Building a Restaurant Empire | Michael McHenry DSH #373

You're just pulling it off non-stop.

So I'd love to learn more about the team.

This is my own opinion,

my own share of success.

But the part that you really got to lean into to get to get right is you got to duplicate your likeness.

Believe in your mission.

You got to be able to build an architecture where people show up and actually lead your brand.

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It helps us get bigger and better guests, and it helps us grow the team.

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Thank you guys for supporting, and here's the episode.

All right, we got a legend in the building, a Utah legend in the restaurant space, Michael McHenry.

How's it going, man?

Man, doing well, brother.

Excited to be here with you.

Yeah, I can't wait to dive into your world.

The restaurant world is a space where not many people make it, and to make it on your level is super impressive, man.

So congrats.

Thank you, man.

Yeah, there's no doubt it's a little different.

It's good.

But I feel like anything that has that low barrier of entry has a high failure rate.

Right.

But regardless, man, it took us a while to start winning, no doubt.

Yeah.

What is the failure rate in the restaurant space?

Do you know it?

Dude, I'll tell you, like right offhand, I think it's like greater than 40% of restaurants close within their first year.

Wow.

I think second-year statistics, third-year statistics, I think it's like greater than 70%.

Damn.

I think after five years, it's like 20 or less that are actually like viable.

That is crazy.

Why do you think the numbers are so high?

Dude, I think probably, like when you really boil it down, I think it comes down to this.

It's like low barrier of entry, high failure rate.

I think it's easy to enter this or can be somewhat easy to enter the space.

And I think people go, hey, I have the world's best meatball.

I'm not the world's best business.

And they have no acumen.

Right.

Right.

So I think it really comes down to just kind of poor management and lack of experience.

I think is what it really boils down to.

I think there's, and also like, there's no business that's more subjective than ours, like your palette, my palette, their palette.

Right.

There's just always, you know, there's, there's so many choices.

Yeah.

So I think it's true of anything else.

You got to run a good business, bro.

Yeah.

And there's always a personal bias with your own cooking, right?

No doubt.

I think the good news for me is I came from the other side of it.

I came from like the guest perspective.

I didn't come from like, oh, I'm a chef.

I have the, you know, I'm obsessed with cheese or wine or, you know, I have the best brace short rib.

Right.

I came, I was like, wait a minute, there's no greater vehicle than food and beverage to connect community and connect experiences.

And so I want to create this rad, you know, anthropology of space, put good menus together and, and really just create experiences for guests through food.

Absolutely.

And that's where that vehicle has been radically different for me.

And I think it's also given us a bit of an edge because I come from from the other side of the table.

Yes, you've won 5X, World X, World Best Restaurants.

What goes into winning that?

What's beautiful about like best new concept, especially within our market, it's actually voted on by your peers, not just your guests and consumers.

And so obviously like bringing something to market that maybe hasn't been done yet or most definitely hasn't been done in your market.

So you're a bit of an outlier or a standout, which we really pride ourselves on being the frontrunners in our market, but also somewhat in the industry, like what we did with Sunday's Best.

I mean, I really believe that that's going to take the brunch business in the nation by storm.

Wow.

I mean, really being able to get this beautiful marriage of pancakes and champagne and do it, you know, do it right.

So I think it's really, you know, it took us almost 15 years to start winning at this.

And I think over those years, we built an architecture.

We kind of went deep and wide and figured out what our system is and figured out, like, wait a minute, we can have great ideas.

We can create cool spaces, but we actually know how to make them viable.

We actually know how to take them to scale.

We know how to build brands and exit brands.

And that, I believe, is what really positioned us to be the best in our market.

Yeah.

No doubt.

Because there's a lot of mom and pops, but they have no exit strategy.

Or they just don't even realize it.

They're just like, oh, we just, again, we have the world's best meatball.

We're going to wake up every day and just exist.

And we're like, wait a minute, we wake up every day with a plan.

And most, most every one of our brands, the plan is to start with the exit in mind.

Smart.

Like, no doubt.

Yeah, that's smart.

And you've opened up over 70 restaurants, over

half a billion in revenue that's insane man dude you know what's wild like you get guys in right like we've i've i've had friends on this show right half a billion in revenue may not seem like a lot to to many or maybe to some but when you think about doing a half a billion in revenue and an average ticket under 30 bucks wow now you're talking millions of transactions to get to that point right and so we we do have a bit of a flex in that bro right like like we've done this like we're not going to say that we've arrived by any means but we've we've we've done it yeah no we've done it and we're doing it you've been there man because that's half a billion like also locally that's not even like because you can't even sell worldwide right you're just in utah yeah i mean we most definitely grow regionally right so we'll grow and expand into other states we typically try to bookend utah first and then grow into idaho grow into you know other surrounding markets typically just to prove that we can be viable outside of our own market for that next buyer who plans to see us at three to five locations and they want to take it to you know 25 50 or more.

Yeah.

You're also achieving success in multiple different types of food, which I find interesting, right?

Because you're kind of like the architect, right?

You're putting all the pieces together.

Yeah, well said.

Because you didn't grow up just eating one cuisine, like you experimented with multiple.

Yeah.

Like, again, I didn't like grow up in a household that was like, oh, I had mom's recipes.

Right.

My grandma could cook, but it wasn't like she had something that was like, I got to bring this to the marketplace.

I think why you see that variety in our fold is because, again, I'm looking for what's missing from the market or how can i better connect the communities the sidewalks the the places the people that we love like what's the sociology and psychology of those neighborhoods that we're doing business in and and what's missing and sometimes that's a hot chicken sandwich right sometimes that's a hot honey pepperoni or or you know a pancake or you know a pad thai who knows yeah uh but we've we've really learned that um

Our architecture can kind of support all food so long as it it checks the quality box for us.

Yeah.

Right.

So we're, we're kind of more romantic about, you know, if I was to use like a, an analogy, it'd be like, we're like a Baja truck.

It's like we have the suspension and the horsepower and the motor and the frame, but we put a new body on it and a new driver depending on, you know, what brand we're trying to build, but it all runs the same.

Right.

Does that make sense?

Yeah, you identify gaps in the market.

Totally.

And how are you getting that information?

Are you polling locals?

You know, some of it too, like, I'm not someone that really like sits in the office and, you know, is whiteboarding and being mad scientists about the next brand.

I roll with what feels good.

And when it feels right and aligning to me, I pitch it to the team.

If the team bites off on it, we roll.

And oftentimes it just, it comes on.

It comes onto my brain, comes onto my heart.

And dude, at that point, I just, I can't let it go

until we're in market.

And that's been, whether that's Southeast Asian, whether that's,

whether that's Brunch Ford, whether that's Neapolitan style, whether that's New American,

whether that's hot chicken.

You know, I was on, I was on hot chicken 2013.

I didn't bring the brand, at least the vision to market till 2017.

Wow.

And then I introduced it at brick brick and mortar in 2020 and then sold it 20 months later.

And it was one of kind of the richest acquisitions and mergers per square foot in the restaurant industry in Utah at the time.

I mean, this happened during the pandemic.

Amazing.

Yeah.

I feel like the hot chicken space, I mean, Raising Canes is dominating right now.

Bro, they just came to our market.

Oh, yeah.

It's wild, right?

Because they're from the South and they.

are going crazy, but they came into Utah and they came into Utah strong.

Yeah, they're like they opened like four or five locations like at once.

Yeah, out here, they're killing it.

they had the whole stanley cup team pull up when they won the cup dude wild right well that that posty one have you seen that where he like where they uh collabed with post malone yeah that was like that whole pink bit and he drove the aesthetic and has a bunch of his kind of tour memorabilia and other stuff associated literally that's like four or five miles from my home wow which is like four to five miles from his home so it's kind of dope to be able to see that like utah you know it's no longer just like dairy farmers, dude, Mormons and racist cowboys.

Utah's on the move, dude.

Utah is coming up, man.

I know some great entrepreneurs out there.

Those Mormons don't mess around in business.

Listen, it's just, it's also just so rich and smart, right?

Like, and honestly, like, I have to kind of nod, like, nod to

the LDS church to the architecture.

I mean, they're just smart and affluent.

And there's just something to be said about having a market that only has 3.2, almost 3.3 million people.

And a big part of it is smart and resourceful.

Right.

Right.

And it most definitely does have that conservative nature.

There's, there's no question that, that, you know, Utah has a bit of that kind of stigma and stereotype, but also like what you're seeing with Silicon Slopes now, what you're seeing in this movement, you're coming out to the market soon, it sounds.

And there's some great furthering entrepreneurs out there.

Like it's rich and ripe for opportunity, no doubt.

Yeah.

I just love serving that.

Yeah.

Right.

Definitely a solid spot.

How long you've been out there?

Dude, I was born and raised.

Oh, wow.

Born and raised in Utah.

I lived basically across the southwest, opening restaurants like all through my 20s.

I had a really incredible opportunity young in my career to be on the founding team of Costa Vita, which is now, you know, a hundred location, a couple of hundred million dollar company.

But in that day, when I joined, it was like we rolled the walls ourselves, turned salad bars into serving lines, body equipment on eBay and just bootstrapped it.

And that's really how I cut my teeth in the business.

Like, dude, I didn't actually ever aspire to be in the food business.

I wasn't like a buser when I was a kid, or I was a server that turned into a general manager that turned into an owner.

Like that just wasn't my journey.

Like my background, especially academically, like I was studying finance.

Like I wanted to be on Wall Street.

I wanted to run a fund or, you know, drive trades.

Who knows?

And next thing you know, dude, I'm like, I'm selling burritos for the next like seven years of my life.

And all of a sudden, then I'm selling raspberry chicken salads.

And then I'm disrupting the deli space.

And then all of a sudden I find myself in pizza and then, you know, beyond.

And like I said, it's.

no intent to be here.

I think it's another reason why we sort of crush the space.

My team just, we just have a different vibe.

Like there's a different style to how we do it.

Yeah, I want to dive into the company culture style.

You've donated 2 million meals.

So through our tenure, yeah, in fact, over more.

Wow.

Yeah.

In fact, we're big, big part of why we exist, right?

And it's, if I take it like a little deeper, you know, for a moment, but my upbringing was a little different, right?

Like

neither of my parents graduated high school.

I'm not taking anything away from them by any means, but nobody in my household was like entrepreneurial or like wanted to take lead.

Right.

Right.

My dad was just like doing the best he could.

Right.

My mom kind of, she, she did her own thing.

She left at an early age.

And, and my dad just leaned in and

is beautiful as he is and he still is, like he's the biggest lover, but there was like nobody in the household like championing me, like, dude, let's go take over.

You know, let's go take over the world together.

It was just like,

you know, you're loved, go figure the rest out.

And that's what's beautiful about this business and this industry is the food business doesn't give a f where you come from.

It really doesn't care what family you come from, what school you went to.

All it cares about is how you show up, like where you are today and where you want to be tomorrow.

And it's an industry that rewards you, like no doubt.

I love that.

Yeah.

All different races, all different cultures because food is universal.

Dude, it's, it honestly is probably the most universal and connective, like,

you know, sort of being that we have in all cultures.

It's, it's how other cultures celebrate each other.

Right.

Right.

It's like why we gather.

We gather over celebration.

We gather over mourning.

We gather because eating is a, is a sacred duty.

Like we have to eat to survive.

Right.

Right.

Yeah.

I want to dive more in the culture again and the team team because you're able to scale so many brands at once.

Typically, when you see entrepreneurs like try to do too many things at once, they fail.

Yeah.

But you're just pulling it off nonstop.

So I'd love to learn more about the team.

Dude, you know, it's wild.

I think a lot of brands,

again, like, this is my own opinion, my own, you know, my own share of success, but I think a lot of brands, especially when they go to scale, I don't even care if it's in the restaurant vertical.

You know, they have one of their biggest opportunities is really like to get the sandwich right across the board, right?

like, geez, I'm so focused on I got to get the sandwich, the pizza, the salad, the beverage, the cocktail right.

And to be honest, dude, that's kind of on our flip side, getting the sandwich right is kind of easy.

The part that you really got to lean into and get to get it right is you got to duplicate in your likeness.

You got to get other people that champion your brand, that like believe in your mission.

You got to be able to build an architecture where people show up and actually bleed your brand.

Right.

And that's a big one for me.

Like as a as a CEO, as a founder, when I was on the C-suite of emerging brands before I launched my own company a few years ago, like in my big forum, my number one was always people.

My number one was always like the greatest investment we make is the investment that we make into others and that result that we yield through their growth and just their alignment to our mission.

And dude, I had a discount, dude, literally when you text me and I was at the store, I was FaceTiming one of my leadership.

like members that I knew wanted something from Aviator Nation.

And she's like, yo, I want this new pump cover.

When it comes out, it has our lightning bolt on it.

So we're like, yeah, of course.

I was literally FaceTiming her, right?

There's layers between us.

She does run a very profitable and high-volume location for us.

And literally, I get off the phone and it's like a $60 t-shirt.

And she like thinks that I just spent $5,000.

Wow.

Like, she was so stoked on it.

But I think that way.

I think about putting that person first.

And I tool them.

You make people feel.

I tool them every day.

And it's one thing to like reward people.

It's one thing to have a great,

what is it?

Like a great comp plan or runway for growth.

Yeah.

But really, dude, at the end of the day, all people care about is how you make them feel.

And we're just damn good at it.

That's awesome.

We're damn good at it.

Cause I remember what it was like for me.

No, I don't remember like, what's the best way to say it?

Like, I remember this, there was a time where like I was craving a mentor and didn't even know it.

Right.

And the moment that someone gave me a shot and believed in me, believed in me more than I believed in me, changed my entire life.

So it just wasn't that long ago for me, bro.

Like it just, it really wasn't that long ago that I was like sitting on the outside going like,

Damn.

And that one person, I could tell you these two or three people that changed my life forever.

I want to be that for others.

And so we run our culture top to bottom that way.

Incredible.

And the other side of it too is like, we only do business with people that we like.

Like if you're an, you're out.

If we don't love you, you're out.

Like, it's just, it's true.

Yeah.

And I have no problem.

I sit on your platform, millions of people hopefully listening in or leaning into this at some point.

Like, dude, if we don't like you, you're not on board with us.

That's it.

It's just because we need that to be, we need our culture to be just fluid.

And everyone, if you want to run a great business, the people that are championing your brand, they have to love it.

They're not not advocates these are like evangelists right they're like that literally you don't know the difference whether they own the business or not right that's that's that's the secret yeah that's the recipe at going to scale and there's no doubt it's it's why within our business like you you're not going to see like now hiring ads out there we don't post it on our front doors people walk resumes into us because we give them a reason to work for us incredible that's it man yeah it's it's that simple but it's that tough dude no i i i love it you see brandon Dawson came on the show and he talked about how your employees should be your biggest advertisers.

They shouldn't want to promote your brand.

And they're your cultural co-founders.

Are you interested in coming on the digital social hour podcast as a guest?

Well, click the application link below in the description of this video.

We are always looking for cool stories, cool entrepreneurs to talk to you about business and life.

Click the application link below, and here's the episode, guys.

Like, that's the other thing.

Like, his founders got to realize that, dude, if you're hiring a host, a server, a line cook, a sous chef, a director of events, a bartender, you know, a kick server, like they are representing your crest.

And are you giving them a reason to be proud of it?

Right.

We went through this practice recently with my team and just said, like, hey, I kind of gave them all like five to seven minutes.

In fact, this was yesterday, two days ago.

And I was like, hey, take a few minutes.

And I just want you guys to independently note down like all the reasons why you, your business, your team and location are bad.

And one of the biggest ones that like really stood out was like, hey, we're because we care.

We're because we're heard.

Right.

We're because we wear the same jersey.

And bro, I'm like, why this is happening?

I'm like holding in emotion.

I'm realizing like, yeah, dude, we're not a big company by any means, but in five years, we went from zero to 30 million.

That's not terrible by any means.

And we've had some great, we've had a great exit.

We've had, you know, some good merging partners.

We've had good growth.

But when you look at that and you realize that people are willing to just say it, like that just comes off the cuff they're like damn

we love being here yeah that's dude it's special that's a company I think a lot of people would love to work for man and it's a shame because there's a lot of companies where people are ruled by fear yeah people feel

they're they fear their bosses they fear their coworkers and that just adds stress to your life you know what I mean

honestly I've been there like I think that even early in my career like these things that I'm sharing with you now are years and years of growth these are like some fast failing and also some long hard failing right?

Like I've also closed restaurants.

Not just everyone that I've opened is always one.

I've had months before where we've lost considerable amount, we've, we've lost considerable amount of money and resources.

We've, we've chased the romantics of making something work.

Right.

And, you know, it really boils down to just.

Man, when you have the right people on board that really believe in what you're doing and you give them an environment where they feel supported, heard, and safe, and then you pour gas on it,

you're an outlier, man.

Yeah.

And, and, you know, I would say at times, like, I had the kind of horsepower that would kick the door off the frames and exhaust people, or I had the kind of horsepower where I didn't really listen to people.

I wanted to be the biggest brain in the room, or I wanted to do all the thinking, or, you know, how to, I wanted to grab all the gratification and all the outcome.

And it wasn't until I realized that, like, no one of us can accomplish what we all can together.

And if we just champion that effort, everybody can win.

And we all need, in my industry, a tiny bit of the available market share to be wildly successful.

Yeah, because there's some food giants, man.

I mean, I saw Chipotle blow up.

Dude, I mean, you're talking about guys that have hundreds, if not thousands of locations in the industry.

Not just guys that have four or five, right?

But you can look at people like Groot and David, like this opened up the Fountain Blue here, right?

You look at a group like that that has less than 10 locations that are unique.

And next thing you know, the dude's taking a half a billion dollar exit.

Yeah.

Right.

It's just, it's amazing what you can create and curate when you become a bit of that kind of authoritative voice of the most recognized and counted on brand.

And he's done some amazing things.

He's someone like when I kind of look at North Star, I sort of point that way because we're also in entertainment, right?

On a far different scale.

Like he's in the bold out front.

You know, he's got large concert platforms and venues, hotels and such and celebrity partnerships.

And we're kind of more in the insulated entertainment business.

When we have a high-profile client that wants, you know, a club vibe or whatever it might be, we kind of turn up that experience, but only to their guest list.

I feel that.

I love the, I mean, dude, I go to Komodo once a month.

That place is fire.

Dude, have you been out to his spots in Miami?

I've been in Komodo.

That's it.

Yeah, like his spots, especially like Swan and

like what he did at Strawberry Moon and

Good Times Hotel, that partnership with Pharrell.

Yeah.

Like, dude, what they're, I mean, the dude really is the king of Miami.

Like, no doubt.

You know, we're talking kings of Salt Lake City, bro.

But yeah.

I mean, that's cool.

He might be the king of Vegas if Fountain Blue takes off, too.

Bro, Vegas, I honestly believe gets better with him.

I think the experience is bettering and furthering with his involvement.

I think so too.

He's got to have him out here from the locals, but I think they're just jealous.

Yeah.

Listen, bro,

when you shake the cage, right, you make a splash.

Like people, that's the thing.

Like I've realized this too in our own success.

Like, man, you're going to walk in the arena and people are going to boo no matter what just because it's not them.

Right?

Like, you're just the other team.

And we get that.

Like, I even get that in our market.

Like, we have, we're setting up a

10,000 square foot freestanding experience right in the heart of our city.

And we're taking on the bar business and we're opening a weekend day club, rooftop, end cap atriums overlooking the city.

And the bar owners are giving us a little different attention than they ever have before.

Wow.

And we're like, yo, like our arms are around this city.

Like we can all win together.

But it is,

it's a little different game.

I can only imagine what it's like in a place like Vegas.

Especially because it's built on like mob ties.

I know, right?

Right.

That's a short-term, small way of thinking.

You know what I mean?

I love competition.

Like, when I see podcasters killing it, I'm like, hell yeah.

We need that, bro.

Like, I don't know about you, but I actually need someone on my heels.

Like, I, I need, like, if it's just easy, we're just crushing, I'm complacent.

We're almost, like, somewhat self-sabotaging.

Like, I need, I need a little bit of the trenches.

I need some adversity.

Like, I need a little, I need a little flex in the iron.

Same.

Otherwise, like, I just don't stay as sharp.

Yeah, no, 100%.

I'm super competitive.

You mentioned earlier, you almost wanted a mentor when you were younger, right?

And you finally found one.

What was that moment?

Dude, I had no idea this guy was showing up for me, right?

His name's Sean Collins.

Dude's a total stud.

He's founder of Costa Vita and several other businesses.

And he came to me one day and I wasn't even like,

it wasn't even on my radar.

The future wasn't even my radar.

Like, dude, I'm 20 years old.

I'm like, at the time, I'm shaped like a linebacker and I'm bowling.

I'm pursuing a professional bowling career.

So I'm down here to like the showboat and I can't even remember some of the other places that Sam's Club or Sam's Town, other places here in in Vegas that had bowling.

And he came to me with this idea of being the first general manager of what is now Costa Vita.

And he was like, I know you don't know anything about it, but he's like, I just know your presence.

People will follow you, your energy.

And he's like, and you're teachable.

And I didn't even know what a lot of those things meant at that point.

But he just believed in me.

He's like, let's give this the next 60 days.

And dude, those next 60 days turned into seven years.

It turned into 15 years.

It turned into me sitting here with you

after accomplishing what we have.

And

that dude just gave me that shot bro and I just feel like my reason is to give that back to other people that the biggest way I can pay back that sort of reward and that gift is to just take as many people with me that are willing to earn it and get to these outcomes incredible man bro it's wild that is so cool and I never thought we could do it with smothered burritos bro or all from one takes one meeting right one dude literally like one two-hour meeting on the back of a piece of paper wow literally changed the entire trajectory of my life.

The whole thing.

Bowling's tough to make a living in.

Bro.

And I was so kipped, like with such conviction, like no one was ever talking me out of it.

I'm like, I'm going to be the next, like, Norm Duke, bro.

I'm going to be the freaking, you know, I'm going to be the best bowler ever and bowl my off 36 weeks a year and make $150,000.

I couldn't even imagine how hard I would work to be broke.

Yeah.

How nice of you?

Were you bowling 200s?

Oh, hell yeah.

Wow.

Yeah, dude.

I've had many perfect games.

Damn.

Yeah.

300.

And my first one was at 14.

I was either 14 or 15 years old.

I remember specifically October 4th, 1997.

So I would have been 15.

I'd have been just barely 15 when I had my first one.

That is insane.

Yeah.

And then I've, you know, I bowled over 30,000 games.

Dude, my hand grew crooked from it.

I pulled my pelvic.

Fingers are crooked.

Dude, like it's my hand literally grew because the ball's round.

It's the most comfortable position for my hand to be in, even this many years later, dude.

Wow.

That is crazy.

Bolling scars.

Dude, wild, right?

Who knows what, what, there's just a bigger plan.

We don't even know what that is, man.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I implore people to like take random meetings they otherwise wouldn't maybe because you never know.

If you're not happy with where you're at now, if someone hits you up to go somewhere, I mean, consider going.

Well, dude, just like respond to a DM from time to time.

Yeah.

Like, like, don't let, don't let, don't let opportunity pass you by.

Even like this, dude, like us linking up.

Like,

we were put, now we've been putting a couple of group texts and we're all like, like dude i already know sean like we've already connected like things are cool and but it's like that's when you know there's just alignment right like when you're already connected with dudes that are already in my sphere and vice versa yeah and we're just like we've yet to connect it just you just got to pay attention to those gifts man that's how you know because we're super selective who we hang out with so if they're making introductions you know it's a good one dude totally and i i think there's there's a lot of truth to that right like you get

You get a bit of that like, dude, well, if my guy, like, dude, I send screenshots of DMs to, you know, friends.

Rather, I had one today, literally, when I was sitting in your, in your spot out here, like somebody had kicked it was from Jimmy, Rex, right?

And a dude had said, like, hey, like, Jimmy's one of my good buddies.

I want to get you on my platform, et cetera.

I took a screenshot, I kicked it to Jimmy.

He bounced right back.

I was like, yeah, dude, that's a good spot.

Like, yeah, pursue that.

Nice.

And it just, it feels good too, because a lot of people name drop.

That's why I screenshot, but you know how that goes.

And it's dope when someone else is an advocate on your behalf.

Yeah, absolutely.

You got to earn that.

You got to, right?

Yeah.

I mean, you don't have to, but if you want to be in this arena, like, right, if you really want to be like in the entrepreneurial arena that is respected nationally, then you got to carry your weight.

You actually got to create some results and be a good dude.

Yeah.

Right.

You're not in the business of screwing people.

You're in the business of making things happen.

You can be entrepreneurial.

But if you want to build a positive reputation, people have way too much access now.

Like, people can run their due diligence on you.

They have their teams run their due diligence on you.

Like, it's,

you know, I feel like 2023 was like the year of exposure.

Oh, yeah.

Reputation is everything, man.

I mean, if you scam one guy, the whole world's going to know about it.

Well, and even like the rep management, too.

Like, I think there's art in that, right?

Because no matter what, dude, you're going to shake a cage.

No matter what, you're going to piss some people off, whether that was your intent or not, right?

Like, there's a big part of my life that I lived that I actually didn't pay attention to the wake I was creating because I was just, I was hell bound on just creating success because I never wanted to be broke.

And then, you know, later in my life, and especially the past few years, it was like, wait a minute, like it's not just success at all costs.

Like, what is success now?

Like, health, well-being, you know, known and defined counterbalance.

Same things that, you know, you can feel good about where you are and who you are.

I can bring my daughter and my wife with me.

I don't care if they're listening in because the reality is like what they, what I'm saying is what I do.

Right.

Like what you see is what you get.

Same, dude.

Yeah.

I neglected health, neglected family, neglected friends for years, all about the bag.

Got the bag and realized this is so unfulfilling.

Dude, you and I, like, I didn't even realize that was a bit for you, but it wasn't that long ago for me, dude.

Like two, two, two and a half years ago, like my personal brand, my businesses, my portfolio had never been more relevant at the time.

And I literally had never stood in a space more alone because I literally did, I was so removed from every bit of any depth of relationship around me.

And dude, I've spent the last two years, like, going working way hard and like really identifying, like, that self-awareness, finding that place to really have self-love and realize and recognize, like, damn, dude,

being a committed father, like really being a participant in my life and in my relationships and the people that I love, but most importantly, like seeing my own reflection and honoring, respecting that guy.

That's a space that I love.

I'm in that space deep.

That's why Jimmy and I are super tight.

I mean, I'm in his leadership two group,

but I spent a lot of time leaning into men, especially men around my age.

Yeah, I love what you guys are doing with the mastermind, that men's group, because that's so needed because we have so much pride as men that we don't express it.

Well, and Sean, we're at a point now, dude, where it doesn't, like, you actually can have both.

You actually can have a highly successful business and portfolio, and you can also have a healthy and furthering and sustainable life.

Like, you can have both.

And, and our goal really now is, as this continues to evolve, at least I know my goal in helping men is like, I don't want to have them, help them put their lives back together at 40 and 50 years old.

I want to teach them at 20 that you can have both.

That you actually, and I do believe you need an unwavering and

wavering or just committed counterbalance to build anything that is meaningful, but not at the cost of your personal health.

Not at the cost of relationships, not at the cost of damaging relationships, causing trauma, like hurting people and

drowning those around you.

You just don't need that.

You don't.

It's not necessary.

It's not, man.

Yeah.

I can't wait to show my kids the proper way, man.

Dude,

I barely called my own mom.

I was so locked into making money.

I get it, dude.

My mom used to tell me, she was was like, yo, like, I don't want to talk to Michael, the CEO when I talk to Michael, my son.

I had no idea what that even meant.

Yeah.

Right.

And now I'm like, wait a minute.

I have three daughters.

I've got twins that are two.

And my daughter that's here is actually 13.

And she's a complete powerhouse.

But I realized, like,

that's why I'm here.

Right.

I'm here to be the most incredible beacon I can be.

for my daughters, man, for the people that I really love.

It's shifted so much of what I do and how I do it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Let's end off with that.

Let's end off with legacy and what you want to leave everyone.

Dude, you know what's wild?

I

was thinking about this while I was walking over here.

It's funny that you kind of bring that up.

I don't even know that's like a loaded question by any means, but like, it's pretty simple for me.

Like, I just want to leave people and places and things better than I found them.

And like, what does that mean?

Right.

And, and we were sharing this with my buddy that was on here some time ago.

And I own my own alcohol brand.

I don't even drink anymore.

It's not because I'm against it.

It's just that it's a net zero for me.

It doesn't give me any benefit.

Right.

Right.

I'm like, you know, I want to, I want to be as healthy as I possibly can to live for as long as I can to be that beacon for the people that I love.

And oftentimes that's people that don't even know that I love them.

They're supporting my businesses, supporting my family, showing up for my friends,

whatever it might be.

Like, I just want to be in my best for as long as I possibly can.

So I know that there's a few of us, right?

When I say a few, I could be millions, but there's, there's a few of us that really can make the world a better place.

through our position, through whether that's our authoritative voice, our relevance, you know, our resources, our innovation.

And we have a responsibility.

And whatever you believe in, like, I know that God gave me these gifts.

I know that God challenged me this way so that I could come out and actually make a difference in people's lives, not just in my own.

And at 41, man, I actually think I'm honoring that.

Wow.

And so I plan to carry that all the way through, man.

Love that.

No doubt.

Dude, such a fun episode, Michael.

Where could people find you?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

No, great.

Hey, it was a great time.

I hope that you all got some value from this.

Please connect with me on Instagram.

It's just at Michael McHenry, or you can visit us at themcenrygroup.com or any of my brands.

You can catch me during those prime times.

I'm in the dining room.

So please come up, say hello, high five.

Let's take a photo and

hopefully plan to see you there.

And Sean, thank you again, brother.

Absolutely.

Thank you for stopping, man.

Yeah, thanks for watching, guys, as always, and I will see you tomorrow.