[{"_1":2,"_3":-5,"_4":-5},"loaderData",{"_5":6,"_7":8},"actionData","errors","root",{"_136":-5,"_137":-5,"_138":139,"_140":141,"_142":143},"routes/clips.$id.$slug",{"_9":10,"_11":12},"clip",{"_13":14,"_15":16,"_17":-5,"_18":19,"_20":-5,"_21":22,"_23":24,"_25":26,"_27":28,"_29":30,"_31":32,"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_44":45,"_46":-5,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":-5},"canonicalUrl","https://howleaderslead.com/clips/2199/prove-people-wrong","id",2199,"title","Prove people wrong","subtitle","transcript","WEBVTT\n\n1\n00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.670\nA follow-up story to that is when I finally turned 18 and I told my parents,\n\n2\n00:00:05.670 --> 00:00:07.120\nmost notably,\n\n3\n00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:11.160\nmy dad, that I was going to be a chef. Let's see, they were not happy about it.\n\n4\n00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:11.440\nTo the point\n\n5\n00:00:11.440 --> 00:00:15.680\nwhere my father didn't talk to me for many years because he was just so upset,\n\n6\n00:00:15.680 --> 00:00:16.480\nin his words,\n\n7\n00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:20.300\nhe didn't bring me to this country to be a servant. And so, to me, that\n\n8\n00:00:20.300 --> 00:00:22.160\nconviction to be able to\n\n9\n00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:26.390\nsort of fight my way in the kitchen, to be able to sort of convince my parents\n\n10\n00:00:26.390 --> 00:00:27.360\nagainst very,\n\n11\n00:00:27.360 --> 00:00:33.280\nvery daunting expectations, to say, \"You know what? I truly, truly belong here\n\n12\n00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:34.800\nand I want to be here\n\n13\n00:00:34.800 --> 00:00:40.480\nand I'm going to make a success out of myself.\" It's always been in the bottom\n\n14\n00:00:40.480 --> 00:00:41.440\nof my heart the\n\n15\n00:00:41.440 --> 00:00:46.620\nthing that drives me the most because when hardships happen, when times get\n\n16\n00:00:46.620 --> 00:00:47.760\ntough, when it's very\n\n17\n00:00:47.760 --> 00:00:52.150\nstressful, I always kind of think back on those early days when I had to\n\n18\n00:00:52.150 --> 00:00:53.680\nconvince my own parents\n\n19\n00:00:53.680 --> 00:00:57.300\nthat I was going to do this. Nothing is harder than that. Nothing is harder\n\n20\n00:00:57.300 --> 00:00:58.640\nthan looking into the eyes\n\n21\n00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:03.520\nof your parents, seeing disappointment and saying, \"Don't worry, I'm going to\n\n22\n00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:04.720\nprove you wrong.\"\n\n23\n00:01:04.720 --> 00:01:08.950\nAnd so, I think when you have that in your gut, you can sort of accomplish\n\n24\n00:01:08.950 --> 00:01:09.760\nanything.\n","pretty_transcript","start_time",431599,"end_time",499780,"keywords","disappointment, conviction, expectations","slug","prove-people-wrong","origin","cms","mux_playback_id","uvcw2ZkqBQ3HcctTTzlVbUOMqjwnOlKbkqu01Crb5MGs","mux_asset_id","292WYipDrRi7CaKISllJdj0202ZJwuETYYnyhrG59D3VE","leader_id",32,"episode_id",179,"updated_at","2025-03-07T15:43:50.000000Z","meta_title","meta_description","og_image_media_id","web_url","https://www.howleaderslead.com/clips/2199/prove-people-wrong","og_image_url","leader",{"_13":36,"_100":101,"_102":103,"_104":105,"_25":106,"_107":108,"_61":109,"_58":109,"_110":111,"_68":112,"_39":113,"_114":-5,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_115":116,"_88":117,"_44":118,"_119":120,"_121":122,"_46":-5,"_123":124,"_125":126,"_92":127,"_51":-5},"episode",{"_13":38,"_15":52,"_27":53,"_17":-5,"_54":55,"_18":56,"_20":57,"_58":59,"_60":-5,"_61":59,"_62":-5,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":-5,"_68":-5,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":-5,"_35":36,"_39":74,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_75":76,"_77":78,"_79":80,"_81":82,"_83":-5,"_84":-5,"_85":86,"_87":-5,"_88":-5,"_46":-5,"_89":90,"_91":-5,"_92":-5,"_51":-5},"og_image_media","Show others they matter","show-others-they-matter","summary","

Well, it’s Thanksgiving, and since we’re gathering together this week for quality time and quality food, it’s the perfect chance for us to learn some leadership lessons from my favorite chef, Edward Lee.

You know, when people come to visit us here in Louisville and they ask where they should eat, I always recommend Edward Lee’s restaurant 620 Magnolia. His food is incredible and I gotta say, his carrot cake is absolutely out of this world. On top of being a successful restaurateur, he’s also competed on Top Chef, written two wonderful books, and has even been nominated for an Emmy!

Really, he’s built a thriving career in an industry that can be pretty cutthroat – and he’s done it by showing people how much they matter. When he prepares a dish, when he’s talking to his staff, he treats every single person as an individual. People matter, and when you can show YOUR people that they matter to you, well, that’s the hallmark of a great leader. Keep listening to see how it’s done.

So here is my conversation with my good friend – and soon to be yours – Edward Lee.

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","WEBVTT\n\n1\n00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.540\nWelcome to Howl Leaders Lead, where every week you get to listen in while I\n\n2\n00:00:07.540 --> 00:00:08.380\ninterview some\n\n3\n00:00:08.380 --> 00:00:10.460\nof the very best leaders in the world.\n\n4\n00:00:10.460 --> 00:00:14.000\nI break down the key learning so that by the end of the episode, you'll have\n\n5\n00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:14.660\nsomething\n\n6\n00:00:14.660 --> 00:00:18.820\nsimple that you can apply as you develop into a better leader.\n\n7\n00:00:18.820 --> 00:00:21.300\nThat's what this podcast is all about.\n\n8\n00:00:21.300 --> 00:00:23.700\nWell, it's Thanksgiving time.\n\n9\n00:00:23.700 --> 00:00:25.220\nIt's time to eat a lot.\n\n10\n00:00:25.220 --> 00:00:30.150\nAnd since we're gathering together this week for quality time and quality food,\n\n11\n00:00:30.150 --> 00:00:30.460\nit's the\n\n12\n00:00:30.460 --> 00:00:36.210\nperfect chance for us to learn some leadership lessons from my favorite chef,\n\n13\n00:00:36.210 --> 00:00:37.340\nEdward Lee.\n\n14\n00:00:37.340 --> 00:00:41.280\nWhen people come to visit us here in Louisville and they ask where they should\n\n15\n00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:42.100\ngo eat, I always\n\n16\n00:00:42.100 --> 00:00:46.060\nrecommend Edward Lee's restaurant, Six Ten Magnolia.\n\n17\n00:00:46.060 --> 00:00:47.860\nHis food is incredible.\n\n18\n00:00:47.860 --> 00:00:53.860\nAnd I got to say, his carrot cake is absolutely out of this world.\n\n19\n00:00:53.860 --> 00:00:59.060\nOn top of being a successful restaurateur, he's also competed on Top Chef,\n\n20\n00:00:59.060 --> 00:00:59.940\nwritten two\n\n21\n00:00:59.940 --> 00:01:05.340\nreally fun and wonderful books, and has even been nominated for an Emmy.\n\n22\n00:01:05.340 --> 00:01:10.760\nThis guy has built a thriving career in an industry that can be pretty much cut\n\n23\n00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:11.700\nthroat.\n\n24\n00:01:11.700 --> 00:01:15.540\nAnd he's done it by showing people how much they matter.\n\n25\n00:01:15.540 --> 00:01:19.600\nWhen he prepares a dish, when he's talking to his staff, he treats every single\n\n26\n00:01:19.600 --> 00:01:20.060\nperson\n\n27\n00:01:20.060 --> 00:01:22.260\nas an individual.\n\n28\n00:01:22.260 --> 00:01:26.900\nPeople matter and when you could show your people that they matter to you, well\n\n29\n00:01:26.900 --> 00:01:27.340\n, that's\n\n30\n00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:29.740\nthe hallmark of a great leader.\n\n31\n00:01:29.740 --> 00:01:32.020\nKeep listening to see how it's done.\n\n32\n00:01:32.020 --> 00:01:42.900\nSo here's my conversation with my good friend and soon to be yours, Edward Lee.\n\n33\n00:01:42.900 --> 00:01:45.380\nYou know, Edward, I always like to go back to the beginning.\n\n34\n00:01:45.380 --> 00:01:47.420\nYou know, tell us about your upbringing.\n\n35\n00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:53.620\nSo my parents came over to America in 1971 from South Korea.\n\n36\n00:01:53.620 --> 00:01:55.660\nYou know, they did something interesting.\n\n37\n00:01:55.660 --> 00:01:59.560\nBack then, all the Koreans were moving to a neighborhood in Queens called Fl\n\n38\n00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:00.180\nushing.\n\n39\n00:02:00.180 --> 00:02:01.780\nIt was sort of the Korean neighborhood.\n\n40\n00:02:01.780 --> 00:02:04.420\nAnd they decided that they weren't going to do that.\n\n41\n00:02:04.420 --> 00:02:10.220\nWe were going to move to Kannarsi, Brooklyn, which was back then the pits.\n\n42\n00:02:10.220 --> 00:02:14.140\nBut they really wanted me to be American.\n\n43\n00:02:14.140 --> 00:02:15.380\nLike it was their dream.\n\n44\n00:02:15.380 --> 00:02:19.830\nThey really wanted me to sort of see the world and be with different cultural\n\n45\n00:02:19.830 --> 00:02:20.820\ngroups and sort\n\n46\n00:02:20.820 --> 00:02:22.140\nof embrace being in America.\n\n47\n00:02:22.140 --> 00:02:25.400\nSo we moved to a really strange neighborhood and it was all full of all kinds\n\n48\n00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:26.180\nof immigrants,\n\n49\n00:02:26.180 --> 00:02:30.180\nlike Jewish people in Polish and Italians and Jamaicans and Indians.\n\n50\n00:02:30.180 --> 00:02:34.070\nAnd it was a rough neighborhood, but it was also a really interesting\n\n51\n00:02:34.070 --> 00:02:34.940\nupbringing.\n\n52\n00:02:34.940 --> 00:02:39.170\nAnd you know, looking back on now, a lot of my sort of culinary roots came from\n\n53\n00:02:39.170 --> 00:02:39.460\nthis\n\n54\n00:02:39.460 --> 00:02:42.460\nweird sort of immigrant enclave living in this working class immigrant\n\n55\n00:02:42.460 --> 00:02:43.180\nneighborhood,\n\n56\n00:02:43.180 --> 00:02:46.500\nwhere I was exposed to so many different people at a young age.\n\n57\n00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:49.460\nWhen was your first restaurant job and what did you learn from it?\n\n58\n00:02:49.460 --> 00:02:50.980\nSo this is an interesting story.\n\n59\n00:02:50.980 --> 00:02:54.060\nAnd I actually don't know if I've ever told this in public.\n\n60\n00:02:54.060 --> 00:03:00.060\nMy first restaurant job was at Trump Tower in New York City.\n\n61\n00:03:00.060 --> 00:03:06.420\nI was 15 and I wanted nothing more than to work at a fancy restaurant.\n\n62\n00:03:06.420 --> 00:03:09.780\nAnd back then in New York City, I mean, you know, there were restaurants and\n\n63\n00:03:09.780 --> 00:03:10.300\nthere was\n\n64\n00:03:10.300 --> 00:03:11.740\nTrump Tower.\n\n65\n00:03:11.740 --> 00:03:13.060\nAnd so I go to this place.\n\n66\n00:03:13.060 --> 00:03:16.330\nThere was a little restaurant called Terrace Five and it was on the fifth floor\n\n67\n00:03:16.330 --> 00:03:16.380\n.\n\n68\n00:03:16.380 --> 00:03:19.460\nSo I go to this place and I apply for a job.\n\n69\n00:03:19.460 --> 00:03:22.840\nAnd the manager loved me, but then he looked at my application and he said, \"Oh\n\n70\n00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:23.180\n, you're\n\n71\n00:03:23.180 --> 00:03:24.180\nonly 15.\n\n72\n00:03:24.180 --> 00:03:25.180\nI can't hire you.\"\n\n73\n00:03:25.180 --> 00:03:26.180\nAnd I said, \"Okay.\"\n\n74\n00:03:26.180 --> 00:03:34.030\nSo I go home and that Friday, I get to call it like 4 p.m. and it's the manager\n\n75\n00:03:34.030 --> 00:03:34.180\n.\n\n76\n00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:35.620\nAnd you know, back then we'd have cell phones.\n\n77\n00:03:35.620 --> 00:03:38.500\nSo it was like in my house or my apartment.\n\n78\n00:03:38.500 --> 00:03:42.460\nAnd he said, \"Listen, the busboy that we hired didn't show up.\n\n79\n00:03:42.460 --> 00:03:47.200\nIf you can be here in a half an hour, I will, you know, scratch out your age\n\n80\n00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:47.980\nand you got\n\n81\n00:03:47.980 --> 00:03:48.980\nthe job.\"\n\n82\n00:03:48.980 --> 00:03:53.860\nSo I ran over there literally and I got the job.\n\n83\n00:03:53.860 --> 00:03:58.140\nAnd that was my first job was being a busboy at a little restaurant in Trump\n\n84\n00:03:58.140 --> 00:03:58.780\nTower.\n\n85\n00:03:58.780 --> 00:04:01.460\nAnd I did it for about four months.\n\n86\n00:04:01.460 --> 00:04:04.500\nDid you learn then that you liked the restaurant business?\n\n87\n00:04:04.500 --> 00:04:06.620\nYou obviously weren't doing the food at that point.\n\n88\n00:04:06.620 --> 00:04:09.620\nWe were a 15 year old kid to be working in a restaurant.\n\n89\n00:04:09.620 --> 00:04:13.520\nAnd it was a fancy restaurant and there were high inclines and the waiters were\n\n90\n00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:14.300\nall buttoned\n\n91\n00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:18.260\nup and I absolutely loved every minute of it.\n\n92\n00:04:18.260 --> 00:04:24.780\nI was just surrounded by people much older than me, much cooler than me.\n\n93\n00:04:24.780 --> 00:04:31.020\nAnd on the second day of my job, Michelle Feiper came in for lunch.\n\n94\n00:04:31.020 --> 00:04:35.890\nShe ordered a cappuccino and the manager ordered me to go make a cappuccino,\n\n95\n00:04:35.890 --> 00:04:36.460\nwhich I\n\n96\n00:04:36.460 --> 00:04:37.460\nhad never done before.\n\n97\n00:04:37.460 --> 00:04:41.240\nSo I think I actually burned my thumb spilling the hot milk and made a cappucc\n\n98\n00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:41.660\nino.\n\n99\n00:04:41.660 --> 00:04:47.110\nI delivered it to the table and she looked up at me and smiled and said, \"Thank\n\n100\n00:04:47.110 --> 00:04:47.580\nyou.\"\n\n101\n00:04:47.580 --> 00:04:52.140\nAnd I remember turning around and going, \"This is the coolest job in the world\n\n102\n00:04:52.140 --> 00:04:52.500\n.\"\n\n103\n00:04:52.500 --> 00:04:54.500\nI can see why.\n\n104\n00:04:54.500 --> 00:04:55.900\nThat's a good story.\n\n105\n00:04:55.900 --> 00:04:59.880\nDo you have another story from your childhood that shaped you as a person and\n\n106\n00:04:59.880 --> 00:05:00.620\neventually\n\n107\n00:05:00.620 --> 00:05:01.900\nas a chef?\n\n108\n00:05:01.900 --> 00:05:06.460\nSo we were very humble.\n\n109\n00:05:06.460 --> 00:05:09.500\nI came from humble upbringings and both my parents worked.\n\n110\n00:05:09.500 --> 00:05:13.380\nThey both worked full time jobs, mostly in the garment business.\n\n111\n00:05:13.380 --> 00:05:15.260\nAnd so I didn't see my parents very much.\n\n112\n00:05:15.260 --> 00:05:19.820\nI mean, they pretty much left before Dawn and they came home about 10 p.m.\n\n113\n00:05:19.820 --> 00:05:20.500\nevery night.\n\n114\n00:05:20.500 --> 00:05:23.460\nSo I spent a lot of time with my grandmother.\n\n115\n00:05:23.460 --> 00:05:29.800\nShe was a widow and she basically spent most of her days cooking and it's just\n\n116\n00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:30.940\ndoing domestic\n\n117\n00:05:30.940 --> 00:05:32.140\nwork.\n\n118\n00:05:32.140 --> 00:05:36.300\nAnd I was always fascinated by the things she did in the kitchen.\n\n119\n00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:39.940\nI didn't know, but she would make tea from scratch.\n\n120\n00:05:39.940 --> 00:05:41.620\nShe would make miso from scratch.\n\n121\n00:05:41.620 --> 00:05:42.860\nShe would make all these sauces.\n\n122\n00:05:42.860 --> 00:05:49.360\nShe would ferment kimchi and marinade crabs and do all these things with a very\n\n123\n00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:49.940\nsmall\n\n124\n00:05:49.940 --> 00:05:55.220\nbudget going to the local ethnic market and just make all these things.\n\n125\n00:05:55.220 --> 00:05:57.980\nAnd I remember being fascinated.\n\n126\n00:05:57.980 --> 00:06:01.660\nAnd I remember trying to spend time with her in the kitchen.\n\n127\n00:06:01.660 --> 00:06:07.100\nWhen you come from a traditional Korean household, cooking is considered women\n\n128\n00:06:07.100 --> 00:06:08.100\n's work and I\n\n129\n00:06:08.100 --> 00:06:09.140\nwas the only son.\n\n130\n00:06:09.140 --> 00:06:11.380\nSo I was supposed to do other things.\n\n131\n00:06:11.380 --> 00:06:12.380\nAnd I remember her.\n\n132\n00:06:12.380 --> 00:06:16.030\nShe would always kick me out of the kitchen and tell me to go outside and play\n\n133\n00:06:16.030 --> 00:06:16.460\nsports\n\n134\n00:06:16.460 --> 00:06:17.460\nor do whatever.\n\n135\n00:06:17.460 --> 00:06:20.020\nAnd she was like, you don't belong in the kitchen.\n\n136\n00:06:20.020 --> 00:06:24.180\nI remember it was the first time that I had to fight my way in the kitchen.\n\n137\n00:06:24.180 --> 00:06:27.220\nAnd I told her I don't remember how old I was.\n\n138\n00:06:27.220 --> 00:06:30.620\nAnd I told my grandmother, I said, I live here too.\n\n139\n00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:34.100\nAnd you can't kick me out of the kitchen.\n\n140\n00:06:34.100 --> 00:06:37.220\nAnd so she finally relented.\n\n141\n00:06:37.220 --> 00:06:40.380\nAnd she would let me just hang out with her and do things and give me little\n\n142\n00:06:40.380 --> 00:06:42.020\njobs to do.\n\n143\n00:06:42.020 --> 00:06:44.340\nBut she would never explain it to me.\n\n144\n00:06:44.340 --> 00:06:46.980\nShe just would silently cook.\n\n145\n00:06:46.980 --> 00:06:48.540\nAnd she would let me hang out and watch her.\n\n146\n00:06:48.540 --> 00:06:50.100\nBut she would never explain what she was doing.\n\n147\n00:06:50.100 --> 00:06:53.700\nSo I kind of had to figure out on my own what it was.\n\n148\n00:06:53.700 --> 00:06:58.500\nAnd I wasn't cooking back then, but I truly, truly believe that was the\n\n149\n00:06:58.500 --> 00:06:59.540\nbeginning of my\n\n150\n00:06:59.540 --> 00:07:02.140\nfascination with the kitchen.\n\n151\n00:07:02.140 --> 00:07:06.210\nYou obviously at that young age, you had a real strong courage of conviction\n\n152\n00:07:06.210 --> 00:07:07.460\nand independence.\n\n153\n00:07:07.460 --> 00:07:09.980\nHow do you think that's really served you in your career?\n\n154\n00:07:09.980 --> 00:07:15.890\nA follow up story to that is when I finally turned 18 and I told my parents,\n\n155\n00:07:15.890 --> 00:07:16.980\nmost notably\n\n156\n00:07:16.980 --> 00:07:19.060\nmy dad, that I was going to be a chef.\n\n157\n00:07:19.060 --> 00:07:21.100\nLet's see, they were not happy about it.\n\n158\n00:07:21.100 --> 00:07:24.150\nTo the point where my father didn't talk to me for many years because he was\n\n159\n00:07:24.150 --> 00:07:24.540\njust so\n\n160\n00:07:24.540 --> 00:07:29.100\nupset in his words, he didn't bring me to this country to be a servant.\n\n161\n00:07:29.100 --> 00:07:33.700\nAnd so to me, that conviction to be able to sort of fight my way in the kitchen\n\n162\n00:07:33.700 --> 00:07:34.220\n, to be\n\n163\n00:07:34.220 --> 00:07:39.680\nable to sort of convince my parents against very, very daunting expectations,\n\n164\n00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:40.300\nto say,\n\n165\n00:07:40.300 --> 00:07:45.130\nyou know what, I truly, truly belong here and I want to be here and I'm going\n\n166\n00:07:45.130 --> 00:07:45.700\nto make\n\n167\n00:07:45.700 --> 00:07:47.700\na success out of myself.\n\n168\n00:07:47.700 --> 00:07:53.600\nIt's always been in the bottom of my heart the thing that drives me the most\n\n169\n00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:54.460\nbecause\n\n170\n00:07:54.460 --> 00:07:59.170\nwhen hardships happen, when times get tough, when it's very stressful, I always\n\n171\n00:07:59.170 --> 00:07:59.660\nkind of\n\n172\n00:07:59.660 --> 00:08:03.760\nthink back on those early days when I had to convince my own parents that I was\n\n173\n00:08:03.760 --> 00:08:04.140\ngoing\n\n174\n00:08:04.140 --> 00:08:05.340\nto do this.\n\n175\n00:08:05.340 --> 00:08:06.860\nNothing is harder than that.\n\n176\n00:08:06.860 --> 00:08:11.020\nNothing is harder than looking into the eyes of your parents, seeing\n\n177\n00:08:11.020 --> 00:08:12.260\ndisappointment and\n\n178\n00:08:12.260 --> 00:08:15.460\nsaying, \"Don't worry, I'm going to prove you wrong.\"\n\n179\n00:08:15.460 --> 00:08:19.330\nAnd so when I think when you have that in your gut, you can sort of accomplish\n\n180\n00:08:19.330 --> 00:08:20.100\nanything.\n\n181\n00:08:20.100 --> 00:08:25.020\nYou know, what advice do you give people on how to really know what's in their\n\n182\n00:08:25.020 --> 00:08:25.100\nheart,\n\n183\n00:08:25.100 --> 00:08:26.820\nlet alone follow?\n\n184\n00:08:26.820 --> 00:08:30.620\nTo me, it's about true passion.\n\n185\n00:08:30.620 --> 00:08:37.800\nWhen I spend, even today, if I spend 12, 14 hours in a kitchen, it doesn't feel\n\n186\n00:08:37.800 --> 00:08:38.220\nlike\n\n187\n00:08:38.220 --> 00:08:39.220\nwork.\n\n188\n00:08:39.220 --> 00:08:41.180\nIt doesn't feel like hardship.\n\n189\n00:08:41.180 --> 00:08:45.540\nIn my younger days, anyway, when I was cooking all the time, I missed lots of\n\n190\n00:08:45.540 --> 00:08:46.820\nfriends, outings,\n\n191\n00:08:46.820 --> 00:08:51.100\nI missed anniversaries, I missed birthday parties, I missed New Year's Eve\n\n192\n00:08:51.100 --> 00:08:52.220\ncelebrations,\n\n193\n00:08:52.220 --> 00:08:55.020\nand I never felt like I was missing out on anything.\n\n194\n00:08:55.020 --> 00:09:02.830\nAnd I think when you find something that truly moves you and truly makes the\n\n195\n00:09:02.830 --> 00:09:04.940\ntime pass without\n\n196\n00:09:04.940 --> 00:09:07.580\nany kind of regrets, that's it.\n\n197\n00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:11.100\nYou're like Warren Buffett in the sense that he says he tap dances to work.\n\n198\n00:09:11.100 --> 00:09:13.260\nIt sounds like he tap dances to work all the time.\n\n199\n00:09:13.260 --> 00:09:16.100\nI still wake up every morning and I can't wait to get to work.\n\n200\n00:09:16.100 --> 00:09:17.700\nNow, did you go on to college or?\n\n201\n00:09:17.700 --> 00:09:18.700\nI did.\n\n202\n00:09:18.700 --> 00:09:23.080\nI knew very early on that I wanted to do this, but I went to college really to\n\n203\n00:09:23.080 --> 00:09:23.860\nmake my parents\n\n204\n00:09:23.860 --> 00:09:26.380\nhappy because that was the deal we made.\n\n205\n00:09:26.380 --> 00:09:29.100\nThey said, \"You're first generation immigrant.\n\n206\n00:09:29.100 --> 00:09:31.860\nYou're going to graduate from an American college.\"\n\n207\n00:09:31.860 --> 00:09:37.260\nSo I went to NYU, which was interesting because I said, \"Listen.\n\n208\n00:09:37.260 --> 00:09:41.370\nI knew that I didn't need a college degree to do what I wanted to do because I\n\n209\n00:09:41.370 --> 00:09:41.860\nwanted\n\n210\n00:09:41.860 --> 00:09:42.860\nto cook.\"\n\n211\n00:09:42.860 --> 00:09:46.930\nSo I decided that if I'm going to be here anyway, I'm just going to actually\n\n212\n00:09:46.930 --> 00:09:47.380\nmajor in\n\n213\n00:09:47.380 --> 00:09:49.100\nwhat I like to do.\n\n214\n00:09:49.100 --> 00:09:50.380\nAnd I love to read.\n\n215\n00:09:50.380 --> 00:09:55.060\nSo I just became a lit major, which they weren't happy with again.\n\n216\n00:09:55.060 --> 00:09:57.300\nBut I said, \"You know, I'm doing this for you guys.\n\n217\n00:09:57.300 --> 00:09:58.300\nI'm going to be a lit major.\n\n218\n00:09:58.300 --> 00:09:59.460\nI'm going to read some great books.\"\n\n219\n00:09:59.460 --> 00:10:04.300\nAnd as soon as I graduate college, I'm going to get a job in a restaurant.\n\n220\n00:10:04.300 --> 00:10:06.700\nBut interestingly enough, I actually really appreciate it.\n\n221\n00:10:06.700 --> 00:10:08.140\nI had a great education.\n\n222\n00:10:08.140 --> 00:10:10.180\nI really enjoyed my college days.\n\n223\n00:10:10.180 --> 00:10:14.980\nAnd I think being a lit major for four years has served me well in many other\n\n224\n00:10:14.980 --> 00:10:15.540\nways.\n\n225\n00:10:15.540 --> 00:10:19.700\nNow you now own some very acclaimed restaurants.\n\n226\n00:10:19.700 --> 00:10:23.060\nWhen did you first tell older you when you first owned your first restaurant?\n\n227\n00:10:23.060 --> 00:10:28.460\nSo I was in New York City and I was not planning to open a restaurant.\n\n228\n00:10:28.460 --> 00:10:29.460\nI graduated college.\n\n229\n00:10:29.460 --> 00:10:33.620\nI was working at a few kitchens, some really nice kitchens in New York City.\n\n230\n00:10:33.620 --> 00:10:36.100\nAnd I never went to culinary school.\n\n231\n00:10:36.100 --> 00:10:40.510\nSo I had this hair-brained idea, which was completely the opposite of what\n\n232\n00:10:40.510 --> 00:10:41.380\nnormal people\n\n233\n00:10:41.380 --> 00:10:42.380\ndo.\n\n234\n00:10:42.380 --> 00:10:47.250\nI said, \"What if I opened up a little joint, not a restaurant, but like a\n\n235\n00:10:47.250 --> 00:10:48.140\nlittle sort\n\n236\n00:10:48.140 --> 00:10:50.300\nof barbecue joint?\n\n237\n00:10:50.300 --> 00:10:54.880\nAnd I would make money and then I would use that money to enroll in culinary\n\n238\n00:10:54.880 --> 00:10:55.700\nschool.\"\n\n239\n00:10:55.700 --> 00:10:56.700\nWhich is not what you do.\n\n240\n00:10:56.700 --> 00:11:00.100\nYou've got to come to school first and you open a restaurant.\n\n241\n00:11:00.100 --> 00:11:06.340\nSo I was walking through Chinatown in Manhattan and I just came upon this sign\n\n242\n00:11:06.340 --> 00:11:07.220\nand it said\n\n243\n00:11:07.220 --> 00:11:10.460\n\"forerent call owner.\"\n\n244\n00:11:10.460 --> 00:11:11.860\nAnd it wasn't a real estate sign.\n\n245\n00:11:11.860 --> 00:11:14.820\nIt was just like a little handwritten sign that said \"forerent call owner.\"\n\n246\n00:11:14.820 --> 00:11:19.360\nAnd I don't know why, but I just, you know, I called him and turned out the\n\n247\n00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:19.980\nlease was\n\n248\n00:11:19.980 --> 00:11:20.980\ngreat.\n\n249\n00:11:20.980 --> 00:11:24.850\nIt was an old Chinese restaurant that had gone out of business and the rent was\n\n250\n00:11:24.850 --> 00:11:25.580\nso cheap.\n\n251\n00:11:25.580 --> 00:11:28.180\nAnd I don't know why, but I said, \"Sure, I'll do it.\"\n\n252\n00:11:28.180 --> 00:11:30.820\nI had no money.\n\n253\n00:11:30.820 --> 00:11:35.650\nAnd I took out credit card debt and I got a little bit of a SBA loan and I\n\n254\n00:11:35.650 --> 00:11:36.780\nborrowed money\n\n255\n00:11:36.780 --> 00:11:39.220\nfrom friends and neighbors and anyone I could ask.\n\n256\n00:11:39.220 --> 00:11:43.660\nA good friend of mine was a carpenter and he helped me build it all.\n\n257\n00:11:43.660 --> 00:11:44.660\nI was 25.\n\n258\n00:11:44.660 --> 00:11:51.170\nI opened my first restaurant for less than $180,000 in downtown New York City,\n\n259\n00:11:51.170 --> 00:11:51.660\nwhich\n\n260\n00:11:51.660 --> 00:11:53.060\nis unheard of.\n\n261\n00:11:53.060 --> 00:11:55.700\nI tell that story and people don't believe me.\n\n262\n00:11:55.700 --> 00:11:59.870\nIt became really, really successful and we got a review on the front page of\n\n263\n00:11:59.870 --> 00:12:00.340\nthe New\n\n264\n00:12:00.340 --> 00:12:02.300\nYork Times within six months.\n\n265\n00:12:02.300 --> 00:12:03.300\nWhat was your concept?\n\n266\n00:12:03.300 --> 00:12:05.300\nYou said you wanted to have a joint, but what kind of thing did you say?\n\n267\n00:12:05.300 --> 00:12:11.810\nIt was kind of like a weird fusion Korean barbecue joint, but that served like\n\n268\n00:12:11.810 --> 00:12:12.300\ngood\n\n269\n00:12:12.300 --> 00:12:16.290\ndrinks, you know, a little bit of American food, a little bit of Korean food,\n\n270\n00:12:16.290 --> 00:12:16.740\nall small\n\n271\n00:12:16.740 --> 00:12:17.740\nbites.\n\n272\n00:12:17.740 --> 00:12:21.500\nAnd I really did not know what I was doing at all.\n\n273\n00:12:21.500 --> 00:12:22.700\nBut I'm thankful I did that.\n\n274\n00:12:22.700 --> 00:12:27.310\nI cut my teeth in the business doing that and I realized that maybe I didn't\n\n275\n00:12:27.310 --> 00:12:28.180\nknow everything\n\n276\n00:12:28.180 --> 00:12:32.740\nabout food, but I sure well learned how to do plumbing.\n\n277\n00:12:32.740 --> 00:12:37.980\nI learned how to, you know, lead a team of 30 people.\n\n278\n00:12:37.980 --> 00:12:43.400\nI learned how to fix light bulbs and fix bathrooms and paint walls and anything\n\n279\n00:12:43.400 --> 00:12:43.780\nthat\n\n280\n00:12:43.780 --> 00:12:44.940\nI had no money.\n\n281\n00:12:44.940 --> 00:12:48.140\nSo anything that needed to be done, I just did it.\n\n282\n00:12:48.140 --> 00:12:49.820\nYou learn the business from the ground.\n\n283\n00:12:49.820 --> 00:12:55.140\nI learned everything from going to the flower market on Sundays at 4 p.m.\n\n284\n00:12:55.140 --> 00:12:55.500\nbecause that\n\n285\n00:12:55.500 --> 00:12:58.140\nwas when they were throwing away all their flowers and you can get them for\n\n286\n00:12:58.140 --> 00:12:59.420\nnext to nothing\n\n287\n00:12:59.420 --> 00:13:04.640\nto go into Chinatown and haggling on the fish, things that they don't teach in\n\n288\n00:13:04.640 --> 00:13:05.260\ncooking\n\n289\n00:13:05.260 --> 00:13:06.260\nschool.\n\n290\n00:13:06.260 --> 00:13:09.990\nAnd so, you know, five years into that, when I actually did make the money, I\n\n291\n00:13:09.990 --> 00:13:10.540\nrealized\n\n292\n00:13:10.540 --> 00:13:13.930\nI didn't need to go to cooking school because I sort of put my own self through\n\n293\n00:13:13.930 --> 00:13:14.500\ncooking school\n\n294\n00:13:14.500 --> 00:13:15.860\nwith this little restaurant.\n\n295\n00:13:15.860 --> 00:13:18.340\nSo I looked back at those days pretty fondly.\n\n296\n00:13:18.340 --> 00:13:21.200\nSo now you're in the restaurant business for real and, you know, what do you\n\n297\n00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:21.780\nfind the\n\n298\n00:13:21.780 --> 00:13:25.500\nmost challenging aspect of leading your restaurant business?\n\n299\n00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:30.810\nYou're only as good as the people that you hire and there's no way that I can\n\n300\n00:13:30.810 --> 00:13:31.340\nexcel and\n\n301\n00:13:31.340 --> 00:13:37.150\nthere's no way that I can progress and expand without having all the people on\n\n302\n00:13:37.150 --> 00:13:38.180\nmy team believe\n\n303\n00:13:38.180 --> 00:13:39.540\nin what we do.\n\n304\n00:13:39.540 --> 00:13:41.500\nAnd it's hard.\n\n305\n00:13:41.500 --> 00:13:44.700\nMy head chefs, my managers, they all believe in it.\n\n306\n00:13:44.700 --> 00:13:50.500\nYou know, sometimes the young student that's a waitress just wants a job.\n\n307\n00:13:50.500 --> 00:13:52.540\nYou know, this is not her career.\n\n308\n00:13:52.540 --> 00:13:56.280\nShe just wants to come in and make some money and fund whatever else she's\n\n309\n00:13:56.280 --> 00:13:57.220\ndoing in life.\n\n310\n00:13:57.220 --> 00:13:58.220\nAnd that's fine too.\n\n311\n00:13:58.220 --> 00:13:59.860\nWe rely on those people.\n\n312\n00:13:59.860 --> 00:14:03.700\nBut they don't always believe in the dream the way I do.\n\n313\n00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:07.520\nThey don't always understand the struggles that I've gone through and the\n\n314\n00:14:07.520 --> 00:14:08.300\npassion that\n\n315\n00:14:08.300 --> 00:14:09.300\nI have.\n\n316\n00:14:09.300 --> 00:14:13.800\nAnd to be able to convince every single person from the head chef down to the\n\n317\n00:14:13.800 --> 00:14:14.620\ndishwasher\n\n318\n00:14:14.620 --> 00:14:17.140\nthat we have a dream, we have a purpose.\n\n319\n00:14:17.140 --> 00:14:18.700\nWe're here for a reason.\n\n320\n00:14:18.700 --> 00:14:22.020\nAnd if we all work together, things go well.\n\n321\n00:14:22.020 --> 00:14:23.580\nIf we don't, things fall apart.\n\n322\n00:14:23.580 --> 00:14:25.220\nHow do you cast that vision Edward?\n\n323\n00:14:25.220 --> 00:14:28.580\nI try and lead by example.\n\n324\n00:14:28.580 --> 00:14:29.580\nI go in there.\n\n325\n00:14:29.580 --> 00:14:31.860\nI'm every single day.\n\n326\n00:14:31.860 --> 00:14:32.860\nI go to work.\n\n327\n00:14:32.860 --> 00:14:37.340\nI try to show people that I'm never above doing their jobs.\n\n328\n00:14:37.340 --> 00:14:39.740\nAnd I try and explain to people like I've done every job in the restaurant\n\n329\n00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:40.260\nbusiness.\n\n330\n00:14:40.260 --> 00:14:41.340\nI've washed dishes.\n\n331\n00:14:41.340 --> 00:14:42.620\nI have done plumbing.\n\n332\n00:14:42.620 --> 00:14:44.260\nI have painted walls.\n\n333\n00:14:44.260 --> 00:14:45.260\nAnd I go in there.\n\n334\n00:14:45.260 --> 00:14:48.380\nAnd if I see a problem, I go in there and I tackle it.\n\n335\n00:14:48.380 --> 00:14:51.860\nI am not above washing dishes even today.\n\n336\n00:14:51.860 --> 00:14:56.050\nIf a customer now is at my restaurant last night and a customer need water, the\n\n337\n00:14:56.050 --> 00:14:56.620\nwaitresses\n\n338\n00:14:56.620 --> 00:14:57.620\nwere busy.\n\n339\n00:14:57.620 --> 00:15:01.100\nI went and I grabbed the pitcher of water and I fill their water.\n\n340\n00:15:01.100 --> 00:15:05.320\nAnd I hope that when they see that, they realize that this thing for me is not\n\n341\n00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:05.660\njust\n\n342\n00:15:05.660 --> 00:15:06.660\na business.\n\n343\n00:15:06.660 --> 00:15:08.820\nIt's not just to make money.\n\n344\n00:15:08.820 --> 00:15:14.180\nI truly believe in taking care of people, taking care of my customers.\n\n345\n00:15:14.180 --> 00:15:19.210\nI want every single person to feel like they're coming into my home and they\n\n346\n00:15:19.210 --> 00:15:19.620\nare.\n\n347\n00:15:19.620 --> 00:15:23.790\nAnd I think when people see that about me, when they truly believe that I care,\n\n348\n00:15:23.790 --> 00:15:24.140\nI care\n\n349\n00:15:24.140 --> 00:15:27.740\nabout my restaurant family is a true family for me.\n\n350\n00:15:27.740 --> 00:15:30.900\nI have my other family, but they are also a true family.\n\n351\n00:15:30.900 --> 00:15:36.890\nAnd it gets more and more difficult as we expand and as with each restaurant we\n\n352\n00:15:36.890 --> 00:15:37.260\nadd\n\n353\n00:15:37.260 --> 00:15:41.020\non, then we add another 70-80 people to a staff.\n\n354\n00:15:41.020 --> 00:15:44.630\nWhat are the soft skills you have to develop to be a really good leader in your\n\n355\n00:15:44.630 --> 00:15:45.180\nmind?\n\n356\n00:15:45.180 --> 00:15:50.460\nI think it's being able to, and as impossible as it is, is to look at every\n\n357\n00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:51.620\nsingle person\n\n358\n00:15:51.620 --> 00:15:52.620\nindividually.\n\n359\n00:15:52.620 --> 00:15:53.940\nYou know, we have policies.\n\n360\n00:15:53.940 --> 00:15:59.810\nWe have lists of things that we have to do, but it's to look at every single\n\n361\n00:15:59.810 --> 00:16:00.740\nperson as\n\n362\n00:16:00.740 --> 00:16:04.940\na human being and as an individual and not just a worker.\n\n363\n00:16:04.940 --> 00:16:11.640\nAnd I think once people feel like they're just a number or just a worker or\n\n364\n00:16:11.640 --> 00:16:13.100\njust a product,\n\n365\n00:16:13.100 --> 00:16:14.620\nthey lose the passion.\n\n366\n00:16:14.620 --> 00:16:17.580\nI try and get into people's lives.\n\n367\n00:16:17.580 --> 00:16:19.820\nI try and sort of learn something about them personally.\n\n368\n00:16:19.820 --> 00:16:24.070\nI try and ask them something about their kid, about what they did on Sunday, on\n\n369\n00:16:24.070 --> 00:16:24.660\ntheir day\n\n370\n00:16:24.660 --> 00:16:25.660\noff.\n\n371\n00:16:25.660 --> 00:16:28.620\nAnd I try and really help them in a way.\n\n372\n00:16:28.620 --> 00:16:32.480\nAnd I try and sort of understand that we spend a lot of time together in the\n\n373\n00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:33.500\nrestaurants.\n\n374\n00:16:33.500 --> 00:16:37.740\nThese people work six days a week and they give a lot to my group.\n\n375\n00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:41.990\nAnd so while we are here in the restaurant, I try and make life easy for them\n\n376\n00:16:41.990 --> 00:16:42.660\nand fun.\n\n377\n00:16:42.660 --> 00:16:45.380\nYou know, Edward, I've studied a lot of great companies, a lot of great leaders\n\n378\n00:16:45.380 --> 00:16:45.820\n, but every\n\n379\n00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:49.460\nsuccessful business creates a culture or work environment where everybody on\n\n380\n00:16:49.460 --> 00:16:49.900\nthe team\n\n381\n00:16:49.900 --> 00:16:51.500\nknows that they count.\n\n382\n00:16:51.500 --> 00:16:53.340\nThat sounds like what you really believe in.\n\n383\n00:16:53.340 --> 00:16:54.340\nYeah.\n\n384\n00:16:54.340 --> 00:16:55.340\nYeah.\n\n385\n00:16:55.340 --> 00:16:59.750\nAnd you mentioned, so I'm sure the stereotypical expectation is for you to\n\n386\n00:16:59.750 --> 00:17:00.980\nspecialize in Asian\n\n387\n00:17:00.980 --> 00:17:01.980\nfood.\n\n388\n00:17:01.980 --> 00:17:02.980\nWhat direction have you taken?\n\n389\n00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:03.980\nAnd why?\n\n390\n00:17:03.980 --> 00:17:07.340\nI know you started out with sort of a Korean fusing type business.\n\n391\n00:17:07.340 --> 00:17:08.940\nWhat's your view on that now?\n\n392\n00:17:08.940 --> 00:17:12.220\nSo I moved to Louisville, Kentucky.\n\n393\n00:17:12.220 --> 00:17:13.700\nI came from New York City.\n\n394\n00:17:13.700 --> 00:17:15.140\nIt was kind of a sad story.\n\n395\n00:17:15.140 --> 00:17:18.600\nThe restaurant that I had in New York was doing well and after 9/11, things\n\n396\n00:17:18.600 --> 00:17:19.700\nwent haywire.\n\n397\n00:17:19.700 --> 00:17:21.420\nAnd I just needed a change.\n\n398\n00:17:21.420 --> 00:17:25.830\nI needed to get out, a friend of mine recommended that I come to Kentucky for\n\n399\n00:17:25.830 --> 00:17:26.420\nDerby.\n\n400\n00:17:26.420 --> 00:17:31.620\nI came here and I just fell in love with this place.\n\n401\n00:17:31.620 --> 00:17:34.860\nAnd obviously the bourbon and the pretty ladies and hats didn't hurt.\n\n402\n00:17:34.860 --> 00:17:39.420\nSo I just felt like there was something here that I'd never seen before.\n\n403\n00:17:39.420 --> 00:17:41.620\nI was 29 when I arrived here.\n\n404\n00:17:41.620 --> 00:17:45.980\nFor being a chef for so long, I'd never really spent time on farms.\n\n405\n00:17:45.980 --> 00:17:48.620\nYou know, I never really understood agriculture.\n\n406\n00:17:48.620 --> 00:17:52.100\nYou know, I was a chef and I'd pick up my phone and order my meats.\n\n407\n00:17:52.100 --> 00:17:58.500\nAnd when I came down here, I was so sort of enthralled by the people, the\n\n408\n00:17:58.500 --> 00:17:59.740\nculture.\n\n409\n00:17:59.740 --> 00:18:03.570\nAnd little by little, I started getting into Southern food, which is not\n\n410\n00:18:03.570 --> 00:18:04.460\nsomething that\n\n411\n00:18:04.460 --> 00:18:06.020\nI was born with.\n\n412\n00:18:06.020 --> 00:18:07.220\nI didn't grow up with it.\n\n413\n00:18:07.220 --> 00:18:12.270\nAnd everything from fried chicken to collard greens to chest pies and all this\n\n414\n00:18:12.270 --> 00:18:13.020\nstuff.\n\n415\n00:18:13.020 --> 00:18:15.820\nAnd I just couldn't stop eating this stuff.\n\n416\n00:18:15.820 --> 00:18:18.180\nAnd I was like, this is amazing.\n\n417\n00:18:18.180 --> 00:18:20.100\nWhere is this been all my life?\n\n418\n00:18:20.100 --> 00:18:23.370\nI think as an inquisitive chef, little by little, if you start eating things\n\n419\n00:18:23.370 --> 00:18:23.820\nthat you\n\n420\n00:18:23.820 --> 00:18:26.940\nlove, it's natural to start to want to cook them.\n\n421\n00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:31.330\nAnd so I would start going back to my kitchen and going, well, I'm going to\n\n422\n00:18:31.330 --> 00:18:32.020\nmake barbeque\n\n423\n00:18:32.020 --> 00:18:33.020\nsauce.\n\n424\n00:18:33.020 --> 00:18:35.340\nI'm going to make biscuits and gravy.\n\n425\n00:18:35.340 --> 00:18:39.100\nYou know, obviously I was never going to be a traditional Southern chef.\n\n426\n00:18:39.100 --> 00:18:42.300\nBut little by little, I started saying, well, this stuff is really good.\n\n427\n00:18:42.300 --> 00:18:45.820\nAnd maybe I can mix a little like Korean spice with it.\n\n428\n00:18:45.820 --> 00:18:47.140\nAnd maybe I can mix this.\n\n429\n00:18:47.140 --> 00:18:51.950\nAnd you know, I'm a Korean born chef, but trained in a very sort of classical\n\n430\n00:18:51.950 --> 00:18:52.380\nFrench\n\n431\n00:18:52.380 --> 00:18:55.140\nway because a lot of the restaurants I worked in as a kid were French\n\n432\n00:18:55.140 --> 00:18:55.860\nrestaurants.\n\n433\n00:18:55.860 --> 00:19:00.390\nAnd then I started taking these Southern traditions and started kind of inf\n\n434\n00:19:00.390 --> 00:19:00.980\nusing them\n\n435\n00:19:00.980 --> 00:19:01.980\nwith it.\n\n436\n00:19:01.980 --> 00:19:05.560\nAnd I feel like that was the final missing piece of the puzzle that completed\n\n437\n00:19:05.560 --> 00:19:05.940\nme as a\n\n438\n00:19:05.940 --> 00:19:07.140\nchef.\n\n439\n00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:08.780\nAnd I've been doing it ever since.\n\n440\n00:19:08.780 --> 00:19:13.280\nYou know, ever now I have my autograph copy of Buttermilk graffiti, which is\n\n441\n00:19:13.280 --> 00:19:14.300\nvery good.\n\n442\n00:19:14.300 --> 00:19:15.300\nThank you.\n\n443\n00:19:15.300 --> 00:19:16.300\nRight.\n\n444\n00:19:16.300 --> 00:19:19.640\nThis book, you know, as a creative person, as someone who looks at the world\n\n445\n00:19:19.640 --> 00:19:20.060\nsort of\n\n446\n00:19:20.060 --> 00:19:25.900\nwith a creative lens, I'm always looking for different outlets to tell stories.\n\n447\n00:19:25.900 --> 00:19:31.750\nAnd I truly believe that a good restaurant tells a really good story, you know,\n\n448\n00:19:31.750 --> 00:19:32.180\nwith\n\n449\n00:19:32.180 --> 00:19:33.180\nfood.\n\n450\n00:19:33.180 --> 00:19:36.740\nAnd I truly believe like that's what I try and do every day at my restaurants.\n\n451\n00:19:36.740 --> 00:19:41.580\nIt's not only serve delicious food, but also like tell a story and make people\n\n452\n00:19:41.580 --> 00:19:42.140\nsee things\n\n453\n00:19:42.140 --> 00:19:43.460\nin a new way.\n\n454\n00:19:43.460 --> 00:19:47.740\nAnd so whether it's TV or restaurants or books, I try and do that.\n\n455\n00:19:47.740 --> 00:19:51.820\nSo we had great success with my first cookbook, Smoke and Pickles.\n\n456\n00:19:51.820 --> 00:19:54.850\nSo when it came down to do another one, everyone thought that I was just going\n\n457\n00:19:54.850 --> 00:19:55.340\nto do another\n\n458\n00:19:55.340 --> 00:19:56.340\ncookbook.\n\n459\n00:19:56.340 --> 00:20:00.080\nAnd I talked to my publisher and I said, you know, I have an idea to sort of\n\n460\n00:20:00.080 --> 00:20:00.780\ntravel across\n\n461\n00:20:00.780 --> 00:20:04.580\nAmerica, look at all these different cultures and write about them in a\n\n462\n00:20:04.580 --> 00:20:05.460\ncreative way.\n\n463\n00:20:05.460 --> 00:20:10.340\nAnd, you know, hopefully a slightly interesting, maybe poetic, maybe, you know,\n\n464\n00:20:10.340 --> 00:20:11.340\nsort of personal\n\n465\n00:20:11.340 --> 00:20:12.340\nway.\n\n466\n00:20:12.340 --> 00:20:13.700\nIt really was a personal journey for me.\n\n467\n00:20:13.700 --> 00:20:19.020\nAnd they were like, well, let's see a sample and let's see what you can do.\n\n468\n00:20:19.020 --> 00:20:23.030\nYou know, again, I think if you truly have a passion for something, you're\n\n469\n00:20:23.030 --> 00:20:23.580\ngoing to give\n\n470\n00:20:23.580 --> 00:20:24.820\nit you're all.\n\n471\n00:20:24.820 --> 00:20:25.820\nAnd I really did.\n\n472\n00:20:25.820 --> 00:20:27.540\nThis was a two year process.\n\n473\n00:20:27.540 --> 00:20:30.580\nAnd I went to places that I never thought I would go.\n\n474\n00:20:30.580 --> 00:20:32.980\nAnd I met people that I never thought I would meet.\n\n475\n00:20:32.980 --> 00:20:37.050\nAnd I just wrote about them in a way that was very honest and hopefully\n\n476\n00:20:37.050 --> 00:20:38.020\ninformative,\n\n477\n00:20:38.020 --> 00:20:39.020\nbut fun, you know.\n\n478\n00:20:39.020 --> 00:20:42.800\nWell, the book is certainly fun and I learned a lot and you did go to all kinds\n\n479\n00:20:42.800 --> 00:20:43.540\nof different\n\n480\n00:20:43.540 --> 00:20:44.540\nplaces.\n\n481\n00:20:44.540 --> 00:20:47.500\nAnd you really believe in the power of storytelling.\n\n482\n00:20:47.500 --> 00:20:48.500\nWhy is that?\n\n483\n00:20:48.500 --> 00:20:50.940\nWhat do you think is so powerful in a story?\n\n484\n00:20:50.940 --> 00:20:55.860\nI think that what makes humans different from animals, let's say, is that we\n\n485\n00:20:55.860 --> 00:20:56.620\ndream.\n\n486\n00:20:56.620 --> 00:21:00.070\nYou know, even I have a young daughter and that's all we do is we tell stories\n\n487\n00:21:00.070 --> 00:21:00.460\nlike we\n\n488\n00:21:00.460 --> 00:21:04.220\nlook at the moon and we want to go there.\n\n489\n00:21:04.220 --> 00:21:06.940\nYou know, we see an ocean and we want to cross it.\n\n490\n00:21:06.940 --> 00:21:12.580\nLike we need stories, we need narratives, we need adventures.\n\n491\n00:21:12.580 --> 00:21:14.540\nThat's what makes us human.\n\n492\n00:21:14.540 --> 00:21:19.920\nAnd you know, I can get lost in a book and you know, 10 hours goes by and I've\n\n493\n00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:20.780\njust traveled\n\n494\n00:21:20.780 --> 00:21:24.540\nto exotic places all because of a book and words that I'm reading.\n\n495\n00:21:24.540 --> 00:21:28.580\nAnd I think that that gets the juices flowing in our head.\n\n496\n00:21:28.580 --> 00:21:32.340\nAnd that's what makes us feel alive.\n\n497\n00:21:32.340 --> 00:21:35.680\nWhat story do you love to tell the most or do you enjoy most in the book that\n\n498\n00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:36.420\nyou wrote?\n\n499\n00:21:36.420 --> 00:21:40.540\nYou know, I really, it was actually the first chapter that I wrote.\n\n500\n00:21:40.540 --> 00:21:42.720\nIt's not the first chapter in the book, but it was the first chapter that I\n\n501\n00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:43.060\nwrote.\n\n502\n00:21:43.060 --> 00:21:48.220\nAnd it's about this little mill town called Lowell, Massachusetts.\n\n503\n00:21:48.220 --> 00:21:53.100\nAnd there's a very vibrant Cambodian community that lives there.\n\n504\n00:21:53.100 --> 00:21:56.900\nAnd I went to Lowell thinking that I was going to write about the Cambodian\n\n505\n00:21:56.900 --> 00:21:57.700\nchefs there.\n\n506\n00:21:57.700 --> 00:22:01.720\nAnd I did and I was spent a few days eating this great Cambodian food and going\n\n507\n00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:02.340\nto markets\n\n508\n00:22:02.340 --> 00:22:03.980\nand talking to people.\n\n509\n00:22:03.980 --> 00:22:08.180\nAnd this was originally not supposed to be in the book, but I was driving\n\n510\n00:22:08.180 --> 00:22:09.060\naround Lowell\n\n511\n00:22:09.060 --> 00:22:15.660\nand I came upon this incredibly old boxing gym called Romalo's West End Gym.\n\n512\n00:22:15.660 --> 00:22:16.900\nAnd I'm a huge sports man.\n\n513\n00:22:16.900 --> 00:22:20.740\nSo I go in there and I go, oh, this is where they filmed that movie.\n\n514\n00:22:20.740 --> 00:22:22.300\nIt was this old movie called The Fighter.\n\n515\n00:22:22.300 --> 00:22:23.300\nAnd it's a great movie.\n\n516\n00:22:23.300 --> 00:22:25.180\nI think it won an Oscar.\n\n517\n00:22:25.180 --> 00:22:27.340\nAnd I go, oh yeah, this is where they filmed the movie.\n\n518\n00:22:27.340 --> 00:22:30.140\nAnd I was talking to the guys and he just started chatting.\n\n519\n00:22:30.140 --> 00:22:33.940\nAnd one of them said, hey, man, if you really want a story, you got to go see\n\n520\n00:22:33.940 --> 00:22:33.940\nthe show.\n\n521\n00:22:33.940 --> 00:22:35.260\nYou got to go see this guy, Irish Jack Brady.\n\n522\n00:22:35.260 --> 00:22:38.460\nHe owns a bar down the road, an Irish bar.\n\n523\n00:22:38.460 --> 00:22:41.560\nSo I went there and ended up meeting him at night and just thought I was going\n\n524\n00:22:41.560 --> 00:22:41.940\nto have\n\n525\n00:22:41.940 --> 00:22:45.520\na five minute conversation and just wanted to ask him about Lowell.\n\n526\n00:22:45.520 --> 00:22:47.580\nWe ended up staying up until two in the morning.\n\n527\n00:22:47.580 --> 00:22:52.460\nHe told me story after story after story about Irish history and Lowell about\n\n528\n00:22:52.460 --> 00:22:53.220\nboxing,\n\n529\n00:22:53.220 --> 00:22:56.740\nabout what it took to grow up here and fight your way through the rough times.\n\n530\n00:22:56.740 --> 00:23:01.150\nAnd I realized that at that moment at two in the morning after drinking Irish\n\n531\n00:23:01.150 --> 00:23:01.700\nwhiskey\n\n532\n00:23:01.700 --> 00:23:05.140\nwith this gentleman, that that was going to be the book.\n\n533\n00:23:05.140 --> 00:23:06.820\nThat was the story that I wanted to tell.\n\n534\n00:23:06.820 --> 00:23:12.390\nIt wasn't just the Cambodian chef, but it was the Cambodian chef next to this\n\n535\n00:23:12.390 --> 00:23:13.740\nIrish boxer\n\n536\n00:23:13.740 --> 00:23:16.740\nand how those two lives are really linked together.\n\n537\n00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:19.780\nAnd they may not even realize it, but that's their story.\n\n538\n00:23:19.780 --> 00:23:24.200\nAnd it's kind of the story of America where you go around and there's sort of\n\n539\n00:23:24.200 --> 00:23:24.860\none group\n\n540\n00:23:24.860 --> 00:23:29.430\nthat's sort of fading away or becoming more middle class or becoming more\n\n541\n00:23:29.430 --> 00:23:30.220\nAmerican or\n\n542\n00:23:30.220 --> 00:23:31.220\ngentrified.\n\n543\n00:23:31.220 --> 00:23:35.390\nAnd there's another group coming in, the next generation of immigrants fighting\n\n544\n00:23:35.390 --> 00:23:35.940\nthat same\n\n545\n00:23:35.940 --> 00:23:38.980\nbattle, clung their way through life.\n\n546\n00:23:38.980 --> 00:23:40.500\nAnd to me, that's America.\n\n547\n00:23:40.500 --> 00:23:42.500\nAnd so I just wanted to go and tell that story.\n\n548\n00:23:42.500 --> 00:23:46.860\nSo you're a real student of the intersection of food and culture.\n\n549\n00:23:46.860 --> 00:23:49.060\nTo me, food is not just what's on the plate.\n\n550\n00:23:49.060 --> 00:23:53.150\nI look at food and I taste food, but then I really try and see the person\n\n551\n00:23:53.150 --> 00:23:53.980\nbehind it,\n\n552\n00:23:53.980 --> 00:23:58.950\nthe culture that made it, the reasons why certain spices go together and the\n\n553\n00:23:58.950 --> 00:23:59.620\ncertain\n\n554\n00:23:59.620 --> 00:24:06.380\nsauces make it onto our plate.\n\n555\n00:24:06.380 --> 00:24:09.960\nI wrote my latest book, \"Tay Charge If You,\" how self-coaching can transform\n\n556\n00:24:09.960 --> 00:24:10.660\nyour life and\n\n557\n00:24:10.660 --> 00:24:14.440\ncareer because I really believe that your life is just too important to\n\n558\n00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:15.660\ndelegate to someone\n\n559\n00:24:15.660 --> 00:24:16.660\nelse.\n\n560\n00:24:16.660 --> 00:24:19.420\nThat's why I'm so passionate about self-coaching.\n\n561\n00:24:19.420 --> 00:24:23.310\nIf you're new to this concept, I put together a free self-coaching guide that\n\n562\n00:24:23.310 --> 00:24:23.980\nwill walk you\n\n563\n00:24:23.980 --> 00:24:28.170\nthrough the key principles of how to become a great self-coach to really find\n\n564\n00:24:28.170 --> 00:24:28.940\nfulfillment\n\n565\n00:24:28.940 --> 00:24:30.980\nin your life and career.\n\n566\n00:24:30.980 --> 00:24:34.220\nYou can get it at takechargeifu.com/guide.\n\n567\n00:24:34.220 --> 00:24:43.820\nYou know, you write in your book and I thought this was great that if you\n\n568\n00:24:43.820 --> 00:24:44.540\nreally want to\n\n569\n00:24:44.540 --> 00:24:48.580\nknow someone, you have to eat what he or she has eaten.\n\n570\n00:24:48.580 --> 00:24:50.060\nExplain that.\n\n571\n00:24:50.060 --> 00:24:56.300\nSo there's a lot of things that we culturally can change in ourselves, right?\n\n572\n00:24:56.300 --> 00:25:00.320\nYou know, like I can put on a suit and tie and, you know, I can say, \"I'm not\n\n573\n00:25:00.320 --> 00:25:01.060\nKorean.\n\n574\n00:25:01.060 --> 00:25:03.690\nI'm going to do this or I'm going to ride horses or I'm going to play\n\n575\n00:25:03.690 --> 00:25:04.460\nbasketball.\"\n\n576\n00:25:04.460 --> 00:25:09.720\nBut there's something in our culinary DNA that always calls back to who we are\n\n577\n00:25:09.720 --> 00:25:09.980\nbecause\n\n578\n00:25:09.980 --> 00:25:15.280\nusually the foods that we love the most reveal something about our childhood\n\n579\n00:25:15.280 --> 00:25:16.260\nand how we grew\n\n580\n00:25:16.260 --> 00:25:20.580\nup because you start getting nostalgic about the things that you ate when you\n\n581\n00:25:20.580 --> 00:25:21.260\nwere a kid.\n\n582\n00:25:21.260 --> 00:25:26.140\nAnd so you crave those things and you want to sort of eat them again and again.\n\n583\n00:25:26.140 --> 00:25:29.430\nSo when you really look at someone and see what they're, you know, it's a\n\n584\n00:25:29.430 --> 00:25:30.380\nlittle experiment.\n\n585\n00:25:30.380 --> 00:25:33.500\nI go and talk to people and I say, \"What's your favorite food?\"\n\n586\n00:25:33.500 --> 00:25:34.780\n\"Oh, mac and cheese.\n\n587\n00:25:34.780 --> 00:25:35.780\nWhy?\"\n\n588\n00:25:35.780 --> 00:25:37.900\nYou know, my grandma used to make that for me when I was a kid.\n\n589\n00:25:37.900 --> 00:25:39.580\nLike, there you go, right?\n\n590\n00:25:39.580 --> 00:25:43.980\nThere's a nostalgia to food that is so strong in us.\n\n591\n00:25:43.980 --> 00:25:48.980\nAnd it really reveals a lot about who we are, how we grew up, where we grew up.\n\n592\n00:25:48.980 --> 00:25:50.620\nIt's fascinating to me.\n\n593\n00:25:50.620 --> 00:25:54.100\nWhen I read that, I thought about that and I thought of my dad's pancakes.\n\n594\n00:25:54.100 --> 00:25:57.670\nAnd my dad's pancakes, you know, I mean, he makes the flattest, thinnest\n\n595\n00:25:57.670 --> 00:25:58.340\npancakes and\n\n596\n00:25:58.340 --> 00:26:02.140\nhe gets them just really just tough almost and they're just sensational.\n\n597\n00:26:02.140 --> 00:26:05.940\nBut it's really the love and the, you know, his love and our family love that I\n\n598\n00:26:05.940 --> 00:26:06.340\nthink\n\n599\n00:26:06.340 --> 00:26:07.420\nthat that really brings out.\n\n600\n00:26:07.420 --> 00:26:09.380\nSo I think that's very powerful.\n\n601\n00:26:09.380 --> 00:26:13.080\nEdward, have you ever had an incident or an experience that made you appreciate\n\n602\n00:26:13.080 --> 00:26:13.220\nwhat it\n\n603\n00:26:13.220 --> 00:26:17.060\nmight be like to be without food, just to be hungry?\n\n604\n00:26:17.060 --> 00:26:18.060\nYeah.\n\n605\n00:26:18.060 --> 00:26:25.250\nMy wife went through a bout of cancer and, you know, we had a young child and\n\n606\n00:26:25.250 --> 00:26:25.980\nshe was\n\n607\n00:26:25.980 --> 00:26:28.220\nrecovering from surgery.\n\n608\n00:26:28.220 --> 00:26:31.960\nAnd you know, my wife has a great appetite like I do and we love food and we\n\n609\n00:26:31.960 --> 00:26:32.700\nlove dining\n\n610\n00:26:32.700 --> 00:26:35.740\nout and we love just cooking together.\n\n611\n00:26:35.740 --> 00:26:40.820\nAnd you know, for about four weeks, she couldn't eat anything.\n\n612\n00:26:40.820 --> 00:26:43.140\nYou know, she literally couldn't hold down food.\n\n613\n00:26:43.140 --> 00:26:49.500\nAnd so I was making these purees for her and I was trying to do everything from\n\n614\n00:26:49.500 --> 00:26:51.260\nlike smelling\n\n615\n00:26:51.260 --> 00:26:55.340\nlike mint, like making fragrance or concoctions for her to smell.\n\n616\n00:26:55.340 --> 00:27:01.180\nAnd I truly looked at that and I saw the experience that she was going through\n\n617\n00:27:01.180 --> 00:27:01.660\nand it\n\n618\n00:27:01.660 --> 00:27:06.680\nwas sort of an outer body experience and I kind of put myself in her shoes and\n\n619\n00:27:06.680 --> 00:27:06.980\nthat\n\n620\n00:27:06.980 --> 00:27:11.920\nthing that she loved so much and that I loved so much that she had lost it, you\n\n621\n00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:12.300\nknow, and\n\n622\n00:27:12.300 --> 00:27:14.500\nit was the medication and the recovery.\n\n623\n00:27:14.500 --> 00:27:17.530\nAnd it was something that, you know, obviously she's just great now and made a\n\n624\n00:27:17.530 --> 00:27:18.460\nfull recovery,\n\n625\n00:27:18.460 --> 00:27:22.200\nbut you know, beyond everything else, it was something when I was just, you\n\n626\n00:27:22.200 --> 00:27:22.860\nknow, I was\n\n627\n00:27:22.860 --> 00:27:27.210\nthere with her every day and we sat there and nursed her and that not being\n\n628\n00:27:27.210 --> 00:27:27.740\nable to\n\n629\n00:27:27.740 --> 00:27:30.820\neat was something that was really, it hit me hard.\n\n630\n00:27:30.820 --> 00:27:31.820\nYeah.\n\n631\n00:27:31.820 --> 00:27:35.460\nWell, Diane's an amazing person and a real fighter and competitor for sure.\n\n632\n00:27:35.460 --> 00:27:38.980\nI know you competed quite successfully on Top Chef.\n\n633\n00:27:38.980 --> 00:27:41.420\nDid that really bring out your competitive instincts?\n\n634\n00:27:41.420 --> 00:27:43.060\nYes and no.\n\n635\n00:27:43.060 --> 00:27:48.450\nI think as chefs, any great chef is going to be a great competitor because it's\n\n636\n00:27:48.450 --> 00:27:48.900\nsuch\n\n637\n00:27:48.900 --> 00:27:52.650\na tough business that you're not going to succeed if you're not, you know, cut\n\n638\n00:27:52.650 --> 00:27:53.100\nthroat\n\n639\n00:27:53.100 --> 00:27:55.900\nand competitive and you really have to want it.\n\n640\n00:27:55.900 --> 00:28:01.690\nSo in that case, I think every person on that program or every chef is\n\n641\n00:28:01.690 --> 00:28:03.140\ncompetitive to the\n\n642\n00:28:03.140 --> 00:28:05.220\nbone you have to be.\n\n643\n00:28:05.220 --> 00:28:09.880\nHaving said that, that show puts you in a situation that you're just not used\n\n644\n00:28:09.880 --> 00:28:10.420\nto.\n\n645\n00:28:10.420 --> 00:28:12.540\nIt's very, very stressful.\n\n646\n00:28:12.540 --> 00:28:13.540\nIt's tense.\n\n647\n00:28:13.540 --> 00:28:18.100\nIt's awkward and you know, it's created for a reason, right?\n\n648\n00:28:18.100 --> 00:28:22.470\nI don't go into my kitchen and tell my staff, \"Hey guys, we have one hour to\n\n649\n00:28:22.470 --> 00:28:23.300\nmake a menu.\n\n650\n00:28:23.300 --> 00:28:24.460\nLet's go.\"\n\n651\n00:28:24.460 --> 00:28:28.490\nSo they create these artificial situations that sort of bring out the best and\n\n652\n00:28:28.490 --> 00:28:29.140\nsometimes\n\n653\n00:28:29.140 --> 00:28:30.380\nthe worst in people.\n\n654\n00:28:30.380 --> 00:28:35.980\nIn that sense, yeah, you're thrown into a situation that's completely unknown\n\n655\n00:28:35.980 --> 00:28:36.140\nand you\n\n656\n00:28:36.140 --> 00:28:39.270\nhave no idea what to expect and then you just have to sort of survive on\n\n657\n00:28:39.270 --> 00:28:40.020\ninstincts,\n\n658\n00:28:40.020 --> 00:28:41.020\nmostly.\n\n659\n00:28:41.020 --> 00:28:43.100\nIt was an interesting experiment.\n\n660\n00:28:43.100 --> 00:28:45.980\nIt is not something that I do on a daily basis.\n\n661\n00:28:45.980 --> 00:28:51.020\nSo the competitive nature, I've had it before and I continue to have it today.\n\n662\n00:28:51.020 --> 00:28:52.540\nYou mentioned something that was interesting.\n\n663\n00:28:52.540 --> 00:28:55.380\nYou said that every chef, you have to be cutthroat.\n\n664\n00:28:55.380 --> 00:28:57.140\nCutthroat is not something that I would link up to you.\n\n665\n00:28:57.140 --> 00:29:01.020\nIs that really the right word you mean or is it, if so, why?\n\n666\n00:29:01.020 --> 00:29:05.640\nYou know, most people who know me, like when they meet me the first time, they\n\n667\n00:29:05.640 --> 00:29:06.300\nalways have\n\n668\n00:29:06.300 --> 00:29:07.300\nthe same reaction.\n\n669\n00:29:07.300 --> 00:29:13.370\nYou're a nice guy and you really laid back and I'm like, \"Yeah, you know, I am\n\n670\n00:29:13.370 --> 00:29:13.580\n.\"\n\n671\n00:29:13.580 --> 00:29:18.490\nAnd they get a job and the first night that they see me in the kitchen, they\n\n672\n00:29:18.490 --> 00:29:19.340\nare taking\n\n673\n00:29:19.340 --> 00:29:22.580\na back because there is a switch in me.\n\n674\n00:29:22.580 --> 00:29:26.860\nThe apron goes on and the clock hits six o'clock and the doors are open.\n\n675\n00:29:26.860 --> 00:29:32.300\nI'm a very different person and it's something that not everyone gets to see.\n\n676\n00:29:32.300 --> 00:29:37.500\nI am not afraid to say that I want to be the best.\n\n677\n00:29:37.500 --> 00:29:42.360\nI want my restaurant to be the best and I want people to come to my restaurant\n\n678\n00:29:42.360 --> 00:29:42.740\nover\n\n679\n00:29:42.740 --> 00:29:48.300\nyour restaurant and I'll do just about anything to make that happen.\n\n680\n00:29:48.300 --> 00:29:49.940\nAnd if that's cutthroat, that's cutthroat.\n\n681\n00:29:49.940 --> 00:29:52.940\nBut you know, I mean, obviously, you know, it's friendly competition but also\n\n682\n00:29:52.940 --> 00:29:53.500\nit's like,\n\n683\n00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:54.500\nit's serious business.\n\n684\n00:29:54.500 --> 00:29:56.380\nLike, we want to be the best.\n\n685\n00:29:56.380 --> 00:29:57.380\nThere's nothing else.\n\n686\n00:29:57.380 --> 00:30:00.100\nAnd so in that sense, yeah, it's very cutthroat.\n\n687\n00:30:00.100 --> 00:30:01.500\nAnd it's so competitive.\n\n688\n00:30:01.500 --> 00:30:05.690\nThere's so many restaurants as a customer, you can go anywhere and to sort of\n\n689\n00:30:05.690 --> 00:30:06.220\nconvince\n\n690\n00:30:06.220 --> 00:30:10.900\nsomeone to come to your restaurant over to that next one, you can't just sort\n\n691\n00:30:10.900 --> 00:30:12.020\nof wait\n\n692\n00:30:12.020 --> 00:30:13.460\nand hope that they come.\n\n693\n00:30:13.460 --> 00:30:15.860\nYou have to do things to make sure that they do.\n\n694\n00:30:15.860 --> 00:30:20.140\nWell, you were obviously very good at television and you actually earned an\n\n695\n00:30:20.140 --> 00:30:21.140\nEmmy nomination\n\n696\n00:30:21.140 --> 00:30:25.260\nas the host chef of the third season of The Mind of the Chef.\n\n697\n00:30:25.260 --> 00:30:27.020\nWhat's in the mind of the chef?\n\n698\n00:30:27.020 --> 00:30:28.420\nA lot.\n\n699\n00:30:28.420 --> 00:30:31.420\nIt's a lot.\n\n700\n00:30:31.420 --> 00:30:35.480\nThat was a really fun documentary to do because it really pushed me to tell\n\n701\n00:30:35.480 --> 00:30:36.260\nstories.\n\n702\n00:30:36.260 --> 00:30:39.990\nAnd I think it actually helped me to write this book because I had to explain\n\n703\n00:30:39.990 --> 00:30:40.580\nmyself on\n\n704\n00:30:40.580 --> 00:30:41.580\ncamera.\n\n705\n00:30:41.580 --> 00:30:45.880\nI think as chefs, that's just something that we're not asked to do all the time\n\n706\n00:30:45.880 --> 00:30:46.180\n.\n\n707\n00:30:46.180 --> 00:30:50.370\nAnd so they would film a dish and they would say, \"Okay, now, tell me why you\n\n708\n00:30:50.370 --> 00:30:50.980\ndid that.\"\n\n709\n00:30:50.980 --> 00:30:51.980\nAnd I would give them a reason.\n\n710\n00:30:51.980 --> 00:30:53.300\nThey said, \"Well, no, that's not enough.\n\n711\n00:30:53.300 --> 00:30:54.300\nTell me more.\n\n712\n00:30:54.300 --> 00:30:55.300\nTell me about your parents.\n\n713\n00:30:55.300 --> 00:30:56.700\nTell me about your experiences.\n\n714\n00:30:56.700 --> 00:31:00.700\nYou know, what made you make this dish?\n\n715\n00:31:00.700 --> 00:31:03.020\nWhat made you put the sauce on this dish?\"\n\n716\n00:31:03.020 --> 00:31:06.260\nAnd it was a really good exercise in understanding.\n\n717\n00:31:06.260 --> 00:31:08.820\nIt was almost like going to therapy.\n\n718\n00:31:08.820 --> 00:31:13.500\nIt was like, \"I had to really dig deep and figure out the reasons why I do what\n\n719\n00:31:13.500 --> 00:31:13.980\nI do,\"\n\n720\n00:31:13.980 --> 00:31:16.700\nto explain it to an audience.\n\n721\n00:31:16.700 --> 00:31:19.620\nIt was a truly amazing experience.\n\n722\n00:31:19.620 --> 00:31:22.460\nEdward, you've obviously built a name for yourself.\n\n723\n00:31:22.460 --> 00:31:23.820\nI mean, you're a famous chef.\n\n724\n00:31:23.820 --> 00:31:25.540\nThere's no question about that.\n\n725\n00:31:25.540 --> 00:31:29.490\nHave you consciously gone about marketing Edward Lee or has that just come\n\n726\n00:31:29.490 --> 00:31:30.380\nthrough time\n\n727\n00:31:30.380 --> 00:31:31.380\nand grade?\n\n728\n00:31:31.380 --> 00:31:33.100\nI didn't at first.\n\n729\n00:31:33.100 --> 00:31:36.710\nObviously when you're a chef, you're just sort of in the kitchen and kind of\n\n730\n00:31:36.710 --> 00:31:36.860\ntrying\n\n731\n00:31:36.860 --> 00:31:39.220\nto survive every day.\n\n732\n00:31:39.220 --> 00:31:45.670\nAfter we did some TV and after the first book did well, we started to look at\n\n733\n00:31:45.670 --> 00:31:47.220\nwhat it means.\n\n734\n00:31:47.220 --> 00:31:52.800\nOne of the first things that I saw was a friend of mine has a soy sauce company\n\n735\n00:31:52.800 --> 00:31:53.180\nhere\n\n736\n00:31:53.180 --> 00:31:55.860\nin town.\n\n737\n00:31:55.860 --> 00:31:57.740\nNow it's an amazing company.\n\n738\n00:31:57.740 --> 00:32:00.140\nIn the early days, we were just starting out.\n\n739\n00:32:00.140 --> 00:32:06.420\nI was kind of just on TV and done a book and he was starting out.\n\n740\n00:32:06.420 --> 00:32:10.980\nI just remember putting it on Facebook.\n\n741\n00:32:10.980 --> 00:32:14.500\nI would serve it in my restaurants and talk to people.\n\n742\n00:32:14.500 --> 00:32:19.180\nHe called me and say, \"Man, our sales just went up.\"\n\n743\n00:32:19.180 --> 00:32:22.500\nIt was because I had put something on Facebook.\n\n744\n00:32:22.500 --> 00:32:28.170\nI think that was the first moment when I realized that the message had power\n\n745\n00:32:28.170 --> 00:32:29.180\nand that people\n\n746\n00:32:29.180 --> 00:32:31.860\nwere listening to me.\n\n747\n00:32:31.860 --> 00:32:36.540\nWe started to really consciously look at that.\n\n748\n00:32:36.540 --> 00:32:43.950\nMy wife Diane, who's worked at Yum for many, many years, really understood how\n\n749\n00:32:43.950 --> 00:32:44.300\nbranding\n\n750\n00:32:44.300 --> 00:32:47.900\nworks and marketing works and understood how messaging works.\n\n751\n00:32:47.900 --> 00:32:53.360\nShe was really integral in helping me and saying, \"Even little things, you can\n\n752\n00:32:53.360 --> 00:32:53.700\n't go\n\n753\n00:32:53.700 --> 00:32:58.500\nout looking like that because you're a public figure now.\n\n754\n00:32:58.500 --> 00:33:06.400\nComb your hair to building my website and figuring out what that message is and\n\n755\n00:33:06.400 --> 00:33:06.860\nmaking\n\n756\n00:33:06.860 --> 00:33:10.300\nit digestible, if you will, to the public.\"\n\n757\n00:33:10.300 --> 00:33:13.570\nThat's a huge thing that we're still working on, but she's really integral in\n\n758\n00:33:13.570 --> 00:33:14.020\nthat.\n\n759\n00:33:14.020 --> 00:33:16.900\nYou're very aware of your brand and building it.\n\n760\n00:33:16.900 --> 00:33:19.340\nNow I am.\n\n761\n00:33:19.340 --> 00:33:21.660\nYou have a love for immigrants.\n\n762\n00:33:21.660 --> 00:33:25.620\nI know people come to the United States for opportunity, but what do you lose\n\n763\n00:33:25.620 --> 00:33:25.860\nwhen you\n\n764\n00:33:25.860 --> 00:33:27.620\nbecome an American?\n\n765\n00:33:27.620 --> 00:33:29.740\nYou lose something and you gain something.\n\n766\n00:33:29.740 --> 00:33:34.380\nWe lose our anchor to whatever our homeland is.\n\n767\n00:33:34.380 --> 00:33:35.580\nWe lose traditions.\n\n768\n00:33:35.580 --> 00:33:37.420\nWe lose language.\n\n769\n00:33:37.420 --> 00:33:39.220\nWe lose rituals.\n\n770\n00:33:39.220 --> 00:33:40.900\nSometimes we lose religion.\n\n771\n00:33:40.900 --> 00:33:48.530\nI think what we gain is this communal harmony, this amazing experience that we\n\n772\n00:33:48.530 --> 00:33:49.580\ncall being\n\n773\n00:33:49.580 --> 00:33:50.580\nan American.\n\n774\n00:33:50.580 --> 00:33:53.880\nI always say, just from a food standpoint, my wife and I travel, we go to Italy\n\n775\n00:33:53.880 --> 00:33:54.100\n.\n\n776\n00:33:54.100 --> 00:33:55.940\nWe go to Korea.\n\n777\n00:33:55.940 --> 00:33:57.580\nWe go to Mexico.\n\n778\n00:33:57.580 --> 00:34:00.260\nEverywhere I go, I love it.\n\n779\n00:34:00.260 --> 00:34:04.650\nIt's fun, but by the third or fourth day in Italy, I go, \"Man, can I get\n\n780\n00:34:04.650 --> 00:34:05.460\nanything but\n\n781\n00:34:05.460 --> 00:34:06.460\npasta?\n\n782\n00:34:06.460 --> 00:34:10.420\nCan I get some Chinese food or a fried chicken?\"\n\n783\n00:34:10.420 --> 00:34:12.500\nI'm like, \"No, we don't have that.\n\n784\n00:34:12.500 --> 00:34:14.180\nWe eat pasta every day.\"\n\n785\n00:34:14.180 --> 00:34:17.220\nOr if you're in Korea, you eat noodles and rice every day.\n\n786\n00:34:17.220 --> 00:34:22.150\nOne of the things that as Americans, we don't appreciate enough is that I can\n\n787\n00:34:22.150 --> 00:34:22.980\nhave soul\n\n788\n00:34:22.980 --> 00:34:29.860\nfood in the morning and Chinese food for lunch and Indian food for dinner.\n\n789\n00:34:29.860 --> 00:34:34.220\nWe have such diversity and we have such choice here.\n\n790\n00:34:34.220 --> 00:34:37.140\nThat's not so in most of the world.\n\n791\n00:34:37.140 --> 00:34:40.940\nThat bleeds into all aspects of culture too, but just from a food standpoint,\n\n792\n00:34:40.940 --> 00:34:42.100\nwe are spoiled\n\n793\n00:34:42.100 --> 00:34:43.100\nhere.\n\n794\n00:34:43.100 --> 00:34:46.700\nWe can get the best of anything we want anywhere.\n\n795\n00:34:46.700 --> 00:34:48.940\nThat's something that's truly different and special.\n\n796\n00:34:48.940 --> 00:34:50.500\nI love that.\n\n797\n00:34:50.500 --> 00:34:52.300\nYou talk about diversity.\n\n798\n00:34:52.300 --> 00:34:55.670\nTalk a little bit about the program you've launched to train young women on\n\n799\n00:34:55.670 --> 00:34:56.700\nculinary skills\n\n800\n00:34:56.700 --> 00:34:59.260\nand all aspects of the restaurant industry.\n\n801\n00:34:59.260 --> 00:35:03.500\nI feel truly blessed and truly lucky to have my life and to have the successes\n\n802\n00:35:03.500 --> 00:35:03.980\nthat I\n\n803\n00:35:03.980 --> 00:35:05.620\nhave.\n\n804\n00:35:05.620 --> 00:35:09.100\nThere comes a time where you want to give back.\n\n805\n00:35:09.100 --> 00:35:10.540\nWe started a nonprofit.\n\n806\n00:35:10.540 --> 00:35:13.120\nNot knowing what we were going to do with it, but our mission statement was\n\n807\n00:35:13.120 --> 00:35:13.500\nthat we were\n\n808\n00:35:13.500 --> 00:35:18.300\ngoing to basically look at a combat inequality in the restaurant community and\n\n809\n00:35:18.300 --> 00:35:19.100\nwherever we\n\n810\n00:35:19.100 --> 00:35:21.500\ncould, we were trying to do something about it.\n\n811\n00:35:21.500 --> 00:35:24.780\nBut do small and impactful programs.\n\n812\n00:35:24.780 --> 00:35:29.260\nInstead of just giving money to a charity, we wanted to really change the lives\n\n813\n00:35:29.260 --> 00:35:29.300\nof a\n\n814\n00:35:29.300 --> 00:35:33.100\nsmall number of people but change them significantly.\n\n815\n00:35:33.100 --> 00:35:38.570\nWhen the Me Too movement came about, my director of the Foundation as a woman,\n\n816\n00:35:38.570 --> 00:35:39.220\nher name is\n\n817\n00:35:39.220 --> 00:35:41.950\nLindsey, and she's been in the industry for a very long time and she's\n\n818\n00:35:41.950 --> 00:35:42.780\nbrilliant and she\n\n819\n00:35:42.780 --> 00:35:45.860\nknows everything about it and she said, \"We should do something about this.\"\n\n820\n00:35:45.860 --> 00:35:47.020\nI said, \"Sure.\n\n821\n00:35:47.020 --> 00:35:48.020\nWhat do we do?\"\n\n822\n00:35:48.020 --> 00:35:53.540\nWe sat there and we tossed hundreds of ideas out and what came to us finally,\n\n823\n00:35:53.540 --> 00:35:54.700\nwe interviewed\n\n824\n00:35:54.700 --> 00:35:58.860\ntons of female chefs around the country, really successful ones.\n\n825\n00:35:58.860 --> 00:36:04.740\nWe asked them, \"What does it take to be an incredible, successful female chef?\"\n\n826\n00:36:04.740 --> 00:36:08.750\nThe answer that we came up with was that it requires mentorship, it requires\n\n827\n00:36:08.750 --> 00:36:09.820\nconfidence,\n\n828\n00:36:09.820 --> 00:36:15.240\neducation, it requires just basically giving a young chef the confidence to\n\n829\n00:36:15.240 --> 00:36:16.260\ntell her that\n\n830\n00:36:16.260 --> 00:36:18.580\nshe can do it.\n\n831\n00:36:18.580 --> 00:36:23.880\nWe look at this, for what it is, it's a male-dominated world in the kitchens of\n\n832\n00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:26.380\nmost restaurants.\n\n833\n00:36:26.380 --> 00:36:27.380\nWe said, \"Why?\n\n834\n00:36:27.380 --> 00:36:28.380\nCan we change that?\n\n835\n00:36:28.380 --> 00:36:33.990\nCan we help a young female chef go from being just a line cook or a salad prep\n\n836\n00:36:33.990 --> 00:36:34.740\nperson to\n\n837\n00:36:34.740 --> 00:36:35.740\na head chef?\n\n838\n00:36:35.740 --> 00:36:40.620\nHow do we nurture someone through that process so that we have more equality\n\n839\n00:36:40.620 --> 00:36:41.460\nand we have more\n\n840\n00:36:41.460 --> 00:36:42.660\nwomen in this industry?\"\n\n841\n00:36:42.660 --> 00:36:47.450\nI think every industry benefits from having diversity and men and women and\n\n842\n00:36:47.450 --> 00:36:48.300\nphysicians\n\n843\n00:36:48.300 --> 00:36:49.860\nof leadership.\n\n844\n00:36:49.860 --> 00:36:54.120\nIt took us a long time and we did countless hours of figuring out exactly what\n\n845\n00:36:54.120 --> 00:36:55.020\nthis program\n\n846\n00:36:55.020 --> 00:36:56.380\nis going to be.\n\n847\n00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:59.620\nWe came upon, we're going to pick five young female chefs in this state of\n\n848\n00:36:59.620 --> 00:37:00.540\nKentucky through\n\n849\n00:37:00.540 --> 00:37:06.350\nan application process and then they get hooked up with five very successful\n\n850\n00:37:06.350 --> 00:37:06.900\nfemale\n\n851\n00:37:06.900 --> 00:37:11.380\nchefs around the country and we send them off mentorship training and then at\n\n852\n00:37:11.380 --> 00:37:11.860\nthe end\n\n853\n00:37:11.860 --> 00:37:14.860\nof it, we're all going to go to New York to the Beard House and do a dinner\n\n854\n00:37:14.860 --> 00:37:15.580\ntogether.\n\n855\n00:37:15.580 --> 00:37:16.580\nThat's fantastic.\n\n856\n00:37:16.580 --> 00:37:17.580\nThat is great.\n\n857\n00:37:17.580 --> 00:37:21.420\nEdward, you're an entrepreneur, a chef, writer, now a teacher.\n\n858\n00:37:21.420 --> 00:37:25.020\nI'll have to add that to your television host.\n\n859\n00:37:25.020 --> 00:37:27.700\nHow do you juggle so many balls and balance it?\n\n860\n00:37:27.700 --> 00:37:31.260\nWhat I also know is very important to you is your family.\n\n861\n00:37:31.260 --> 00:37:33.380\nThat's the hardest part.\n\n862\n00:37:33.380 --> 00:37:38.650\nThe way I juggle it all is, A, I don't sleep much and I'm pretty much obsessed\n\n863\n00:37:38.650 --> 00:37:39.780\nby everything\n\n864\n00:37:39.780 --> 00:37:40.780\nthat I do.\n\n865\n00:37:40.780 --> 00:37:46.420\nI have great team players who sort of help me to juggle everything, who keep\n\n866\n00:37:46.420 --> 00:37:47.300\nevery aspect\n\n867\n00:37:47.300 --> 00:37:49.940\nof it going every day.\n\n868\n00:37:49.940 --> 00:37:51.860\nThe other part of that is my family.\n\n869\n00:37:51.860 --> 00:37:56.160\nMy family keeps me grounded and they make sure that even little things like, so\n\n870\n00:37:56.160 --> 00:37:57.180\nmy head doesn't\n\n871\n00:37:57.180 --> 00:38:01.750\nget too big and my ego doesn't get too big, but also it's about the simple\n\n872\n00:38:01.750 --> 00:38:02.500\nthings.\n\n873\n00:38:02.500 --> 00:38:04.060\nWhy am I doing all this?\n\n874\n00:38:04.060 --> 00:38:05.420\nIt's not for fame and fortune.\n\n875\n00:38:05.420 --> 00:38:10.720\nIt's because I get to come home to my wife and my lovely daughter and I get to\n\n876\n00:38:10.720 --> 00:38:11.540\nspend time\n\n877\n00:38:11.540 --> 00:38:16.560\non them and not worry and not have to work countless hours like my parents did\n\n878\n00:38:16.560 --> 00:38:16.980\nso that\n\n879\n00:38:16.980 --> 00:38:20.860\nI could spend time with my family and we go out and do things.\n\n880\n00:38:20.860 --> 00:38:26.540\nWe go to the zoo and we go to the park and we go ride horses.\n\n881\n00:38:26.540 --> 00:38:32.420\nTo me that's true happiness and so all of this is really to make sure that the\n\n882\n00:38:32.420 --> 00:38:33.060\ncore of\n\n883\n00:38:33.060 --> 00:38:36.420\nmy life, which is my family, is taken care of.\n\n884\n00:38:36.420 --> 00:38:40.990\nThat balancing act, though it's challenging from a time standpoint, from an\n\n885\n00:38:40.990 --> 00:38:42.060\nemotional standpoint,\n\n886\n00:38:42.060 --> 00:38:43.060\nis very easy.\n\n887\n00:38:43.060 --> 00:38:47.820\nI do all this so that my family is that we're happy and they balance it all out\n\n888\n00:38:47.820 --> 00:38:47.940\n.\n\n889\n00:38:47.940 --> 00:38:50.940\nWhat three bits of advice would you give aspiring leaders?\n\n890\n00:38:50.940 --> 00:38:53.890\nI would say every day I want to learn something new and every day I want to\n\n891\n00:38:53.890 --> 00:38:54.660\nteach something\n\n892\n00:38:54.660 --> 00:38:59.340\nto someone and it doesn't actually happen every single day, but I truly believe\n\n893\n00:38:59.340 --> 00:38:59.780\nthat's\n\n894\n00:38:59.780 --> 00:39:04.860\nhow you keep growing and people also want to be around you.\n\n895\n00:39:04.860 --> 00:39:08.460\nIf you're only hoarding information and not giving it out, then there's no\n\n896\n00:39:08.460 --> 00:39:09.140\nincentive for\n\n897\n00:39:09.140 --> 00:39:10.740\npeople to stick with you.\n\n898\n00:39:10.740 --> 00:39:14.870\nI'm very transparent and selfless when it comes to the things that I learn and\n\n899\n00:39:14.870 --> 00:39:15.340\nI truly\n\n900\n00:39:15.340 --> 00:39:20.950\nbelieve that sharing is what if I go somewhere exotic when I come back to\n\n901\n00:39:20.950 --> 00:39:22.540\nKentucky, I'm always\n\n902\n00:39:22.540 --> 00:39:27.300\nlike trying to buy something, a new sauce or some candy bar and I come back and\n\n903\n00:39:27.300 --> 00:39:27.700\nI try\n\n904\n00:39:27.700 --> 00:39:31.660\nand give it to my staff and say, \"Man, I went to the cool place.\"\n\n905\n00:39:31.660 --> 00:39:37.320\nBut I truly do, if I eat something amazing, I'm always like, \"Man, how do I\n\n906\n00:39:37.320 --> 00:39:37.900\ntransport\n\n907\n00:39:37.900 --> 00:39:41.220\nthis dish back to my kitchen and have everyone taste it?\n\n908\n00:39:41.220 --> 00:39:42.220\nIt's impossible.\"\n\n909\n00:39:42.220 --> 00:39:46.060\nBut I truly believe that, whether it's taking pictures or writing notes and\n\n910\n00:39:46.060 --> 00:39:46.860\ntelling people\n\n911\n00:39:46.860 --> 00:39:53.360\nabout it, and I try and share as much as possible so that the people around me\n\n912\n00:39:53.360 --> 00:39:54.100\nalso feel it\n\n913\n00:39:54.100 --> 00:40:00.660\nand they have success as well.\n\n914\n00:40:00.660 --> 00:40:04.400\nWe'll be back with the rest of my conversation with Chef Edward Lee in just a\n\n915\n00:40:04.400 --> 00:40:05.060\nmoment.\n\n916\n00:40:05.060 --> 00:40:08.020\nYou know, Edward's right on the money when he says you're only as good as the\n\n917\n00:40:08.020 --> 00:40:08.460\npeople\n\n918\n00:40:08.460 --> 00:40:09.460\naround you.\n\n919\n00:40:09.460 --> 00:40:13.310\nAnd nobody knows that better than Steve Kerr, the coach of the Golden State\n\n920\n00:40:13.310 --> 00:40:14.060\nWarriors.\n\n921\n00:40:14.060 --> 00:40:18.420\nIn our episode of How Leaders Lead, Steve shares exactly how we can unlock the\n\n922\n00:40:18.420 --> 00:40:18.740\npower\n\n923\n00:40:18.740 --> 00:40:19.740\nof teams.\n\n924\n00:40:19.740 --> 00:40:23.100\nYou know, I inherited this Warriors team that was already really good.\n\n925\n00:40:23.100 --> 00:40:26.780\nThey had Steph Curry, Clay Thompson, and some amazing vets.\n\n926\n00:40:26.780 --> 00:40:32.100\nI can see we had the talent, but I wanted to connect with the bench because I\n\n927\n00:40:32.100 --> 00:40:32.780\nhad been\n\n928\n00:40:32.780 --> 00:40:33.780\nthere.\n\n929\n00:40:33.780 --> 00:40:37.730\nAnd so my first year I came up with this idea that our team mantra could be\n\n930\n00:40:37.730 --> 00:40:38.500\nstrength in\n\n931\n00:40:38.500 --> 00:40:39.500\nnumbers.\n\n932\n00:40:39.500 --> 00:40:42.100\nAnd it was something that I talked about from day one.\n\n933\n00:40:42.100 --> 00:40:43.100\nWe had so much talent.\n\n934\n00:40:43.100 --> 00:40:45.820\nWe had so much depth that we were going to overwhelm teams.\n\n935\n00:40:45.820 --> 00:40:48.540\nAnd it really became part of our persona.\n\n936\n00:40:48.540 --> 00:40:52.570\nSo go back and listen to my entire conversation with Steve that I had just\n\n937\n00:40:52.570 --> 00:40:53.740\nbefore he launched\n\n938\n00:40:53.740 --> 00:41:07.940\ninto that 2022 championship season, Episode 62 here on How Leaders Lead.\n\n939\n00:41:07.940 --> 00:41:11.540\nAnd the work you do requires so much creativity.\n\n940\n00:41:11.540 --> 00:41:15.580\nHow do you stay inspired and continue to innovate with your team?\n\n941\n00:41:15.580 --> 00:41:18.900\nWell, a lot of it is being inclusive of my team.\n\n942\n00:41:18.900 --> 00:41:23.370\nAnd I think as I get older, it's important for me to surround myself with\n\n943\n00:41:23.370 --> 00:41:25.020\nyounger generation,\n\n944\n00:41:25.020 --> 00:41:29.780\npeople who have fresh ideas and making sure that they know that all of their\n\n945\n00:41:29.780 --> 00:41:30.540\nideas come\n\n946\n00:41:30.540 --> 00:41:33.380\nto the table and we take them all seriously.\n\n947\n00:41:33.380 --> 00:41:37.700\nSo a lot of my inspiration really comes from the people that I surround myself\n\n948\n00:41:37.700 --> 00:41:38.260\nwith.\n\n949\n00:41:38.260 --> 00:41:43.060\nThey come from all walks of life, backgrounds, both economic, social, ethnic,\n\n950\n00:41:43.060 --> 00:41:44.100\nwhatever, which\n\n951\n00:41:44.100 --> 00:41:48.310\nyou know, one of the reasons why I feel like diversity is so important because\n\n952\n00:41:48.310 --> 00:41:48.820\nthey just\n\n953\n00:41:48.820 --> 00:41:52.460\nbring such different opinions and ideas to the table.\n\n954\n00:41:52.460 --> 00:41:55.900\nAnd they bring the ideas that I necessarily wouldn't have thought about.\n\n955\n00:41:55.900 --> 00:41:59.460\nSo really it's a lot of collaboration for me.\n\n956\n00:41:59.460 --> 00:42:00.620\nI agree with all that.\n\n957\n00:42:00.620 --> 00:42:03.690\nOne of the things that kind of bugs me is when you start saying, \"As I get\n\n958\n00:42:03.690 --> 00:42:04.540\nolder, I mean,\n\n959\n00:42:04.540 --> 00:42:08.860\nyou want to talk about old, you're looking a guy a lot older than you.\"\n\n960\n00:42:08.860 --> 00:42:13.780\nLet me ask you, what does winning look like for an elite chef like yourself?\n\n961\n00:42:13.780 --> 00:42:18.220\nWhat's a metric of success that motivates you to keep pushing?\n\n962\n00:42:18.220 --> 00:42:21.820\nYou know, the restaurant world, the chef world is so fickle.\n\n963\n00:42:21.820 --> 00:42:27.580\nIt's so transitory that you could be on top of the world one year and the next\n\n964\n00:42:27.580 --> 00:42:27.620\nyear.\n\n965\n00:42:27.620 --> 00:42:31.530\nYou know, you could have an economic recession and your restaurants aren't\n\n966\n00:42:31.530 --> 00:42:32.340\ndoing well and\n\n967\n00:42:32.340 --> 00:42:36.500\nyou're considered a has been and lots can happen.\n\n968\n00:42:36.500 --> 00:42:42.940\nAnd so for me, I'm very fortunate in the fact that I really do wake up every\n\n969\n00:42:42.940 --> 00:42:43.820\nmorning and\n\n970\n00:42:43.820 --> 00:42:47.940\nI love what I do and I don't want to do anything else in this world.\n\n971\n00:42:47.940 --> 00:42:51.140\nSo I just want to stay relevant.\n\n972\n00:42:51.140 --> 00:42:54.900\nI'm really fortunate too that I get to run restaurants.\n\n973\n00:42:54.900 --> 00:42:58.020\nI'm in the middle of writing another cookbook right now.\n\n974\n00:42:58.020 --> 00:42:59.380\nI get to do TV.\n\n975\n00:42:59.380 --> 00:43:03.700\nI'm launching a video podcast on YouTube.\n\n976\n00:43:03.700 --> 00:43:07.100\nSo I have all these different interests that keep me busy and just keep the\n\n977\n00:43:07.100 --> 00:43:07.940\nwheels running\n\n978\n00:43:07.940 --> 00:43:09.060\nin my head.\n\n979\n00:43:09.060 --> 00:43:13.220\nI never have a boring day, but I also never have a predictable day.\n\n980\n00:43:13.220 --> 00:43:16.960\nLike every morning I wake up and I have a certain set of things to do on my to-\n\n981\n00:43:16.960 --> 00:43:18.420\ndo list,\n\n982\n00:43:18.420 --> 00:43:21.900\nbut I have so many different things going on and hitting me from all different\n\n983\n00:43:21.900 --> 00:43:22.300\nangles\n\n984\n00:43:22.300 --> 00:43:28.390\nthat my day can easily derail and I'm ending up, you know, doing flower\n\n985\n00:43:28.390 --> 00:43:29.180\narrangements at\n\n986\n00:43:29.180 --> 00:43:33.670\nmy restaurant, which can annoy some people, I guess, because it's not what I\n\n987\n00:43:33.670 --> 00:43:34.500\nwas supposed\n\n988\n00:43:34.500 --> 00:43:39.120\nto do today, but I love it because I kind of thrive off the unpredictability,\n\n989\n00:43:39.120 --> 00:43:39.660\nthat sort\n\n990\n00:43:39.660 --> 00:43:42.060\nof running go nature of the restaurant business.\n\n991\n00:43:42.060 --> 00:43:44.860\nIt always brings me joy.\n\n992\n00:43:44.860 --> 00:43:49.420\nIt always brings me some sort of a new spin on something.\n\n993\n00:43:49.420 --> 00:43:53.020\nAnd I'm always learning. I never know everything about the restaurant business.\n\n994\n00:43:53.020 --> 00:43:57.640\nSo to me, to be in a position where I don't necessarily have to be at the same\n\n995\n00:43:57.640 --> 00:43:58.300\njob every\n\n996\n00:43:58.300 --> 00:44:01.420\nday, I can sort of pick and choose where my day goes.\n\n997\n00:44:01.420 --> 00:44:04.570\nBut at the same time, I'm always playing defense a little bit because I know\n\n998\n00:44:04.570 --> 00:44:05.300\nsomething's going\n\n999\n00:44:05.300 --> 00:44:09.520\nto come up and I get to, I use those opportunities to learn to learn about\n\n1000\n00:44:09.520 --> 00:44:10.820\nevery aspect of this\n\n1001\n00:44:10.820 --> 00:44:11.820\nbusiness.\n\n1002\n00:44:11.820 --> 00:44:14.920\nYou know, I know that for all of us, we have our ups and downs, our wins and\n\n1003\n00:44:14.920 --> 00:44:15.500\nlosses in\n\n1004\n00:44:15.500 --> 00:44:17.340\nboth life and business.\n\n1005\n00:44:17.340 --> 00:44:21.340\nDid you share a story about a time when things didn't go as planned and what\n\n1006\n00:44:21.340 --> 00:44:21.940\nyou learned\n\n1007\n00:44:21.940 --> 00:44:22.940\nfrom it?\n\n1008\n00:44:22.940 --> 00:44:27.660\nThat's pretty much every day of my life doesn't go as planned.\n\n1009\n00:44:27.660 --> 00:44:32.560\nBut recently, we lost a couple of restaurants during COVID and we had to shut\n\n1010\n00:44:32.560 --> 00:44:34.060\nour both businesses\n\n1011\n00:44:34.060 --> 00:44:37.780\nand really it wasn't because the businesses were doing bad.\n\n1012\n00:44:37.780 --> 00:44:41.860\nThere were other outside forces in COVID and buildings shutting down.\n\n1013\n00:44:41.860 --> 00:44:46.160\nThey're very sad moments, sad for me, sad for my staff, sad for all the work\n\n1014\n00:44:46.160 --> 00:44:46.620\nthat we\n\n1015\n00:44:46.620 --> 00:44:51.340\nput into it and we didn't really get to have a final goodbye or a send off.\n\n1016\n00:44:51.340 --> 00:44:56.060\nAnd so those are things that I look at as challenges.\n\n1017\n00:44:56.060 --> 00:45:02.580\nBut also to me, it allowed me to free up my time to pivot and do other things\n\n1018\n00:45:02.580 --> 00:45:03.380\nand all\n\n1019\n00:45:03.380 --> 00:45:07.680\nof a sudden I found myself instead of running six restaurants, only running\n\n1020\n00:45:07.680 --> 00:45:09.100\nthree restaurants.\n\n1021\n00:45:09.100 --> 00:45:15.400\nAnd I had extra time on my hands and sort of refocused it into my nonprofit and\n\n1022\n00:45:15.400 --> 00:45:16.180\nrefocused\n\n1023\n00:45:16.180 --> 00:45:18.940\na lot of that energy.\n\n1024\n00:45:18.940 --> 00:45:25.350\nAnd I found this incredible new passion that I didn't have before, that I maybe\n\n1025\n00:45:25.350 --> 00:45:26.140\nexisted\n\n1026\n00:45:26.140 --> 00:45:31.690\nin me, but I didn't recognize it or didn't know about it, which was helping\n\n1027\n00:45:31.690 --> 00:45:32.340\npeople, finding\n\n1028\n00:45:32.340 --> 00:45:38.700\nways and solutions to help people that are hurting in the restaurant business.\n\n1029\n00:45:38.700 --> 00:45:44.030\nAnd I can honestly say the nonprofit work that I committed to doing during CO\n\n1030\n00:45:44.030 --> 00:45:44.700\nVID is now\n\n1031\n00:45:44.700 --> 00:45:48.180\nsomething that I will commit to for the rest of my career.\n\n1032\n00:45:48.180 --> 00:45:52.730\nBut it took sort of losing three restaurants in order for me to have the time\n\n1033\n00:45:52.730 --> 00:45:53.500\nto commit\n\n1034\n00:45:53.500 --> 00:45:57.860\nmyself to this other thing that now is something I wake up every day and I\n\n1035\n00:45:57.860 --> 00:45:58.860\nthink about and\n\n1036\n00:45:58.860 --> 00:46:00.260\nI try to do better at it.\n\n1037\n00:46:00.260 --> 00:46:04.540\nSo, you know, it's a lot of times it's just finding the opportunities that are\n\n1038\n00:46:04.540 --> 00:46:05.220\nall around\n\n1039\n00:46:05.220 --> 00:46:06.220\nyou.\n\n1040\n00:46:06.220 --> 00:46:08.880\nAnd you know, when things don't go your way, just channel your energy into\n\n1041\n00:46:08.880 --> 00:46:10.340\nsomething else.\n\n1042\n00:46:10.340 --> 00:46:13.490\nI love how you pivot and you've done such a great job, you know, helping\n\n1043\n00:46:13.490 --> 00:46:14.140\nrestaurants\n\n1044\n00:46:14.140 --> 00:46:18.360\nthat are not as fortunate as you and also, you know, bringing women into the\n\n1045\n00:46:18.360 --> 00:46:19.020\nworkforce\n\n1046\n00:46:19.020 --> 00:46:20.020\nas chefs.\n\n1047\n00:46:20.020 --> 00:46:23.140\nAnd I really congratulate you on all those efforts.\n\n1048\n00:46:23.140 --> 00:46:25.780\nWhat's been one of your best days as a chef?\n\n1049\n00:46:25.780 --> 00:46:27.820\nTell us a story you'll never forget.\n\n1050\n00:46:27.820 --> 00:46:30.260\nI had something recently that happened.\n\n1051\n00:46:30.260 --> 00:46:35.090\nWe did a charity dinner at my restaurant and we invited two groups of people\n\n1052\n00:46:35.090 --> 00:46:35.820\nthat were\n\n1053\n00:46:35.820 --> 00:46:37.780\nhaving some friction with each other.\n\n1054\n00:46:37.780 --> 00:46:42.310\nWe invited some members of the LMPD, Louisville Metro Police Department, and we\n\n1055\n00:46:42.310 --> 00:46:43.060\ninvited some\n\n1056\n00:46:43.060 --> 00:46:45.380\nmembers of the black community.\n\n1057\n00:46:45.380 --> 00:46:51.610\nAnd we had this dinner and the whole point of the dinner was to create unity\n\n1058\n00:46:51.610 --> 00:46:52.300\nand for\n\n1059\n00:46:52.300 --> 00:46:57.010\npeople to get along with each other and to see each other as people, not as\n\n1060\n00:46:57.010 --> 00:46:58.060\ncombatants,\n\n1061\n00:46:58.060 --> 00:47:01.780\nnot as political, you know, motivations, but just as people.\n\n1062\n00:47:01.780 --> 00:47:05.520\nI cooked a barbecue dinner for them and we didn't know what was going to come\n\n1063\n00:47:05.520 --> 00:47:06.140\nof it.\n\n1064\n00:47:06.140 --> 00:47:10.380\nAnd it was really important that I brought my daughter and my wife with me.\n\n1065\n00:47:10.380 --> 00:47:14.970\nAnd I wanted to show both the audience and my family that what I do for a\n\n1066\n00:47:14.970 --> 00:47:15.900\nliving food\n\n1067\n00:47:15.900 --> 00:47:21.200\noftentimes is fun, entertaining, it's luxurious, it's a really beautiful escape\n\n1068\n00:47:21.200 --> 00:47:21.260\n.\n\n1069\n00:47:21.260 --> 00:47:25.550\nBut sometimes food and restaurants and chefs can have a bigger meaning and a\n\n1070\n00:47:25.550 --> 00:47:26.500\nbigger impact\n\n1071\n00:47:26.500 --> 00:47:31.300\nand can affect society in ways that we don't often think of chefs doing.\n\n1072\n00:47:31.300 --> 00:47:35.230\nBy the end of the dinner, everyone was hugging each other, everyone was passing\n\n1073\n00:47:35.230 --> 00:47:35.940\nup business\n\n1074\n00:47:35.940 --> 00:47:42.350\ncards, we all took pictures and we all vowed to continue this mission of unity,\n\n1075\n00:47:42.350 --> 00:47:43.140\nof getting\n\n1076\n00:47:43.140 --> 00:47:48.060\ntogether, of communication, of trying to understand each other despite our\n\n1077\n00:47:48.060 --> 00:47:49.980\npolitical beliefs.\n\n1078\n00:47:49.980 --> 00:47:53.100\nAnd to me, that was such an important thing.\n\n1079\n00:47:53.100 --> 00:47:56.940\nYou know, my daughter was sitting right there and seeing it.\n\n1080\n00:47:56.940 --> 00:47:58.460\nShe's nine years old.\n\n1081\n00:47:58.460 --> 00:48:02.340\nAnd I know that we get so much of our information on social media these days\n\n1082\n00:48:02.340 --> 00:48:03.140\nthat it was so\n\n1083\n00:48:03.140 --> 00:48:08.050\nimportant to have her sitting in the room and listening to these people say\n\n1084\n00:48:08.050 --> 00:48:08.900\nthese really\n\n1085\n00:48:08.900 --> 00:48:14.320\nencouraging and wonderful things about each other and promising to do better on\n\n1086\n00:48:14.320 --> 00:48:15.060\nboth sides\n\n1087\n00:48:15.060 --> 00:48:16.060\nof the aisle.\n\n1088\n00:48:16.060 --> 00:48:20.980\nAnd so that's one example of where I sort of get out of the chef mode.\n\n1089\n00:48:20.980 --> 00:48:26.030\nAnd even though I'm still cooking, it makes me feel really encouraged that the\n\n1090\n00:48:26.030 --> 00:48:26.740\nthings that\n\n1091\n00:48:26.740 --> 00:48:30.860\nI do, they're small, they're small, dying as 20 people.\n\n1092\n00:48:30.860 --> 00:48:34.740\nBut these things kind of impacts and they can have ripples that go beyond just\n\n1093\n00:48:34.740 --> 00:48:35.300\nthat room\n\n1094\n00:48:35.300 --> 00:48:36.540\nthat we were in.\n\n1095\n00:48:36.540 --> 00:48:39.940\nWell, you can bring a city together and get closer together.\n\n1096\n00:48:39.940 --> 00:48:40.940\nAnd I think that's great.\n\n1097\n00:48:40.940 --> 00:48:42.300\nI've always learned that, you know, break it.\n\n1098\n00:48:42.300 --> 00:48:46.340\nThere's nothing like breaking bread with people to get you on the same page and\n\n1099\n00:48:46.340 --> 00:48:47.020\nit does bring\n\n1100\n00:48:47.020 --> 00:48:48.020\nyou together.\n\n1101\n00:48:48.020 --> 00:48:50.220\nAnd I totally agree with that.\n\n1102\n00:48:50.220 --> 00:48:52.590\nEdward, this has been so much fun and I'd like to have a little bit more with\n\n1103\n00:48:52.590 --> 00:48:52.980\nyou with\n\n1104\n00:48:52.980 --> 00:48:54.780\nmy lightning round of questions.\n\n1105\n00:48:54.780 --> 00:48:55.780\nAre you ready for this?\n\n1106\n00:48:55.780 --> 00:48:57.100\nI'll try my best.\n\n1107\n00:48:57.100 --> 00:48:58.100\nAll right.\n\n1108\n00:48:58.100 --> 00:49:01.740\nThe three words others would use to describe you.\n\n1109\n00:49:01.740 --> 00:49:08.500\nMotivated, grumpy and precise.\n\n1110\n00:49:08.500 --> 00:49:09.500\nOkay.\n\n1111\n00:49:09.500 --> 00:49:13.900\nIf you could be someone besides yourself for a day, who would it be and why?\n\n1112\n00:49:13.900 --> 00:49:20.610\nI would be an NBA point guard, something like James Harden, if I could be\n\n1113\n00:49:20.610 --> 00:49:22.180\nanyone for a day.\n\n1114\n00:49:22.180 --> 00:49:27.270\nI would love to just, you know, bring a ball down a court and listen to 20,000\n\n1115\n00:49:27.270 --> 00:49:27.860\nfans like\n\n1116\n00:49:27.860 --> 00:49:30.020\ncheering me on.\n\n1117\n00:49:30.020 --> 00:49:31.820\nWhat's your biggest pet peeve?\n\n1118\n00:49:31.820 --> 00:49:35.500\nPeople cutting lines, you know, for some reason, you know, like at the airport\n\n1119\n00:49:35.500 --> 00:49:36.020\nwhen someone\n\n1120\n00:49:36.020 --> 00:49:41.820\ntries to cut a line, like that just, it just gets under my skin.\n\n1121\n00:49:41.820 --> 00:49:45.580\nYou only get to eat one genre of food for the rest of your life.\n\n1122\n00:49:45.580 --> 00:49:47.660\nWhat would it be?\n\n1123\n00:49:47.660 --> 00:49:48.660\nThat's easy.\n\n1124\n00:49:48.660 --> 00:49:49.980\nNoodles, spicy noodles.\n\n1125\n00:49:49.980 --> 00:49:51.500\nSo this might be easy too.\n\n1126\n00:49:51.500 --> 00:49:54.180\nWhat's your favorite meal at your favorite restaurant?\n\n1127\n00:49:54.180 --> 00:49:55.180\nOh boy.\n\n1128\n00:49:55.180 --> 00:49:56.700\nNo, that's a difficult one.\n\n1129\n00:49:56.700 --> 00:50:01.260\nI don't really have a favorite meal because I really just love everything.\n\n1130\n00:50:01.260 --> 00:50:07.110\nBut if I were pushed for an answer, there's a Peking duck, which is like one of\n\n1131\n00:50:07.110 --> 00:50:08.060\nmy favorite\n\n1132\n00:50:08.060 --> 00:50:12.300\nthings and this place in Chinatown called New York Peking duck house.\n\n1133\n00:50:12.300 --> 00:50:13.940\nIt's fantastic.\n\n1134\n00:50:13.940 --> 00:50:18.340\nWhat's a food you really enjoy that doesn't get the credit it deserves?\n\n1135\n00:50:18.340 --> 00:50:19.620\nGerman food.\n\n1136\n00:50:19.620 --> 00:50:24.660\nI love like my wife and I, whenever we travel and we find like some old mom and\n\n1137\n00:50:24.660 --> 00:50:25.740\npop German\n\n1138\n00:50:25.740 --> 00:50:27.700\nrestaurant, we like to go and try it.\n\n1139\n00:50:27.700 --> 00:50:33.090\nAnd you know, there's nothing better than a fried schnitzel with some sauerkra\n\n1140\n00:50:33.090 --> 00:50:33.580\nut.\n\n1141\n00:50:33.580 --> 00:50:36.980\nI can't stand sauerkraut looking for you.\n\n1142\n00:50:36.980 --> 00:50:40.740\nIf you turned on the radio in your car, what would we hear?\n\n1143\n00:50:40.740 --> 00:50:42.540\nProbably sports radio.\n\n1144\n00:50:42.540 --> 00:50:44.660\nThat's kind of my setting on the car.\n\n1145\n00:50:44.660 --> 00:50:48.980\nWhat was your most recent, I can't believe this is happening to me moment.\n\n1146\n00:50:48.980 --> 00:50:55.110\nLast year recently, I was given a Muhammad Ali award in Louisville and I just\n\n1147\n00:50:55.110 --> 00:50:56.340\nfound myself\n\n1148\n00:50:56.340 --> 00:50:59.820\non stage with some incredible people around the country that were doing\n\n1149\n00:50:59.820 --> 00:51:01.140\nincredible things.\n\n1150\n00:51:01.140 --> 00:51:05.090\nAnd that was really humbling because I didn't really feel like I belonged in\n\n1151\n00:51:05.090 --> 00:51:05.940\nsuch a steamed\n\n1152\n00:51:05.940 --> 00:51:06.940\ncompany.\n\n1153\n00:51:06.940 --> 00:51:09.020\nWell, you do.\n\n1154\n00:51:09.020 --> 00:51:10.580\nLast lightning round question.\n\n1155\n00:51:10.580 --> 00:51:14.060\nWhat's something about you few people would know?\n\n1156\n00:51:14.060 --> 00:51:17.860\nI'm very passionate about singing karaoke.\n\n1157\n00:51:17.860 --> 00:51:23.140\nI used to recently broke, but I used to have a karaoke machine in my own home.\n\n1158\n00:51:23.140 --> 00:51:24.660\nFavorite karaoke song?\n\n1159\n00:51:24.660 --> 00:51:25.660\nI got to ask you.\n\n1160\n00:51:25.660 --> 00:51:27.340\nI can do a mean Tom Petty.\n\n1161\n00:51:27.340 --> 00:51:29.740\nI do a little bit of YouTube.\n\n1162\n00:51:29.740 --> 00:51:33.660\nI can do some Elvis if the mood is right.\n\n1163\n00:51:33.660 --> 00:51:36.770\nBut sometimes when my wife and daughter are out of the house, I like to turn\n\n1164\n00:51:36.770 --> 00:51:37.300\nthe lights\n\n1165\n00:51:37.300 --> 00:51:42.860\ndown low and just rock out to some good karaoke by myself.\n\n1166\n00:51:42.860 --> 00:51:46.480\nYou know, if you could go back 20 years and give yourself a motivational speech\n\n1167\n00:51:46.480 --> 00:51:46.900\nor some\n\n1168\n00:51:46.900 --> 00:51:50.140\nkind of encouragement, what would your message be?\n\n1169\n00:51:50.140 --> 00:51:51.380\nI think that's an easy one.\n\n1170\n00:51:51.380 --> 00:51:55.280\nI would tell my younger self and I tell this to all my young chefs that work\n\n1171\n00:51:55.280 --> 00:51:56.420\nunder me.\n\n1172\n00:51:56.420 --> 00:51:59.020\nIt's a marathon, not a race.\n\n1173\n00:51:59.020 --> 00:52:03.930\nAnd when you're young, you're so eager and you're so impatient and you're so\n\n1174\n00:52:03.930 --> 00:52:04.740\njust ready\n\n1175\n00:52:04.740 --> 00:52:08.180\nto explode and you want it all right now.\n\n1176\n00:52:08.180 --> 00:52:13.950\nAnd you realize that this career, this life is so long and you have so many\n\n1177\n00:52:13.950 --> 00:52:14.860\npaths that\n\n1178\n00:52:14.860 --> 00:52:20.100\nyou can choose and there are so many paths that open up to you as you go along\n\n1179\n00:52:20.100 --> 00:52:20.500\nand you\n\n1180\n00:52:20.500 --> 00:52:22.820\nhave to keep your mind open to it.\n\n1181\n00:52:22.820 --> 00:52:26.540\nYou know, I mean, just as simple as I come from Brooklyn, New York and train\n\n1182\n00:52:26.540 --> 00:52:27.020\nmost of\n\n1183\n00:52:27.020 --> 00:52:30.740\nmy career in my early career in Manhattan.\n\n1184\n00:52:30.740 --> 00:52:34.980\nIf someone told 22 year old Ed Lee, \"Hey, you'll be running a restaurant in\n\n1185\n00:52:34.980 --> 00:52:35.780\nLouisville,\n\n1186\n00:52:35.780 --> 00:52:40.830\nKentucky and spending the better part of 20 years being an ambassador for\n\n1187\n00:52:40.830 --> 00:52:41.660\nKentucky,\n\n1188\n00:52:41.660 --> 00:52:43.420\nI would have said you're crazy.\"\n\n1189\n00:52:43.420 --> 00:52:45.740\nBut lo and behold, that's exactly what happened.\n\n1190\n00:52:45.740 --> 00:52:49.490\nAnd I'm so fortunate that that opportunity came and I was open to the\n\n1191\n00:52:49.490 --> 00:52:50.540\nopportunity and\n\n1192\n00:52:50.540 --> 00:52:51.660\nI took it.\n\n1193\n00:52:51.660 --> 00:52:56.100\nI think patience is something in this world that we live in.\n\n1194\n00:52:56.100 --> 00:53:01.210\nIt's not the most rewarded attribute, but I really do think patience is\n\n1195\n00:53:01.210 --> 00:53:02.340\nsomething that\n\n1196\n00:53:02.340 --> 00:53:07.820\nwe need to focus more on and understand like whatever career you have, it's\n\n1197\n00:53:07.820 --> 00:53:08.260\ngoing to be\n\n1198\n00:53:08.260 --> 00:53:09.260\na long one.\n\n1199\n00:53:09.260 --> 00:53:13.220\nIf you want to be in it for a long time, patience is such a virtue.\n\n1200\n00:53:13.220 --> 00:53:16.930\nYou know, one of the things about the restaurant industry is that people like\n\n1201\n00:53:16.930 --> 00:53:17.620\nyourself can\n\n1202\n00:53:17.620 --> 00:53:22.460\nstart from nothing and end up at the top and you've certainly done that.\n\n1203\n00:53:22.460 --> 00:53:26.930\nAnd Edward, I want to thank you for sharing your dreams and your American dream\n\n1204\n00:53:26.930 --> 00:53:27.660\nwith us\n\n1205\n00:53:27.660 --> 00:53:31.050\nbecause you're a guy who has really made it happen and I admire everything you\n\n1206\n00:53:31.050 --> 00:53:31.700\n've done.\n\n1207\n00:53:31.700 --> 00:53:32.460\nOh, thank you.\n\n1208\n00:53:32.460 --> 00:53:46.500\nWell, you can see for yourself, Edward is such a passionate and driven guy.\n\n1209\n00:53:46.500 --> 00:53:49.740\nHe's also incredibly kind and attuned to people.\n\n1210\n00:53:49.740 --> 00:53:53.810\nIt's a wonderful combination and I know it's a huge reason why he's been so\n\n1211\n00:53:53.810 --> 00:53:54.620\nincredibly\n\n1212\n00:53:54.620 --> 00:53:56.100\nsuccessful.\n\n1213\n00:53:56.100 --> 00:54:00.730\nHe reminds us of just how important it is, no matter how driven we are, to make\n\n1214\n00:54:00.730 --> 00:54:01.340\nsure we\n\n1215\n00:54:01.340 --> 00:54:06.580\nalways honor the people around us as people, as individuals.\n\n1216\n00:54:06.580 --> 00:54:10.840\nThis week, think of someone on your team who doesn't always get the credit they\n\n1217\n00:54:10.840 --> 00:54:11.540\ndeserve.\n\n1218\n00:54:11.540 --> 00:54:14.810\nWrite them a note and tell them exactly why they matter to you and what\n\n1219\n00:54:14.810 --> 00:54:15.900\nspecific strengths\n\n1220\n00:54:15.900 --> 00:54:18.020\nthey have that you admire.\n\n1221\n00:54:18.020 --> 00:54:21.590\nIt's a simple gesture, but it's going to mean the world for that person to know\n\n1222\n00:54:21.590 --> 00:54:22.180\nthat you\n\n1223\n00:54:22.180 --> 00:54:27.140\nappreciate them, not just as a worker, but as an individual.\n\n1224\n00:54:27.140 --> 00:54:29.300\nSo do you want to know how leaders lead?\n\n1225\n00:54:29.300 --> 00:54:33.860\nWhat we learned today is that great leaders show others that they matter.\n\n1226\n00:54:33.860 --> 00:54:35.260\nAnd you know what?\n\n1227\n00:54:35.260 --> 00:54:39.260\nGreat leaders are thankful for the people they have, the privilege of leading,\n\n1228\n00:54:39.260 --> 00:54:39.460\nand I\n\n1229\n00:54:39.460 --> 00:54:43.020\nwant you to have a happy Thanksgiving.\n\n1230\n00:54:43.020 --> 00:54:48.460\nComing up next on how leaders lead is David Gibbs, CEO of Yumbrands.\n\n1231\n00:54:48.460 --> 00:54:52.060\nAnything that is presented to you as being bad, I immediately try to figure out\n\n1232\n00:54:52.060 --> 00:54:52.580\n, okay,\n\n1233\n00:54:52.580 --> 00:54:54.100\nhow can this actually be good?\n\n1234\n00:54:54.100 --> 00:54:58.370\nI just put my mindset in, okay, what good can come out of this and how do we\n\n1235\n00:54:58.370 --> 00:54:59.140\ncapitalize\n\n1236\n00:54:59.140 --> 00:55:01.700\non it because it's the only thing that we could control.\n\n1237\n00:55:01.700 --> 00:55:06.340\nSo be sure to come back again next week to hear our entire conversation.\n\n1238\n00:55:06.340 --> 00:55:10.170\nThanks again for tuning in to another episode of How leaders lead where every\n\n1239\n00:55:10.170 --> 00:55:11.020\nThursday you\n\n1240\n00:55:11.020 --> 00:55:15.220\nget to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world.\n\n1241\n00:55:15.220 --> 00:55:19.100\nI'm making a point to give you something simple on each episode that you can\n\n1242\n00:55:19.100 --> 00:55:19.860\napply to your\n\n1243\n00:55:19.860 --> 00:55:23.700\nbusiness so that you will become the best leader you can be.\n\n1244\n00:55:23.700 --> 00:55:33.700\n[BLANK_AUDIO]\n\n1245\n00:55:33.700 --> 00:55:43.700\n[BLANK_AUDIO]","

David Novak 0:04

Welcome to How leaders lead where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world, I break down the key learning so that by the end of the episode, you'll have something simple that you can apply as you develop into a better leader. That's what this podcast is all about. Well, it's Thanksgiving time, it's time to eat a lot. And since we're gathering together this week for quality time, and quality food is the perfect chance for us to learn some leadership lessons from my favorite chef, Edward Lee. When people come to visit us here in Louisville, and they ask where they should go eat. I always recommend Edward Lee's restaurant, 610 Magnolia, his food is incredible. And I gotta say, his carrot cake is absolutely out of this world. On top of being a successful restaurant tour, he's also competed on Top Chef written to really fun and wonderful books, and has even been nominated for an Emmy, this guy has built a thriving career in an industry that can be pretty much cutthroat. And he's done it by showing people how much they matter. When he prepares the dish. When he's talking to his staff. He treats every single person as an individual people matter. And when you can show your people that they matter to you. Well, that's the hallmark of a great leader. Keep listening to see how it's done. So here's my conversation with my good friend, and soon to be yours, Edward Lee.

You know, Edward, I always like to go back to the beginning. You know, tell us about your upbringing.

Edward Lee 1:47

So my parents came over to America in 1971, from South Korea, you know, they did something interesting at back then all the Koreans were moving to a neighborhood in Queens called flushing, it was sort of the Korean neighborhood. And they decided that they weren't going to do that. We were going to move to Canarsie, Brooklyn, which was back then the pits. But they really wanted me to be American like it was it was their dream, they really wanted me to sort of see the world and be with different cultural groups and sort of embrace being in America. So we moved to a really strange neighborhood. And it was all full of all kinds of immigrants, like Jewish people in Polish, and Italians, and Jamaicans and Indians. And it was a rough neighborhood. But it was also a really interesting upbringing. And, you know, looking back on it now, a lot of my sort of culinary roots came from this, this weird sort of immigrant enclave living in this working class immigrant neighborhood was exposed to so many different people at a young age.

David Novak 2:46

When was your first restaurant job? And what did you learn from it?

Edward Lee 2:49

So this is an interesting story. And I actually don't know if I've ever told this in public. My first restaurant job was at Trump Tower in New York City. I was 15. And I wanted nothing more than to work at a fancy restaurant. And back then in New York City. I mean, you know, there were restaurants and there, there was Trump Tower. And so I go to this place, there was a little restaurant called terrace five and was on the fifth floor. So I go to this place, and I apply for a job. And the manager loved me. But then he looked at my application and said, Oh, you're only 15 I can't hire you. And I said, Okay. So I go home. And that Friday, I get a call at like, 4pm. And it's the manager and you know, back then we'd have cell phones. So it was like in my house, or my apartment, and he said, listen, the busboy that we hired didn't show up, if you can be here in a half an hour, I will, you know, scratch out your age and you got the job. So I ran over there, literally, and I got the job. And it was my first job was being a busboy, at a little restaurant in Trump Tower, and I did it for about four months. Did you learn

David Novak 4:01

then that you liked the restaurant business? You obviously weren't doing the food at that point

Edward Lee 4:06

for a 15 year old kid to be working in a restaurant and it was a fancy restaurant, and there were high end clients and you know, the waiters were all buttoned up and I absolutely loved every minute of it. I was just surrounded by people much older than me, much cooler than me. And on the second day of my job, Michelle Pfeiffer came in for lunch. She ordered a cappuccino, and the manager ordered me to go make a cappuccino which I'd never done before. So I think I actually burned my thumb spilling the hot milk, I made a cappuccino. I delivered it to the table. And she looked up at me and smiled and said thank you. And I remember turning around and going. This is the coolest job in the world.

David Novak 4:54

That's a good story. You have another story from your childhood that shaped you as a person and eventually as a chef,

Edward Lee 5:01

so, um, you know, we were very humble, you know, I came from humble upbringings. And both my parents worked, they both worked full time jobs, mostly in the garment business. And so I didn't see my parents very much. I mean, they pretty much left before dawn, and they came home, you know, about 10pm every night. So I spent a lot of time with my grandmother, she was a widow. And she basically spent most of her days cooking. And, you know, it's just doing sort of domestic work. And I was always fascinated by the things she did in the kitchen, you know, I didn't know that she would make tea from scratch, she would make miso from scratch, she would make all these sauces, she would like ferment kimchi and marinate crabs, and do all these things with, you know, a very small budget, going to the local, like, you know, ethnic market and just make all these things. And I remember being fascinated, and I remember trying to spend time with her in the kitchen, you know, when you come from a traditional Korean household, you know, cooking is considered women's work. And I was the only son so I was supposed to do other things. And I remember her, she would always kick me out of the kitchen, and tell me to go outside and play sports or do whatever. But she was like you don't belong in the kitchen, I remember is the first time that I had to fight my way in the kitchen. And I told her, I don't remember how old I was. And I told my grandmother, I said, I live here too. And you can't, like kick me out of the kitchen. And so she finally relented. And she would let me just hang out with her and do things and give me little jobs to do. But she would never explain it to me, she just would silently like cook. And she would let me hang out and watch her. But she would never explain what she was doing. So I kind of had to figure out on my own what it was, and I wasn't cooking back then. But I truly, truly believe like that was the beginning of my fascination with the kitchen.

David Novak 7:01

You obviously at that young age, you had a real strong courage of conviction and independence, how do you think that's really served you and your career,

Edward Lee 7:09

a follow up story to that is when I finally turned 18. And I told my parents, most notably my dad that I was going to be a chef, let's see, they were not happy about it to the point where like, my father didn't talk to me for many years, because he was just so upset. In his words, you know, he didn't bring me to this country to be a servant. And so to me that conviction to be able to sort of fight my way in the kitchen to be able to sort of convince my parents against, you know, very, very daunting expectations, to say, you know, what, I truly, truly belong here. And I want to be here, and I'm going to make a success out of myself. It's always been in the bottom of my heart, the thing that drives me the most, because when hardships happen, when times get tough when it's very stressful. I always kind of think back on those early days, when I had to convince my own parents that I was going to do this, nothing is harder than that. Nothing is harder than looking into the eyes of your parents seeing disappointment. And saying, Don't worry, I'm going to prove you wrong. And so when I think when you have that in your gut, you can sort of accomplish anything. You know,

David Novak 8:20

what advice do you give people on on how to how to really know what's in their heart, let alone follow it.

Edward Lee 8:26

To me, it's about true passion. When I spend even today, if I spend 1214 hours in a kitchen, it doesn't feel like work. It doesn't feel like hardship. in my younger days. Anyway, when I was cooking all the time. You know, I miss lots of friends outings, I missed anniversaries, I miss birthday parties, I missed, you know, New Year's Eve celebrations. And I never felt like I was missing out on anything. And I think when you find something that truly moves you and truly makes the time pass without any kind of regrets.

David Novak 9:06

That's it. You're loved. Like Warren Buffett dissented. He says he tapped dancers to work, tap dance

Edward Lee 9:11

to work. But I still wake up every morning and I can't wait to get to work.

David Novak 9:16

Now. Did you go on to college, or I did.

Edward Lee 9:18

I knew very early on that I wanted to do this. But I went to college really to make my parents happy. Because that was the deal we made. You know, they said, you're a first generation immigrant. You're gonna graduate from an American college. So I went to NYU, which was interesting, because I said, Listen, I knew that I didn't need a college degree to do what I wanted to do because I wanted to cook so I decided that if I'm going to be here anyway, I'm just actually major in what I like to do, and I love to read. So I just became a lit major, which they weren't happy with again. But I said you know, I'm doing this for you guys. I'm going to be a lit major. I'm going to read some great books and soon I graduate college, I'm gonna get a job in a restaurant. But interestingly enough, I actually really appreciate I had a great education. I really enjoyed my college days. And I think being a lit major for four years has served me well in many other ways.

David Novak 10:15

Now, you now own some very acclaimed restaurants. When did you first how old were you when you first found your first restaurant?

Edward Lee 10:22

So I was in New York City. And I was not planning to open a restaurant. I you know, I graduated college, I was working at a few kitchens, some really nice kitchens in New York City. And I never went to culinary school. So I had this harebrained idea, which was completely the opposite of what normal people do. I said, What if I opened up a little joint, not a restaurant, but like a little, sort of barbecue joint, and I would make money. And then I would use that money to enroll in culinary school, which is not what you do. You go to culinary school first, and you open a restaurant. So I was walking through Chinatown in Manhattan. And I just came upon this sign and it said for rent call owner. And it wasn't it wasn't a real estate sign. It was just like a little handwritten sign that said for rent Colona. And I don't know why. But I just, you know, I call them and turned out the lease was great. It was an old Chinese restaurant that had gone out of business. And he The rent was so cheap. And I don't know why. But I said, sure I'll do. I had no money. And I took out credit card debt. And I got a little bit of a SBA loan, and I borrowed money from friends and neighbors. And anyone I could ask him, a good friend of mine was a carpenter. And he helped me build it on. I was 25, I opened my first restaurant for less than $180,000 in downtown New York City, which is unheard of people, I tell that story, and people don't believe me. And it became really, really successful. And we got a review on the front page of The New York Times within six months,

David Novak 12:02

what was your concept, you said you wanted to have a joint but what kind it was, it was

Edward Lee 12:05

kind of like a weird fusion Korean barbecue joint. But that served like good drinks, in a little bit of American food, a little bit of Korean food, all small bites. And I really did not know what I was doing at all. But I'm thankful I did that. I cut my teeth in the business doing that. And I realized that maybe I didn't know everything about food. But I sure well learned how to do plumbing. I learned how to, you know, lead a team of 30 people, I learned how to fix light bulbs and fix bathrooms and paint walls and anything that the I had no money, so anything that needed to be done. I just did it. And you learn the business from the ground, I learned everything from going to the flower market on Sundays at 4pm. Because that was when they were throwing away all their flowers, and you can get them for next to nothing to go into Chinatown and haggling on the fish, things that they don't teach in cooking school. And so you know, five years into that when I actually did make the money, I realized I didn't need to go to cooking school, because I had sort of put my own self through cooking school with this little restaurant. So I look back at those days pretty fondly.

David Novak 13:18

So now you're in the restaurant business for real. And you know, what do you find is the most challenging aspect of leaving your restaurant business,

Edward Lee 13:25

you're only as good as the people that you hire. And there's no way that I can excel. And there's no way that I can progress and expand without having all the people on my team believe in what we do. And it's hard. My head chefs, my managers, they all believe in it. You know, sometimes the young student that's a waitress just wants a job. You know, this is not her career. She just wants to come in and make some money, and fun, whatever else is doing in life. And that's fine, too. We rely on those people. They don't always believe in the dream the way I do. They don't always understand the struggles that I've gone through and the passion that I have. And to be able to convince every single person from the head chef down to the dishwasher, that we have a dream we have a purpose. We're here for a reason. And if we all work together, things go well, if we don't things fall apart. How do you cast that vision Edward? I try and lead by example. I go in there, I'm every single day I go to work. I try to show people that I'm never above doing their jobs. And I try to explain people like I've done every job in the restaurant business. I've washed dishes, I have done plumbing, I have painted walls and I go in there and if I see a problem, I go in there and I tackle it. I am not above washing dishes even today. If a customer and I was at my restaurant last night and a customer needed water, and the waitresses were busy I went and I grabbed a pitcher of water and I filled their water it. And I hope that when they see that they realize that this thing for me is not just a business, it's not just to make money. I truly believe in taking care of people taking care of my customers, I want every single person to feel like they're coming into my home. And they are. And I think when people see that about me when they truly believe that I care, I care about my restaurant, family is a true family. For me, I have my other family, but they are also true family. And it is gets more and more difficult as we expand. And as we would each restaurant we add on. And then we add another 780 people to staff,

David Novak 15:40

what are the soft skills you have to develop to be a really good leader in your mind,

Edward Lee 15:45

I think it's being able to, and as impossible as it is, is to look at every single person individually. You know, we have policies, we have lists of things that we have to do, but it's to look at every single person, as a human being and as an individual, and not just a worker. And I think once people feel like they're just a number, or just a worker, or just a product, they lose the passion. I try and get into people's lives, I try and sort of learn something about them. Personally, I try and ask them something about their kid about what they did on Sunday when on their day off. And I try and really help them you know, in a way, and I try and sort of understand that we spend a lot of time together in the restaurants. These people work six days a week, and they give a lot to my group. And so while we are here in the restaurant, I try and make life easy for them and fun.

David Novak 16:42

You know, Edward, I've studied a lot of great companies, a lot of great leaders, but every successful business creates a culture or work environment where everybody on the team knows that they count. That sounds like what you really believe in. Yeah, you know, you're Korean you mentioned so I'm sure the stereotypical expectation is for you to specialize in Asian food. What direction Have you taken and why No, you started out with sort of a Korean fusing type business. What's your view on that now.

Edward Lee 17:08

So I moved to Louisville, Kentucky, I came from New York City, it was kind of a sad story, the restaurant that I had in New York was doing well. And after 911, things went haywire. And I just needed to change I needed to get out a friend of mine recommended that I come to Kentucky for Derby, I came here. And I just fell in love with this place. And obviously the bourbon and the pretty ladies and hats didn't hurt. So I just felt like there was something here that I'd never seen before. I was 29 when I arrived here, for being a chef's for so long. I've never really spent time on farms. You know, I never really understood agriculture. You know, I was a chef and I pick up my phone and order my meats. And when I came down here, I was so sort of enthralled by the people the culture. And little by little I started getting into southern food, which is not something that I was born with, I didn't grow up with it. And everything from fried chicken to collard greens to chess pies and all this stuff. And I just couldn't stop eating this stuff. And I was like, This is amazing. Where where's this been all my life. I think as an inquisitive chef, little by little, if you start eating things that you love, it's natural to start to want to cook them. And so I would start going back into my kitchen and going well, I'm gonna make barbecue sauce, I'm gonna make biscuits and gravy. You know, obviously, I was never going to be a traditional Southern chef. But little by little I started saying, Well, this stuff is really good. And maybe I can mix a little like Korean spice with it. And maybe I can mix this. And you know, I'm a Korean born chef, but trained in a very sort of classical French way, because a lot of the restaurants I worked in as a kid, or French restaurants. And then I started taking these these southern traditions, and started kind of infusing them with it. And I feel like that was the final missing piece of the puzzle that completed me as a chef. And I've been doing it ever since

David Novak 19:08

you know, ever now I have my autograph copy of buttermilk graffiti, which is very good. Thank you What made you write this book,

Edward Lee 19:16

you know, as a creative person, as someone who looks at the world sort of with a creative lens. I'm always looking for different outlets to tell stories. And I truly believe that a good restaurant tells a really good story, you know, with food. And I truly believe like, that's what I try and do every day at my restaurants is not only serve delicious food, but also like, tell a story and make people see things in a new way. And so whether it's TV or restaurants or books, I try and do that. So we had great success with my first cookbook, smokin pickles. So when it came down to do another one, everyone thought that I was just going to do another cookbook. And I talked to my publisher and I said you don't have an idea to start have travelled across America, look at all these different cultures and write about them in a creative way. And, you know, hopefully is slightly interesting, maybe poetic, maybe, you know, sort of personal, where it really was a personal journey for me. And they were like, well, let's see a sample, and let's see, see what you can do. You know, again, I think if you if you truly have a passion for something, you're going to give it your all. And I really did. This was a two year process. And I went to places that I never thought I would go, and I met people that I never thought I would meet. And I just wrote about them in a way that was very honest, and hopefully, informative, but fun, you know? Well, the book

David Novak 20:39

is certainly fun. And I learned a lot. And you did go to all kinds of different places, and you really believe in the power of storytelling. Why is that? What do you think is so powerful in a story?

Edward Lee 20:50

I think that what makes humans different from animals, let's say is that we dream, you know, even I have a young daughter. And that's all we do is we tell stories, like we look at the moon, and we want to go there, you know, we see an ocean and we want to cross it. Like, we need stories, we need narratives, we need adventures. That's what makes us human. And, you know, I can get lost in a book. And you know, 10 hours goes by, and I've just traveled to exotic places, all because of a book and word that I'm reading. And I think that, that gets the juices flowing in our head. And that's what makes us feel alive.

David Novak 21:32

What story do you love to tell the most? Or do you enjoy most in the book that you wrote?

Edward Lee 21:36

You know, I really, it was actually the first chapter that I wrote. It's not the first chapter in the book. But it was the first chapter that I wrote. And it's about this little mill town called Lowell, Massachusetts. And there's a very vibrant Cambodian community that lives there. And I went to little thinking that I was going to write about the Cambodian chef's there. And I did, and it was spent a few days eating this great Cambodian food and going into markets and talking to people. And this was originally not supposed to be in the book. But I was driving around law, and I came upon this incredible ly old boxing gym, called Ramallah West End gym. And I'm a huge sports fan. So I go in there, and I go, Oh, this is where they filmed that movie was this old movie called The fighter. And it's a great movie. I think it won an Oscar. And I Oh, yeah, this is where they filmed the movie. And I was talking to the guys and just start chit chatting. And one of them said, Hey, man, if you really want a story, you gotta go see this guy, Irish check, Brady, he owns a bar down the road, an Irish bar. So I went there, ended up meeting him at night, and just thought I was gonna have a five minute conversation. I just wanted to ask him about low. We ended up staying up till two in the morning, he told me story after story after story about Irish history, and low about boxing about what it took to grow up here and fight your way through the rough times. And I realized that at that moment, at two in the morning, after drinking Irish whiskey with this gentleman, that that was going to be the book that was the story that I wanted to tell it wasn't just the Cambodian chef, but it was the Cambodian chef, next to this Irish boxer, and how those two lives are really linked together. And they may not even realize it. But that's their story. And it's kind of a story of America, where you go around, and there's sort of one group that's sort of fading away, or becoming more middle class or, you know, becoming more American or gentrifying. And there's another group coming in the next generation of immigrants fighting that same battle, clawing their way through life. And to me, that's America. And so I just wanted to go and tell that story.

David Novak 23:42

So you're a real student of the intersection of food and culture.

Edward Lee 23:46

You know, to me, food is not just what's on the plate, I look at food and I taste food, but then I really try and see the person behind it, the culture that made it you know, the reasons why certain spices go together, and certain sauces make it onto our plate.

David Novak 24:06

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You know, you're writing your book, I thought this was great that if you really want to know someone, you have to eat what he or she is eating. Explain that.

Edward Lee 24:49

So there's a lot of things that we culturally can change in ourselves, right, you know, like I can put on a suit and tie and you know, I can say I'm not Korean, I'm going to do this, or I'm going to ride horses or I'm going to play basketball. But there's something in our culinary DNA that always calls back to who we are. Because usually the foods that we love the most reveals something about our childhood, and how we grew up, because you start getting the static about the things that you ate when you were a kid. And so you crave those things, and you want to sort of eat them again and again. So when you really look at someone and see what they're, you know, it's a little experiment, I go and talk to people and say, you know, what's your favorite fruit? Mac and cheese? Why? You know, my grandma used to make that for me when I was a kid. Like, there you go. Right? There's an astrologer to food that is so strong in us. And it really reveals a lot about who we are, how we grew up, where we grew up. It's fascinating to me,

David Novak 25:50

when I read that, I thought about that, and I thought of my dad's pancakes. And my dad's pancakes, you know, I mean, he makes the flattest tennis pancakes, and he gets them just really just tough almost, and they're just sensational. But it's really the love and the, you know, his love in our family love that. I think that that really brings out so I think that's very powerful. Edward, have you ever had an incident or an experience that made you appreciate what it might be like to be without food just to be hungry?

Edward Lee 26:16

Yeah, my wife went through a bout of cancer. And, you know, we had a young child, and she was recovering from surgery. And you know, my wife has a great appetite like I do, and we love food. And we love Dining Out and we love just cooking together. And she you know, for about four weeks, she couldn't eat anything. You know, she literally couldn't hold out food. And so I was making these purees for her. And I was trying to do everything from like smelling like mints, like making fragrant sort of concoctions for to smell. And I truly looked at that. And I saw the experience that she was going through. And it was sort of an outer body experience. And I kind of put myself in her shoes. And that thing that she loves so much, and that I love so much like that she lost it, you know, and it was the medication and the recovery. And it was something that obviously she's great now and made a full recovery. But you know, beyond everything else, it was something when I was when I was just you know, I was there with her every day. And we sat there and nursed her and that not being able to eat was something that was really It hit me hard.

David Novak 27:30

And well, Diane's an amazing person and a real fighter and competitor. And for sure. I know you competed quite successfully on Top Chef, did that really bring out your competitive instincts?

Edward Lee 27:41

Yes, and no, I think as chefs, any great chef is going to be a great competitor. Because it's such a tough business that you're not going to succeed if you're not, you know cutthroat and competitive and you really have to want it. So in that case, I think every person on that program or every chef is competitive to the bone, you have to be having said that that show puts you in a situation that you're just not used to. It's very, very stressful. It's tense, it's awkward. And you know, it's created for a reason, right? I don't go into my kitchen and tell my staff Hey, guys, we have one hour to make a menu, let's go. So they create these artificial situations that sort of bring out the best and sometimes the worst in people. In that sense. Yeah, you're thrown into a situation that's completely unknown. And you have no idea what to expect. And then you just have to sort of survive on instincts. Mostly, it was an interesting experiment. It is not something that I do on a daily basis. So the competitive nature, I've had it before, and I continue to have it today mentioned

David Novak 28:50

something that was interesting. You said that every chef you have to be cutthroat. Cutthroat is not something that I would link up the is that really the right word? Do you mean? Or is it if so why?

Edward Lee 29:00

You know, I, most people who know me, like when they meet me the first time they always have the same reaction. They say, You're a nice guy, you really laid back and I'm like, Yeah, you know I am. And you know, they get a job. And the first night that they see me in the kitchen, they are taken aback, because there is a switch in me. The apron goes on, and the clock hits six o'clock and the doors are open. I'm a very different person. And it's something that not everyone gets to see. I am not afraid to say that. I want to be the best. I want my restaurant to be the best. And I want people to come to my restaurant over your restaurant, and I'll do just about anything to make that happen. And if that's cutthroat that's cutthroat but, you know, I mean, obviously, you know, it's friendly competition, but also it's like it's serious business. Like we want to be the best. There's nothing else and so, in that sense, yeah, it's very cutthroat and It's so competitive, there's so many restaurants that as a customer, you can go anywhere. And to sort of convince someone to come to your restaurant over that next one, you can't just sort of wait and hope that they come, you have to do things to make sure that they do.

David Novak 30:15

Well, you are obviously very good at television, and you actually earned an Emmy nomination as the host chef of the third season of the mind of the chef. What's in the mind of the chef? A lot.

Edward Lee 30:29

It's a lot. That was a really fun documentary to do. Because it really pushed me to tell stories. And I think it actually helped me to write this book, because I had to explain myself on camera. I think as chefs, that's just something that we're not asked to do all the time. And so they would film a dish, and they would say, Okay, now tell me why you did that. And then we'll give them a reason. They said, Well, no, that's not enough. Tell me more. Tell me about your parents. Tell me about your experiences. You know, what, what made you make this dish, what made you put the sauce on this dish, and it was really good exercise, in sort of understanding was almost like going to therapy, you know, it was like that I had to really dig deep, and figure out the reasons why I do what I do, to sort of explain it to an audience. And it was a truly amazing experience.

David Novak 31:19

Edward, you've obviously built a name for yourself. I mean, you're a famous chef, there's no question about that. Have you consciously gone about marketing? Edward Lee? Or is that just come through time and grade?

Edward Lee 31:31

I didn't at first, you know, obviously, when you're a chef, you're just sort of in the kitchen and kind of trying to survive every day, you know, the after we did some TV, and after the first book did well, you know, we started to look at what it means. And know, one of the first things that I saw was, you know, a friend of mine has a soy sauce company here in town. And now it's an amazing company. But in the early days, we were just starting out, and I was kind of, you know, I had Justin tv and done a book, and he was starting out. And I just remember, like, you know, putting it on Facebook or, you know, serving in my restaurants and talk to people and and I just he called me and say, Man, our sales just went up. And it was because I had put something on Facebook. And I think that was the first moment when I realized that the message had power and that I, that people were listening to me. And so we started to really consciously Look at that. And my wife, Diane, who's worked at IBM for many, many years, and really understood how branding works in marketing works and understood how messaging works. She was really integral in helping me and saying, you know, I mean, even little things like you can't go out looking like that, because you're a public figure now. Comb your hair, you know, to like, building my website and figuring out what that message is, and sort of making it digestible, if you will, to the public. And so that's been a huge thing that we're still working on. But she's really integral man.

David Novak 33:13

Yeah. So you're very aware of, of your brand and building it now. And you know, you have a love for immigrants. And I know people come to the United States for opportunity, but what do you lose? When you become an American, you lose

Edward Lee 33:27

something and you gain something, you know, we lose our anchor to, you know, whatever our homeland is, right? We lose traditions, we lose language, we know we lose rituals, sometimes we lose religion. But I think what we gain is this communal harmony, this amazing experience that we call being an American. I always say just from a food standpoint, my wife and I travel, we go to Italy, we go to Korea, you know, we go to Mexico, and everybody go I love it. It's fun. But by the third or fourth day in Italy, I go, man, can I get anything with pasta? Can I get some Chinese food or, you know, fried chicken? And I'm like, No, we don't have that we eat pasta every day. Or if you're in Korea, you eat noodles and rice every day. And one of the things that as Americans we don't appreciate enough is that I can have soul food in the morning, and Chinese food for lunch and give you know, Indian food for dinner. Like we have such diversity. And we have such choice here. And that's not so in most of the world. And that bleeds into all aspects of culture too. But just from a food standpoint, we are spoiled here, man, we can get the best of anything we want, anywhere. And that's something that's truly different and special in that and I love that.

David Novak 34:50

You talk about diversity and talk a little bit about the program you've launched to train young women on culinary skills and all aspects of the restaurant industry.

Edward Lee 34:59

I feel true really blessed and truly lucky to have my life and to have the successes that I have. And so there comes a time where you, you know, want to give back. And so we started a nonprofit, not knowing what we were going to do with it. But but our mission statement was that we were going to basically look at a combat inequality in the restaurant community. And wherever we could, we were trying to do something about it, but do small and impactful programs, right. So instead of just giving money to charity, we wanted to really change the lives of a small number of people, but change them significantly. So when the me to movement came about, my Director of the Foundation is a woman in her name's Lindsay, and she has been in the industry for a very long time. And she's brilliant, and she knows everything about it. And she said, We should do something about this. And I said, Sure, what do we do? And we sat there, and we tossed, you know, hundreds of ideas out. And what came to us finding, we interviewed tons of female chefs around the country, really successful ones. And we asked them, What does it take to be an incredible, successful female chef? And the answer that we came up with was that it requires mentorship, it requires confidence education, it requires, you know, just basically giving a young chef the confidence to tell her that she can do it. And so we look at this very, you know, for what it is, it's a male dominated world in the kitchens of most restaurants. And we said, why can we change that? Can we help a young female chef go from being just a line cook, or a salad prep person, to a head chef, how do we sort of nurture someone through that process, and so that we have more equality, and we have more women in this industry, I think every industry benefits from having diversity and, you know, men and women in positions of leadership. So it took us a long time. And we did countless hours of figuring out exactly what this program is going to be. And so we came upon, we're going to pick five young female chefs in the state of Kentucky through an application process. And then they get hooked up with five very successful female chefs around the country. And we send them off mentorship, training, and then at the end of it, we're all gonna go to New York to the beard house and do a dinner together.

David Novak 37:15

That's fantastic. is great, you know, so every year an entrepreneur, a chef, writer, now teacher, I have to add that to your list television host, you know, how do you juggle so many balls and balance that what I also know is very important to you, is your family.

Edward Lee 37:30

That's the hardest part in the way I juggle it all is a I don't sleep much. And I'm pretty much obsessed by everything that I do. I have great team players who sort of helped me to juggle everything, who keep every aspect of it, going every day. And the other part of that is my family, right? My family keeps me grounded. And they make sure that even little things like so my head doesn't get too big. And my ego doesn't get too big. But also, it's about the simple things, you know, why am I doing all this, it's not for fame and fortune. It's because I get to come home to my wife and my lovely daughter, and I get to spend time with them and not worry and not have to work countless hours like my parents did. So that I could spend time with my family and we go out and you know, do things, we go to the zoo and we go to the park and, you know, we go ride horses. Like to me, that's true happiness. And so all of this is really to make sure that the core of my life, which is my family, is taken care of. And so that balancing act, though it's challenging, from a time standpoint, from an emotional standpoint is very easy. I do all this so that my family's that we're happy. And they balance it all out. What three

David Novak 38:47

bits of advice would you give aspiring leaders,

Edward Lee 38:50

I would say every day, I want to learn something new. And every day I want to teach something to someone, and doesn't actually happen every single day. But I truly believe like, that's how you keep growing. And people also want to be around you, you know, if you're only holding information and not giving it out. And there's no incentive for people to sort of stick with you. And I'm very transparent and selfless when it comes to things that I learned. And I truly believe that sharing is what like if I go somewhere exotic. When I come back to Kentucky, I'm always like, trying to buy something a new sauce or some some candy bar and I come back and I try and like give it to my staff and so then I went to the workplace. And but I truly do like if I eat something amazing. I'm always like, how do I transport this dish back to my kitchen and have everyone taste it? It's impossible, but I truly believe and so what I do, whether it's taking pictures or writing notes and telling people about it, and I try and share as much as possible so that the people around me also feel it in they have success as well.

David Novak 40:00

We'll be back with the rest of my conversation with Chef Edward Lee. And just a moment, you know, Edwards right on the money when he says you're only as good as the people around you. And nobody knows that better than Steve Kerr, the coach of the Golden State Warriors. In our episode of how leaders lead, Steve shares exactly how we can unlock the power of teams.

Speaker 1 40:19

You know, I inherited this warriors team that was already really good. They had Steph Curry Klay Thompson and two amazing vets, I could see we had the talent, but I wanted to connect with the bench because I had been there. And so my first year, I came up with this idea that our team mantra could be strength in numbers. And it was something that I talked about, from day one, we had so much talent, we had so much depth that we were going to overwhelm teams, and it really became part of our persona,

David Novak 40:48

to go back and listen my entire conversation with Steve that I had just before he launched into that 2022 Championship Season, Episode 62 here on how leaders lead.

Ever the work you do requires so much creativity, how do you stay inspired and continue to innovate with your team?

Edward Lee 41:15

Well, a lot of it is being inclusive of my team. And I think as I get older, it's important for me to surround myself with younger generation, people who have fresh ideas, and making sure that they know that all of their ideas come to the table, and we take the ball seriously. So a lot of my inspiration really comes from the people that I surround myself with, they come from all walks of life, backgrounds, both economic, social, ethnic, whatever, which you know, one of the reasons why I feel like diversity is so important because they just bring such different opinions and ideas to the table. And they bring me ideas that I necessarily wouldn't have thought about. So really, it's a lot of collaboration. For me.

David Novak 41:59

I agree with all that one of the things that kind of bugs me is when you start saying as I get older, I mean, you want to talk about oh, you're looking a lot older than you. Let me ask you, what does winning look like for an elite chef like yourself, what's a metric of success that motivates you to keep pushing,

Edward Lee 42:17

you know, the restaurant world, the chef world is so fickle, it's so transitory that you could be on top of the world one year, and the next year, you know, you can have an economic recession and your restaurants aren't doing well. And, you know, you're you're considered a has been, and lots can happen. And so for me, I'm very fortunate in the fact that I really do wake up every morning, and I love what I do. And I don't want to do anything else in this world. So I just want to stay relevant. I'm really fortunate to that I get to run restaurants. I'm in the middle of writing another cookbook, right now, I get to do TV, I'm launching a video podcast on YouTube. So I have all these different interests that keep me busy, and just keep the wheels running in my head. I never have a boring day. But I also never have a predictable day. Like every morning I wake up. And I have a certain set of things to do on my to do list. But I have so many different things going on hitting me from all different angles that might they can easily derail. And I'm ending up, you know, doing flower arrangements at my restaurant, which can annoy some people, I guess, because it's not what I was supposed to do today. But I love it because I kind of thrive off the unpredictability, that sort of running go nature of the restaurant business, it always brings me joy, it always brings me some sort of a new spin on something. And I'm always learning, I never know everything about the restaurant business. So to me to be in a position where I don't necessarily have to be at the same job every day, I can sort of pick and choose where my day goes. But at the same time, I'm always playing defense a little bit because I know something's going to come up. And I get to I use those opportunities to learn to learn about every aspect of this business.

David Novak 44:11

You know, I know that for all of us, we have our ups and downs or wins and losses in both life and business. Would you share a story about a time when things didn't go as planned and what you learn from it?

Edward Lee 44:22

That's pretty much every day of my life doesn't go. But you know, recently we lost a couple of restaurants during COVID. And you know, we had to shutter both businesses, and really wasn't because the businesses were doing bad. There were other outside forces and COVID and buildings shutting down. They're very sad moments sad for me sad for my staff, sad for all the work that we put into it. And we didn't really get to have a final goodbye or send off. And so those are things that I look at as challenges, but also to me, it allowed me to free up my time. have to pivot and do other things. And all of a sudden, I found myself instead of running six restaurants only running, you know, three restaurants. And I had extra time on my hands and sort of refocused it into my nonprofit, and really focused a lot of that energy. And I found this incredible new passion that I didn't have before that I maybe existed in me, but I didn't recognize it, or didn't know about it, which was helping people, you know, finding ways and solutions to help people that are hurting in the restaurant business. And I can honestly say, you know, the nonprofit work that I committed to doing during COVID is now something that that I will commit to for the rest of my career. But it took sort of losing three restaurants in order for me to have the time to commit myself to this other thing that now is something I wake up every day, and I think about and I tried to do better at it. So you know, it's a lot of times, it's just finding the opportunities that are all around you. And you know, when things don't go your way, just channel your energy into something else.

David Novak 46:10

I love how you pivot, and you've done such a great job, you know, helping restaurants that are not as fortunate as you and also, you know, bringing women into the workforce, as chefs, and I really congratulate you on all those efforts. What's been one of your best days as a chef, tell us a story you'll never forget,

Edward Lee 46:27

I had something recently that happened, we did a charity dinner at my restaurant. And we invited two groups of people that were having some friction with each other. We invited some members of the LMPD, Louisville Metro Police Department, and we invited some members of the black community. And we had this dinner. And the whole point of the dinner was to create unity. And for people to get along with each other and to end to see each other as people, not as combatants not as political motivations. But just as people, I cooked a barbecue dinner for them. And we didn't know what was going to come of it. And it was really important that I brought my daughter and my wife with me. And I wanted to show both the audience and my family that what I do for a living food oftentimes is fun, entertaining, It's luxurious. It's a really beautiful escape. But sometimes food and restaurants and chefs can have a bigger meaning and a bigger impact, and can affect society in ways that we don't often think of chefs doing. By the end of the dinner, everyone was hugging each other. Everyone was passing out business cards, we all took pictures. And we all vowed to continue this mission of unity, of getting together of communication, of trying to understand each other it despite our political beliefs. And to me, that was such an important thing. You know, my daughter was sitting right there and seeing and she's nine years old. And I know that we get so much of our information on social media these days, that it was so important to have her sitting in the room, and listening to these people say these really encouraging and wonderful things about each other, and promising to do better on both sides of the aisle. And so that, you know, that's one example of where I sort of get out of the chef mode. And even though I'm still cooking, it makes me feel really encouraged that the things that I could do, they're small, you know, they're small Dinah's, 20 people. But these things can have impacts and they can have ripples that go beyond just that room that we were in.

David Novak 48:36

Well, you can bring a city together and get closer together. And I think that's great. I've always learned that you know, break there's nothing like breaking bread with people to get you on the same page. And it does bring you together and I I totally agree with that. And with this been so much fun, and I'd like to have a little bit more with you with my lightning round of questions. Are you ready for this?

Edward Lee 48:55

I'll try my best.

David Novak 48:57

All right, what are three words others would use to describe you?

Edward Lee 49:01

motivated? grumpy, and precise.

David Novak 49:09

If you could be someone besides yourself for a day, who would it be and why?

Edward Lee 49:13

I would be an NBA point guard. Something like a James Harden. If I could be anyone for a day. I would love to just you know, bring a ball down a court and listen to 20,000 fans like cheering me on.

David Novak 49:29

What's your biggest pet peeve?

Edward Lee 49:31

People cutting lines? You know, for some reason, you know, like at the airport when someone tries to cut a line like that just it just gets under my skin.

David Novak 49:41

You only get to eat one genre of food for the rest of your life. What would it be?

Edward Lee 49:47

That's easy noodles. Spicy noodles.

David Novak 49:49

So this might be easy to what's your favorite meal at your favorite restaurant?

Edward Lee 49:54

Oh boy. No, that's a difficult one. I don't really have a favorite meal because I really just Have everything but if I were pushed for an answer, there's a Peking duck, which is like one of my favorite things and this place in Chinatown called New York Peking duck house. It's fantastic.

David Novak 50:13

What's the food you really enjoy that doesn't get the credit it deserves

Edward Lee 50:18

German food. I love like my wife and I whenever we travel and we find like some old mom and pop, German restaurant we'd like to go and try and you know, there's there's nothing better than a fried schnitzel with some sauerkraut.

David Novak 50:33

I can't stand sauerkraut. If you turned on the radio in your car, what would we hear?

Edward Lee 50:40

Probably sports radio. That's kind of my setting on the car.

David Novak 50:44

What was your most recent I can't believe this is happening to me moment.

Edward Lee 50:48

Somewhat last year. Recently, I was given a Muhammad Ali award in Louisville. And I just found myself on stage with some incredible people around the country that were doing incredible things. And that was really humbling, because I didn't feel like I belonged in such a steamed company.

David Novak 51:06

Well, you do. Last lightning round question. What's something about you few people would know,

Edward Lee 51:14

I'm very passionate about singing karaoke. I used to recently broke, but I used to have a karaoke machine. In my own home favorite karaoke song got

David Novak 51:24

to ask you,

Edward Lee 51:25

I can do a mean Tom Petty, I do a little bit of YouTube. I can do some Elvis if the mood is right. But sometimes when my wife and daughter are out of the house, I'd like to turn the lights down low, and just, you know, rock out to some some good karaoke by myself.

David Novak 51:42

You know, if you could go back 20 years and give yourself a motivational speech or some kind of encouragement? What would your message be?

Edward Lee 51:50

I think that's an easy one, I would tell my younger self, and I tell this to all my young chefs that work under me, it's a marathon, not a race. And when you're young, you're so eager, and you're so impatient, and you're so just ready to explode. And you want it all right now. And you realize that this career, this life is so long, and you have so many paths that you can choose. And there's so many paths that open up to you, you know, as you go along. And you have to keep your mind open to it. You know, I mean, just as simple. I come from Brooklyn, New York and train most of my career in my early career in Manhattan. If someone told 22 year old Ed Lee, hey, you'll be running a restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky, and spending the better part of 20 years, being an ambassador for Kentucky, I would have said you're crazy. But lo and behold, that's exactly what happened. And I'm so fortunate that that opportunity came and I was open to the opportunity. And I took it. I think patience is something in this world that we live in is not the most rewarded, you know, attribute. But I really do think patience is something that we need to focus more on and understand, like, whatever career you have, it's going to be a long one. And if you want to be in it for a long time, patience is such a virtue.

David Novak 53:13

You know, one of the things about the restaurant industry is that people like yourself can start from nothing and end up at the top. And you've certainly done that. And, Edward I want to thank you for sharing your dreams and your your American dream with us because you're a guy who has really made it happen, and I admire everything you've done. Oh, thank you.

Well, you can see for yourself, Edward is such a passionate and driven guy. He's also incredibly kind and attuned to people. It's a wonderful combination. And I know it's a huge reason why he's been so incredibly successful. He reminds us of just how important it is, no matter how driven we are to make sure we always honor the people around us as people as individuals. This week, think of someone on your team who doesn't always get the credit they deserve. Write them a note and tell them exactly why they matter to you, and what specific strengths they have that you admire. It's a simple gesture, but it's gonna mean the world for that person to know that you appreciate them, not just as a worker, but as an individual. So do you want to know how leaders lead? What we learned today is the great leaders show others that they matter? And you know what? Great leaders are thankful for the people they have the privilege of leading than I want you to have a happy Thanksgiving. Coming up next on how leaders lead is David Gibbs, CEO of yum brands,

David Gibbs 54:48

anything that is presented to you as being bad. I immediately try to figure out okay, how can this actually be good? I just put my mindset in. Okay, what good can come out of this and how do we capitalize on it because it's the only thinking we could control.

David Novak 55:01

So be sure to come back again next week to hear our entire conversation. Thanks again for tuning in to another episode of how leaders lead where every Thursday you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world. I make it a point to give you something simple on each episode that you can apply to your business so that you've become the best leader you can be

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