In this episode with Master Sommelier, Alex LaPratt, we discuss hiring those who are persistent about working for you, being positive and humble, knowing your stuff, not making it up if you don’t know your stuff, hard work being the difference between the successful and unsuccessful, surrounding yourself with the best, extreme attention to detail, making massive sacrifice to move your career forward, providing opportunity to your team, when you know to break out on your own, intricacies of selecting your partners, how to go from one to two locations, growing people before growing restaurants, and why you should buy instead of lease.

Growing up in Detroit, Alex’s love for wine came at the young age of 19 years old. His passion for wine provided him with the opportunity to work in some of the finest restaurants the industry has to offer including Michael Mina, The French Laundry, Daniel, Atera, Le Bernardin, and Jean-Georges. Today Alex serves as the Principal and Beverage Director at Atrium DUMBO, and Beasts and Bottles located in Brooklyn, NY.

Show notes…

Favorite Success Quote or Mantra.

“There won’t be a day in your life where you outwork me.”

Today’s Sponsor

Sourcery

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Knowledge bombs

1. Which “it factor” habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?

   • Asking himself every day “Do I want to be great?”

2. What is your biggest weakness?

   • Emotional intelligence.

3. What is one piece of advice you have for leading others?

   • Always remember the people you’re leading are humans and deserve to be treated like humans.

4. What’s one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?

   • Look for passion.
   • Call people on their shit. If they say they’re passionate about something, see if their knowledgeable

5. What’s a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?

   • Biting off more than he can chew.
     • Alex is dealing with this by learning how to say “no”.

6. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.

   • Taking shortcuts at work has a great impact on your life than taking shortcuts in life.

7. What’s one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
   GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM 

   1. First, Break All the Rules

8. What’s one piece of technology you’ve adopted in your restaurant and how has it influence operations?

   • excel
   • Toast POS
   • Avero

9. With all the knowledge you have now if you could go back in time and give your past self one piece of business advice, What would it be and why?

   • Have more money.

Contact Info

Atrium BUMBO

facebook/Atrium_DUMBO

insta: @atriumdumbo

Beast and Bottle

facebook/BeastsandBottles

insta: @beasts_and_bottles

Alex LaPratt

Insta:@alexanderlapratt

Thanks for Listening!

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Huge thanks to Alex LaPratt for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!

The post 385: Creating opportunity for the talented with Alex Lapratt appeared first on Restaurant Unstoppable.