Amy and Vivi Wanderley-Britt are Co-owners of 360 Degrees Restaurant Group, whose brands include Pig & A Jelly Jar and WB’s Eatery. Amy has over 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry, and she first opened Pig & A Jelly Jar more than a decade ago. Vivi spent 20 years in the paid media field before joining her wife to grow their restaurant group.
Here’s a Glimpse of What You’ll Hear:
- How Amy and Vivi Wanderley-Britt’s backgrounds led to the development of 360 Degrees Restaurant Group
- Amy and Vivi reveal the company’s growth model
- What inspired the concepts for WB’s Eatery and Pig & A Jelly Jar?
- How 360 Degrees Restaurant Group gives back to the community
In this episode…
In today’s episode of the SpotOn Series, co-host Chad Franzen talks with Amy and Vivi Wanderley-Britt, Co-owners of 360 Degrees Restaurant Group, about creating innovative concepts for restaurant businesses. Together, they share the four-step growth model of their company, how they use cannabis in their restaurant brands, and the various ways they work to support their community.
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Episode Transcript
Intro 0:04
Welcome to the Top Business Leaders show. Powered by Rise25 Media, we featured top founders, executives and business leaders from all over the world.
Chad Franzen 0:20
Chad Franzen here co host for this show where we feature top restaurant tours, investors and business leaders. This is part of our SpotOn series. SpotOn has the best in class payment platform for retail and they have a flagship solution called spot on restaurant, where they combine marketing software and payments all in one. They’ve served everyone from the larger chains like Dairy Queen and subway to small mom and pop restaurants. To learn more, go to spoton.com This episode is brought to you by Rise25. We help b2b businesses to get ROI clients referrals and strategic partners through done for you podcasts. If you have a b2b business and want to build great relationships with clients, referral partners and thought leaders in your space, there is no better way to do it than through podcasts and content marketing. To learn more, go to Rise25 media.com or email us at support@rise25 media.com Amy and Vivi Wanderley-Britt are co owners of 360 Degrees Restaurant Group whose brands include Pig & a Jelly Jar and WB’s Eatery, they have decades of experience in the restaurant industry and immediate and community outreach. They understand that a great restaurant is about more than food. It’s also the center of a community that includes guests, neighbors, staff, and everyone who could use a smile or a helping hand. Amy and Vivi. Thanks so much for joining me today. How are you? Oh, we’re
Amy Wanderley-Britt 1:34
Wonderful. Thank you for having us. Yes. Thank
Vivi Wanderley-Britt 1:36
you for having us. Very excited to be here then. Great.
Chad Franzen 1:39
I appreciate your time. So why don’t we start with Amy, tell me a little bit about your background in the restaurant industry? What was your first job and kind of other jobs along the way?
Amy Wanderley-Britt 1:49
Well, my first job was McDonald’s. And McDonald’s is very much a part of who 360 Degrees Restaurant Food Group is honestly, I learned a lot along the way. And I learned specifically that it was about teamwork, and needing a process and being people driven. So for us, we could have prosperity, and enjoy restaurants, you know, really for more than they are just, that’s that’s kind of been a big thing for me along the way. McDonald’s was 16 to 27. And I left to go find myself in the world and finish a degree and now we own four restaurants. And I didn’t McDonald’s for it every day.
Chad Franzen 2:30
So. So you started at age 16 at McDonald’s. I did. What did you do there? What do you do with
Amy Wanderley-Britt 2:36
a shift leader in Dyersburg, Tennessee, I turned 16. And my parents gave me my brother’s car and said good luck. And my brother happened to be working at McDonald’s at the time. He didn’t end up staying as long as I did. I just I really enjoyed it. I came from volleyball, softball clubs, and really being involved in McDonald’s. It gave me this space again with process and teaching hospitality that went above what my coaches and school were providing. So I really gravitated towards it as a safe place. And I say I still believe ketchup.
Chad Franzen 3:14
So you started as a 16 year old shift manager. What is your progression there kind of looked like that until age 27. Oh, let’s see. I
Amy Wanderley-Britt 3:21
was the youngest GM in Memphis, Tennessee at 20 years of age working for the Fred Tillman group, or CMI, running their highest volume store breaking records for Beanie Babies well, before they were 20 for our concept, my team and I thought it would be fun because of course we did to stay open 24 hours and sell Beanie Babies at the time when people were camping on the lawns. So I have tons of stories with McDonald’s learning how to work with folks. Speaking Spanish where I still to this day, unfortunately, struggle with languages. I say that we teach each other restaurant. But it began with McDonald’s and teamwork and understanding process and 16 it was a job to pay for all my extracurricular activities and my car 20 ended up being a semester that I was going to take from school that became seven years and deeply involved again, bleeding ketchup, running their highest volume store years later, having a better understanding of what I really was doing with my role and responsibility. We were a test market store. So I got to see lots of new technologies and innovations. And the thing I’ve tried to work on with our teams is to really have them pay attention to why they’re doing what they’re doing. Because I promise you it’s going to come back at some point in your life and what tasks we may find mundane in our work today. Who knows it might just be the exact thing that helps you run your businesses. And that really is how we talk in 360 Degrees. It’s it is Telling the story that I’m from McDonald’s is telling the story that I stepped into management, honestly, because I didn’t enjoy the management style of the folks in front of me in the beginning. And I thought, you know, I come from being a captain of a volleyball team and a softball team. Maybe there’s another way that we can communicate with each other and still keep this fun. I will say, probably as I’ve gotten older, and even at that age, I’m not sure I’m the fun equation all the time at work, I really know that I’m not. I think my skill set is working with others and helping them see what I already see in them and kind of getting them moving on a process of what is it that you want to do with your lifestyle? Is it? Why are you drawn to hospitality, all these things that were brought up for me, that honestly, didn’t come to really a good understanding until I met Vivi? I think I too, went through a period of time where I became disenfranchised in the industry, even as the owner and creating 360. And beginning to work with Vivi and, and do something more myself than just operate really started to change my perspective. And it was happening just before COVID. So a lot of things got to change for me, you know, but the industry itself, it’s McDonald’s, its ownership for 15 years, I say that now, as a joke. I’ve been signing my checks for 15 years, guys. And if I can do it, y’all can do it. And she says, I shouldn’t say that. It’s that, you know, easily done. And I’m not I’m saying I’m saying it’s sweat. It’s hard work. It’s smile through it. But it’s really recognizing that you can’t do it alone. And no part about the hospitality industry is driven that way for me.
Chad Franzen 6:45
What about you? Vivi? Tell me a little bit about your background. Well, I’m
Vivi Wanderley-Britt 6:49
from Brazil, I am from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and also played sports. You know, I played soccer, football for years played volleyball. So I was always involved in team sports, I actually had a career in marketing, I worked for advertising agencies for about 20 years. I moved here about 18 years ago, and I actually, I was fortunate enough to actually work in a server I had never surfed before, for a serious, my butt told him, You know, it’s, it’s a way for me to really learn the language, learn the culture, and eventually I’ll get back to my field. And I really enjoyed, you know, working for the Marriott and learning more about hospitality. And then I went on to I went back to work in at agencies as in media, I, my last job, I was an assistant media director for MRM. Which, you know, corporate America was there for almost 10 years love my job. But then, after COVID, you know, Amy and I had been talking a lot, you know, we need to grow the business, and we’re gonna have to hire a few different people with two different skill sets. So, you know, I’m like, Okay, I think I need to change, you know, love my job, love, love everyone, but I need to change. And if I’m gonna be working 65 hours, I might as well work for us, right, and help you grow the business. I mean, she’s done a fantastic job growing. I mean, we have four Russians, you know, in, in 360. So, she has done an amazing job. And it’s so much so we made the decision earlier this year that, you know, I’m like, Okay, I’m done with corporate America. I’m gonna become a business owner with you now, because I always have we been together for seven years. And I always helped a little bit, you know, on the sidelines, but now it’s like, no, now I can dedicate so I moved over to oversee marketing and also community partnerships, you know, we were looking to more and more importantly, get involved with the community through social initiatives, but also through partnerships. So that’s my role, and I’m learning so much on the operation side, people think that having a restaurant is all about just cooking good food. That’s not at all it’s like if I had the operation side, dial down, you know, there’s so much that goes into and I and I always look at her and I you know, I’m always fascinated how could you have managed all of it by yourself for years he has he had teams that you worked with, but you know, it’s a lot on the on the behind the scenes that people usually don’t know, right? How to manage the cost and finances and how to keep the team’s inspired. So I’m loving and I’m learning every I’m learning every day. I’m like, wow, it’s like the whole other side of the business that I didn’t know and it’s a challenge and I love a challenge. There was a soccer player.
Amy Wanderley-Britt 9:48
Fine egg, you guys. She accidentally got stuck on saute with me. The one morning that rush came in and Vivi learned line one and egg cookery bag tell you what At culinary school just come work the holiday, your great, perfect.
Vivi Wanderley-Britt 10:06
Bob with like, Panda like, Oh my god. It was great.
Chad Franzen 10:12
So just just from my research, I can tell that you guys prioritize a lot more than just food. Amy, how did the Restaurant Group kind of come about
Amy Wanderley-Britt 10:22
360 Degrees Restaurant Group in my mind. I wanted to bring the concepts together to be more than just your day to day operation of restaurants. Because as what I was saying, Before, I had a moment where I wasn’t enjoying the creativity of my staff. It seems like if this was a passing point, as oftentimes, the restaurant industry does it, you’re either trapped by it or passing through it had been my experience for an extended period of time and creating 360 was, how can we inspire ourselves and others, when the day to day of operations becomes a bit mundane, so 360 Degrees, and really working with Vivi, who again is, we say it’s the department’s of I will teach you how to feed yourself, and Vivi runs the department on feeding others. And I mean, it’s it’s it’s a nice way of saying I am very process driven. I understand I’m, I’m about the team and in the background, and how can we inspire people? Well, we have a four step growth model with 360. And that’s where it starts coming from, again, how do I start where I came from, from McDonald’s, take the journey of life, end up owning four restaurants and still say, through a fire, a flood, and now a pandemic, we can do more, we can be more. And we can do more. And our growth model that Vivi and I helped work on it, it starts in operations with me. And then the second department when you’re ready to lower your hours in operations or the restaurants. Then you can move over to the creation team, which is our marketing and our social initiatives, we have the street team. And then we also have content managers. And we have a whole lot of folks working in the background to drive social media for us. And we’re kind of growing those initiatives from folks again, who were started cooking chicken and waffles and taking orders and running food in the window. So now you go to creation department if you’re inspired to do so we were able to create the third department, which is innovation. And that’s our products and services. We took beyond merchandise, and we created boxes, where Vivi sells them on the corporate side b2b. And then we also sell them within our market space that we converted instead of just having a restaurant in a waiting area and going above for merchandise. So we have folks that sell CBD for example, our WB’s Eatery is a cannabis lifestyle concept, starting with a white labeled CBD. And we have folks on our team that move over and work on wholesale and work on the boxes, the mud box or perhaps the good day sunshine pack. The last in the fourth in the growth model is ownership and investment. And I tried to make sure as we’re growing our new teams, administrative side captains, we’re rebuilding the whole foundation in truth, but we’re 10 years old and you can’t stop. So when I say ownership and investment, it’s ownership in yourself and ownership and others and we can invest in one another. Some of those can go a step farther and conversations that we call snapshots visualization of how can we help you. And this is where the partnerships will come in and an investment idea some folks on our team want to license a pig in a jelly jar or web series. And we would love to see that. And then there’s others again that want to partner on a product or service. We have a couple guys on our team for example, that have turned it one into Jessie the banana bread boys partners on a banana bread using our blueberry lavender jam as an example. And then another Devin wanted to do drag full time. And Vivi immediately. Yeah, that’s great. Show and for Amy. How does this work with coaching and training in a growth model? Well, Sequoia now holds two shows one for each concept. We have a wigs in pigs, as well as a wigs and brunch. And now Sequoia no longer works for us at 360. But partners full time doing shows all over town. So to me, we accomplished it again, we’d like to hold you a little bit longer on our team per se. But to watch drag shows grow throughout Salt Lake and Ogden and start with you know, someone just saying I’m stranded from New York and I love making waffles for you. But what I really want to do is drag full time and I’ve talked too much I want to bring her in because this is really where Vivi bridges that gap and partnerships aside from just the we do in our teams at 360
Chad Franzen 15:02
Sure, sure. Yeah. If you could just tell me a little bit more about WB’s Eatery and the restaurant part and the lifestyle part
Vivi Wanderley-Britt 15:13
so yeah WB’s Eatery it is more it’s a lifestyle concept. You know it is we say it is more than a restaurant it’s a lifestyle because besides serving food, you know we have our CBD oil that Amy mentioned, you know it is an isolated hemp oil and we we sell the hemp oil and it’s it comes from our wellness side of things right we have a non alcoholic, a whole non alcoholic cocktails that we serve because again, it is a cannabis lifestyle. And if you’re going to medicate, you probably don’t want to mix two substances, right? But you don’t want to medicate and drink alcohol. But also it’s an option for what you think when you’re not drinking. If you want to go out and you’re driving, you want to have a craft cocktail. Well we work with amazing non alcoholic spirits. We have non alcoholic tequila, rum, whiskey bourbon, what else in my chain? So you know, we really developed craft cocktails. And you don’t have to have the alcohol if you don’t want to or you know we can have one foolproof and one zero proof. So for us web series beyond just a restaurant where you can go and have great food. I mean, the menu is very simple is approachable because it’s we are inclusive in our we’re exclusive in our inclusivity we want everyone to feel welcome. You know we have we have a drag brunch. We have a African American jazz fan that plays one summer month there. And we also have our social musical with social we had to change it to WB Social because our website got shut down left and right.
Amy Wanderley-Britt 16:58
There’s a lot of words that you can’t say which maybe we’ve already messed up and shouldn’t have said it on your show.
Vivi Wanderley-Britt 17:06
We basically bringing the cannabis industry together with growers and you know, dispensary owners and bud tenders, patients, we just want people to feel like they have a space where they can freely talk about, you know, their medication, Amy’s medical card holder, and I’m more I’m just an advocate because, you know, I do believe I know how much it helps her. And you know, people are not talking about depression, they’re not talking about anxiety. And you have an example here a very successful business owner that has those things going on. And, you know, for us it’s important to have space for everybody can just come and talk about and say Hey, it’s okay, you need to feel like you’re coming out of the closet when you’re talking about medical cannabis. You know, and we we we have a bomb that we’re working with the local comp backbone that we’re looking at working with the local hemp company. So it’s a hemp farm. We have a hemp CBD tree that we created the Wags and barks box, you know, so there’s like we created all this gift boxes that we ship anywhere in the US, which is where our ecommerce side came came about, you know, how do we make money beyond the restaurant during COVID? No one was going to the Russians. Yes, we were doing a lot of to goes but how do we sustain the model and reach beyond borders right beyond Utah. So that’s a way for us to do that.
Chad Franzen 18:30
Did COVID lead you to do these additional things beyond the restaurant like like the CB like the CBD packages, and things like that, or had you already thought of it, and we’re moving in that direction anyway,
Amy Wanderley-Britt 18:43
they were already conceptualize, even to the point of how we would change the hospitality service from the operational side. Starting at the counter. We’re no tip model. We have a hospitality fee that we incorporate all these type of things. We make the joke that I must have been divinely inspired in my notebooks because what really drove it was finally taking a course with Goldman Sachs in truth and understanding that restaurants have a 4% profit margin, on average, and then experiencing COVID and all in the same time trying to conceptualize WB’s Eatery, which was a casual vibe, a place to kick back and chill. But what are the multiple streams of income to build within a concept to help an owner sustain, when inside dining is it is very hard to grow. However, due to COVID and everybody at the same time switching to e commerce and online. I’m going to tell you the experience I had as a small business owner with no tech savvy, it was harder than putting on a chicken suit and swinging a sign on the sidewalk to bring people into shop. It still really is and that’s that’s the component also, we’re Vivi coming over from corporate. Again it is to help with our our marketing and our branding, but it’s also Vivi what in the world do you do to build? What’s Shopify? What’s What is all of this that is so necessary to exist? Aside from the fact that, yes, we’re still staffing our restaurants, and starting people in operations cooking and send doing the activity of serving, but we want them to own. And I know what I’ve experienced, and I was better than average. And not because I knew it. In truth. I’m still trying to organize myself. At this point, I’m still trying to teach how to read a profit and loss statement. I’m trying to take what I learned 30 years ago at Hamburger University, and now own four restaurants, be successful, be damn lucky, really in truth. And she asked how I did it, because I didn’t have a choice. It went well beyond needing a paycheck and a job. It went to Oh, our house. And now wow. And we’re still not through through any part of it is an entrepreneur, you’re constantly in this up and down is what it feels like. And I’m just trying to reach the happy middle of the road. Where products services people, food customers, we have this symbiotic relationship. And it can be a little less feeling like a nosedive is where it’s been for a bit for us in business. So the products and services, I wouldn’t say they’re even working yet, I would say all of this is an infancy. Because of where we’re still rebuilding, I will say she replaced average catering for me last year with products and services to corporations buying gift boxes. That was more than I wouldn’t have had a team for catering. Nobody was performing catering, and as a small business owner catering in this seasonality for me, it’s what you need. And now we have catering. We’re building it. And now we have products and services. So still, how do we create a business model that is more than a restaurant? For us? It’s a lifestyle, but also, where can we see other business owners go when it’s no longer just inside dining? And thank goodness we have online if you support the platforms and third parties, and it is a necessary part of both to continue this industry, especially at this point in time. And then how do you keep people excited when the world seems just a little bit over the threshold of normal stress? So
Chad Franzen 22:34
can you tell me a little bit about Pig & A Jelly Jar Vivi
Vivi Wanderley-Britt 22:38
Pig & A Jelly Jar? Well, let Amy talk a little bit more about that because she started. Yeah, she started 10 years ago.
Amy Wanderley-Britt 22:46
Well, it’s uniquely southern inspired and brunch driven. I’m a southern transplant. I’ve been here she did the math, because I actually have no idea what time is time is so strange to me. But yeah, I’ve been here 15 years and and when I moved here as a transplant, I do love it. I moved every four years and this is the place that I’ve landed on where I say I’ve actually put up roots and what was missing. For me at that point in time. Were some of the foods that my mom Papa, you know what cook or foods I had along my travels that really inspired me chicken and waffles were one of them. You know, and I love how comfort food is a common thread that really we can take anyone to the dinner table and through conversations with food. We were all one you know, we’re who inspired this dish is often things that will come up for us because even chicken and waffles To me that’s not what my meanwhile Papa would have put together. But it coming together in a space in Salt Lake City. And then I’ll say Lay’s creating a potato chip didn’t hurt my business either. We’ve always been just sort of a beer for breakfast, Waffle House inspired concept. And it’s it that’s what it is. That’s where my dad would take me at the Waffle House. And I thought someday if I open a restaurant, I want breakfast whenever I want it, and that’s really where pig began. Perfect.
Chad Franzen 24:15
So it looks like Pig & A Jelly Jar has three locations WB’s has one, which one, which was the first location. And what were the early days like,
Amy Wanderley-Britt 24:27
oh, well, I feel like we’re back there to be honest, which it’s the Liberty wills, which it’s a hop, skip and a jump from our house. It’s the park where we walk our dogs. It’s where I’ve spent the 15 years that I’ve lived in Salt Lake City and I’ve had Pig & A Jelly Jar for 10. And thank goodness, I’ve had Vivi in my life for seven. And I know that’s how I’ve successfully made it with a smile this long. She reminds me to have the gratitude and all things but that little space has. I mean 12 T Most now we had 49 seats pre COVID. And now we’re down to 25. I didn’t bring the tables and chairs back inside, it was a very small jammed up, turn and burn mentality. And one of the new changes was starting the hospitality at the counter in order from a menu board, every other aspect of hospitality will continue. But from that one space to really deliver the messaging and how are you that that change has been one of the few that we’ve just recently brought on. But other than that Pig is the exact to me that it’s been in its infancy, it’s beer for breakfast. It’s a Greek from wherever you are in the restaurant, they could be backed by the cooler and if you walk through the door, it should be Hey, friend, how are you? We’ll be right there. And the teams and the staff, they really do imprint a bit of themselves on the concepts I have to say they’re the ones that that ended up shaping it. And we just try to keep it in line with traits and values of kindness, as we were discussing earlier, but chicken and waffles, ham hash, deer, Teenies and bloody mary loggers, those those things are there. I don’t put the beer in a paper bag any longer we’ve polished ourselves slightly
Vivi Wanderley-Britt 26:22
basic fun environment sunburns environment that, you know, you’re gonna lift your spirits go there.
Chad Franzen 26:27
So how long was that first location running before he decided to, you know, expand
Amy Wanderley-Britt 26:36
to three Vivi I call her Rain Man. It’ll be it’ll be somewhere between two and a half and three, I promise. But yeah. And then I met Well, there it is. I guess 10 It is three because we’ve been together seven years. She said on the math for me. And we opened the Ogden location second.
Vivi Wanderley-Britt 26:55
Two years after reopen.
Amy Wanderley-Britt 26:56
Correct. So they’re allwe had all of our restaurant children our spaces as I like, you know, our little entities. They do take on their own personas. The middle child has Ogden and I’ll say as a middle child, they’re self sufficient. Matter of fact, I have to pop in and they’re always like, who are you? And I’m like, okay, sorry, guys. I apologize. But one of the others tend to take more of my attention and and now operationally still rebuilding and trying to find support. VB is running the administrative side. So that’s more helpful. But yeah, the third one’s big kitchen and the fourth the babies WB’s Eatery
Chad Franzen 27:34
so So what made you decide to so you expanded to three locations? And then you just decided to open up a whole new concept. What did that?
Amy Wanderley-Britt 27:45
Well, it you know, for us in really working with WB’s Eatery. First it started because this concept grows. That’s why I think it’s really cute that it’s a cannabis lifestyle concept. It originally starts with Vivi and I debating why we can’t find the sandwich we want like we had in Europe. And it’s and then that this type of Boca do conversation. And so the web is menu being Latin European inspired, and it’s Wanderley-Britt, or is it we invite because the concepts going to grow as the industry grows. So it starts with our sandwich. It’s her mom’s chimichurri recipe. Yeah, it is something and and Turo doughnuts. And the CBD comes from again, the wellness of her back pain and finding that it works and me being in so much pain that I’m actually having an ultrasound done at this point in time. And we find all these wonderful things out that it’s it’s stress, and it’s anxiety. And so I started utilizing CBD. And then through this process, it takes us on a whole other journey of Oh, wow, I’m not just beat up from the industry and the long hours and days. There’s really something more here and WB’s Eatery growing into the cannabis lifestyle concept and taking an entertainment standpoint, because we are a restaurant and the CBD and having socials where you can purchase it and you can incorporate it into your dry cocktail into your food. Those were things that came from us and our experience on how these things started to work. And then how can we really bridge another gap on having conversations about cannabis and CBD and incorporating it into your lifestyle. Because where I was raised and where I’ve come from, it would be fine to drink and maybe even be passed out in high school on the riverbed. Let’s just say probably happened. And if you consumed cannabis, you were just not someone who we could even associate with and I think for me and for so many others, it drove a passion of your keeping medication and conversation away from folks, that it’s the only thing that’s really worked and so WB’s Eatery or it’s just it’s our vision have a place for people to chill and hang out and then ask these questions. And still if it’s not for you, we she brought up a great point she said someday it’ll be in the same way ordering a dry cocktail or dosing with your CBD. It will be in the same light as vegan or vegetarian.
Vivi Wanderley-Britt 30:17
Yeah, because how many times you would ask a vegan Why are you vegan? You know this? We don’t drink they ask us why don’t you drink? Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s a selection. So lifestyle choice. And so I think you will get there we’re not there yet. But everything everything that is new people tend to question a lot just because they want to learn right? Yeah, they won’t be on the learn more about it. So I think yeah, but and you know, we have a full acre we have a market a WB’s Eatery is the same manual all day. So you can get breakfast for dinner or dinner for breakfast if you’d like. We have fun things. Whether it is with alcohol or not, we have lattes. So it’s very inclusive, you know, if you go to the it’s a beautiful space, it’s different from Pig, it is more of a relaxed environment where you can go on a date, or you can just go by yourself and work if you’d like, you know, it’s a fun play. We
Amy Wanderley-Britt 31:10
tell you the truth. She took me to Amsterdam, and I was disappointed. And granted, I only went to one cafe, but I looked at her and said, I’m uncomfortable here. There’s got to be a better way. And there’s got to be something more to creating a space. And still WB’s Eatery isn’t intended to ever turn into a consumption lunch. It’s intended to have a dispensary vibe and a place for you to hang out and work on your novel or do whatever you would do in a cafe space where you’re not being rushed where a Pig & A Jelly Jar definitely is. It’s a hustle and bustle brunch but WB’s Eatery will continue to grow and change but really that is it. It’s it’s already become this thing that it’s what to drink when you’re not drinking. It’s chimichurri steak sandwiches and brussel sprouts Posadas. And yeah, what is it? I think probably the community is still a bit confused because they know Pig, and this thing that has a bodega, and you sell cool bud vases that also look like a flower vase. That’s interesting. And then you have dry cocktails, and you have a grab and go with dry Proseccos. Wait a minute, what are we doing here? What are we doing? We’re providing a lifestyle choice. We’re saying what to drink when you’re not drinking. And for folks who are medicated, which is where we are in Utah, then here’s the space for you. And here’s products and services. And if you’re a drinker, I still say it’s, it’s what to drink. When you’re not drinking, say you’re on that really important business trip or date. In the old days, it’s very easy for me to have over consumed due to my nervous habits. But if this had been an alternative, I think it would have allowed me to take recreation back under a level of control, instead of over medicating. And then really not even understanding why I’m doing what I’m doing. Because I’m just having another drink. But now I can. In the same way I can have an Impossible Burger. I can also now vary my recreational plants. That’s kind of what it’s more about.
Chad Franzen 33:15
Okay. And you guys donate a portion of your proceeds to various causes or places is that right?
Vivi Wanderley-Britt 33:21
Yeah. So we have a couple of different initiatives. So we partnered with Volunteers of America, and we cook breakfast and lunch for them twice a week. So, you know, we thought it was important for us to do that the community has always supported us. And it was time for us to support the community. And we were at a point that we could so we started with that initiative last year. And that also allows us to, you know, show our team that, you know, bring have some self awareness because we never know what situation we’re going to be in tomorrow. Right. And what I like about Volunteers of America is that you don’t have to be homeless to go there. If you don’t have money to buy a meal, you can just sign up to go there for to have a meal. And I think that’s important because again, we never know what tomorrow is going to bring in for our teams. You know, you’re doing something good. You know, we’re paying you to be here and not just to do work, but we’re actually providing a meal to someone in need. So for us it is important that you know we have that. And then we do partner with Ogden, contemporary art, which is all codes next door to WB’s Eatery. Every time we have a social we partner with them because usually they have a new exhibit. And we will bring our attendees to Oka and then we’ll donate you know the amount of people that go through the door. So that’s how much we donate based on the ticket price. So it’s a nice partnership. Next door to us and then we also have the socks.
Amy Wanderley-Britt 33:22
Yeah, he’s worrying. I was like you’re not going to talk about
Vivi Wanderley-Britt 34:57
talking about the socks, the socks Every pair of socks we sell, we donate one. This one is the akin for bacon socks. So, you know, again, we donate to a shelter. We’ve donated over 300, I believe those and we just again, we just started this last year. So we are also partnering with a few different organizations on the non kill shelter side, you know, because parts of our copy sale proceeds will go to them. And with the partnership with it with Jesse Debian and inbred boy, we used to have a scholarship for our restaurants that we actually had, you know, we put a pause on during the pandemic, but now we’re bringing you back. So with the sales of the bread, we’re gonna take 10%, and we’re gonna put towards the the 360 Steal the piggy bank. Yeah, I was like, I
Amy Wanderley-Britt 35:51
get a 360. But still, it started with Pig, it’s the Pig scholarship on that, you know, still we’re trying to, we’re trying to do something different here, moving away from the way the industry is operated. By letting our teams we say we’re hiring entrepreneurs, innovators and trailblazers, we’re no longer hiring chefs and servers. And it is a new way of looking at a hospitality model that’s 10 years old, I get it. But you know, what we’re saying is, we can do more you can, you can work for an hourly paycheck. And that’s what we have on we’re between 12. And I don’t know what skill change currently, yes, it’s getting up there. But work like 12 to 20 to 50. And we’re offering 401k. And we’re looking to hire entrepreneurs that want to partner and really bridge the gap of small business to opening more concepts together. And working in conjunction instead of considering each other as some type of sort of looking for a competition, really, we’re not a competition, we’re all in it together. And that is the main thing that I learned from all of this over the last few years is, even in the tips model, it’s it’s 10 people working on a team to deliver one plate, not one person. And, you know, in Utah, they’re paid to 13 hour plus tips. So that was never really a sustainable model for people to see this as a career opportunity. It just doesn’t, it does bring it 360 Degrees and offering offering hourly paid and utilizing a hospitality fee, which you know, I guess that is a forced, if you want to put it that way a hospital 15% is utilized to offset our staffs now, income increasing, and from 213. It’s also taken away from their worth of evil table and doing all the things that happen with who works in action and who worked in the front, we have seven positions, and everyone has to learn every seven positions in the store. If you’re a hospitality friendly folk, then you’re gonna start in the kitchen, and you’re gonna start with process. And if you’re a person who is a little bit shy, we’re not going to put you out of your comfort zone to make you you know, not enjoy your space. We’re all we’re also saying, cross utilize each other there, you can work with less, we can achieve more, you can increase your wage based off what is your value, you know, seven stations, you know, leadership, which our leadership style is, how can I help, because we found a tendency for folks who share a commonality of our traits and values not wanting to lead. And that’s that’s a hard one for me. I don’t think including myself, I didn’t want to lead at 20 There was something that I was called to do because I felt we could do it differently. And all that was was behind and work in a team and trying to get people now versus even two years ago, to work through their anxieties and say leadership is how I can help. That’s a huge challenge. Aside from cooking waffles and learning how to take orders, and that’s to us where it starts. It’s Who are we and why we do what we do.
Chad Franzen 39:23
Okay, last question for you. I know you don’t have to be in Utah necessarily to consume some of the your offerings. Where can people find out more information about your restaurants and maybe what can people get online if they check out your websites? Sure. So
Vivi Wanderley-Britt 39:39
you can go to WB’s, www.wbseatery.com. You can take a look at our menu there but also there’s a shop tab where you can take a look at what we sell our good day sunshine pack. It’s like a cute way to bring a smile to someone with our coffee. We have our coffee brand and our channel him and our waffle mix. So we ship those anywhere in the US. And we have a couple of other gift boxes too. So on the shop tab, you can learn more about it. If you’re a corporation, you can email us and we’ll work directly with you. We make it very easy for corporations to send gifts to clients or employees. But then, you know, speaking with them is it’s easier just because of the bulk purchase. But yeah, we and we wrap our every box we send out we actually wrap them as a gift. So when you get them in the mail is a present. So it’s just again, another way to you know, bring a smile. Smile to to everyone to their doorstep.
Amy Wanderley-Britt 40:40
Yeah, absolutely.
Chad Franzen 40:42
Okay. Well, hey, it’s been great talking to you guys. It was fun hearing about your brands and all the innovative ideas that you guys have. I really appreciate your time today. Thank you so much.
Vivi Wanderley-Britt 40:52
Thank you. We really appreciate me to talk to you soon.
Chad Franzen 40:56
Thank you so long, everybody.
Outro 40:57
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