#62 | Pam Chavez [Sam and Louie's Pizzeria - Corpus Christi, Texas]

[00:00:00] Speaker A: What's going on, y'all? Corpus Christi Originals back at it again. Coming to you live from the Produce Sound Studios downtown Corpus Christi, Texas. Got the Art Walk later on. Check that out. This episode is sponsored by El Vago Burger and BBQ. Check them out. 4701 Barrera drive out there in Molina. Check them out. If you haven't already. Today we got Pam Chavez from Sam and Louie's Pizzeria. How's it going, Pam? [00:00:23] Speaker B: It's going all right. Thank you for having me. [00:00:25] Speaker A: Yeah, that's cool. I like your last name, Chavez. [00:00:28] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:00:31] Speaker A: Is it. So that's not your maiden name or. It is your maiden name. [00:00:35] Speaker B: No, it's not my maiden name. [00:00:36] Speaker A: No. [00:00:36] Speaker B: I mean, my boy is like, they're. I just want to keep the last name of my boys, at least for now, until maybe they're adults or something like that, you know? Yeah. I don't have a tie to my maiden name anymore. [00:00:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:00:48] Speaker B: So. Yeah. [00:00:49] Speaker A: Did you like your maiden name? [00:00:50] Speaker B: I mean, it was okay. My family's not in my life anymore, so my, you know, my boys are sort of my world. Keep that tie with them. [00:01:00] Speaker A: That's cool. So when you say your family's not in your life, like, are they still around? Like, they're still around? [00:01:04] Speaker B: Yes, they're still around. [00:01:05] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:01:06] Speaker B: Yeah. Boundaries have been set. [00:01:08] Speaker A: Oh, dude. Oh, my God. Yes. Wow. And it's not until we figure it out later in life that we need to make those boundaries exactly right. [00:01:16] Speaker B: Yes. [00:01:16] Speaker A: Oh, my God. A lot of us older folks. Well, myself being older, like, we figured that out later. [00:01:22] Speaker B: Right. [00:01:23] Speaker A: I wish we would have figured it out sooner. [00:01:24] Speaker B: I know. Well, it's not easy. And you hear so much, and it's tough to say that because people will think, oh, my gosh, you cut family out. But, you know, there's a reason, and it takes a lot more than just one. [00:01:38] Speaker A: Yes. [00:01:38] Speaker B: And you sort of realize how important it is when you start setting those boundaries and start removing some of the toxic things that were happening and then try not to pass those things down to your kids. [00:01:50] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, I know. You mentioned that in Brittany Mutte. Shout out, Brittany Mutte. Leading ladies. Yes. Leading ladies of Corpus Christi. Awesome podcast. Which I listened to the whole thing. Your episode with her. Oh, my gosh. Your life is so. Wow. You do a lot of stuff. So where are you from originally? I don't think I caught that. [00:02:10] Speaker B: Okay. So I was born and raised in Kansas. I live there from, like, birth until graduating high school. [00:02:16] Speaker A: Oh, nice. Kansas. Is that right in the middle or. [00:02:18] Speaker B: It is the midwest. Yeah. Yeah. [00:02:22] Speaker A: Hi, Priscilla and YouTube. You know Priscilla. Priscilla, yeah. We had her on a big supporter. For real. So how does that feel to have that kind of support in the community? [00:02:31] Speaker B: Oh, it's amazing. Like, I didn't know how it was gonna be because I'm not local, and, like, there is such a tight local community. I mean, there's a lot of people in corporate that haven't lived anywhere else, and I have lived so many places, and so I didn't know how welcoming it would be. And. No, it's. It's incredible. There's so many supportive local, especially women. Like, I've met so many good women, not to discount the men, but, like, I've just met so many great. [00:03:00] Speaker A: You have to say there. No. [00:03:02] Speaker B: Gotta make sure I cover that. [00:03:04] Speaker A: Yeah, we cover that. Yeah, man, it's awesome. Yeah, definitely. And I made a post about somebody was saying how Corpus Christi is crooked or whatever, and you mentioned in your comment, like, you've never been nowhere. [00:03:18] Speaker B: Yeah. There's stuff everywhere, you know? I mean, there's gonna be the good, the bad, and the ugly. And it's just sort of what you choose to focus on is what you're gonna see, you know? [00:03:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Like, if. And there's families and people that have never gotten out of here, and they stayed here. They've been here their whole life. [00:03:35] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think that's the importance of travel, even if it's just to somewhere else in Texas. Cause the vibe's gonna be a little bit different. It opens your eyes, and then it makes you appreciate where you came from. [00:03:46] Speaker A: Exactly. And when you do move out of town, like, from my experience, when I do move out of town, like, if people ask me where I'm going from, then there's a sense of pride that comes up. Like, oh, this is where I'm from. Do you know of it? You know? [00:03:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:59] Speaker A: Yes. [00:03:59] Speaker B: And corpus is growing and expanding like crazy. I mean, it's shifting and evolving constantly. [00:04:06] Speaker A: Yeah. So how did you land on pizza? Like, I mean, there's a mexican restaurant every corner. [00:04:10] Speaker B: Right. [00:04:10] Speaker A: So you decided, like, pizza, which is good if you haven't tried it out. Guys, try it out. It's. It's, uh. It's authentic. Yeah, it really is. Yeah. [00:04:19] Speaker B: Well, thank you. Um, well, part of it is I have three boys, so, I mean, we just eat a ton of pizza in my house. And so just a quick backstory. So I was in the military, and when I got out, I went to culinary school, and then I became a certified holistic nutritionist. So when we moved here, I was looking for what I was going to be doing, sort of that hole I was going to fill. And then all of a sudden, I just realized we couldn't find our favorite pizza spot. So I just thought, well, that's it. I mean, I can do that. So I wanted to bring pizza that was gonna sort of pull from all aspects of my foodie nature. [00:05:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:05:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:05:08] Speaker A: How's it going, Francesca? Thank you for joining. My daughter's always on YouTube. Just make sure that I. Francesca. Yeah. There you go. Awesome. Wow. What was I gonna say? Oh, yeah. So you landed on the pizza, and then you're real. You talk about, like, you being divorced and all this stuff on your posts, which you're open, and it's interesting that you mentioned that. And, like, I want to say how hard? How hard? Difficult? Or what are the challenges that you faced in having or starting that and then having that go through that at the same time? [00:05:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:05:41] Speaker A: Cause you have three kids, you know. [00:05:43] Speaker B: And it's like, well, that was a big reason why I went through it. I mean, I just needed to get something happening. When I realized that my marriage needed to end, I. It was a very scary place to be in because I had been a stay at home mom sort of by default. I wasn't necessarily planning on doing that. [00:06:04] Speaker A: Right. [00:06:05] Speaker B: But he was gone so much for the army that I wanted to be, like, a stable force for the kids. And then all of a sudden, I realized, oh, my God, I'm gonna be a single parent. Like, now. I've sacrificed career progression, basically. Career at all. So I had these degrees. I started, and then I launched a wellness business for military spouses when we were in Korea. [00:06:29] Speaker A: Like, nothing. [00:06:30] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I just, you know, it was like I had to just get my feet wet and start going. And we were in Korea, and that was when, like, an episode happened in my marriage shortly after getting there, and I was like, oh, no, I'm gonna have to get out. And now I'm in Korea, and I can't take these boys and fly back, so we gotta make it happen. So I just. I started giving cooking classes and tours of the outdoor market, and, you know, it was very grassroots. I just started hustling, basically, and building a business. [00:07:03] Speaker A: Wow. So you had that little bit of that experience while you were married and you were outside of the military at the time, your husband was in the military. [00:07:11] Speaker B: Right. [00:07:12] Speaker A: Wow. So you had to fix necessarily, that you needed that money coming in or something that you. [00:07:18] Speaker B: I mean, I did basically what I was doing was building a resume. You know, that was when we came back to the states that was going to help me with getting a career. And then I discovered that I actually really liked working for myself and that I was pretty darn good at it. [00:07:33] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. [00:07:34] Speaker B: So it all sort of just kept evolving. [00:07:37] Speaker A: Wow. [00:07:38] Speaker B: As it went. [00:07:39] Speaker A: That's amazing. You mentioned, I think, in the podcast that your folks were so, like, just get a normal job, right? Five, whatever. [00:07:48] Speaker B: Because my dad's a physician, so he's a family physician, so they were very traditional, very conservative, and that's, like, not me. [00:07:57] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, for sure. [00:07:58] Speaker B: And it's hard for parents to sometimes accept. And so when I got into, like, holistic health and stuff, that just felt very, like, hippie like for them. [00:08:10] Speaker A: Well, I could see that. Wow. So that's. I guess that's one of the boundaries that you have to set. No, this is what I'm gonna do. [00:08:16] Speaker B: Right? Yeah, exactly. [00:08:18] Speaker A: Yeah, that's cool. And Matt. And so I guess maybe one of the reasons that you came upon holistic was because of you had a couple miscarriages in your. Oh, man. [00:08:30] Speaker B: Multiple. Yeah. Yeah. [00:08:31] Speaker A: Wow. [00:08:32] Speaker B: And that was rough, obviously. And so the insurance was like, well, you need to have four. And I'd only had three in their eyes. Right. I know. They're like, that's not enough loss. [00:08:44] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [00:08:45] Speaker B: They really saw it as a number. They weren't, like, viewing it, like, how I was feeling it, and so I just needed to alleviate the guilt I was feeling. Even though they said, everything's normal, everything's great, I'm like, okay, well, I just feel like my body should be doing this natural thing, and it's not. And I just started self educating, and we lived in Washington state at the time, which was a great place to sort of get into, like, organic and eastern medicine, and I dabbled with acupuncture, all of that stuff, so. [00:09:16] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, that's cool. Did you have. Did you have any kids before those had happened, or. [00:09:21] Speaker B: No. [00:09:22] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:23] Speaker B: So that was like, it was like a couple years of several miscarriages, and then him always sort of coming and going and. Yeah, it just made starting a family super stressful. [00:09:35] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [00:09:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:09:36] Speaker A: Oh, wow, man. So, so brutal. Like, how. How is those. I guess those tragedies. How did. How did you come out. Come out from that? Like, how did you find yourself? [00:09:47] Speaker B: Well, I mean, I got a degree in, you know, holistic wellness, so that did help out. Yes. Oh, no. Because then I got into all of that, and it was like, I felt like I found my people, you know, because I'd grown up in, like, this traditional medicine, and I love that, too. It's very beneficial, and we need it. But I had always sort of, like, been intrigued by alternative things and stuff, so it just seemed to make sense and felt like I found, like, a groove that I hadn't known about. So then I went back to school, had the GI bill. Thankfully, no student debt, so, yeah, I was able to get that degree. [00:10:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:10:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:29] Speaker A: So you got the holistic certification and. [00:10:31] Speaker B: Then culinary degree, and then just in the last few years, I got my bachelor's or some marketing and used up the last bit of that Gi bill. [00:10:38] Speaker A: Oh, come on. Yeah. So obviously. Well, that's obviously helping out, because I see your ads everywhere. Yes. [00:10:46] Speaker B: I love marketing. I really do storytelling, so. And I'm sort of intrigued by, I mean, you know, it's always like that. There's different way for people to sell stuff, and I really like the authentic, transparent type of marketing that is, like, rooted in truth, and there's the people that do it another way, and so. Right. And so I just. I found and then followed and then learned from the people that modeled the way that I like it. And so storytelling is kind of my thing, too. I enjoy writing and stuff like that. [00:11:23] Speaker A: Cool. [00:11:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:24] Speaker A: So. So you. Are you gonna have a book coming? Oh, I will have a book, probably. [00:11:28] Speaker B: Absolutely. I've already got part of it. Oh, come on. [00:11:33] Speaker A: Awesome. Wow, that's amazing. Yeah. So you. So that marketing degree that I mentioned. [00:11:38] Speaker B: That would help out your business, it does help tremendously. [00:11:41] Speaker A: Yeah. That's awesome. Well, that's cool. So you got, man, you got your bachelor's, you got all this stuff going on. Is your kids, like, are your sons involved in your business at all? [00:11:50] Speaker B: I mean, a little bit. I'm hoping that they'll get more involved. My middle, my 13 year old, he's much more sort of intrigued with, like, making money, getting in there. He's gotten behind the register and helped out. He's washed dishes. [00:12:04] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:12:04] Speaker B: Yeah. My youngest went in there and tried to help bag a little bit of cheese, and literally within five minutes, he's like, this sucks. And I don't want to work anymore. I don't care about the money. [00:12:16] Speaker A: Wow, that's funny. Do you use local suppliers at all, or how do you approach that? [00:12:21] Speaker B: Well, because it is a franchise. I do need to use the corporate account, which is with Cisco. Yeah. But I did just get Nueces beer. [00:12:28] Speaker A: Oh, nice. [00:12:29] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:29] Speaker A: Wow. [00:12:30] Speaker B: That's got delivered today. [00:12:31] Speaker A: Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, that's awesome. So, and you. And you pitch to their franchise. [00:12:39] Speaker B: Yeah. To sort of shake things up just a little bit and shift things. Yeah. So my menu is a bit different. I have a handful of my recipes on there. I cut out a lot of the stuff. I cut out, like, all the deep fried stuff. Being a holistic nutritionist, I didn't want fried foods didn't align with me. And, like, I joked with you earlier, I feel like that market's covered here. I don't need to do that. And so got rid of, like, the burgers and the sandwiches and the pastas and really just wanted to focus in on the pizzas. Like, we make our dough fresh every day, our sauce fresh every day, and I just really wanted to offer, like, high quality specialty pizzas and a large variety of it. And I really like a focused menu. I struggle when I go into a restaurant and you see, like, asian, mexican, Italian, and it's all on one menu. I feel like I just, I really like a focused menu. So. [00:13:35] Speaker A: So is it like a certain, I guess, like, culture or how do you look at it to have to. How do you go about focusing it? [00:13:45] Speaker B: Well, I mean, so it's all, like, focused in on what's made with the homemade dough. So it's like, all the different pizzas. And then we have, like, pesto sauce base. We've got Alfredo sauce base, and then one even has, like, the red sauce, Alfredo and pesto. And that's so good. It's like you get a little bit of one and different bits in each bite. And so just trying to cater to, like, the foodies and bring a lot of fresh veggies, which isn't just the typical black olive, bell pepper, mushroom, onion, you know, a lot of, like, vegetarian pizzas at, or vegetarian dishes and stuff. And at pizzerias, it's like they just remove the meat and then have the veggies of what's on a supreme. I've brought in, like, spinach and artichoke dip pizza. You know, there's zucchini and artichokes and goat cheese, all that stuff. So. [00:14:40] Speaker A: So is it really? [00:14:41] Speaker B: So, yeah, my wife just trying to bring variety. [00:14:43] Speaker A: Yes. [00:14:44] Speaker B: That's not just the same old, same old veggies you always get. And then vegan and dairy free. There's so many parents that come in and say their kids are allergic to dairy and they didn't enjoy pizza for so long and they felt left out, and now they love it and feel like they're part of everything, so they're so happy. [00:15:03] Speaker A: So how do you, like, how do you get people to get into that type of stuff? Because we're so used to just a regular. [00:15:10] Speaker B: I don't know that I'm necessarily trying to convince anybody to get into it. I'm more so there for the people that are right. And that's what they're looking for, and that's what they want. And then maybe they'll come in and they'll be like, oh, what's that? And then they're like, oh, that's the spinach artichoke dip. And they're like, oh, that's good. Well, you can get it by the slice. We cook everything by the slice, fresh to order, because I want, like, the highest quality. And so a lot of people will order a pizza, and they'll get one slice of something to dabble and test the waters. [00:15:37] Speaker A: Yes. That's a good idea. [00:15:38] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:39] Speaker A: So I was looking at your Google reviews on there, and, of course, like, they got good ones and you got the bad ones. Yeah. Like, and then some of them are even, like, employees that you had. [00:15:49] Speaker B: Oh, that's always fun. [00:15:51] Speaker A: Yeah. How do you. How do you. [00:15:53] Speaker B: I just don't even take that personal. Like, I know at this point, having dealt with employees and stuff, that I can tell when I read a review because I truly want the feedback. I can tell if it's just really somebody who's kind of evil and just running, and I'm able to kind of let those roll off, honestly. Cause you can't please everybody. But truly, if they're. I mean, I have made changes based off of feedback because I'm like, okay, if this is a thing, like, let's look at this. Is this something that we need to evaluate? And sometimes you do. Thankfully, the positive ones far outweigh the negative. I mean, but nobody's ever perfect, so that's true. Like, we need to learn and grow and keep growing. [00:16:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Don't get stuck. Like, don't get stuck on the negative. Even though it's hard. Sometimes it's hard. You know what I mean? [00:16:42] Speaker B: I mean, it's gonna hurt your ego at first, and then it's like, okay, what can we get from this? And if it's a disgruntled employee, I'm kind of like, okay. You know, I could see why. [00:16:56] Speaker A: Yeah. So I was gonna ask you about your employee. Like, how do you go about finding your employees for your restaurant? [00:17:02] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [00:17:03] Speaker A: Is that struggle? Is it? Is it. Do you have, like, a turnaround. Like a high turnaround. [00:17:08] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. I think everybody does. It's the story I hear from most places. [00:17:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:12] Speaker B: Cause I mean, hospitality and I've been in it forever. I was a server, you know, those were my jobs in the beginning. So it's really, it's not usually somebody's endgame. We're a pit stop along the way of them sorting out and figuring out their life. So if anything ever comes along and sounds better or anything like that, like they're just gonna go, yeah, for sure. [00:17:37] Speaker A: It's not like. And if you try to, it's difficult too. Cause you have to like pay them more. You gotta figure out the business budget and all that. [00:17:44] Speaker B: Yes. And there's the whole training thing. So it's like they got to learn how to stretch dough. You know, there's a learning curve there. It's not like you can't learn. It's all skills. It just needs to be learned. But it takes practice and topping the pizzas correctly and all of that. And so they're always going to make mistakes in the beginning and put this on or not that on, and you're throwing stuff away or like giving it away, you know, because. And so, and then when they leave after like two or three weeks, and you're like, oh, I just lost all of that. But it's part of it. It is part of it, especially right now in this economy. [00:18:21] Speaker A: Wow. Yeah. It's so crazy right now. [00:18:23] Speaker B: Isn't it crazy? [00:18:24] Speaker A: Oh my God. [00:18:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:25] Speaker A: How do we. It's like, how do we deal? How do we deal with that? [00:18:28] Speaker B: It's all I've known, so it's like my normal. But I talked to people that opened before and it's like, oh, it hasn't always been like that. Well, maybe we'll get back there. We'll see. [00:18:38] Speaker A: Yeah, that's cool. Yeah. Pineapple on pizza, yes or no? [00:18:41] Speaker B: I love it. [00:18:42] Speaker A: I love it. [00:18:44] Speaker B: I love the sweet and the salty. So I'm like a pepperoni pineapple person, right? [00:18:50] Speaker A: If you could only eat one tap of pizza for the rest of your life, which one would it be? [00:18:55] Speaker B: I'd probably go, classic pepperoni. [00:18:57] Speaker A: Classic pepperoni. [00:18:57] Speaker B: It's just one type. [00:18:59] Speaker A: Just one. [00:19:00] Speaker B: Wow. Yeah. [00:19:01] Speaker A: I gotta have a bunch of different meats. [00:19:02] Speaker B: Well, I mean, yes, I mean, I would love like some. Well, pepperoni and mushroom is kind of my go to lately, which is a big corpus favorite. Like, I haven't even had that. And then so many people get it that I was like, let me give this a go. It's not bad. You get, like, the earthy umami with, like, the pepper, the salty pepperoni. [00:19:21] Speaker A: So Priscilla said pineapple. [00:19:24] Speaker B: She's the fan. She's the fan. [00:19:26] Speaker A: Dana Galette. Can't wait to try the spinach dip pizza. [00:19:29] Speaker B: And that's my best friend. [00:19:30] Speaker A: Oh, nice. [00:19:31] Speaker B: She just turned 50 yesterday. Happy birthday, Dana. [00:19:34] Speaker A: Yeah, happy birthday. That's awesome. Wow. Italian and three beautiful sauces. [00:19:40] Speaker B: Italy and three beautiful sauces. [00:19:42] Speaker A: Okay. [00:19:43] Speaker B: That's the one with the alfredo, the pesto, and the marinara. [00:19:46] Speaker A: Cheese on cheese only? [00:19:47] Speaker B: Yep. It has chicken, red bell peppers, and then cheese. [00:19:50] Speaker A: Yeah. Nice. So how did you decide on that spot right there where you're at on stage? [00:19:54] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. That was a whole thing, too. I mean, I looked at so many places, it took a year to get open. It was a lot longer than I expected. [00:20:03] Speaker A: Wow. [00:20:03] Speaker B: Yeah. And it was tough because, like, so many of the spots I would see were, like, all burnt down on the inside. It's amazing how many restaurants burned down. [00:20:11] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [00:20:12] Speaker B: Yeah, it's crazy. And so, so I landed on this one after months of looking, and I was like, this is it. I want it. I need it. It's kind of tucked there in the corner, but there's ample parking, which, in a lot of those plazas, you just don't get tons of parking. Walmart's right there, so you get a lot of traffic coming in. [00:20:31] Speaker A: Parking lot's not alternate trash. It's cement. Yeah, it looks. [00:20:34] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. I mean, it is, like, it's so windy here. I feel like trash is always blowing everywhere, but. Yeah, but, no, it is. It's a really good location. I'm super happy. [00:20:45] Speaker A: Yeah. With it. That's good. So building relationships with local supply. Not that one. What is the key to engagement of the local community? Or do you look at that at all? [00:20:59] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, so before I opened, I was just going out and meeting, like, going and visiting the other local places, introducing myself, going to the events, like, getting to know people that attended those things and just networking with other entrepreneurs, you know, because we sort of think the same way, enjoy the same type of things, are a little bit different and creative, and I just enjoy being around people like that and that support people like that. So that's how I started building so many of the friendships. I mean, I feel like they're really my friends now and supporters. [00:21:39] Speaker A: That's cool. Did you feel like there was any kind of, like, maybe kick back while you were doing that stuff? Because it seems like in every industry, there's always some kind of beef. You know what I mean? And of course, you stay away from it. [00:21:53] Speaker B: I mean, maybe there was, and I just didn't even just give that life. I really just genuinely wanted to get to know people because that's what I enjoy doing. So. Yeah, I just don't even think I paid attention to that if it was honestly. Yeah. [00:22:10] Speaker A: So how did you. So how did you. Did you. Was it natural for you or normal for you to, like, want to talk to people? [00:22:17] Speaker B: I mean, I love talking to people. [00:22:19] Speaker A: Okay. [00:22:19] Speaker B: And I can talk about. I mean, everybody can talk about food. [00:22:22] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:22] Speaker B: It's such an easy way to get a conversation started, is food. It's very general. It's not polarizing unless it's, like, a pineapple or cilantro topic. But. But no, I mean, you start talking about food with people and, like, any. Even the most uncomfortable person will, like, get engaged. [00:22:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Nice. [00:22:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:41] Speaker A: So you landed on the. On the pizza. Pizza pizzeria, actually. So why did you decide a franchise? [00:22:50] Speaker B: I think because I was getting divorced and I thought because I had grown my wellness business for, like, five years and I knew I was gonna get away from that and was gonna go like brick and mortar. And I thought, let me pick a company that has already, like, the built out policies and procedures and the bulk of what I needed to figure out. [00:23:12] Speaker A: Right. [00:23:13] Speaker B: Done and sort of handed to me and then see if I could input some of my creativity, which I was thankful they were open to. [00:23:20] Speaker A: Wow. [00:23:21] Speaker B: You know? [00:23:21] Speaker A: So are they still helping you, like, with that type of stuff? [00:23:24] Speaker B: Like, I mean, they're pretty hands off. [00:23:27] Speaker A: Okay. [00:23:27] Speaker B: I'm doing well. [00:23:29] Speaker A: Okay. So that's cool. Yeah. Yeah, no, I could see how that could be helpful instead of just starting from the ground up and not knowing. [00:23:36] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. [00:23:37] Speaker A: Anything at all. [00:23:38] Speaker B: Right. Yeah, they helped me pick out all my equipment. [00:23:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:41] Speaker B: You know what I mean? Like, yeah, there's so much involved. [00:23:45] Speaker A: Oh, for sure. So why did. So it. So is that why part of the reason why it took you to so long? Because you said it took a year to open it. Right. What are some of the things that you have to. [00:23:55] Speaker B: A lot of that was because of supply issues. I mean, some of it was finding the location contract or B's, because you go through a lot of that, too. Things that come up as you're, like, building and needing to shift and you discover something and permits. Oh, my gosh, that was a huge hurdle. Just each thing ends up taking so much longer than you thought it was going to yeah. And getting equipment delivered was. It was because this was now, like, a year and a half ago, so it. Or two and a half years, if you're thinking when I was trying to get all that stuff ordered and some of the stuff was so back ordered. [00:24:34] Speaker A: Wow. [00:24:34] Speaker B: So did you. [00:24:35] Speaker A: So did you have to. Did you. Did you have to get, like, a loan to get it started? [00:24:40] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. [00:24:41] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. [00:24:41] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:24:42] Speaker A: So obviously. And did at some point, did that, like, stop you from getting something done to where you're like, oh, shoot, we're running. [00:24:49] Speaker B: That took a minute to do the loan. So I worked with the small business development center, which shout out to them, they're so good, super helpful. And, I mean, it was so thorough, the business plan that we came up with, and it took so long, but it got me my loan because we were so thorough, and it also taught me so much. [00:25:08] Speaker A: Really? [00:25:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Cause they had me think about things that just were not on. [00:25:13] Speaker A: Okay. Oh. [00:25:14] Speaker B: Just so much of the business aspect and the financials and planning and you're projecting out for years, and then you're just. Your brain is sort of like, oh, my God. It just makes it more real instead of, like, the airy fairy dream of owning a restaurant, you know, it's like, oh, here's the numbers. This is what I need to do and produce. And it's like, oh, okay. Yeah, no, this is intense. [00:25:37] Speaker A: That's awesome. So you were in the military? You were a combat medic. [00:25:41] Speaker B: Yes. [00:25:42] Speaker A: How has that helped you in the future? Like, now, like, how has it helped you through? [00:25:48] Speaker B: I mean, I'm a badass. [00:25:49] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. You kidding me? Golly. [00:25:55] Speaker B: You know, it just. It put me in, so I was never expecting to go. I came off that year of backpacking, could struggle to find work. Turns out when you sell everything you own and you come back, it's not easy. You have nothing. [00:26:09] Speaker A: Do you remember what you own before you sold everything? [00:26:11] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. Condensed everything down to just a backpack that I would carry. So I sold my car, I sold, like, all my furniture, everything, which was super exciting, and so glad I did it. And that year was incredible. But then I came back and I was like, oh, God, I don't have anything but this backpack full of stuff I've been wearing for a year. Yeah. So, yeah. And then I was like, well, that trip showed me that, but I just sort of. My intestinal fortitude, I guess, and then I was like, I can do anything for. And how fast a year goes. So I signed up with the army for three. Now, looking back, I'm like, why didn't I talk to the air force or something? I don't know. Yeah, no, I think it's just cause, like, I had family members that had been army, so I just didn't even think about it. And I was like, and I'll go medic because I am not mechanically inclined, and I didn't want to do anything like that. And I was very limited with my military knowledge, so I went in, tested, made it, signed up, went, did my time, ended up doing a tour in Iraq for a year. Yeah. And then as soon as they held me for a bit longer, I got stop loss to do the tour, which was fine, and then came back, got out, and then that was when I started culinary school. [00:27:37] Speaker A: Wow, that's amazing. Thank you for your service. For sure. [00:27:40] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:27:40] Speaker A: In Iraq for a whole year. Yeah. Oh, my God. [00:27:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:27:44] Speaker A: Yeah, I was gonna say. So. And this was later in life in your thirties, right? You got into. So that's kind of later. And you said, yeah, in the leading ladies podcast that you. You knew it was games, like. [00:27:57] Speaker B: Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. Right. Well, I think being older, it's like you just sort of have this, like, emotional maturity that the 18 year olds didn't have. Like, I knew. I was like, okay, they're gonna yell at us. They're gonna torture us. This is what they do. And I would just be like, I'm gonna be in the best shape of my life. Like, this sucks, but I gotta do it, you know? And people were crying and begging to get out, and I was like, dude, just get through it. [00:28:20] Speaker A: Wow. [00:28:21] Speaker B: You know? [00:28:21] Speaker A: Well, not a lot of people had that perseverance, I guess. [00:28:24] Speaker B: Yeah, I guess I just thought everybody could, like, dig into that or something. [00:28:27] Speaker A: Do you think. Do you think being raised with three brothers, like, helped you kind of get through these types of things? Like, how has that helped your it definitely. [00:28:38] Speaker B: I don't know. I think. I mean, I think some of the crap I went through, like, growing up, so, I mean, from an outside perspective, everything looked great, you know, we were very well taken care of, and we had the hot meals and the roof and all of that stuff, but I didn't grow up with, like, love and affection, especially from my mom. Like, she couldn't say, I love you. She didn't really ever hug me, all of that stuff. So I think that sort of, in some way, toughened me up in a way I didn't want to be toughened up. [00:29:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:10] Speaker B: You know, and that was a lot of the stuff I had to sort of, like, process and work out in the last ten years. [00:29:18] Speaker A: Yeah, kind of on your own, like. [00:29:20] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. Right, right. But in a sense, I think it just sort of built like a super independent person. [00:29:28] Speaker A: That's cool, man. It's real. It's real tough. Like, your mentality is, like, super tough. It's like I was telling my wife, like, damn, this lady's been through a lot still. And I talked to you, we were talking earlier before Eric, and you were like, I said, you're a busy person. You're like, yeah, and there's still more stuff that I want to do. [00:29:45] Speaker B: Like, yeah, my personality thrives on that. If I have too much, like, downtime, then I can overthink things and stuff. I'm sort of better to just keep going. [00:29:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:58] Speaker B: And building. [00:29:59] Speaker A: That's cool. Wow. So are all your sons like that, or is just one of them or a few of them? [00:30:04] Speaker B: You know, it's interesting. I'm still sort of getting to know. I mean, the 14 year old. God, I. I never see him anymore right now. He's always holed up in his room, you know, but he is very much a miniature me. So we will see. My middle is very much his dad, and then my youngest is kind of in between both of us. I think he leans a little bit more towards me, but, yeah, we'll see. [00:30:25] Speaker A: Yeah. And thanks for getting the merch for them, which you send. [00:30:29] Speaker B: They love it. [00:30:30] Speaker A: That's awesome. So did they listen to heavy music or what kind of music they listen to? And do they put it loud into the. [00:30:37] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. Yeah. So, I mean, they love to listen to, like, a lot of rap and stuff like that. We don't listen to the same music. [00:30:43] Speaker A: Right. [00:30:44] Speaker B: I'm more like the top 40 type that Katy Perry, the pink lady gaga, all of that. That's not. We're always at odds when it comes to music. [00:30:52] Speaker A: Yeah, it's awesome. So do you find yourself being your mom to them? [00:30:59] Speaker B: No. [00:31:00] Speaker A: And, like, how do you. Do you find. [00:31:03] Speaker B: I mean, that's the. [00:31:04] Speaker A: Sometimes I'm like. I'm like, oh, shoot. That. I'm trying to change that. [00:31:08] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I've done a lot of work. I mean, that was part of why I had to set that boundary. And, like, I mean, she would just sort of dip in and out. If I did something that upset her, she would dip out of my life for a couple of years, and it wasn't ever anything like, I mean, she thought it was huge. But comparatively speaking, to other people, I never saw it as a reason for a mom to just sort of dip out and then come back and, you know, just had to act like everything was okay. And so. So that was when I was like, okay, no, you don't get to pick and choose anymore when you're taking part. And so, no, I mean, that's a lot of work of what I've done is to make sure that I'm not, you know, I love that my kiddos, like we say, I love you and we hug all the time, and my 14 year old still does that, which, you know, that kind of shocks me, you know, because I know at that age that that can feel uncomfortable. But, no, it's very. I talk a lot. Anybody that's close to me. Not just talk a lot. I talk a lot about my emotions and my feelings, and there's a reason for that. It's because I grew up without that. So I really always want that open communication. [00:32:14] Speaker A: Yes. [00:32:15] Speaker B: You know? So I would rather over talk about how we feel than under talk about it. [00:32:21] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:32:22] Speaker B: And that's probably my trauma. [00:32:23] Speaker A: Yeah, no, for sure. Yeah, definitely. I didn't learn that till, like, years into my marriage. Like, okay, dude, you need to communicate with your wife. And I never knew how to do that. [00:32:32] Speaker B: Then you don't misunderstand each other. Yes. [00:32:35] Speaker A: And you work. You keep working at it. [00:32:37] Speaker B: Yes, exactly. And it's not a personal attack. It's just an explanation of how they're feeling, you know? I mean, of course you've got to have a good delivery. Delivery matters, but, yeah. Yeah. I mean, that was a big part of the downfall of my. My marriage is that, you know, a lack of. Of being able to express emotions or me being able to be heard or me being able to say things, so. [00:33:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:07] Speaker B: And it wasn't changing. It wasn't improving. So I was like, okay, this is too much of the same what I was used to, and I don't want that anymore. [00:33:15] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:33:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:16] Speaker A: Yeah. My wife tries to communicate me with me. I'm doing something on the computer. I'm like, just throw a ball so I can catch it first, and then you have my attention. Then I'll tell her, like, I'm not listening. What'd you say? Yeah. Never ending story, man. For sure. Yeah, it's hard work. Yeah. And I definitely hear that even with my kids, like, I'm wanting them to voice their what. What they're feeling, you know, and they. [00:33:42] Speaker B: Go through so much, and they're exposed to so much. And, you know, especially my boys, like, they don't open up a ton. And so just letting them know that that is natural and okay and good to open up, you know. [00:33:57] Speaker A: Do you, how do you find yourself helping them? Well, I guess because you mentioned that your, your husband is still in their lives, so they, very much so, yeah. [00:34:09] Speaker B: We do week on, week off. [00:34:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:12] Speaker A: Is it difficult, do you see that it's difficult for your kids, like, going through that type of, I guess, term, you know, what y'all went through or whatever. [00:34:21] Speaker B: I mean, they were, I cannot speak for them. I don't really know. I know when we told them about the divorce, that was just one of the worst days ever. We had done a bit of cohabitating because he was going to be retiring from the army. We knew we were getting divorced, but we wanted to figure out where we were going to land, which ended up being corpus. [00:34:42] Speaker A: Corpus. Yeah. [00:34:42] Speaker B: Yes. And so it just got to the point where I was like, okay, I want to make sure the kids know that we're cohabitating and this, we're not modeling marriage right now. We're modeling something else because they're not seeing us be affectionate. They're not seeing these things. [00:35:00] Speaker A: Let them know what's happening. [00:35:01] Speaker B: Yes. Because they, I don't want them to think that that is what a marriage is, is a lack of a lot of this stuff. [00:35:08] Speaker A: That's what I was trying to get to. Like, what do you, how do you find yourself teaching your kids about marriage or what to look for? Because obviously you got sons, you know, that means, and maybe you want them to be in a certain, like, I see my son or even my daughter, and I want them to the best for them, obviously. It's like, how do you teach them or show them? [00:35:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, you know, I'm as open as possible as I can be, age appropriately, and also sort of not protecting their dad, but, like. Cause I gotta own my story and my truth of what happens and everything without sort of over sharing or being mean. [00:35:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:35:48] Speaker B: You know? [00:35:50] Speaker A: Yeah. You should be a mom. You're just being who you are. I mean, it's you just figuring out, like, we figuring out life as we go. [00:35:56] Speaker B: Yeah. Shoot, I don't even know because, like, my marriage didn't make it. [00:36:02] Speaker A: Yeah. So, yeah, man. Well, we're here now. We're talking. Louie's pizza. Who do you got in the chat? Priscilla. She says you're an amazing friend. Dana Gillette says total badass. Yeah. That's awesome. That's, wow. So you go. You're getting going. That's awesome. Let me see, if I could do a. Let me see. A quick question. If you're stranded on a desert island, and it could only be bring three things, not people, what would they be? [00:36:34] Speaker B: Oh, gosh. Desert island. Three things I'm gonna say. Well, I'm gonna have to say the volleyball, because that played out well. Right? For Wilson. Do I need to include food. [00:36:52] Speaker A: Wilson? [00:36:54] Speaker B: I mean, you gotta have a little fun. Like, you gotta have a game or something. Gosh, that's. Am I including food? I don't know. Why is this such a tough question? And avocados, man. [00:37:14] Speaker A: Do you read a lot? Do you read it? [00:37:15] Speaker B: I love to read. Yes. And it's all, like, nonfiction. Oh, yeah. [00:37:20] Speaker A: So you're constantly learning. Constantly. [00:37:21] Speaker B: I am constantly learning, yeah. I love memoirs. I love learning about other people's, like, life and journey, and then also, like, personal and professional development and stuff like that. Yeah, no, I do. I love that. [00:37:33] Speaker A: Yes. Dope. And then you're obviously writing a book, so what's. Is it a non nonfiction, of course. Yeah. What could it be? Oh, man. So, a lot of us face, like, obstacles, I guess, entrepreneurs and stuff like that. What mindset or approach do you adopt to preserve through the times? Keep moving forward with your vision for Sam and Louise? [00:38:04] Speaker B: Say the first part of that again. [00:38:07] Speaker A: Many entrepreneurs face obstacles that test their resilience and determination. [00:38:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:12] Speaker A: What mindset or approach do you adopt to preserve? [00:38:16] Speaker B: I mean, I think I'm just always thinking about, I was going to say my end goal, but I don't even know what my end goal is. I mean, I'm just reminding myself of my goals, sort of where I've come from and what I've been through and why I'm doing this. Like, that's just a big thing that I tap into constantly to remind myself, like, when I first opened. So, like, the first nine months I worked open to close every single day. I had three days off. It was Christmas Day, New Year's Day, and Easter. Every single day open to close. I don't even know how I did that now, looking back. But it. It was sheer drive and determination for success to provide a life for my children and myself. So there was just no way I could not do it. [00:39:07] Speaker A: So you weren't just thinking about yourself. You're thinking about, I mean, the kids. [00:39:11] Speaker B: It always takes somebody else. It's funny. Like, it's even, like, with the marriage ending, that was. I could tolerate stuff for far too long. It was my therapist one day saying to me, me, would you want your children to be in a marriage that you're in? And that was it. Oh, that was. I was like, no, I don't. [00:39:32] Speaker A: Wow. [00:39:33] Speaker B: And then it was like, oh, what am I doing? It's like, we can make foundational changes because of somebody else. We can't always do it for us. And so sometimes you got to ride that. [00:39:44] Speaker A: Wow. It's amazing. Wow. As a founder, what strategies or practices have you found most effective for fostering a positive work culture among your team members? Well, we kind of touched on that a little bit. [00:39:56] Speaker B: Yeah, I was gonna say. And that's always a work in progress, too, you know? Cause I was sort of in survival mode for a long time, so bringing a GM in has really helped. [00:40:06] Speaker A: Oh, nice. [00:40:07] Speaker B: He can sort of shoulder that stuff. [00:40:09] Speaker A: You take it. Yeah, I went in. I went in. The second time I went in, you were. You were kind of showing up, but the first time I went, I was like, where she at? She's not here. Cause I used to see you on the Instagram. [00:40:22] Speaker B: Right, right. [00:40:22] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:40:23] Speaker B: Now I can sort of step back now, which is really nice. I mean, there's so many things under the umbrella that I don't have to be in the kitchen now. I can do a lot of the other stuff in the background, which is the marketing and, you know, all that other stuff, so. [00:40:37] Speaker A: Yeah. And then you're on Instagram a lot, like, yes. Oh. Do you feel that working for your business? [00:40:41] Speaker B: I do, yeah. I found my people there. So I was just talking about that with the Tuttles. Meat market was, smokehouse was in the other day, and we were discussing that, and they were saying they're mostly on Facebook and they cross post to Instagram. But for me, I've found that that's what's working. I'm sure if I got onto TikTok and really developed that out, that would work, too. But, like, there's only so much you can do and do well, I don't want to just do quantity. I want to do quality. So right now, I'm just focusing on Instagram, and that's working. [00:41:14] Speaker A: So doing the quality aspect, do you feel that? I guess, obviously. Is there a reason why you think that you should do it that way instead, instead of, I guess, not multiplying it, but spreading it out? [00:41:25] Speaker B: Well, I mean, you're able to handle all of that and do all of it very well. More power to you. [00:41:30] Speaker A: Right. [00:41:30] Speaker B: But each platform is slightly different, and you need to adjust, and that just all takes time. If you posted the exact same thing across all platforms, it's not going to do as well on different ones. They're all slightly varied. So Instagram is a really good aesthetic, especially. Especially for food, you know, like, it. [00:41:51] Speaker A: Started out with the pictures. Right. Actually, the videos. [00:41:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:41:54] Speaker A: Yeah. So commercials. Right. Obviously food and. [00:41:58] Speaker B: Yes. [00:41:58] Speaker A: Stretchy cheese and all this other stuff. [00:42:01] Speaker B: And you know what? Mine is very much like, I'm not doing super professional. I'm using my iPhone and I'm taking up. As soon as it comes out of the oven, I'm taking the photo and then boxing it and handing it off. Like, I'm not doing a display and this whole thing and a super expensive photo shoot. I think a lot of the aesthetic that works now is very much that natural, grounded. This is real life. I'm doing it. [00:42:26] Speaker A: Yes. [00:42:26] Speaker B: It's not some. Now, obviously, it works for the large name brands because that's what you expect from them. Interesting, you know? [00:42:34] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, that's cool. And then you being in there and making the dough and stuff like that makes it kind of relatable, too. [00:42:41] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. And I love it. It's like if I. If I haven't done it for a while, I have to, like, jump in the kitchen and stretch some dough. [00:42:47] Speaker A: That's cool. Wow. So do you see it expanding pack? It's interesting. It's a. That. This was the first one in Texas. [00:42:55] Speaker B: Yeah, first one in Texas here in. [00:42:58] Speaker A: Little O Corps Christmas. [00:42:59] Speaker B: I know. [00:43:00] Speaker A: Wow. So are you going past just the one store or what do you see yourself going? [00:43:06] Speaker B: I don't know. We'll see. I mean, I have a gigantic loan and. And, I mean, there's tons of room to explore and growing areas and stuff, so we'll see. [00:43:18] Speaker A: Yeah. So that's cool. That's awesome. Thanks for coming on the show. [00:43:22] Speaker B: Thanks. [00:43:22] Speaker A: We got, bro, 45 minutes. Awesome. Is there anything you would like to share? [00:43:29] Speaker B: Well, I know one lady had posted something about, I think her question was, like, getting started, women or something like that. [00:43:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:43:37] Speaker B: And when it comes to that, I guess I would really just say, I mean, it depends what you're doing, and it's a little bit different for different industries and stuff like that. But I. I mean, I think one of the things for my success was that I just kept showing up every day, you know? So it's like, I did the holistic wellness for military spouses at first. Find those that do what you want to do well and, like, learn from them, too. Cause that is a lot of what I would do. I would read their books or I would watch their content. There's so much free stuff out there now, you know, but don't get distracted by watching everybody's stuff. And a lot of what some of my friends that would be trying to start businesses and stuff and never quite got off the ground was that they just got stuck in sort of consuming and trying to learn and never actually creating and getting started. [00:44:40] Speaker A: Wow. [00:44:41] Speaker B: So I was never afraid to fail because I knew I was going. Going to. I mean, there's just. You're going to at certain things. But I knew that if I just kept showing up and learning and tweaking and adjusting that I was ultimately going to be successful. I was just going to fail at little steps along the way. [00:45:00] Speaker A: Did you try a different business venture other than pizza or. [00:45:04] Speaker B: No. [00:45:05] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Wow. [00:45:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:08] Speaker A: So be consistent. So you're saying start, do stuff, right? Learn along the way. [00:45:12] Speaker B: Yes. So, yeah, but that's like. And so when I mean fail, like, I'm not necessarily talking, like, the giant fail, which it could be that, too. And don't take that, because, like, my wellness business, I got so much out of it, like, publicity wise and, like, recipes, and I was in magazines and newspapers and all that, but financially, it didn't get me where I needed to be. [00:45:33] Speaker A: Wow. [00:45:34] Speaker B: So that felt like a failure. [00:45:35] Speaker A: Oh. [00:45:36] Speaker B: But I knew I now had this resume, this rap sheet of key keynote speaking that I'd done and so many admirable things that I had to realize the value in that and not just look at the failure. [00:45:49] Speaker A: Whoa. Wow. Learn from the failure and use that for your next. [00:45:53] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. And it had opened so many doors for me. Don't be afraid to, like, reach out to people and touch base with them, too, because a lot of times they want to reconnect or, you know, help in a certain situation. [00:46:07] Speaker A: Wow. So it's almost like you kind of have to humble yourself in that sense and not be proud. Too proud to ask. [00:46:14] Speaker B: Yeah, somebody and reciprocate. I think that's a lot. I think because I was so supportive of people, like, genuinely supportive. It wasn't fake, it wasn't, like, pushed. I wasn't looking for something out of it. People can feel that and then they want to support you. [00:46:30] Speaker A: Oh, that's amazing. I love that. I love that. Like, you're helping others, you're doing your thing and people, and there's a reciprocation and it seems like you seem. You found that in our community. [00:46:42] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:46:43] Speaker A: That's awesome, man. That's awesome. [00:46:45] Speaker B: Corpus is great. [00:46:46] Speaker A: Yeah. You think so? [00:46:46] Speaker B: Yeah, I do. Oh, yeah. [00:46:49] Speaker A: So why do you think corpus is great? [00:46:51] Speaker B: Well, because the people, like, literally being military, we lived in so many places, and everybody always says, like, how supportive the military, especially, like, the spouses and stuff are. And I experienced a lot of cattiness or like. And I think maybe it's because people ultimately weren't happy in certain aspects of their life. [00:47:11] Speaker A: What was cattiness? [00:47:12] Speaker B: Um, like. Like just tearing each other down. [00:47:15] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:47:15] Speaker B: You know, rather than lifting them up. And so I found a lot of the opposite of that here. I also try to stay out of the drama, of course. You know, if I see that or if I see somebody's energy that seems like that is the way that they are, I'm gonna go the other direction. I'm not gonna get involved with that. So that definitely helps. [00:47:34] Speaker A: I think you set a boundary. Set a boundary. I'm talking about boundaries. [00:47:37] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. [00:47:38] Speaker A: Priscilla says, I need Sam and Louise in my life soon. Hawaiian luau, calzone, Pam salad and the sweet chili wings. Oh, sweet chili rings. You gotta try that one out. [00:47:48] Speaker B: That's her classic order. [00:47:49] Speaker A: Night creature production says, hey, what's going on, y'all? [00:47:51] Speaker B: Hey. [00:47:52] Speaker A: Wow, that's awesome. So, Cor. Yeah, corpus is amazing. Like, it is what you make of it, you know? [00:47:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:58] Speaker A: If you don't. I mean, cuz like I got. We've all have family members that are in. I guess not in good spots in corpus, you know what I mean? And there's people that are like, it's a military city also. [00:48:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:11] Speaker A: You know, got the base over there and stuff like that. So having these different perspectives. And it's interesting to me how, like, outs people from. Not from here. They end up here. [00:48:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:20] Speaker A: Such as yourself. And you're like, this is a good city, you know, why not? You know, it's cool to have that kind of perspective. And I wish, I want for a lot of us to be able to leave the city for what? You know, not even for once or every now and then and come back and just experience life outside of it. Yes, exactly. That's what it is. [00:48:41] Speaker B: Yeah. And driving on the beaches here, at first I was like, I don't know if that's a good idea. And then I moved here and I'm like, this is awesome. I never do this anywhere before. [00:48:52] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, other places. The actual beach drive. Yeah. [00:48:55] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, other places you don't drive on the beach. That's like a Texas thing. [00:48:58] Speaker A: Wow. Seriously? [00:48:59] Speaker B: Yeah. And it makes so much sense. It's so perfect. [00:49:03] Speaker A: Yes. [00:49:04] Speaker B: You don't do that anywhere else. [00:49:05] Speaker A: Oh, no kidding, man. We grew up. We would have bonfires out there. [00:49:09] Speaker B: That's so funny. [00:49:09] Speaker A: Oh, yes, it was. [00:49:10] Speaker B: And it's one of those things where, like, if you went somewhere else and went to the beach, you'd be like, what we don't get. And then you'd appreciate the corpus does it. But you just assume everybody drives on the beach. No, they don't. [00:49:23] Speaker A: It's awesome. So, yeah, I think we're coming to an end. Dan, this has been awesome conversation. Yeah. [00:49:29] Speaker B: So fun. [00:49:30] Speaker A: Yeah. Is there any takeaways or anything you would like to share? Going out? Mmm hmm. [00:49:36] Speaker B: I don't know. [00:49:36] Speaker A: Let me see. I think I had one looking back on your journey. Let me see. I have all these papers. I haven't even looked at them. If there was only one thing your customers would know about Sam and Louise, what would it be? [00:49:52] Speaker B: That we are for food that enjoy a high quality food experience. Yeah. Homemade, fresh. The meats don't have any fillers. Like, it's. It sounds crazy to say that. You're like, oh, no, of course the meats don't know. Most people have really cheap prices because their beef isn't all beef. Their pork's not all pork. It's cut with stuff. Ours pork is pork. Beef, all that, you know, high quality cheese. That makes a difference when reheating, too. And use an air fryer if you have an air fryer. Oh, the best way. [00:50:26] Speaker A: Yeah. Nice. Yeah. Heck, yeah. It's awesome. So how can listeners connect with Sam and Louise Pizzeria online or in person? [00:50:34] Speaker B: I would say Instagram. It's Sam and Louise Corpus Christi. Sam and Louise Corpus Christi on Facebook, too. I mean, you're gonna see it all there as well. I share a lot in my stories, and that's how I connect with a lot of people. I share a lot of my everyday life. Life. And I have a lot of conversations with my customers and stuff. And. Yeah, I mean, let me know if you come in and I want to say hi. [00:51:01] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. And you mentioned that you get messages from women, which is awesome. [00:51:06] Speaker B: Connecting. [00:51:07] Speaker A: Yeah. There was somebody that even on one of the posts, they were saying, oh, we should listen to this. Another person was tagging another person. This would be cool to listen to. [00:51:15] Speaker B: Awesome. [00:51:16] Speaker A: So that's awesome. [00:51:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:51:17] Speaker A: Any final thoughts or messages you'd like to share with your. With our audience or your audience? [00:51:23] Speaker B: I would just say no matter how difficult anything feels right now, you know, just keep going, explore your options. Take care of yourself. And it's better on the other side. Yes. [00:51:43] Speaker A: Look forward. Look forward. Keep looking forward. That's awesome. Well, if nothing else, you don't want to share anything else, we'll say goodbye. [00:51:50] Speaker B: Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Yeah, yeah. So good. [00:51:54] Speaker A: You guys stay tuned for the next ones. Shout out to Maya back there for with the Purdue Sound studios making this thing look nice. And also check out our sponsor of the show, Elvago Burger and Barbecue, 47 one Baretta drive in Molina. They got some good burgers out there. Should check it it out. And yeah, stay tuned for the next couple episodes. I think we're booked until July. Just for some reason. I can never remember who's coming on next. That's probably one thing I should work on, but stay tuned for that. We'll see you later. Thank you, everybody on YouTube, Dana, night creature Productions, Priscilla, Francesca, everybody for joining. And check out the replay. Thank you.