Welcome to another episode of celebrating small family businesses.

I'm John.

This is Connie.

And today we are celebrating Philip and Beth, owners of spots gelato in Kentucky.

So we're outside of Florida.

Hi, Phillip.

Hi, Beth.

How are you today?

Hey, there.

I'm great.

Doing good.

Thanks for having us.

It's a pleasure.

So how did you guys get to be in the gelato business?

Well, it was a roundabout way.

Neither one of us ever dreamed that we would be in the food business.

You know, we didn't.

That was not our background at all.

What was your background?

Well, both of us worked in corporate.

I was in the legal field, and.

I worked in the medical field, worked on medical equipment for 30 years.

So we were.

I was kind of set in my ways, and we had no idea.

It just kind of worked out, really.

It just happened.

Well, we had a hobby farm here in Kentucky, and neither of us had ever farmed before, but we.

It was a farm that had a great old house that was falling in, and we bought the house at auction, and it came with a farm.

So we quickly learned how to do some farming things, and we did lots of different things with the farm.

At one point, we were doing a, we call it a community supported agriculture, or CSA, where we were feeding.

People would buy shares in the garden for the whole year.

They'd pay the fee upfront, and then we would deliver a box to them of items that were grown on the farm each week.

And so at the time, we were doing a CSA, and we were.

We raised the majority of the things, but we couldn't raise everything that would go in these boxes each week.

So we worked with other farmers in the area to add things to these boxes.

So we already had this network of farmers that were raising lots of great things, you know, that we didn't raise.

And about the same time, we were traveling during the winter, and we would go to this ice cream shop after dinner every night, and it was a walk from our hotel, and it was great.

And I said to the guy that owned it, so why, you know, half jokingly, why is this so great?

Is it because we're on vacation?

He said, well, it's not ice cream, it's gelato.

And that's the first that I had heard of gelato.

And his explanation was that it was made daily from local ingredients.

And I thought, well, we have local ingredients at home and access to these great farmers, and I'm just going to go home and try and make this, which is what I did.

I tried to make it in my home kitchen.

People kept saying, you should sell it.

And Philip thought it.

It sounded like a good idea to build a food truck out of a vintage trailer.

And so he built a trailer.

We learned to make gelato more commercially in larger batches, and we ran this food truck on the weekends, and it was such a hit, more than we ever thought it would be.

So then the next year, we added a second truck and built a commercial kitchen on the farm.

And so we've kind of turned into raising hay on the farm and making gelato.

There's not much other farming that goes on anymore.

So.

So that is our roundabout story, how we ended up doing this.

Yeah.

So when you built.

Did that first food truck, were you both still working corporate?

Yes, and we were for quite some time.

Our plan was to continue working and doing this on the weekends just for just extra money.

And we enjoyed it.

We worked together and I enjoyed it, and it was busy.

But I think once we decided to do a second clock, we knew that we were going to have to do something else.

So the craziest thing of this whole story is that we bought a commercial gelato machine.

And the way the food guidelines were at that time, we had to make the gelato on that first food truck.

And so we would go to events and we would be making gelato, and we'd be selling it out the window.

And it was selling so fast that we couldn't keep up with.

It was crazy.

Didn't have time to make it because you were so busy scooping it.

Yeah.

So we.

We learned really quick, you know, you learn from your mistakes, and we learned that there's easier ways to do that.

Yeah.

So then we built a commercial kitchen just for gelato on the farm.

And that was one of our best decisions.

It's allowed us to grow.

It really has.

Sure.

But it's a big commitment in that, you know, when you just one truck and you're kind of trying it out to build a commercial kitchen seems like a leap.

Well, yeah, just at the beginning.

It's expensive.

The original machine that we used at the time was $10,000.

So it's.

And, you know, we hadn't sold gelato.

We hadn't sold the first cup of gelato to anyone.

And we bought this machine, and he built the truck, and, you know, it was kind of a wing and a prayer sort of thing.

And it was worked out.

And we learned a lot.

We learned a lot real, real quick.

So.

And plus, we were.

We enjoyed the construction part of the kitchen.

We did pretty much everything.

So, you know, I enjoyed that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

What would be one of the biggest things you learned when you first started and got that machine?

That first machine?

Well, you know, the way the laws are on producing in Kentucky, you had to, I guess your milk and your cream had to be commercially what's.

So you couldn't just buy a gallon of milk and a gallon of cream and put them together because then you are running a dairy operation.

But what you could do is you could buy premixed milk and cream in the ratios that you wanted to use it, and then you're running a ice cream business.

So, yeah, so that is how we had to do it.

And now still the milkman delivers every week, and it's a specialized blend of milk and cream and sugar.

And, you know, that that's what we use.

Wow.

So it's an ingredient.

The way the ingredients are sourced and combined is all regulated for the product.

The end product, if you have to sell it commercially.

Yes.

It's in Kentucky especially.

Other states are different, I think.

And I think, too, that was one of many things that we learned because, like I said, we hadn't been in the food business, you know?

So each day we had a new education about something.

And still to this day, we're still learning, you know, as we eventually moved out of just having food trucks and into brick and mortar stores, then that's a whole other group of regulations, you know, and things that you have to learn and all of your inspections and all of your construction and I, that sort of thing.

So, yeah, it keeps you on your toes.

You're with different counties, so they're a little, maybe follow the law a little different.

So certain places are more strict on your plumbing or other things that you're doing in your stores.

So it varies.

And you do earn and you just know it's not gonna be.

We know we don't know everything.

So how long ago did all this start?

We started about eleven years ago and just did food trucks and mobile events until 2019.

And in 2019, that's when we opened our first stores.

And we really, we liked having the winters off.

You know, that was part of the reason that this seasonal kind of business worked great for us.

We could still travel and do what we wanted to do in the winters and work really hard in the spring and summer.

So we kind of were resistant to the idea of opening brick and mortar stores because we didn't want to be tied down in the winter.

But the first location kind of fell in our lap.

It was in a small little town that we liked close, and we loved the building and the price was right, and we liked the people that owned the building who wanted us to come.

And so we said yes, and that was the first one.

But at the same time, another one fell in our lap.

And that's how we came to open two.

Two within a few weeks of each other.

At about the same time, I heard.

You say stores, and I was poised to ask that question.

Cause that seems like.

Hmm, kind of fast.

It wasn't planned that way, but it worked out well.

And I think that that's true.

With a lot of things that have happened with us, we have seen, we've had opportunities present themselves that maybe were not really what we originally thought we would do, but we've been open to ideas as they've come along and made it work.

You know, just kind of rolled with it.

So you've got to be flexible, for sure.

You get a.

So, how was it?

Okay, so you both had your own careers, and you.

So you didn't work together, and now, all of a sudden, you're together.

We've been there.

Yeah.

So we recently celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary.

Congrats.

That alone is, you know, there's some secrets to pulling that off, but when you add.

When you add that we work together, you know, it makes it even more unusual, I think.

But I think the secret to our success working together is we both do different things.

We each have a stream, and we're usually in the same place or the same area, but we're not working together.

I'm in a different area.

I'm in the kitchen or another warehouse or something, and so we don't really see.

We see each other for dinner sometimes, and that's.

That's just like we would normally.

So.

And I think, too, I know that he knows his areas much better than I do.

You know, he pretty much manages the kitchen.

He manages all of the deliveries, all of the warehousing, ordering, all of that.

He's managing that aspect of the business where I do more hiring of the staff, more training of the staff staff, more managing of the staff office functions, and marketing for the business.

And so I know that he knows his areas a whole lot better than I do, so I.

You know, it really works out.

He.

He kind of takes the lead in those things, and I think he also trusts me on the parts that.

That I do.

You know, if there's something that we really feel strongly about that the other is doing, then we have a discussion about it.

But most of the time.

That doesn't happen very often.

No, it does.

You know, I figure we've done something right with this combination to have made it work this long.

We're still learning, so.

Yeah.

And every day is different.

Yeah.

We all the.

We call it the surprise of the day.

Oh, my gosh.

Yes.

That's a good thing to call it.

Yeah.

So we get out of the bed in the morning and we have a plan, you know.

Oh, yeah.

This is what we're going to do today.

And it never ends up that way.

You know, how did I end up here, right, exactly.

But that's the way it is.

Happens.

That's entrepreneurship, right.

That's entrepreneurship 101.

Yes.

Be flexible.

Yeah.

Flexible, adaptable, resourceful, and resilient.

That's my motto so far.

Far.

F a r r.

Yes.

Yeah, that works for sure.

Okay, so you mentioned staffing.

Is that something that you brought from your corporate experience, hiring and managing?

No.

Well, a little bit.

I did hire and manage in my corporate job a little bit, but most of our staff are high school and college age kids, and so that presents a whole nother set of challenges.

Our staff are great, and we are hiring, for the most part, the best of the best.

I think probably the management of our staff.

We learned more from our ungrown children.

You said, you know, we had kids and we don't have pizza and, yeah, kind of knew what to expect.

And, you know, sometimes they try to treat us like, I guess they would talk to their parents.

And we know, we already know that.

We know those tricks sometimes.

You know, honestly, that's probably the hardest part of the job, is, I think, the labor, managing the labor, it's just.

It's difficult.

Everything else is almost easy compared to that.

And, you know, just having gelato shops, the ice cream business, most of your staff is going to be high school teenage kids.

And even the great ones that stay with us, they eventually age out because they're going to college or they're going on to their regular careers.

So you've got a very short window of keeping those same kids, you know, and so it's a balance of the ones that you hire this year or the ones that you're hoping that you can keep a couple years, and the ones that are aging out this year, you know, they're going to be a good influence on the ones, the new ones that are coming in.

It's.

It's difficult because you don't want all young ones, you know, and you don't want all ones that are leaving to go to college in August either.

You know, you've got to have a blend of both so that you can make it through your season with a somewhat experienced staffing base.

Yeah.

And in the summer, we may have up to 70.

So there's a lot.

Yeah, it's part time.

They're all part.

They're all part time.

And like I said, most of them are involved in lots of.

Lots of extracurricular activities.

They're athletes.

They're, you know, so even during the year, they.

Someone may be involved in a sport real heavily during, you know, during the spring.

So they're not working much in the spring, but then they may work a whole lot more in the summer and in the fall when they don't have things going on.

So it's a juggling act to make sure you have the right mix and the right number of folks in your stores, you know.

Wow, what a scheduling nightmare.

Yeah.

Have you found a particular, like, piece of software or tool that really helps make that easier, or did you just have to figure it out?

Well, we have a secret weapon for our scheduling.

Can we talk about it?

How secret?

We have a woman that works with us who owns her own business.

She is a virtual assistant.

She actually lives in Kansas, and she's been with us for six years, since right before we started opening stores.

And she handles 100% of the scheduling for our staff members.

And she does it from Kansas, does it completely remotely.

And she, as you can imagine, she and I are in touch multiple times a day.

And she was a teacher, so she knows deal with these kids.

Yeah.

She was a middle school teacher who, she stopped teaching school because she started her own family.

And she.

So she has a bunch of kids, and this keeps her able to manage her household and spend time with her kids.

And we're one of her clients.

We are not her only one, but we keep her hopping for sure.

It's been great.

Yeah.

We couldn't do it without it.

But we also, we are very upfront with our staff in that we expect them to be mature enough to be in charge of their own schedules.

You know, they enter their availability, the times that they're available to work and the times that they are not available to work.

And based on that is how we do the schedule.

So it works really good as long as the kids fill out their forms correctly.

And if something comes up and they're not able to work, we also make it clear to them if they can't work, for whatever reason, they are responsible for finding coverage for that shift.

And we may have to remind them over and over and over again, but we make them do it, and then pretty soon they.

They realize this would have been so much easier had I just done my availability correctly, you know?

And it's part of just teaching them how to work with us.

But we're teaching a lot of them how to have a job because we may be the first one.

First time they've ever had a job.

Most of them.

It's their first job.

Okay.

Yeah.

So that's what I was sensing is that you're doing a lot of development of life skills.

Right.

It's great.

She are scheduling.

She's a magician for sure.

Sounds like it.

And you keep her very happy.

Yes.

It works for her.

It really does.

Yeah.

Right.

Exactly.

Fabulous.

What's something that, you know now that you wish you'd known when you started?

Oh, gosh.

How hard it would be and how much time it actually takes.

And what I mean, I guess, is you think that part of, the.

Part of the joy of having your own business is be able to set your own schedule.

Right.

Which we can, but that doesn't mean that you're ever 100% off duty, you.

Know, I mean, we try not to do much while our stores are open, but sometimes, like, we go to a movie or just out to dinner or still have to work and still take care of problems and things like that.

So you're kind of on the call pretty much all the time.

And we still have that same model where we're closed in the winter because the sales are not as great in the winter.

So we close about Halloween, and then we reopen around St.

Patrick's Day.

So that's.

But I haven't had a day off since March 1.

Yeah.

I mean, we work full time with all of our time, you know, in just a few months.

Yeah.

Which is fun.

It's not for everybody because it's.

There is some long days.

Yeah, it's.

It's longer.

It's longer than a, like, I'm thinking of some of the, you know, the beach resorts in the, up in the northeast that would only be maybe open for three months out of a year, you know?

Right.

Yeah, they're.

They're at it hard for those three months, and then they probably got it fill in other times.

I don't know.

But sounds like, you guys, your season is long enough that it's more than enough, and yet.

Yeah.

It's a full.

You're ready for a rest when it's done.

Halloween comes.

We are.

And we do during the four months that we're off, we do take.

We work a little.

Yeah, we take maybe two of those months completely off, but then the other two, we're starting our plan.

All of the planning for the upcoming season happens in our winter months when we're off.

You know, any things we want to change, any marketing things we're doing, because once your season starts, you don't have time to change the way you're doing things.

You know, you just got to hang on until you get through, you know, get through to the end of the season.

I know that gelato is similar.

You've mentioned milk and sugar and, you know, cream.

So it's similar to ice cream in a way, but there's a difference, too.

What is the major difference?

That's probably the most popular question that we are asked, and the main thing is gelato is an italian style of ice cream, and the ratio of milk and cream is different in gelato than in american ice cream.

So it has less fats, it has more milk and less cream.

Where american ice cream has more cream and less milk, it also has less air, just the way that you make it.

It has less air mixed into it, so it tastes more dense and thick, kind of like homemade ice cream in the east, making the backyard in the churn, you know, so it tastes different.

It allows the flavors that you're using to, because you don't have as much fat.

It's not coating your tongue.

You really taste those flavors.

In Gelada.

It's a little more intense, I guess, because it's more concentrated, not as hard as ice cream.

And that may be why we remember, just like you had that experience on vacation, going to the gelato store and saying, wow, this is really good.

And it was special.

The same.

Because I, you know, I tend to like, I'm a fan of coffee ice cream, and most of the coffee ice cream that I find is just tastes watered down.

And I want that.

I want an intense flavor.

I look for that.

So that might be, I believe that the lovely lady Deborah that introduced us told me that you guys have several stores, and they're in smaller towns where you might be the only store of that kind in the.

In the town.

Is that true?

Yes.

So we have five stores in Kentucky.

Three are close to Lexington, which is the second largest city in Kentucky, and then two are on the outskirts of Louisville, and that's the largest city in Kentucky.

But we are actually in small, more rural areas, type communities, and we are on Main street in the historic part of these downtowns.

In these, these small towns.

As a matter of fact the first store that we opened, we're in a town of about 9000 people.

You know, it's a very small town.

They have a dairy queen there.

But when we opened there was no other mom and pop kind of ice cream shop in town.

And so in that one we are in a very historic building down by the courthouse and you know, very picturesque little towns and that's been a great model for us even though when we first started a lot of people didn't know what gelato was, you know, so.

It'S not as common now.

People seem to understand it.

Yeah, right.

So, but that's been a great, a great idea that we had where these.

Work for us, a lot of repeat customers.

Have you been able to capture that to some degree that taking an evening walk, the walkability that you find in Europe and, you know, where people are just after dinner, you know, let's take a walk and we'll go get some gelato.

Square stores are pretty small so a lot of people get it and you know, walk around, they need it.

So one store has a walk up window so they can walk up to the window and get it and walk.

Around, sit outside, sit on the steps of the building next door, you know, sit on the benches out front, that kind of thing.

We also have.

It's great marketing.

Well yeah, when people walk around with that, where'd you get that?

That's true.

And also our stores are located close to restaurants so our busiest time is after dinner.

You know, from 730 to nine is our busiest time.

And so people go to dinner and then they walk down the street and they come get gelato as their dessert.

Works out great.

It's important to have a restaurant close to us.

There's no doubt that's a big driver.

That also makes a lot of sense.

I don't know that I thought of that.

It's a feeder.

Yeah, absolutely.

Because you want, you know, you might not like what they have on the menu at the restaurant and oftentimes those are rather healthily priced and it's usually something that they didn't make in house.

So what your experience of working together, what did you learn about each other through this process?

Well, we worked together a long time, I guess before I'm like, oh, wolf.

Well, well, working together is different.

It is.

I think maybe it kind of gives you a greater appreciation for your spouse.

Things that he's managed to figure out and managed to pull off that I probably couldn't pull off and things that are so different than your day to day job, your regular career was.

Right.

You know, I think that's probably the most interesting thing.

Well, plus, I think we've learned if we have a question or have to make a decision, I feel like we know each other enough.

It's not like I've got a caller every.

For every single thing.

And she's the same way.

We.

I think we both make pretty good decisions without being taught that rarely would we have a problem with what we decide.

Yeah.

So I think we've learned that, and we didn't have that at first.

You know, you got to have some independence, I guess, when you're both working of the same area.

So that's something we know.

Yeah.

Increased.

Increased trust as well as the appreciation for each other's strengths.

Right.

That come complementary nature of the strengths.

That's really cool.

Very cool.

So what's something that, that would.

I know I'm asking hard questions here.

What's something that you would offer as advice to other families that are thinking about starting a business together?

You're probably going to work a lot more hours than you think, probably more than your regular job that you're doing.

It's very rewarding, I'll say that.

And I think you're willing to work a lot harder when it's your business.

And it is not as difficult, I don't think, to work long hours when it's yours.

I think that's a good point.

But I also think that financially, I think maybe you need to realize that you're not going to make a fortune right at the beginning, no matter what you're doing.

So you need to be financially able to carry yourself until the point that.

That whatever business you're starting is able to support you, you know, and I would say maybe that's longer than what you would imagine at first.

You know, everything's more expensive, and you just gotta know that you're not gonna.

Make a fortune in your first week, you know, no matter.

And so you've got to be somewhat prepared for that, I think.

Yeah.

So starting as a side hustle is a big advantage if you can do it.

That worked for us and that it was perfect for our situation.

Yeah.

And to not overextend yourself.

Don't spend more money than you can afford to loose starting off, you know, because it may not go as well as you think.

There's a lot of problems with businesses.

I've been sometimes don't have as much money coming in that a lot going and all.

Yeah.

They're so sure of what they're doing that can't possibly go wrong.

What could go wrong?

That they go all in.

And.

Shiny object syndrome.

Yeah.

Did Covid, was it a big setback for your business model, or was it easy to adapt?

It was.

It was one of the top things I might leave other.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Because we started opening stores in 2019.

I remember you said that.

Yeah.

And we actually opened a third store in the fall of 2019 in Lexington, which is a larger city.

And we did it right downtown in the event area close to Ruparena and the opera house, where they had lots of events and lots of concerts.

And it was a very event driven store, and it was quite successful.

And then Covid hit, and those venues did, they didn't have events for, you know, just like any, anyplace else.

The events stopped.

And so we knew that we were going to have to make a decision pretty quickly about that store, you know, because it wasn't, it wasn't a typical neighborhood kind of store where people were.

It was not the destination.

It was coming down for events.

And I.

So we were fortunate enough that we were able to close that store, get out of that lease.

But it was a tough decision for us, you know, but we had two.

Stores then, so we basically, I worked one and she worked one, and we worked from open to close until.

Until we could bring six days a week, until we could wait until we could bring our staff back.

Yeah.

So closing that store in Lexington, it was definitely the right decision, you know, because that, that could have killed us financially.

It really could have.

But at that time, we already had another location in the works and had planned to open in the summer of 2020 in another town.

And we had to make the decision, do we go on and open it in the summer of 2020?

Because we were not able to bring our staff back until the end of May in 2020.

We had planned to open this new third store at the end of June in 2020, and we had to decide, do we go on and do this or do we cancel these plans?

What makes sense?

The landlord was good, too.

He understood.

He wanted us to come there.

So he said, when you're interested, we'll do it.

So he wasn't.

Nobody was looking for any places to open anyway.

Yeah.

I was wondering.

I didn't think there'd be a giant rush of people looking to start a new business.

He didn't have other crazy people beating down his door to open an ice cream shop in the middle of COVID So, and so we did a lot of civil searching, and we decided that it was worth the risk.

And we opened that store in June of 2020, and.

And it's a good location.

It's a great location, and it still is a great store for us, you know, so it was the right decision.

So, Covid.

Yes, it transformed what we were doing, you know, but it was a prime example of having to decide kind of on the spur of the moment what is smart for your individual business.

And that was the best decision for us to close the event driven store in Lexington, but to go ahead with this small town model that works.

Yeah, I wonder if it was because you had that, the one that really had.

It's a different business model if that made that decision a little clearer, because a lot of people kind of fall in love with their baby that they're building, and that store was, in a way, it was an outlier from the rest of your business model.

So did that make it easier to make that decision?

It was easier because it was drastic.

Their customers, there was nobody.

So we knew really quick that it was going to be a while.

Cause it was still uncertain with COVID what was going to happen, you know, and we knew it was going to be a while before this started, before it was going to be.

And really, to this day, I don't regret it one bit.

No.

And I think if we were there today, I don't know that events have even come back as much as they were, which.

How long that's been so, so.

Right.

It would have been an awfully long haul trying to hang in there.

So it was definitely the right decision.

And I think not guessing, knowing for sure what you want to do is important because it's easy to hope and it never works out.

Go ahead and make that decision and move on.

I learned that in the financial trading industry, hope is not a strategy, and it equally applicable to small business.

It's not.

It's not.

Wouldn't it be great, though, if it were?

Things would be easier.

Would be.

Exactly.

Exactly.

You got to look at the data, and you got to be somehow collecting the data to be able to look at the data.

I think that's another place that small businesses, they get so involved in just producing and getting through the day that they forget to work your staffing and your hours.

You're open.

You've got to look at all of your numbers.

If you don't, you don't know.

You're just guessing.

And we, even to this day, we're looking at our numbers every week and we compare it to this week last year and this week two years ago.

How are we doing?

How are the sales?

Are we getting our staffing right?

Are we open the right hours?

And what items are we selling?

Do we need to be marketing a certain item more than what we're marketing it?

So we're looking at that every week.

We don't always get right, but, you.

Know, but you're comparing week of this year till same week of last year.

That's impressive, that's refined.

And the reason that we do that is because ice cream sales, it's a, you know, it's a discretionary, it's an extra thing.

Nobody, nobody has to come see us.

It's not like we're a grocery store.

And so there are cycles during the year that if there's a holiday during a week, our sales are down.

If kids are going back to school, our sales are down because that discretionary income is being spent for school supplies.

So that's why we compare it to week, because that's where we see the differences.

You know, this is back to school this week, this year, back to school last year.

How are we comparing?

Are we doing just as well as we did last year or did we do a little better?

It really helps.

We have learned a lot on that.

We're usually right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I would think your judgment would get, as you learn, as you practice that more, that you'll get tighter and tighter on what you can reliably predict.

Predict is a funny word, but project maybe is a better word.

Well, and that's a big part of the challenge that we have because we've got to make sure we have enough product.

And so you're looking at your sales from this week last year to figure out how much product you're going to need, if your sales are that this year.

And then if you also add in the, the food trucks, which we still, we have eight mobile units also on top of the five brick and mortar locations.

So every week we have events, and so we're looking at those events.

How much money are you going to make at each one of those events?

And how many pans of gelato does that equate to and how much does the kitchen have to produce to supply the events and the store sales that you're going to have for this week?

So that's why those numbers become even more important, because if you run out, then you can't make any money.

You can't sell what you don't have.

Right.

And if you make too much, then you know that cuts into the amount of money that you're making, too.

You know, if it's things that you can't carry over to the next week and continue to sell next week.

So a lot of detail.

There is so much.

Yeah.

We didn't even talk about your training program.

I know you probably got a pretty refined training program, but any, like, high points there?

Like, is there something that you found because you're working with high school kids so they're used to going to school.

I'm just kind of spitballing here.

They're already used to being in a learning environment and kind of taking stuff in really fast.

How did you create your training program relative to that?

Our training program has gone through several different metamorphosis because I learn in a different way even than Phillip learns or that you would learn and definitely a different way than a teenager learns sometimes.

And even from staff member, just staff member.

They're learning in different ways.

So our training really is three parts.

We do instructional videos on how to make every single menu item and how to do every task that they're going to be expected to know how to do.

We send them a link to this playlist.

They watch all of those videos on the playlist, and then we schedule a time where we do an in person training, and we in person make every one of those items and do every one of those tasks.

And they get immediate feedback on, that's great.

You know, let's move on to the next thing or try it this way.

This would make it easier.

And then the third part of the process is we call them supervised shifts, and they actually work an opening shift and a closing shift with an experienced staff member kind of as a wingman.

That experienced staff member is not supposed to be hopping in and doing the things unless the trainee really needs their help, you know?

So the trainee is kind of getting their footing, and they're learning.

So they're learning independently, they're learning with their in person trainer, and then they're learning with an experienced staff member.

And so doing it three different ways, usually you're gonna hit something there that resonates with them, you know, something, and they're not gonna remember it all, you know?

So you're still offering feedback each time you visit with them in the stores.

And just like anybody, some pick it up, no problem, some struggle.

And I think once they can't get her, they almost.

They just.

They give up.

Yeah.

So weed themselves out.

So you have to praise them on the things that they do well at.

It's not most have a certain area that they struggle with, you know, and so you got to find the thing that they're good at and praise that.

Yes.

Recognition is such a big thing, and it doesn't take a lot, you know.

In other words, it doesn't, doesn't have to be a big win or a big show, but just recognition matters so much.

So well done on that.

That's awesome.

How about your kids?

So you said, you mentioned you had grown kids.

Have they shown interest in being involved in the business or in the now or in the future?

A couple of them have worked with us, but I don't think they're really interested.

They kind of have their own careers and are doing their own thing, and.

They'Ll help from time to time.

Yeah, if we're in a bond, they'll help, and we enjoy having them when they're with us.

But I think my mother owned a small business, and as much as I would have loved to have had her small business, I think that she kind of thought that was her, her dream.

She didn't want to saddle me with her thing unless I was really into it.

And I think we kind of think that about our kids, you know, and.

If they were interested, I wouldn't fine, but they do their own thing, so.

And, you know, they don't have the same kind of passion.

It would not go.

Yeah, well, because it's hard work.

You got to love what you're doing.

You got to be dedicated.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So they get the opportunity to try it out, see if it's a fit, and if they let fall in love with it, they fall in love with it.

If they don't, then no.

No harm, no foul.

That's beautiful parenting right there.

Well, on that note, I think it's.

A great place to wind up.

Thank you so much.

So we're going to make sure we put in the show notes.

I want to find out from you offline where your stores are, what towns they're in, so we can make sure we put that in the show notes.

And how people can find you is spotsgelato.com dot.

I know that.

Yes.

That'd be great.

We appreciate it.

Thank you so much for spending this time with us.

This has been wonderful.

Well, thank you for fascinating.

We are certainly not experts.

You know, we learn something new every day.

Yes, we're still learning.

And that's a sign of an expert.

They're still willing to learn every day.

It's the guy who thinks he knows it all that you got to watch out for he's lost his curiosity.

Right.

Right.

All righty.

Well, thank you again so much, and we look forward to following the story of spots gelato.

Thank you.

Thanks for having us.