🤘🤘 Why the Movie "Chef" Is a Must-Watch for Every Business Professional

"Chef" is one of my favorite movies. I watch it at least once every couple of years.

It's kind of a feel good movie about father and son but I also love it about one particular scene that taught me everything about business. 

(It also has pretty dope scenes with Gary Clarke Jr. and Hot 8 Brass Band... I mean if you don't get goosebumps when they play Sexual Healing.. you're not human... but that's not the point).

The Scene

When Chef Carl Casper, his friend Martin and Carl's son Percy, convert a beaten-down shell of a van into a food truck with the help of local workers.

And Percy learns a valuable life lesson.

As a thank you, the trio promised the workers by feeding them "el cubanos" - tier 1 sandwich made with 2 slices of ham, 1 slice of mojo-marinated pork roast, cheese, pickles and bread. (sweet baby J - I'm hungry....)

The bread needs to be buttered, and pressed on the grill (la plancha) so the cheese is melted and the bread is toasted to perfection.

In return for helping them carrying and installing heavy equipment, the trio (Carl, Martin and Percy) feed the workers at the lot and treat them to "cubanos".

The gang is making sandwiches... they're in the moment, grilling them tasty hitters and serving them to hungry workers.

Near the end, the boy presses the sandwiches a bit too much. It's slightly burnt - a littllllleeee too golden but still ok. 

Most of us would be ok to eat it and give it a thumbs up.

Chef says to the kid to make another one and throw away the burnt one. 

"So? They are not paying for it..."

After Carl's heart breaks, the chef pulls the kid aside and teaches him the lesson.

When you deliver a service, no matter if it's serving a coffee, writing an article, or deliver a GTM strategy plan, you treat your work and the customer with the same respect.

☕ Coffee. No spills, beautiful latter art, served with a smile, and handle of the mug turned towards the customer. 

✍️ Article. Made first for the reader, legible, packed with value, enticing headline and paragraph that hooks and pulls in the reader. SEO optimization secondary.

📈 GTM plan. Clearly defined, roadmap established, milestones along the way, ideas and data turned into insights with clear jobs to be done and areas of responsibility.

Funny enough, I experienced this in the last two months. 

Here in Calgary, on the corner of 14th st and 15th ave, there used to be a french-style bakery served by lovely couple.

The almond croissants were so good. It was impossible to eat them without your body going into spontaneous groove. 

This bakery had lines of people stacking up every weekend at 8am, getting the piece of that flaky, buttttterrrryyy crust.  Ayyy yeahh boiii 😋 🤤

Unfortunately, the couple decided to close the bakery after 2 years. 

It has been replaced by another bakery with similar french style pastry.

Same coffee, similar menu.

They invested in some interior design as well.

The pastry is good.

But, the almond croissant are sometimes a little deflated.

Sometimes you get one that is slightly smaller than the "standard". 

This new bakery doesn't have long waiting lines any more. 

It's all about how much you respect your work and your customer.

It all translates.

Every business will survive if they land on consistent quality.

Word-of-mouth is the only channel you really need. 

It's the great equalizer. 

"Now should we serve that sandwich?"

// Here's the link to the scene:

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Newsletter Shoutout

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3 Wicked Songs

1- Sunny days calls from groovy songs. And when you think of groovy, Khruangbin always comes to mind. Their latest album was done with African blue legend Vieux Farka-Toure

2- Fuzz, Bass, and desert car rides. Apex Ten's second album delivers just that. 

3- Tier 1 Jazz by Yussef Dayes!

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Have a wonderful week!

🤘🤘

d.