days so far this year, I've traveled a hundred and fifty five of them. Right. You know, and so it's one of those the the grass isn't always greener or like the you know that their incentives don't align with yours. well what I think some of it is they there's a lot of assumptions, but then they also see What appears to be you're always out having fun at events or not knowing what it takes to produce that event. and the reason we're at the events is because we're we're grinding and hustling and and trying to do the best for our business. you know, yes, we also do it, it's fun. Our teens love it, but it's it's a lot of work. It's it's more work to go do an event than it is to operate the four walls. There's just a lot of moving parts. but yeah, I think a lot of times and it It's good we're presenting to the community, we're having fun at this, we love this, obviously we're not crying to the community that hey we're broke or we're not making enough money, that's not you know, that's not the relationship. So we we present a front that we're just having a grand old time and we must be doing pretty well at it. Yeah, you it's so true. That's that it's accurate. It's they see the best of you. Yes. They see the best of you all the time. Yes. And they don't they're not at home. crunching numbers late at night. They're not waking up at two AM thinking about X, Y, or Z. You know, so it's they don't see that part. But Mackenzie tells me that. She sometimes tells me she I want event Chris. He's he's fun. Event Chris is a lot of fun. It's like that's right, event Chris is a lot of fun. I love that. Okay, so you've been a restaurateur or in restaurants most of your life, what's like one part of this life that you thought would be different than it is today? What I I think I got into it, we talk about the assumptions, I got into it thinking I would be retired by now. yeah, all these restaurant owners do really well. you know, again, I I watched my my my father in law, you know, what I forget sometimes is how much work they put in and continue to put in and then developed a great team around them. But yeah, I had this assumption at twenty that I was like, I'll be retired by forty. and now at forty seven still not retired and that's not Not anything coming soon. but I also I have developed an appreciation for the restaurant world that maybe I didn't have in my younger years because sometimes it was like, why is this so hard all the time? where now you get to being able to watch our teams grow and open restaurants. And Mackenzie and I being able to not sit back and not do anything, but not having to do the same work because we have amazing leaders in the restaurants. You know, watching someone like John at Celebration and what he's been able to produce with Sarah and the team. That's why I do this now. We're back, you know, 10 years ago, I'd be like, no, I have to do all that. Yeah. So that is it's funny, although I thought I'd be retired, it's kind of why I don't want to retire, because this is this This is why we did this for so long, being able to watch this. You're kind of in the fun part. Yes. Yes. And not that like waking up at 4 a.m. to bake bagels isn't fun. It's a different kind of fun. It's different kind of fun. And there's like a certainly in the very early days of Jeff Bagel when I would, I thought that like, this is great. I can do this for as I I'm 48, so I was like, I can do this for as long as my body holds up. Yep. if I stay in shape, if I do the right things and maybe I can get up every morning to bake bagels and this is a good life, you know? but I find now that the I think the reward of where we are today is so much greater than that reward of going in and baking bagels and like accomplishing a task. Absolutely. It's just changed. So Yes. And it's I I appreciate it immensely. I promise I'm gonna let you eat your bagel. But I got one last question for you, who's someone who's shown up in your community for you? That you would want to recognize or just like shout out or maybe came as a surprise to you? So I I think it it ties in perfectly what we were talking about earlier with like how can we support fellow owners or community leaders. And I've been surprised by the amount of just residents who have supported us on social media or anywhere for that matter where someone has talked negatively about us. And it's it's not not to like you know have fun with it, but sometimes you almost have to sit back, you make a popcorn, and you just kind of read all these comments and enjoy it because like I don't have to do this. Yeah. But what's great about it, and I think the part we may miss sometimes because we get busy is We built that trust in that in that resident who has decided to support you on these channels because they know you. Yeah. Or they they have you have a track record with them and a track record in the community. and I and I I probably have hundreds that have supported us. Luckily we don't have much negative press on these channels. But the one the few times we do, I very rarely have to say anything before I log in and see, my. I know him or I know her and thank you so much. and it just and it goes back to what you said earlier, they know they've met our families, they've met they've met our daughters. and it doesn't mean we're perfect, but it means like you you you're not giving them a fair shot at this. Like here's what they do. and there's also a lot of like groups, especially in our hometown of Verizon West, who support local business owners as well. so I you know I think that part's been very cool. And and we've had a lot of support over the years just from lots of family members, friends, but that's the one that's been surprising. Yeah. Building community was a surprise for me in the physical space of Just Bagel Run when we first started. Yeah. In the social sphere, when we were doing it from home, it just felt natural. Yeah. Respond to all the comments, respond to DMs, engage with people. It was like a safe place to communicate. And then once we got a physical store. It became like a real meeting place where community showed up. Yes. And broke I mean, it's a pun but broke bread together and drank coffee and spent time. And I think the both spaces still coexist. You know, you still have this like social community who finds their voice and like I the number of times I go to a comment section and see support for what we're doing and it feels really good to know that those people are there. 'Cause I think those are the same people who show up in the store. Yes. They're the same people who sit and have coffee and break bread with their friends and yeah, the internet can be a place of a lot of negativity, but I think there's a lot of good there too. Absolutely. And I and I think that's what we try to I I think we've as business owners, we all get very quick triggers with our thumbs, like, I have to respond now. luckily my my wife normally talks me off of that ledge. She's like, you're not responding to this until tomorrow. And by then most people have responded for me, and I don't have to anymore. but again, it's just the trying to use those platforms to show the positivity in it all and not dwell on the random comment. And I think the cliche is very true. If if no one's saying anything negative about you, you're probably not doing it right. And it's, you know, and and again, I I think far more what we see as business owners that are involved in the community is just people who are thanking you. And I just think that just doesn't show up in likes as much, although it's it's definitely out there. For sure. Yeah. Well I appreciate you sitting down with like on this first episode of Bagels with the Bestie with me. This is great. I think we had a lot of bagels left to eat, but this was awesome conversation. Thank you. Thank you for having me I appreciate man. Absolutely.