Brianna Keefe: Stay In The Weeds Longer Than You Want

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1:09Brianna Keefe: You have to be in the day-to-day to get out of the day-to-day. You know, I spent the whole first year in the first store training the team, cross-training them. Like you have to build a team, empower them, make decisions, also make mistakes and learn from them and trust them. That's the only way you're going to get out of the day-to-day. Welcome to Full Calm, a show offering insight into the hospitality industry, featuring restaurateurs, thought leaders, and innovators, served up on the house.

1:42What if you have to go deeper into day-to-day operations before you can even get out of them? Brianna Keefe spent her entire first year inside one store, open to close, writing the systems by hand and training every person that walked through the door. That year is the reason she can now be nowhere near the 65 stores operating under her name. In today's conversation, we get into why delegation collapses when the founder steps back too early, why she hires her support team a full year before the business needs them, and why her best performing store sits in a market that she would have never chosen herself.

2:14If you're the bottleneck in your own business, this one's going to explain how you got there.

2:26Brianna Keefe: So I have been in hospitality since my very first job. I loved it. I was a host. I even worked at an event center. I got a hospitality degree. I got a minor in business. And then I found myself up in events in downtown DC. And I truly loved it. I knew I loved hospitality, but I couldn't really see the vision of working my way up the ladder to be a GM of a hotel or something. So ultimately, I was working really hard, lots of hours on a college grad salary. So to me, I was like, if I'm going to work this hard, I'd rather work for myself and see what I can do. So that was really the push. I felt I had nothing to lose at age 24 and opened our first toe seat, a thousand square feet, really just to create myself a job.

3:14Brianna Keefe: And of course, it has blown up a little bit bigger than that. But yeah, here we are. Talk to me about the concept around Toastique for those that aren't familiar with it. Yes. So Toastique is like a boutique healthy cafe. We make everything in-house down to our peanut butter, our cold fresh juices, our fresh avocado smash. And so everything is fresh, simple, and healthy. We have an amazing coffee program as well. So it's really kind of this one-stop shop. If you want a fresh juice, do you want substantial food? We have amazing gourmet toast or a really great cup of coffee. So it's something that quality is everything, experience is everything.

3:54Brianna Keefe: We want everyone to feel welcome when they come in. They can grab something quick if they want, but at the same time, it's a place where you can meet your friends for brunch or have a quick business meeting. And it really just brings a sense of community for the neighborhood. So I want to talk about the products. So what I struggle with is like, it's impossible to tell who's going to win. Like if you were to tell me, oh, I'm going to open a place and we're going to have acai bowls and we're going to have coffee and we're going to have fresh pressed juice and we're going to do toast and it's going to be pretty.

4:27Would you like to invest in this? I would tell you, no, Brianna, I would not like to invest in this. Right. Because that it already exists. Right. There are already a thousand versions of it. But yours, yours is wildly successful. and so it's probably not right the food or just the branding or just the messaging what is it when you look back and you see all of the success that you've achieved what do you think the secret

4:53Brianna Keefe: sauce is yeah i think the one thing is our diverse product because there's so many juice bars like you said it is oversaturated with juice bars there's so many coffee shops some are great some average and both of those typically don't have substantial food where you could actually go for lunch if you don't want a juice or coffee and so Zeke really captures that all you can come with a group of people if someone wants I want a toast that I'm going to feel full after they can get that our coffee program truly is some of the best coffee in the world and it's amazing quality cup of coffee which you typically can't find at juice bars and then but also we have the juice bar concept, if you will, the cold press juice, the smoothies, the bowls, and we have a very transparent menu.

5:39Brianna Keefe: So there's no syrups, added sugar, hidden sugar, artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, anything in what we serve. And I think that's also a differentiator. It's just healthy and fresh and people can really taste the difference. So I think having that wide variety while capturing almost everyone that comes in, that's one thing that kind of separates us versus other juice bars or coffee shops. The second thing, which I think is the most important thing is the culture and the experience and what you feel when you walk into a toastique. It's elevated. We have live plants. We don't allow fake plants in any of our toastique.

6:18Brianna Keefe: We're using real wood. It's the details. It's our glass bone hair or our glass tile herringbone box splash. Like it's everything that makes you feel welcome. If a friend is coming out of town, you're like, oh, I got to bring you two to a seat. And really to go along with that is, which kind of goes hand in hand, is the ambiance, the way it feels, and then also the service and the hospitality that you receive. That has been my focus from day one, store one, is the culture within the team, but then also So how the customers feel, they're being greeted, they're, we're answering all their questions, you know, if they need recommendations or suggestions, we always have an answer.

7:00Brianna Keefe: Even down to our part-time people, we want to make sure they're equipped with answers and to give suggestions because we know our customers love that. And for our regulars, remembering their name, their order, they went on vacation, following up when they get back, how was your vacation? You know, those are the things that has made Toast Seek so successful that you can pair amazing coffee, food, whatever you want, but with a great experience where people feel valued, that they feel welcome. And they also get that consistent product every time. It's not like, oh, is it going to taste good today or is it going to be awful?

7:35Brianna Keefe: It's the consistency through and through for every experience. When you opened the first one, there were a lot of assumptions. I'm sure you made. Like we're all right. All entrepreneurs are just professional guessers. And hopefully over time you get better at guessing. And you were young. I mean, I started my first business at 24. I didn't know much back then. Right. And so I look back on the person I was then. And I think, you know, what an optimist, but also like what a fool. And you were able to take that single business. Right. And grow it to what it is today. What were the assumptions you made before you opened that proved true?

8:09Brianna Keefe: Yeah, I think exactly. I think I truly believe and maybe you feel the same as being a little naive has helped you become successful. Because if I knew the risks that I need today, I probably wouldn't have done it. In my eyes, I was like, I have nothing to lose. I can go back and be a server. That was my plan. Because I've served and I love serving. And I made decent money. So that was my plan. If I failed, not thinking about, oh, I'd have to break a 10 year lease or anything crazy like that. I assumed everyone would love it because I love it. I've gotten the question before of, oh, what market research did you do?

8:47Brianna Keefe: I didn't do any besides the fact that I knew there was a demand in DC for something healthy and quick. No one to this day that I have seen does gourmet toast like us, the size, the ingredients, the quality. And I was very passionate about that, which is why I once put in the name Tosteek. And then I loved where our first location is. It's a waterfront area in DC, which there's only one other waterfront area is new. And I was like, I love this place. And this is perfect for Tosteek. And that was my market research. And luckily that became true. It worked out in my favor, because I truly just I had the intuition that I was like, people are going to love it because I love it.

9:33Brianna Keefe: And end of story. But that is kind of the end of the story, right? Because what I can tell you is, as a man that has started many businesses over the years, everything that I built for other people failed. Everything I built for me that I just wanted to see exist in the world, it worked. And when I look at all of the people in there, they're all just kind of like me. And so when you opened the first one and you built for yourself, were you pleasantly surprised? Because I mean, you guys did a million dollars year one out of the first location. What did you learn from that? And the reason I ask that is this.

10:10When I opened up, when I opened the first bar that I owned myself, it was a blockbuster hit out the gate. And what I found is success is a very poor teacher. Failure is an excellent teacher. And so kind of walk me through, like you took inventory at the end of year one, you were 25, 26 at this point. And you decided like, this is something that I could grow. What did you learn from that experience that you took into the next location?

10:36Brianna Keefe: Yeah, exactly. To your point, I was on just this like natural high because I was like, we just created the best thing ever. Like everything that I thought was going to happen, happened tenfold. And I was like, no other location is going to be the worst. Like this is the most perfect thing. And I'm a perfectionist. But at the same time, we don't have nearly as many documents that we have today. It was me walking around with a notebook saying we needed to make this, we need to make this, we need to order this just going off of memory. So learning even just in the first few months of, okay, if I want to have someone take this over, like I need to create something that is kind of foolproof that someone could follow and understand it and make sure that you're ordering enough stuff and you're following guidelines and even little things like I didn't even have like a handbook I was just like wear neutral colors and then a toasty apron and then people were wearing like red plaid and like butterfly shirts and I was like okay now I need a uniform you know but there is so much I think when you're running a million miles a minute and you don't have the structure you kind of need.

11:49Brianna Keefe: I was in there every day open to close and just kind of figuring out, I think in the first, it seems so silly, but it's like, you need to try to put together as much as you can, as much guidelines, as much handbooks so that you can then, when you go into your second location, store number one is running still smooth. So I think we opened our second store nine months later. And so like even in that first year, it was just creating all these SOPs, the guides, everything so that store one could still run when the focus shifts a little bit to store two. But are you like, were you the person that did that?

12:28Because I would argue that the person that creates Toastique that has like that skill set to make that thing probably is not a spreadsheet person as well.

12:39Brianna Keefe: No, I am a people and operations person. So everything in operations I made, fortunately for me, my partner is in construction and loves Excel sheets. And so he's never worked a day in his life in a restaurant. It's only been construction and spreadsheets. So he is my partner for everything that I don't want to do. And I do everything that he doesn't want to do. So if we're talking outside operations, P &L, accounting, everything like that, that's his realm, which has made my life so much easier. And today he's our CFO and so assists franchisees with that as well. And how did you pull yourself out of day to day operations?

13:21Even when you're running other people's businesses and like you're the person that's running like every facet of someone else's business. Still very different from running your own business. And it's very easy, especially in our industry where everything is urgent and everything is important, just get wrapped up in the day to day. And there's so many people listening, right? That maybe they're suffering financially. Maybe they have a tiger by the tail. But either way, they can't get out of their own way to work on the business and not in the business. They're not restaurateurs. They're managers with equity.

13:52How were you able to make that transition successfully? work.

13:56Brianna Keefe: Yeah, I think that was probably one of the hardest things I had to do is the biggest learning curve, truly, because I am a perfectionist. I love being in the day to day. And ultimately, and now, you know, when we're when we're vetting franchise partners, we're like, you have to build a team, you have to be good at building a team, you have to enjoy building a team, And you have to be good at delegating and making people want to come to work. They are excited about it. They're excited about the brand, the product, and you as a leader. They want to work hard and make you proud. And that's something that even to this day, some of the people I trained in our store one is still with us, but now they're our GM looking over our corporate stores.

14:41Brianna Keefe: And so if people are like, how do I get out of the day-to-day? You have to be in the day-to-day to get out of the day-to-day. You know, I spent the whole first year in the first store training the team, cross training them, like really kind of validating and that they got it, that they feel confident and trusting them. That's the biggest thing. You have to build a team, empower them to make decisions, also make mistakes and learn from them and trust them. That's the only way you're going to get out of the day to day is giving them the tools, giving them the resources and trusting them to run it.

15:17Brianna Keefe: Because if not, if you don't have a team that's reliable, that you can trust, that's going to be loyal, then I don't know if you'll get out the day to day. That's what you need. You know what I think the biggest hurdle is? And you made reference to it. It's that I think that as entrepreneurs, I think that we do our best. We make mistakes and then we rally and we're incredibly tolerant of our own mistakes. But we twist ourselves into pretzels, trying to make sure that our general managers don't make mistakes, even though like we all learn through making mistakes. Was that a hurdle for you as well as being patient and tolerant are probably the wrong words, but they're also probably the right words of other people's mistakes?

15:58And that, you know, well, if he messes that up, he'll have to go back and fix that thing.

16:02Brianna Keefe: Yeah, that has really been a challenge for me or it was, I should say. Even going from store to one to store two, I was trying to be two places at once because I'm like, oh, if not there, it's all going to burn down. But then you see that it's not. But then if something, if a mistake happens, it's just being able to be like, this is in big picture, not a big deal. Let's learn from it. If that same mistake keeps happening with the same person, then it's something to maybe dig deeper on and see if they're a good fit. But I think that's the same as growing a franchise company and a support system that opening multiple corporate stores kind of taught me how to slowly step back and let go and trust the team.

16:44Brianna Keefe: And then my next hurdle was like, OK, now we're franchising like who's going to be a better trainer than me? but now we have in the training team a director of trainer she was six people below her and they've blown up our training program like more and better than i can even imagine and so it's because i'm like this is what we have take this as a baseline but then i trust you to add to it change like whatever you're you're feeling from your previous experience with current experience working with franchisees, you're empowered to make this better and make it your own. And I think that has been one of the most rewarding things is to build a team and show them that trust and you feel that trust.

17:28Brianna Keefe: And now they're doing things that I can't even imagine like doing myself. I just couldn't. I want to talk about your line level employees. One of the things you said at the outset was, you know, how engaged they are and that they're really there because they care and they're trying to create great products for great people and create a great experience. One of the struggles, I think, in your tier of dining specifically, which I was in as well, is everybody that's with you, I'm sure gets paid really well for the tier of dining that you're in. Yes. And like the last part, it's like a really important caveat, right?

17:59Because in fine dining, it's a lot easier to create compliance and to make people care because they're making a shit ton of money. Whereas in your tier of dining, in that fast, casual quick service, they're not making a ton of money, right? They're making a lot relative to the tier, but they're not making a lot generally. And so for most of the people that work for you, I would assume, and you could tell me if I'm wrong, this is a transitional role for them. They're working with you until they move on to the next thing, which is closer to the dreams that they hold for themselves. I've eaten at a toastique.

18:30And so I would validate the service is great, that there's high attention in detail, that the food was plated beautifully by people can't wait to quit, right? Because they love you, but I'm sure they're ready to get started with their own lives as well. So what have you baked into the culture that makes that possible?

18:47Brianna Keefe: Here in DC, we have eight corporate stores that we've run one every year. And I think it's really important if you do want people to stay, you need to have growth opportunities. But at the same time, to your point, there's some people that we always hire just summer people, that's their peak times, But it's perfect when they go back to school. Then our sales drop off a little bit. We're seasonal. But I think the biggest thing, whether it's people who do want to make a career out of this or people that are only going to be here for a couple months, for a year. I think there's so much to learn in restaurants.

19:25Brianna Keefe: And it's important to show them that, teach them that, that can also benefit what they're going to learn in the real world or that could benefit them in the real world. And I think, too, it's being part of something that is bigger, even if it's a part time job. I think something also kind of unique about Toasty is we have an open kitchen concept. So the person who's making the toast is the one serving it to the customer. Who's making the bowl is serving it to the customer. And so that immediate gratification when someone's like, wow, this looks amazing, this looks beautiful. It also kind of gives the employees the why in that moment.

20:03Brianna Keefe: And, oh, if I do a great job, if I make this look beautiful, then I make someone happy. So it's this full circle kind of experience. But I will say we've been very fortunate. All of our managers or all of our locations have been with us and started as team members. So we have a couple people that have been with us for seven or eight years. There's actually six people this year that are hitting five years with us. And if you can provide them with a growth opportunity that you don't get maxed out at a ship lead level, a manager level. Now we have two co-GMs. Some are assisting with training for franchises.

20:37Brianna Keefe: There's always room to grow. And that's also one of our goals. And why we like opening corporate stores, too, is because we value our store level employees. And for the people that do want to say make it a career, we need to continue to grow so that we have that opportunity for them. How has your role evolved? I mean, how has everybody's role evolved, right? Like you look at and it's like you, your brother, the original build partner that's now the CFO. How has the company, I mean, I guess the best word to use is probably professionalized, right? Because we all kind of start out as pirates doing whatever the day calls for.

21:12How has your role evolved and how have their roles evolved as well?

21:16Brianna Keefe: Yeah, in the beginning, I mean, we are still bootstrapped. We never took any outside capital, which I think has been we've enjoyed because we are a very diverse group of partners. So we come together, make a decision, support each other and run with it. But definitely in the beginning, Scrappy Bootstrap, all hands on deck. I was the only one that was full time from day one. But my brother would work a nine to five and come work the 5 p.m. to 7 shift. And on the weekends, it was all hands on deck. And I think that's what you have to do in the beginning. But when you get to a point to really build a team and support a team, that's really the goal.

21:52Brianna Keefe: So how, you know, I've been in every detail of every recipe of everything. And now it's building a team, making sure they feel supported to make these decisions, to bring the vision that I have always had and what evolves to life. That has evolved a lot for me. Sean, my brother, has always been in operations and he's very hands-on. And he still loves to be behind the line, as do I. But of course, that's not where our time is most valued. And so his is now supporting franchisees and the supply chain and using our buying power as we open up more stores to benefit all of our teams. And then Kyle, my other partner as a CFO, you know, he still does all of our QuickBooks at a corporate store level.

22:33Brianna Keefe: But now he's coaching. We have a business analyst and I'm really coaching him and our franchise business coaches to really pinpoint and support the franchisees. And so I think ultimately with our goals as we've developed is just being able to train and support our support team to support our franchisees and giving them the tools and resources they need to do that without being in the weeds every day, but we still can get the same result that we want. How do you look at AUV? How do you look at individual store growth? because I think there are a bunch of different ways to do it. Like the average franchise location is doing about 750.

23:15And then like you look at your highest performing store and it's doing like 1.1, 1.2. So there's a Delta there and I'm sure you want everybody doing 1.1, 1.2. And right, and there are all these levers, right? And so there's, oh, well, you know, you could extend hours of operation, right? Because you're not fully utilizing hours of operation, but that might make more work, not necessarily more money. and then there's catering and catering would be a massive opportunity for you guys. How are you exploring all of those opportunities to lift that AUV? And does that experimentation happen on a corporate level and then go out to the franchises?

23:51What's your approach there?

23:52Brianna Keefe: Yeah, I mean, our listing our AUV is our number one goal because like I mentioned in the beginning of this is that we have competitors in the sense of coffee shops, juice bars, but we are like that one-stop shop and it's elevated and you're getting something fresh and delicious. And so compared to our competitors, we know we're better. But it's really our operations are everything and our grassroots marketing is truly everything. You know, it's continuing to be the face of the name. And that's always been a priority for me, just how here I am in D.C. You know, I'm the face of the store. But in all these local markets, the owner is the face of the store.

24:31Brianna Keefe: And like, when you're looking at our top performing stores, It's the people that are involved in their community, that they're doing catering, that they're doing the grassroots marketing. They're partnering with other local businesses. And not only are you like bringing brand awareness to your store, but it's also you're having that emotional connection with your customers. And I think that's what's so important for the loyalty, the long term success of really any business, but to speak. And so that's really our main focus is the actual operators at that level, making sure that they're kind of using our playbooks to make sure they're doing the best of their ability to get brand awareness out.

25:12Brianna Keefe: because you know once you try to seek you're gonna be back but we especially you know a new market's getting through the door one time that's the biggest thing but also we have our staple menu that has been staple for pretty much the beginning with some few tweaks and a little bit subtractions and adding some things but we are piloting a few things a brunch menu that some stores are piloting to our weekends typically are always the busiest, but just more, you know, gluten free options and things like that. And then we actually have a protein waffle that we tested out. Our Colorado stores wanted it two years ago.

25:51Brianna Keefe: And we're like, sure, we'll make it for you. We'll give you a recipe. And a few other stores wanted to pilot it. And long story short, we ended up putting it on our menu full time for all of our stores because it's selling so well in all of our markets. So So it's always keeping the menu fresh, exciting, trying something new. If it doesn't work, that's fine. We have our original menu to go back to. But same thing with our seasonal menus as well. It's just seeing like, how can we push the envelope? Let's try something different. And if it sells amazingly, then let's keep it year round and use that.

26:24Let's talk specifically about your marketing playbook. Because one of the things that comes up a lot when you do research is, you guys generated seven digits year one with no marketing. which begs the question, right? Like, what if you did do marketing? You probably hit more than that, a lot more than that. When I look back at my own initial success, I was probably doing marketing, right? But not really classifying it as marketing. The conversation didn't start with, this is our marketing initiative for the month. It would start with, hey guys, you know what I think would be really cool? But it evolves and you've got to professionalize it over time.

26:59So you did mention grassroots marketing, but I think one of the most difficult things to do as it relates to marketing is codify it. To explain this is what marketing is. Marketing is this big, obscure thing. So when you guys took the steps to codify it, what is grassroots marketing? Not all marketing is created equal. So when you're working with a franchisee in a new market, where awareness is going to be a massive hurdle for at least a year or two, what does that playbook look like to make sure that they are known and known rapidly in their market?

27:33Brianna Keefe: Yeah, yeah. So I'll basically take you through like pre-opening marketing to ongoing marketing. But pre-opening marketing, we do do SEO and some digital marketing, of course. But prior to opening, we also do at least three to five pop-ups, whether it's just, you know, we don't have a full operating store yet. So we can't do anything crazy, but we'll do a couple juices, sample juices or coffee, but then talk about our menu, talk about our grand opening. And that can be anything from like if there's a local farmer's market, if it's an office building, residential building, like bringing samples to wherever it may be is really important.

28:13Brianna Keefe: Then, of course, we're making that playbook. We're help specifying where they should go. But then the owner is executing the event. So then they're like, hey, I'm the owner of this OC. Come check it out. And so you're automatically making those connections. And I always say people want to support people at the end of the day. We know we have a great product, but if you're also like, wow, I can't wait to go back there because Andrea is amazing and I know I'm supporting her and hopefully I get to see her. So having that reopening and then, of course, grand opening, we have a great grand opening promotion.

28:47Brianna Keefe: And then so the next like 30 to 60 days is really kind of fully focused in your store, training your team, really focusing on that. Because like I said earlier, if you don't have a team, you can't really work on the business. but then those continued partnerships and that can be with local gyms whatever and catering as well we also kind of consider catering marketing because you're again bringing sample you're bringing to toast to a group of people who may not heard about it or never tried it yet or maybe they just didn't think of themselves as someone who wanted toast because they're more of like bacon and eggs kind of guy but then you give them a sample and they're like oh this is amazing i'm going to come back to your store.

29:28Brianna Keefe: So once, you know, your store is all settled in those continued partnerships, we really want to still see those like one or two times a month and continuing to have those relationships with the community that you now become a staple that people want to go there. They want to support you. And if they're looking for a donation for one of their events to donate a gift card or something, they're also going to come back and be like, Hey, would you like to do this for me, you know? So really having that localized feel to each to seek is so, so important to our brand and also long-term success. So that's something that definitely has evolved from when we first started, but really we're seeing the impact now.

30:10Running franchisees is very different than running managers, right? Or running corporate stores. It's a completely different skill set. And it's hard. And the reason it's hard is like these are business owners, right? And they're business owners that thought they were buying a business in a box, which they're not because there's no such thing, right? There are all these ebbs and flows and it's complicated. What is working with other business owners? How has that influenced how you're managing the corporate stores and the overall growth trajectory of the business?

30:42Brianna Keefe: us yeah i think too since we're working with owner operators too and our team has been we're very transparent throughout the whole process because the last thing we want people oh i'm gonna build it don't have to be there semi-absentee i'm gonna make checks it'll be wonderful and that that is never ever ever the case you know you have to put in the work whatever business you're doing restaurant or not, you have to put in the work. And so being transparent through that sales process has helped us kind of weed out and be like, listen, we're just being honest here. We can't build a team and you want to be semi absentee.

31:20Brianna Keefe: This isn't going to work. It is very challenging. It is very challenging because some people, you know, want to do something their way and don't want to do it our way. But we are a franchise. And I will say we were more lenient in the beginning because we're like, yeah, we're open to new ideas. And we'll, you know, where there's always stuff we can learn, which is still true. But now with over 60 stores, it's like we've tried things a lot of different ways. And we're doing everything for a reason. We're very intentional. And I'll say one thing that we do well is every new way we learn something, learning lesson, we immediately apply it and make that change to benefit everyone.

32:00Brianna Keefe: and so now it's like fall this is the playbook you know follow it you have to spend the work you gotta do the grassroots marketing you have to follow our operations and our standards and i will say there's a lot of people who brought really great ideas to us and came with a plan and they also came with intention they said i want to pilot it this is how i'm going to do it i'm going to take the full risk on this and that's what i think is one of the greatest things about franchising is that you meet some people that are so passionate about brand that they're like, yes, I'm going to try this at my store, but I want to do this for the better of the company.

32:37Brianna Keefe: And if this works, then everyone can do it. And I think that's one of the most, the greatest things, you know, is people do want to better the brand. They do want to try new things like the brunch menu, for example, one of our franchisees was like, this is my plan. I already hired a chef. Like, let me try this out instead of just kind of this willy nilly suggestion with no thought behind it. So yeah, I think it's been a little bit of both. We've gotten amazing ideas that has impacted the company positive, but we still get a little pushback on some other things. But I think it's all just about balancing that, you know, what can we accept?

33:12Brianna Keefe: What can we try? And what can we not that might not make sense for the brand or would push it in the right direction? it you guys have a bunch of locations open and you have like a ton of contracts signed talk to me about the path to open all of these different locations because that in and of itself is a bear to wrestle as well yes yes but i i love it and i think from the outside looking in i think it looks i mean it is a lot right it looks like a lot it looks like we're growing fast which we are, but I feel like we're very proactive on who we need on our team before we actually need them. So like right now we have 65 stores and we have 26 people supporting them.

33:57Brianna Keefe: So that ratio is really great. We grew our team last year by around 80 % to prepare for the next 24 months, knowing that we don't really need, we didn't need them last year until really halfway through here and next year. So with that, we know people are everything. We want to make sure we're hiring with enough time, interviewing with enough time, hiring, training them, getting them fully on board before we actually need that person. So we are fully staffed, probably besides we're going to hire two more people this year, but we've opened 11 stores so far. We'll open around 12 to 15 more by the end of the year, but we do have a team to fully support that.

34:37Brianna Keefe: That's something that we know is so important to always make sure we have enough support, whether in any department. So yeah, we're excited for what's to come. And then how do you decide on location? So I'm in Southern California. You guys are actually opening one in Del Mar, like right down the street from me, which is very exciting. Being a California business owner, it's very different than being a business owner probably anywhere else on the planet. DC is a tip credit state. And so the fundamentals of the business are very different in D.C. than they are in California. And so does the business ebb and flow?

35:14Does the structure of the business change? Because minimum wage in D.C. is a nickel and a tic-tac. And here in California, it's$80 ,000 an hour.

35:25Brianna Keefe: D.C. just raised the minimum wage this July to 1850, 1840, I think. So it's up there. When we started our first year is only at$13. But I do feel like that's a benefit is that we're not one of those states that it's$8 an hour. Because I mean, even so when we are, Virginia is one of our corporate stores. And I think they're at like eight, but we pay them the same as we do in DC because no one's living on that type of wage. But yeah, California, that is one of our biggest markets right now. I believe we have 11 stores there. And now as we open majority of them in the past like 12 months and that's something that we thought dc was hard with permitting and everything it is challenging but it is california is like wow this is a whole nother level california is a great market for us though so we've learned a lot just through that and we do have a in-house construction project manager who he's been amazing to help kind of navigate that But yeah, as far as locations go, like really, we've always been focused on finding the right partners and wherever they live is where we open.

36:37Brianna Keefe: And looking back, I think that's something that definitely caused us a lot of headwinds because we are just jumping, jumping to Colorado, jumping to all these places and starting over, like starting over with brand awareness and everything. And finally, now it is catching up to us. I do feel like we have a national brand presence, which is really exciting. So that was a challenge. But even to this day, like we're solely looking on the right partners. And I think they've been bringing us to unexpected places, which I think is also such a fun part of franchising because we have a store in Rapid City, South Dakota, which we would never choose to open there.

37:18Brianna Keefe: but they just had their one year and it's been they're one of our top five busiest stores and we even said to the owners we're like we love you guys but is this gonna do well in rapid city because i just i just don't know and they're like trust us like the demand is still there but no one really wants to take that risk to try something totally different and so we have a handful of locations that i probably wouldn't have handpicked but we're finding amazing partners that already live in that community. They're like, trust me, this is going to be it. There's nothing like it that have just exceeded our expectations.

37:54Brianna Keefe: So that's still really our theory is just picking great partners already for their community. They're passionate about Toastique and want to want to bring it to their neighborhood. I'd like to end with a kind of a general question that's really focused on actionable information. You took the entrepreneurial leap young and here we are eight years later and you're still young and you're super successful and you've managed to build this thing that so few in the industry have been able to do. When you look at yourself and you say like, these are the things that served me well, what are the tactics, the tools, the strategies that have served you well over the last eight years that we could internalize, that we could steal to make our lives and our businesses better?

38:38Brianna Keefe: You know, I think the biggest thing personally for me is, and I really didn't realize this to like later on in life, I guess. But like, I'm very much a people-oriented person. And I think you have to be in the hospitality industry. You generally have to love it. Always put people first because that's how your culture is going to be built. That's how your team is going to be built. And I think also always looking inward first of just how can I make this better? How can I make this more clear? How can I avoid this in the future? That I think is so, so important when you're building a business. Because ultimately, no one's out there to help you or save you besides yourself and your team if you built a great team.

39:22Brianna Keefe: And so I think always be able to look internally first and analyze a situation. That went really well. How can I repeat that? But also, how can I avoid that in the future? What could I have done better? I think it can be frustrating. Building a business is hard. but I think always putting your right step forward and making the right decisions and really making sure ethically like this is what I want to do this is what I believe in and I think it goes back to what we were saying too when you're doing it for yourself and something you believe in it's going to work because you're passionate about it you're going to do whatever you can to make it work so I think also to tie into that you got to you got to be passionate about what you're doing.

40:03Brianna Keefe: Whatever your business is, make sure you absolutely love it and do anything to make it successful. That's Brianna. To learn more about Tostique and the franchise opportunities she's building across the country, visit tostique.com. Hey, it's Josh. I wanted to take a hot minute to thank you for listening to today's episode and to ask that if you are getting value from FullConf, please like and subscribe and be sure to leave a review. Those reviews matter and they help other independent owners and operators find the show. Also, if you want to take the stuff that we're talking about in these episodes from idea to execution, head to joshcopal.com.

40:42There you will find a ton of free templates and tools and all of the details on upcoming learning events so you can keep building momentum. I know you're busy and so I don't take your time for granted. Thank you again for listening and I'll see you on the next episode.