Upscale Dogs and Secret Bars
Today’s story is about Brian Shebairo and his childhood pal Chris Antista.
I’m mentoring 600 of your kids. They’re about to graduate from ASU. I’m giving a talk on “Finding a Job”. It’s a big deal…to you and to them.
They want off your payroll. And you agree!
A good idea.
- I thought about law. I’ve done it. Try to solve life-crippling problems. Fight emotion fraught fights. Not for your kids.
- Medicine? Lives at stake. Their hands in strange places they weren’t meant to be. No way.
- Corporate America? Bosses who know less than they do (they’ll think). Nope.
I thought and I thought. What to say to your kids?
Dogs. Hot dogs, that is. Your kids can get rich selling hot dogs!
Brian & Chris did. They motorcycled the East Coast sampling hot dogs.
The idea? An upscale hot dog eatery in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
Crif Dogs opened in 2001. Voted best dogs in town. It’s now one of the hottest places around.
(FYI – “Crif” was a result of Brian trying to say “Chris” with a hot dog in his mouth.)
But wait! Four years of study. Thousands of $$ in debt. Sell hot dogs? I have a back-up plan. Open a secret bar.
No marketing. No sign. A hidden phone booth. A secret code to get in.
After Brian and Chris made a fortune selling hot dogs, that’s what they did.
Success strategy? Don’t tell a soul.
The bar’s name? ‘Please Don’t Tell.’
The front door? Hidden in an old-time wooden phone booth in a dimly lit corner of Crif Dogs eatery.
If you know the secret, you step into the booth, put your finger in the rotary, dial #2, and voila; a secret door opens. You enter the bar.
People love secrets. Word quickly spread. The secret bar. The obscure phone booth. Dial #2 to get in.
Please Don’t Tell opened in 2007. It’s now reservations only. Like Crif Dogs, it’s a hot spot in town.
When I graduated, this was advice from Chubby, my dad:
“Find an idea and you won’t need to find a job.”