Introducing- "MIND YOUR BUSINESS"
With so many companies either closing their doors or drastically reducing their workforce during the quarantine, one of the producers here at Barstool (Booze) asked me to help him develop a platform for small business owners who are finding creative ways to make it work.
We started looking for people who have adapted to the situation at hand and are managing to stay profitable... Or at least keep their staff employed until we can all climb over this mountain of COVID19-riddled shit.
After minimal research, we found 8 such people and sat down with them on a virtual chat to get their stories.
The video is split up into 2 parts... One is attached here while the other will drop tomorrow morning.
I normally don't like to publish videos that are over 10 minutes long, but I think you'll find this sort of plays more like a podcast with pictures... Plus, where else do you have to be, right?
The four participants today are:
- Amy Mills of 17 Street BBQ in Illinois whose family is often referred to as the "First Family of BBQ" and whose website and mailing list is littering my inbox with (what I consider) pornographic online food combinations.
- Gerald Coyne of Lake Scranton Urgent Care which is a doctor's office at a time when doctors' offices are considered the scariest fucking places on Earth. So his management team pivoted their providers into temporary locations (like ice skating rinks) to service FEMA and PEMA in vetting new employees for COVID19 response groups.
- Bryan Malcarney of Rory's Restaurant in war-torn Darien, CT who has done a shitload for local charities and developed the idea of selling 'Mystery Boxes' containing secret ingredients to appeal to every asshole (like me) who fancies themselves a chef solely because they watch an inordinate amount of Food Network.
- Justin Johnson from Beach House Soaps a small operation that went from making bar soaps to hand sanitizer that is not only effective but won't make you feel like you're washing your hands in tequila.
Tomorrow we'll hear from an equally diverse crew... A sommelier, a restaurant owner, a karate instructor who you could totally tell was DYING to take his shirt off, and some abrasive Spanish guy who makes NY style pizza across the street from Wrigley Field.
I hope to only do a couple of these because I am also hoping we can all get back to normal ASAP, but if you or anyone you know is somehow making lemonade with the poison lemons they've been handed, Booze and I would love to give them a platform.
mindyourbusiness@barstoolsports.com is the email we set up for guests, and if you have a story of adaptation that you think will either entertain or inspire, feel free to hit us up there.
I know there are literally millions of people who could use a hand because their businesses have been fucking crushed, but unfortunately, this isn't a platform for that... We are hoping this platform will either give other small business owners ideas to keep their own operations afloat OR give fat people yet another avenue to order very good brisket and award-winning baked beans.
Take a report and mind your fucking business.
-Large