Summary:
Rick Malir is the President and Co-Founder of the nationwide barbeque chain, City BBQ! If you can breakdown who Rick is into just a few lines, he grew up on a rural farm in Kansas, and when asked how he felt about the words ‘live uncomfortably’ he responded “…in life, never be satisfied, you never arrive, and you always have to enjoy the journey…”.
In this episode, Rick slowly sips on a yeti cooler (suspected to have some vodka in it), and he takes us through the journey of his childhood, leaving his first job, starting City BBQ, almost failing at starting City BBQ, how the company has made it to where it is today, and what the future looks like for him and his team!
Mile Markers:
(00:00:00) Rick Malir
(00:30:00) Subscribe to Conquering Columbus
(00:45:00) AWH
(00:01:16) The SunDown Group
(00:01:36) Facilities Management eXpress (FMX)
(00:02:08) Do you want to sponsor Conquering Columbus?
(00:02:20) Survey!
(00:02:30) Conquering Columbus Intro Music
(00:03:40) Background on Rick Malir
(00:04:55) It all started with tractors – Rick’s childhood
(00:07:00) Rick’s entrepreneurial ancestors
(00:09:20) 3/4 Czechoslovakia, barbeque runs in my blood
(00:10:15) College at Kansas State
(00:11:30) John Deere
(00:14:30) Jerry Seinfeld
(00:16:45) Why BBQ?
(00:18:30) How it all started – Getting City Barbeque off of the ground
(00:24:00) It was 3am, I was cooking chickens, and I remember thinking to myself, what the eff did I just do?
(00:24:45) The 2nd restaurant almost ruined us
(00:28:00) Our purpose is to wake up every morning and make the customers happy, and if we do that we’ll succeed
(00:30:30) Taking a quick step back and discussing the launch of the 1st restaurant
(00:34:00) How did you save the 2nd restaurant and the business, and what got you through it?
(00:36:30) The first 5 years of the company, I basically made enough to sustain life and I was in the zone
(00:38:10) The scratch kitchen
(00:38:30) The spiral sliced ham story
(00:40:00) Culture at City Barbeque
(00:43:30) Rick’s go-to for breakfast
(00:45:15) The future for City Barbeque
(00:47:20) What do you enjoy doing the most now that you’ve switched from working in the business to working on the business?
(00:49:15) Live Uncomfortably – “Never be satisfied, and you never arrive”
(00:50:00) Eat more BBQ!
(00:50:45) Share and subscribe to Conquering Columbus!
(00:51:15) AWH
(00:51:43) The SunDown Group
(00:52:03) Facilities Management eXpress (FMX)
(00:52:30) Do you want to sponsor Conquering Columbus?
(00:52:55) Conquering Columbus Outro Music
Links
Rick Malir
City BBQ
Facilities Management eXpress (FMX)
The SunDown Group
AWH[subscribe]
