A Leap I Had No Business Taking
Looking back on Failure Lab Atlanta, the event I had no business producing, and how that leap set the stage for building The 601 Group
In early 2015, I did something wildly out of my comfort zone. I read an article about a new event called Failure Lab, launched in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They had hosted a program at East Grand Rapids High School, my alma mater, where people stood on stage and told raw, vulnerable stories of failure.
I couldn’t stop thinking about it. For reasons I can’t fully explain, I reached out to the founders and said I wanted to bring it to Atlanta.
I had no experience producing events. I was a few years into my career at World 50 but had no background in venues, sponsors, ticketing, or programming. Still, I felt compelled and committed.
So I figured it out. I convinced a venue to take a chance on me. I searched for storytellers. I tracked down sponsors and vendors. I built a run of show. I found AV support (though the video was terrible). And with the help of a few friends who believed in me, less than a year later we hosted Failure Lab Atlanta at the Ferst Center.
The Format That Made It Magical
Failure Lab’s format is simple but profound:
A storyteller shares a raw, unresolved failure.
Then the room falls silent. The audience has a few minutes to reflect, write down lessons, and share their own takeaways. Not the storyteller’s version, but their own. That’s the magic — the audience becomes part of the story.
To reset the energy, a musician takes the stage before the next story.
Which meant I suddenly wasn’t just producing a storytelling event. I was a concert promoter too.
Musicians like Michael Tolcher, Wesley Cook and Floco Torres, among others, joined us. They stepped in out of the goodness of their hearts because they believed in the mission. And in one unforgettable moment, they all gathered on stage for an unplanned rendition of Closer to Fine by the Indigo Girls. No rehearsal. No script. Just pure connection.
The event drained me. It inspired me. It cost me money and time. And though I thought it might become an annual tradition, it was a one-time thing. But it became one of the most pivotal moments of my life.
The Takeaway That Changed Me
I didn’t walk away with profit or recognition. I walked away with something bigger: the understanding that you grow when you leap into something you have no business doing. That vulnerability connects people more than polish. And that sometimes success isn’t about ROI at all — it’s about how something changes you.
I couldn’t have known then how much this night would shape my path. But when I look back ten years later, I see it clearly.
From One Leap to the Next
The courage I found through Failure Lab Atlanta stayed with me. After relocating back to Michigan to East Lansing, where Gina and I had first met before Atlanta, another opportunity presented itself. A chance to buy a small crêperie called For Crêpe Sake.
Once again, I had no background in food or restaurants. But I recognized the same pull I had felt with Failure Lab. It was uncomfortable, it made no sense on paper, but I knew growth only comes when you step into the unknown.
That leap became For Crêpe Sake.
Then came Brown Butter Crêperie & Café.
Then the opening of The Local Epicurean East Lansing, alongside a partnership with the founders of the Grand Rapids business to scale it beyond a single small location. What began as one beloved shop became a vision for immersive culinary experiences and the foundation for something much larger.
And eventually, those leaps became The 601 Group: a hospitality business built not on playing it safe, but on believing that food and shared experiences can bring people together in extraordinary ways.
Looking Ahead
What began as one night of storytelling, silence and music in Atlanta is still rippling through my journey today. It shaped how I see leadership, risk and connection. And it gave me the confidence to build something I hope will become not just a collection of restaurants, but a true hospitality group, maybe even an empire.
My takeaway, ten years later:
Push yourself out of your comfort zone. Try something new even if you have no idea what you’re doing. Don’t measure success only by ROI or whether it looks like a “win” or “failure” in the moment. The real measure may only reveal itself years later, when you realize how deeply it changed you.
And that’s why I see The 601 Group not just as a business, but as the continuation of that same lesson. Every leap, every new concept, every risk is a chance to grow — and to create experiences that change people in ways they may not realize until years later.
- Mike