Moments & Milestones
The Making of a Timeless Hospitality Business
Follow Our Journey
The More Technology Advances, the More I Bet on What It Can’t Replace
Over the past several months, I’ve been spending a significant amount of time working with AI. Not observing it from a distance or reading about it in abstract terms, but using it directly in the day-to-day work of building our business. What started as curiosity has quickly turned into something closer to a daily operating rhythm.
Finite Games, Infinite Builders
I’ve had a rare stretch of uninterrupted time this week, sitting at the beach with nowhere to be and nothing competing for my attention. It’s the kind of space that doesn’t happen often, and when it does, it tends to surface thoughts that get buried in the pace of normal weeks. I picked up The Book of Elon and finished it in two days. Somewhere along the way, I ordered Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse, a book that had been sitting in the back of my mind for years but never quite made it to the top of the list.
Inviting People Into the Journey
The best hospitality invites people not just to the table, but into the experience.
The Teacher I Never Met
As we build The 601 Group, I find myself thinking less about what to copy and more about what to avoid.
That may sound counterintuitive. Most founders look for models. Playbooks. Case studies. Best practices. I do too. But over the past 25 years, I’ve had a vantage point that most operators never get.
People, Then Profits
Two weeks into owning and operating The Local Epicurean Grand Rapids, most of the decisions we’ve made don’t show up as wins on a P&L.
The Button
This morning, I clicked a button.
It said Initiate Payment.
Nothing dramatic about it. No fireworks. No applause. Just a confirmation screen and a deep breath.
The Next Chapter
Some things take a long time to become public.
Not because they’re uncertain, but because they’re already in motion.
What to Make of a Life
This week, I had the chance to spend time with Jim Collins again.
Not for a formal keynote. Not for a public conversation. Just time. A sneak peek at the work he’s been quietly building toward for years—his upcoming book, What to Make of a Life.
Inviting People In, On Purpose
For the past couple of months, I haven’t written here—intentionally, as it turns out.
Not because nothing was happening. Quite the opposite. We’ve been heads down learning something I avoided for a long time: marketing.
In It, On It, All In: Rethinking the Leadership Pendulum
One of the most common leadership mantras I’ve heard—especially as businesses scale—is that leaders must “get out of the weeds” and “work on the business, not in it.”
It’s well-intentioned advice. And in many ways, it’s necessary. Leaders can’t afford to be consumed by the day-to-day forever. Someone has to think about the bigger picture, the systems, the long-term strategy. Someone has to work on the business.
The Map Is Not the Territory
This week I had the privilege of a private conversation with a Fortune 50 CEO. Among the many insights he shared, one comment stopped me cold:
Building Standards of Excellence
When you’re building a business, it’s easy to get caught up in the scoreboard. Sales numbers, growth, expansion plans—they all feel urgent. But real, enduring success doesn’t come from chasing numbers. It comes from creating standards—clear expectations for how we do things, big and small—and then living by them every day.
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.
Growth Over Goals
Why We Focus on Progress, Not Perfect Plans
There’s a quote I heard recently (can’t recall where) that captured something I’ve been thinking about for a long time:
“Prioritize growth over goals.”
The Long Opening
Reflections on the first year at The Local Epicurean East Lansing
There’s a moment, sometime between signing a lease and unlocking the door on opening day, when the adrenaline kicks in. Everything feels possible. You can see the space in your mind: full tables, happy customers, the sound of clinking glasses, a line at the counter. The buildout moves fast, the launch gets close, and the vision begins to feel real.
The Hedgehog Concept
Jim Collins teaches us that great companies focus relentlessly on the intersection of three simple circles:
What you can be the best in the world at
What you are deeply passionate about
What drives your economic engine
The 20-Mile March: Why We’re Building for the Long Haul
In Great by Choice, Jim Collins introduces one of my favorite concepts: the 20-Mile March. It's a deceptively simple idea, but one that’s shaped how I think about business, leadership, and growth—especially as we build The 601 Group.
What I’ve Learned from Jim Collins
Throughout my career, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to spend time with some of the best business minds in the world. During my time operating within World 50—the world’s premier, invitation-only community for senior executives from leading global companies—I had the privilege of sitting across the table from legendary thinkers, CEOs, and authors whose ideas have shaped entire industries.
One of the most impactful of them all—for me personally and for the work I’m doing now—was Jim Collins.
Profit Is Not a Dirty Word
For the first few years of running our hospitality businesses, I’ll admit—profit wasn’t something we thought about very often. It wasn’t that we didn’t care about money. It’s just that we had more urgent problems.
Like a lot of small business owners, we opened our first location—For Crêpe Sake—with a dream and a lot of heart. Our focus was on creating a place people wanted to visit. A place that served delicious food, made people feel welcome, and gave our team a meaningful and enjoyable place to work. Then came the pandemic, and the goal narrowed even further: just keep the doors open.