996: Sam Hart Chef and Owner of Counter

Sam Hart is the Chef/Owner of Counter in Charlotte, North Carolina. The first time Sam cooked for others was when he was 21 living in Utah after door-to-door mormons came knocking and looked hungry. He then decided to ditch the advertising industry and go to culinary school at 21. He staged at Alinea in Chicago and worked in many other restaurants in many positions before returning to his home town of Charlotte and opening Counter just two years ago. He has since opened Biblio and is planning his third concept.

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Favorite success quote/mantra:

• "You're always going to have problems in life. The goal is to have better problems today than you had yesterday."

In this episode with Sam Hart we will discuss:

• Pairing music with food
• Advertising
• Culture
• Mental health
• Working at Alinea
• Being "counter" to the rest of the industry

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Knowledge bombs

1. Which “it factor” habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
   • Storytelling
2. What is your biggest weakness?
   • Too trusting
3. What's one thing you ask or look for when interviewing/growing your team?
   • What are your goals? How does Counter play into that?
4. What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
   • Finding a team to replace my current team (because they are going on to bigger and better things)
5. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
   • You must be willing to give back what you take away
6. What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
   • We want to represent every guest, not just the loud and annoying guest
7. What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
   • Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
   • GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM 
8. What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influence operations?
   • We avoid Instagram
9. What is one thing you feel restaurateurs don't do well enough or often enough?
   • Be open and transparent with their staff
10. If you got the news that you'd be leaving this world tomorrow and all memories of you, your work, and your restaurants would be lost with your departure with the exception of 3 pieces of wisdom you could leave behind for the good of humanity, what would they be?
    • This life is precious
    • Meditate
    • Give back

Contact:

Instagram: @chefloosley @counterclt @bibliocharlotte

sam@counterclt.com

Thanks for listening!

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Huge thanks to Sam Hart for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!

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