Hey, it’s Alex,
Over the past couple of months, I’ve been working to transition myself off the schedule at Hot Tongue, and November marked the first month where I didn’t have a single shift.
For me, stepping back from the day-to-day is essential to focus on the bigger picture, like figuring out how to get more people through the door.
If you can’t create opportunities for your team, you risk losing them to someone who will—and that’s been on my mind nonstop. How do I bring in more customers, pay my team better, and grow all at the same time?
Balancing that with everything Matt and I are doing for Pie 2 Pie and other ventures has been overwhelming, to say the least. This year has easily been one of the hardest in business but also one of the most transformative for Hot Tongue.
Through it all, I’ve learned two key lessons that I hope can resonate with others:
- Simplify the complicated. Clean it up, throw it out, remove the dead weight. Whether it’s a toxic relationship or a time-consuming prep item, stop wasting energy on it. Let it go and move forward.
- Pay people more than you think you can. It might sound counterintuitive, but in our capitalistic society, the most meaningful way to show someone their worth is to compensate them generously—not what you think you can afford, but more than that.
This year’s challenges have tested me, but they’ve also forced me to grow in ways I couldn’t have imagined.
“The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed.”
– Henry Ford
One of the trickiest slices to perfect is a plain cheese pie in my opinion. Done like everyone else, it risks blending into the background, tasting just like every other slice you’ve ever had.
To make it stand out, there has to be a piece of you in it—whether it’s your unique cheese blend, the spice mix in your sauce, your fermentation process, or even the way you cook it.
For me, the cheese slice is always my favorite. It’s simple yet profound, a true reflection of the craft behind it, or the one lacking.
