Transcript

The Entrepreneurs Exodus | Sohai Zandi & Sara Elbert | TEDxOneonta

you're doing something ordinary and routine like raking leaves or heading to the post office maybe it's here now while you're listening to the talks you let your eyes flutter shut for the briefest of moments and it's that same image again making its way back across your eyelids a small town with only a handful of buildings tall trees lush and green with wide views of this guy there between the one pump gas station in the library is a place all your own you see it come together in your mind one window door and employee at a time warm glowing lights a sign and now customers coming and going it feels like a dream but it doesn't have to remain one in reality it's the small country town that lies beyond every big bustling city bursting with opportunity it's right here and maybe your hometown or that of a friend it may be a weekend trip you took with another to a place that felt new and undiscovered maybe barely a dot on a map far past all the usual road signs and familiar faces but exhilarating fulfilling life that plays out across your mind and those brief encounters with stillness are the same ones we saw after late nights closing down other people's restaurants feeling worn-out and uninspired we felt a while schlepping overstuffed boxes from one walk-up apartment to another in pursuit of the coveted two-year lease constantly questioning if we can ever plant roots in a place that seemed overwhelmingly costly and quite frankly soul-sucking we broke the cycle and left our normal behind by simply acknowledging that enough was enough you don't have to leave a metropolis to know the hunger pang of wanting to start again to wipe the slate clean you simply have to have the will to listen and just go we learned a lot about our journey beyond city limits which began by hopping off of a hamster wheel of daily grind littered with personal and societal expectations it's only now though when we get to help others like you lay the groundwork that we truly understand a recipe for an entrepreneurial Exodus for those of you unfamiliar Sara and I created and operate brushed an eating-house one person goes there - thank you very much and my mom and dad that's four all right it is a 28 seat eatery located in the heart of bovine center just a 30-minute drive south east of Oneonta we opened our doors in 2014 and have been serving comforting classics to travelers and community members ever since restaurant vets groomed in Brooklyn we took our skill set or mine upset if you will and got out of Dodge and decided to set up shop in among pastoral farms streams chock full of trout and a swath of of Indians dedicated to preserving the dairy history that runs deep here what we were doing is not groundbreaking we're not reinventing bechamel because that recipe has been perfected we needed a change and we saw an opportunity in this bucolic town we're simply bringing bechamel to Bovina between our loyal regulars and the new faces we get to greet on a daily basis we are constantly asked how did you do this and why are you here to which we usually answer much of what we did is brush 'land eating house in the early days could be talked up to luck in kismet well at least that's what's so he likes to say well it's true the only answer for stumbling upon this place was luck much like falling head-over-heels for another person like this guy discovering and setting out for this new place was pretty whirlwind chock-full of googly-eye romance and yes a product of oblivious happenstance initially but luck wasn't everything our entrepreneurial spirit set a fire in our gut making us real hungry for a fresh start we had to trust that coming off of a long stint at restaurants where we learned a ton about thoughtful ingredients and the power of consistency and the kind of blood sweat and tears it takes to operate a dining room we felt really compelled to take what we learned and put it to use somewhere we felt wanted the lucky break part we felt was for finding a beautifully preserved building in the heart of a town we loved outfitted for a restaurant that made it hard not to pounce we had the idea the courage and now the space this is why acknowledgement is the first ingredient in our recipe acknowledge that intuition and strong gut feelings do have a place and should be listened to you can acknowledge that your needs are not being fulfilled at your current job and that a stronger passion is pulling you in a different direction we worked very hard to be prepared for this leap by saving as much money as we could at our previous jobs by absorbing the wisdom and know-how of our mentors like sponges and most importantly by keeping our heads down but our eyes and ears always open yet if we could suppress the urge to shake it all up and take our show on the road we would have never been here three years later to tell our story you may be wanting a way to alter your life to feel more authentic to create a lifestyle that merges work and play in a way that work no longer feels like work for most of us even the off-the-clock hours can feel like drudgery the living life joyful stuff gets compartmentalised to a measly Saturday afternoon we looked around at this quaint town of 600 we also took inventory of all the ways that our life would seamlessly integrate business and pleasure so that most days could feel productive successful and happy and happy like trout fishing in the morning or weeding the garden in the afternoon before dinner service or prepping pork schnitzel before taking a pond dip these things intertwining working towards business goals while tending to our personal happiness is the aha moment we chase that and you can too it brings us to our second ingredient keeping it in the wheelhouse reaching far beyond your skill set only begs for disaster because people were looking to you as the authority tending to the knowledgebase that was lit by your passion ensures that you remain true to your vision it wouldn't make nearly as much sense if we came from the hospitality world and we decided to open a art gallery or a fly-fishing shop because the learning curve is much too steep and we don't speak those languages we speak in butter salt oil hoppy beer and the Rolling Stones your new ventures mission statement should flow effortlessly right one if there fits and starts and you hit a wall you might be heading down a road that's not necessarily yours to travel we're restaurant people through and through having been consumed by the food world for nearly a decade we moved upstate with those principles that woven into our fabric which in turn made it fun and easy for us to turn that into something tangible for our community we knew what kind of business we wanted to be and held fast to those visuals and ideals we met working at sister restaurants in Brooklyn both of which helped shape the kind of business we knew we wanted to be we held fast to those visuals and ideals and turn to our mood board we knew how we wanted to arrange the dining room and play our favorite soul music and stock wines we ourselves drink with dinner we had the space we had the know-how the next up was figuring out if it was gonna be the right fit for Bev I know you've acknowledged you're onto something you know you're good at that something and now it's time for that something into motion we knew from the beginning that our community of friends and neighbors and customers were one of the most important things in our plan but one of the most hardest ingredients to come across is is integrating into your community and making sure the right thing for them we immediately swallowed that there would be mountains to move and streams to cross when it came to introducing our idea we realized this grand plan came with an intense need to overcome preconceived notions unfortunately the stigma surrounding newcomers on a mission is that they are or we are out to create our own kind of utopia at any cost we were not that pair and we knew we had to work hard to unknot the notion that we'd come in guns blazing making drastic changes for the sake of our vision it was the exact opposite our vision was the town that we found we knew right from the beginning that we wanted to fit in to blend it to the scenery like we'd been there for say five hundred years it's an Old Town we found in love with this place for everything it currently was not for what it could be the energy the kindness the nod to history and each and every town on Main Street be the avocado and a BLT take something that's good add a little bit of flavor and make it outstanding which makes integration ingredient number three you're self aware by acknowledging your need for change and you can't forget to be self-aware when it comes to integrating your idea into the community either self awareness sometimes means overcompensation if we have a notion that our customers think we're pricey we take a cut on some items making them less expensive our burger for instance will only save you back ten dollars offering something affordable presents an opportunity for our customers to use us as both a daily nosh and to celebrate a special occasion offering a delicious but less expensive house red or house white means that everyone who wants a glass of wine will have one also heating hard fought rules and systems put into place prior to your arrival is a way of respecting and preserving a community for instance we knew from the beginning we couldn't serve cocktails Bovina was a better place for not allowing liquor in the hamlet we were so thrilled to pour a glass of red wine next to a customer stake that we took the local legislation as treasurer never trying to upend the plan that works here a personal know-how was in creating a warm inviting space for our neighbors to come and enjoy a wholesome meal so we translated that notion into one that felt appropriate for Bovina and even more than setting tables with plates of great food or dimming lights in just the right way bo Vinnie ins wanted a place to gather it's not about being transported it's about being reminded why we all chose to be right here now you got a walk-in fridge full of ingredients the oven is hot so it's time to start cooking which brings us to our final ingredient commitment commitment it's like cooking because you're taking this burning idea and then you're turning it into something tangible you're committing to the idea you've acknowledged the supreme to the passion you've tended to and to all the skills in your wheelhouse commitment is also the elbow grease so you can't be afraid to get in and get dirty we were learning on the fly though as mom-and-pop business owners are a dying breed and there was no roadmap for what we were embarking on but we were determined we wanted to make a mark and we viewed Bovina as the captive audience we've been looking for to be that new version of a mom-and-pop means committing to each aspect of your business sometimes that means jumping in to help wash dishes or coming out from behind the kitchen path to help run food committing to a decision to leap means committing to each subsequent effort like becoming a full-time resident and weaving yourself into the fabric of a community don't just put your plan into motion and walk away we're both here day in and day out allowing us to remain the faces of our business just like family run operations used to your customers want to know your story and being there to tell it to them firsthand makes it both fun and enjoyable it's also what makes this job feel less like work also commit by creating regular hours that shows your community you're invested if you create specials while also keeping menu staples you're reliable however you can be reliable to your community be there for them encouraging everyone hungry or not to come to your space and relax allows you to foster the already incredible sense of place that existed long before you arrived Lavina wanted to gather we listened commitment is also about being open to change and not remaining stagnant reevaluate constantly to be able to say that you're meeting the needs of your community we're able to identify those needs by being here from opening till closing with both ears turned out to our customers reevaluate I thought this was a recipe any good chef knows the recipe is simply a starting point so hails right the recipe for an entrepreneurial Exodus for the reinvention of normal and for following your passion is far from scientific there's a lot of gut following much happenstance and even more blind faith most of which you can't find in a pantry or on a store shelf what we can tell you though from lots of experience is that hard work pays off and hard work isn't just physical labour to see a building come to life it's everything we've been talking about redirecting you life paths and starting anew is not easy it takes courage to make space for the desire to start something of your own once you have constantly remind yourself of all of those skills in your wheelhouse and how you tailor them to your new communities needs translator know how best by turning inward and looking at all of the things you've learned and earned which are now an undeniable piece of who you are and with gratitude and loyalty integrate into your community with careful and thoughtful actions that speak I want to bring this to your table and not I want to change the entire menu work hard to overcome distrust confusion and resistance by remaining self aware and mindful with knowledge of where your community has been throughout history and once you've integrated your idea commit with everything you've got you've got this push past hesitation tuning out the little voice in your head or hesitant community members and commit commit to your business plan your business partner and do everything in your power to move your idea forward well know there's no recipe for creating the best business that everyone anyone's ever created or a clearly drawn map that gets you from feeling stuck to feeling empowered without any roadblocks we can tell you that listening to your intuition and tending to your passion will unlock a world of possibilities it will bring hazy daydreams into clearer and clearer focus until one day soon it's your new reality [Applause] you