Episode 74 - The Breakfast Klub Story With Marcus Davis

Nicky Saunders  
what’s poppin whats poppin whats poppin. Welcome to Nicky and Moose, I'm Nicky, that's moose what’s up moose?

Mostafa Ghonim  
What up y’all? 

Nicky Saunders  
and we have a very special special guests okay, like can I say this is like the this man makes one of the best grits I've ever had and I'm a New Yorker and I'm not even supposed to say this like like we don't even eat grits. So the fact that I'm saying that and I went for like, three four times is something that we got to talk about but Um entrepreneur, speaker, and owner of has to be the number one but this you know some people made the bait I'm going to say the number one restaurant not not breakfast not nothing like that restaurant in Houston Texas. Listen just say the name just say the name

Mostafa Ghonim  
the one and only man the owner the owner of The make sure you add The by the way we got specific instructions on The Breakfast Klub Okay, The Breakfast Klub.

Nicky Saunders  
I'm in the background you hear him in the background is about to be about to be a crazy episode. Let me let me just get into this intro.

Jaymie Jordan  
Two kids from Queens. Cut from a different car. Now joining forces helping you to elevate your personal brand. Yeah, I'm talking about Nicky and moose, bringing you a never before seen perspective into the mindset, the mentality, the behaviors, the driving force. More importantly, the stories behind the people and brands that you know and love the most.

Nicky Saunders  
So I'm not gonna make you wait, no more. You're gonna see him or for audio listeners. You bout to hear him? You heard him a little bit. But But Marcus what’s poppin? Can we talk about can we just like for my audio listeners, he has all his product in the back. Okay, like everything to make you hungry? Like right he makes it feel like I can actually do this myself knowing it won't even come close. So you're gonna want to come to the spot but just looking at it makes makes me feel like I should grab all of it and knowing darn well I'm not gonna cook none of that. But what’s up?

Marcus Davis  
Hey look Just Just grab it. Just grab it as long as you have it in your pantry and you're covered then you're good to go. But yeah, it will help it will improve your skills. I will say that it came and it will improve your skills. I don't know what your emails right now.

Nicky Saunders  
I could do my stuff. I could do my stuff. Again, you know, it's not like I'm not one of those. I can't cook. I cook what I need to cook and it's really good. You know what I mean? So that's

Marcus Davis  
We’ll have to check it out. Moose. Can you vouch for that? 

Mostafa Ghonim  
we I have the I haven't tried her cooking but 

Nicky Saunders  
We go out to eat. And then if you chill with moose You have like three desserts. So absolutely. Yeah, no, no, no, absolutely. But anyways, how are you feeling? How's things?

Marcus Davis  
Man? Things are going fantastic. I feel great. I'm excited to be here. Not not not as a cliche, but I'm genuinely excited to join the two of you on on this podcast. It is a it is obviously one of my favorites. And man. I had my mama just love I tell mama, I finally made it. I'm on the Nicky and moose show. 

Nicky Saunders  
just saying I'm just saying but a moose. I want to I want you to start this off. We do what we do.

Mostafa Ghonim  
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we'll give more of the backstory on this, especially on the after show. But Marcus we we want you to just give us the how this thing came together. I mean, what people see today is 20 years and coming. You give us a phenomenal kind of backstory and introduced us to how the all the entire idea and the vision and the plan came together and I love how you did that. But for those of you for those, for those who don't know you give them a quick introduction about who was the man behind this wonderful idea and concept that they see now today.

Marcus Davis  
You know, when when you ask the question of how to come in, into into being and it is quite simply through entrepreneurship and my definition of entrepreneurship is filling the void in the marketplace that the marketplace is calling for consciously or subconsciously. And 20 years ago, 21/22 years ago when I was writing a business plan for this concept, my great city, the city of Houston, had a void in the breakfast scene that had a void and the the African American eatery scene, I had avoided what I call the urban eatery, that the place that was synonymous with the city, and I wanted to feel all of those voice breakfasts, restaurant coffee shop, and a place that rep that put on for a city was putting on for the city before the song came out. They just they knew what we were doing.

Nicky Saunders  
Talk about it. Yeah. So

Marcus Davis  
that that's how it came in, into into existence. When you ask who is the man behind it Geron Bette Davis's middle Ciao, my father was was my sphere of influence behind being in the hospitality industry. My dad who was a caterer by he was educated by profession, and his two passions were food and music. And so his side gig or side hustle, as we say was he was a musician. And he was also a great cook. And I don't mean the side like side he was they were on the side but he was absolutely great at both of them a hell of a pianist and and and a hell of a cook. And he introduced me into hospitality through entertaining at home, I grew up you know, I grew up church boy, Sunday morning, we get up and go to church and we there all day, and we come home in between them have dinner, and my house was the house that people like to congregate at, because my father made all the great food. So that was my introduction into hospitality. That was my introduction into entertaining and My introduction to great tasting food. I grew up with a with a luxury. I don't know how you guys grew up, but I grew up with the luxury. And I didn't know it was a luxury at the time. It is a luxury to have somebody in your in your house that's cold on that stove, right? It is an absolute luxury that that you know that you grew up in a house that somebody got skills in the kitchen and my father was was was extremely gifted when it came to food he was he masterful he was great. So that's how I got into this. And you know, wanting to fill those voids in. In my city is how the Breakfast Klub the concept of the Breakfast Klub came about.

Nicky Saunders  
Sheesh, look, okay, I go I go many ways with this. I'ma go go with this way. Right? So it has to be the go to spot in Houston, like you've had? I think every celebrity hit that spot. Yeah, social media posts all over the place. Like, my question to you is, how did we get the important people to come there? Like, I think a lot of people when they're trying to grow their their brands and their businesses, they're trying to figure out how do we get those influencers attention? How do we, you know, how do we create those different types of relationships? Like, how what did you find that this is what I did, that instantly may want everybody to come here, no matter if they were the regular nine to five person or the a list celebrity? Right.

Marcus Davis  
So look, two words, how did how did we get that to happen? I would have to say by intention. It was very deliberate. And let's let's back this up. Let's make sure we're talking about understand what we're talking about. We're talking about the pre IG, the pre FB, the pre Twitter world. We're talking in 2001. When I opened these doors, we didn't have the world at the touch at the fingertips, right? So we had to be very strategic, very creative, and how we were going to attract folks from across the country. And when I say by intention, that was a goal of ours from day one. When I wrote the plan, I wanted the Breakfast Klub to be synonymous with the city of Houston. Meaning when you say I'm going to Houston, you would hear somebody say you got to stop by the Breakfast Club. Or if you say I just came from Houston, they would ask you did you did you go by the Breakfast Klub. I remember one day a buddy of mine. This was probably about year two or three. A buddy of mine had had checked that he went out The Town checked into a hotel. I think it was in DC. And he called me from the hotel he said, man, not gonna believe this is outstanding hotel in DC I'm checking in. And the lady looks at my driver's license and said you from Houston. Have you been to the Breakfast Klub and he just thought that was fascinating. But and I was fascinated, I was excited because it meant that we were fulfilling our goal, our intention was being met. And when I say again, when I say intention, we intended to be known. I wanted this single shop on the corner of Alabama and Travis, to be known from the Pacific to the Atlantic. I know today that sounds like oh, that's not a big deal. But in 2001, when your best form of advertising is slick snail mail or with you know, you still doing dial up and 2001 Right, it's still Tu, Tu, Tu, Tu, Tu, AOL, that was still happening when we open the doors. So we it was a lot of grassroots Guerrilla Marketing, a lot of hand to hand combat, that, that that got us to the point of being recognized. But but to boil it down, pun pun intended to boil it down. I knew that beyond anything else, what would get our name out, and what would get us known is what we had to deliver. Right? What we want to deliver the quality product, the quality service, and the level of consistency that we provided, is what I expected to speak volumes. So because we didn't have a Facebook page, and because we didn't have an Instagram page, I had to rely on the number one form of math of marketing, then and today, which is word of mouth. And my message to my team was that as we fill the seats, if we give them a quality product, if we give them great service, and they will go out and and they'll spread our name across the land. And, you know, it was a I tell you a funny story about what one of the one of the ways that we were able to get national attention, because we didn't have the mechanism that we have today. We you remember, Tom Joyner Morning Show, right? Which was one of the most popular radio shows back in the day. And I was like, Man, how can I? How can I get on the Tom Joyner Morning Show? Well, we started on a shoestring budget, right? Everything from our construction to the staff we wanted to hire to the marketing plan had to take a big hit because the startup costs our startup budget was 10% of what we desired in the business plan. And so I was thinking, how can I get on the Tom Joyner Morning Show because that's the only way I'm gonna get known across the nation. And I was like, Well, I don't have the money to go buy Tom Jonah commercials. That's that's out of the question. And at the time, Tom Joyner was still doing what they call the Scott show. I don't know if y'all remember that. Right. And he would travel to different cities and do a live show. And that show ran across the country. He traveled to the city and he did a show live when I found out was coming to Houston. I said, That's it. I got to find a way to get my name mentioned on that program when they come to the city of Houston. So this is what we did. I couldn't tag them on IG. I couldn't tag them on on Facebook. I couldn't inbox them and say when you come to the city come through, I couldn't trend so I had to be creative. And so they rented out one of the Coliseum one of the the event venues downtown. And I told my wife that we were gonna buy 102 yellow T shirts, that was the dial on the radio station, right 102 shirts. They were neon yellow, they was yellow as  this cap on this on this season and back here. And I logo on there, and I got up. We got up my wife and I got up at four o'clock in the morning. And we went out there and we passed out 102 Yellow Shirts, and we told everybody to put the shirt on. We had a shirt on the inside. If I see you on this side, then you get a free breakfast for me. It cost me 102 breakfasts. But by the time that show was over once you were in there, if you looked around the arena, you saw, and it's 5000 people in there, but for certain one constant one consistent was the 102 specks of bright yellow throughout that venue. And then even more important, and when they came when they came back to the restaurant, they all lined up to get in to get the free grits that I promised. And that led to one of the DJs mentioned in these folks in the yellow shirt. It led to one of them coming back to the restaurant. Next thing you know, bam. He's talking about the great fried chicken that he ate once he got to the radio, and that's why I say that's why I say quality of product quality service and consistency is important. Because had we done all of that to get him inside the store. And we didn’t deliver once he got here, then it would have been all for not so it's incredibly important to understand how and how important it is to be able to Okay, y'all know I like movies, right? So I did prepare a movie for right

Let's go. You know, one of my favorite quotes and and Branding is is Denzel Washington. In in the movie American Gangster, right? You remember you say a brand, it's a brand name. You know, it's like Pepsi. It's a brand name, I stand behind it. They know me. I mean, they know the product, even if they don't know me, right, and I stand behind it. And what he was saying was, he stood behind it. And when people got that package they expected the quality of product, the quality service and the consistency. So you know, that that's, that's how we've been able to do this over the last 20 years, being being a place of great quality of consistency, and you know great service. 

Mostafa Ghonim  
Long is one of my favorite things that you one of my favorite words that I hear you say often is you started with a plan. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Like I I really admire and respect that. If someone is starting today looking to set up something similar, whether it be in the hospitality industry, or even online? What are some things that you would recommend or suggest they make a part of their plan?

Marcus Davis  
Well, let me let me let me start, because to make a part of the plan, I think it may be a tad presumptuous, considering the fact that, you know, entrepreneurship is way more popular and accepted today than it was 20 years ago, right? You know, I was an alien in 1999, when I decided, I'm gonna leave my job, and step out and quote, unquote, do you know, be an entrepreneur, or do my own thing as we say, so in the but in the, in this new era, where entrepreneurship is, is is heavily sought after, and people want to participate in it. And in this era of quick, fast and in a hurry, and I have all these things accessible to me, a plan may be may be an afterthought. So I don't want to presume that, that they're going to do that. And so the first thing I would would say before telling what should be in the plan, I would have to say you got to make sure that you create the plan. I even saw this clip one time that that went viral. And I understood the intent understood the intent that went viral. That said, even if you don't have a plan, just get started, just get started. And I understood the intent, but I cringed behind it, I cringe, because I thought that it would lead to many people astray from the importance of creating the plan was my man name. Will Smith in the movie Venice's Serena daddy, he would constantly say, Hey, I wrote the plan. I wrote the plan and wrote the plan. So I know how to supposed to go. And that's the importance of the plan. You knowing having an idea of how it's supposed to go, it doesn't mean it's gonna always go their way. It doesn't mean it's not going to change, it doesn't mean you're not going to have to scratch out erase, or make adjustments or make amendments. It just means you have a framework from which to work. And now what what what should be in that plan. You know, start with you know, your vision, what is what is it that I'm that I'm trying to create? And and what do I see what's in my head, I equate creating a business plan to breathing life into your dream. When you when you sit down and put pen to paper, to write out your plan, and you bring it in from your head to your hand to that paper, then you are breathing that breath of life into that plan. And you have to include in that, what is it that I'm trying to accomplish? What I want to go what do I see in my head the vision statement is incredibly important. A lot of other stuff, but you know, yeah, it starts it starts

Nicky Saunders  
so it's called The Breakfast Klub. Yeah. Can't can't leave out the right. can't spell club the regular club way. Right. Right. So talk to us. How'd you come up with that name? Yeah, how'd you come up with the two instinct, the done the K, like, talk to us about that process of naming your brand.

Marcus Davis  
And, and and I'm, I'm adamant about about our name, I'm adamant about it being the Breakfast Klub. I tell people that when you are naming something, that's something that this is how I see it. When you're naming something. There's something spiritual that comes with that, right? You are taking what the Creator has placed in your head in your heart and you bring it into the universe. And the name that comes along with it is something spiritual means something to me. i And I say that for you know, brand names. I say that for people's. You know, the best way I can get people to understand it is I had a young lady who she was interviewing her name was her name was difficult to pronounce According to her, and I asked her what was her name she told And she said, Well, you can come in. And let's say her name was Arjuna. And she just call me, AJ. Now, I want to call you what your mother and your father labored over, while you were in your mother's belly. While you before you had yet hit this earth, they thought about this. And they gave a lot of thought to she laid her head on that pillow, thinking about what does she want to call this Being she was bringing it to the universe. And so it's important that we appreciate what that mother thought about what that father thought about and take with high regard, the name that was assigned, and that's the way people ought to think about the brand. The name, right, this is something that was given to me, they came to me in a dream and an aha moment and an epiphany, whatever way, the creative, you know, gave you that aha moment. That's how you should treat your brand. In, in, in representation, in putting it out there, and representation and in protection. But don't wait, I don't you So you asked, how did it how did it come about? Um, it's gonna be I'm gonna leave it at that. So So look, the concept of The Breakfast Klub, was we wanted to create a party in the morning, right, we wanted to create. So a few friends of mine, and I think I shared the story with you guys. We were riding around one night, and we hit up a couple of spots. And as we hit those spots, at the end of night, we start talking about where we wanted to go after that. And as we talked about it, the places that we went afterwards didn't match. So normally, you know, when you're hanging out at night, you go to the bars you go hang out, at the end of night, you go somewhere to get breakfast, right, right. And the places that we ended up going to they will normally light bright, right lights are real bright. There ice cold, the music is wack. And I was like, man, it'd be great if we created a breakfast show that was seamless, that fit into the places that we've been going to all night. Even more important, it would be great if we could provide that atmosphere, get people in a party mood in a festive mood, in a vibrant mood in the morning, as they got themselves ready to go to work. You know, that part about how you start your day was incredibly important. So I wanted folks to have a have to have a good time. The club part was about being inclusive, being inclusive for everyone. It was about making sure that any and everybody that wanted to participate in what we're doing on the corner of Alabama and Travis that they had the opportunity to participate, that that caused me some strife and some headache when I was looking for funding from from banks. And they were like, well, who's your target audience who's your target demographic, and I refuse to give them what I tell them. I don't have a target audience, I don't have a target demographic. I said I'm trying to open the space for any and everybody that wants to participate, which went against the grain of traditional thinking when trying to start a business, they wanted to identify that that you were trying to reach to reach a mother who had 2.3 Kids and had $100,000 household income. And that's not what I wanted to create. I wanted to create a place that any and everybody that wanted to participate could in fact participate. We wanted to open the club up to anybody that wanted to be a member. And so that's that's that's how it was about breakfast. It was about everybody being involved. And that's how the name of The Breakfast Klub came about. And you know, of course the article the was just about you know, making a statement we we don't just we don't just serve breakfast, we don't just do breakfast. Breakfast is who we are. We are The Breakfast Klub. We're not just some some place that serves breakfast we're not just someplace that serves waffles and and grits we are the breakfast spot. And and I heard you say the best restaurant in Houston, I take that I receive that we but we are still the best breakfast restaurant across the nation.

Nicky Saunders  
So I'm not going to dispute that. I promise you I'm not gonna dispute that at all.

Mostafa Ghonim  
I love it. I love it, Marcus. I mean, the the marketing, the branding, your vision for the restaurant is incredible. But I love the principles that you laid out for your team to help sustain this great promise that you are making set upon the marketplace. Right? Like there's their specific principles that you laid out for him. I love when you share them when we were visiting the spot, share those with us here and give a little backstory and how they came to be.

Marcus Davis  
Well, the first one I gave already, which is quality, product quality, service and consistency and how I came up with those things. I spent 10 years working in corporate with another food concept. And so I got my my my training and operations, doing that from time I was 15 Yes How to start it. I started working in fashion When I was 15 years old, you know serving fries, burgers, working cash register, Team Leader, Night Manager, shift manager day manager, then climb on all the way to being working with the corporate office. And so I had, I had done that over over 10 years from time I was 15. To the time I was 26. And then I went and did it. For them. I was a troubleshooter, taking stores that were in terrible shape, that needed a little TLC and fixing them up for the company for another for a franchise to come in and take them over. And that was my specialty going in and being a change agent, taking stores that weren't performing and making them top performing stores. And so when I when I when I left and came back home to Houston to open The Breakfast Klub to open a restaurant, I wanted to feel voice looking for what is it that our community needs? What is it that they yearn for? What is it that I can bring? And those three things came up? I heard from the marketplace, that, you know, quality is is an issue I heard from the marketplace that that service was an issue and I heard from the marketplace. That consistency, what was an issue and I heard it through you know, listening to customers that when spaces I was going to I heard it from myself as a place that that you know as a person that went out to eat and and I heard these cries and these calls and I wanted to answer making sure that you don't compromise on quality, you don't compromise on service. And those two things are so important that you have to do them every single time you unlock your door. And when you do that, then that is your brand. Right That That right there is your brand your name is your but your brand is what you do. Your name is what is assigned to what you do, but your brand is what you do. And I can I can have the best content. i Can I quote Dimmesdale again.

Nicky Saunders  
Yes, again. Yes.

Marcus Davis  
They'll say does they'll say this, this was this was in in an interview but Dinsdale said. He said he said being a great he was talking about acting, but you can apply this to best. He said being a great actor is not about how many likes you get. It's about the content that you present. It's about the they want to know the last movie you and and how great you were in it. So while we may have X amount of 1000s of followers on Instagram, while we may have X amount of 1000s of followers on Facebook and on Twitter, and people who come as a result, if we don't deliver who we are and what we say we are, then we've misrepresented the brain, we've misrepresented what we told the people that they were going to get so it goes beyond the likes, it goes into the experience that people have once they encounter your business and your brain. Man, I'm getting hoarse.

Nicky Saunders  
Every time every every time because Sheesh. Um, so I love what you said, because you even pointed out like, these are the things that is missing in the market. Right? And so you clearly stand out. And hence why you are top tier as you are now. Besides those three. Right, now let's talk about even the physical locations. Of course, the the airport situation, which I said side note, I wasn't going to have it until I went to the to the main spot. Yeah, exactly. And I was hungry when I got to let me tell you i was starved. And I was like, No, I never had it. So it only is right, that I go so that's just a quick side note, but besides those three, what else what other kind of research or how much research did you do? As far as the other restaurants and the other breakfast spots? And how did you find the gap and applied it immediately?

Marcus Davis  
Ah, man, through well through through research is one and when I say research, I'm talking you know, days, weeks, months. So a little backdrop when I when I when I had this idea when I was that night I told you about after I had that idea. I went back and start working on the plan. And after I worked on the plan I found a home for the this idea that I had I was fumbling through I was I was I was teaching school I was a sixth and eighth grade history teacher I was coaching seventh and eighth grade boys basketball that was my hiatus from restaurant after I left the corporate gig. But I still had that entrepreneurial bug in me that I had to, had to get out of me I had to activate. And I still had the desire to be in hospitality. I had a desire to be in the food business. But I had to set it to the side. And one day I was I was dabbling in real estate, the entrepreneur me it was dabbling in real estate while I was while I was teaching school and I came across a, an ad for a building that had been like a convenience store bakery. And I called on them about the real estate, but ended up finding a home for this dream for this idea that I had called The Breakfast Klub. And so the, the, the, that's how we selected the location. And when I when I got here, I realized that this area of town, which was in at the early stages of transition, in the Midtown, downtown Houston, when I got here, I looked and saw that, yeah, there's not a lot of breakfast being served in this area. But more importantly, I found that the concept of breakfast that I was trying to bring to this marketplace was not being was not being served in Houston. Look, in 1999 2001. When we opened its doors, you couldn't find a fish, a grid, a chicken, all waffle on nobody's breakfast menu in the city of Houston. You couldn't find it you couldn't find it on nobody's menu for breakfast across the country. There were some people that saw one dish, right efficient, you know, wings and waffles or chicken waffles. So people that may or may have sold fish and grits. But you couldn't find them on one menu. You couldn't find them on one menu at seven or eight o'clock in the morning for breakfast, and you couldn't find them combined with a caramel macchiato or a white raspberry mocha. And that was important, because the void we were trying to feel was combined in a coffee shop with a restaurant with a breakfast restaurant. Why was that anomaly? Well, you remember in the 90s, Americans agreed that we would all pay four or five bucks for a cup of coffee. Yeah, remember, we took a vote we said yes, we're gonna all pay for five bucks for a cup of coffee this time. And so you had all of these coffee houses that popped up across the country? Well, they didn't serve food. Right? The majority of them in the late 90s. In the early 2002 1000s. I'm dropping, I'm dropping these hip hop thing I see the bars bars in the 99 to 2000. You know, you they coffeehouse, whatever they didn't serve food. And the breakfast restaurants that were there. They sold lousy coffee they didn't really focus on on coffee. So the goal that we wanted to fulfill the the niche that we want to feel was we wanted to bring those two things together, we wanted to be able to get a great plate with pork chops and grits. And we wanted to be able to get that caramel macchiato, at the same time in the same space. So the immediate area didn't have the breakfast restaurant, the city of Houston didn't have the type of breakfast that I wanted to serve. The vibe was missing. I wanted you walking in and hearing John Coltrane and seeing beautiful works of art around the restaurant. And that's how I wanted you to start your day at seven o'clock in the morning or eight o'clock in the morning or whatever time you came in there before you went to work. That's that was the goal to put you in a certain space as you started today.

Nicky Saunders  
So write these notes down

Mostafa Ghonim  
the notes. This is good, Marcus and I and I have an advantage because I heard parts of the story. So it's, it's it's it's a unique advantage for me. But it starts rolling. Right let's let's get to that part where the idea is now rolling. It's growing. You got on today and we're like, Hey, What's What's that behind you? And like, oh, the Breakfast Klub product line. And there's this scale process that came to it. In addition to opening other restaurants and sister restaurants. There are also you know what Nikki mentioned, a having another Breakfast Club at the airport, talk about this operation to scale division to multiple locations, multiple concepts, and even this product line. What did it take to scale the business there?

Marcus Davis  
First and foremost is people surround yourself with great people, surround yourself with people that that that are willing and have the ability to do the work that is necessary. And then systems putting systems in place that will allow you to be consistent that will allow you to be strategic that will allow you to be look when we we opened the Breakfast Club in 2001. About five years later, we opened a Caribbean restaurant about five years after that we opened A bar called the Alley Cat bar lounge. Then after that, we opened a restaurant downtown called culture. Right now, though, these are, these are four different concepts for different names. But but the the one commonality was when people went from one place to the next, because it was part of our brand, the expectation was the same. So putting things in place, putting systems in place that allow that quality of product, like a lot of quality service that allow that consistency has to run across the board, we couldn't do it at one place, and then have our brand attached to another concept, and not do it at that place and have it attached to another concept and not do it at that place. People are coming to that place, because they heard you're attached to it. Right? What does that say, Stand behind, they don't come, they don't come, whether they know me or not, whether they met me or not, they just understand that it's affiliated with this other place that's known for doing these great things. And so putting systems in place, and having people around you, that will implement those systems, and teach those systems and make sure that the brand is protected, that the brand is promoted, and that it is given the utmost attention is I think that's that's important for scale. Because if you if you don't do those things, if you don't do things, then you Nicky Barnes right, you're watering the brand down, you cut it, you're slicing it you Dyson it, and that's just not that's not that's not okay. And when I say that, what I mean is, and I know when you when you get into business, and if you're an entrepreneur, you want to do a little bit of everything you want to hop here, you want to hop there, and a lot of windows of opportunity open up, and you got to be very, very careful with it right? You got to be very careful with who's who's whose name you. You know who you hit your wagon to? Who you what events, you're affiliated with, what you get involved in, you know, I've been approached by a lot of things. And, you know, some of my just like, You know what, I appreciate what you do, I'm wishing you the best success, but that just doesn't fit into who we are and what we're about. And the danger is wanting success so bad that you don't pay attention to the red lights, or to the red flags that are that are tied to that. Hmm,

Mostafa Ghonim  
that's a good word.

Nicky Saunders  
Yeah, that's good. That that was one more time I just needed a proper closing. I'm okay, I'm gonna go a little off track on my normal branding talk. But what is some advice that you were seeking for when trying to grow your business and your brand that no one gave you that you are now intentional, telling other people now.

Marcus Davis  
So probably about, I don't know, within about five or six years, I started to realize, Okay, we are no longer just that, that that that mom and pop shop on the corner of Alabama and Travis, we are no longer just, you know, just just breakfast joint, one restaurant, even if we were just one restaurant, we're no longer just that thing. We are now a growing company. Right, we're now a growing company. And I had to recognize my role, my role as the CEO of this new growing company. And so the advice that I sought out was, you know, how to how to grow that company, how to build it, how to sustain it. One of the things that that I was very, very curious about, because I believe that we will be in business for quite some time. And I believe that we were going to be in business for a long period of time. I had to know what to do when the poop hit the fan. Right? I had to know how to respond when you know, what's, what's in the plan, a happening right? Or when the plan that I wrote down the wind come and blow it away or, or it gets sucked up by the flood or, or if if the hurricane comes through and blows it away. You got to know how to respond during those times. So the advice that I couldn't get from someone that I was seeking was how and this was something that was I shared this recently this was something I was very fascinated about. I would read Black Enterprise i will read the business section of the of the Houston Chronicle or the newspapers. And as I will read read them. I will read all about the success stories. But then I became became fascinated with stories of the downward spiral of companies. And who was at the helm at the time. And how do they respond are CEOs who brought their companies back from the brink of disaster. So I became extremely fascinated with CEOs and leaders who were called in after a company has gone through hell and high water. And who's that guy that they call that later that call to bring that company back and put it back into its proper place and to catapulted into the next the next hemisphere. And if I can use a sports analogy, I like Phil Jackson, who has the ability to run a team with a Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen or Kobe Bryant, rest in peace, and Shaquille O'Neal, but Bill Parcells was a was a guy who could take a 115 team and turn them into a 15 and warranty, right. And if you're going to grow a company, if you're going to build a company, if you're going to sustain a company, having the ability to bring to hold on to you to the road, and to bring your company back when Hurricane Ike hits or to bring your company back when Hurricane Rita or Katrina hits or to bring your company back when the recession occurs, or to bring your company we've been battle tested. And that's one of the things that I talk about. In our 20th year we've been we the pandemic was the pandemic, but it wasn't our first go round. Right? We we've been battle tested over the last 20 years, we started this business under a tropical storm, Allison, we moved into the we opened two weeks after 911. Which was important because you know, we didn't know what was going on. And I was like, Hey, I'm opening a restaurant. Right after 911, right? We're running around here, not sure how the world's gonna function on tomorrow. Then after that the Enron debacle, then the gas prices, and then you have the gas price, you have the housing market crash, then after the housing market crash, then we got hit with another hurricane. And then so on and so forth. And then in 2020 was the biggest of them all, the pandemic, right. And I remember as you as I remember asking, called one of my, one of my mentors, who has 50 years in business, I said, hey, oh, I don't know what to do. He What should I do? He said he'll I don't know, even. I know. I was like, wait a minute, you got it. I call. He's like, I'm not that damn old.

But but but but, but what I was, and I'm coming full circle. I didn't give my disclaimer, I am the son, grandson of great grandson of black Baptist preachers. So when you get a mic in front of me, I, you know, I, I talk, and I go on and on and on. But but but the the thing that that I learned the most is being prepared, and using past experiences, for the next experience, right? Using the things that you've been through, to strengthen yourself to better yourself for tomorrow. Because if it came once guaranteed is likely to come again. Right? And if you get hit the same way, the next time that's on you, right? I couldn't I couldn't control the first hurricane. But if the second hurricane that came through, I was equally unprepared as the next one that's on me. And so the lesson that I learned was, Hey, man, strengthen your books. Because when when the disaster relief comes, you need to be able to press a button. And have you seen CPA saying all the information that's already ready, strengthen your your, your your insurance package, right, making sure that you we will we had some insurance, but I didn't have insurance insurance, right. So I was I the lesson I learned from that was I mean, I need to be better insured. And I worked as a goal to make sure that my company was properly insured. And when we got the insurance coverage out what you just saw, I was driving a Bentley, right? Because I was like, Yeah, buddy, we got that. We got that Bentley insurance , because it was important because I knew that in the cycle of business, you were going to experience some things where you had to rely on that. So the lessons that I learned that I preaches is your level of preparation, having your insurance on par having your finances in order and you know having your your numbers your CPA ready. But here’s the other one, I had a I had a guy tell me one day it was he was a customer successful business person. He came regular and he said I see you doing well. He said but I'm gonna know you taking your business seriously. When you take your your your your your numbers, and your legal seriously. I was like dude, you just slapped me in the face. I got people out the door around the cone. I got line. I got you know I've been I've been on you know this TV show. I've been on that TV. You come telling me about some, some accounting and some, some legal liability. But he was right. Right. He was he was absolutely right. And when going back to that last one about legal is making sure that you have the proper representation, because it doesn't matter how great your insurance policy is, what I learned is that I have to have my attorney, my attorney on retainer, so you can go fight them for the money that they're supposed to give me that they tell me that they never give me. Mm hmm. And so how has that benefit us? We've been through Hurricane Hi, we've been through Hurricane Harvey, we've been through a pandemic, we've been through an ice storm, we've been through those things, for a person that's leading the company, those things become super important. So as you grow as a CEO, as the leader of your company, the things that you dealt with on day one, aren't the things you're going to deal with on day 10. The things you deal with on day 10, you aren't going to be dealing with on day 100 Or day 1000. If you are, there may, there may be a problem, right? There may be a problem, I say May because you've got to grow into other areas. It doesn't mean like today, I did my walkthrough, I did a check on the grass, I did a check on the green beans, but I'm not stirring grits and green beans every day. Right. But it's just something that I that I that I go back to just just to stay in touch with that level. But it's also not lost on me that I have to be in my office, doing deals, right, I've got to be in here working on the business of the restaurant, and not just the restaurant itself. Which is, which is a challenge, right? People making sure that they understand whatever your business is, that's one thing, right? The restaurant is the Breakfast Club is the breakfast the restaurant is the restaurant, the business of the restaurant, is something completely different. How to get you a grip out to you on time at the right temperature, with the right taste. And the right texture is one thing, how to deal with suppliers is a whole nother thing, how to deal with all the other stuff of the business. That's a whole nother world. And so I would encourage you now entrepreneurs that are out there, you know, I know it's I know, it's fancy looking on, you know, seeing the ticks and the toxin seeing you know, all the lovely things. Yeah, I'm 50 Come on, give me a break.

Nicky Saunders  
Okay

Marcus Davis  
over the ticks in the top right, you have to understand that there's a business that you participate in, and that you've got to tap into that business because you can blow up. But if you're not tending to that business, to the business of your business, then you will in fact blow up. Mm hmm.

Mostafa Ghonim  
1010 to the business of your business, I love that. You know, Marcus, I appreciate success. But I really admire integrity. And I think you're definitely a man of integrity because of how much you look out for your community. And I feel like you've almost made the two one by like you've dealt with them separately. But you're big on this concept of community with, you know, acquiring a restaurant that was going out of business one time and making sure it stays there. Talk to us about why community holds such a high place in your heart.

Marcus Davis  
So it, it goes back to the the the definition of entrepreneurship. Right, filling the void in the marketplace of the marketplace is calling for conscious or subconscious. I posted other day about how how entrepreneurs are artists, right? We're artists, we're creators, and the universe was given to us by the Creator, on which to paint. That's that's what we do. And we paint what the world wants to see what they want to hear what they want to taste what they want to touch. That's what entrepreneurs do, we bring into existence that which does not exist, for what reason for the rest of the universe, right? And that rest of the universe includes the community around you, the word entrepreneur from the get go really didn't have anything to do with p&l statements, right? It didn't have to have anything to do with with with business, per se, the etymology of the word entrepreneur, it had to do with identifying a challenge in the community and being willing to undertake that challenge. Being able to the community has an issue, okay. I'm going to take it on. Right. That's the role of the responsibility, seeing what the community needs, and being willing to step up and say, I got this one. And then the response, I call it it's a common response relationship between the entrepreneur and the community. Right. The everybody in the community has has a void you entrepreneur and the community there's a void, the entrepreneur steps up and says I'm going to feel it, the response of the community is to say, Okay, we will support it. And as the community supports it, it is then entrepreneurs responsibility to say, Okay, now that you've got my back on this, I've got to go and feel other voids in the community with the resources that you have given to me, right. And if that means I've got to make sure that the lowly program down the street is taken care of that the elementary school up the street is taken care of that we sponsored the debate team, or the communications program at the high school up the street, or the the basketball or what have you, right, those resources that the community and trust you with, you are now responsible for being a good steward with those resources, and delivering to that community, what they so desperately needs, need needs and an African American community. That is how we lift the foot of oppression off of our net, right? It is through his through businesses through economics, it's through that call and response of the entrepreneur and and the community. So that's why I think it's, it's it's incredibly important, because I'm, I'm a believer, I'm biased, because because I am a businessman, but I'm a believer that this relationship that I'm describing, is what cures the ills of the community, whether it's the educational eels, I can give as many scholarships as my wife, I'm putting that because she said over there, I can give as many scholarships as my wife allows me to, based on the support of the community. So where bam, we've touched on education, I can support whatever candidate that I believe is going to do right by who's going to get the potholes fix, who's going to make sure that after school programs are there, who's going to make sure that we have some social programs for the community, I can support that candidate based on what the community gives us. Right. So that's why I believe it's important that it's important to pay attention to building community as as an entrepreneur, just quite frankly, I think that's the whole purpose. That's I think that's the whole responsibility. I don't believe that we are given visions and dreams and goals for us. They have to come through us, they come to us, but they have to come to us through us. Is that a bar? Can I can I say?

Nicky Saunders  
This one? Listen, listen. Just say what you just said. That was good.

Marcus Davis  
And look, and look. And it goes back to purpose. Right? It. I was talking. I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, I hope? Well, I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and she was telling me what she was working on. And I've been knowing for quite some time. She's supportive, and in the business. And, and so we were creative sounding boards, right? So I was talking to about project she was working on. And I asked her why. And I asked her why again, so and I told her, I said, you know, I know you and I've been known you for a while, but I'm not hearing what I think it should be about. And she was like, What do you mean? So fast forward? Later in the conversation, she talked about something that she had been working on that she said to the side that and as she said it, she just started spitting it out. And I was like, that's what I'm talking about. I was like, you're passionate about this particular issue. This is a purpose. This is purpose driven. I was like before you were talking about money and that that's not that's that's that's not the motivation. The motivation should be what purpose Am I feeling? Right? The motivation should be how I'm making the world a better place the motivation should be how am I helping make those that are on hold hold the motivation behind my helping to heal those that are that are sick. And that's part of the design of the universe, right? That's part of what we're here for trees, we're placed here to give off the thing we inhale, which is oxygen, right? Trees don't use the oxygen. We do, but they're responsible for putting it up. Bees don't eat the food that comes from the pollination that they practice. We do. So similarly. We as human beings, as members of this creation as members of this universe, have responsibility to contribute and deliver just like every other being has their role in society.

Nicky Saunders  
Right, I'm supposed to follow up after that, but Okay, I'll try. It will be my last question because I'm not trying to really follow up after that. Um, okay.

Marcus Davis  
This yo show, yall do whatever you want to.

Nicky Saunders  
listen, listen. The the success of the restaurant, and the different what you've built as a brand, the multiple restaurants the just the relationships send everything that you've built is out of this world. However, not in the negative way. You have become a brand. New yourself Marcus. Right. Right. Talk to us about was that always the plan? How do you go about it now? Cuz I know, I've hit you like, we got to talk and then I had COVID and I couldn't talk. But um, that's a whole nother story makes me scared Houston, but it is what it is. But it's alright, we'll get over Don't be. I need those grits again. So it's not

Marcus Davis  
Really healing grits, I'm telling you

Nicky Saunders  
listen, I shall get healed. And I shall talk to us about you growing as a brand, like, clearly, you know, the traffic is brought by the restaurant, but now you can bring traffic to it as well, because now they're connecting with the person they're connecting with the owner and you yourself is beyond dope. Once people really like, see you. They're like, Oh, wait, this is this is Who owns it? oh, I need to get to know more about him right. That's why we got you here. Because it's like, it's not just about the restaurants about us and your family. And like, your wife is amazing. And you two are like doing it together. So explain to the people like the transition of you being the brand? And was that always the plan?

Marcus Davis  
No, well, no, the plan was not for, you know, Marcus Davis to be the brand, I want the I want the brand to be itself. Right. But I am aware, you know, kind of what I was just saying I am aware of who I am. And what I've been called to do. And I am aware of the gift and the skill set that that that the greatest has put in me. I am I am I am first and foremost, Jerry and Betty David's son, and I am the son of two educators. And so there's a teacher. That is that is in me, that will always be in me. And as passionate about teaching, I'm equally as passionate about entrepreneurship. And you bring those two things together. And that's what led to, you know, me talking and sharing my story. And because I don't want folks to go to their grave site with the dreams locked in their hearts, I am hopeful that they will get that key and they will unlock it and they will live life to the fullest. And me being passionate about that. And speaking on that has led to you know, people wanting to hear what I have to say and people. Look, I you know, add? I can't tell you that I you know, haven't Haven't we mentioned it before, both of you. I've mentioned before, but having someone like E, you know, I said I'll share it again, you know, for me to get a text saying hey, I want to bring my squad. And I want you to teach on what you think is important in the area of quality, I mean of excellence. And I had to look at my phone again. I was like did did I just get the text from the number one motivational speaker in the world? I asked him and and and and that's the why is that important? Because to have someone of that caliber on that level of me knowing having followed the movement to be trusted with that audience was like, wow, does that make sense? It's like, yeah, it to be trusted with that is is just I you know, I don't have words for it. Because it's it's, it's it's something of value when someone says that I believe that you have something that I can trust you to deliver to my crew. And so I'm grateful for that for that connection I'm grateful for for the relationship. And that's how, Marcus, as you stated, The brand has is growing, because people keep saying, hey, we need to hear more of you. So I'm an entrepreneur, I want to fill voids. And the more people tell me that they want to hear more than I've got to keep giving more. So as soon as as soon as you know, Nicky put me down on the team and you know, and helped me to but I, I hope I hope I answered your question. You know, my goal is just to feel the purpose that I'm putting forth. And if that's to help build Wakanda one great at a time, which is our slogan at Tbk If that's to help others to unlock the potential that's that, that that's inside of them, if that's to, you know, help them to believe in something that they didn't believe was possible. Hey, I in on this I don't know if this goes to a question that right when I came to realize that The Breakfast Klub was more than just yeah, this is where the transition came right when The Breakfast Klub was more than just a grit factory that took on new meaning. And it came through having people with terminal degrees professionals come to me and tell me, you inspired me to open my law practice, you inspired me to open my dentist's office or my doctor's office. I'm like, wait a minute, Dude, I got hot butter grits, you, you know, you do something completely different. And what they were communicating was, I had not been convinced that I could take that step. Right. And it was only through, I wouldn't say only through but it was through the grit snacks that we serve, that they were able to gain the courage, the faith to do what they were supposed to be doing to do what they wanted to do. So when I came to realize that the work that we do, and the work that I'm Marcus Davis, that I do, goes beyond just The Breakfast Klub goes beyond just the grits. That's when that transition took place. I knew that I had a responsibility and obligation to help folks walk through the fire of fear into the promised land of faith. And that's that's when the transition took place. Look, I got this, I have the saying about uh, you know, scripture unfortunately, shines a bad light on this guy named Thomas. Right? We call it they call him Doubting Thomas, right. And that's not how the story actually goes, sir, it was kind of like, he's like, I'm gonna have faith, but I need a little I need a little shove, I need a little push, right, I need to be able to put my hand on something to help me to believe just a little bit more. And the reality of it is most of us have what I call Thomas faith. Right? We can have faith. But if we touch something, it'll give us just a little bit of encouragement to go through with what it is we're supposed to be doing. So the more and more people touch the walls of Tbk coin of 3711. Travis, the more and more I go out and share the story of you can you must you will right like that, you like that?

Nicky Saunders  
I see what you did there.

Marcus Davis  
Then the more and more we have people who are living freely and living purposefully.

Nicky Saunders  
Love it. Love it.

Mostafa Ghonim  
That's amazing, Marcus. Man. It's such a pleasure and honor. Thank you so much for joining us. I think this was a super inspiring and insightful conversation. This is our way of always highlighting people. You know, I think the pandemic woke up a lot of years to this idea of we give people their flowers while they're still here. And we're like, well, heck, this will be our way of doing it. So thank you for serving as both a role model and an example. I think it's been really awesome to hear your story and experience what you build in person. I think that was the cool thing about this conversation. We got to experience it first. And then we said okay, hey, come come talk about it and share a little bit more about it as well. So this has been this has been incredible, man. Thanks again for for being here with us today.

Marcus Davis  
Thanks again for the invitation. I appreciate it. Appreciate it much mama I  made it.

Nicky Saunders  
so real quick before I make my little flowers thing kind of situation. Tell the people where they can find you where they can buy the products. where's the where's everything at okay, where's everything at first?

Marcus Davis  
So, the restaurant is in Houston, you got to make your way to Houston 3711 Travis, at Alabama, on on line, we are at catfish and grits on Instagram and, and on Twitter, and The Breakfast Klub. The club with a K. on on on Facebook. Me personally, I'm Marcus Mosiah on on Instagram at Marcus mosaic. And that's after the honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey who was the ultra entrepreneur, you know, 100 years ago, and man, don't even get me started on that dude. Is that when you talk about entrepreneurship when you talk about visionary? Well, you talk about a plan and a purpose. Yeah. Yeah, Marcus Mosiah Garvey was was Yeah, yeah, he's more than a mouthful. But yeah, that's that's what marketing was on, on on Instagram.

Nicky Saunders  
And If they had to buy one thing from what Yeah, and you if they have the one thing and then they'll buy five extra things. What is the first thing they have the buy?

Marcus Davis  
Look, here's the one thing and CJ CJ CJ. You can testify by this But if there if there's one thing, right when people ask me how you make your food taste so good. And what's the secret to your food? Its this right? This is our all purpose seasoning. And the reason I say this is the thing because this is the thing that we put on everything. We put it on our fish, we put it on a chicken, we put it on our pork chops, we put it on our potatoes, it is the foundation of all the flavor in all the foods. So if for those of you who have got skills out there in a way that you would use, you know, whatever your go to season and he has that one all purpose season. I'm not gonna name them because I'm not gonna give them I'm not gonna give them no shine Like, that's right, like those like Toby did. Like Toby did. But anyway I get I give him a hard time behind it. We look. Anyway, whatever you go to is, I promise you, you replace it with this. Make sure you hit it, replace it with this. And, and you know, watch, watch, watch your mouth. Thank you for it. Yeah, and the reason I stretch that is because I said this to somebody. And he was like, Man, I want to try that out and I saw him mixing it with some other stuff with another all purposes. I was like, Hey, man, that's not how this thing works. Right? Okay, wait, you can't play for the Patriots and the Texas at the same time. Right? Right. Right. You pick a team?

Nicky Saunders  
I gotta I gotta get me mines because

Marcus Davis  
I probably shouldn't use a Texas they are terrible team. But nonetheless. I'm sorry.

Nicky Saunders  
I'm gonna get me mines. And you know, the Hispanics has a certain seasoning. So we go see? Yeah, yeah. Oh, come on. We gone See.

Marcus Davis  
what's your what's your what's your main season? What's your go to?

Nicky Saunders  
Come on? Sazón Come on. That’s the  go to you got all these other little ones. But that is no foundation. You know what o mean, but like I said.

Marcus Davis  
man, again, having a, you know, a Caribbean restaurant. You know, I'm, I'm familiar. Because I know that is the base of a lot of, you know, the Caribbean food. 

Nicky Saunders  
That's all we know. That's all we know. If you go to, if you go to the grocery stores this all you know, like theres nothing else, but they're not cutting a check. So I ain't gonna give them too much pub. However, if you want to that, you know, the lines are open, but I'm not kidding. I'm not saying no more. Listen, I'm like moose said, this is our way of giving flowers. Like, like I said, everybody was telling me yo, the food is fires banging that out, you gotta go. And I gotta say it's true, right? I gotta say it's true. And the way you just treated us like family, even though like you've met some and some you didn't even know. I don't think we even met in person. And it was like, instant, like, I love you kind of thing. So I'm just for that. Like, I wanted to definitely just say, I appreciate who you are, what you've done for the culture. Not for, you know, in food industry, not for what you did in the commute. Like, just for culture. Right? Really, really appreciate that. And if you need anything from us, literally, I'm back. I'm up and running. We're literally a phone call away.

Marcus Davis  
Literally what what I need from y'all is what y'all doing, man? Because Because I promise that you know what I what I what I listen to what I see what I hear when I'm when I'm watching the show when I'm watching the clips on on IG, man, I mean, this is just a fountain of valuable information and, and it's not there. And I look I have young cats reaching out to me about about going into business and being in business and you know, I'll give them how I started. But I tell these cash today, man today, you have no excuse for not being successful. Zero excuse right? Because between Google, right, and Instagram, and all the free information that's out there that we had to dig through books for and search through lockers and dig up you know and feel, man you have no excuse for not being successful with the wealth of information that is out there and available to you. Starting with the Nicky moose podcast

Nicky Saunders  
real quick, we normally end it with final words from moose but it wouldn't be right because we have you. So leave leave the people with some final words.

Marcus Davis  
Alright, right. Good. I'm glad you said that because I did want to make we were talking earlier about influence. We're talking about important people and I I want to I want Want to address that? Right? The when you come in to, to The Breakfast Klub, you are the celebrity. Right? We believe that the folks that walk in our door day in and day out are the folks that deserve to be celebrated because they are participating in what we're doing. So with that being said, Learn to celebrate everybody every day, regardless of you know, the likes and their followers, their whomever, but if we come to celebrating each other for, for being humans for being human beings, for being participants and collaborators in what we're doing, then I think will make the world a better place. Let's celebrate each other