I asked Chuck what qualities distinguish preferred colleagues, collaborators and suppliers?
. . . it’s always about relationships. Trust and loyalty. People wanting to sell me something don’t get far without those. One of our strongest relationships is with our service and maintenance people – we’ve stayed with them even when they change jobs and go to a new company. We trust their advice.
I asked what distinguishes his business, and why his customers choose his establishment over competitors?
. . . there are lots of things we do well – a family atmosphere, customers and staff know each other on a first name basis, people come here because they are treated like family.
What do you lose sleep over, what do you worry about?
. . . hardly anything at all
I asked Chuck how he sees Calgary business, from a restaurant operator’s perspective over the next 90 days?
. . .by September I expect business will be back to normal but I fear a number of restaurant operators who were flooded and not adequately insured won’t be able to re-open because they weren’t carrying business interruption insurance which leaves them in no man’s land.
And for the next 5 years?
. . . there are always ‘flavour of the month’ places – trendy for a while, but many don’t last – that seems to be the nature of this business. People love comfortable food. In the pub business, if you don’t have good food, you won’t survive and do well.
As a recovering workaholic, what describes life/work balance for you?
. . . my wife and I are both voracious readers. We like to go out to dinner. I used to like wine tastings, but I suffer too much after! I’m involved with Toastmasters, I’m a freemason – not a service club, more like a fraternity. We help good men become better men. I’m half-retired. I spend 3 hrs/day at the Hose & Hound 5 days a week. I help out. I have great staff, strong managers. I provide directional leadership.
Who or what influenced you most – that has made a difference in your life, or that was a major turning point?
… Alan Bates has been a mentor, employer and partner through much of my restaurant career – a number of different restaurants. I stopped being a workaholic 11 yrs. ago. I got a nose-job after I shattered a plate glass window because I was in such a hurry delivering a catering order. As I was having my wounds tended, all I wanted to know was whether the food was OK. I was a workaholic and, before that, I was proud of it. I’ve learned to delegate and assign things, to be prepared - that things won’t always be done my way, and to hold people accountable. We bought a restaurant in Eau Claire – Whiskey Creek – we bought it right and went on to sell it for half what we paid. That was hubris.
What are you reading?
… The Silent Path: an introduction to meditation, by Michael Eastcott, The Power of Now, by Eckart Tolle and Churchill’s Wizards: the British genius for deception 1914-1945, by Nicholas Rankin.
His ride?
. . . 2008 Toyota Yaris. Currently on the market for something I like better.