Ep.252 Restaurant Royalty with Dallas and Sarah Miller of Oakwood Public Market

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Where'll you be going?

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Next is done. Where'd you find this? Go on, make it happen. And now here's Steve and Michelle.

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Welcome to Malina Michelle. I'm Michelle and this is Steve, and today is Election Day. The last day to have your voice heard. If you don't vote, you don't get to gripe. And hopefully, the best part, the political text will end. No, they won't.

SPEAKER_04 0:28

They're gonna just keep coming and coming. Yeah, because there's always another election, Michelle. There's always something else coming up. They will end as well. Somebody else will be mad about something else that will have to tell us.

SPEAKER_03 0:39

I've been fortunate that I have not been getting the political text.

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At all?

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At all. And I've determined it's because they know where I stand. They know who I'm voting for.

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512.

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627. For sure.

SPEAKER_04 0:54

I was probably getting 25 a day. It's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_03 0:57

Well, it's because I sold your number. Yeah, we're talking about it. I put it on that every chance I get. Every chance I get, I put your number. But you know, you guys uh today, our guest, we have Sarah and Dallas Miller with Oakwood Market, but we're gonna get to them in just a second. But we need to thank our sponsors that we have.

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Yeah, and I want to remind everybody that on our YouTube channel you have early access to all of our episodes. Those come out on Monday, and then we release our audio versions on Tuesday.

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Speaking of yard sign, how do your arms feel today trying to put that yard sign in yesterday?

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We have a new listing coming in off of Martin Road, and everything down there two inches below the soil is rock, and I could not get that sign in to save myself. I'm sure it's laying on the ground already.

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I was a good helper. I just I directed. Poke here, poke here, poke here.

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I must yeah, my arm does I am my arm and my back are a little sore.

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Oh, I did your little mallet. Well, today Sorry.

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Yeah, my little mallet found pepper.

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Your little mallet mallet with his little mallet for sure. Today we've got a husband and wife team who apparently decided raising three children just wasn't stressful enough. So they took on a restaurant, a bar, a coffee shop, an arcade, and pretty much an entire little village. Sarah and Dallas Mirror Miller are the faces behind the new chapter of Oakwood Public Market. And while everybody wants to talk about the food, the drinks, and the beautiful hill country views, I want to know something else. Which one of you came up with this crazy idea and which one was dumb enough to say yes?

SPEAKER_05 3:41

Welcome, you guys. Hi. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 3:45

Um it's kind of a bit of both. We've ever since we moved out here three and a half years ago, we've wanted to open something. And I've always had, I've always been on the alcohol side of things. Dallas has been on the food side of things. We've both done, he was um basically started Flyright Chicken, Director of Operations, grew that for 10 years. Um I worked bar restaurants, I own a concessions company. So I sell alcohol for big festivals, Trail of Lights, Star Spangled Fest. And so we've always wanted to combine our powers. And um this this came about. And there we go. They uh Oakwood closed on July 3rd, and I reached out on LinkedIn to the previous owner and got a meeting within three days, and uh we put together a proposal, uh business plan, and pitched and we were and got accepted.

SPEAKER_04 4:41

So it was there other people pitching for the business? I believe so.

SPEAKER_07 4:46

Yeah, they um I think the original idea when it came out, you know, when they initially went to market or their thought it was, you know, there was a potential that they were gonna be their own individual like entities, if you will, um, to find people that just just want to do the coffee, just want to do the botego. Um but you know, in a concept I did up in Cedar Park, and what Sarah and I really believed in is that in order to make this thing work as big as it is, it has to have one fluid conversation between. They can have their own little identities that you know make them make them unique, right? But ultimately, you know, it all it all has to flow together.

SPEAKER_04 5:20

So is that what that wasn't happening before?

SPEAKER_02 5:23

That was not happening before. And I think it was a construct of um somebody with a really great idea, obviously, it's beautiful, and somebody that it didn't all flow. And you when you have somebody working for you that you're that you're it's not yours, you're not gonna you're not gonna be there all the time. And I think this place takes a lot of time and intention. And so with Dallas and I, we we've been there, I mean, every single day since every time I go in here. Yeah, it is morning to night, and really just putting in that time right now, front loading all of that to make sure that this thing functions and flows in a in a a way that, like Dallas said, it's all together. It has one story, but it individual identities.

SPEAKER_03 6:11

We had them on the podcast, Sarah in Dallas, and I Steve and I were really confused after the interview because we didn't really know what their identity was, and we didn't think they knew what their identity was. And when we first went for the first time, Steve and I were like, oh, okay, okay, we're kind of understanding, but you know, it had a beautiful concept, a great location. The community was buying into it, but it's still closed. So what do you see that made you believe you can succeed when this original option operation just kind of didn't?

SPEAKER_07 6:43

Yeah, I again we food background, bar background, so you know, we the b the money-making piece of this is, you know, in our in our blood. Um but I think you know the the concept that I did up in Cedar Park, um, which was connected to a um bigger kind of community but more sport complex, right?

SPEAKER_04 7:03

Um what was the place in Cedar Park called? So the field. Fieldhouse is the first time.

SPEAKER_07 7:06

Fieldhouse is the bar, crossover is the bigger kind of sports complex attached to it. Um but we also had the contract for the market that was in the ice rink. So we've done a market, we've done coffee, we've done you know, bar and restaurant, and then we've done this kind of entertainment space with family-oriented, you know, activities and programming. So it wasn't a far stretch for us when we like looked at this thing. It just was uh more of um, you know, it it has to feel right in this industry. And if it doesn't feel right, then you should stay away from it. And it just felt right.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

And we were regulars before. We support the community, we were there all the time. So we in our minds had already been like, oh my god, they should do this, they should do that, you know, and kind of building that and getting feedback. And we have a great uh support system out here and a great group of friends, and we would always like talk shop, and then we would we looked at the property um over by HEB to open something that didn't work out. So, and this, as you guys know, property and is really hard for a new business to come into. There's only a few. If you look on Loopnet or something, it there's not a lot for businesses to go into. Either you're building ground up or you're going into maybe a warehouse to try and make something work, and that just wasn't gonna happen for us. Like our concept and what we wanted, it was we didn't have the the funds to do a ground up. I mean, Oakwood, they spent a lot of money on building this.

SPEAKER_03 8:33

A lot of money, but it but it was it felt very um when we first went in, it felt a little discombobulated. Like it didn't the flow didn't make sense a little bit. And now I go in and I'm like, oh my god, this exactly makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

And it's just connecting everything.

SPEAKER_04 8:49

Did you guys buy the building or are you leasing?

SPEAKER_02 8:51

We're leasing for 10 years, but we've got we bought all like rights to everything. So the the branding, the marketing, the name, we didn't want to change anything. Yeah, yeah. It didn't have a chance to grow legs, it was almost there, and the community already loved it and supported it. So we're like, let's just try and take this um and run with it and see what we can do.

SPEAKER_04 9:10

Were the the people that were doing it before, were they restaurant people or were they no? No, uh they were just capital people, they had the money to do it and a vision, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

And and hired people to come in, but it's not theirs, you know.

SPEAKER_04 9:24

Yeah. So the the the failure rate in the restaurant business is astronomical. I mean, Michelle and I sit here sometimes and think about all the places in dripping that have come and gone. But obviously, you guys know the secret to success. What is it?

SPEAKER_03 9:39

Well, and you have a background, your family background, county line. You're like dripping or a dripping Austin Road, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 9:45

The uh the background was is there. I mean, I've started rolling setups when I was five years old, so I've been doing this for a while.

SPEAKER_04 9:52

There's obviously some business format that works, and some people don't get it. What is the what's the format that makes it makes sense? That's a good question, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 10:02

Yeah. So I I think when we looked and when we've talked to other operators uh about dripping springs in the hill country in general, I think the biggest um wall that everybody runs into is there's not a lot of single and there's not a lot of like college kids, right? So you really are focused on when the families are actually gonna come out and spend money. I know that I know we have empty nesters and stuff around, but for the most part, that's what's through driver, right? And it's gonna be Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday all day, Sunday morning, and you have to make the restaurant work off of that. And so I think that's where we've seen a lot of concepts kind of fail out here is because they're trying, they they only have one thing to work with, which is the restaurant or the bar or whatever it is, right? But I think when we really looked at what Oakwood could be and what it should be, we have the restaurant and the bar, which is still something that has to work in that same time frame, right? But we can support that through the arcade and the soda shop and the bodega and the coffee shop. And so now those day parts that everyone else doesn't necessarily get to capitalize on, we're having them supplement what we are missing in the bar and restaurant, if that kind of makes sense.

SPEAKER_04 11:12

Yeah, it does. Well, but the the formula so counting line is is successful. You said fly right. What's the difference between those kind of businesses that thrive and the and the ones that just never make it? Well, because they were we've had um what was it, Garbo's over there, which has another location and did great, but they didn't make it here. I don't think it's a good idea.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

I think for here for us too, it's it's price point. We we need to have people come three to four times a week, if not at least twice. Yeah. And I think keeping that that's a sweet spot, right? And our menu right now, it is you can still have uh, you know, a couple people can go eat two meals, have drinks, and it could still all be under $50. And I think right now, I mean, we used to be able to go out to eat, and that would be twenty dollars away. Yeah, you know, it's it's all a thing. So try that the format is really trying to be sensitive to families because the con, you know, economy is it is what it is. Yeah. And um, but people still want to go out and do things.

SPEAKER_03 12:12

Like your concept right now is you could basically come for coffee, you can stay for lunch, and then you can bring your family back for dinner and have the kids entertained while you're sitting there enjoying the sunset, which I love that kind of concept in one sense. And I what I what I loved about the original was when I would go in, I'd sit and they'd say, Well, where would you like to sit? And I'm like, I always want to sit in the bar because I don't, if I don't have my granddaughter around me, I don't want to be around kids. So I do like the kind of segregation that kind of happens. Uh last week I did a story on the top liquor sales in Austin from January to August. And you know, the top three were all the hotels. KW, Marion, yeah, and then Matt's El Rancho. Let's be honest. I mean, Matt's it's an Austin staple. You know, I mean, their vegetas are good, but mid-Mexican food, but they're they do 20 million a year of their liquor sales. And so that is what kind of like what you're saying is driving people. So you want to be able to have a great old-fashioned, but also have like a soda shop or have an arcade or whatever.

SPEAKER_07 13:15

So yeah, that I think you've hit the nail on the head because we I it's Matt's on Rancho is one of my favorite, and we know the guys and they come to our golf charity golf tournament and whole nine yards. But um we've always focused and used Matt's as like a staple of what we wanted to do here or what is the recipe to success, right? And it's they have the knockout and they have the bob. And you can go get the bob and the knockout and just hang out, and that's it, and then leave and go do your thing. Or that bob and knockout is the beginning to the dinner, and that's the reason why you go. Or, and it's happened to us, we went for the bob and knockout planning to leave and then stayed for dinner. Right.

SPEAKER_06 13:51

And then have another knockout. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 13:54

Um, it doesn't necessarily have to be a big giant shaker of margarita, but it is something that can be versatile in all aspects of that piece, right? It can be the app that you just do and then you leave, or it can be the thing that turns into something else. And you know, and I and I think that at the end of the day, there's also a whole lot of luck that goes into this industry. You know, you timing has to be perfect, you're working with perishable items, staffing is always going to be an issue. And so you know, you you gotta create a culture that handles a lot of those things well. You have to have the right people in the right places that make the most amount of sense, and I think and then you gotta get the community involved. Because if you don't have them coming to spend the money, then you're you're out of luck no matter what.

SPEAKER_04 14:36

You guys probably know this, but uh uh what's happened a lot in dripping is a a restaurant will open and it's the hot, cool place and everybody goes for six months, and then it just kind of falls off the radar. And then you go by there for lunch and there's two people or three people. So you guys will have to battle that a little bit. But being involved in the community will make a big difference.

SPEAKER_03 14:53

Yeah. And I I think also I want to talk a little bit um to you, Dallas, about discipline also and being um coming from as a marine background, right? So what is it about your background that, you know, if you need to step in, not just in front of the house, but in the back of the house and and just really kind of have those protocols set. I worked in the restaurant business, like we I mentioned, Brad Lomax. I worked for for Brad for many years. Great example, one of the best people I've ever worked for. But that was the thing about Brad, is Brad could definitely work the front. He could seat somebody in the front and he could pour you a bowl of gumbo in the back.

SPEAKER_07 15:28

Absolutely. Yeah, no. Uh Marine Corps obviously drills this into you, but it's uh you lead from the front. So that if I'm I'm never gonna ask you to do anything in the restaurant that I can't or won't do myself. Um I think that speaks volume to the culture and how the staff views you. Um there's also a big part of it is just being there. And that's a huge aspect of again, I'm not asking you to do something I'm not willing to do, and they see you doing the job from start of day before they even get there to the end of the day, and you're the last one to shut the door. And I think establishing that culture early of I'm here to support you to make sure that you have what you need. And yeah, we're gonna get through this together. Because, you know, we've as Sarah and I know very well at this point, you know, we took this on and everyone knows that opening a new concept is uh, you know, it's a it's a hard. And uh but it was opening a coffee shop in that amount of hours of opening essentially a unit, right? And then we turned it right into opening the bodega and getting all the hours there while in the meantime we're still trying to get soda and restaurant and bar open. So yes, so it's yeah, it's been five openings back to back to back to back. So it's been it's grind.

SPEAKER_04 16:41

Yeah, the so you you touched on a little bit ago, the employees. How are you hiring the right people and how are you training them? Because that because not having the right employees can kill a business.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

We are um almost over.

SPEAKER_03 16:53

He's still trying to find the right employee.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

We're lucky right now because we have a ton of kids, and I say kids because they're still in high school, but they are it's their first job, and we have an opportunity to really give them this work ethic that maybe they wouldn't have in another job. So we're challenging them, and we are really saying, you know, this is even though if you're a busser or you're a server, be proud of that job and take ownership. You're gonna learn so much from working in the restaurant industry. Oh gosh. Yeah. And it's just your people interaction and just having the grind, and you're on your feet for so long, and we're very busy. And, you know, so it's been really a great opportunity for us. And that's one of my favorite things about hiring these younger employees is just to teach them some of the skills that you know I learned when I was younger in the restaurant industry. So that's been great. We have a good amount of kids there. There and some athletes in the band in theater, like it's a variety. And I also love seeing them interact with each other because maybe they don't do that at school, but at it in the restaurant, they're talking.

SPEAKER_03 17:58

So I love that. But you never know what kind of table you're gonna get. So it's like switching with that personality from this table to that table. Yeah, you've got you've got you got to pick up on cues really quick. The social skills are really gonna come in. Like if Steve and I are in a meeting and we're sitting there at a table and we're like, and they're like, Can I get you? Yeah, you know, like pick up on the cues.

SPEAKER_04 18:18

Yeah, wait till we come up for a breath.

SPEAKER_02 18:21

And then we've got people coming in from Austin, which is great. And then a lot of returning employees. Yeah, you did.

SPEAKER_03 18:27

I heard that they you hired some of the same people back.

SPEAKER_02 18:30

And they wanted to come back, which was awesome. And so now it's just giving them our kind of vision and mission statement and just saying, you know, this is who we are. We're here for you. We're we are the owners, and we're gonna also work alongside you, you know. Like, I'm not afraid to bust the table or do any of that. I will help and they've seen it, and and I can tell that um it definitely they're reacting to that. And are you?

SPEAKER_04 18:54

Are you leading them with like you have a group meeting every morning, or are you just kind of going alongside them and giving them feedback? How are you training them to do the job better every day?

SPEAKER_02 19:04

Yeah, we had a big training before we opened, and then um our GM Melinda is fantastic, so she's leading a lot of that as well. But we have pre-shifts and then we we're doing another like all-staff meeting before our grand opening, um, which we can talk about. Yeah. But um we are gonna reset um and have everybody, all the new employees come. And that's another thing is coffee, restaurant, bodega, everybody's gonna blend and everybody can work at different positions if they want. So we're just uh what to your point, every day we're kind of training them.

SPEAKER_04 19:34

You know, I'm like, hey, I think that's the difference, right? I think if you just you hire them and you give them a day's training and then you launch them and never give them any other feedback, they're probably not gonna be that good. Or taste constantly coaching them.

SPEAKER_03 19:46

You have to tasting the food too. I remember like, you know, how many times have you gone to a restaurant, Steve, and you're like, well, what do you think about this? Oh, well, I've never tried it before. Well, you know, every person that's working should be trying. I'm gonna tell you, I'm 55 years old, and some of my friends still today, my lifelong friends, are friends that when I worked at Roder Water Street Oyster Bar down in Corpus, and we were like battle buddies, you know, when you're like, okay, we're getting, you know, I'm 86 and something, or you know, when you're in the weeds and you're like sweating and you're just moving and grooving, and you there's one day that you've made like three, four hundred bucks, and the next day, you know, on a lunch rush, you've made 30. Right. And you're like, this sucks. Yeah, I mean, it's that camaraderie, and then you're right, it kind of comes up from the top. What is one thing that you guys would absolutely refuse to compromise on, even if it would make you more money?

SPEAKER_07 20:37

What you know, I I we have to stay true to who we are, and I think there's plenty of opportunity for us to grow. I don't think there's anything that we necessarily are sacred cows, if you will, and hate that term, but the best way I can say it. I know, yeah, I use that all the time. But um, you know, I I our biggest thing is that everybody that comes I my bigger thing is it's a guest, you're a guest in this house is what we try to give back to our staff and what we try to maintain. And I'm like, I know everyone knows the word customer, but stop using it. It's the word guest. And if you treat everybody like a guest, you will treat them the same way you treat them when they come inside your home. And I think if we can maintain that standard of just general service model and the way that they perceive the people that come to our building, I think we'll we'll have success in the long run.

SPEAKER_04 21:26

How do you handle those guests that are that are rude and condescending?

SPEAKER_02 21:30

It's actually been that's one of my uh I love when they're like that. I saw it you do, yeah. I saw it firsthand because I saw turn someone around very quickly because uh honestly at the end of the day, people just want to be heard and they just something happened, so let's figure out why why you're upset and happy to fix that, you know. Or in the beginning, we it was a little rough with um just food and wait times, and now we're getting better. But you know, if there's a reason they're upset, there's a reason. So now, like just let Talk to you and validate it. Yeah. And just say, you know what? I'm actually really glad you're here. And I understand if you don't want to come back, but I would love to give you the opportunity to do that. And I hear you. And you know, we're going to do better.

SPEAKER_03 22:11

I watched your body language. I was sitting, my husband and I went for dinner one night, and there was a gentleman, we were sitting outside, there's a gentleman at the bar, and he was upset that this place gave him this and that place hadn't given him his food yet. And he was just like at the bartender, and here comes Sarah. And and I watched her. She's leaning up on the bar, like she's a friend. And she's and I was like, I was fascinated in that sense. Because you know, I've had I've had some pretty, you know, crappy guest customers. I've had some, you know, um Do you remember that one? Oh yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:41

How did how did you handle it? How did it get how did you get it?

SPEAKER_02 22:44

Uh well it's because when the employees come to me and they're like, oh my gosh, someone's really angry. And I'm like, okay, well, let me go talk to them. And then I approach them, like, hey, how are you? And then they're it all of a sudden it starts to drop. And it's not because you can't attack. It's more of a how's it going? Like, yeah, let me know.

SPEAKER_07 23:01

Some of it in this instance specifically, like what that's that's on us. It was something we did from uh, you know, and one animal. But it's also, you know, a lot of a lot of that animosity and that like rage that gets built up when there's something little that happens is something else is going on. So it's like don't it's not the they didn't get their fries in two minutes is not the reason why, and whatever. It's that they had a bad day at work or they're going through some personal stuff or whatever. And so if you come in and you kill them with kindness, it's it's kind of hard to keep staying mad in the moment.

SPEAKER_04 23:33

You know, it's funny though is I bet the response, Sarah, when you walk up and go, hey, how's it going? And Dallas, when you walk up and go, hey, how's it going?

SPEAKER_05 23:45

That's pretty funny.

SPEAKER_02 23:47

Yeah. Yeah, no, I'll I'll take them all day long. I'm like, that's fine. Like, just dump on me. I'm happy to, you know, and if we can't make him happy, then you know, that's okay.

SPEAKER_03 23:58

Do you know who Rick Flair is? Okay. One of my most memorable, unhappy customers was Ric Flair. And it was after our wrestling match.

SPEAKER_04 24:08

WWE, okay.

SPEAKER_03 24:10

And at the time, Brad Low Max, it was when you couldn't, you could still put as many drinks as you wanted to in front of them. And then it was, you know, in T A B City put these drinks. And he wanted all the beers and all the alcohol at the same time. And I we're, I'm like running ragged. It's like 11 o'clock. The orchestra and the wrestling match got at the same time. And Rick came up to me. I'm what I'm paying attention, like, okay, I'm seeing the knees out of one. I go up to the bar, I order another one, and he goes, comes up to me, you know, I'm five, three and a half, barely soaking wet, like maybe 115 pounds at that time. And he's like, I'm ready for my other drink. And this time I'd had it. I was like, You're gonna sit down, you're gonna shut up, and I'm gonna bring you your beer. And I got the biggest tip ever from him.

SPEAKER_02 24:51

And all like the Steiner brothers, all the other wrestlers are like, oh, and I was like, but yeah, I I can see there's a time and a place for there's a time for Sarah, and there's a time for that's a great thing is I mean, we've been married for 14 years, 13, 14, 13, 13, it feels longer. No, and but we've known each other, we met in the industry, so we have a really good um working relationship and w it's we already have a great marriage, and so taking that into work, you know, it's like we're already with each other all day long. But it's nice because he can take his role, I can take mine, and then when we combine them, you know, you make a good team.

SPEAKER_04 25:34

So you divide the responsibilities. But so in a business like that, a lot of times there has to be somebody call the final shot, though. What do you guys do if you have different points of view? Who makes the final call?

SPEAKER_01 25:47

It it depending, okay.

SPEAKER_02 25:49

If it's we stick to the department. So if it's the final call is in my department, I make the final call. If it's in his, he makes the final call. There's only been a couple things that we've been like, mmm, who's gonna we need somebody else to come in, right? Tiebreaker, yeah. Yeah, for sure. But overall, you know, Dallas will know if I'm like dead set on something, just like at home, you know? And he's like, all right, you win that one.

SPEAKER_07 26:15

Like, and you know I didn't say you won it. I just choosing to pick my gun. That's how my husband says.

SPEAKER_03 26:21

He goes, I figure you're right 50% of the time. Why are you? Dallas, I want to kind of go back to where you guys, how y'all got here to dripping springs, but how did the two of y'all meet? You mentioned that you met in the industry. How old were you guys? How'd y'all Yeah?

SPEAKER_07 26:34

I um I had just gotten out of the Marine Corps. Um didn't really feel like going back to Corpus where I'm from, so I moved to Austin.

SPEAKER_03 26:41

Um crap, it was Christy. Yeah. Where'd you go to high school?

SPEAKER_07 26:45

Uh Ray.

SPEAKER_03 26:46

Ray. I went to Carroll. So did Steve. Well, it was less ghetto. It was less ghetto back then. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_04 26:52

Actually, I'll tell you, I wasn't gonna tell I was gonna tell you this later on. My wife Holly is a twin, and Casey is her sister, twin sister. Casey babysat you and Max when you were.

SPEAKER_01 27:05

Oh my god, that's amazing. Oh you'll have to tell your dad that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:10

Casey, Casey had her little daughter, uh Alexis, I guess who was like one or two at the time, and she would bring Alexis over and and babysit you next. I guess your mom, Casey went to apply at Gap, and your mom was working at the Gap and said, Hey, I don't have a job for you right now, but would you like to babysit?

SPEAKER_07 27:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 27:30

Oh, that's a great story. That's a great story.

SPEAKER_07 27:33

Yeah. It um but yeah, so we um I got you know back to to Austin and uh started working at one of the uh Italian concept that County Line had at the time called Cannoli Joe's um down there in South Austin. And my apartment complex was right around the corner, so it was pretty much go to work, go to this bar at Doc's backyard, and then I would and then I would go to my apartment and then rent and repeat because I had nothing else to do. Didn't know anybody here and whatever. And so um obviously met Sarah there just as a she was one of the servers and then met the other girls there and they all hung out together. Actually, all five of y'all lived together at the time. Um and then Yeah, that just became a hey, do you want to come out one night? And I was like, sure. And so I went out with all the girls, and that just became me and the friends and the girls, and we would go down to the house.

SPEAKER_02 28:23

He was the purse holder, yeah. All the purse. He was the purse holder, he bought us drinks, and no, but he was such a good friend and such a good like he would make sure we got home safe and he because he was irregular, and so you know he tipped very well, so we all would all would fight over who got to wait on Dallas because it was at the end of the night we knew like he was gonna tip well, so we had a rotation, and then yeah, we were friends for two.

SPEAKER_03 28:45

And what was that moment where the friendship kind of switched? We were like, Oh, wait a minute, I think I'm kind of into this guy.

SPEAKER_02 28:51

We um he was doing research and development for the Italian concept, and he was like, Hey, do you want to come to this other Italian place? Uh take you out to eat, and so invited two other people, and then they canceled, and so it ended up just being him and I at this nice Italian restaurant, and then we had a great dinner, wined and dined, and then after that, I was like, Oh, wait, I kind of I kind of like him. Like, oh, you know, take the friends out of it, and so that was that's kind of where it started.

SPEAKER_07 29:21

Yeah, and then it just started being you were it was the group and then Sarah and I, and then it was just Sarah and I hanging out and going doing things together, and then it just developed into what it is.

SPEAKER_02 29:29

Yeah, yeah. And he had a big screen TV, and like important things.

SPEAKER_04 29:34

These are important things. Did you both grow up in the restaurant business?

SPEAKER_07 29:39

Yes, yeah, and in a I mean, obviously, I did she did in a different way.

SPEAKER_02 29:44

Yeah, my first job was so I'm from Kerrville and um Hunt, Texas is where I had my first job. It was Elaine's table, uh, mom and pop, husband and wife, and um I applied, I was 15. Oh, and my mom was a a single mom working as a teacher, didn't make a lot of money, and I wanted things. I wanted a car, I wanted, you know, so she's like, Yeah, I gotta go to work. And so I would work Wednesday, Saturday, Sundays over there. And um, yeah, and they were a lot of amazing people out there, a lot of old money. So I was making really good money, and um, but I didn't know, you know, I was just like helping paying my mom for my car and everything. One night I wanted to go out with my friends. I was like, I really just want to go be a teenager, you know? And uh so I call in and she said, I need you, I don't care who comes in. It could be your mom, it could be anybody, but I need somebody here tonight. And so I was like, Mom, can you go to work for me? And she was like, sure, what do I wear? So she went in to work for me. No way, and she ended up making a lot of money, figuring out what she was like, this is awesome. So then we started waiting tables together. That's cool. And so then my mom and I waited tables together. So that was her second job. And then one night the dishwasher called out, and so we called my brother, and my brother came in and washed dishes. So it was great, and it was like a cute little mom and pop place. Um, it actually that whole building kind of got the floods. Oh, the floods took it. Yeah, um, I think they're redoing it, but um, but yeah, so it was right there in the heart of that that little hill country. And but so yeah, we I grew up in it and just kept doing it and then went off to college. Always worked in a restaurant, thought I was gonna get out of it, health and fitness, personal training. Um I had traveled a bunch. I in high school I was an exchange student in Australia, so I lived overseas for a year my senior year. So I graduated high school twice.

SPEAKER_03 31:43

You did like Matthew McConaughey going to Australia.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

Yeah. And that opened up a lot. And I worked there at a restaurant, and there, oh my gosh, I had the like the meanest chef owner, but that taught me so much, you know, like along the way, you have all these experiences, but it all it always came back to hospitality and restaurants, always. And so just along the way, it was like, okay, and then weighted tables throughout college, good money, and then um made myself a job, uh, a position with my the sports bar, black chief and haymaker. They didn't have like an event and marketing person, so one day I just wrote up a a job description and then was like, hey, and they're like, sure, here you go. Oh wow, yeah. And so then I did that and then just kind of grew and grew. And then my business partner now with my other company is that he owns those.

SPEAKER_03 32:31

So I want to ask you about Australia. So like waiting tables here in the States versus in Australia, like, did you have to like the lingo? Oh, you had to get it.

SPEAKER_02 32:40

Well, and they paid back when so that was 20 years ago. Uh-huh. Um, they were paying $20 an hour back then because you don't get tips.

SPEAKER_04 32:49

Oh, no tips, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:51

So that was interesting. And it was um because that was a whole thing.

SPEAKER_03 32:55

I was like, wait, there's no tips, but you get hourly and so they didn't so the Australians don't tip at all. No, it's just included in your pay.

SPEAKER_04 33:02

Yeah, it's so it's so weird uh when you like we went to England and Scotland and they don't tip there. And I just felt so bad. You know, I felt like I had to, but my finally my aunt's like, don't stop tipping. It's the nobody tips here. You're the only one doing it.

SPEAKER_03 33:16

You're like Mr. Moneybags, Mr. McGuy.

SPEAKER_04 33:18

Yeah, I know, yeah. What about the Elon Musk?

SPEAKER_03 33:20

You talked about um the tipping. How how does that work now? I mean, like you're you mentioned that you're on the board or you were on the board of the Texas Restaurant Association. Is it still $215 an hour or whatever it is? A lot of places do that. We're not.

SPEAKER_07 33:34

Yeah. Um the uh tax credit that you can take from a tipped wage, uh can you can pay servers and bartenders $213 an hour. Um and then the their scales go up from there depending on you know what level of tipping they're getting. But yeah. Yeah, the you know, we've had this bigger debate on the board level of just you know what does it mean in Texas is kind of this uh unique out of other states, right? Because what we can support in Austin and the other major cities, middle of you know, Paris, Texas, can't support the 15 an hour wage. So it's hard to make it from a state perspective, like a one is all situation. Um and so uh, you know, there's kind of that conversation happening at the at the board level when we go to legislation every or every two years. Um you know, just about what does that really mean? Did where because we we need to view it as a state policy, not an individual municipality, because that got all awry during COVID with all the different regulations and whatever.

SPEAKER_03 34:36

It was never more evident to me that I was making two dollars and thirteen cents an hour when I was having like was forced to either restock the condiments or roll a hundred silverware. I was like, I'm making two dollars an hour for this. Yeah. But then I started like a little side business. And I was like, you pay me five dollars, I'll do your hundred dollars, your hundred rolls, you know?

SPEAKER_07 34:54

That's that's how I I made money at five years old. The servers the servers didn't want to roll their silverware, so I was just sitting up at the bar because you pay them.

SPEAKER_04 35:02

Yeah, and then they would at a county line? So you grew up in that business.

SPEAKER_07 35:06

Yeah. My dad ran the county line in Corpus Christie. So I um I was up there a lot and would just sit in the the bar and like hang out and you know, color and do things by myself. But then it was like, well, if you want to help and you want to do things, whatever.

SPEAKER_04 35:22

So yeah, I mean what was the first like real job that they gave you there? Like said, okay, you're hired for this, not just rolling napkins, but the first real job.

SPEAKER_07 35:31

Hosting and bussing was the first one where I like it wasn't just a can you help with this? It was a actual like I had a shift. And I whatever. Um still below actual working age. Um but uh but you know it was it was fun, but it teaches you to obviously grow up a little bit too because you're working with people that are significantly older than you in one way or another. And and then bussing, you know, you're having to adhere to the service standards that are whatever. It's not just you know, go clean up the my friend's table situation. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:02

And that the County Lion restaurants are busy.

SPEAKER_01 36:06

They're busy, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 36:07

Yes, yeah. And busy and at that point we also didn't have plastic plate layer like we do now. So everything was porcelain, so it was heavy and a lot of mm ribs and yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:17

Oh, yeah. Wow. I want to ask you about opening a business in dripping springs. Was there any part, anything about that process that surprised you? Because you're in the city limits, right? Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 36:31

No, I mean it was it was pretty straightforward again, because we didn't change anything. Um, you know, we had to go back to the CO process, um, but uh we weren't changing anything major. So there was pretty much it was kind of a streamlined situation. You know, I I've heard other stories from other uh business owners that have gone through the full build-out that they've run into roadblocks here and there. For us, it was just kind of, you know, it is what it is. We're painting we're painting.

SPEAKER_04 37:00

Come on, tell us the truth. They were they were nice. No, they're nice, but they can give you a hard time.

SPEAKER_07 37:06

Yeah, they um Fire Marshall was great. I have uh I've known the health department um for a while. He came from Austin. Um and so I have a working relationship there already, and I had had the food truck out here for fly, right? So I already you know made those connections.

SPEAKER_02 37:21

But I will say, if we hadn't had the background that we do, that it it would have been very easy. Because just every little thing, I'm telling you, all these little things, you're like, oh shoot, I forgot about that, that, that, that. And for us, it's like, okay, that that part came easy because we've done this before.

SPEAKER_03 37:39

But if you are not in the hospitality world and you're trying to open that many concepts, I think that was their biggest downfall is that they didn't, it was a business idea, they didn't have the restaurant idea that wasn't like set in concrete.

SPEAKER_02 37:53

And luckily, you know, we just kind of turned everything back on and then called upon all of our contacts and they were like, We're here for you. And then they were just helping us do I mean they were doing their jobs, but you know, it was just it was a very seamless process. Uh, it just was very fast. We did this very, very fast. We did. So I think that is um a testament just to like our background and hopefully we can just keep the momentum going because now we want to do some fun programming and just like yeah, parties, birthday parties.

SPEAKER_03 38:21

And so tell us about the grand opening that you were talking about.

SPEAKER_02 38:24

Yes. So Wednesday, November 18th. Um, we'll do live music, we'll have vendors out, and then we'll you know launch our our menu. Because right now we've got a good solid menu, but we're we're still tweaking things. Um Pokey. Yes. We want to do so. We are gonna do a seasonal menu that will feature like four items, and that'll just be seasonal, so that could be something we could do. Um, but yeah, so that's that's what it is. It's gonna be a big party, just kind of like a reopening, because we already have like we fully are opening and busy on the weekends, so now this will just be like another push to kind of get some of those other neighborhoods in dripping springs because we cannot rely just on headwaters. They're very supportive, sure, they're up there all the time. But um, the other day it was great. We had um Cannon Ranch, we had Kalatera people, we had some Beltera people, you know, we had some people even, is it Avery Ranch that's out here? Uh a little bit further, or what is it?

SPEAKER_04 39:17

The Oh, Arrowhead. Arrowhead. Arrowhead.

SPEAKER_02 39:20

Yeah. So it was great. I was like, oh, this is wonderful. Because I'll I'll go and talk to people and just kind of figure out where they're from. Where they're from. And um, so that was a really good sign.

SPEAKER_03 39:28

So you guys are gonna uh the whole complex is about to explode with Academy TJ Maxx, there's some other, you know, big 55 and up. 55 and up. They do is that right? Yeah, Serra Nova.

SPEAKER_04 39:39

Department complex.

SPEAKER_07 39:40

That's what's being built right next to right next to Oakland Dirt right now.

SPEAKER_02 39:45

And it's called Sara Nova, and it's a concierge community. So anybody who lives there is gonna be very well taken care of, and they're gonna have a restaurant and bar in there, um, which will be good for their people that live there. But um, I think it'll have 200 units.

SPEAKER_04 39:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 39:58

Um they just did their groundbreaking, so that'll be great. And then the firehouse, I'll be every yeah, it's booming.

SPEAKER_04 40:04

Yeah, um, I don't know where the academy's going, but it's in that same little strip down right now.

SPEAKER_07 40:09

It's on the next on the other side, in between um um Headwaters Boulevard and Sunset Canyon. Okay, that section.

SPEAKER_04 40:15

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm excited about all that. I feel like what you know, the success that the Bel Terra Bel Terra Village has had is proof that it will work out here. And once those businesses come, you'll you guys will just do better and better and better.

SPEAKER_02 40:28

Yeah, I agree. I'm I'm excited. And it's nice, like more Austin people are moving out here. I mean, that's what y'all see, I'm sure, when you go to it's just the relocating because they want better schools and just like a slower lifestyle. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:43

Just just try to slow down a little bit. So if somebody is walking into Oakwood for the first time, um, the very first time, where would where's the ideal place to sit? What's the ideal place to the ideal thing to eat and to drink?

SPEAKER_02 41:00

I obviously the patio, the views, what we're calling it, the views deck is is where you want to be. Um, because that is uh the best sunset I feel like in dripping springs. We're so high up, it's a gorgeous view. Uh get a frozen margarita, and then I would get skillet queso, skillet queso fried pickles, and then smoked wings. The smoked wings. And we've got all of our tacos can be turned into bowls, so if you're feeling a little bit healthier that day. Um, but yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:28

That's cool. Have you had any problem with parking yet? Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 41:34

We're uh we're we're actively working on that. The the developer that did all of this is um has the spot in between the road that's there now, Kibo Ridge and the new 55 and up. So once that gets built and his part gets done, there'll be even more parking. Okay. Um that unit that's below us with the My Little Gym and the the um the dentist and believe down the down there, that's available. That's part of our lease, is that after hours they can you can park down there. A little bit of a walk up the hill, but at least it's a a bunch more parking spaces to use.

SPEAKER_04 42:10

But we've been over there a couple times and parking's been a little tight, but we I mean we've always found found a spot. We do it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

So what are your kids doing right now? They roll in silverware?

SPEAKER_02 42:19

Oh yeah. And um our oldest, she loves to work in the soda shop. So she's been helping their um stamping bags for like the coffee shop. Yeah. The twins, not so much because they are they're at the arcade, they have high score of Pac-Man.

SPEAKER_07 42:35

We made the mistake of while we were when we just took it over, that obviously we had them up there, right? And they had their little remote control cars they were driving around on because they can ride on them. Um now they're wondering why they don't get to drive everywhere in the building now that we're open.

SPEAKER_03 42:49

And I'm like, put your shoes on. Yeah, put pants on, yeah. Yes, and close the door when you go to the bathroom. Yes. This is a public place. We know this is your your second home. So is it hard though? Like, I mean, are you guys switching off between like you're gonna open and you're gonna close, or who's putting the kids to bed at night?

SPEAKER_02 43:08

Yeah, we're switching off. Um, but at the same time, we're getting to a point. We just hired some more managers so we can like pull off of those like actually closing shifts. But um, but yeah, we're we kind of just honestly, like sometimes they're just there late. And it is it's an adjustment. So we're trying to get back to a normal schedule because it is what it is. And I'm sorry, guys, like we're y'all can chill here. We're gonna be home a little bit later tonight, but that's okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:34

It's a tough business, the restaurant business. Have either of you ever thought about trying to do something else?

SPEAKER_02 43:39

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like what?

SPEAKER_04 43:41

What would you do?

SPEAKER_02 43:42

If if I did well, and I would still keep this and I still have my um my concessions. Yep, because that's fantastic. Because that is just like you're you set up, you break down, you get to you're done. You're done. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:56

Over and out.

SPEAKER_02 43:57

Over and out. I'll see you next year. Yeah. No, I think something in the um alcohol canned world or you know dive into that still in the same industry. I think that would be like a a bigger goal. Um, 'cause I think that's something you can it's just a different market. Like you're you're reaching people that don't just come to you.

SPEAKER_04 44:17

But and it's probably more nine to five Monday through Friday, not you know, till midnight kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 44:23

So yeah. I mean, luckily we close nine and ten o'clock. So it's not horrible. I mean, this isn't like a late night bar or anything, but we are gonna have the speakeasy event. Yes, I know. I can't wait for that. That'll be fun. I can't wait for that.

SPEAKER_04 44:35

Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_07 44:36

Yeah, so the the coffee shop, I had this late night drinking wine with Sarah on the couch uh idea, and I was like, well, what if we what if we took the coffee shop? Because she had made it super vibey with the new furniture and everything she had done. And I was like, all right. What if at night, like after we close coffee, but like we do a late night where you come in the other direction and then we can do craft cocktails, do two turns a night, let Chef do some like special things that are only available in there. Our bar manager will create his own little cocktail list that'll go in there and it'll just be a fun little place because I mean, face it, we have Grolics and we have and we have backspin that are kind of the later night places out here. And I know from Serenized perspective, when we look at it, it's like we go to Moody to a concert in Austin. And you come home. But we have a babysitter until 12 30, but we're out at 11. It's like the there's a pocket there where you're like I'm gonna squeeze the left.

SPEAKER_02 45:27

Yeah, we're gonna call it the Jackalope Room. And so the coffee shop will turn into the speakeasy, and it'll fit probably 40 people. We'll have a DJ, but it'll be very like, you know, only you know, we'll have reservations um and we'll do it um either like once or twice a month on Fridays and Saturdays. We'll see. We just gotta get the restaurant fully functioning and then we'll watch that.

SPEAKER_03 45:50

I'm totally in. I'm totally in.

SPEAKER_04 45:52

I love all the new ideas. I feel like that's gonna make a big difference. How much of your success do you think is being a part of the community, like being plugged into the organizations and things out here?

SPEAKER_07 46:04

I I think it's huge. Yeah. I you know, the again, w what I was kind of mentioning earlier about how you know where the real opportunity is to make money out here if we didn't have the community support that we have behind us uh going into this thing, I don't think we'd be seeing the the the revenue and the push and the and the support like we have.

SPEAKER_04 46:23

Um how are you gonna do that? How are you gonna be I mean I know that you're you're gonna become a destination, but how are you gonna go outreach into things like that?

SPEAKER_02 46:31

Like the schools, the schools. Yeah, we've already done we're already doing that with schools and and whatnot. And I really want to get plugged into more of like the founders fast and trying how we can, you know, work that angle and some of the older dripping springs community that is here and they you know, but they're uh we want them to be feel welcome as well. And so um I think just continuing to be a part of all of those little I mean Chamber of Commerce, we've done a bunch of of those and meeting other business owners and really just being, you know, like having we can you can utilize our space and how can we help you outside of this? And so um I think we haven't even really scratched the surface on that.

SPEAKER_03 47:08

I don't think you have because I think there's a lot of pop-up opportunities. Like you said, you're gonna have vendors at your grand opening, and there's a lot of small businesses or small creators that don't have the revenue to have a uh a brick and mortar and the fact that you can provide a space, you know, like yeah, the first Sundays we're gonna have the month we'll have like a little farmers market or whatever it is, you know. I I think it's your your location is amazing, but you also have the buy-in from Headwaters you mentioned earlier. Uh you know, do people think y'all are just a headwaters restaurant? Right.

SPEAKER_02 47:42

Sometimes it might feel that way. No, we have a great and we have a big group of friends, and we're very um connected in in all of uh Headwaters specifically.

SPEAKER_03 47:52

Is that where you guys live? Yeah. Oh, so the kids can just walk home because they can't.

SPEAKER_02 47:56

Yeah. No, I think it is just um yeah, and that's what I was saying about like the Belteras and everybody. We still have friends in all those different neighborhoods, so it's been really nice to like really bring them in. Um and it's working. And also, like I said, talking to people, I love getting to meet everybody that comes in. Why are they there? Why do you love it? Or and giving people the opportunity to give feedback to us because I if they're gonna be here, I would love to, you know, tell me what you want. Like we'll see if we can do that for you.

SPEAKER_04 48:27

Yeah, I think that's a big part of it is listening to what the community wants. Tell me about the bodega. So it was is that where the store used to be? So what's what's the bodega concept?

SPEAKER_07 48:38

Yeah, so we just wanted to create it. So it's the Oakwood public market, and I very quickly, when I was starting to do branding and stuff on the redoing website, and I'm like, we go to the Oakwood public market and then you go to the market. And I'm like, this doesn't work. Um so we just it was more of just a calling it a bodega, but the reality it kind of fits that what that truly is. You know, we I I'm not gonna use the word that I normally use, but I I it was a really cool space that sold a lot of really cool, like unique um one-off things beforehand. What the community was asking for, what the community needed was the oh, I already started making my batch of cookies and I don't have butter. And like I need a stick of butter or I need milk for the kids' cereal on Sunday then for that I don't want to make if you're gonna make uh rice flour cake for whatever, H E B is your guy. Like, go for it. Um, but you know, we really wanted to just look at that and go, this is what the community needs to, you know, what they need on the fly, for lack of a better way of saying that. Adding ice.

SPEAKER_03 49:38

It may not be your brand that you but you know what, you can go get it.

SPEAKER_02 49:41

Yeah, or we really did put brands in there that people love, and so it's kind of like a HEB to go slash gas station vibe. Um and the bodega kind of also stemmed. We have a ton of groups of friends that were from New York and they have bodegas there, so we kind of pulled that in.

SPEAKER_03 49:57

European butter, like oh, I know.

SPEAKER_02 50:01

And we're we're actually trying to source um a sourdough uh vendor, sourdough bread vendor right now. Um that and we do want to have some local people in their eggs and um but yeah, oh uh overall though, it's like a yeah, one-stop shop. You're like, okay, wait, I can get my kids can get snacks they like and drinks they know, and then I could also get cereal and pasta and pickles or whatever you use. Ice ice bags of ice to support.

SPEAKER_04 50:25

Will there be wine?

SPEAKER_02 50:26

Oh yeah. There's wine, there's beer, there's cocktail mixers, um, and then we have three vendors in there currently that did not have a spot and they were selling online and they're all local that you can buy their goods. And it's great. You know, we've apparel, we've got um oils, we've got uh sensory kits. Um Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 50:48

And we expanded the pizza menu so it's not just pizza, we also have an Italian sub and and those kinds of things.

SPEAKER_04 50:53

So this is inside the bodega because I'm gonna do that. I thought I remember a pizza of pizza. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:57

Right off when you go to the back.

SPEAKER_07 51:00

That's very cool. Yeah, and then we're working samples are getting dropped off today. We're gonna start working on a personal size pizza, so we do lunch specials or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 51:08

Yeah, that's that's the thing I have said, because you know, look, I live in uh Don Sawyer, he lives here in Drip. We we eat at the same places. No, we love the same places, but we eat at the same places, and when you guys closed, we felt a real loss because we were like, oh man, there was like a great variety of things. And we were the next day we went to go to summer revival, Becky, and we love Becky at Summer Revival. And we said, Man, we just heard that Oakwood Market closed. And she's like, It's such a shame, isn't it? She goes, We really need more people. What was the term that she used about people they getting used to eating out? What was that?

SPEAKER_04 51:46

Well, uh, she was saying that when there's more good reasons for people to come to dripping to eat, then the all the all the restaurants do better. So she was she was genuine, genuinely bummed that Oakwood had gone away in July.

SPEAKER_03 51:58

And you guys are you guys on your coffee shop, you're using Mazama coffee also. So there's the local you're bringing the downtown drip kind of to mid-drip.

SPEAKER_02 52:06

And that's the thing, and Lori, she's amazing. It was more is a partnership. There's no competition. This is one like we get to serve your coffee and then be like, and you can go to their coffee shop. Like we just want to and same with with Becky with Summer Rivals, like, how can we like partner or do something, you know? And I think to her point, she's like, you're already doing it, you know, just like being open and being here.

SPEAKER_04 52:29

One of the things that Becky does really well is that she has that monthly special because we've talked about this a lot. Like a lot of the restaurants, they they get their menu, they get it finalized, and it never changes. So after you've been there five or six times, you're like, I've been there.

SPEAKER_03 52:43

I've eaten everything.

SPEAKER_04 52:44

So yeah, that's why we like summer revival because we're like, oh, what's on a special? So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 52:49

Well, and that's why yesterday we just had a meeting and we said we need to do the seasonal menu to keep people and to like get creative, you know, and we're gonna get a smoker and kind of do some fun stuff. And um, yeah, so we're excited.

SPEAKER_07 53:01

Yeah, I and again, I I it touches back on the whole point of this of there's multi-different little places that you can get things from. And so while the seasonal menu may you may have already had, then there's something else that we're starting to sell that like we're gonna talk, we're starting to talk about having soups as it's getting into colder weather.

SPEAKER_03 53:19

And like you are speaking my language something that is like broth soup, like everything around here is like dairy based, dairy based, dairy based. It's like, come on, I just need some like chicken noodle soup. Chicken noodle soup or some like caldo or or or like just something, something that's unique. Yeah, I like that. Okay, so I have a couple of little, they're kind of rapid fire questions, but some of them it's like either either you're gonna say, Oh, that's you, or that's you. Who's more likely to fire an employee than feel guilty about it for a week? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 53:55

It's hard firing, but okay.

SPEAKER_03 53:58

Who which one of you is more likely to accidentally give something away for free? Probably me. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 54:05

Well, if you're the one that's trying to put out fires, that's probably. Well, let me get you a free drink.

SPEAKER_03 54:09

Yeah, absolutely. Who is the bigger control freak? That's it.

SPEAKER_07 54:14

I think it depends on the side of the house. Yeah. Yeah. They're okay.

SPEAKER_03 54:17

Let's pretty laid back. Yeah. You seem pretty who has the worst taste in music? Oh God. He's better taste in music than I do.

SPEAKER_07 54:28

It's my it's my playlist. So she has but she just has her specifics like for coffee. She wants certain things. Yeah, I want to be more vibey.

SPEAKER_03 54:35

Yeah, that makes sense. Which one of your children is most likely to take over Oakwood someday? Geez.

SPEAKER_07 54:42

Well, Charlotte has the acumen to do it. Uh Piper's crazy enough.

SPEAKER_04 54:46

So crazy enough, I think.

SPEAKER_03 54:50

Maybe they'll they'll team up. Maybe one will be front of the house, one will be back of the house. What's one menu item that you guys personally could eat every single day? I get chicken caesar salad every day. I could eat.

SPEAKER_07 55:01

I don't think I've had that. We'll have to go try that. The Italian sub is. The Italian.

SPEAKER_03 55:06

Okay, well good. What is one thing that dripping springs needs less of and more of? Less.

SPEAKER_04 55:14

Um, say it.

SPEAKER_02 55:19

Our teeth are very clean. If you know, yeah. That's remarkable. We are good in that department. And and more of, more of. Oh gosh. Well, it's coming. We need more shopping. We really do need more shopping. Yes. And then bars, but I think we'll get there.

SPEAKER_07 55:40

I think that that retail shopping, and obviously we're getting a target and we have the academy coming, and so like it's on the horizon, but for a very long time, just coming from Austin and moving out here, it's like the oh, we forgot we had to get white shirts for the kids.

SPEAKER_06 55:55

We need underwear, socks.

SPEAKER_03 55:56

I I want a place where I could get underwear, socks, and a birthday present. Yes, all on the same trips.

SPEAKER_04 56:00

Yes, yep.

SPEAKER_03 56:00

You know, and not have to drive through the Y and O'Kill.

SPEAKER_04 56:03

You know what's funny about all that? There's people complaining about Target and Academy coming, but those same people complained when we got Home Depot, which is fantastic.

SPEAKER_06 56:12

One of them, I go there all the time.

SPEAKER_04 56:13

It was the best. They'll be the same. They're like two years after Target. You're like, oh, I'm kind of glad Target came.

SPEAKER_03 56:18

And how are you gonna react? Because you know it's gonna happen, if one day you get a one-star review on Yelp. Oh, again, I will respond back.

SPEAKER_02 56:27

Thank you for coming, you know.

SPEAKER_03 56:29

Find their address, yeah, and we'll burn their house down.

SPEAKER_07 56:35

That is a that's a staple of just being in this industry forever. You're gonna get the people that even if you executed it 100%, aren't just it wasn't their vibe, and it is what it is. And what I've always told my teams through all the different concepts is well, what we're gonna do is we're gonna look through this and we're gonna see if there's anything that is a recurring piece, and then we can adjust for it. The one person that got behind a keyboard after a one-off night and you know, writes a scathing one-star review, I I so I apologize and whatever, but it doesn't mean we're gonna change the whole entire concept.

SPEAKER_04 57:10

Does do those reviews affect you as much as they used to? No. I mean, uh uh from a business standpoint, not from a personal standpoint.

SPEAKER_02 57:16

Yeah, I mean, I think not so much. I think also there's so because of the world we live in and social media, there's so many places for people to comment and do things that now those reviews aren't as they don't weigh as heavy. I prefer Google reviews over any other thing because I feel like anybody that's actually going to the Google review just has a different like they're more intentional about their writing.

SPEAKER_04 57:39

So I feel like if you leave a from my experience, if you leave a one-star review, that's probably not about the business because really like you have to really suck to get a one-star review. It's probably more realistic if it wasn't a great experience. It's three or four. Right. I'll read those because I think those have some legitimacy to them.

SPEAKER_07 57:59

Yeah, I think you can definitely glean, you know, actual things out of those.

SPEAKER_04 58:03

Yeah. Yeah, I think I think that's the way to look at it. Uh I want to ask you uh five years from now, and you guys are sitting looking back that everything has happened, what what will need to be taking place that you say it was a success? We did it. We pulled it off.

SPEAKER_07 58:17

In the restaurant industry? We're still we're still open.

SPEAKER_05 58:21

We're still doing it.

SPEAKER_07 58:23

I uh what we have kind of in the works and conversation-wise, it's not close to being implemented, but the programming and the events to whatever, to where this has always been kind of that guest experience of what we want it to feel like when you came to Oakwood, is that there's memories being made and people talk about it. It's something that I think is still crazy when I am around Skeeter for County Line and he's been doing this since forever. Yeah. Um, is somebody will be like, my kids worked at the same restaurant that I worked at, and I remember, and it's like a one off random person was like, they see Skeeter and they remember him from 20 years ago when they waited tables one summer, and it's like if we can have that impact moving forward, then I think we've done it right. That's really cool.

SPEAKER_03 59:07

That is really good. And I think sometimes we forget how much courage it kind of takes to open a local business here, especially one that's already had a rough start. And it's easy for the rest of us to say that we we kind of want more great places in dripping springs, but somebody actually has to actually take the risk. But also we can say we want more great places here in dripping springs and go to these great places, go support you guys, go support the local that you do, and you know, like you said, you're coming home from Moody from a concert, swing by to speak easy, have have a drink. And what my last question is when people walk through the doors of Oakwood, what do you hope they feel that they can't get somewhere else?

SPEAKER_02 59:44

That they just feel at home, you know, they feel like that they are at a different place, but they can they're comfortable and that they can just relax and take a meeting or have a happy hour, or you know, it that they're just at a place where they feel comfortable.

SPEAKER_04 59:58

That's cool. Dallas, you mentioned in the bio there that you're a runner. Yeah. Do you run? I mean, uh I saw on Instagram there was a a run started from the parking lot.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:09

Uh we have a runners club. Did you start that? Uh so one of our regulars, Dave, and then uh Bonnie from Beltera, they're they're sub three hour marathoners, they're real runners. Um, but they uh they reached out and were like, hey, we want to get the Dripping Springs Run Club back up and running and give it a refresh and you know the thing. And so he was like, I mean, you got a coffee shop, like this is a perfect spot, whatever. And so we just we just kind of put it together and we're doing it. Um yeah, so five-mile loop right now, super easy. I think there's plans to eventually, once we get enough people, have an eight and a five and a three, and then have a ten, a nine, and an eight minute pace, and just kind of we just don't we want it to be open and everybody feel like they can come. And if you can't do five and you can only do three, you can only do one. Like we're trying to plan the loops that it makes it.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:56

Build a community, yeah. You probably don't know. I s uh uh myself and a couple other guys started the dripping spring club back 2014. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:06

I think I still own the Instagram page if you guys want to runners. Yeah, yeah. Um a little bit. He just does a little dabbling in it.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:15

Well, I'm 63 now, so I've slowed down a little bit, and then I had open heart surgery 10 weeks ago. So that was so I I just yesterday got up to being able to run three miles nonstop. So and it's pretty slow, but uh you know, hopefully I actually saw it on Instagram. I'm like, man, maybe I need to go out there and join them.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:32

Two weeks ago when he first started back on the bike, he was like, Oh, I just did I just did 20 miles on the bike. Just and my thing is is there sweating involved? I'm not doing that. They'll get along. Yeah, Dallas is gonna run a marathon in the Italy. We'll wait and have a drink.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:47

We'll have some abuses.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:48

No, no, no, no. I uh yeah, I have to I got into the uh the New York New York Marathon did a thing this year that if you donated the money to the kids' charity that they're a part of and you post a marathon this week, because the New York Marathon's on Sunday, that I get a bid for next year. So I've got a I think I'm gonna run either tomorrow or Thursday and run a marathon and then post it on Strava. And then yeah, I got into the Rome Marathon with a a buddy, and it happens to be the Sunday going into spring break. So it like finds at a vacation?

SPEAKER_04 1:02:22

Well, I I'm excited that you all came back and saw the future that this restaurant, Oakwood Market, could have. And I'm glad that you you were here, part of the community and bringing it back to life. And it sounds like it's gonna be big bigger and greater than it was before.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:36

Well, I'm excited to be making memories there as well because I when they closed, I felt a real loss. But man, you guys are doing it right, and I love to watch you firsthand. I've seen you every time I've seen you there, you've you've got like your stunned face. You're locked in to whatever. You're looking at me, but you're not looking at me. But Sarah, you're my girl. Okay. Thank you guys so much.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:01

Thank y'all.

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This show is brought to you in part by the Mallet Integrity Team, serving Dripping Springs, Austin, and the surrounding areas of central Texas since 2004. When you need the best real estate advice and service, give them a call at 512-829-2062 or email them at malletintegrity team.com. And now here's Steve and Michelle.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:11

And we're back. Dallas and Sarah Miller of Oakwood Public Market. That was a lot of fun. They're cool.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:17

I am excited to have that place back open, and I think they know what the hell they're doing. They're going to make this. They do.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:23

I think they really do. It's uh, you know, it's a great concept over there. The first people couldn't pull it off, but they I definitely think they can pull it off. They've got the right attitude and the right knowledge to do it.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:34

Yeah. Two takeaways from this interview. One, um, Sarah most definitely has the demeanor to handle the um Karen's and uh what is a male Karen? What do you call a male Karen? A Steve. A Karen. No, what do you call a male Karen? What do you call Mr.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:50

I think it's I hate to say it, I think it's a Josh.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:52

A Josh? Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:53

Because I've been seeing some Instagram little videos making fun of guys named Josh. I think that's the the Male version. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:01

We'll see. We'll see. But I think she has the demeanor for that. And I think it's so funny how small this world, has as big as this world is, how small this world is that your sister-in-law used to babysit Dallas and his brother.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:15

Yeah, Dallas and Max when they were little. They were so little they don't even remember. But it is. It's such a small world. There's what is there, eight billion people, but you sit down long enough and talk to somebody, you find somebody else that you know that you cross paths with in the past. It's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:31

Yeah, that's that's really neat. So, um, Steve, what the heck? Why are we changing the time again?

SPEAKER_04 1:06:36

Oh my gosh, Michelle, I thought I really thought this was gonna be the time. I like their Congress was and the Senate was all like installed in chambers.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:45

What happened? What the hell? Why? Why? And the other thing is, it's not gonna be the time that we want. It's gonna be this time that we're falling back to.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:54

I actually don't care which time they said it to I just stopped changing it. I know. And I you know, I I I uh I actually there was one senator that was supposed to be the one holding it up, and I wrote he was from Arkansas, I can't even remember his name, and I wrote him a letter uh, you know, to his office, which he didn't reply because I'm not from Arkansas. But uh and I said, give me one reason why you're holding this up. What is the legitimate reason for holding this up? I don't think there are any anymore. What are the reasons?

SPEAKER_03 1:07:21

We just confirmed the male version of Karen is Steve.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:25

You contacted it. I didn't attack him. I just said, I just want to know what's the legitimate reason for continuing to do. Yeah, what is the legitimate reason? Something I'm not I'm missing. And I uh there must be, but it it just feels so stupid for us to continue to do this when nobody likes it. It hurts productivity. Yeah, more people die from car accidents and heart attacks right after the time change. Why? Why are you doing it?

SPEAKER_03 1:07:51

I heard or I was reading that in the 70s they did away with it for just a little bit because it was during the oil and gas crisis to conserve energy. I'm sorry. I paid $4.39 to fill my car up yesterday. Exactly. I'm in a crisis. I mean, you know, but and I'm going back and forth to San Antonio a lot.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:08

So man, like no, it adds up quick.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:10

Oh, can I ask you like an off-the-wall question? Okay, because my brother and I were having this total debate. Speaking of gas, okay. So I drive your brother has gas?

SPEAKER_04 1:08:17

Is that what you say? Okay, it's gas.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:19

No, no, he's mad at me because I was um he thinks I'm um it's my fault that he has to get a colonoscopy. So there's another. Okay, my brother and I are having this debate. He's probably listening right now. Okay. So I drive uh a luxury car, right? Alexis. It's requ or requ required that I use mid-grade. Chris says it doesn't matter what grade I use. Now when I go on long trips, if I'm going to Dallas and I'm burning that gas, I'm using the cheap shit. I'm sorry. I'm just putting the cheap stuff in there and I'm going, I'm burning it. And then when I get there, I'll put the mid-grade. Does it really matter?

unknown 1:08:51

Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:51

I th I think it does. I have to use premium in mine, and it's like the top one. Yeah, the top one, which is almost five bucks a gallon. Uh but i I've watched some videos online, some YouTube videos, and most of the mechanics say use the grade of gas that your car is supposed to have. And if it says premium, don't burn cheaper gas.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:09

Aaron Powell But even if I'm like burning it like in two hours because I'm going two or three hours and going to Dallas.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:13

I don't think it makes any difference still. It it gums up your engine and causes carbon deposits. Uh, well, I did that with my local. Maybe some of our mechanic friends can chime in. Yeah, let me know because I'm out and Michelle at gmail.com.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:26

Let us know because uh gas is expensive right now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:30

Hey, I've got this story, uh it's called Looking for Friends, Try Advertising.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:34

In all the wrong places.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:36

But it's about um Americans are losing friends. We used to, you know, 20 years ago when you and I were uh, you know, raising kids and doing all that stuff, it was easier for us to make friends. We were, you know, and we were going to PTA meetings and sporting events and wrestling matches and all that. It was easy to make friends. But as you get a little bit older, it's a little harder to make friends. And so there's a trend on TikTok and Instagram for people to advertise like a classified for friends. They go on there and they admit, hey, I don't have any friends and I want some friends. And people will start DMing them to uh to see if they can set up a friendship. It's sort of like online dating for friends. And there used to be a stigma to that, right? It's like I can't admit I don't have friends because that sort of hints that maybe I'm a loser and I'm not fun to be around. But now people are like, hey, I got no friends. Who wants to be my friend?

SPEAKER_03 1:10:33

And they're doing it on Reddit and TikTok and I'm just more selective of the I have a lot of acquaintances I have determined. I have a lot of acquaintances. And I have very few friends that I've kept in my circle. And as time has gone on, there's I've I've always felt, and it I actually think it was like our second or third episode we ever did about um friends we talked about friends for seasons. Yeah. Right? And so you're right. You have friends for when you're when you're younger and when you're raising your children, and now you're empty nester and you're older. You know, there's some friends that are around every season of your life, and I still have some of those people in my life. And you know, occasionally we've kind of not like we've drifted apart, or just because what they were going through or what I was going through, whatever. It's not that we didn't be weren't friends.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:18

How many close friends do you think you need? Or how how many close friends is a good number to have?

SPEAKER_03 1:11:25

Well, so I have friends like if I you know am sharing the good news about something like close or something hard that I'm going through. I have probably three, uh aside from my husband and stuff like that, three good girlfriends that I can confide in that I know my story isn't gonna become somebody else's story.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:43

And that's where I have that's the worst, especially when you're sharing something that's difficult and somebody says, Oh, that's terrible. But let me tell you what's going on in my life. I have four, and those are and and I the way I um determine those are close friends, those are guys if I call them at midnight and say, Hey, I'm in trouble, they'll show up and help. The there are friends that I have that if I call them at midnight, they'll go, Oh, dude, man, I just got into bed. I can't I can't help you. But I have four that I know will show up and do it.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:13

I have noticed, especially now with what um my brother and what I'm going through with my brother, my what my brother's going through, there are people or friends, quote, yeah, that would say, Oh my gosh, I'll do anything for you, I'll do this, that, and the other. And then when the rubber meets the road, you know, wait a minute, if I think about it for a second, I'll have a couple more that I would that would do but like the headlees. Let me tell you Headlease, hand down, and Carlisle.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:36

Carlisle will Carlisle will stop anything at three o'clock in the morning and she come get you.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:42

I need help, they're like, okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:43

She would do that for anyway and the headlees are the same way. I know that I can count on them. And it's not just words. There are even in my family circle that say that they will help, they don't. But I don't know if I'd put an ad out. But I feel, you know what, good, good for them. If they feel like they're lonely and they need to go out and and seek something.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:00

This 33-year-old Indiana woman posted a video looking for friends, and she ended up meeting two women who have become her closest friends. And then another guy, a 29-year-old guy from St. Louis, posted that his interests, interests and hit that he was lonely, and which I I'd have a hard time doing that. But he received 40 responses and he set up a little social group. So those people all get together once a week. I don't know. I I was thinking about for me, I I I don't actually consider myself lonely. My my I get to go to bed with my best friend every night, and we can hang out. Yeah, so outside from your lunch with uh with these close friends pretty regularly. But the idea of me going on a video and going, hey, I'm lonely. I need some friends. Who wants to be my friend? I couldn't do that.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:46

But you gotta think about this generation right now. That's the thing. It's this generation.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:49

And Kendall, okay, let me tell you as you said, 29-year-old man and 33-year-old woman, they're half my age, and yeah, that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:56

This generation is very because they're I feel they're disconnected more so because of social media. You think that social media is gonna make you more connected?

SPEAKER_05 1:14:04

Makes you less.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:05

Kindle has told me she's a 26-year-old married mom, now with you know going to have another baby, also. And she said, I can't relate to she even in even in Navy's daycare, she goes, Oh, there are a lot of older, older um moms. She said, I have a really hard time because all of my friends are getting, you know, they're they're still dating and doing our.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:28

The other end of that is also true. She still has friends that are single and going out on the dating scene and going to a bar on Friday night. Yeah, she doesn't have she she's nothing in common with them anymore. Yeah. So you're you you change the She's an old soul.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:42

She's like, I'm going to bed at 10. Too bad.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:44

Yeah, no. No apologies. I go to bed at nine and I'm not apologizing.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:48

She told me when I was running around with Navy, I've taught Navy how to fly, and so at night um I throw her on the bed and she flies. And Navy's like, You're exhausting.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:57

You exhaust me. That's good though.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:00

But uh um, well, speaking of friends, uh TV show. No. So there is this funny TikTok trend right now where um you are being you're trapped in like a Costco, a school, a Bucky's, um the grocery store. It's all during some zombie apocalypse or a zombie outbreak, right? And so it's really kind of funny. And they you go through these like series, um, these stories. And so far the Costco one has been my favorite, I'm telling you. It's like you get stuck in a Costco and you live a hundred years in a Costco. Yeah, but then people, you know, they've got the gas, the gas pumps outside, and you think, oh, they've got the cleanest bathrooms in the world, but after three days they stop, they stop working because you know, they don't have like you can't pour water into them, so you can't bringing and you know.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:48

But there's there's 50,000 gallons of water out on the floor.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:52

Yeah, but so are the zombies. They're on the floor. The floor is made of love. No, now you figured out the the these particular people have figured out they have ladders and they're up on the top of the racks.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:04

And they're moving. Yes, I know. It's like a big thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:07

This is what's going on, but like people are getting really serious about this. So they're discussing how to barricade the doors, ration food, find water, and survive for 30 days. It's like 30 days of a zombie apocalypse. So I don't know, maybe buckies also, but you know, could be.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:21

You know what? Do you you want to hear my opinion of where that comes from? People are so stressed out now. Everything costs so much money, it costs so much to buy a house. You know, am I gonna have a job? People are so stressed out. They fantasize about being in situations where none of that stuff matters. Like, if you're stuck in a Costco and there's and there's a hundred zombies out on the floor, you don't care if your house payment's not being made. You don't care if gas is five dollars a gallon. You're like, I need to go get that cliff bar that's over there, and there's two zombies in the way. How do I do it? It's you just come right down to the basics of life. And that's what people are fantasizing.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:55

That's what you go, you would risk your life for a freaking cliff bar?

SPEAKER_04 1:16:58

Not a cliff bar. Some kind of food.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:01

If I was stuck in the bathroom, I'm going to the cheesecake, baby. Coco right over the cheesecake.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:05

When I go to those chocolate chip cookies they have in the back, I gotta get to the chocolate chip. I'm going to the cheesecake. But that's what I think it is. I think people are so stressed out. They think about situations where they can be just down to surviving and not worrying about all the other BS that we have.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:21

Well, let me tell you that I can totally agree with you, but until I saw what our own government is doing. So on September 30th, the Pentagon announced something called Fortress America. And Fortress is an acron acronym, which I love acronyms dealing with the VA right now, and it's some it stands for like Federal Operations for Resilient, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:44

Wow, that just rolls off the tongue.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:46

And according to reporting that came out October 25th, just this past week, the military is developing plans for a major U.S. for all major U.S. military bases to operate for at least 90 days without outside water, electricity, fuel, or communications support. 90 days. So apparently, this has been in the work um apparently since Trump's first term. Biden had an opportunity to do it because it's gonna take years. Now I know that Fort some of the Fort Hood, Fort Stockton, they are already um rolling and rocking and rolling and doing this. Um we're talking about independent power generators, portable nuclear reactors, battery systems, stockpiling critical supplies. Basically, the military wants you to keep functioning even if the civilian power grill grid and the supply chains go down.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:33

Okay, so I think that should have been done a long time ago.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:36

But wait, there's more. Across the pond, the British government has also launched a campaign on October 22nd called Be Ready. Be Ready, Be Be Be Ready. They're telling households to have at least 72 hours worth of food, water, medication, flashlights, and emergency supplies. So apparently in Britain you only need three days worth of stuff. Um, but other European countries are also doing some of the same things that you know they're they're recommending.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:02

So where's this coming from?

SPEAKER_03 1:19:04

Okay, so here's the thing. One of the things I've seen many different uh reasons for this. And one of the things is they have knowledge right now that China has hacked or has access to America's and other electrical grids and our water systems because everything is online and everything is hackable now, okay? So it's preparedness. The other thing is there could be a Chinese people are predicting a US-China war because of the Taiwan situation, right? Not even withstanding the Iran war that's going on. But we've talked about this before about how prepared do you think you should be? Should you I mean, really what it's doing is these doomsdayers are really kind of stockpiling guns and food and water. And come on, like don't go out and buy toilet paper again. But it is midterm, so you gotta pay attention. But I don't think there's anything wrong with having, especially with this the weather that they say we could be having this winter, there's nothing wrong with having some supplies.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:04

We have about a week's worth of food. Uh I don't have that much water. Uh I probably should stockpile some water. But I think it is, I mean, you never know. There could be a, you know, some kind of natural disaster that prevents you from getting to HEB or HEB shuts down or, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:18

Yeah, well, I so Todd and I were talking about it just like saying, okay, rationally, let's be realistic. You know, we're getting a generator put in right now by Nomic Power Solutions.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:27

They are doing that for us. But um we've got a pool. And so apparently if all of this happens, what you do is you start stockpiling your water right then. Turn your faucet on and fill every orifice of everything that you have. Every orifice. Every orifice of everything. Every orifice you have, fill it up with water. But I told Todd, I said, wouldn't it make sense though also to have one of those kind of purifiers, like when you're camping? You know, so like maybe something like that. And he's like, okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:53

Um I can't remember, but the if you buy one of those little bottles with a with just a regular filter on it, I think it does like 5,000 gallons of water before the filters could put.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:03

Because they say at a minimum, a person should have a gallon of water a day.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:08

Yeah. You can live off a lot less than that, but that's that's the optimum.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:12

Yeah, the g a gallon of water a day.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:13

So the other thing about this, the whole idea of zombies, everybody always thinks, okay, zombies are uh, you know, people that have been infected with some kind of brain virus and it makes them, you know, want to want to eat human flesh. But actually, I think the whole concept of zombies comes about, and we saw it a little bit during COVID. COVID, yeah. It's how people, how weird and crazy people will get if they start to think their family's in danger or that there's very limited resources and you've got something and I deserve it. So it, you know, and it's okay for me to harm you to get it, because I need to provide my information. COVID showed that. That's that's like a zombie.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:53

You had actual news people on CNN going on and saying, oh, if you don't get vaccinated, you deserve to die.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:00

You deserve to die. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:01

And you and if you're coming to the hospital and if you're having a heart attack, one of the first questions we're gonna ask you is whether or not you're vaccinated.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:07

If not, we're not it's like we're not gonna we're not gonna treat you. I don't know really you start to see it and I I think it could get a lot worse, but we did start to see the worst side of human beings during COVID. And that's what scares me is, you know, uh I read a book once and it was talking about within 48 hours of you know, the whole grid going down and and the food, no food being delivered and no gas being delivered, things get really bad really quick. Yeah. And people start breaking into other people's houses because they know they have cachets of food and they know they don't have guns and they have guns and like things, civility breaks down really fast. And if you fast forward that into two or three weeks or a month, it's it's getting pretty gritty out there. So that scares me. That's what uh I think you know, it's probably not a bad idea for people to kind of put pretend and play those games in their head. What would I do if things got really bad?

SPEAKER_03 1:23:00

Well, and therein lies one of the reasons why I remain in the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Because when the S hits the fan, Michelle can go on a military base.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:09

Don't come to our house. We don't have any food. And I have lots and lots of guns, so don't come to my house.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:14

In kind bars.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:15

Michelle's got a pool behind her house, though. So if you need water, just go help yourself.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:19

And I'll have a generator.

unknown 1:23:21

That's right.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:22

Party's at Michelle's house.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:23

That's true.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:24

Hey, we had a everybody knows we're in real estate. This is not a real estate podcast because how freaking boring would that be. But he does play one on a podcast. Yeah, that's right. There's a battle going on in in the real estate world, and and a lot of people aren't talking about this, but it is starting to affect how business is done in the real estate world. And um I guess it's been about a year or so ago now, Compass and some other brokerages rolled out this program where they were pitching to people exclusive listings. And Compass isn't the only one that's doing it, but Compass is probably the one that's doing it the most. And they pitch it to potential sellers. Hey, we could sell your house exclusively, and we can get it marketed to the right agents, and your house will sell quickly and for the most money. But if you read between the lines, what they're saying is, hey, we can exclusively list your house and we'll only show it to other brokers from our same brokerage. Yeah. So that to me, that's like the pool got really small. Really small, really quick. Yeah. Yeah. And so I'm surprised there haven't been some lawsuits already because that seems a little um there's got to be a seller out there at some point that has this exclusive listing and it's only showed to, you know, a couple thousand uh of the the uh brokerage agents, and they sell their house, and then somebody else down the line goes, gosh, I'd have paid you a hundred grand more than that. Yeah. And they go, Well, wait a minute, now this exclusive listing has cost me money. So there's been a there's a new thing coming out, and Keller Williams, Home Services of America, EXP, and Remax have all joined together to create it's called a uh uh um it's a it's more than a local MLS, it's called the open real estate. And it's uh all the listings in the country from all of the MLSs will be shown there because what's happening now is some of these brokers they do these exclusive listings, and then the seller goes, Hey, I my house isn't on Zillow. Oh yeah, well, we don't put it on Zillow because it's exclusive. So well Like wait a minute. That now, like you said, the buyer pool is almost non-existent. You're talking you're showing it to a few thousand instead of a million people out there.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:37

Or the open the open MLS, um, is that gonna be are they gonna roll out some it is it still gonna be able to be on Zillow and real time?

SPEAKER_04 1:25:46

It will be on all of the website. Oh, okay. Yes. You can if a brokerage Well, here's a question for you. Um can you think of a scenario where having a private listing is advantageous to the seller? Having a a listing that only shows to a few agents and not even any of the buyers advantageous to the selling seller.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:10

It doesn't make sense to me because you know, even though I mean I've been working with you for 12 years now. The more eyes on your property, the more eyes on your property are.

SPEAKER_04 1:26:26

That's the one of the biggest jobs we have. If I'm showing it to less people, you're probably gonna get less money for it.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:32

And we are still having out of state buyers. Just because things have slowed down, slowed down, it doesn't mean so. Somebody, let's say, in okay, I love this scenario when we go and go on listing appointments, they're like, oh, there's that California buyer with all cash that's gonna come in and offer me a million dollars.

SPEAKER_04 1:26:48

We did own one of those too. I I priced it at 1.2, and he came back and he said, Look, if one of these engineers comes out here from Tesla and they want to pay 1.85, I'll sell it to them. Yeah, I bet you would. I bet you would.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:00

I would sell it too. But I think um somebody like from out of out of the area, and I don't know how Compass is marketed all over the United States, but to me, it seems like Zillow and Realtor.com have done a really good job of, especially these younger buyers, saying that's where you need to go. That's kind of your source to go in. And it's easy. You go in there and you go to Realtor.com and you plug it in and boop, the house pops up. Now, yeah, do they get the information wrong sometimes?

SPEAKER_04 1:27:27

Sometimes, but you at least get to see all the listics. So you imagine now you're a buyer, you come here from California or Idaho or wherever you came from, and you go, Look, I'm gonna buy a house in Austin. I want to see all the houses in Austin that are in my price range. And you go, Man, God, I'm really not seeing anything. And then some agent says, Well, you know, there's a whole bunch of other houses over. I only want to go You can only talk to one of these agents to Well, wait a minute. That doesn't mean I want to see all of them.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:52

You want to go, here's a good example. I want to go to the new high school in Dripping Springs.

SPEAKER_05 1:27:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:58

And let's say everything's already been zoned. Right now for the new high school. And I want to look only in those areas of the new high school. Well, now all you're going to get are the homes that are being marketed in if you're looking at the scenario by those particular agents. And there's probably another 60, 70% of homes out there that maybe were a better fit for you.

SPEAKER_04 1:28:20

And you won't even get to see them because they're exclusive. They're exclusive. Yeah. So this open real estate market that they're they're coming up with, it's supposed to be rolled out in early 2027. It will be a place where people can go and see all of the listings on the market, but probably not the compass ones or the other brokers that are doing these exclusive things. I don't know how this is going to play out. It's going to be really interesting. It has, you know, we're just coming off the end of that lawsuit that was settled where they were, they were all the brokerages in the country were sued because they were saying that we were colluding and doing some stuff. That's all been settled. I think this is a new battle coming up that could be fought in the courts where, you know, who owns the information? Is it the MLS? Is it the seller? Is it the brokerage who owns that information and who should control that? But I can't imagine a scenario where a seller goes on a list, sits at a listing appointment, and says, you know what's best for me is if you only show my house to a few agents and not even the people on the internet, just a few people.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:23

Yeah, I agree. I agree.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:24

I don't know how that plays out for the best.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:26

I say kudos also to those particular brokerages that decided to collaborate for, you know, they're competitors.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:33

They're already signing on a bunch of new brokers. Yeah, they're competitors, but they realize the future of real estate is by having more information out there, not less.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:41

Yeah, and we're, you know, um real estate just with every single industry is a changing industry. And we try to stay uh up to date on the cusp of all this changing technology, even though if you ever sit outside of my desk when the technology is changing and listening to me bitch and moan about it.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:58

But uh You always figure it out though, Michelle.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:00

I do, I do. But uh, you know, I I say good for Keller Williams and EXP and all that.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:07

Yeah. Um it there's there's got to be a pushback on this. And we the uh the reason this story was interesting to me is because we had a listing, we went on an appointment and they interviewed somebody else, and and then they came back and said, Hey, what about this exclusive listing thing? And I had to send them some news articles saying, there's quite a bit of data that shows that the only people that benefit from that are the brokerages, not the seller. You get less money for it because you show it to less eyes. And so once I explained that to them and supported it with data, they were like, oh.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:41

And then you said, and you don't get Michelle.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:44

And you don't get Michelle.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:45

And they were like, that's it. Deal breaker.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:47

Deal breaker. But you know, we have this new tool, kind of new, it's been out for a year or two, called Flex Listing, where and we use that quite a bit, where you can put it on the market and it will show to all of the agents, and and because we're Keller Whims, we can put it on Zillow, but the days on the market don't accrue, which is really nice.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:07

And also the new the new thing that came out too, where you used to, if you wanted to reset your days on market, you'd have to take it off for 90 days on the 91st day, you could put it you had to take it fully off, and then your whole days on market would reset. Because I saw I saw a statistic yesterday, I think it was, that homes in Hayes County are are sitting on the market and average 60 to 90 days.

SPEAKER_04 1:31:28

It's a lot it's more than that out here, yeah. It depends on the price range.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:32

But now you only have to do that for 30 days. So on some of our properties that you know kind of may be a little stagnant right now.

SPEAKER_04 1:31:38

Yeah, now as you get into the holiday season, you get into like Thanksgiving, you know what? Let's just pull it off, we'll put it back on the first couple weeks of January, and now your days on the market look like zero. Now, any good real estate agent's gonna go back and look at the history and see that, but it does pop up as a brand new listing, a brand new searchable house for people. So there's some benefit to that. But it is a lot more data-driven business than it used to be. And if you're not, if your agent's not a data-driven agent, it gets really tired of the city. God help us.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:09

Steve is he's Mr. Analytical.

SPEAKER_04 1:32:12

Yeah, I want to pay to pay attention to all the data because I otherwise you just get behind. Math and numbers.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:17

I'm just the pretty face of the team, okay?

SPEAKER_04 1:32:20

I'm just gonna go pet your dogs and pick up the underwear for for the pictures and make your bed when you don't do it. So the house looks great. So anyway, it's gonna be an interesting story to follow. I'll update you all as we go along. But Halloween.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:36

Halloween and well, Halloween as we're recording this. Oh yes. But if you're listening to this Tuesday, November 3rd, go out and vote. Go vote right now.

SPEAKER_04 1:32:49

When this uh episode drops on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, this is the last day for you to vote. Go make it count. It's very important. This is one of the most important elections I've seen a lot.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:58

It is, it's very, very, very, very, very important. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:33:02

We hope you all have a great week, and we will talk to you really soon.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:05

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