you’re doing something ordinary and
routine like raking leaves or heading to
the post office maybe it’s here now
while you’re listening to the talks you
let your eyes flutter shut for the
briefest of moments and it’s that same
image again making its way back across
your eyelids a small town with only a
handful of buildings tall trees lush and
green with wide views of this guy there
between the one pump gas station in the
library is a place all your own you see
it come together in your mind one window
door and employee at a time warm glowing
lights a sign and now customers coming
and going it feels like a dream but it
doesn’t have to remain one in reality
it’s the small country town that lies
beyond every big bustling city bursting
with opportunity it’s right here and
maybe your hometown or that of a friend
it may be a weekend trip you took with
another to a place that felt new and
undiscovered maybe barely a dot on a map
far past all the usual road signs and
familiar faces but exhilarating
fulfilling life that plays out across
your mind and those brief encounters
with stillness are the same ones we saw
after late nights closing down other
people’s restaurants feeling worn-out
and uninspired we felt a while
schlepping overstuffed boxes from one
walk-up apartment to another in pursuit
of the coveted two-year lease constantly
questioning if we can ever plant roots
in a place that seemed overwhelmingly
costly and quite frankly soul-sucking we
broke the cycle and left our normal
behind by simply acknowledging that
enough was enough you don’t have to
leave a metropolis to know the hunger
pang of wanting to start again to wipe
the slate clean you simply have to have
the will to listen and just go we
learned a lot about our journey beyond
city limits which began by hopping off
of a hamster wheel of daily grind
littered with personal and societal
expectations it’s only now though when
we get to help others like you lay the
groundwork that we truly understand a
recipe for an entrepreneurial Exodus for
those of you unfamiliar Sara and I
created and operate brushed an
eating-house
one person goes there – thank you very
much and my mom and dad that’s four all
right it is a 28 seat eatery located in
the heart of bovine center just a
30-minute drive south east of Oneonta we
opened our doors in 2014 and have been
serving comforting classics to travelers
and community members ever since
restaurant vets groomed in Brooklyn we
took our skill set or mine upset if you
will and got out of Dodge and decided to
set up shop in among pastoral farms
streams chock full of trout and a swath
of of Indians dedicated to preserving
the dairy history that runs deep here
what we were doing is not groundbreaking
we’re not reinventing bechamel
because that recipe has been perfected
we needed a change and we saw an
opportunity in this bucolic town we’re
simply bringing bechamel to Bovina
between our loyal regulars and the new
faces we get to greet on a daily basis
we are constantly asked how did you do
this and why are you here to which we
usually answer much of what we did is
brush ‘land eating house in the early
days could be talked up to luck in
kismet well at least that’s what’s so he
likes to say well it’s true
the only answer for stumbling upon this
place was luck much like falling
head-over-heels for another person like
this guy discovering and setting out for
this new place was pretty whirlwind
chock-full of googly-eye romance and yes
a product of oblivious happenstance
initially but luck wasn’t everything our
entrepreneurial spirit set a fire in our
gut making us real hungry for a fresh
start
we had to trust that coming off of a
long stint at restaurants where we
learned a ton about thoughtful
ingredients and the power of consistency
and the kind of blood sweat and tears it
takes to operate a dining room we felt
really compelled to take what we learned
and put it to use somewhere we felt
wanted the lucky break part we felt was
for finding a beautifully preserved
building in the heart of a town we loved
outfitted for a restaurant that made it
hard not to pounce we had the idea the
courage and now the space
this is why acknowledgement is the first
ingredient in our recipe acknowledge
that intuition and strong gut feelings
do have a place and should be listened
to
you can acknowledge that your needs are
not being fulfilled at your current job
and that a stronger passion is pulling
you in a different direction we worked
very hard to be prepared for this leap
by saving as much money as we could at
our previous jobs by absorbing the
wisdom and know-how of our mentors like
sponges and most importantly by keeping
our heads down but our eyes and ears
always open yet if we could suppress the
urge to shake it all up and take our
show on the road we would have never
been here three years later to tell our
story you may be wanting a way to alter
your life to feel more authentic to
create a lifestyle that merges work and
play in a way that work no longer feels
like work for most of us even the
off-the-clock
hours can feel like drudgery the living
life joyful stuff gets compartmentalised
to a measly Saturday afternoon we looked
around at this quaint town of 600 we
also took inventory of all the ways that
our life would seamlessly integrate
business and pleasure
so that most days could feel productive
successful and happy and happy like
trout fishing in the morning or weeding
the garden in the afternoon before
dinner service or prepping pork
schnitzel before taking a pond dip these
things intertwining working towards
business goals while tending to our
personal happiness is the aha moment we
chase that and you can too
it brings us to our second ingredient
keeping it in the wheelhouse reaching
far beyond your skill set only begs for
disaster because people were looking to
you as the authority tending to the
knowledgebase that was lit by your
passion ensures that you remain true to
your vision it wouldn’t make nearly as
much sense if we came from the
hospitality world and we decided to open
a art gallery or a fly-fishing shop
because the learning curve is much too
steep and we don’t speak those languages
we speak in butter salt oil hoppy beer
and the Rolling Stones
your new ventures mission statement
should flow effortlessly right one if
there fits and starts and you hit a wall
you might be heading down a road that’s
not necessarily yours to travel
we’re restaurant people through and
through having been consumed by the food
world for nearly a decade
we moved upstate with those principles
that woven into our fabric which in turn
made it fun and easy for us to turn that
into something tangible for our
community we knew what kind of business
we wanted to be and held fast to those
visuals and ideals we met working at
sister restaurants in Brooklyn both of
which helped shape the kind of business
we knew we wanted to be we held fast to
those visuals and ideals and turn to our
mood board we knew how we wanted to
arrange the dining room and play our
favorite soul music and stock wines we
ourselves drink with dinner we had the
space we had the know-how the next up
was figuring out if it was gonna be the
right fit for Bev I know you’ve
acknowledged you’re onto something you
know you’re good at that something and
now it’s time for that something into
motion we knew from the beginning that
our community of friends and neighbors
and customers were one of the most
important things in our plan but one of
the most hardest ingredients to come
across is is integrating into your
community and making sure the right
thing for them we immediately swallowed
that there would be mountains to move
and streams to cross when it came to
introducing our idea we realized this
grand plan came with an intense need to
overcome preconceived notions
unfortunately the stigma surrounding
newcomers on a mission is that they are
or we are out to create our own kind of
utopia at any cost we were not that pair
and we knew we had to work hard to
unknot the notion that we’d come in guns
blazing making drastic changes for the
sake of our vision it was the exact
opposite our vision was the town that we
found we knew right from the beginning
that we wanted to fit in to blend it to
the scenery like we’d been there for say
five hundred years it’s an Old Town we
found in love with this place for
everything it currently was not for what
it could be the energy the kindness the
nod to history and
each and every town on Main Street be
the avocado and a BLT take something
that’s good
add a little bit of flavor and make it
outstanding which makes integration
ingredient number three you’re self
aware by acknowledging your need for
change and you can’t forget to be
self-aware when it comes to integrating
your idea into the community either self
awareness sometimes means
overcompensation if we have a notion
that our customers think we’re pricey we
take a cut on some items making them
less expensive our burger for instance
will only save you back ten dollars
offering something affordable presents
an opportunity for our customers to use
us as both a daily nosh and to celebrate
a special occasion offering a delicious
but less expensive house red or house
white means that everyone who wants a
glass of wine will have one also heating
hard fought rules and systems put into
place prior to your arrival is a way of
respecting and preserving a community
for instance we knew from the beginning
we couldn’t serve cocktails Bovina was a
better place for not allowing liquor in
the hamlet we were so thrilled to pour a
glass of red wine next to a customer
stake that we took the local legislation
as treasurer
never trying to upend the plan that
works here a personal know-how was in
creating a warm inviting space for our
neighbors to come and enjoy a wholesome
meal so we translated that notion into
one that felt appropriate for Bovina and
even more than setting tables with
plates of great food or dimming lights
in just the right way
bo Vinnie ins wanted a place to gather
it’s not about being transported
it’s about being reminded why we all
chose to be right here now you got a
walk-in fridge full of ingredients the
oven is hot so it’s time to start
cooking which brings us to our final
ingredient commitment commitment it’s
like cooking because you’re taking this
burning idea and then you’re turning it
into something tangible you’re
committing to the idea you’ve
acknowledged the supreme to the passion
you’ve tended to and to all the skills
in your wheelhouse commitment is also
the elbow grease so you can’t be afraid
to get in and get dirty we were learning
on the fly though as mom-and-pop
business owners are a dying breed and
there was no roadmap for what we were
embarking on but we were determined we
wanted to make a mark and we viewed
Bovina as the captive audience we’ve
been
looking for to be that new version of a
mom-and-pop means committing to each
aspect of your business sometimes that
means jumping in to help wash dishes or
coming out from behind the kitchen path
to help run food committing to a
decision to leap means committing to
each subsequent effort like becoming a
full-time resident and weaving yourself
into the fabric of a community don’t
just put your plan into motion and walk
away we’re both here day in and day out
allowing us to remain the faces of our
business just like family run operations
used to your customers want to know your
story and being there to tell it to them
firsthand makes it both fun and
enjoyable it’s also what makes this job
feel less like work also commit by
creating regular hours that shows your
community you’re invested if you create
specials while also keeping menu staples
you’re reliable however you can be
reliable to your community be there for
them encouraging everyone hungry or not
to come to your space and relax allows
you to foster the already incredible
sense of place that existed long before
you arrived
Lavina wanted to gather we listened
commitment is also about being open to
change and not remaining stagnant
reevaluate constantly to be able to say
that you’re meeting the needs of your
community we’re able to identify those
needs by being here from opening till
closing with both ears turned out to our
customers reevaluate I thought this was
a recipe any good chef knows the recipe
is simply a starting point so hails
right the recipe for an entrepreneurial
Exodus for the reinvention of normal and
for following your passion is far from
scientific there’s a lot of gut
following much happenstance and even
more blind faith most of which you can’t
find in a pantry or on a store shelf
what we can tell you though from lots of
experience is that hard work pays off
and hard work isn’t just physical labour
to see a building come to life it’s
everything we’ve been talking about
redirecting you life paths and starting
anew is not easy it takes courage to
make space for the desire to start
something of your own
once you have constantly remind yourself
of all of those skills in your
wheelhouse and how you
tailor them to your new communities
needs translator know how best by
turning inward and looking at all of the
things you’ve learned and earned which
are now an undeniable piece of who you
are and with gratitude and loyalty
integrate into your community with
careful and thoughtful actions that
speak I want to bring this to your table
and not I want to change the entire menu
work hard to overcome distrust confusion
and resistance by remaining self aware
and mindful with knowledge of where your
community has been throughout history
and once you’ve integrated your idea
commit with everything you’ve got
you’ve got this push past hesitation
tuning out the little voice in your head
or hesitant community members and commit
commit to your business plan your
business partner and do everything in
your power to move your idea forward
well know there’s no recipe for creating
the best business that everyone anyone’s
ever created or a clearly drawn map that
gets you from feeling stuck to feeling
empowered without any roadblocks we can
tell you that listening to your
intuition and tending to your passion
will unlock a world of possibilities it
will bring hazy daydreams into clearer
and clearer focus until one day soon
it’s your new reality
[Applause]
you
routine like raking leaves or heading to
the post office maybe it’s here now
while you’re listening to the talks you
let your eyes flutter shut for the
briefest of moments and it’s that same
image again making its way back across
your eyelids a small town with only a
handful of buildings tall trees lush and
green with wide views of this guy there
between the one pump gas station in the
library is a place all your own you see
it come together in your mind one window
door and employee at a time warm glowing
lights a sign and now customers coming
and going it feels like a dream but it
doesn’t have to remain one in reality
it’s the small country town that lies
beyond every big bustling city bursting
with opportunity it’s right here and
maybe your hometown or that of a friend
it may be a weekend trip you took with
another to a place that felt new and
undiscovered maybe barely a dot on a map
far past all the usual road signs and
familiar faces but exhilarating
fulfilling life that plays out across
your mind and those brief encounters
with stillness are the same ones we saw
after late nights closing down other
people’s restaurants feeling worn-out
and uninspired we felt a while
schlepping overstuffed boxes from one
walk-up apartment to another in pursuit
of the coveted two-year lease constantly
questioning if we can ever plant roots
in a place that seemed overwhelmingly
costly and quite frankly soul-sucking we
broke the cycle and left our normal
behind by simply acknowledging that
enough was enough you don’t have to
leave a metropolis to know the hunger
pang of wanting to start again to wipe
the slate clean you simply have to have
the will to listen and just go we
learned a lot about our journey beyond
city limits which began by hopping off
of a hamster wheel of daily grind
littered with personal and societal
expectations it’s only now though when
we get to help others like you lay the
groundwork that we truly understand a
recipe for an entrepreneurial Exodus for
those of you unfamiliar Sara and I
created and operate brushed an
eating-house
one person goes there – thank you very
much and my mom and dad that’s four all
right it is a 28 seat eatery located in
the heart of bovine center just a
30-minute drive south east of Oneonta we
opened our doors in 2014 and have been
serving comforting classics to travelers
and community members ever since
restaurant vets groomed in Brooklyn we
took our skill set or mine upset if you
will and got out of Dodge and decided to
set up shop in among pastoral farms
streams chock full of trout and a swath
of of Indians dedicated to preserving
the dairy history that runs deep here
what we were doing is not groundbreaking
we’re not reinventing bechamel
because that recipe has been perfected
we needed a change and we saw an
opportunity in this bucolic town we’re
simply bringing bechamel to Bovina
between our loyal regulars and the new
faces we get to greet on a daily basis
we are constantly asked how did you do
this and why are you here to which we
usually answer much of what we did is
brush ‘land eating house in the early
days could be talked up to luck in
kismet well at least that’s what’s so he
likes to say well it’s true
the only answer for stumbling upon this
place was luck much like falling
head-over-heels for another person like
this guy discovering and setting out for
this new place was pretty whirlwind
chock-full of googly-eye romance and yes
a product of oblivious happenstance
initially but luck wasn’t everything our
entrepreneurial spirit set a fire in our
gut making us real hungry for a fresh
start
we had to trust that coming off of a
long stint at restaurants where we
learned a ton about thoughtful
ingredients and the power of consistency
and the kind of blood sweat and tears it
takes to operate a dining room we felt
really compelled to take what we learned
and put it to use somewhere we felt
wanted the lucky break part we felt was
for finding a beautifully preserved
building in the heart of a town we loved
outfitted for a restaurant that made it
hard not to pounce we had the idea the
courage and now the space
this is why acknowledgement is the first
ingredient in our recipe acknowledge
that intuition and strong gut feelings
do have a place and should be listened
to
you can acknowledge that your needs are
not being fulfilled at your current job
and that a stronger passion is pulling
you in a different direction we worked
very hard to be prepared for this leap
by saving as much money as we could at
our previous jobs by absorbing the
wisdom and know-how of our mentors like
sponges and most importantly by keeping
our heads down but our eyes and ears
always open yet if we could suppress the
urge to shake it all up and take our
show on the road we would have never
been here three years later to tell our
story you may be wanting a way to alter
your life to feel more authentic to
create a lifestyle that merges work and
play in a way that work no longer feels
like work for most of us even the
off-the-clock
hours can feel like drudgery the living
life joyful stuff gets compartmentalised
to a measly Saturday afternoon we looked
around at this quaint town of 600 we
also took inventory of all the ways that
our life would seamlessly integrate
business and pleasure
so that most days could feel productive
successful and happy and happy like
trout fishing in the morning or weeding
the garden in the afternoon before
dinner service or prepping pork
schnitzel before taking a pond dip these
things intertwining working towards
business goals while tending to our
personal happiness is the aha moment we
chase that and you can too
it brings us to our second ingredient
keeping it in the wheelhouse reaching
far beyond your skill set only begs for
disaster because people were looking to
you as the authority tending to the
knowledgebase that was lit by your
passion ensures that you remain true to
your vision it wouldn’t make nearly as
much sense if we came from the
hospitality world and we decided to open
a art gallery or a fly-fishing shop
because the learning curve is much too
steep and we don’t speak those languages
we speak in butter salt oil hoppy beer
and the Rolling Stones
your new ventures mission statement
should flow effortlessly right one if
there fits and starts and you hit a wall
you might be heading down a road that’s
not necessarily yours to travel
we’re restaurant people through and
through having been consumed by the food
world for nearly a decade
we moved upstate with those principles
that woven into our fabric which in turn
made it fun and easy for us to turn that
into something tangible for our
community we knew what kind of business
we wanted to be and held fast to those
visuals and ideals we met working at
sister restaurants in Brooklyn both of
which helped shape the kind of business
we knew we wanted to be we held fast to
those visuals and ideals and turn to our
mood board we knew how we wanted to
arrange the dining room and play our
favorite soul music and stock wines we
ourselves drink with dinner we had the
space we had the know-how the next up
was figuring out if it was gonna be the
right fit for Bev I know you’ve
acknowledged you’re onto something you
know you’re good at that something and
now it’s time for that something into
motion we knew from the beginning that
our community of friends and neighbors
and customers were one of the most
important things in our plan but one of
the most hardest ingredients to come
across is is integrating into your
community and making sure the right
thing for them we immediately swallowed
that there would be mountains to move
and streams to cross when it came to
introducing our idea we realized this
grand plan came with an intense need to
overcome preconceived notions
unfortunately the stigma surrounding
newcomers on a mission is that they are
or we are out to create our own kind of
utopia at any cost we were not that pair
and we knew we had to work hard to
unknot the notion that we’d come in guns
blazing making drastic changes for the
sake of our vision it was the exact
opposite our vision was the town that we
found we knew right from the beginning
that we wanted to fit in to blend it to
the scenery like we’d been there for say
five hundred years it’s an Old Town we
found in love with this place for
everything it currently was not for what
it could be the energy the kindness the
nod to history and
each and every town on Main Street be
the avocado and a BLT take something
that’s good
add a little bit of flavor and make it
outstanding which makes integration
ingredient number three you’re self
aware by acknowledging your need for
change and you can’t forget to be
self-aware when it comes to integrating
your idea into the community either self
awareness sometimes means
overcompensation if we have a notion
that our customers think we’re pricey we
take a cut on some items making them
less expensive our burger for instance
will only save you back ten dollars
offering something affordable presents
an opportunity for our customers to use
us as both a daily nosh and to celebrate
a special occasion offering a delicious
but less expensive house red or house
white means that everyone who wants a
glass of wine will have one also heating
hard fought rules and systems put into
place prior to your arrival is a way of
respecting and preserving a community
for instance we knew from the beginning
we couldn’t serve cocktails Bovina was a
better place for not allowing liquor in
the hamlet we were so thrilled to pour a
glass of red wine next to a customer
stake that we took the local legislation
as treasurer
never trying to upend the plan that
works here a personal know-how was in
creating a warm inviting space for our
neighbors to come and enjoy a wholesome
meal so we translated that notion into
one that felt appropriate for Bovina and
even more than setting tables with
plates of great food or dimming lights
in just the right way
bo Vinnie ins wanted a place to gather
it’s not about being transported
it’s about being reminded why we all
chose to be right here now you got a
walk-in fridge full of ingredients the
oven is hot so it’s time to start
cooking which brings us to our final
ingredient commitment commitment it’s
like cooking because you’re taking this
burning idea and then you’re turning it
into something tangible you’re
committing to the idea you’ve
acknowledged the supreme to the passion
you’ve tended to and to all the skills
in your wheelhouse commitment is also
the elbow grease so you can’t be afraid
to get in and get dirty we were learning
on the fly though as mom-and-pop
business owners are a dying breed and
there was no roadmap for what we were
embarking on but we were determined we
wanted to make a mark and we viewed
Bovina as the captive audience we’ve
been
looking for to be that new version of a
mom-and-pop means committing to each
aspect of your business sometimes that
means jumping in to help wash dishes or
coming out from behind the kitchen path
to help run food committing to a
decision to leap means committing to
each subsequent effort like becoming a
full-time resident and weaving yourself
into the fabric of a community don’t
just put your plan into motion and walk
away we’re both here day in and day out
allowing us to remain the faces of our
business just like family run operations
used to your customers want to know your
story and being there to tell it to them
firsthand makes it both fun and
enjoyable it’s also what makes this job
feel less like work also commit by
creating regular hours that shows your
community you’re invested if you create
specials while also keeping menu staples
you’re reliable however you can be
reliable to your community be there for
them encouraging everyone hungry or not
to come to your space and relax allows
you to foster the already incredible
sense of place that existed long before
you arrived
Lavina wanted to gather we listened
commitment is also about being open to
change and not remaining stagnant
reevaluate constantly to be able to say
that you’re meeting the needs of your
community we’re able to identify those
needs by being here from opening till
closing with both ears turned out to our
customers reevaluate I thought this was
a recipe any good chef knows the recipe
is simply a starting point so hails
right the recipe for an entrepreneurial
Exodus for the reinvention of normal and
for following your passion is far from
scientific there’s a lot of gut
following much happenstance and even
more blind faith most of which you can’t
find in a pantry or on a store shelf
what we can tell you though from lots of
experience is that hard work pays off
and hard work isn’t just physical labour
to see a building come to life it’s
everything we’ve been talking about
redirecting you life paths and starting
anew is not easy it takes courage to
make space for the desire to start
something of your own
once you have constantly remind yourself
of all of those skills in your
wheelhouse and how you
tailor them to your new communities
needs translator know how best by
turning inward and looking at all of the
things you’ve learned and earned which
are now an undeniable piece of who you
are and with gratitude and loyalty
integrate into your community with
careful and thoughtful actions that
speak I want to bring this to your table
and not I want to change the entire menu
work hard to overcome distrust confusion
and resistance by remaining self aware
and mindful with knowledge of where your
community has been throughout history
and once you’ve integrated your idea
commit with everything you’ve got
you’ve got this push past hesitation
tuning out the little voice in your head
or hesitant community members and commit
commit to your business plan your
business partner and do everything in
your power to move your idea forward
well know there’s no recipe for creating
the best business that everyone anyone’s
ever created or a clearly drawn map that
gets you from feeling stuck to feeling
empowered without any roadblocks we can
tell you that listening to your
intuition and tending to your passion
will unlock a world of possibilities it
will bring hazy daydreams into clearer
and clearer focus until one day soon
it’s your new reality
[Applause]
you
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