Why Most Restaurants Fail in the First 5 Years... | Elcio Zanatta | DSH #1910

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Most items that we see for people to eat has tons of sugar. Processed foods with cans with seed oils, preservatives, chemicals. Small bad food. Every time you get a bad result. Okay guys, special episode for you all today. We got LCO from Aubergine Kitchen, which is one of my favorite spots in Vegas. I order it at least once a week. It's a nice, healthy restaurant. Thanks for coming in, man. Thank you for inviting me. It's a pleasure to be with you. Yeah, I'm very excited to hear your story, but also I know how tough the restaurant industry is. So I think you'll have some good advice and insights for the audience. I don't know if I can give advice, but I can share some stories. Yeah, that'll help a lot of people. But yeah, basically for those that don't know what Aubergine is about, could you explain the story, how you started? Yes. I moved to America in 2005. We brought our children to go to college here. We want them to study here, have an opportunity here. And then I was pondering life, what to do with my future. I was then 46 years old, and I had so many dreams yet, but I lacked some kind of energy for that. And then I attended a seminar with Tony Robbins in California. And he's a performer, a self-improvement guy, everybody knows. And the last day of the seminar, it was about how to have more energy and have more vitality. And that, it was a turning point in my life. I said, oh, that's the answer for what I needed. First, I need to take care of myself, to have energy, to have vitality, for me to accomplish my dreams. And then I came, it was almost everything about food, what the feel of our bodies. And I came back and said, my wife and children, we need to change the way we live. We need to change the food we eat. But it was hard for them. They couldn't understand much. To change a habit is very difficult. And then I invite them to the same seminar some months later. And they bought the idea and we changed our lifestyle totally. And then we start, my wife has a gift for Cook. She's outstanding. And we invite neighbors, friends, they love the food we're eating, the new lifestyle. Lebanese, right? Yes. And then when we decide to stay in America, to live here, because my kids nerd American, we love here. It's a fantastic country. We say, oh, maybe we can give back to the community, which embraced us so much. And then we opened the first cafe in 2014. In Utah. In Utah, or in Utah. That was the way we started. Wow. That's incredible. And was it immediate success in that first location? You know, it was interesting, because we opened the door, no marketing at all, but we chose to be close to a super market. And we opened the door, people start coming, coming, coming, never stopped. Wow. And loved. We had to explain. My wife, my daughter, and I were working seven, from 7am until 10pm for one year. Hard work. 15 hours. Yeah. Every day, explaining customer about Baba Ganoush, about Hamas. People didn't know what Hamas was at in that time. Yeah. And then it was hard but joyful time. I love that. Very nice. So you picked a really smart location. Yeah. It was a kind of, we didn't have power to choose the best locations. I would say it was a fair location. But to this point, now we say, at least we have a fresh supermarket. Right. And it resonated well and worked well. Yeah. Because you guys are all about fresh ingredients. Fresh ingredients, exactly. Yeah. I noticed when I ate there, no seed oils. No seed oils. Since the very beginning, we start cooking what we traditionally, in our families used to use, extra virgin olive oil. And that's a trending thing now, but you were doing it in 2014. Yeah. 12 years ago. Yeah. No one was talking about seed oils 12 years ago. Exactly. Yeah. And then, but we always use that because we want to give the best to our community. Right. The best to our customers. Yeah. And no refined sugar as well. No refined sugar since the very first day. And you guys have ice cream, you have desserts, but there's no sugar. No sugar added. Wow. Yes. Yeah. The smoothies are amazing. I've had the nice cream. Thank you. Oh my gosh. The milkshakes. Yeah. I can't drink regular milkshakes because they're so sweet. So sweet. From the fast food spots. Yeah. Usually they have bad fats and tons of sugar. Yeah. And this way is sweet and with dates. Yeah. We use coconut milk. Yeah. And then it's a good thing for a good fat and no sugar added. Then you feel good because the main test for a good food and healthy food is how you feel afterwards. Right. That's our motto is it better feel different. That's the test. Yeah. Because if you go eat and then you want to go to bed, it's a bad sign. Yeah. Or if you feel heavy, low energy. Whereas if you eat and have more energy, you feel good. Right. That's the main test. Yeah. Oh, this food is really good. It's really healthy. Absolutely. Americans love to eat. You know. Yeah. I think everybody loves to eat. Well, statistically, we are average American is overweight right now. Yes. Obese overweight. Yeah. But I believe it's not because we love to eat. It's because what you eat. Most items that we see for people to eat has tons of sugar. Right. Processed foods with cans with seed oils, preservatives, chemicals, artificial colors. Yeah. Like I said too. Yes. Imagine this in your body every day, your arteries every day, your blood every day. Instead of having good things for you. Eventually, I mean, I believe is more good change after some time gives great results. Is more bad food every time you get a bad result. Right. Compound. Compound. Compound effect. Yeah. Compound effect. Yeah. People don't see it daily because it's a miniscule, but over time. Over time. Exactly. Our bodies become so normalized to what we eat. Exactly. And your body adapts to what you eat. Yeah. If I eat junk food every day, I want more junk food. Right. If I eat healthy food every day, I want more healthy food. It's a normal process. I have a good friend, he's a doctor, functional medicine. He was telling me, most of his patients are kids from four to 14 years old. That's young. All of them have autoimmune disease. Wow. That's young for autoimmune. Yeah. Can you imagine that? So that's not genetic. That's the way we eat. If we microwave everything with tons of chemicals every day, does it result in this situation? I don't use a microwave anymore. I got rid of mine. It's a way for you to have a better food. Yeah. Well, it ruins the taste, but also it cooks out the nutrients. Right. Yes. Yes. So I got rid of it. I only do oven now. And you have a temptation to get some pre-made food that has tons of things. Right. It's easy. It's fast. Yeah. People want fast food. Yeah. We have been paying a price to have too much convenience. Yeah, I agree. Yeah. There is a limit for everything. Yeah. Now you order food to your house. It's so easy. So easy. You can order whatever you want. Yes. When I was growing up, you could order pizza, but that's it. You couldn't really order other stuff. Do you ever think about the risk you didn't take buying Bitcoin early and best thing after 2008 loading up on NVIDIA? AI is changing jobs. Markets are all over the place. Nothing feels guaranteed. And at some point you realize no one's going to save you. We're kind of the FOMO generation, but here's one thing you don't want to miss protecting your future. If you're new to life insurance, you're not alone. Thankfully, I found select quote. For over 40 years, they've helped more than 2 million Americans understand their options and secure over $700 billion in coverage. As a broker, their mission is simple. To find you the right insurance policy at the best price and they work for you for free. You can even get same day coverage up to $2 million with no medical exam required. And even if you have preexisting conditions, they work with companies that can help. Life insurance is never cheaper than it is today. Get the right life insurance for you for less and save more than 50% at select quote.com slash dsh. Save more than 50% on term life insurance at select quote.com slash dsh today to get started at select quote.com slash dsh. Yeah, now just two clicks and then we don't walk and then it's good. It's not good for us because we are supposed to walk. Yep. I walked $10,000 steps a day. Yeah, when Venus has a price, it's too much. Well, all the healthiest parts of the world, they all walk a lot. The blue zones. Yeah, the centenarians. Yeah, you grew up in Brazil. They're pretty healthy over there, right? I mean, there are healthy people. There is healthy food, but I think it's a trend for the world. People are getting more processed food and more sugar. Oh, in Brazil? Yeah, also in Brazil, there's lots of overweight people. Wow. Lots, lots of those beautiful environment. Yes, but they still have lots. Wow. That's scary. Yes. Well, the western culture influences the world. For sure. So they get all our restaurants. Yes. My mom used to make just fresh food from the garden, everything. But the new generation is paying the same price, the same processed foods and sugar and so forth. Yeah, but there is a market for healthy stuff, too, right? Yes, there is always. You guys are growing fast. Yes. 14 locations. Yes. You said you started in 2014? 2014, 12 years. So about one location a year. Yes. Wow. Yes. That's pretty fast for a restaurant. Yeah. Some restaurants around for 20 years, same location, right? Yeah, the customers have been helping out. Well, when your product is so good, it does the marketing for itself. Yeah. That's what I tell people. Yeah. People try to focus on the marketing, but you should be focusing on the product. Yes. I think it's, product is very important because the best marketing for restaurants is the word of mouth. Right. Because if you like it, you tell your friends, your family, you want the best for them. I think it's the number one. 100%. I still do believe on that. Even though- For restaurants, yes. Yeah, there are so many. Of course, we have social media that help us a lot. We have lots of events, but I think word of mouth is still the number one. Yeah. Because your business relies on repeat customers. Yes. Right. Exactly. So if your product's not good, no one's coming back. No one is coming back. Yeah. But I come once a week. I see the same people there all the time. So I know you're doing a lot of repeat business. Yeah. We have lots of regular who comes to us to our restaurant in Oregon since we opened. They still come. That's amazing. Sometimes they come three times a week. Wow. Yeah. I have customers. I see them very often. That's so cool. Yeah. I also think your prices are very fair. Even though you use top quality ingredients, the prices are pretty affordable. Yes. Which is hard to manage, right? Yeah. It's hard to manage. As you said, it's a hard business. Marginies are not very high. But I do believe if we have discipline, if we have a higher purpose, and if we have a good team, good systems, we can still give the best to our customers and still survive. Yeah. Most restaurants fail within five years. I think almost 90 percent. Right? Yes. Did you know that going into this industry? Yeah. I know about that. I remember one week before we opened the restaurant, we had a decision. No sugar, no soda. And then my wife and I were hanging out with a couple, good friends. And he said, Elsu, no restaurant has ever survived in Utah County, especially in Utah County, a place of lots of tradition in Utah. Yeah. They love soda there. Yeah. Without soda, selling soda. That night was a long night. I said, my goodness, what I'm doing. Yeah, that's scary. Opening a place where soda is kind of something essential. But we learned some principles, as I told you, Tony Robbins seminar that we chose to be our guiding principles. I said, no, let's believe on that. They are timeless principles for health. And let's stick on that. And since the very first day, people loved it. They accept it. And we still don't have any soda. That's incredible. Yeah. Because Utah has driving soda spots. Yes. They love soda there. They love that. Yeah. Yeah. What about healthy sodas? You think you'll add those? I mean, we have some lemonade, teas. Now we have a packet for people to take home to. And it's a kind of soda, but there is no added sugar. And I think people love it. It's a way, if you buy our cucumber, mint, lemonade, 10 calories, zero sugar. Wow. Yeah. That's great. It's pleasant. You have that feeling of sparkling and it's still good. Yeah. It's not bad for you. Absolutely. How often are you changing the menu? Because I know a lot of logistics go into adding new items. Yeah. To change items when we have more than one. It's very hard. Right. But we believe that our customer love something new. And we believe in giving them something. Now we discovered about that. Let's do it. Because we want, we leave a value called continuous improvement, a core value. And we are always trying to give the best to our customer. Improve, improve, improve. And we do this usually twice a year. We introduce some menus. Nice. Yeah. Because you got to teach the staff how to cook the new dish, right? Yes. You got to order the new ingredients. Exactly. Now we are going to launch a new smoothie, dragon fruit smoothie. Very good. It's creating our smoothies. It's not just fruits. They are clean smoothies. Only fruits, vegetables, but we add lots of good fats and seeds, nuts, whey protein, vegan protein, collagen, c-mores, items that are good for us. Right. They are very special. As I said, I do love them. They are great. So good. I've tried almost everyone, I think. Yeah. Yeah, they're all good. I like the, I still like the night shakes, though. Those are just so good, man. I prefer those. Everything's so good. I mean, the bread, that bread is amazing. Is that Brazilian bread? Yeah, it's a Brazilian bread. And it's called pão de queijo, very, very common in Brazil. Yeah. And that was a challenging thing for us, because cheese bread in Brazil is made with seed oil. Wow, in Brazil, there's a seed oil. Then I said, now we need to make it with olive oil. Most of my team said, no, there is no way. For now, let's test. And we spend months testing, and our cheese bread is with extra virgin olive oil. Very tasty, you said. Yeah. It's very good. It's hot. Yeah. They said, no, it will be too strong, but it's not. It's still very good. It's still fantastic. People love it. Yeah. And it's gluten-free, also. Yeah, gluten's a big movement right now, right? Gluten-free movement. Yes. Especially the grain in America, there's enriched. Yes. Even though the research shows that a very small percentage of the American population has celiac disease, I think it's about 2% to 3% only, some doctors and some are saying that it can get the gluten has bring some inflammation. That makes sense. And then that's the reason there is this wave of gluten-free. Yeah. And we have lots of gluten-free items. Right. Lots, lots. So you stay pretty on top of the research too, the medical research. This has been a... Do you ever think about the risk you didn't take buying Bitcoin early and best thing after 2008 loading up on NVIDIA? AI is changing jobs, markets are all over the place, nothing feels guaranteed. And at some point you realize no one's here. I'm going to save you. We're kind of the FOMO generation, but here's one thing you don't want to miss, protecting your future. If you're new to life insurance, you're not alone. Thankfully, I found select quote. For over 40 years, they've helped more than 2 million Americans understand their options and secure over $700 billion in coverage. As a broker, their mission is simple to find you the right insurance policy at the best price. And they work for you for free. You can even get same day coverage up to $2 million with no medical exam required. And even if you have pre-existing conditions, they work with companies that can help. Life insurance is never cheaper than it is today. Get the right life insurance for you for less and save more than 50% at select quote.com slash dsh. Save more than 50% on term life insurance at select quote.com slash dsh today to get started at select quote.com slash dsh. Very regular. We studied from me since 2005 when I found out the principles we study robings. I never stopped studying. Wow. Yeah. I go deep. I read many books from great doctors, scientific research, I'm always looking for that's my passion. I love it. When I find out something new, oh my goodness, we can give this to our customers. I love that. Yeah, we can teach them about that. Never stop learning, right? Never stop learning. Yeah. That's a mistake people make after college. Yeah, we cannot do that. They stop. No. Yeah, I love learning. The world changed so much. Yeah, you got to be learning or your phone. And our minds are kind of limited. Yep. We have the obligation to expand our minds through education, through knowledge. So talking to you, I'm learning from you. That's the way we learn. Yeah. You got to keep your brain active. We're also aging more to carry on. Of course. Of course. Yeah. That's so cool. It's like our muscles, no? Yeah, brain is a muscle, right? Yeah. You got to train it. Yeah, if you don't train them, they will shrink. Yep. Yeah, I play chess every day. I listen to podcasts, listen to books. You got to be feeding your brain. Good information. Yeah, wonderful. That's how you get ahead in life. Yes. Are you using any AI? Yeah. Yes, of course we have to use. This has been a debate with my team. I personally use AI. My team use AI, such a marketing team. And one thing I have been learning with AI, of course, I'm not an expert in AI. Sometimes it's hard for me to process how they are so fast. My mind doesn't cope with that. And probably it won't. But one thing that AI won't do is, in my opinion, is to replace my judgment of asking the right questions. Because I have seen some work done by two different people with totally different answers. One was much more showed better results because he asked the right questions. Oh, got it. The prompting. Yeah. That's, I think, everything about life. Life is not about knowing the answers. It's asking the right questions. Yes. Once I heard a famous professor from Harvard saying, the most important thing when you learn some soon is to ask the right questions. His name was Clayton Christon, a very famous guy. He passed away. And he said, when you want to learn, go to a class or podcast or book and ask the right questions. And AI, I believe, is the same thing. Yeah, you still need to ask the right questions. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. It's all about the prompts because if you're just asking it's basic questions, it's going to give you basic answers. Yes. If you don't explore, go deep on that. And then AI keeps helping you. Yeah. It's fantastic. But that's something that you cannot not use. It's everywhere. It's a replacement of my limited mind with everybody's mind, scientific research, everything. It's fantastic. Some restaurants are using AI now to seat people. Have you seen that? No, I haven't. The robot waiters? No, I haven't. Yeah. Well, you don't do Dynan, but people just choose your seats. Yeah. And this has been always the biggest struggle for sit down restaurants. Yeah. The waiters. Yes. Yeah. To allocate people. Yeah. There's spots in Vegas you can walk in right now. A robot will seat you. Wow, nice. Yeah. There's AI bartenders. They're making your cocktails. Take my time tomorrow and visit one of them. Yeah. I want to learn. Yeah. It's crazy, man. Crazy times we're in. We got the self-driving cars now. Yeah. I'm gonna leave it. It's nuts. I hope it will be safer. They want text. Yeah. Statistically, they're safer actually. I guess human error. I do believe in that. Yeah. It will be fantastic. Would you ever franchise the restaurant? I don't like to say never for any business opportunity because things evolve, change. But right now, I don't see this as the best strategy for us. You like scaling one not a time? One at a time. Sometimes more at a time. By next year, we'll have nine more. Wow. So that's a big scale in your next year. Yeah. Okay. And then one at a time. This year will be one or two. Next year will be more. But I prefer keeping the control of the quality. Because quality is everything in this business for us. Yeah. We cannot compromise. I agree. Especially in your type of business. We're talking about fresh ingredients and quality. The appearance of the plate looks great too. I've seen restaurants fail because they scale too quick. They lose quality. It's a franchising. Yeah. This is always the most challenging thing. Yeah. That's the reason we need to have the right people, the right systems, process for us to grow. Right. Was that the toughest part of the business developing those systems? Yes. I mean, not systems, but develop people. I think it's the number one. The hardest thing, the most important thing. I would say my team is made of ordinary people, but they are doing an extraordinary job. You're maximizing their potential. Because they have a team spirit. They don't let ego replace what is most important for us. I love that. Yes. And I do believe on that. There are so many great teams, soccer team, basketball teams. There are so many stars they don't win. Others, there are not many stars. They're working together. Team work. And living the culture well. Team work and then they win. And I do believe this for business too. Yeah. Need the right pieces. Yes. The right pieces, the right set of values that they leave that guide our decision. Are you part of the hiring process? I mean, now we have so many employees. We have now we have 380 or almost 400 employees. I cannot hire, but I help them to create the systems. Got it. We are the right people to fit in each position. There's more about that. Training. That's important too. For us to train. We train about the culture and about the processes. Two important things. What's your advice for people trying to get jobs, how to stand out from everyone else? Everything you do. Be the best you can do. I always say it's not that I minimize this job, but it's more to impact the reasoning. If my job is to wash dishes or clean toilets. By the way, they are maybe the most important jobs in the restaurant business because cleaning is key. Yeah. If you eat off a dirty dish, you're not coming back. Yes. But if my dream is to be a doctor, now I'm cleaning the dishes, washing the dishes or cleaning the restaurant. I want to be the best dishwasher, the best cleaning. Right. Because then I believe God will take us to our dreams. But if I keep postponing, no, I'll put my effort. I'll put my desire. When I get the job of my dream, I will never get there. I have seen this happen with people. Right. And I see this in my business every day. Some people come, they have lots of limitations, but their enthusiasm, their ignorance to do the best they can, change everything. Their weaknesses are not important anymore. And they keep growing in the company. Yeah. I have a similar mindset, speak through your actions. Yes. Not your words, right? Yeah. Exactly. Because it's hard to take your word at first. Yes. Until your actions prove it. Exactly. So I think very similar. Because there's a lot of talkers. People love to talk. Let's see what you can do with your action for your kids. People are always talking my ear off about investments and all sorts of opportunities. Do you ever think about the risks you didn't take buying Bitcoin early, investing after 2008, loading up on NVIDIA? AI is changing jobs and markets are all over the place. Nothing feels guaranteed. And at some point you realize no one's going to save you. We're kind of the FOMO generation, but here's one thing you don't want to miss protecting your future. If you're new to life insurance, you're not alone. Thankfully, I found select quote for over 40 years. They've helped more than 2 million Americans understand their options and secure over $700 billion in coverage. As a broker, their mission is simple to find you the right insurance policy at the best price and they work for you for free. You can even get same day coverage up to $2 million with no medical exam required. And even if you have preexisting conditions, they work with companies that can help life insurance is never cheaper than it is today. Get the right life insurance for you for less and save more than 50% at selectquote.com slash dsh. Save more than 50% on term life insurance at selectquote.com slash dsh today to get started at selectquote.com slash dsh. I want to see your track record. Yeah, that's true. You know, I want to see some results. Yes. Yeah. Most important. Absolutely. You run the business with your wife, right? Yes. How's that been balancing that and your personal life? We've been married for 42 years. I would say my marriage every year is better and better. Wow. And we have been working together for 39 years. Impressive. Yeah. Of course, we had some challenges. We have some small fights, discussions, of course, this process of life. If there is relationship, there is problem. But I think some important things. First of all, she always focused first in raising our children. Then she used to work part-time with me. Got it. And after our children were gone, they married and left home. She works full time. But we have a very clear definition of our roles. I think this is key. I have seen many problems with marriage couples, because there is no clear difference. Both have our CEO. Both make the same kind of decision. And then there will be problems, of course. And for us, we have very clear distinctions. She is our... And she's fantastic as a human being. And she is the chef. She makes all the recipes. Now we have people helping her, of course. And I am the CEO. But I make the final decision if we are going to approve or not. Because it's not that... I'm more important than her. It's because ultimately, one has to make the decision. Because if two people try to always, always to be in consensus, it's very hard. It's very hard. Especially when they are married. I have seen more and more about divorces, business fails, because there was no clear definition. The other roles. It could be the opposite. She could be the CEO. I could be another function. But the important thing is not which one is more or less important. The important thing is to clear define the roles. I think that's key for us. Yeah, that's great advice. Because a lot of people go into business with their partner or their best friend. And then they don't have those roles defined. Yes. And then arguments happen. They don't know how to handle it. Yes, because the problems come usually when the business is doing bad or doing extremely well. When it's doing extremely bad, now it's frustration, accusations. It's not my fault. It's your fault. When it's doing extraordinarily well, ego comes and the pride comes. In those moments, you have to have systems. And like we are saying, who is who to minimize those effects? Absolutely. Because this will happen in business. All the time. I've seen it so many times. I worked in clothing business for 30 years in Brazil. And I failed miserably, many times. But the important thing in life is not if you fall. For you to have the willingness to raise up with the learning from the falls. I think that's the important thing. Because it's very hard to go through life without any fail. Absolutely. It's impossible. I have never seen anybody say, oh, I came to life and there was no... Never. All the most successful people are the biggest fails. None of them just won every single time. The difference is they wanted to learn from the fails. Yeah. Man, you picked the toughest industries. Apparel business is really tough. It really is. Margens are very thin. There was a big difference. In my fashion business, it was a business by chance. And I was targeting more as a way of living. It's a good business. I was making good money. But there was no passion, no real purpose behind. We saw Virgin now. I have a really purpose. Changing people's... Changing life is real food. That drives me every morning. And I wake up every morning very excited. I love that. How can I do that more better, better for my customers? And then changes. Because work now is joy. It's not a pain. People say, oh, when are you going to retire? I will never retire. Why to retire? Why to retire? I see people retiring. Then after some years, they die. They get frustrated. I'm not judging anybody. But for me, I don't see this as an option of life. I started all Virgin when I was 55 years old. In that time, some years before, I was planning to retire. I was doing some stock market. And worked the two most miserable years of my life. Without purpose. And then when all Virgin came, I was 55, as I told you. I worked first year, 15 hours a day. There were moments in the second year that I started questioning myself. Will this work? You know, when we have that tough moment in the beginning, employees wouldn't stay. I didn't have the right processes. Even though customers loved the food, but there were so many other things that were not going to work. I said, oh my goodness, I think this won't work. But next day, I was excited again. Let's do something different. Let's do better. Better. And then this purpose drives me every day. I love it. And then I don't want to stop. Yeah. Similar story with me. Every business I had before the podcast was only about money. Me making money. And it was pretty miserable. And now that you have a poor, how do you feel now? Amazing. I film a podcast in a day and I'm still energized. Because I know it impacts a lot of people. This episode will inspire some people to eat healthier and that will impact their family. It'll have a ripple effect and impact thousands of people. It's a great feeling. Yeah. It's a really good feeling. At the end of the day, we are here for the atmosphere to help people. That's what I think. That's when I feel the best. To make us grow with the challenges of relationship, because there is always challenge. And help people grow too. I tell my leaders, your main job is not to be a manager of things. Your main job is to help your workers to grow personally and professionally. I always say that to them. Never forget them. They are struggling. They have pains. They have big challenges in life, as everybody does. And then you have to be light to them. Help them grow. Not only professionally, personally too, because we cannot divide people. If I am doing well professionally, not well personally, this equation will break sometime. There is no way. Then we have to grow both. To be a better person and better professional. You need both. Because a lot of people focus on professional. They focus on money and then their physical health is terrible. Yeah. I did this at the beginning of my life, professional life. And it didn't work well. Yeah, I did it too. Yeah. I lost a lot of friends, cut off some family members and just worked all the, wasn't worth it. Yeah, it's not. It's not the worst. No amount of money is worth that life. So it's lonely. Lonely. Exactly. Loneliness is a silent killer. Yes, that's true. Yeah, it can take years off your life. They're doing a lot of research on it right now. And when you go to that point, you start understanding life. Do you ever think about the risks you didn't take buying Bitcoin early, investing after 2008, loading up on NVIDIA? AI is changing jobs, markets are all over the place, nothing feels guaranteed. And at some point you realize no one's going to save you. We're kind of the FOMO generation. But here's one thing you don't want to miss, protecting your future. If you're new to life insurance, you're not alone. Thankfully, I found select quote. For over 40 years, they've helped more than 2 million Americans understand their options and secure over $700 billion in coverage. As a broker, their mission is simple, to find you the right insurance policy at the best price. And they work for you for free. You can even get same day coverage up to $2 million with no medical exam required. And even if you have preexisting conditions, they work with companies that can help. Life insurance is never cheaper than it is today. Get the right life insurance for you for less and save more than 50% at select quote.com slash dsh. Save more than 50% on term life insurance at select quote.com slash dsh today to get started at select quote.com slash dsh. That's all. There is something more than that. I need to have a higher purpose. Something that will make my potential grow. To try to reach my unlimited potential that everyone has. And impact people for the better. It can be through business. Mum can do that. Anyone can do that. You don't need to create a business to do that. Yeah, you don't. In any circumstance, you can be impacting people. I'm sure our mum impacted you for the better. Absolutely. Yeah, I can't wait to be a parent. Yeah. Yeah, I'm excited. I have two children, amazing children. Nice. Great, a great son in law, door in law, and seven grandkids. Wow. And then they are the joy of my life. Are they going to take over the business, you think? Yes, eventually. They working it right now? Yeah, my daughter works with us. But my son is preparing to come. Wow. Yeah, he has a beautiful car in a big corporation. And after 10 years, he's preparing to help us. Nice. That's a big deal. Yeah, he's a brilliant mind. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, culture is everything, man. You build the culture, people come to you. And these days, it's hard to build culture. I think there's some crazy statistics on people getting a job every two years, I think, is the average now. People are just job hopping. Have you seen that? Yes, I have seen. And most of people are not happy in their job. Right. Yeah. 80%, I think. This is a challenge that all businesses have and will have with the new technologies. This creates more, more trend because there is so much information that are more illusion than reality, right? Like social media, helps in many things, but creates an illusion that your life is better than mine. Yeah. Your job is better than mine. And this will be always a challenge. But as you said, if you have a culture where people like to, they feel in a family as a family, they like to drive and go to the job. This makes the whole difference. Absolutely. The entire difference. Yeah. Social media puts you in a state of comparison. Comparison. You know, to danger state to be in. Yes. Everyone's doing their own journey. They're on different levels of life. So you can't really compare. And the life is about abundance. It's not about scarcity. There is pie for everybody. There is success for everybody. Your success won't take my success and so on, the opposite. And therefore, comparison is the lowest standard. Yeah. I should compare myself with myself. How am I to desire compared to last year? Am I a better man? Am I a better husband? Am I a better father, grandfather, leader, businessman, community helper? I think that's the question. That's the comparison we have to do. And even though, when I feel that, oh, I have not been growing so much. I say, okay, be patient with yourself. Let's work this year. Let's improve. Which areas are more important for you to, which roles are more important for you to grow? Oh, I think I can be a better grandparents or I need to help the community more. And those kind of things where I need to be a better leader, talking to, praising more of my employees. I think that's the way to go. Absolutely. Yeah, sometimes you can't see the growth right away. But like we said earlier, compound effect. Compound effect. E-T-Ga-Ike, 1% better every day. Yes. That's what I do. I do believe on that. 100%. Yeah, I agree with you. Wow, I learned a lot. Thank you. Thank you so much for this. This is like a business session, coaching session. Yeah, this is great. I guess, where can people find you, order from the restaurant and keep up with you? Where can they find you on social media and all that? Social media. We have Aubergine Kitchen, our social media. We have a website. They can find us there. Perfect. Then you got a book I want to mention. Yes. I think when this comes out, it might be around the same time. But what's the book about? Yes. My family and my workers, they asked, well, you should tell your story. Coming from Brazil, when I was a kid, I was a poor guy from a farm. And how did you come up with a nice business in America? And people, how did it happen? And then I'm going to, I focus on far important principles. First is growth. We have always to keep growing, striving for growth, for growth. Sometimes through pain, it's a catalyst for that and perseverance. But if you grow, you can grow and make lots of mistakes. Therefore, it's important for you to keep this growth under a set of great values. Values that are connected with timeless principles. That's the second pillar, conscience, to start growing, but with certain values that drive your growth. Then you have more integrity, in your decisions, your choices. And then now you are prepared to contribute to the society. What's your purpose? Try to define your purpose. It can be a very simple purpose, a bigger purpose, impact one person or impact thousands or millions of people. And fourth is what it's something new. Because most of this principle we can see, but there are so many nice stories, and stories of success and failures, and to have energy and vitality. Because then it's the way for you to grow, to keep growing, to keep contributing. Because there is a great saying, that a healthy person has 100 desires, wishes. A sick person has one wish. Last one. Just to stay alive, healthy. And then this is the pillar that I show how I change my lifestyle. I used to eat lots of sugar. I used to get sick twice, three times a year with cold, fever, not fever, flu, and processed food. And after that, that changed my life for the period. My level of energy, my level of health improved a lot. I think that's important. Those are the four pillars, pillars, growth, conscience, contribution, and health and vitality. Beautiful. We'll include the link to get the book in the video. Okay, great. Do you have a name for it? Not yet, but it's coming soon. Yeah, we'll include a pretty early final review of the book. Got it. But that's the main message I would like to say. First of all, thank you for coming to Aubergine. Of course. And second, I think the most important thing in our life, we have many parts of our human being. One is the physical one. Then if we feel our body with the right food, avoiding processed food, refined sugar, and eating more whole foods, I think you have more energy, more health to pursue our dreams. That's everybody wants that. Absolutely. And that's what Aubergine is all about, to help people with those great things, great items, great ingredients. Anyone seeing that to finish, sometimes they say some restaurants have fresh food, and they say that they are healthy. But we have to be aware that fresh doesn't mean healthy. I can get a salad, very fresh salad, only fresh ingredients, great ingredients, whole food ingredients. And then I get a dressing with seed oil, tons of sugar, preservative, and then I pour in the salad mix and eat. There is no healthy in it. Therefore, we have to be careful about the concept. Absolutely. Do your research, guys. And we'll include a link to Aubergine's Instagram in the video, as well as their website. You can see if there's a location near you. Or come soon, right? You got six opening next year. Yes. Awesome. Thanks for coming on. Thank you so much, Chai, and congratulations for your success. Absolutely. You too. Check them out, guys. See ya. Thanks for watching. All the way to the end, guys. It means a lot. Please click here. If you want to watch the next episode, please subscribe to the show. It helps us get more guests and helps grow the brand. Do you ever think about the risks you didn't take buying Bitcoin early and besting after 2008, loading up on NVIDIA? AI is changing jobs. Markets are all over the place. Nothing feels guaranteed. And at some point, you realize no one's coming to save you. We're kind of the FOMO generation. But here's one thing you don't want to miss, protecting your future. If you're new to life insurance, you're not alone. Thankfully, I found select quote. For over 40 years, they've helped more than 2 million Americans understand their options and secure over $700 billion in coverage. As a broker, their mission is simple. To find you the right insurance policy at the best price. And they work for you for free. You can even get same-day coverage up to $2 million with no medical exam required. And even if you have preexisting conditions, they work with companies that can help. Life insurance is never cheaper than it is today. Get the right life insurance for you for less and save more than 50% at selectquote.com slash dsh. Save more than 50% on term life insurance at selectquote.com slash dsh today to get started at selectquote.com slash dsh.