The Straight Talk Employees Want – Newton Hoang, 7 Leaves Cafe

The Great Resignation has turned into the Great Reshuffle and now the “Great Re-Reckoning.”

We invited Newton Hoang from 7 Leaves Café on to talk about the “Culture of Care” he’s building and how that fits in with the “Cultural Reckoning” the restaurant industry must address to improve employee retention, hiring, leadership, working conditions and care.

[Newton defines a Culture of Care] – it’s one where the company leaders listen to employees, uncover what they want, and then work to deliver the things they’re asking for. And it’s often not monetary!

[What employees want] is to understand the business and straight talk about the business. They’ve uncovered that employees have a real thirst for knowledge and education, and learning about the business operations.

[Community involvement and local store marketing] is an element of the culture of care -
Speaking at local colleges and encouraging leadership and store managers to get involved in these efforts has gone a long way.

[A galvanized and engaged workforce] – Employee retention is not a top challenge for the
brand due to their care and attention to  employee needs and wants.

[Human marketing] - humanized marketing efforts that build meaningful 1:1 relationships. It includes using your employees in your marketing efforts - less product imagery, more imagery and stories about the people who work for your brand.

Connect with Newton on LinkedIn

Resources:

• Labor Series: Who Comes First: The Employee or Guest?
• Labor Series: Using Technology to Create a Better Work Environment 
• The Great Restaurant Resurgence 

Check out Qu's Annual State of Digital for Enterprise QSR & Fast Casual Brands

Transcript

Qu - Restaurants Reinvented - Newton Hoang

[00:00:00] Newton Hoang: It's, it's extremely important to just kind of go with the flow, but I don't allow myself to get comfortable or dead set on like, "Okay, this is my marketing plan, because if there's anything in the last two years have shown us, is that stuff's gotta be pivotable." 

[00:00:41] Jen Kern: Hello everyone, and welcome back to Restaurants Reinvented. This is Jen Kern, and today I'm here with Newton Hoang. He is the Head of Marketing and Technology at 7 Leaves Cafe, otherwise known as the Asian Starbucks, which I've had the pleasure of drinking at. And it's amazing. Hello, Newton. Welcome to the show.

[00:01:03] Newton Hoang: Hi, Jennifer. Thank you so much for having me today. 

[00:01:06] Jen Kern: Yeah, I'm really excited to talk to you about this culture of care that, that you've mentioned to me in the past. And I know you have some fabulous employee retention stats, and, and I believe, you know, this series is, this w what started as a labor series, I've mentioned this before, quickly turned into a culture series and a leadership series.

[00:01:27] And what was originally called the great resignation is now being called "The Great Reshuffle." You know, "The Great Reshuffling". And so, this has really presented some challenges for restaurants. And so, I'm really excited to have a brand back on because the last couple of folks I've had on have been more influencers consultants if you will.

[00:01:45] And you're living it day in and day out. So, I'm, I'm excited to dig in, but why don't you go ahead and give our listeners some background on you and your experience in the restaurant industry? And then we'll go from there.

[00:01:55] Newton Hoang: No, absolutely. I been in the marketing space for about 20 plus years and have been in the technology space for about a decade. And, you know, prior if I rewind time back to my earliest days, pursuing an undergraduate in the field of biology, I broke my mom's heart and decided to do something totally different after I graduated and

[00:02:19] somehow landed in the food and beverage space, you know? Much like everybody else out there, I was working to make rents, pay for books, et cetera, et cetera. And, I come to find the genuineness and authenticity in, in the hospitality industry and just met a lot of really great folks and it just felt really natural to me.

[00:02:38] So, I took the leap, entered into the franchisee space and partnered in with some cohorts to open up a Robeks Juice, here in Southern California, did that for the better half of 10 years. And that's kind of where I started to get very immersed in the multifaceted life between being a marketing guy and an ops guy and an HR guy and a finance guy.

[00:03:00] And, the one part of all of that, that resonated most with me was the marketing component. So, I essentially, you know, uh, put myself out there into the consultancy space and one thing led to another, got a client. He then told me, uh, I'm a little bit too expensive for a retainer and brought me on full-time.

[00:03:20] And, you know, the genesis of those opportunities landed me roles with some legacy brands like Carl's Jr. I've worked with some really big restaurant groups, or on our portfolio size had Wingstop, KFC, RBS, Pieology, and fast forward to today, I have the pleasure of sitting here as the director of marketing and IT for 7 Leaves Cafe. 

[00:03:44] Jen Kern: Oh, fantastic. So, is it fair to say you are a self-made marketer? 

[00:03:49] Newton Hoang: A hundred percent. Yes. 

[00:03:51] Jen Kern: Okay. The best kind in my book, actually, you know? Because I came into marketing back in the days when they didn't teach marketing, right? They didn't teach marketing in college. He couldn't get a degree like you can now, and even digital marketing. And our industry has gotten so advanced and focused, which is

[00:04:08] awesome, by the way. I like love that, but it's also something different when you learn on the job and you're self-taught and you have that grit, like in your background of, you know, like you said, bio starting in biology, you've definitely are merging that left and right brain stuff to do amazing things at a, at 7 Leaves, which is for our listeners in so Cal, so mostly, mostly in California right now.

[00:04:32] Correct? And little over 30 locations?

[00:04:35] Newton Hoang: Yeah, we occupied predominantly California. We also are in Texas and Nevada, branching out onto the east coast later on this year. 

[00:04:45] Jen Kern: Please, please. That'd be awesome. But let's, let's dive in and talk about this, you know, what's being termed as this labor challenge that restaurants are really facing today. It really keeps coming up as the number one thing that restaurants are struggling to get beyond just, you know, not having people to work.

[00:05:02] And then, you know, you layer on top of that supply chain and tightening revenues and the reckoning that we're seeing now, I believe. You know, maybe we call it the great Re-Reckoning is that people want to have fulfilling lives at work, shame on them. How dare those people? They want to be, they want to feel valued.

[00:05:25] And this whole notion of command and control that has dominated restaurants, and, and even some of the media outlets, like Lauren Fernandez talked about this last week a lot, you know, the, the Anthony Bordain versus the Gordon Ramsey, you know? I mean, Gordon Ramsey got popular in some circles because he screamed and yelled in the back of the restaurant.

[00:05:45] And, that whole culture of what Lauren called abuse in restaurants is no longer acceptable. And so, people are really looking to work for cultures, where they feel valued, where they can contribute, where they ca, where they feel, you know, s you know, taken care of. And so, you and I were talking, and you said you have this culture of care

[00:06:06] that is a high priority at 7 Leaves. And I wanted you to talk to our listeners about that. And what does that mean to have a culture of care and, and how do you, as the marketing and the IT leader, and clearly an important executive in the company carry that out day in and day out?

[00:06:23] Newton Hoang: Yeah. It's thing, you know, as I was listening to your podcast with Donald Burns, you know, one of the things that I kind of continuously played back in my mind is culture flows down, not up. And inevitably, here at 7 Leaves, you know, culture of care for, for large and wide is an idea. Right? And, you know, without action, a lot of things become meaningless. And, you know, part of my entrance into the company shy about one year, uh, I recognized that this organization has a fundamental belief in acting on this particular principle.

[00:07:02] And it, it happens in a lot of very unique and nuanced ways. And, you know, and we're talking about, you know, what's, for lack of a better word, playing our industry currently with regards to the great resignation or reshuffling or whatever you want to call it is, you know, there's a workforce out there that has a certain set of demands and requirements.

[00:07:22] And the one thing that I focused in on immediately once I came to 7 Leaves, was that there was a thirst for knowledge and continued learning and an education. And not education by the traditional standards of academia, but just folks who are 'teach me more' type of mentality. And I interfaced with you, Jen, about a week and a half ago at my store.

[00:07:45] And you were kind of talking about like, "Are you guys feeling the labor issue?" I sheepishly said, "Nope." I think, you know, we're a bit of an outlier regarding talent and we will always be constantly recruiting, but I do see a lot of the other brands in our industry suffering quite a bit, you know? There's banners everywhere, touting high wages and whatnot.

[00:08:13] And, I get it. I understand that. But here at 7 Leaves, one of the things that I really was trying to focus in on is just understanding what our current team members want that has some level of reasonableness. And a lot of them were just saying that they really wanted to understand the business quite a bit more.

[00:08:33] They wanted to be, like you said, acknowledged and valued. And so, I surmised and we came up with the, kind of an action list of things that we did that, for lack of a better word, continues to add value to our team member experience. One of those things that we've done is, you know, I have the privilege of sitting on a board of directors here at 7 Leaves who are way more smarter than I am in their respective fields.

[00:08:58] Newton Hoang: And so, we kind of engineered a calendar in by which we allow the team members to connect with each of us at various parts of the year. So, we had our finance guy on last month and anyone and everyone within our organization could jump on and just pick his brain about restaurant finance. Right? And understanding the new, the ins and outs of a P&L and, and understanding, you know, metrics in that space.

[00:09:23] We have a real estate guy and that was very well attended and we had, you know, aspiring team members saying like, "Hey, I really want to get into real estate. How did you get in there?" So on and so forth. So, you know, in terms of some of our retention strategies coming up with these quote-unquote sessions or opportunities for our team members to interface with us is all about our culture of care.

[00:09:48] Newton Hoang: And ultimately, it's resonated very well with them in, by which they're looking forward to the next thing that they can learn from us. And, you know, I I've seen the fruits of that. You know, we've kind of farmed out a couple of hidden gems in organizations right through that curiosity. And, my workforce here at 7 Leaves at our store level is very galvanized.

[00:10:10] I cannot say it enough that everybody down at my stores is way better off than I was when I was their age. And it's, it's in, marvelous need to know that they know what they know, but yet they are always seeking to learn more. And so, as part of that culture of care to kind of put a nice little bow on, on the statement, it was just really about listening to our team members and giving them something that maybe wasn't compensatory like, right?

[00:10:38] Newton Hoang: It's not an actual raise or money, but there are other things that they want. And so, that's essentially, you know, kind of been an initiative for us and it's worked out really well and, and we're doing a lot of other kind of smaller ancillary things. We just have a scholarship program. The first of its kind for our organization where we awarded it to a one team member at all of our stores. 

[00:11:03] Jen Kern: Oh, wow. 

[00:11:04] Newton Hoang: It's just kind of like those little things. You know, we're, we're a wildland mighty brand and, you know, we, we can't, you know, go toe to toe with some of the other brands that are giving full tuition, reimbursements, et cetera, et cetera. But, you know, we can get creative and that's what we've done. 

[00:11:19] Jen Kern: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I love it. I mean, you're talking about your team members being galvanized and that's a term I haven't heard before. You know, they're, they're fully on board is what I'm hearing. And you know, the other thing that I thought was so interesting listening to you just now is we're really talking about training the next generation

[00:11:38] of workers, like loving on these people and training them. And you, you talked about that thirst for knowledge that they have, because what is it? 75% are between the ages of 16 and 24? Is that, is that kind of the stat? Yeah. 

[00:11:51] Newton Hoang: It's fair to say. 

[00:11:52] Jen Kern: Yeah, that take up our industry. And so, these are young people that are curious and yes, not, I mean, it's incredible to me like this generation, I mean, financial and compensatory, like you said, is not the number one thing. It's, it's being, it's being cared about.

[00:12:08] And it's being like, what I hear you talking about is training them on all things about the business, and helping them understand the business so they can see all those different lenses. I mean, I love this idea of like, "Hey, you get exposure to finance", "Hey, you get exposure to real estate", "Hey, you get exposure to, I'm sure,

[00:12:24] Newton, marketing and IT", "Hey, you get exposure to ops." And this is the way you run an organization. This is what it looks like. And me as a youngster, like, I feel like, "Gosh, if I was like exposed to all that stuff at that young age, which I had to work really hard to get out there and like look for things, like I thought I wanted to be a lawyer."

[00:12:41] Ha ha ha. You know, but I wouldn't. I did an internship at a law firm. And I was like, "Nope." But I spent like, literally like four months, like miserable because I was like, "Oh, I think I want to be a lawyer." You know, but putting all that stuff in front of this generation of kids that I, you know, I'll call them for the most part, that is so valuable.

[00:13:03] Like to me, that's really nurturing. That's really nurturing, their intellect, their curiosity, and, and opening up their eyes to like, here are all the potential things you can do. And "Hey, I'm on this. I I'd love to hear how you do it. If it's a webinar or a phone call or somehow, I'm honest, I'm listening to the finance guys.

[00:13:20] I don't have an idea what he's talking about. I don't really care. Let me check that off my list. I don't want to go into finance. That's that's not, that's not getting me excited." Like that's cool.

[00:13:29] Newton Hoang: Yeah.

[00:13:30] We've, we've kind of, you know, wrapped our hands fully around it. Right now, it's virtual, um, for obvious reasons, but you know, the engagement that we see when the team members are talking to us is, is really just cool. Right? There's, there's a bit of an honesty and sincerity. And, you know, generally for folks who know me, I do have a tendency to drop an f-bomb here and there.

[00:13:53] And you know, that's not on purpose. Didn't hear. Um, but you know, as, as I come more and more interactive with the folks from our stores, they really are wanting the straight talk. Right? They really are like, just tell me kind of how it is and just give me the down and dirty. Right? Don't give me things that I want to hear.

[00:14:15] Tell me things that you experienced and I can see if I can relate. And, you know, fortunately, you know, as a, as an interesting segue, uh, my speaking engagements have been kind of proliferating throughout our local area. And I recall a speaking session that I did at Cal State Fullerton for the American marketing association.

[00:14:37] And that part of me was just something that I just casually do. And then it became more apparent to me that there is a certain sort of niche here that is completely devoid. And, and what I'm talking about is, you know, obviously kind of guiding future marketers or future students or whomever and giving them a sneak peek into our industry, because, let's be frank, our industry has gotten a bad rap for decades, right?

[00:15:07] Slave labor, you know, 15-hour, 16-hour workdays, and there, that's part of our company history and our industry history sort of speak, but it doesn't have to be the way it is in the future. And so, you know, I shed light on a lot of things that are sort of 'aha moments' for the audiences that I talked to.

[00:15:29] And then I was like, "Hmm, if I continue to talk to some folks maybe into Donald Burns' point in, 'You know, your restaurant sucks, do it one person at a time.'" And so, I've been corralling a lot of my fellow cohorts in our organization and say like, "Hey, why don't you go and do a speaking engagement at the local high school?

[00:15:50] Right? Why don't you go and do a quick mock interview session for the United Way, which we partner with all the time?" And that has really been a tremendous tsunami of, "Oh, hell yeah. Let's do that." Because what, a lot of times organizations have a difficult time isolating or figuring out, like, "How do you give back or how do you change the trajectory of our industry?" And impactfully,

[00:16:17] I'm a big local store marketing guy, and so, this has actually been a pseudo tactic that we've had is that we present our organizational leaders right down to store managers and give them opportunities to connect with their community. And we have seen the dividends and the benefit of that tenfold by way of increased engagement in our stores like, "Oh, hey, I saw you at

[00:16:40] my son and daughter's, you know, classroom, and, you know, we thought we stopped by 'cause they kept talking about it. And I really appreciate you talking about, you know, your experiences in HR, whoever, or whatever." And, I don't think I've had the opportunity to be part of any brand that does that. And so here, we kind of creatively embrace the new version of marketing, which is human marketing and an elevated form.

[00:17:09] And, you know, I think, you know, why, why that perhaps resonates with the likes of you and me is that it, it is not like a digital thing. It's not like a, an FSI. It's not any of that. It's just like, let's just talk and get to know each other. And so at its purest level, it embodies a lot of the things that we do here for 7 Leaves.

[00:17:32] But for me in lines of my moral compass of like, yeah.

[00:17:37] Hopefully I can help someone not make the dumb mistakes that I did growing up. 

[00:17:42] Jen Kern: Yeah, well, you know, we all make mistakes. They're kind of part of life, but, you know, I love that, you know, you're talking about this human marketing and I love that you're out there and, and to speak, I mean, what you're talking about to me, I'm thinking like, "Guerilla marketing, grassroots marketing, like one person at a time." And you know, so many thoughts were going through my head as you were talking about that, because it's, you know, it's that whole employee value proposition. Like what does that mean to, to a company?

[00:18:08] What does that look like when we talk about that your employees are your brand ambassador, right? Your employees are the ones through the tech, you know, some of the things you're talking about that attract your guests. Right? And they're the best reflection of how well is your business doing. You know, when I walk in, we talked about this a lot on the Donald Burns, but most of the fast casual and Qu's places I walk into, they look miserable. You just look at their face and they look miserable.

[00:18:37] In fact, I have a new story to tell because I went to my, one of my fan favorite salad bowl, kit places around here, I'm not going to say the name of it, but I love all the people that work there. They kind of know me now and I know the manager and he's a total doll. But I was behind someone in line who was

[00:18:52] waiting for the dressing to be put on their bowl and, or no, I'm sorry, it was the cheese and the sh they were out of the cheese. And so the person who worked in the make line ran back to get the cheese in the back and he just started, this guy, he was a guest. He just started having a fit. Like he waited probably three minutes max. I'm being generous.

[00:19:14] And I mean, just was saying the most awful stuff to these kids. These kids. Right? You see them. There, there wasn't a single person working now that was over the age of 28. I'm just going to go out on a limit there. Right? And there were four or five people there. And after the gentlemen, at first, I said to him, like, "You know, be, be nice. It's free." You know?

[00:19:39] And he just sort of, you know, grumbled at me too. And after he left, I said to the, who happened to be the manager, working the set, putting the kit, ball together. I said, "How often does that happen, to you? That you get guests like that?" And he said, "20". I gave, I said, "Give me a percentage." He said 25% of the time.

[00:19:57] Jen Kern: So, one out of every four person is yeah, you know, and if you want to talk about the community of care, I mean in a culture of care, it's like, come on, like, this is two-way. This is like, what you're talking about. This is one person to one person. And these kids have to have to quote unquote, put up with that and that type of job, you know?

[00:20:16] And it's like, it's what you're talking about. And that's part of like, you want to talk about the great resignation. That's one of the main reasons. I'm sure they're not coming back. You know, and, and that stinks. And so, we, as managers, leaders in our companies need to give them tools and equip them with tools.

[00:20:33] And sometimes it's just verbal, like the verbal, like I said, "Hey, be nice. It's free." Like, it took me years to learn to say something like that to someone, you know? I was all a mess, like make everyone, you know, 'like me' type a person. Right? So, it's like, how do we equip these kids to deal with that kind of...? That's a hard, that's a very confrontational, challenging situation to negotiate your way through at any age.

[00:20:58] Right? And you're talking about getting people out there and speak, you know, giving, you know, store managers speaking opportunities, which gives them the, the opportunity to, to navigate through life's difficult waters sometimes. Right? Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I am, I maybe, maybe I went off on a tangent there.

[00:21:16] Newton Hoang: No. No, Jen. I think what you kind of hit home in on is, you know, at the, at the core foundational level, it's an interaction, right?

[00:21:26] And, by way of presenting first, yourself authentically, and then secondly, the brand, a lot of our team members don't know how to differentiate one from the other. And my best advice is, don't. You are the brand, right?

[00:21:46] Think that your persona is something and you have to put up a front for the customer and you have to say a certain scripts and whatnot. Most of the time, what we institutionalize here at 7 Leaves is really empowerment and saying that you have the opportunity to make that situation right. Do, do what you think is right first and foremost. And nine times out of 10, I'm pleasantly surprised. You know, and even if you get a mulligan, where you're like, "Ah, you know what? I probably wouldn't have done it that way."

[00:22:17] It's okay. It's not final. I mean, there's, there's, you know, you will get to live another day and deal with another customer. So don't sweat the small stuff. And a lot of times, a lot of our team members feel like they're, they're in this vacuum where they have to constantly, you know, churn and hit a certain benchmark.

[00:22:37] And that's all part of it too. But at the end of the day, that's either someone's daughter or someone's son, that's someone's spouse, that's someone's, you know, significant other. Whomever it is, we look at it from that perspective as well. And so, it's important for us that, you know, even as we kind of propagate and say like, "Hey, if you ever want to go out in the community and talk...?" We, we won't let them go out there willy-nilly. You know, we give them some coaching and just say like, "So, you know, when you're talk, you know, what are you gonna talk about here?" Then we hear it.

[00:23:09] And, and, and then, you know, maybe you can bring a couple of samples and then, you know, then they kind of make it their own as like, "What, what do you, what makes this fun for you? Like, what do you want to tell them? Okay, cool. Tell them that." Right? Rumbled it, because then it becomes much more authentic and it becomes a lot more sincere, which is the number one demand for every single customer

[00:23:29] nowadays as sincerity, authenticity, integrity, transparency, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So, people are really good at calling BS and you know, my young workforce as well as my young customer base are very good at that. And so it's important that, you know, I recognize that and grab the bull by the horns and just play nice with that bull. 

[00:23:54] Jen Kern: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I remember, I mean, it stuck with me when, when I had the opportunity to come to your, your store and we were having that delicious tea. Oh, I love it. You said, "Those are the, that's who I care about." You pointed to the young woman that was helping a customer, you know, behind the counter.

[00:24:11] And then you said, "I care about her and her." Like the one that just walked in and the one helping the one that just walked in. Right? And, it just stuck with me. Like those, like that, and now you're talking about that one-on-one interaction, human to human interaction, that one person at a time. And, and yet we live in, in the great age of digital.

[00:24:31] Right? And so, you know, I know you have your teas on, on all the deliveries and, and how do you make that jump from, "Okay, inside the four walls, I can manage it this way. Inside the four out perimeters of your screen, we manage it this way."

[00:24:50] Newton Hoang: You know, there, there's a bit of a multifaceted approach that, that I've always leaned on in all of my past experiences. I've again, had the pleasure of working with a lot of very, very good marketing professionals. I've sat in on a ton of agency pitches and, needless to say, 

[00:25:10] there's always an intention behind every sort of activity.

[00:25:13] And so for me, it's a less is more type of thing. That's just to preserve my own sanity, to be brutally honest. I think, I can do a lot of things for 7 Leaves, but I choose not to. And really where the biggest value proposition is for within my four-walls environments is understanding what my customer believes as a value to them.

[00:25:39] And so if it's a, if it's an imagery strategically placed, I want them to not only to skim it, but I also want them to engage with it. If it's on the digital space, is it, I not only want them to see it in terms of the eyeballs of there, but I want them to also interact with it. And so, there are more tools than I can ever imagine relative to things that we can do.

[00:26:06] But, and you've heard me saying that, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." And so, it's all about fit. And, you know, I came from the world of FSIs and looking at TRPs and, and flowcharts and, you know, billboards and bus shelters. 7 Leaves mean about that. It's not where my customer's eyeballs are at.

[00:26:27] Newton Hoang: And so, I just had to kind of recalibrate and understand like, "Okay, well, where are my customers at?" And they're like, "Oh, okay. They're in social, a big group of people there." And that was not a 'aha' moment, but how do I get myself above the fray? And how do I create an experience that is genuinely 7 Leaves?

[00:26:47] And so a lot of times, and this is actually part of a peek under the hood at our reframe marketing strategy is creating stories that not talk about the products, because we can always take a nice Bansal product shop, but it's about the people of our organization. And I think I recall, I told you when we were in, 

[00:27:09] meeting with each other, there's this, dream cook that we have, and he's been with us since day one. But he's put four of his kids through college. 

[00:27:17] Jen Kern: Wow.

[00:27:18] Newton Hoang: And he's a, an immigrant and he has very limited speaking skills. But thank you is universal. Right? And, and just acknowledgement and just saying like, "Man, you're, you're awesome.

[00:27:30] You know, and how are your kids?" And, you know, to, to the layman that might seem like a very sugarcoated experience, but at some point, there's a connective tissue there because they're like, "Oh, that kind of reminds me of my uncle or my dad." And our customer base acknowledges that. So no, we have all these little gems throughout our organization and just really wanting to shine light on not necessarily a person by making them a moniker, but just, there are no, we're normal people like everybody else, you know, like everybody else. And so, we, we have a very methodical and strategic marketing calendar engineered between highlighting, you know, a young lady, who's a college student and she's going to be the first in her family to go. And she's our team member or it's our dream cook, or it's even our R&D team that is traveling to parts, unknown to kind of search for the next latest and greatest thing. That, in my opinion, is what I believe our customers want.

[00:28:35] They value that over a beautiful little picture of a drink. 

[00:28:40] Jen Kern: Right, right.

[00:28:42] Newton Hoang: That's really how I've been able to kind of selectively and discriminately choose what areas of digital and in-store, four-walled environment that I choose to exploit. 

[00:28:56] Jen Kern: That's really interesting. And, and you know, this idea of using your people in your marketing instead of your food is something that's come up a lot more recently. And, in a way it's like, duh, right? But not that many people are doing it. And I personally love it. And if I were living out there, I'd be one of your, you know, personas,

[00:29:18] I want to know more about Brian, who's the guy at my salad place who, you know, gave me his name and number, 'cause he's the store manager. You know what I mean? Like I wouldn't, I kinda, I'm kinda curious about his life and I do want to know more about him. You know, 'cause that extends that brand and that experience to taking it off the surface level of it being a transaction.

[00:29:40] Jen Kern: And we all know that hospitality, I mean, none of us are in here because we want to be transactional all day long. Usually. I mean, maybe, maybe that's a couple of the tech people, but you know, like we, we're not in a hospitality because we don't want to talk to people. We don't want to be, like, we want to know about people.

[00:29:57] We want to, we want to hear their stories. And, so I'm curious, like how much of your marketing...? Like, I don't know, maybe I'll do the percentage thing. How much of your marketing are you putting it, people in versus product? Is it like a 50, 50 split or...?

[00:30:10] The people component is a very, it's a growing percentage. Right now, it's flirting right at around 40. 

[00:30:17] Jen Kern: Okay. 

[00:30:18] Newton Hoang: And the product is around 60. And then within those particular categories, a good lion share of that is the local store marketing component. One of the things that I I've had privilege of doing is being a field marketer for many, many years.

[00:30:34] And we talked the term of guerrilla marketing. You know, I came from the world of, you know, doing lawn bombs. You know putting your coupon in a cup and just checking that. It's all going to get redemption. And, you know, sometimes it, it it's, it's really not sexy, but it, it got the job done. And so, and the local store marketing component, really where our mentality here is to own every single block around all of our stores.

[00:31:03] And a lot of our efforts are geared towards local store marketing. So, we have national campaign initiatives. We have the subsection of people-driven initiatives and then the other big animal is the local store marketing component. I got a young lady who we farmed out of our store, who's like surgically used for local store marketing activations.

[00:31:27] And, 

[00:31:28] you know, her legacy in our stores is a big win for us, but her then now also being an additional face of our brand, and finding opportunities to engage with our communities is really something that our brand hasn't done consistently in the past, from what I understand. So, I think that's really where a lot of brands kind of live and die on the sword in a brand that does it extremely well for obvious reasons is Chick-fil-A. You know, they have a very galvanized, engaged group of folks that are all about touching their communities that they serve. And so, we, for lack of a better word, emulate that in a lottery cards. But at the same token, we're very strategic about how we engage with the community.

[00:32:18] Because we got a lot of people who want to, to be part of the 7 Leaves experience. We just want to make sure it's authentic and sincere at the same time. 

[00:32:28] Jen Kern: Right. And by the way, I actually think we should go back to thrown cups with coupons on the lawn. You know, I feel like we've kind of lost the touch, the high touch of that, that the guerrilla, grassroots marketing stuff. And again, I only know myself as a guest. I like that. I want that. I want a little bit more touch, like,

[00:32:48] I'm good with digital. I'm on my screen all day. I'm on Zoom all day. I'm on all day. Like, give me some touch. Give me some touch. Let me, let me see it, feel it, touch it. Let me see another side of you other than on the screen.

[00:33:02] Newton Hoang: Yeah. No, we, we live in the world of 'and'. You know this. 

[00:33:05] Jen Kern: Yeah.

[00:33:05] Newton Hoang: And so, you know, we do make strategic activations, utilizing, emphasize, particularly when we enter into a new trade area, so that customers can get a nice quality, you know, piece in front of them, postcard, and, and really get a good impression of our brand.

[00:33:20] And at the same token, we'll layer in the local store component. We'll kind of double down on the digital. And then

[00:33:26] we really start to try to find the gems within that community or things to unlock all the sales potential in that respective area. 

[00:33:34] Jen Kern: Yeah. Now you've said FSI is a lot. I haven't asked yet, but what does it stand for? 

[00:33:38] Newton Hoang: Uh, free-standing insert. 

[00:33:40] Jen Kern: Free-standing insert. 

[00:33:42] Newton Hoang: I think that for many of our listeners here, whether they recognize it or not, there's there's organizations like the Laces, that kind of facilitate those mailers that go to a lot of the residences in and around stores. And so, that was, for, for lack of a better word, I was with Carl's Jr,

[00:34:00] a big chunk of the marketing budget was on those emphasized mailers. And it's a strategy that has worked for that brand through and through. Here we're a little bit more discriminating about when we utilize those types of things, but marketing is marketing and I'm all about just ensuring that whatever we do comes across the right way. 

[00:34:22] Jen Kern: Right, right. I love that. And you know, I have been thinking, I'm glad you brought up Arby's and CK and, and Carl's Jr. Because I have been thinking as you've been talking like, I bet there's people thinking as they're listening, "Well, he's a smaller cafe. It's it's, you know, in one geographic location.

[00:34:41] Sure. These, you know, these really innovative, like local community involvement tactics can work for him, but for me to roll that out, for my national brand that has, you know, locations in every state while engaging my employee base the way you're talking about engaging your employee base, having them out in the community, you know, speaking." Is there really a difference though?

[00:35:03] I mean, what have you seen on a larger brand size versus a smaller brand size?

[00:35:08] Newton Hoang: I prior to coming here to 7 Leaves, I worked for a restaurant group and we had about 250 plus units. And I was the marketing guy for our company and I was flanked by two coordinators. And that was it. And when you occupy the franchisee space, it's all about execution of what the franchiser wants and national campaigns.

[00:35:30] It became no more apparent to me that even though we are a nationally recognized brand with a ton of brand equity associated, the gap is that custom, you take for granted that you think customers know who you are and depending on who your audience size is or who your demographics are, or really how you should be very tactical about who you're talking to.

[00:35:55] Newton Hoang: So, when I was with Carl's Jr, 

[00:35:59] we did a lot of community fairs and we brought happy started out and bought the whole food truck out. And it was a big party. But it struck me that some folks are like, I've never had a Carl's Jr. I'm like say, "What? This brand is 75, 80 years old." 

[00:36:13] Jen Kern: I haven't, I haven't.

[00:36:16] Newton Hoang: Yeah.

[00:36:16] And so, you know, that is just something you just take for granted that. You know, despite how long a brand is or how big they are, you can always be a first-time experience for anyone and anyone.

[00:36:31] And so, older/young, it is, it's all the same. And so, it's essentially just trying to ensure that your brand is well-represented, your product is awesome. And hopefully it creates a moment of truth whether I, "Hmm, this is awesome. I want to, I want to try this again." And so, it can be done. It's just for lack of a better word, slightly unappealing, when you think about it, because you're like, "We're so big.

[00:36:58] How do we get down?" You, brands choose the trajectory that they want. And if so that, if they don't wish to get at that granular level, then okay, you're just not going to be there. You're going to be at a different elevation. Um, I think for us, we will always have the local component and I again give kudos to Chick-fil-A huge ramp, but they do it, so it can be done. 

[00:37:26] Jen Kern: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I, you know, one of the things that's always been, been resonating with me when we talk is your, you you've mentioned this a few times. I mean, we live in this world of 'and'. Right? And, and so I wanna, I wanna shift just a little bit and talk about, you know, not necessarily the marketing lens of it, because your 'and' is your, your marketing and IT,

[00:37:52] which, you know, unicornish, but more the trend, obviously. But this, the 'and' that exists in our space around what does this modern restaurant leader look like? What do modern restaurants period look like? Forget like put the leadership side, even aside. But you really, to me are embodying that. And, I'd love for, for your take on that.

[00:38:17] Like, what is your perspective about what the modern restaurant landscape looks like and having more of these 'ands'? Like, what do we need to be doing more of, to care about the, you know, the employee and the guest, you know, marketing and IT, right, the community and the marketing, right? What do we need to be doing more of, to help, you know, as, as the show is, has been named, re, keep re-inventing restaurants for, for the better?

[00:38:45] Newton Hoang: The easiest answer to that in a reflection of, you know, the new generation of restaurants is to essentially acknowledge it. I, we, for lack of a better word, grew up, at least I did going to either a sit down or a fast food. And then, you know, in my teens, like fast casual, just kind of came out of nowhere. And then there was like quick casual.

[00:39:08] And then there was just all these other segments that, you know, it was a nice little word to attach, but you start to kind of realize that the gap between those categories began to slowly start to blend. And as it relates to restaurants and how we should look at what we're doing is, just know that it's okay to be fluid, that it, you don't want to be pigeonholed into a specific space.

[00:39:37] And like you said earlier, customers alike, we don't want to be put into a bucket. Right? You know, I'm more than just a barcode or a number. I'm this and I'm that. And so, as an organizational restaurant, if you can frame your experience around looking at it from multiple perspectives without overextending yourself is really going to give you that competitive advantage.

[00:40:04] You know, we do our semi decent job of listening to our customers, relative to just the landslide of feedback that they give us. And so, it's important for us to anticipate and understand that. "Okay, yeah. Our brand doesn't, that doesn't feel like it's on brand for us." But guess what? My customer is telling me, she wants that. She wants a locker for her to pick up her drink.

[00:40:31] And so either a, we don't do that or beating. We listen, and we create and a better.

[00:40:38] experience related to that, because that's just the way it's going. You know, you, you can't go the opposite way of that current because if you do, one, you're going to get punished quite a bit. So, it's, it's extremely important to just kind of go with the flow. But I don't allow myself to get comfortable or dead set on like, "Okay, this is my marketing plan, because if there's anything in the last two years have shown us, is that stuff's gotta be pivotable. You gotta just like, take it, check it out and do something different. So, you know, as, as I kind of look at restaurants nowadays, and just the experimentation, that I'm going on, one, it warms my heart because that's why I love the hospitality industries, because we're just willing to try a whole bunch of new things.

[00:41:25] Right? But at the same token, what eventually ends up settling are the experiences that the customer truly values the most. Right? And so, you're going to get a lot of that, you're going to get a lot of things that are being tried, that just don't resonate. And then there's going to be a lot like, "Oh yeah.

[00:41:43] That was an amazing game changer for our industry." 

[00:41:46] Jen Kern: Speaking of which, 

[00:41:48] Newton Hoang: Yeah. 

[00:41:49] Jen Kern: let's talk about that started it up. But speaking of which let's talk about that green tie campaign you have running now that you launched on St. Patty’s Day. 

[00:41:59] Newton Hoang: You're, you're awesome, Jen. I think, you know, we, we, as a brand just recently launched a drink called Green Thai Tea. There was two years since our last new product launch for obvious reasons again, and I just kind of flirted with the idea like, "Hey, let's release this drink on St.

[00:42:14] Patrick's day, and, you know, just kind of be tongue in cheek about it." We, we did a soft launch prior to St. Patty’s Day and we started to kind of see a couple of things. One of the things that we saw was, it instantly became our number two seller. And that was a little not anticipated, to be brutally honest.

[00:42:34] We were like, "Oh, okay. This, this is a thing now." And then St. Patty’s Day launched with our media, and it did something that not, that has never been done in our company is that, it took the number one spot. And in for 7 Leaves' decade long experience, we've had a drink called our House Coffee. It's like our number one seller.

[00:42:55] It's like our Big Mac or a double-double, whatever you want to call it. And like nothing ever cussed it, far and wide, product mix. We were like, 60% of my product makes us House Coffee, but not on March 17. It became the green tight team. And, and that was, I guess something self-realized. Like I knew that, you know, what the right kind of marketing on an amazing product, it would do great, but I did not anticipate it taking out the number one spot.

[00:43:22] And so, St Patrick's day will forever be known as Green Thai Tea day for 7 Leaves, at least internally for us. And it's... 

[00:43:30] Jen Kern: That's, I mean, that's huge. That's huge. When you told me that I was, I was pretty blown away. I mean, that's, that's huge. And, and the whole campaign is, is it still running by the way?

[00:43:39] Newton Hoang: Yeah, it's still running. And, you know, it's piggybacked by a lot of different sort of activations that I'm very proud of. One of the ones that, that we did was creating a collaboration with the Thai authority of tourism. We're offering a sweepstakes to send us a lucky seminaries customer to Thailand and... 

[00:43:57] Jen Kern: Me, pick me.

[00:43:58] Newton Hoang: Yeah. No, it's super easy to enter. Just download the app and you're entered. Um, but, we'll be announcing that winner on April 14th, which is Thai New Year. And, um, hopefully that will be, you know, just another really beloved moment where we can celebrate with a 7 Leaves customer, whoever that is. That, "Hey man, you're going to Thailand."

[00:44:17] That's pretty awesome. 

[00:44:18] Jen Kern: That's really awesome. That's really awesome. And I just think that's really a fun, you know, way to take this human marketing that you're talking about to the next level. I mean, giving someone like a s, like sweepstakes, like experience like that, I mean, like I'm telling you, like, I'm kind of competitive. I want to, I want to participate.

[00:44:38] I want to win. You know, it's, it reminds me a little bit of remember them monopoly cards in McDonald's. 

[00:44:44] Newton Hoang: Oh, yes. 

[00:44:45] Jen Kern: They bring them back every once in a while. Right? And it's just like fun. It's just like a thing to do. Right? And it's like, yeah, enemy in that contest. Let me see what I can win. But winning a trip to Thailand, that's, that's something special.

[00:44:57] That's, that's really special. And you're, I'm sure going to get a lot of mileage out of that on social, like who knows? Yeah. For months to come, um, you know, th the other thing I wanted to talk to you about when it comes to this 'and', and, and being open and trying new things. I mean, you clearly exemplify that, like, you know, growing up, not being in marketing and then being like, "Hey, I, I see value of learning this and trying this." Is, is my experience meeting you, which is something that I've noticed in the industry as marketers coming more into the technology purchasing decision and strategically

[00:45:33] advocating within their company, what tech tools they need and why? And so, you know, full transparency. We've been talking about that, you know, with my company Qu and I was thrilled to see that you were, you know, key decision, one of the key decision makers because you are. You're in marketing and tech. And I think it makes a much bigger difference when you've got that marketing perspective and lens in those, in those tech decisions.

[00:46:01] And that's something that I don't see as happening, uh, as quickly in our industry, I mean, it's starting to happen now. But I'm curious what that's been like for you, you know, having both the marketing and tech responsibility and then navigating what has become just a sea crowded with all sorts of technology fish,

[00:46:23] right, and trying to navigate the differences and do the right thing for your brand?

[00:46:29] Newton Hoang: You know, when you make that example of a sea and all the fish, then I would probably be the bait because everyone, and everyone is always trying to chirp at me regarding the latest and the greatest. You know, my interactions with technology and IT has truly been an accident. You know, early on in my marketing career, I recognize a sort of gap that,

[00:46:53] I'm trying to do this activation, but I'm getting held up by like the programming or some sort of backend API, that's just not doing what it's supposed to do. And that's just maddening because I like to make database decisions. And so, I, I then said," Well, shoot. Let me, let me try to learn. What is this, this thing that is holding the whole process up?" And through the path of self-discovery,

[00:47:17] Newton Hoang: I aligned myself with a whole slew of technology folks, which don't talk marketing and, and realize that, you know, I can translate this. You know, I I'm fairly good at breaking down the most complex ideas into a very simple principle. And you know, this convergence internally for me and becoming a marketing, and IT guy has really been fruitful for me.

[00:47:42] And, created longevity in my career around one singular word that I kind of take away from one of my career coaches. Kevin Dunn is relevancy. And so, a lot of organizations that I interact with that either like trying to court me, or trying to pick on me are really trying to understand what's going on in the current day and age and state.

[00:48:05] And so when I have conversations with tech companies, particularly POS, you know, I'm looking at it from a slump of like, "Okay, do you have a CRM component? What's your integration with Laurel C in Mobile?" Then from an IT perspective, like, "Hmm, does this need a managed firewall? Do I need to have an IP schema?

[00:48:22] And that, you know, what kind of home runs do I need?" So those technicalities on both hemispheres are generally what catch a lot of folks off guard. And they're like, yeah, let me have you talk to my tech guy or let me have you talk to my marketing guy. Because I've been around enough and again made a ton of mistakes, but at the same token, it's really given me the ability to keep everyone honest. Right? Because I can see through and I'm like, "Yeah.

[00:48:51] you're going to promise me a lot of those ice functions and oversell a product. But coming back to what you said, fit for the brands that I'm with." I'm like, "Yeah,

[00:49:01] we don't need that. This is what we need." And so, really distilling down is extremely necessary when you're going through technology discoveries.

[00:49:12] Because again, there's always technology, there's always a technological solution. Right? But if you don't address the core issue, that the solution that tech provides isn't really going to fix the problem. And so, it's supposed to support it, but definitely not fix it. So, I think, you know, POS, mobile app, loyalty, all of these things kind of have like this really reframed architecture nowadays. You know, I understand Qu is, is, is architecture based right at its core.

[00:49:43] And then you're in kind of competitors are essentially, it's a POS transactional terminal that really isn't doing the data management thing, but it can do a handful of other things. And so as, as brands kind of flirt with technologies, it's understanding what the brand needs and then aligning with the right kind of strategic partner.

[00:50:00] Jen Kern: Right. Right. What do you think, where do you think the technology companies are missing the mark?

[00:50:08] Newton Hoang: Listening to clients and just listening to prospective client. Right? I understand the whole sales mentality, turn them, get them down in the funnel, another account executive. And, I, I can easily say that if you haven't done your homework reaching out to my organization, that's the fastest way for me to just give you a very short, like, "Thanks.

[00:50:32] But no, thanks." I think. Peop, like technology companies need to be discriminatory a little bit relative to just trying to find the right strategic partners as well. Right? I connected with your guy, Sean Brennan, and he's like, "You know, we're, we're talking to you and measuring you up as much as you are measuring us up."

[00:50:52] And I love that. Right? Because you just don't want to give it out to everyone, and like, you know, business models and whatnot. But I think in, in technology, it's just important to ensure that whoever you partner in with is a partner at their core, right? You guys work shoulder to shoulder, you elevate both brands, not just like, "Hey, I'm giving you a tool and then I'm not going to deal with you anymore." 

[00:51:17] Jen Kern: Yeah, yeah. And that's it, I mean, it's honestly an age-old problem that we've had in the tech space, you know, with, especially when all the VC and PE companies started coming in and it really just turned into this hardcore numbers game, which is, you know, for me, where I actually lost some of my

[00:51:33] interest in, in, in some ways. I was like, "Eh, it's not, I'm not in marketing to be about numbers. You know, go read my LinkedIn about section. Like I'm not in marketing sell shit. Like I want to make a movement. I want to change the world." Like you, like your phrase, you know, in your company. I want to, I want to be the change you want to see in the world.

[00:51:51] And, that's that's plagued tech providers for a long time. And I look at this space and I don't envy the buyers at all because of how inundated you are. And, and, and, and honestly, just the nature of the industry still being around shows like conferences and, you know, you lead and which, you know, we do a lot of, by the way, I'm not, I'm not dating them.

[00:52:15] I love them. I think they're great. And you do the get the human side of it, but you get there. I mean, the lead up to the shows is like the brands tell me they got 50 emails a day coming from every single person that's got. Now they've stopped giving the emails out, which is good. They'll just give, like, they won't even give the name of the person tending, they'll say the company and the title.

[00:52:37] That's what we get if we sponsor, you know, many, many Ks, right? We get like a little bit of a list, but since I've came here, I'm like, "I'm not sending them, those people like five emails and a workflow, like I would've done in my last transactional SaaS company, you know, put them in a drip campaign." No, like they're going to get that from every single other.

[00:52:56] So we'd maybe send one or the sales people would reach out, you know, the ABM sell. Person to person, like you're saying, and you know, so I've kind of looked down on that, but I know it happens like all around and we need to get better at that. So, I appreciate the listening for sure, I mean, always. Right? Um, is a good one.

[00:53:17] So I'd like to kind of wrap up here and thank you for your time and talk to you. You know, we started out talking about this culture of care and, you know, Donald Burns had, did this to me where he sort of turned it around and he said, "Well, what is your self-care regimen, Jen?" And I was like, "Ha?" But I'd love to know.

[00:53:32] I, it was a good exercise for me to go through. And I think we need to, if we're going to talk about care, we need to start with ourselves. Right? And, and Lauren and Donald talked about this. We, if we are not taking good care of ourselves, it's the whole oxygen mask, you know, a dodge. Like we can't take care of other people.

[00:53:49] So Newton, what is your self-care regimen?

[00:53:52] Newton Hoang: You know, my self-care regimen is something that I've been doing for probably 20 years and it involves two wheels and it's called the mountain bike. And, I've been doing that for more, more times than I can count. I've got a ton of miles on my legs, but if there's anything that takes me away from all the insanity that the industry provides me is, is mountain biking by way of, you know, when I'm in, in the zone and I've got my earbuds in and I've got old Blue Lines playing, then I don't

[00:54:30] think of anything else. And that has been truly a discipline and it's evolved quite a bit. And actually our, my CEO, Sonny Nguyen, asked me a very similar question. And I told him, as of recent in the last year or so, I used to be the kind of guy that would just grind it out, get up there as quickly as he can and fly down the hill as quickly as he can.

[00:54:55] And I could literally do the ride in my sleep because I've done it all the time. And then I've just decided to just slam on my brakes and stop in the middle of my downhill and just look around. And I 

[00:55:08] Jen Kern: Oh. 

[00:55:08] Newton Hoang: never became more apparent to me of all the things that I meant. Like I didn't notice that tree was there or that mountain line, or that rock, but, you know, when I stopped riding and just took a moment to pause and reflect, it was like, "Oh, I have been totally missing a lot of things that I just took for granted."

[00:55:30] And so now it's about changing it up, you know, going fast, going slow, looking, you know, and, and just have those moments where like, "Yeah, man. I'm having fun at what I'm doing in life. And, you know, I feel very honored." My my recent break is I'm a new father. And yeah. 

[00:55:51] Jen Kern: I did not know that.

[00:55:53] Newton Hoang: Yeah, no, she's, she's a joy. I call her a joyful tornado. 

[00:55:57] Jen Kern: Oh, how old is she? 

[00:55:59] Newton Hoang: She's two years old. More like 13. 

[00:56:02] Jen Kern: Yeah. Oh, 

[00:56:03] gosh. 

[00:56:04] Newton Hoang: She, she's definitely, she keeps me sharp and I look at the world through her eyes. And I think, you know, if there's anything that I'm trying to do recently, indirectly or directly, this is just give her a fighting chance at a world that's better. Right? And so, you know, I don't take that for granted. And you know, if I can inspire somebody else to make a couple of

[00:56:28] things in our world more humane than I think my daughter would be proud of me. So that's kind of just why I do what I do. 

[00:56:37] Jen Kern: Oh, you really just touched me there. I got a little goosey thinking about your daughter. What is her name? 

[00:56:42] Newton Hoang: Her name is Lauren. 

[00:56:44] Jen Kern: Lauren. Ah, and that's going to be the, the episode that comes out right before yours is Lauren. So, you have to listen to Lauren Fernandez. She's fabulous. Talk about a great woman. Well thank you for sharing that.

[00:56:55] I love hearing. It sounds like a kind of meditation for you out, out in the woods, uh, mountain biking and using your 'and', so biking really fast and pausing and taking it all in. 

[00:57:08] Newton Hoang: Yeah, but haven't done that recently. 

[00:57:10] Jen Kern: Well, you talked about stopping or slowing down and looking at the trees and, you know, just, just, just taking in this beautiful world we live in, right? Then the nature and this whole forest washing idea has become a thing, you know, where it's like, yes,

[00:57:24] when I get out in nature and I'm walking in nature, I can forget everything. And I, I am very intentional when I go out in my woods and walk, I have to look for the bird, to look for the falling leaves, to listen for the sounds. And, and like you said, that's a form of release and escape and, and, and, you know, self-care.

[00:57:41] So, thank you for sharing that with me. That's really cool. And, as we wrap, is there any last thing you want to impart to the folks listening? You ha, you know, we always say how to reach you, but I'm sure they could find you on LinkedIn or whatnot, but, you know, closing comments about you, about you or your brand.

[00:57:57] Newton Hoang: No, first and foremost, Jen, I want to thank you for having me. It's been a true pleasure.

[00:58:02] And, you know, for, for 7 Leaves Cafe, you know, we have a lot of really amazing things coming down the pipeline. If you haven't tried the Green Thai Tea, I recommend that to do. And, you know, like anything else, don't be a stranger, you know, you can reach me via LinkedIn, carrier, pigeon, whatever works.

[00:58:19] I'm always open for the conversation. 

[00:58:21] Jen Kern: Awesome. I encourage all folks to reach out to you. I mean, you, you really have a fresh perspective and a new way of doing things within the restaurant. And, and it's been a true pleasure getting, getting to know you. I wish you were a little bit closer, 'cause not only so I could have your amazing product, but, but see, but maybe we'll see out on the show circuit at one of one of the conferences, but thank you so much for, for coming and sharing your story,

[00:58:44] and most importantly, your strength and your experience with, with your employees and with your guests. So, hope you stay awesome. Keep reinventing restaurants and yourself. 

[00:58:55] Newton Hoang: Thank you so much, Jen. 

[00:58:56] Jen Kern: Yeah. Have a great day.