Who Is Scott Porter?
Scott Porter knows how to make positive memories. In fact, he’s dedicated his entire life around them. His passion in business revolves around creating a company culture so positive that people can’t turn away. And after successfully saving two nursing homes from bankruptcy, he knew the key to success revolved around the company’s culture.
He has dedicated his life to creating brand experience that make people want to stay. Period. He has his own podcast and has authored a book all about this phenomenon of brand experience. We chatted about the things that bring us joy, like having tacos with each other, sharing incredible conversations with each other, and how human connection can still exist while we are socially distanced from each other.
Great convos and insights from a great human. Enjoy!
Saving two nursing homes from bankruptcy
From 2004–2007, Scott Porter had the honor of working as a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator in Rosemead and Ventura, California. It was in this role that he achieved one of the professional milestones that he remains most proud of: saving two nursing homes from bankruptcy and ensuring that the good work they were doing in the community was able to continue into the future.
It was also during this incredibly formative three-year period of his life that Scott learned one of his most valuable professional lessons – one that would shape the course of his career, and his personal mission, going forward. It was here that Scott first saw the importance of company culture in turning around the fate of a flagging business.
No one enjoys having to deal with petty office politics, backbiting, and a culture of blame and non-accountability at work. It is entirely fair to say that a company culture that can make everyone feel as though they are operating within the most well-balanced possible framework, is likely to lead to the most successful sorts of businesses. As with so much else in life, good company culture starts with good leadership – and this is largely a matter of accountability, “skin in the game,” and the ability to lead by setting a positive example.
In striving to create the best possible company culture and brand experience at every opportunity, Scott emphasizes lessons and principles that serve to create robust and accountable leadership.
A career built on solid communication and customer experience
For much of his career, Scott has worked in senior roles that have been focused specifically on creating the perfect customer experience. A major part of this has always been understanding the power of positive and memorable moments.
As the founder and owner of San Diablo Artisan Churros – a company he established in August 2014 – Scott understands that a major part of the dining experience is about ambiance and sociability, and not just delicious food (although the food certainly is delicious).
This understanding of the importance of clear communication and customer experience has been continually underscored by the various professional roles Scott has taken on over time, including his stint as the Head of Brand Experience at Route and his ongoing position as Executive Facilitator for General Assembly.
A lifelong professional calling: emphasizing the power of positive and memorable moments and brand experience
Scott has always been driven to transform the professional landscape for the better – to enhance communication, to emphasize and underscore the value of transformative moments and brand experiences, and to create company cultures where people want to stay. In the course of any businesses journey to turn a profit, expand into different regions and sectors, and to make a long-lasting name for themselves, it can be all too easy for companies to get caught up in the technical minutiae of the day-to-day running of the business – to the detriment of some of the “big picture” stuff.
For the vast majority of new employees in the vast majority of businesses, for example, the first week is a chaotic, frustrating, confusing, and disheartening period – as opposed to being a time laden with strong emotional value that will positively predispose the employee to the company going forward. Everything can hinge on a few positive associations and memories – and in the absence of those positive associations and memories, even a high quality of service and efficiency can fail to strike the right chord with either clients or team members.
To create a powerful, fun, unique and memorable customer experience, Scott started up Search for the Perfect Taco in September 2014 – and in his role as Founder, Culture & Brand/Customer Experience Strategist, Speaker & Executive Advisor, he has successfully and consistently leveraged his vast wealth of experience.
Books, podcasts and a bright future
In order to more effectively impart the vital professional insights that he has won over the course of his varied and dynamic career so far, Scott has become a regular podcaster, a blogger on best business business practice, and an author – to name just a few of the hats he wears.
Going forward, Scott plans to further branch out in order to more effectively connect earnest and ambitious companies with the timeless insights he has to impart.
Scott Porter Podcast Transcription
Charan: Oh, dude, you sit so tall.
Scott: Oh, yeah?
Charan: You do. You really do. I feel like I’m a little guy.
Scott: I know. Come on, man.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:01:34].
Scott: Yeah, but you got hair. You’ve got really great hair by the way.
Charan: Do I? It’s thick, and it’s curly, and vivacious-
Scott: Exactly.
Charan: Like a jungle. I don’t know, I mean, I guess our jungle-
Scott: Well, what do you have to say about my hair? Exactly.
Charan: Aerodynamic-
Scott: [crosstalk 00:01:49].
Charan: Aerodynamic [crosstalk 00:01:50]. Time saving.
Scott: Efficient.
Charan: You don’t even need to wait for daylight saving, you’re saving tons of time, just because of how… I mean, how much product do you have to use on your hair?
Scott: You’re right. Exactly.
Charan: Exactly. You’re saving so much money, shampoo, it’s great.
Scott: I actually calculated how much time, because we were talking about this. One of my friends has really high hair, and I was asking him, I’m like, “How high is your hair?” And then, he started talking about his regimen, right? Time and product and everything. And at one point in my life, when I decided to start shaving my head, I calculated how much time I would save throughout the rest of my life. And it was weeks, months, that I saved in time.
Charan: It’s like-
Scott: Because it adds up.
Charan: It adds up. Absolutely.
Scott: I didn’t spend a lot of time on my hair before, but even if it’s three minutes, three minutes a day for 40 plus years.
Charan: Yeah, that’s a lot of time saved, man.
Scott: And then, all the time not going to the barber.
Charan: No, you’re not going to the barber, you’re saving a ton of money. I would liken it to people that quit doing drugs, or quit smoking, how much money they’re saving. That’s what I would liken you not cutting your hair to.
Scott: [crosstalk 00:03:10] However, when you don’t have hair, you really zero in and recognize how good other people’s hair is, like yours.
Charan: Aww, come on. [crosstalk 00:03:18].
Scott: You got the “silver fox” thing going on.
Charan: Got a little bit of the silver fox.
Scott: Yeah. And so, whenever anyone has really great hair, you really notice it, when you don’t have it.
Charan: Well, again, I’m grateful God has given me my hair, because I felt my head before and I realized it’s very cone shaped, there’s a lot of bumps and stuff in it.
Scott: Oh, okay. Well-
Charan: So, if I did-
Scott: If you were bald, it would be unfortunate.
Charan: If I did go bald, I’d be like, “Oh, boy, please cover it with grass or something.” I don’t know.
Scott: Chia hat or something?
Charan: Yeah, give me a Chia Pet, but on my head. That’s what I would ask. Well, this is probably the best introduction I’ve ever had at this podcast. So, I’m not going to edit any of that, that was amazing.
Scott: Good, yeah, we’ll keep it all.
Charan: That was amazing. But, guys, welcome, this is the Lemonade Stand podcast, I’m here with Scott Porter, I am Charan Prabhakar. And I’m talking to a man who is so dashingly handsome. I’m hoping you’re only listening to this because you are actually viewing this on video, you would get nervous. Now, Scott is an incredible man, an incredible friend. We actually learned that we knew of each other possibly in LA, but we didn’t actually meet till possibly, an Indian restaurant dinner that we went to, right?
Scott: I know, Bombay House.
Charan: Bombay House. Right. Scott’s been a serial entrepreneur and he’s also just a big fan in brand experience. And he’s a brand experience strategist, and he’s even writing a book about it. And he’s also having his own podcast, the “Tacoincidence.”
Scott: Right.
Charan: Right?
Scott: Yeah.
Charan: And now you’re also the owner… Current business, Diablo Churros, is that right?
Scott: San Diablo Churros.
Charan: San Diablo Churros. Which is amazing. And also, a man that just knows how to just go through life smoothly because of aerodynamic head [crosstalk 00:05:12].
Scott: Whatever helps.
Charan: Whatever helps, man. Now, I appreciate that. Well, I appreciate you taking the time and chatting with me, man. How you been?
Scott: It’s so good. I mean, it’s great, it’s also a great and crazy time right now-
Charan: It really is.
Scott: … in the world.
Charan: Absolutely.
Scott: And I think personally and professionally, it’s also crazy.
Charan: Yeah.
Scott: It’s crazy. And so, just learning how to navigate, and not just stay above water but hopefully, thrive through all the challenges that we’re faced with right now.
Scott Porter Talks About Navigating Life Through Uncertainty
Charan: Let me ask you this, and you know what? I’m going to go ahead and change this podcast up a little bit then. You’re talking about crazy times right now in life, and crazy times just in all aspects of life, whether you’re an entrepreneur, whether you’re just kind of going through life in school, or whatever it is, how have you been able to navigate this time where there’s just so much uncertainty?
Scott: Well, that’s the question of the ages, right? I mean, we’re just going for the jugular out of the gates here. I think that’s the question that probably everyone is grappling with right now. In a lot of ways, what COVID and the pandemic has done for us collectively as a human family, has equalized and leveled this playing field so that all of us are feeling the impact in different ways, but there’s not a soul on planet earth that hasn’t felt the impact of the pandemic. And so, in so many ways, that allows us to be able to have a lot of empathy for each other, and give each other the space to be able to navigate these new, and rocky, and crazy waters.
Scott: And so, for me, I mean, I’ve felt probably the same feelings that every other human being has felt, of everything, from fear, terror, sadness, absolute devastation, complete loss of direction, what do we do now? Sort of thing. I’ve felt all of that in really deep ways. And I think that that has taken me to a place of, okay, so what do I need to do? And in talking with friends and reading inspirational words, whether those are from religious leaders or even just from business leaders, and listening to friends of, how do we figure this out together? Sort of thing. All of that has led me to… There’s no way I’m going to stay in this mindset of, poor me, what was me? What am I going to do? Throw my hands up in complete desperation. Even though sometimes I feel like doing that.
Charan: Sure.
Scott: But all of that has motivated and pushed me towards this idea of, okay, so what do we do now? I don’t want to focus on what we can’t do. How do we now take the opportunities that we’ve been given and turn them to a positive light? How do we make lemonade out of lemons?
Charan: Well, yeah.
Scott: And literally, what do we do? And so, professionally, personally, how do we pull ourselves out of this, sometimes, victim mentality, and take control, turn the fear into faith? And move forward with… And so, that’s what I’ve been focusing on doing, and focusing on the fact that it’s maybe not necessarily closed doors, but other windows, or other cracks in openings that provide opportunity for growth professionally. I mean, we could talk about that, but there’s things that we’re looking to do with our churro business. Things that I’m doing in other aspects of life professionally, with another startup I’m involved in, as well as my own consulting and content with the search for the perfect taco, and “Tacoincidence,” and all that.
Scott: So, I’ve seen this as a tremendous opportunity. I feel like constraints and obstacles are amazing moments of innovation and change. So, it’s not like, what can’t you do? It’s like, okay, we can’t do that, instead of focusing on that, it’s like, it drives. It’s like this fertile ground for amazing innovation and ideas and change. Constraint does that to you. Necessity is the mother of invention. It’s just like, what can we do? So, that’s what I’ve tried to focus on throughout all of the turmoil and uncertainty of what we’re doing.
Charan: Well, I love what you’re saying regarding limitations and constraints and stuff. I mean, I think, entrepreneurs when they had the desire to become an entrepreneur, even if you were a little kid [crosstalk 00:10:57].
Scott: The lunacy.
Charan: Yeah. Well, you’re just like, “All right, well, I want to make extra money so I can buy some comic books.” Or whatever you want to buy.
Scott: Totally, yeah.
Charan: You got to do something like that. And so, it’s like, “Hey, I’m going to start a lemonade stand, or I’m going to do this, or I’m going to do that.” And some kids I’ve talked to, or some people I’ve talked to, they said that when they were kids, their parents just didn’t have money, they didn’t like that. They just hated not having resources. They were faced with limitations already. And so, they were like, “All right, well, what are we going to do right now-“
Scott: Resourceful.
Charan: … “to be a little bit resourceful?” Right? Those circumstances, those challenges of being constrained was the fuel that they needed-
Scott: Foresight.
Charan: … to be like, “All right, well, we’re going to go for it.”
Scott: Totally. Yeah.
Charan: So, right now, I almost feel like COVID is kind of putting shackles on us in a way, which is actually a very good stepping stone of becoming entrepreneurs again.
Scott: Totally. Yeah.
Scott Porter Talks About Becoming an Entrepreneur
Charan: Right? So, can you walk us a little bit through when you first got into being an entrepreneur, what that was like, what were some of your first endeavors? And then, let’s talk about… Right now, during COVID, what are you doing?
Scott: Sure. When you were saying like, when you were little kids, you did a paper route, you did whatever, literally, took me back to my office underneath my parent’s staircase in the basement.
Charan: Like a Harry-Potter-type of situation, or [crosstalk 00:12:22]?
Scott: Maybe not nearly as magical. I mean, for me, it was really awesome.
Charan: Sure.
Scott: I set up my desk and I started a neighborhood newspaper.
Charan: Amazing.
Scott: Because I wanted… I think I was eight years old. So, I would interview my friends’ parents about what they did for work, or talk to them about where they went on vacation. And then, I would type it up on the typewriter, and then copy it, and resell it back to everyone in the neighborhood, so that they knew what was going on.
Charan: That’s amazing.
Scott: And so, it was… And I’ve always been drawn to the… My father is an entrepreneur and started his own business several times, a general contractor. And I think that that idea of being on your own in the sense of working for yourself, and that freedom that it affords you, also, it added, tremendous responsibility, so-
Charan: For sure. Yeah.
Scott: You stop working for someone else 40 hours a week, so you can work for yourself 80 hours a week?
Charan: Yeah, that makes kind of essence.
Scott: Totally. So, that was my first kind of endeavor, and I saw firsthand from my father what all the pros and cons of being an entrepreneur were.
Charan: Right.
Scott: And so then, from that point forward, I’ve always been involved in entrepreneurial ventures.
Charan: That’s amazing.
Scott: My first job out of undergrad after I graduated at BYU, I took a job working as the first employee for a PR agency in Seattle. And at my first day on the job, I built my IKEA desk because literally, there was no furniture, so I needed to do it.
Charan: Wow.
Scott: That’s what you do as an entrepreneur, that’s what you do when you’re starting your own business, is you just make it happen.
Charan: You’re just resourceful, right? What do you have? And then, what do you want to make it?
Scott Porter Talks About How Turning a Failing Nursing Home Around Transformed Him
Scott: And no one else is going to do it, so you’ve got to. And then, after I went back to business school at BYU also, and after that, I ended up working for a nursing home company-
Charan: Oh, cool.
Scott: And out of… Totally, never in a million years thought I would do that.
Charan: And it’s so different from what you were doing before, which is amazing.
Scott: And so, I was really energized by the idea of turning business that has a pretty bad reputation around. And that’s what their business model was. And it was super entrepreneurial, you are given the keys to a nursing home facility after you get trained and licensed and everything, and it was yours, and you needed to make it be successful. And so, that was something that actually was crazy transformative for the rest of my life, and changed the way that I think about business, and the way that I do business.
Charan: And how so? What do you mean by that?
Scott: The first nursing home was in the Pasadena area, in Southern California, in Rosemead.
Charan: Yeah, I know Rosemead.
Scott: Yeah, in the 626, it was amazing. And it was a small little facility called Mission Care & Rehab that had 200 direct competitors within a 10 mile-radius. And it was bankrupt when we took it over, and we needed to turn it around. And no one knew about us. We were about half-capacity. And so, I started to see… And we didn’t have any really much money at all to designate towards a marketing budget. And so, I was in the stage and this mindset of, okay, well, can’t spend any money, what do we do to get the word out about us?
Charan: Sure.
Scott: How do we make this happen?
Charan: Right.
Scott: So, I started studying what other exemplary businesses had done, everyone from Disney to Ritz-Carlton, to Zappos, to Trader Joe’s, Chick-fil-A, In-N-Out, all these businesses that everyone loves, and started to see some commonalities and realize that they’ve all created an amazing customer experience, and they’ve all built this phenomenal thriving internal culture as well. And so, I started to look at that, and culture was a big deal at the company I was at. And so, I was looking at that, and then I started to see, gosh, we have this great mission and value statement that we frame and put on the wall.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:16:57] Yeah, of course.
Scott: And you’re like, “This is what we believe.” But how do I ensure that everyone on my team from the janitor to the CEO is really on board, and has all that fully ingrained in what they do? And really motivated, rewarded, and wants to be recognized for creating this extraordinary experience for everyone all the time, consistently, like you do. You go to Chick-fil-A in Orem, Utah, and you say, “Thank you,” and they say, “My pleasure.” Right? Do they say the same thing in North Carolina? Of course, that’s what they do. It’s that consistency everywhere. So, I created a system and framework that has been transformative for all the businesses I’ve done since then, and it was all started at that nursing home.
Charan: Wow, okay.
Scott: After about a year, we were able to pull ourselves out of bankruptcy. We were making, I don’t know, $4.5 million in revenue after that year. We were able to recruit top talent because of that, doctors were sending us their parents as residents to stay with us, because we had created that quality of care-
Charan: Experience. Yeah.
Scott: … and that experience that’s really exceptional and special. And so, that’s what we focused on in the nursing home. When I saw, I thought, gosh, this works, and this is awesome. How do I… And then, I worked in another nursing home completely different scenario, about almost six times as… I don’t know, sorry, three times as big as the nursing home I was at before. And it was under regulatory distress and was going to be shut down, it was this horrible situation. And so, we were able to pull out of it together with our team, with this focus on internal culture and crafting this really kind of break-through brand experience that gets people talking, that builds loyalty so that… I mean, that’s what you want. You want it to come up in conversation, or you want… “You’re never going to believe what happened to me at this nursing home, they were so nice.” I mean, that just never happens when you’re talking about a nursing home, right?
Charan: Sure, yeah.
Scott: And so, that’s what we were able to create together with our team. And so, I saw that this really worked. And so, when I say that this first nursing home experience was transformative for my life and professional career, it truly was, because that’s where I saw the model and the framework that I’m currently using in San Diablo, that I’m currently working on a tech startup to automate all of these cultural principles, and help people really infuse these, and reinforce amazing culture and a brand experience focus in their businesses. And that’s what we’re doing. And I’m writing a book about it.
Charan: That’s amazing.
Scott: [crosstalk 00:20:01] is all about my complete obsession with brand experience. I literally was at lunch yesterday with someone, and something happened, and I ended up geeking out and talking about the cilantro that I wish I would have had on my salad, and how they reacted to my request. Anyway it-
Charan: Was it a positive reaction, or was it a negative reaction?
Scott: Well, here’s the thing, I love this place that I went to eat at, and I got about halfway through my salad, and I was like, “You know what? This salad’s really good. I love the salad. I wonder what it would be like with some cilantro?” And so, I went back and I’m like, “Hey, I don’t know if you guys do cilantro here, but I was just thinking this could be really good with some cilantro.” And he’s like, “Yeah, we don’t really do cilantro. We have a little bit in our… This mango salad that we make.” And I thought, “Okay, cool.” And he’s like, “Yeah, we don’t have any for you.” And I was like, “Oh, okay.” I wasn’t asking them to change their menu-
Charan: [crosstalk 00:21:11].
Scott: … or do anything, I was just kind of… But what we ended up talking about… I came back and I was sitting with Aaron, and I’m like, “Man, I just gave him a lob; I just lobbed this pitch at him of a way to really win me over.” I mean, I love this place anyway, I’ll be back, but it was a really soft, slow, easy pitch. And he could have knocked it out of the park. What could have happened is he could have said, “Gosh, we don’t have cilantro, I’m so sorry. We have some of this cucumber mango salad. Do you want some of that? Maybe you can put that on your salad. Or, you know what? Let me go check in the back to see if we have some cilantro left over. I don’t know, do you want me to try that or whatever.” It was just this… And I wonder how many times as business owners, and as leaders, we see opportunities where people just give us a soft pitch.
Scott: I wasn’t looking to have him change his menu, or add cilantro to everyone’s salad just because of my suggestion, that’s not it at all. But in that moment, I was looking for something, and there was this missed opportunity to really create something personal and special for me, that I would definitely be remembering. And instead of talking about the missed opportunity right now with you, I probably would have been talking about how amazing it was that this guy dropped what he was doing, he went in the back, checked all the supply to see what was there, and that’s the type of team that I want to build.
Charan: I love that, man.
Scott: Those are the type of team members that I want to recruit, and hire, and bring on board, are those that notice those small little details or opportunities, and do everything we can to connect with someone in a meaningful way, and surprise, and delight. And so, that’s where I… Anyway-
Charan: No, I freaking love that because… As you were telling me all these things, I was thinking about a time… I used to work at Sundance, the ski resort, and I was a snowboard instructor and a bellman there.
Scott: Oh, I bet you learned so much.
Charan: I did. And I learned all about just customer service. And it was a blast, it really was a lot of fun. But I did not do that job for the money, because there really was hardly any money [crosstalk 00:23:33]. It was like five bucks an hour or $5.75, and they give you tips occasionally, and all that stuff. And if you’re not… You could go on a day where there’s just hardly any guests, and you’re not getting tipped.
Scott: Right.
Charan: But, man, the memories I made there were unbelievable.
Scott: You should write a book.
Charan: I should write a book.
Scott: About being a Bellman at Sundance.
Charan: I’ll write your foreward.
Scott: There we go.
Charan: But it was unbelievable. I had so many fun memories and so many fun experiences. See, I’m a big experience guy. I love to just have joy, I love to have fun, I love to make memories. And I remember this one time… The truth was, I don’t remember all the details, but other people remembered it, and I’m like, “Okay.” But it was New Year’s Eve, I was working at night, and one of the guests were… They were really cool about it, but they’re like, “Hey, listen, our TV cable isn’t working, and we were just hoping that someone could come up and help fix it, so we could watch the Ball Drop. It’s New Year’s Eve.”
Scott: Of course.
Charan: And I’m like, “Yeah, yeah, of course, that makes sense.” So, I went up there. Now, keep in mind, they send the bellman for everything, they go, “Oh, plumbing? Yeah, we’ll send the bellman up.” I’m like, “Why would you do that? That’s me, I can’t do that.” “Oh, you need your roof fixed? I’ll send the bellman up.” And I’m like, “For the love, guys-“
Scott: Charan’s on it.
Charan: I’m on it. If not, he’s got great hair.
Scott: Exactly.
Charan: So, I went up there and I’m like, “All right, I’ll try playing around with this cable and this thing.” And we were just kind of laughing, the guests were just laughing at my pathetic attempts to try making this thing work. I’m like, “Guys, I am so sorry. This isn’t happening.” I said, “But hang on, your New Year’s Eve is not over just yet.” And I said, “Well, how much time do we have?” And they’re like, “A minute.” I’m like, “Perfect. Stand by.” And I ran outside in the winter and I found a pine cone, and I ran back, and I’m like, “All right guys, I’m going to hold…” And they’re like, “Wait, are you holding a pine cone?” I’m like, “Yeah, yeah, just count down, I want to drop the pine cone.” And I think I dropped the pine cone [crosstalk 00:25:32].
Charan: And they were just laughing at the ridiculousness of it, right? They were just like, “I mean, I can’t believe this bellman is here. We should probably be having a romantic evening-“
Scott: [crosstalk 00:25:42].
Charan: … “but we’re not. We’re watching this bellman holding a pine cone and dropping it.” I’m like, “Well, Happy New Year, guys.” Anyway, I simply just forgot about the experience, right?
Scott: I love it.
Charan: But the funny thing was, years later… This is probably after I left Sundance, I call them, someone at the front desk, and they’re like, “Oh, Charan, we remember who you are.” And I’m like, “What do you mean?” And they’re like, “The guests at Mandan,” whatever it was they were staying at, they were like, “They will never forget what a memorable New Year’s Eve you gave them.” I’m like, “Oh, are you serious?” And I’m like, “Wait, what? What happened?” And they said, “You went in there and dropped a pine cone.” I’m like, “Oh, yeah, I did do that.” Right? And they said they loved it. They thought it was so funny.
Scott: Of course they did.
Charan: They thought it was so entertaining. And I’m like, “Wow, that’s such an interesting thing.”
Scott: Oh, brilliant.
Charan: Well, the thing was, I wasn’t even thinking, “Well, I’m going to create, like…”
Scott: Right.
Charan: It was just a fun thing.
Scott: No. Right.
Charan: It was just a fun, joyous, like, “Oh, yeah, this is going to be fun and make a good memory.” But I’m all about that. And even though I didn’t work at, like… I did that service industry for a little bit, I remember doing something kind of similar at a grocery store. I was buying some food… I was buying three bananas and a roll of duct tape, I don’t know why, and then it was on the conveyor belt going, and I’m like-
Scott: I always get bananas and duct tape.
Charan: Yeah, it makes sense, right? So, then I put the bananas in, like, a triangle, and I put the duct tape in the middle, like some weird Star Trek symbol, I don’t know why I laid it out like that, so that the cashier would have to look at it before he scans it. And he saw it. And for whatever reason, he just started laughing and laughing, and he couldn’t stop laughing. And I’m like, wow, that’s such an interesting idea, an interesting theory about what it’s like to actually create an experience for someone.
Scott: Yeah.
Charan: Put money aside, put that aside, where does life really begin? Where does the interaction of life really happen? And so, I love that-
Scott: Amazing.
Charan: … you’re doing those things because brand experience is so crucial. Because I think in that interaction, people can experience true life and true joy.
Scott: Yeah.
Charan: I’d love to hear more of your experiences.
Scott: Well, I mean, the thing is… What I love about what you just shared is that it’s… And I love that you said, “I wasn’t trying to do this.” But you essentially said, “I just care.” That’s what you were saying. You’re like, “I just care about them. I wasn’t able to fix their TV, so I’m like…” You put yourself in their shoes, you have this tremendous level of empathy, and excitement, and creativity, and you’re like, “Okay, so TV is not working, fail, now what?” Because you cared about them, their experience that they’re having as humans.
Scott: Maybe you forgot for a second that this was all about being a bellboy, or this wasn’t about any sort of tip that you were trying to squeeze out of them, or anything, you’re like, “They want…” You knew that they had something in mind that they wanted to do. Clayton Christensen talked about “the job to be done.” They had a job to be done. They wanted to watch the Ball Drop, they were focused on that.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:28:56].
Scott: Yeah. And so, you had an empathy and a drive, and their concerns became yours. And so, you’re like, “Okay, well, ball on TV is not dropping, that’s not happening.”
Charan: That’s not happening.
Scott: “And so, what are we going to do now?” And so, you got wildly creative, ran out there, got that pine cone and dropped it, they’re still talking about it to this day.
Charan: Yeah, sure.
Scott: You created a memory that will last a lifetime just because you cared about them as human beings. And that’s where I think so much of business up until right about now, or in the last several years, has been mostly transactional. It’s been a consumer economy where, I give you money, you give me something, we’re done.
Charan: We’re done. Yeah.
Scott: But now, we’re in this relationship economy where we expect more, and we expect more from the people that get our time, money, attention. And we want them to hear us, we want them to understand us, we want them to see us as people. And I think it’s especially critical right now in this time where one, we’re hyper-connected in general, forget about pandemic environment happening. But we’re just kind of hyper-connected, meaning we all have our cell phones in our pocket. We all expect people to text immediately. We’re scrolling through multiple feeds on our social media accounts at all times. We’re so connected, but we’re lacking meaningful, real connection. And that’s why I think… I mean, I think businesses can change the world, because we have humanized moments, like what you created at Sundance, where people connect in a meaningful way, human to human, and we see each other.
Scott: And so, because of that, and because of the thousands of business interactions that we have on a daily basis, or every of couple days, if every one of those businesses cared like you did, imagine levels of happiness it would raise? People would feel like they’re important, that someone cares about them. We’re unfortunately, in a time where anxiety levels are the highest they’ve ever been, depression, unfortunately, suicide, that’s the world we’re living in. And so, people are starving for really human, meaningful connection. And then, you throw a pandemic on top of that where now we’re covered, and we got shields-
Charan: And it’s six feet apart guys.
Scott: And six feet apart, and distance, and no touch, everything, right? And so, what does that… So, it even creates more of an opportunity and more of a challenge for businesses to uncover and discover, how do you still communicate? How do you still connect?
Charan: How do you still give them that experience?
Scott: How do you still give them this humanized experience behind a mask, behind a shield, six feet apart? But it’s still possible, and that’s the thing that I love about it. You can tell when someone’s smiling behind a mask.
Charan: Sure.
Scott: Right?
Charan: Yeah.
Scott: I mean, models talk about “smize,” do you know about this?
Charan: No, what is that?
Scott: Smile with your eyes?
Charan: Oh, my gosh.
Scott: Smize.
Charan: Smize, what is that? That’s crazy.
Scott: Yeah. They talk about-
Charan: I got one, smouth, smile with your mouth. Go on.
Scott: That’s a good idea.
Charan: Yeah. I’m doing smouth.
Scott: Smouth.
Charan: But smize.
Scott Porter Talks About San Diablo
Scott: Smize. But smile with your eyes, right? You can hear a smile in someone’s voice, even over the phone, or behind a mask. It just means that we need to have more eye contact. We need to connect with people personally about things. Maybe it’s the kind words that we say, even our body language too. So, I think that… I mean, there’s obviously so many elements that go into creating an extraordinary brand experience, but right now, I’m about ready to send the design, the art, of our package, where we’re manufacturing our own churro maker, this handheld churro maker. We’re sending it to China so we have it here for the holidays.
Scott: And I’ve been spending the last several days thinking through, how do I create a great brand experience with the words, with the design? How do I convey the heart and essence of our brand DNA at San Diablo through the package design, through the words that are… What am I inviting them to do? How am I embracing them and inviting them into the San Diablo family by a, with a box? Without even human connection in that moment, how do I humanize even that element? How do I engage with them in more meaningful ways by having them read what’s on the box?
Charan: How have you been able to do that?
Scott: Well, on the back of the box, I have a little note, basically it’s me saying, “Welcome to the San Diablo family. Because you bought this churro maker, you’re now one of us.”
Charan: That’s amazing. Yeah.
Scott: And so, if you share the churro love, then I’ll send you something from our secret menu and a discount on our website. So, this idea of like, hey, you’re part of the family. You gave something to us by buying this, I want to give something back to you. And then, there’s some fun, cool little surprises. We’re doing—they’ll find out when they open the box—different elements, that will be a surprise that they’re not expecting. Different things that are really the essence of San Diablo. We have the angel and the devil on there, which is also part of our brand.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:35:04].
Scott: And so, we want people to feel like they’re experiencing as much of San Diablo as if they were there in person with us eating our churros.
Charan: That’s amazing, man.
Scott: So, I think that there’s a lot of different ways to implement this enhanced human connection that we’re all starving for and that businesses… Really, it’s not just… So, there’s this statistic on a survey that was done during mid-pandemic. I mean, I guess we’re still mid-pandemic-
Charan: Yeah, sure.
Scott: But a couple of months ago. 71% of people will leave a brand if they feel like they put profits over people.
Charan: Interesting. Yeah.
Scott: 71%-
Charan: That’s a lot of people.
Scott: … is a lot. Imagine, people feel when you care more about money, about things, about the transaction, than you do about them. And I think now more than ever-
Charan: Absolutely.
Scott: … with what’s going on. So, it just underscores for me how important it is to create this extraordinary experience.
Charan: Well, I think that’s one of the things about COVID, is right now, people are craving that care more than ever-
Scott: Totally.
Charan: More than ever, right?
Scott: Totally.
Charan: Because they’re already in this world, they’re already in a very unpredictable world, in a very uncertain place, right?
Scott: And distanced.
Charan: And distant. And so, what they really need more than ever is to feel like, hey, you know what? We’re going to get through this together.
Scott: Totally.
Charan: I don’t know how, I know this is crazy, but we are going to get through this together. And I think when people can get that sense of like, okay, everything’s going to be okay, then they’re like, “All right, let’s kind of go for it. Let’s kind of do it.” And so, I don’t know, sometimes I’d make it a personal mission for myself to just make ridiculous memories wherever I go, and all out of joy. But I do it because I realized, like, look, guys, we’re all going through the same thing, and it’s scary, it is scary and it’s very uncertain. So, you might as well figure out a way to-
Scott: Enjoy the journey.
Scott Porter Talks About Pivoting
Charan: … enjoy the journey. We might as well figure out a way to hold each other from six feet apart, and enjoy this journey, because it’s a little hectic, it’s a little crazy. But now, you were mentioning earlier on how things have been scary and have been hectic, and you have had to shift a little bit. So, can you talk a little bit about some of those shifts?
Scott: Sure. I mean, we’ve been in business here in Utah, and we’ve also done catering events in California, in Las Vegas, Boise, and even Columbus, Ohio, and Mexico City. The majority of our business over the past four years has been catering for weddings, parties, corporate events.
Charan: And when those events get turned down, what happens?
Scott: Yeah, exactly. They were obliterated for about three months. Literally, just from one day to the next, it almost felt like the switch was just turned off. Everything canceled. So, I remember getting our team together, we talked openly and transparently about, okay, how is everyone feeling? First of all, how are you health-wise? Mentally, where are you at? How do you feel about what’s going on right now and all the uncertainty? And so, we talked through that and had some really great discussions of people sharing, “Yeah, I’m scared. I don’t know what we’re doing.” And that seems like a lifetime ago. It was literally only six months ago, but feels like forever. Then the next phase of that same conversation was this really empowering, engaging, brainstorming session about what we were saying earlier.
Scott: Okay, so we can’t do this, we can’t do this, now let’s focus on what we can do. What opportunities do we have now to change, modify, adapt, grow, adopt new ways of doing things, innovate? So, we did a bunch of different things. So, we started serving, we basically became a retail location. So, we’re at the same place five days a week. We’re at Thirst Drinks on Mondays, and then we’re at our location Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and we’re just going to be there consistently. That also allowed us to be able to go curbside delivery and pickup, and to have people… We enabled our own… People could pre-purchase on our website any of our churro items ahead of time and then come and pick them up when we’re open.
Scott: And then, Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash, Postmates, all of those, we were on board and went online with all of them. And so, those have been a tremendous thing that helped us be able to keep the lights on throughout some challenging times. And so, other things that we’ve done is create strategic partnerships with other complementary businesses. So, for about a month and a half, we did a quarantine survival kit.
Charan: Oh, nice. Yeah.
Scott: Where we delivered those… It was a full evening basically, so we had a meal with Sobe Eats, amazing Mexican food, and then custom sodas from Thirst Drinks, our churros for dessert. And then, we also had the game of Reverse Charades that we would give them, and a roll of toilet paper.
Charan: Nice.
Scott: Because that? When-
Charan: Oh yeah, I remember that. That was a good time.
Scott: Well, dude, I was just at Costco yesterday and they’re like… I was going through… No more toilet paper shortage, but I was going through, and I got some bacon, and I saw limit one on bacon, I’m like, “Oh, no.”
Charan: What?
Scott: No, no, no, no, no.
Charan: No, no, no. Do that for toilet paper, fine. Bacon?
Scott: That’s exactly what I said.
Charan: Heavens, no.
Scott: Don’t you dare limit my bacon intake.
Charan: Yeah, how dare you?
Scott: So, remember those days when toilet paper was crazy and scarce, so-
Charan: That was the best.
Scott: This was the whole quarantine survival kit. And it was great. We were able to come together with other… Like you were saying, we’re all in this together, so let’s band together, help each other out. And it was awesome. So, that was another thing we did. We expanded our menu, both our sweet menu, we have a filling flavor of the month, and we also have a new savory menu. So, this is where it gets a little off the rails, so churro-inspired meals. So, we have a bacon-wrapped churro dog.
Charan: Wow.
Scott: Yeah. We probably should serve it with a defibrillator. I mean, it’s like-
Charan: I mean, I was like [crosstalk 00:41:55].
Scott: It’s intense.
Charan: I know, I was like, wait, wait, hang on, let me just make sure I get it-
Scott: Wrap your brain around it.
Charan: Yeah, yeah. Wrap my brain around the bacon that’s wrapped around a churro.
Scott: Wrapped around a eight-inch, all-beef hot dog.
Charan: Oh my gosh.
Scott: The bacon’s on the hot dog, we cook it, coat the whole thing in churro dough, then we deep fry it, and then we serve it with these amazing barbecue sauces [crosstalk 00:42:18].
Charan: And that’s totally vegan and sugar-free and [crosstalk 00:42:21].
Scott: Well, sugar-free, yes.
Charan: Absolutely. Completely sugar-free.
Scott: Vegan, no.
Charan: [inaudible 00:42:27].
Scott: No. Yeah, no, it’s really not good for you at all, but it’s delicious.
Charan: I’m sure it is.
Scott: It’s really crazy.
Charan: So, it’s emotionally, extremely good for you.
Scott: Emotionally good for you.
Charan: And I think that’s what we need right now, man, more than ever, emotionally.
Scott: It’s a community service, actually.
Charan: Yeah, it really is.
Scott: That’s what we’re doing.
Charan: You have really enhanced the human experience [crosstalk 00:42:45].
Scott: So, we have the bacon wrapped churro dog, and then the miniature version, we have baby dogs.
Charan: Oh, my gosh.
Scott: So, we have basically, little smokies wrapped in and then you dip them in the sauce, they’re so delicious. And then, we have churro fried cheese bites and churro fried chicken tenders. And we’re going to be introducing some more things too, but it’s been great. From a business perspective, that’s enabled us to increase the wallet share of people that are coming to purchase from us.
Charan: Sure.
Scott: Instead of just getting dessert, now they’re like, “Oh, well, I’ll get dessert, and I’ll get a meal, and I’ll get this snack, and my kids want these baby dogs.” So, that’s been great. We’ve also been able to attract people that otherwise were not looking for dessert but were looking for a meal. We’re still working on that paradigm shift in people’s minds of like, that’s a churro truck, I want to go there for lunch-
Charan: For lunch, yes.
Scott: But that’s not really happening, so we’re working on that. But it’s been fun to see people discover what crazy things we’re doing with churros.
Charan: That’s amazing.
Scott: So, that’s another thing. But one of the biggest things that it’s uncovered for us, the adaptation to life in this-
Charan: Crazy time.
Scott: … crazy time, and COVID world, is Take & Bake Churro Kit. And so, this is where we make the churros, and we fry them, and then we freeze them, and we can ship them all over the United States.
Charan: Oh, wow. Okay.
Scott: And so, this is-
Charan: This is like food-storage quality, right?
Scott: Yes.
Charan: Pretty much.
Scott: This is going to get you through [crosstalk 00:44:22].
Charan: As long as you have your churro. Yeah, that’s great.
Scott: So, what’s really been tremendously encouraging about it is that now we’re able to scale nationally, and we can ship them anywhere, and not really depend on the local economy. And Utah’s been great for us, but now we’re able to expand and offer our product to the entire United States. And so-
Charan: [crosstalk 00:44:50].
Scott: Oh, yeah, bring it on.
Charan: You know what? You can take it and run with it.
Scott: No, great, okay.
Charan: So, you freeze them, you can even put them in those really tight like-
Scott: The vacuum seal bags?
Charan: Vacuum seal bags.
Scott: That’s what we do.
Charan: Churro knots.
Scott: Oh, okay.
Charan: Call them [churro knots 00:45:06] [crosstalk 00:45:06].
Scott: Churro knots.
Charan: It’s just like-
Scott: Like knot them up, or just little guys?
Charan: Well, whatever it is, but then it’s like an astronaut type of theme.
Scott: Oh, churro knots.
Charan: Churro knots.
Scott: That kind of knot.
Charan: That kind of knot. Because it’s all right, it’s freeze dried, it’s like, oh man, I could eat this in space if I wanted to. Or I could eat this when the entire world is going down. [crosstalk 00:45:28] It’s like, I think there’s something there.
Scott: Okay.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:45:31].
Scott: Churro knots.
Charan: Churro knots, dude.
Scott: Like freeze-dried ice cream.
Charan: Like freeze-dried ice cream.
Scott: Right? So, kind of the food storage, like outer space, live on Mars-
Charan: Live on Mars.
Scott: … sort of idea. I mean, really, when we go to Mars, that should be the first thing that-
Charan: It’s one of the first things.
Scott: … should be in the packing list.
Charan: Yeah, I’ll see if I can get Elon Musk on the podcast.
Scott: Yeah, exactly. SpaceX on that.
Charan: SpaceX on that. And then, we’ll go from there.
Scott: I mean, have we done… I was going to say, did we do… So, we’ve done a number of events with his ex-business partner, with PayPal, at his home, Peter Thiel. So, I was thinking, I was like… I don’t know if Elon was there, and if he had our churros, I’m not quite sure. But we’ll see if we can make that happen.
Charan: I’m just saying-
Scott: Get on that packing list for SpaceX.
Charan: Churro knots, man. Yeah, I’m telling you, that would be huge.
Scott: Churro knots.
Charan: That would be huge.
Scott: I love it.
Scott Porter Talks about Having Joy
Charan: Yeah. That’s awesome, man. Well, I just want to shift topics just a little bit, just kind of wrapping things up a little bit. I wanted to talk about… You personally, what are you doing right now to have joy? I mean, we’ve talked about business, we talked about giving that brand experience, but I almost feel like to truly provide a brand experience for someone, you yourself needs to be someone that’s just full of life and joy anyway. You talk about people that don’t have that brand experience that only want the transaction, they only want the dollar or whatnot. I almost feel like they have themselves feel kind of incomplete, or like, oh, I got to be here because I got to be here, whatever.
Scott: Right.
Charan: But in order for the true brand experience to happen the way it’s supposed to happen, the way it brings life, every individual needs to have that sense of worth, that sense of joy, that’s just kind of my thoughts. Because then, it can feel more genuine, right?
Scott: 100%.
Charan: So, I’m here talking to you and you just seem so full of life, so full of joy, what do you do to have joy?
Scott: I mean, I’ve always been… My glass is, I was going to say, I’ve always been a “glass half-full” kind of guy, even though-
Charan: That glass [crosstalk 00:47:41] any water. So, you can’t use that analogy.
Scott: Terrible analogy.
Charan: Yeah, terrible analogy.
Scott: Fail.
Charan: Yeah.
Scott: And I really have… I’m an optimist by nature. But I think what I’ve learned over the past couple of years is acknowledging, for me, all rounds of what I’m feeling.
Charan: Okay. Accepting where you’re at.
Scott: Accepting, and like, you know what? Today is a really tough day. And sometimes, especially as an entrepreneur, it can be minute by minute, it’s like this crazy roller coaster right?
Charan: Sure. Yeah.
Scott: And so, I think just acknowledging and being in tune with those feelings, I think has really helped, because then, I can acknowledge when I feel great joy as well. And so, another thing for me is just spending time with joyful things. And whatever that is for you individually, but for me, those joyful things and those things that bring me joy are everything from my meditation time, prayer time as I’m connecting and communing with God, with a divine power that I feel is something that is absolutely core to who I am. I think that centering on what’s really important in life and always coming back to those foundational principles of, what’s my purpose?
Scott: And I think the more that I try to remember what my divine purpose and my divine potential is, the more it helps me to see life with a joyful lens, even when things go wildly bad, or if unexpected things happen, accidents happen, stuff you don’t want to have happens. As I’ve tried to… And some days I’m a lot better at it than others.
Charan: Sure, yeah.
Scott: And I think just acknowledging that when I feel all those ranges of emotion, but then deciding to try and stay as much on this joyful end of that emotion as possible, but in a really authentic sort of way. And-
Charan: I like how you were saying about being authentic though, because you’re accepting of those feelings instead of denying them, you know what I mean?
Scott: Yes, they’re there.
Charan: They’re there.
Scott: I’m scared, I’m sad, I’m frustrated, I’m angry, it’s there, lean into it, and then let it go and choose the joy. And so, for me, that’s how I commune with God. It’s getting out in nature. It’s like re-centering. Fresh air. I love to exercise as well, that’s a sport that keeps me grounded. I love to eat really good food, tasty food. I love to eat healthy food, and I really love to eat bad food too. I don’t eat a lot of it as much. But I allow myself. I love the spectrum of all of that. And probably, right up there with my relationship with God and that communion with those principles that are true to me, and who I feel like… The direction that I want to be heading. That continual re-centering on a daily basis, whether that’s either writing a quick thing in my journal, or reading stuff, reading inspirational words, praying, re-centering on a continual basis is helpful for me.
Charan: Yeah.
Scott: And then, of course, relationships, building meaningful relationships. Conversations like this where we’re getting down to, what is life really all about? That’s what feeds my soul and that’s what gives me joy and direction and peace in such a troubled time, that may possibly accelerate.
Charan: Yeah, we don’t know.
Scott: It’s not like-
Charan: We just don’t know. Yeah.
Scott: It’s not like some of this stuff is… I mean, I certainly hope and pray for things to settle down-
Charan: Yeah, sure.
Scott: But at the rate that we’re going, I think things may even accelerate. And so, how do we continually ground ourselves? And so, that’s what I do, is look to have inspiring… Just to fill my life with things that bring me joy, and that help be a reminder of what my divine purpose is. Because each of us has a purpose, a very specific purpose that is customized to your talents, your gifts, your challenges, your opportunities, and everything. So, just whatever I can do to continually… It’s a mental exercise. It’s definitely effort. It’s not… I mean, joy can come easy, but it also is effort.
Charan: Sure.
Scott: Yeah.
Charan: Yeah, absolutely. And to what you’re saying, you’re always about acknowledging where you’re at, always about understanding, hey, look, this is going to require a little bit of effort, especially when things get crazy as they are. And like you said, you pray for things to hopefully get better, and maybe they eventually will, but at the rate at which things are going, it’s like, oh, no, I think the party’s just getting started.
Scott: Right.
Charan: I think things are preparing for much bigger things.
Scott: Right?
Charan: So, we just don’t know. We have no idea.
Scott: And if it doesn’t, that’s okay.
Charan: That’s okay.
Scott: Because we’re going to be okay.
Charan: Yeah.
Scott: If we’re able to focus on what really foundationally grounds us in our purpose, in our contribution… I mean, people have gone through really tough stuff-
Charan: Yeah, absolutely.
Scott: For millennia. Our ancestors that are human just like we were… Well, like we are.
Charan: I mean, I don’t know, man, after the churros… After that bacon-wrapped hot dog churro-
Scott: [crosstalk 00:54:28].
Charan: … I think we’ve evolved. I think we all evolved as a species.
Scott: [crosstalk 00:54:31] We’ve evolved. It’s churro evolution.
Charan: Yeah. That’s true.
Scott: No. People have gone through it before us, difficult things that we probably couldn’t do. And now they’re watching us and being like, “Wow, I’m glad I don’t have to go through that.”
Charan: Yeah.
Scott: But we’re going to make it through.
Charan: Every generation has got his own unique set of challenges-
Scott: Totally.
Charan: But the thing that we know about the human population is that, we know how to adapt.
Scott: Totally.
Charan: When things happen, we adapt.
Scott: We’re resilient.
Scott Porter’s Advice to His Younger Self
Charan: We’re resilient. And so, that’s what needs to happen. We just have to be resilient. The same principles of resilience that was there before for, are what we’re going to have to use right now, and be like, “Okay, how did they get through it?” That’s what we’ll have to kind of do ourselves. Well, I appreciate that, man. Okay, final question. What would you tell your younger self? The guy that’s just getting out of high school, that wants to become an entrepreneur, that isn’t entirely sure what he wants to do just yet, isn’t entirely sure if he even likes churros yet, what would you tell that young guy?
Scott: That young person certainly did not have really great churros at that point. I mean, it depends, if I had graduated… I had my first fresh-filled churros in Mexico City when I was on an internship during my undergrad. So, it depends on when you’re asking my younger self.
Charan: I’m talking about high school.
Scott: Oh, high school.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:55:49].
Scott: Oh, yeah. No, I had no idea about good Mexican food.
Charan: No clue.
Scott: That was a really sad life.
Charan: Did you have hair back then?
Scott: I had hair.
Charan: Well, I guess that’s something. But-
Scott: There were benefits to being younger. I would encourage that younger Scott, I would just tell him to stay laser-focused on your unique divine purpose in this life and to never give up and never let anyone dissuade you from pursuing that. And not that people have dissuaded me, I don’t say that because people have done that in my life from then forward. But I think that that is the reason why each of us are here is to achieve our potential and really make a meaningful contribution to our family, to our friends, to society, in general. And what… I’m just thinking back, what would I… I’m imagining I’m graduating, what am I going to say? That’s what I would say.
Charan: I think [crosstalk 00:57:15].
Scott: Don’t lose sight, laser-focus on that. And realizing… I think also feeling the confidence. I received a blessing a couple years back from a friend, and he used this term that I can’t stop thinking about ever since then, is this “divine confidence,” which I love.
Charan: I like that.
Scott: I love that coupling of a confidence or a faith in yourself that comes from a higher power. And so, I would also add to that, have divine confidence and surety in the fact that you’re special, and that… Meaning, I’m talking to myself, that you’re special, that you have qualities and talents and gifts that God wants to unleash. So, find those, dog those down, go at those, laser-focus, work hard, don’t give up, have the grit, have the patience to make those things happen.
Scott: Because if you have that divine confidence, God will do anything with you. Oprah was asked what she prays for, and she says, she prays every day, “Use me God, use me.” And you see what God has done with her life, and how he’s truly used her as a force for good all over the world. And I think that each of us have the potential in our realm of influence to have a lasting impact for good in the world and with our brothers and sisters all over. And so, that’s what I think I’d tell myself.
Charan: That’s a beautiful message, man. I love that. I love that. Because, too many times, the world and the teachings talk about doing certain things to follow someone else, and it’s not about finding your own unique, authentic voice, and strengthening that voice. But yeah, you’re right, everyone’s got their own voice and it’s filled with beautiful talents and beautiful gifts, and they’re meant to be unleashed, like you said, and beautiful things to really help better the world. So, yeah, I really like that.
Charan: And anyone that’s listening or watching, I really hope that you guys can internalize that message, because I think, with that part of it, you automatically feel joy. It’s like a byproduct of doing that, right?
Scott: Totally.
Charan: And then, you’re going to give people that brand experience, because that’s just who you are. You’re not trying to do it, you just do it. That’s just who you are. So-
Scott: And you care.
Charan: And you care.
Scott: You care about them-
Charan: Absolutely.
Scott: You care about… They’re human, which… In some of my travels in humanitarian service, I’ve interacted with people of totally different cultures and socio-economic situations, and there’s this amazing commonality, whether you’re talking to a Nepali villager, or Mayan Q’eqchi’ in Guatemala, or the Maasai warriors in Kenya, there’s this commonality of… And something that I learned from these people that’s changed my life is this mentality of namaste, right? You know about all this. This is-
Charan: I’m familiar.
Scott: This is part of your life.
Charan: I’m familiar.
Scott: Part of your DNA.
Charan: Part of my DNA.
Scott: Right?
Charan: Sure.
Scott: I mean, you could teach me more about it. But this idea of “the divine in me recognizes the divine in you,” that’s a very real thing. When you experience that, you feel that authenticity, and that respect, and that care. It’s real. The Q’eqchi’ have a phrase, they greet each other [foreign language 01:01:28] which means, are you happy in your heart? They don’t say, what’s up? Or how’s it going? They ask you, are you happy in your heart?
Charan: I like that. Yeah.
Scott: And so, I think that those are… And in Mexico, it’s like [foreign language 01:01:43] It’s just like, what’s mine is yours. We’re all part of this human family and just this joy of being together, and joy of helping lift each other in whatever circumstance we’re in.
Charan: I love that, man. I mean, we could talk forever about this type of stuff. But thank you. Thank you so much for being here.
Scott: Thanks for asking me.
Charan: Yeah, of course. And I cannot wait to try one of these churros of yours.
Scott: So good to chat.
Charan: I can’t wait to do that.
Scott: Dude, and I want… New Year’s Eve is coming up and I have some pine cones-
Charan: Save some pine cones for me.
Scott: … that I can get for you.
Charan: Save some pine cones. You can save a bacon dog, maybe we can drop one of those things too. We’ll drop them all [crosstalk 01:02:24].
Scott: We’ll drop everything.
Charan: All right. Awesome, man. Well, thanks again, I appreciate it.
Scott: Thank you.
Charan: Okay.
Charan: Thanks so much for listening to the Lemonade Stand podcast and we hope you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on whatever platform you use to be alerted when we release new episodes. We’d also love to hear your feedback, and then reviews, and if you or someone you know has an awesome Lemonade Stand Story, please reach out to us on social media and let us know. Thanks so much and have a great day.