DAN SIMONS

Everyone's talking about AI agents (vs. humans) like they're the world's most efficient new hire — infinitely scalable, never needs benefits, and ready to work the moment you flip the switch. That's not how this works. AI agents are real, they're powerful, and yes, you should be integrating them into your business. But anyone telling you they'll shrink your headcount without adding expanding human responsibilities. Two words: liars and fools. Adoption is moving fast enough that this isn't a someday problem. According to OneReach.ai, an estimated 35% of organizations have deployed AI agents, with adoption projected to reach 86% by 2027. The businesses that figure out how to manage that shift now are the ones who'll actually capture the value. Here's the reality, at least for now — AI agents need bosses, and that currently means human bosses. What Does "Human in the Loop" Mean for AI Agents? Human-in-the-loop means a trained person retains the authority to review, approve, or override an AI agent's actions before they create real-world consequences — a financial report goes to investors, a social post goes live, a customer communication goes out. It does not mean someone is glancing at a dashboard occasionally. Presence isn't the same as practice. This distinction matters enough that regulatory frameworks like the EU AI Act and NIST's AI Risk Management Framework now require human oversight that is trained, measurable, and provable — not just nominal. For restaurant operators, this isn't abstract. It's the difference between an AI agent that drafts a response to an online review and one that fires it off unsupervised to a guest you have a sensitive relationship with. You Wouldn't Hire Someone and Never Train Them The most effective paradigm to assess and plan for these additional "resources" is to think of hiring AI agents just like you think of hiring a human. That means due diligence during the recruiting and offer phase. It means onboarding, orientation, and training. It means validating work and micromanagement until evidence of ability is provided consistently, at which point you can shift from micromanagement to customary management. People in companies need bosses and supervisors for a whole slew of reasons I don't need to list. AI agents have similar needs. Why Onboarding an AI Agent Looks a Lot Like Onboarding a Person When you hire a new accountant, you don't just hand them your QuickBooks login and say, "figure it out." You show them where files are stored, what your approval processes look like, which vendors have net-30 terms, the grey area with certain vendors, and what your CFO cares about most in the monthly reports. Same with an AI agent. You need to train it on your company's specific systems, your terminology, your workflows, and your standards. Just because it can process information fast doesn't mean it magically knows that "Project Phoenix" is what you call the renovation of your flagship location, or that Vanessa in accounting prefers invoices formatted a specific way. A new marketing hire needs to understand your brand voice, your customer segments, and your competitive positioning before they can write effective copy. An AI agent building marketing content needs the exact same context, or it's going to produce generic garbage that sounds like it was written by, well, an AI that doesn't know your business. You don’t train that human on your voice in 30 seconds and then turn them loose, and you won’t train the AI with three prompts and then give them free rein to post on your Insta to their heart’s delight, or whatever they have beating inside them. The word for this is CONTEXT. Your AI needs context. As a human, you have your whole life experience that is creating context for you as your process information. You can give all the information you want to an AI, but without context, it’ll drown, it’ll make errors, and it has no shot at performing the way you want. Why Validating AI Output Is a Non-Negotiable You wouldn't let a new employee send out customer communications without review, right? At least not at first. You check their work. You give feedback. You catch mistakes before they become problems. With AI agents, validation is equally critical. Maybe more so. I recently watched an AI agent confidently generate a financial projection that looked great — clean formatting, professional charts, persuasive narrative. Except the underlying math was wrong. Not a little wrong. Catastrophically wrong. If someone had just trusted it and sent it to investors? Disaster. This isn't a fringe risk. Industry research on AI agent governance has found organizations are roughly 15 to 20 percentage points behind on human-in-the-loop controls compared to other maturity benchmarks — meaning most companies deploying agents haven't built the oversight muscle to catch this kind of error before it ships. Just like a new analyst might misunderstand which data set to pull from, an AI agent can make assumptions that seem logical but are dead wrong for your specific context. You need human oversight to catch those errors before they compound. From Micromanagement to Management: How Trust With AI Agents Is Earned Here's what happens with good human hires: you micromanage at first because you have to. You check everything, you teach, you develop, you ensure they have an understanding of the big picture and the small picture. Then, as they prove themselves, you give them more autonomy. Eventually, you're just spot-checking and course-correcting occasionally, and with the great ones, never. Similar progression applies to AI agents. Initially, you're reviewing every output, tweaking every prompt, catching every mistake, realizing you haven’t created effective rules, skills, and context. Over time, as you refine the agent's training and understand its capabilities and limitations, you can trust it more. But that trust is earned through a process, not assumed from day one. The Plug-and-Play Fantasy That's Costing Companies Millions Humans aren't plug and play. Neither are AI agents. At least not yet. Anyone selling you the fantasy that you can just deploy AI agents and watch your headcount shrink is either lying to you or fooling themselves. What you're actually doing is adding a new type of team member that requires a different kind of management but still requires real, sustained human oversight. Does that mean AI agents aren't valuable? Of course not. They absolutely are, and wildly so. But their value comes from augmenting and going beyond your team's capabilities, not replacing the need for human judgment, context, and management. So yes, hire AI agents. Integrate them into your workflows. Figure out where they can create real value. Just do it with your eyes open about what it actually takes to make them work. And when someone tells you AI means you can stop hiring humans or not have a human in the loop at the right moments? Call bullshit.

Let me be direct with you: I accept American Express at Founding Farmers. And it costs us, meaningfully. I’ve tried talking directly to AMEX, but they don’t seem interested in returning calls or emails or engaging in meaningful conversation. But before I get to AMEX specifically, let me set the table. Because this isn't just an AMEX problem. It's an industry problem. And most people, including a lot of diners who genuinely love restaurants, have no idea it exists. What Are Credit Card Processing Fees, and Why Do They Matter So Much to Restaurants? Does it seem sensible to you that when restaurants have to raise menu prices to cover costs, that AMEX should earn more money? Does it seem logical that AMEX has no liability for disputed or fraudulent charges and that the restaurant has to swallow that cost even if they’ve done everything right? Every time a guest swipes, taps, or inserts a card at one of our restaurants, we pay a fee. That makes sense, we should pay for this amazing convenience. But, depending on what kind of card, whether credit or debit, rewards or rebate, domestic or international, the cost of that swipe has a wide range. It goes by different names —interchange fee, discount rate, processing fee — but the math is the same: a percentage of every transaction goes to the card network and the issuing bank before it ever reaches us. For Visa and Mastercard, those fees typically land somewhere between 1.5 and 2.5 percent per transaction, depending on the card type and the merchant agreement. Premium rewards cards (the ones that earn you miles and cash back) sit at the higher end. Somebody's paying for those points. That somebody is us. That’s why we love debit cards. They offer the same convenience with the lowest cost. American Express charges the most. Typically 2.5 to 3.5 percent per transaction, sometimes higher. The reason is structural: AMEX operates as both the card network and the card issuer, which means they capture more of the economics on every swipe. They also argue that their cardholders spend more. I understand the argument. I've accepted it for years. Here's the thing about running restaurants in our current world: the profit architecture is nothing like it was. Labor costs are up. Food costs are up. Energy is up. Insurance is up. We operate on margins that would make most businesspeople wince — typically 3 to 9 percent net, if you're good, if you're lucky, if everything goes right on a given Tuesday night. So when you're paying 2, 3, even 3.5 percent on every credit card transaction. In a full-service restaurant, nearly every transaction is a credit card transaction, so that's not a rounding error. That's a substantial line item on the P&L. That's a vendor payment to a family farmer in North Dakota who's counting on us to pay our invoices. That's real. The Scale of the Problem for Independent Restaurants Here's what the numbers look like in practice. According to the Merchants Payments Coalition and the National Restaurant Association, interchange fees across the industry reached a record $187 billion last year. For the average American family, that translates to roughly $1,200 annually, which is baked into the prices they pay everywhere they shop and eat. For independent operators, the impact is acute. Unlike large chains with the volume to negotiate custom rates, most independent restaurants have no leverage. We accept the fees as given, build them into our pricing as best we can, and margin-eat the rest. Some restaurants have started adding credit card surcharges, as they try to balance the difficult quest for profit with frictionless hospitality for their guests. It’s also worth noting AMEX protects their almost-monopoly with strict terms and conditions that generally prohibit this or make it very difficult for a restaurant to do it. So, try offering a cash discount you say but wait, that’s probably also prohibited in AMEX’s contracts. None of these are good answers. They're adaptations to a structural problem that the card networks have little incentive to solve. Why American Express Needs a Different Conversation Look, sometimes you need to blow off a little steam before you make your case. So, I made a video with some nifty AI tools and a talented freelancer. It's an MMA match between a neighborhood restaurant I'm calling Franky going toe-to-toe with American Express in the ring. Silly? Yes. But conveys the truth, and it conveys how I feel. Ok, come back. Because the rest of this is serious. AMEX has acquired Resy. They own Tock. They now control significant reservation infrastructure across the country. They gatekeep access to popular restaurants for their cardholders. They're the broker and the seating algorithm holder and the payment processor. And they're still charging us at the high end of the fee scale. When I talk to other restaurateurs — operators I respect, people running tight, responsible businesses — the frustration with AMEX specifically is real and widespread. We've asked for relief. We’ve tried to have the conversation. We've made the case. And the response, essentially, is: crickets. That's a choice. For a company recording billions in annual revenue, not adjusting merchant fees to reflect the realities of an evolved profit architecture in the restaurant industry isn't a business necessity. It's a choice. What a Fair Partnership Actually Looks Like I'm not necessarily anti-AMEX. I'm certainly not anti-credit card. I'm pro-digital payments and pro-math that makes sense for the people doing the work, and diners and consumers deserve to be eyes wide open. Digital payments are here, they are the now and the future; we need a cost structure that works for all the stakeholders. I believe business can be a force for good. I believe partnerships function best when all parties benefit and when the arrangement is sustainable for everyone in the chain, not just the ones with the most leverage. Right now, for independent restaurants, that balance is off. And I think the people running these card networks know it. The question is whether they are compelled enough to act on it. But I get it, in many Board Rooms, the only things that spur change are greed, fear, or pain. The margin compression restaurants are experiencing isn't abstract or temporary. It's structural. Every point of cost matters. And the conversation about credit card fees — who sets them, who absorbs them, and who ultimately pays — deserves to be had loudly, publicly, and at the industry level. One small legislative change won’t be enough, especially if the technology in the processing and point of sale networks doesn’t align with the legislation. So, I'm saying it out loud. I'd love to have a different conversation, AMEX. One that reflects where this industry actually is, not where it was twenty years ago. I’ll mention again, I’ve tried to have the conversation directly, I’ve asked for ways they could provide some actual value for what we pay them, but generally AMEX doesn’t return my calls or emails, so maybe they’ll notice my video. Frequently Asked Questions What are typical credit card processing fees for restaurants? Most restaurants pay between 1.5 and 3.5 percent per transaction depending on the card network and card type. Premium rewards cards tend to carry higher fees. American Express always sits at the higher end of that range. Why does American Express charge higher fees than Visa and Mastercard? Because they can, and until restaurants have the courage to say “We do NOT accept AMEX”, the fees will continue to be high. AMEX operates as both the card network and the card issuer, capturing more of the transaction economics than Visa or Mastercard, which work through third-party banks. AMEX also argues its cardholders have higher average spending, justifying the premium fee to merchants. Can restaurants refuse to accept American Express? Yes. Merchants are not required to accept any specific card network. However, turning away AMEX cardholders can frustrate certain guests, and restaurants are of course always trying to thrill guests, not annoy them. What are interchange fees? Interchange fees are the per-transaction fees paid by merchants to card networks and issuing banks every time a customer pays by credit or debit card. They are set by the card networks and represent one of the largest operating costs most restaurants don't talk about publicly. Why are credit card fees a bigger problem for independent restaurants than chains? Large chains have the transaction volume to negotiate custom rates with card networks. Independent operators generally don't, which means they pay standard rates and absorb the full cost — a meaningful disadvantage in an industry already running on thin margins.

Two words — "vulnerability" and "networking" — are quietly getting in the way of ideas worth spreading. The concepts behind them? Essential. The words themselves? They're killing the message. Here's the language shift that changes everything. The words we choose shape how people receive our ideas. And sometimes, the best ideas get buried under the worst words. Why "Vulnerability" Fails as a Leadership Word   I'm supposed to tell you that leaders should be more vulnerable. That's the modern leadership gospel, right? Share your struggles. Show your humanity. Be vulnerable. Here's my problem: when we say "leaders should be more vulnerable," to many listening (or reading), it sounds weak. Many who hear it likely think, "Well, that's lame, and definitely not my style." It also sounds potentially inappropriate for the workplace. And perhaps most importantly,  how to actually be vulnerable as a leader is rarely discussed. The Case for "Honesty" Over "Vulnerability" in Leadership  What if instead of "be vulnerable," we said that leaders should simply "be honest"? Honesty is simply telling the truth — struggles included. Who can argue that honesty is inappropriate or weak? Honesty in pursuit of integrity. Honesty in service of real trust. That sounds better, doesn't it? I can see how leaders resist — even argue against — being vulnerable. But who argues against being honest? When employees hear their leader acknowledge their own struggles, something powerful happens.  It can be motivating. They appreciate the honesty. They want to support the leader. They feel more connected to the company and the mission, because they feel safer to be themselves, flaws included. I’ve talk openly about being on Zoloft. About having a therapist to work through disordered thoughts around food, body, and weight. These aren't me being vulnerable — these are me being honest about the investments I'm making to be my best self. If anything, this makes me LESS vulnerable, because it makes me stronger. See the different ways of using the words? Now, let me be clear: there are sensible limits. No one needs to know about your diarrhea or STDs or foot fetish. But within reasonable professional boundaries, authentic leadership communication – sharing honest personal context to build real trust – creates genuine value for leaders and the people they lead. This is an imperative for leaders. But let's stop calling it vulnerability and just start calling it honesty. I think we'll get a lot more people on board with the movement when we use language that doesn't make them cringe. Why "Networking" Is the Wrong Word — And What to Call It Instead   We tell people to build their network. To attend networking events. To "connect" with people on LinkedIn. We say the value of the network can be enormous. It's not what you know, it's who you know — so get out there and network. Ugh. Gross. Can we stop with the word and instead just encourage people to build relationships? To look for ways to connect with people. To be supportive of others. To establish relationships where both people involved genuinely want to help the other succeed? I'm not debating that building a web of human relationships is valuable for your career and your life. I'm absolutely convinced it is. The question isn't whether building professional relationships matters — it's whether the word "networking" is actually helping people do it well. It isn't. What Relationship Building Actually Looks Like  I'm just reframing it — from "networking," which feels like a binary approach for selfish purpose ("build your network to grow your career"), to something more honest about what it actually is. For example, on LinkedIn, any time you click "Connect," always consider and include a note that conveys the relevance, the sentiment, the intention, of getting to know each othe r. This replaces generic, shallow "networking” with a real attempt to being a "relationship." People quickly sniff out someone who is just in it for themselves. We all know that person at the event who's essentially treating humans like Pokémon cards they're trying to collect — working the room, eyes scanning for the next target, barely listening because they're already calculating the value of this particular card to their collection. It's transparent, it's exhausting, and it's off-putting to everyone around them. When we reframe "networking" as "relationship building," we help people see it's about two-way value creation — not just what's in it for one person. It shifts the focus from extracting value from someone to creating value together. And that's a thing people actually want to do. Why Leadership Language Shapes Leadership Culture   Here's what I've learned: the resistance often isn't to the concept — it's to the language we've wrapped around it. “Vulnerability” sounds risky and weak. “Honesty” sounds confident and strong. “Networking” sounds transactional and self-serving. “Relationship building” sounds human and mutual. Same core ideas. Different intention and reception. The language leaders use doesn't just communicate a message — it shapes the culture around that message. When leaders use words that make people want to run in the opposite direction, even the best ideas don't stand a chance. So yes — be honest as a leader. Share your humanity within sensible limits. And yes, build genuine relationships with people where you both want to help each other succeed. Just change the words you use, and in doing so, you are also expanding where they can take you. I'm still on Zoloft. I still see my therapist. I’m still talking openly about it. And I'm still building relationships with people I genuinely care about. I'm just done calling any of it by the wrong names. Call it what it actually is: being honest and building relationships. Watch how many more people get on board when we use words that don't make them want to run in the opposite direction.  Words matter — the ones we choose, and the ones we leave behind.  Agree? Disagree? Have a word or phrase you think we should retire? I'd love to hear it — reach out or drop it in the comments.

Most people know Carla Hall as an award-winning chef, best-selling author, and beloved television personality. You see her on TV all the time. This summer, you can see her on stage in her show Please Underestimate Me . And now, you can hear her on Founding DC . What I saw sitting across from her was something entrepreneurs instantly recognize:  A masterclass in reinvention.  Not the shiny kind. The disciplined, uncomfortable, intentional kind that actually builds a life and business. Why Entrepreneurial Reinvention Matters More Than Ever If you're asking how do successful entrepreneurs reinvent themselves , Carla Hall's story is one of the most instructive answers out there — and it's not what most people expect. Carla didn’t follow a straight path. She walked away from a stable accounting career, built a food business from scratch, reinvented herself multiple times, and continues to evolve. None of it was accidental. Every move came from knowing herself and acting on that clarity. That's the throughline every entrepreneur needs to hear right now: reinvention isn't a setback. It's a strategy . Key Insights from Carla Hall on Growth, Failure, and Authentic Leadership A few ideas she shares that stuck with me:  Failure isn’t the opposite of success. It’s information.  Knowing yourself is a competitive advantage.  Joy isn’t fluff. It fuels performance.  Alignment matters more than titles.  Sometimes the smartest move is walking away.  Each one sounds simple. None of them are easy. And Carla speaks about them from lived experience, not theory. The Entrepreneurial Mindset Behind Carla Hall's Success  One of my favorite moments was hearing how she thinks about growth. Not as chasing the next rung on a ladder, but as expanding into what’s possible when you stop playing small.  That mindset is pure entrepreneur DNA. It's the same framework I see in the most resilient founders I've worked with and interviewed: they don't define reinvention as starting over. They define it as leveling up with everything they've already learned.  What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Carla Hall's Career Pivots  If you’re building something, pivoting, or questioning your next move, this episode hits on the real work behind reinvention. The decisions. The discomfort. The discipline. And the payoff.  Bottom line: You don’t win by avoiding change. You win by leaning into it.   Listen to the full conversation with Carla Hall on Founding DC — this is one entrepreneurs won’t want to miss.

When I stood on the TEDx stage and said, "mental health is a workplace operations topic," I could feel the paradigm shift happening in real time. The idea resonated, because it reframes something we've been getting wrong for too long.  We created this infographic to distill that talk into a simple framework—one that shows both the problem and the solution.  In short: When companies treat mental health like an operational system instead of an HR issue, they see measurable gains in retention, productivity, morale, and performance.    The Problem: A $1 Trillion Blind Spot  Here's what we're up against: one in five U.S. adults lives with a mental illness. Over 30% will experience an anxiety disorder in their lifetime. Depression and anxiety alone cost the global economy $1 trillion annually in lost productivity.  Yet the flawed status quo persists: employees hide their struggles, employers ignore them, and when issues surface, they get pushed to HR's silo.  We can talk about broken ankles and torn ACLs at work, but not depression and anxiety. We discuss bad backs but not menopause. What fools made up these rules? And what fools are we if we follow them?  The Solution: The 2-Part Mental Health Operations Framework  The answer isn't complicated—it's a two-part approach:  Pillar 1: Culture (Leadership & Transparency) :  Leaders need to embrace transparency. Share your own stories. Normalize conversations about mental health. Stop pretending that HR is the only safe place to discuss these issues.  Pillar 2: Systems (Tactical Tools, Training, & Access) :  Embed resources into your operations. Apps for anonymous communication and therapy access. Training in mental health first aid. Relationships with local practitioners. Expert-led sessions to help teams recognize signs and have supportive conversations.  Think about it this way: if a piece of software you use at work had a 10-20% error rate, you'd stop at nothing to fix it. So why don't we treat the human operating system with the same urgency?  The Result: ROI You Can Measure  When you reframe mental health as a workplace operations topic—treating it with the same systematization, vocabulary, and problem-solving approach you use for scheduling or supply chain—the returns are tangible. Through embedding mental health into my organization's operations, we have seen:   Lower employee turnover  Reduced absenteeism  Fewer errors and burnout-driven mistakes  Higher engagement and morale  This isn't just good ethics. It's good business.  Your Turn  Where are you and your company on this journey? Maybe you need the cultural shift first. Maybe you've got the culture but need the tactics. Either way, the playbook is there for the taking.  Mental health is health. And ensuring that our people flourish into their most valuable versions of themselves isn't a side project—it's the work.  Let's change the world one workplace at a time.    Watch the full TEDx talk or download the infographic to share with your team. And if you want to bring this conversation to your organization, let's talk.

I thought I may naturally be good at hosting a podcast. Well, that confidence lasted until exactly minute three of my first practice session with WTOP Radio for our Founding DC podcast , when I realized I was struggling to keep the conversation interesting and informative. Somehow, I was making, or allowing, both of us to sound boring. In my brain I knew how awful the conversation was, but I had NO idea how to pivot to something better. Now I have a serious dose of newfound respect for the craft of being a show host, especially a podcast host. Here's the truth about podcast hosting: Anyone can have a conversation, but creating a valuable conversation for participants and listeners? That's pure craft. Lesson #1 : The Magic Happens Before You Hit Record  Perhaps not the biggest shock but an essential truth: 80% of great podcast hosting happens before the microphones turn on.  I used to wing conversations. Show up, see what happens, let it flow naturally. That approach crashes and burns in interviewing and podcasting. Or, maybe it’s fine if your goal is to produce B+ caliber work.  What actually works:  Research your guest like you're writing their biography; hunt for their why, their purpose, and their derailers.  Map out 3-5 key topics (but stay flexible).  Ponder follow-up questions depending on a range of potential responses.  Know their background well enough to ask questions others haven’t.   Map common ground to share, and foreign ground to explore.  Listeners can tell when you've done the work. They can also tell when you haven't.  Lesson #2 : Your Voice Is a Tool to Be Understood  Vocal cords are basically athletic tools that need training and care. Vocal cords are to be cherished, appreciated, and cared for.   What I learned the hard way:  Hot water during recordings = instant voice improvement.  Vocal warm-ups aren't just for singers.  Hydration starts hours before recording, not during.  Speaking and breathing from your diaphragm saves your throat.  If you have a habit of clearing your throat, realize it is likely a mental game; learn to resist the urge to cough. This takes practice….and I am still learning. Cough suppressants also help.  Lesson #3: Audio-Only Interviews Require Completely Different Listening Skills   This one blindsided me. I thought I was a good listener. Turns out, I was a good  conversation participant , not necessarily a good podcast interview conductor . And when you remove all visual cues for an audience, everything changes. In face-to-face conversations, so much communication happens through expressions, gestures, and physical presence. In podcasting, every single bit of meaning has to come through voices alone—which completely transforms how you need to engage. I have learned that my job isn’t to be interesting—it's to help my guest be interesting, to make 1+1=3, using only my voice as the tool.   So, body language means nothing to your listener but may mean everything to your guest. Even your "uh-huh" means everything when communicating in person. And yet, auditory clutter is tragic on a podcast, which means there’s a balance to be found in verbal and non-verbal methods of engaging in person, while knowing the listening audience has only their ears.  Mistakes I made (and certainly haven’t yet perfectly solved):  Talking over guests (sounds terrible in audio).  Forgetting my listening audience can’t see my facial expressions.   Silence is powerful on radio: sometimes powerfully good, sometimes powerfully bad; it needs to be intentional (or edited).  Failing to interrupt and redirect the long-winded rambling monologues.  What works better:  Waiting for complete thoughts before responding.  Describing what you're reacting to (eg, "that made me laugh because...").  Using vocal tone to convey what your face used to do.  Using the non-verbal to interrupt, such as leaning in and using my hands, and then using my voice when the space gets created.  Lesson #4: Being Great at Podcasting Requires Practice, Consistency & Honest Feedback Like almost anything you want to do well, podcasting requires dedication. True skills only develop through consistent, repeated practice; recognizing your areas of excellence and opportunity (aka, where you suck), and working with someone or a team who will give you honest feedback. I am not excellent at this podcast thing YET, but having a great coach helps enormously. Mine calls out my bad habits and won't let me get away with mediocrity. But even the best coach can't help you if you're not consistently showing up to practice what they're teaching. My coach has elevated our sessions well-beyond cleaning up the obvious errors, and we now are analyzing question structure, using AI to count number of words in my questions, and essentially using the audio and written transcripts to analyze the convo like athletes and coaches analyzing game tape.  What consistency looks like in podcasting (for me):  8 to 12 hours of research and prep per guest.  Visualizing the conversation and having clarity on intent for the outcome.  Listening back to my own episodes (painful but necessary).  Reading the transcripts (tedious but incredibly useful in their detail).  Establishing a system for third-party feedback (whether from a coach, colleague, or team).   Being willing to adjust my approach for the next episode, beginning with ensuring the right research, based on lessons learned.  Using AI to analyze speech patterns, sentence, and question structure.  Seeking additional people to provide feedback. If all I get is positive, then I know I'm not getting comprehensive, useful perspectives.    Lesson #5: Being Bad at Something New is Actually Excellent (Even When It Feels Terrible )  I hate being a novice as some of you may have read in my blog, " Maybe It's Okay to Suck."  But experiencing my sucky-ness in real-time is different from philosophizing about it.  Every episode, I hear things I should have done differently. Every conversation, I think of improvements to question structure. Every editing session, I cringe at my own awkward moments. But here's what's happening: I'm getting better. Having a coach who calls out my mistakes, gives me nowhere to hide, and teaches me new tactics and methods has dramatically accelerated my learning curve.  The question every potential podcast host should ask: "Am I willing to struggle and grind at this for long enough to get good at it?" Because no one is actually great at something when they first start. Your first episodes may be painful. Your early interviews will have awkward moments. Your audio quality will fluctuate. The question isn't whether you'll struggle—it's whether you'll stick with it long enough to develop the craft. BUT…. the discomfort of being bad at something new is the price of admission for getting good at something valuable.  The Unexpected ROI of Podcast Hosting  Beyond the obvious benefits (having fun, building an audience, establishing expertise, deepening relationships), hosting a podcast is teaching me skills that transfer everywhere:  Better question-asking in business meetings.  Improved active listening in all relationships.  Clearer communication in presentations.  Deeper research habits for any project.  Increased comfort with being uncomfortable.  Want to hear how these lessons sound in practice? Check out my podcast, Founding DC , available wherever you listen to podcasts.

Kevin’s Boehm, The Bottomless Cup: A Memoir of Secrets, Restaurants and Forgiveness   I could say you should  read Kevin Boehm’s memoir, because it’s a tale of entrepreneurial minefields, restaurant nightmares (including torching himself with a mini oven explosion), love, pain, confusion, perseverance, and self-discovery – and it’s a fun read, a fast read, in parts a very sad read, and you’ll enjoy it. But that’s not why you  must  read it. You must read The Bottomless Cup because it   will make you a better human. You’ll be undeniably opened up as you consider what you might be missing with the people in your life. You’ll be reminded that what’s shown to others, or what’s visible on the outside, is not necessarily what one is showing to oneself or true on the inside. You’ll absorb the reality of the external narrative contrasted with the internal narrative. You’ll see that while America was discovering one of its most iconic restaurateurs, that restaurateur was lost to himself, and then found. If you are in the hospitality biz or even consider yourself a foodie, there’s even more reason to read it. Publishers Weekly  called it “a love letter to the hospitality industry,” as Kevin traces his path from dishwashing and waiting tables in Chicago to co-founding Boka Restaurant Group , the American powerhouse of award-winning, critically acclaimed restaurants. Kevin writes with raw honesty about setbacks and crises, both professional and personal, including struggles with mental health. Bottom line: Read the book. It hits the shelves on  November 4, 2025 . If you live in the DC area, purchase tickets to a fireside chat with Kevin and me at Kramer Books in Dupont Circle on the evening of November 14. As a disclaimer, I know I am a deeply biased book reviewer. Kevin  is a friend. Not a long-time or close friend, but a friend indeed. I met him four or five years ago, as colleagues on an advisory board full of restaurateurs. I knew from the first time I listened to him share insights about his restaurants that I was collegially smitten. We shared experiences, shared restaurant struggles, and I admired the brilliance of his restaurants. And, as I got to know Kevin, I was thinking I was getting to know Kevin. In some ways I was, and in some ways I wasn’t. That’s part of what makes The Bottomless Cup  so powerful. It invites you behind the curtain, into the quiet truth of a man who has spent his life creating joy for others, even as he’s learning how to offer that same grace to himself.

This started as a letter to my three growing boys, which I gave to each of them when they reached their teens. I have revised it slightly with each kid. Below is my most most recent version as my youngest just turned 13 years old. The letter started after many conversations with my partner, their mom. We wanted to write down some guidelines for our teen boys as their lives take them more and more out into the world… and out on their own. After sharing it with my oldest boy at first, and then several friends, I was encouraged to share it with others. To Young Men Near & Far, As a parent, my #1 job has been to keep my children safe. When my kids were younger, I thought of that in terms of keeping them safe from others. As they’ve grown, I realize that my #1 job is still the same, but the dangers have shifted. As a teenager, and forever more, you (your judgment, your actions, your inactions) will probably be the most likely source of danger – for you and those around you. As you spend more and more time out in the world on your own, your parents will no longer be there to intervene in the moments when you’d benefit from their decision-making. YOU are in charge of you. I’m writing this letter to you, because I want to do everything in my power to help you obtain wisdom without needing to gain it through awful mistakes. You have the opportunity to keep yourself, and those around you safe… or to do the opposite. I was raised with a fairly short and simple list of rules given by my wise and wonderful parents. It served me well, but times have changed quite a bit, so I have created my own, more current and comprehensive list of ways to keep you and those around you safe. ( Blue text below shows the rules from my parents; black text shows my additions.) 1. No drinking and driving (and no getting into a car with someone else drinking and driving). No drugs of any sort while driving or operating any vehicle. Ever. That also means: no bicycle, skateboard, scooter, flying car when those become available, etc. #DrinkingDruggingDrivingDead 2. No texting and driving either . No Snapchatting. No Instagramming. No TikToking. No use of your phone when driving. Ever. Never ever. Lock up your phone when you are on the road. Use Bluetooth or smartphone apps to help keep your attention on the road and let others know you are not available. If you need to use a directions app, use another app that locks everything else down. If you need motivation, just google: “texting while driving accidents.” 3. No cigarettes . No vaping. No e-cigarettes. We know you aren’t stupid enough to smoke cigarettes, but vaping is new enough to fool you and your whole generation. #VapesArePoison 4. No means NO (in the context of relationships) . Only YES means yes. Silence means no. “I’m not sure” means no. “Maybe” means no. Consent must be crystal clear. Don’t assume: ASK. At. Each. Step. #CONSENT 5. Always wear a condom . No, not during masturbation or when you’re actually trying to get your partner pregnant. If you end up with a husband though, you don’t have to worry about getting him pregnant. And not just while walking around, but yes, during sex. 6. No chiropractors . We’ve evolved as a family to embrace chiropractors, but are still wary of quacks in any profession, so I like this rule as a general reminder. 7. No motorcycles . 8. Be nice to people (on the way up, because you’ll need ‘em on the way down). Be nice to animals too. Be a rescuer. Build genuine relationships. Be loyal. #BeKind 9. Never stay silent in the presence of bullying, harassment, or oppression. You are obligated to stand up for yourself, your friends, and strangers around you who need aid. Silence is never an option in the face of an assault on you or someone else. #NotOnMyWatch 10. Be a free thinker. Be a critical thinker. Be a skeptic. This includes being watchful of the constant influx of fakery, lies, and manipulations, especially on the Internet and your beloved social media channels. For example, learn what a “deepfake” is (and know that the definition will continue to evolve with technology). Deep fakes may be the single most dangerous thing to someone who has excellent judgement and has learned to trust themselves, their eyes, and their ears… so your judgment needs to reflect this awareness. #DeepFakesAreReal 11. Use technology wisely and with intent . Technology, like your iPhones, will get more and more addictive. Be aware. Track your usage and use technology intentionally. Let the tech add to your life, not be your life. Eye contact and non-verbal communication are where much of the magic of human relationships occur. Don’t let the tech addictions stop you from developing, using, and enjoying these abilities. #BeSmarterThanTheTech 12. Porn is not the place to learn about sex. Porn is not going to teach you what to do during sex. The stuff you see online with pain, fear, force, or aggression is not what the vast majority of women (or men) want from you, nor what the vast majority of men want to do. The only way to know what your partner likes is to ask, and to explore with permission. Porn is addictive. Porn can spoil your ability to enjoy sex IRL. Watch porn if you want. No judgment. Just know, it’s not real life. You are watching a movie, and just like Batman can’t really fly and Transformers aren’t real…. #PornAintRealLifeBruh 13. Masturbation is a great thing . It is totally normal, so enjoy it. Best done in private. Learn to do it without porn. Just close your eyes, use your hands, and figure out how to make it happen. No need to soil your sheets or your socks or t-shirts, just get some Kleenex. Once you’re in a relationship, you can do it simultaneously with your partner. Until then, best to avoid the legends of the circle jerk and the asphyxiation stuff tends to kill people, so avoid that. But, you’ll learn ya like what ya like, so explore as you see fit. #TreatYourselfWell 14. Sleep is important for your overall health . Do it well. #SleepWellDaily 15. Read ingredient labels to avoid toxic ingredients . They can be in your food and drink AND in products you put on your body. #FoodIsFuel #QualityMatters 16. And… Take excellent care of your teeth. Brush ‘em. Brush your tongue. Floss. Do all of it. Twice a day. May you – and everyone around you – be safe, healthy, and happy. Other blogs possibly of interest: 6 Simple Things You Can Do Today to Stop Trashing the Planet Now 7 Steps for Families to Manage Smartphones

I'm not sure if I realized I was anxious about the TEDx talk before or after I said “yes.” I’m definitely sure that whenever that anxiety started, it launched me into a whirling set of emotions and reflections.    I knew I wanted to do a talk about mental health in the workplace. I didn’t know I’d need to do some unpacking and re-packing of my own “stuff” in order to do it.    Let me explain: I knew I'd need to take this assignment seriously. But it wasn’t until I put pen to paper to write it, that I started to realize how much effort this was going to take. Even worse, when I tried to memorize some of what I'd written, I realized I may be in trouble.     Did I have the skills to do this really well? Did I actually care enough to put in the effort to do what it takes? And if I did put in the effort, what if I sucked anyway? I went through some paralysis. I wondered if I could just wing it. I thought about shortcuts. What about teleprompter smart glasses? I had a few moments of telling myself, “meh, I don’t care. It’s not a big deal.” Then I thought about just pulling out and canceling.     If this sounds confusing as you’re reading it, good, it should, because it was confusing as I was living it, and trying to sort it.     And then, after sitting in the garden with my dog Kobe, doing some real reflection, I acknowledged something:  I do really care about this. I want to do a good job. I think I can do a good job.   So, I admitted to myself I was chasing an A+ on the assignment. And I committed myself to doing my best, to putting whatever effort and process was necessary so that when I walked out to that famous red dot, no matter how I performed, I'd be able to look at myself in the mirror and know I did my literal best.    That clarity was powerful. And it set me to work. My steps were serious, focused, and scheduled like any good work.   Coaching Experts Once I had a basic outline for my talk, I attended a coaching session with an expert in public speaking and TED talks (@BrianMiller); I soaked in every bit of his advice that I could. I collaborated with my writing partner to hone my script. I asked for additional input from podcast coach, Joe Ferraro, and leadership coach and keynote speaker, Monica Kang.     Writing & Rewriting My Script  I built time into my calendar to work on my script over a span of four weeks. I can say definitively, my final script was a collaborative effort, and far better than I ever could’ve written solo.    Practicing, Practicing, Practicing   I committed to practicing my script three times a day (yes, you read that right!) for the five weeks leading up to TEDx presentation day. I set up a series of audiences with friends and gave my talk to anyone willing to listen. Yet again, self-doubt hit, thoughts of shortcuts, ways out. I dealt with swirling dissonant, negative thoughts: “I’ll never be able to speak this as well as it is written. Maybe I should bail on the whole thing.” Then I went back to the mirror, back to my original commitment: Do. The. Work.      I kept practicing. After two more weeks had passed, I was really feeling bad for my kids and wife – how many more times would they need to sit on the couch as I practice? How many more times would I need to tell my youngest, “Finn, yes, I'll play ping pong with you, but you have to help me practice my TEDx Talk before we play, and after.” Thankfully, they tolerated me, and they helped me. Kobe was also great, as we’d go on walks and I'd be practicing my speech out loud, or listening to it in my AirPods. He seemed to accept my odd behavior and my lack of engagement as long as I remembered to bring plenty of treats. I practiced at my friend’s front porch; they set up a little audience of two chairs and a little sign that said TEDx Talk. I spoke my talk to the pool, to the trees, to the air.     I was getting better...and then I'd slip backwards.     I used some neuro-science tricks (caffeine after studying, rather than before, and immerse cold shock after studying to lock in the memories), and I got an amazing piece of guidance from a powerful mentor in my life, my eldest sister Lisa. She told me to be careful not to over prepare and explained some aspects of how the mind works with memory and performance. I took heed. I slowed down. In the final week, instead of practicing every day, I cut my practice time in half, practicing every other. I was almost there.    Living My Topic  Whoa, I realized the day before my talk, that I was in so deep, I was actually living my topic. I had made giving this TEDx my job, so this preparation was my workplace. In this land, I had to deal with all my glitches and struggles to accomplish my goal. My operating system. And to be successful, I needed to look in the mirror, understand my glitches holding me back from my best performance. Thankfully, I grabbed a book off my shelf that I knew would help me – Brian Levinson’s Shift Your Mind: Nine Mental Shifts to Thrive in Preparation and Performance. The wisdom Brian shares in the book gave me the clarity I needed to work through some final struggles and be prepared to perform at my best level on the soon to arrive TED day.    How Did I Do? Was my best good enough? I felt good walking off stage. Do I have self-criticism? Of course. But I felt like I had given it my all, like it was literally, my best. As for good enough for you? Well, that’s for you to decide if and when you watch the talk. I would love to hear what you think.

Ponder:    I’m not strong enough.    I’m not smart enough.     We can’t hire the talent we need.     I can’t figure out how to do this.     Compare, and ponder:    I’m not strong enough,  yet.     I’m not smart enough,  yet.      We can’t hire the talent we need, yet.     I can’t figure out how to do this, yet.     And there it is. Three letters, but it may as well be three thousand for all the impact they make. This tiny little word:  "yet ."   ONE WORD THAT CHANGES YOUR TRAJECTORY  Without this one word, it can feel like the show is over, the mission has failed, the difficulties become death traps, and the world ends. With the word, you make space for more, anything is possible, everything is possible, and even better, the solution is just over the horizon, just around the corner, almost in your grasp. Again, compare and ponder: I can’t figure out how to write this blog with the clarity it needs to make an impact or make it worth writing = Never mind, I give up, the blog is never to be written, the task fails to be completed. I’ve lost.  VS.  I can’t figure out how to write this blog with the clarity it needs to make an impact and make it worth writing, yet  = I’m still in the fight, it is worth more effort, all is not lost, I’ve got this, actually, I CAN do this, I will do this. All thanks to my friend, “ yet. ”    It can be hard to change our own minds, to learn a new approach and incorporate it into our personal operating system. I get that. I hear and read all sorts of philosophies about winning at life. Many sound good to me, but leave me unanswered when I ask, “But how? How exactly do I do that?”    With this blog, I’m sharing this incredibly manageable, doable tactic. It almost seems too simple to work. However, when you find yourself stating in absolute terms why you can’t do or accomplish something, build in a new habit to say, write, or type the word YET  at the end. Go ahead, just try it.    I won’t be able to make this a habit.  I won’t be able to make this a habit, yet….and so, I’ll work on it, because I believe I can.    Winning DNA seems to have this word woven deeply into its sequence. Dreamers, visionaries, game changers – none of them could do the thing or make their impact when they first started or first tried. They believed they could add the skills, develop the abilities, grow their own mind, harness the resources, and accomplish, or at least potentially accomplish the thing. None of us have everything we need right now to do everything we want to get done right now.     USING “YET” AS A TOOL FOR GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT  I know this seems too simple. It’s three letters. It should be easy enough for me to do, for you to do. Seriously, why don’t or why can’t we all just say, “I can’t do this _______ (insert the thing),  YET .”    I have been working on it and actually have come to enjoy the process. Going from “I can’t” to “I can’t, yet.” And then allowing myself to consider what I need to add, change, or even delete in myself or my current work to accomplish the thing.    The journey that adding this simple word to our repertoire gives us – perspective, wisdom, fuel, and firepower – is worth taking, because the outcomes we envision are likely achievable.    Of course, I get it – I can’t dunk a basketball, and I will never dunk a basketball, and for that, there is no  yet . Obviously, I’m not talking here about the factually impossible. For pretty much everything else that doesn’t defy the laws of physics or the realm of possibility, I’m willing to believe a path may exist...if we make room for it.    Try it. See what happens when you add these three simple letters. It could change the course of your life, or it could at least allow you to pursue something that has been dancing around in your mind that you weren’t certain you could do, yet.

Anthony Bourdain (who I loved and admired) said that he hated Yelpers: “They are the very picture of entitled, negative energy. They're bad for chefs, they're bad for restaurants.” Interestingly, Bourdain didn't hate Twitter or Instagram, seeing them as a “fully democratic bathroom wall that anyone can write on. And they do. It's up to us to translate [and] to winnow out useful information that we might use in a sensible way.” I get it. Who wants a negative review? Everyone wants to be praised for being awesome. As a restaurateur, people expect me, even want me, to hate restaurant critics, whether elite Yelpers or paid reviewers. They expect me to agree with Bourdain. But I don’t. And I don’t see a difference between some of the Yelp Elite Squad and paid reviewers, other than maybe the paid reviewers are often recognized and known by the restaurants upon arrival. I think of Yelpers, all of them, as guests. In the hospitality biz, how can you hate a guest? And how can you hate Yelp for being the platform on which the guest stands? It’s like blaming the booth the guest is sitting in. It’s my job to respond to our guests’ complaints, however they come at us, to try to figure out what has gone wrong and to solve it. Maybe it’s because I grew up as a restaurant manager and have spent a lot of time standing at, or crouching in front of, tables listening to guests tell me how we have failed, how much I suck, usually very precisely and with a significant degree of animation, or even what they hate about our restaurant. I learned very early on to take their input first without judging them, process it, and then choose my response, a process that I learned from the teachings sometimes attributed to the famous neurologist and psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl: Between stimulus and response lies a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose a response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness. Many people fall into the trap of judging their guests. They often create their own narratives about what they think their complaining guests want. They just want free food. They had a bad day and want to unload on someone, even bully someone. They love their own writing and want to make themselves famous on Yelp. They are seeking likes and a larger following for their own blogs. They’re food snobs showing off. They’re brave when they’re behind a keyboard. Those types of responses and assumptions, as I see it, are just the wrong place to spend mental energy. When a guest (or a client, customer, patient, or patron; because this doesn’t just happen in the hospitality industry) gives negative feedback: Don’t judge. Don’t seek some made-up ulterior motive. Don’t minimize their complaint. Do take the feedback. Do care about what they are saying. Do say sorry. Do solve the problem. Do go above and beyond to make the guest feel heard, understood, and helped. In almost every case, the result will be that the person complaining is left with no alternative but to appreciate your efforts. That’s hospitality. That’s service. In our restaurants we use what I call our Social Media Neutralizer to help all of us walk through the above dos & don’ts to craft our response to a negative review. But whether this is a guest on Yelp, on Instagram, a paid writer on a blog or paper, or a guest in our restaurant, it doesn’t matter. My job and my goals remain the same: Provide awesome hospitality and service.

So easy, are broken bones. You understand the pain, the doctor sees the problem on the x-ray, friends and strangers alike see the cast, the crutches, and are eager to hold the door for you. So hard, are obsessive thoughts, negative self-talk, anxiety, and a wide range of intermittent or chronic mental health issues. You struggle to understand the pain, the doctor can’t image it nor provide a cast, your friends can’t see an icon or an emblem that instantly conveys to them that you need, want, and deserve support. Yet, it does not have to be this way. Each of us can create the change that benefits all of us, whether we have experienced day-to-day stressors, emotional ups and downs, grief, a diagnosed mental illness, or not. We can make a change with ourselves, in our families, with our friends, and at work. The change I’m advocating for is simple: see and treat mental health simply as health. It rolls easily off our tongues when we say: I'm going to physical therapy, because my lower back has been hurting. Or, I think I need to get an ankle brace so I don’t hurt myself on the courts... No pause, no stigma, no surprise. We can create the same level of comfort, to say and to hear: So glad I have time with my therapist tomorrow; my anxiety has been derailing me. Or, I gotta find someone who can help me; some days I don’t even wanna get off the couch . We get mental health out of the shadows and into the light. We can build a simple vocabulary that we can all embrace and understand, beginning with talking openly and honestly about our feelings, eg, I feel anxious today instead of I don’t feel well. For those with diagnosed illness, we can take the brave step to share it more publicly, eg, I am struggling with depression instead of I feel tired today. Or I have social anxiety instead of I have a conflict and can’t make it to the conference. Let’s all call it what it is. If that means we need to use words to describe how we feel, or describe our mental health, then so be it, make it the same as describing any ailment. This seems obvious, so why isn’t it easy? As always, the best place to start is with yourself. Look in the Mirror First Try it. Get a mirror. Look at yourself. Then say what you see and what you think. This can help you better understand yourself and to prepare to let others see you. That is, I see me. Today, I’m committing to letting someone else see me. I’m going to peek out from behind the shield that I put up and show one person something about the real me. I have anxiety; it makes some days really difficult for me. I just wanted you to know that. You don’t need to do anything. I just needed you to know. My Reality: For me personally, I struggle with obsessive thoughts about my eating habits and negative body self-image. At times, these obsessive and negative thoughts interfere with my ability to focus on things that are important to me. Here I am sharing me. Now you can see me. Teach Your Family Some of our best lessons for how to be and behave in the world come from home. Whenever possible, work to be transparent about your feelings and your own mental health journey with your family, especially if you are a parent (as appropriate; no need to pull our kids under when we’re drowning). Role model sharing when you are feeling anxious and what you are doing about it, and even how they can support you. Ask them regularly how they are doing and take their mental health challenges as seriously as you take their other illnesses and injuries. (If you don’t have a safe space at home to be honest about your own challenges, I am not suggesting you put yourself in a more vulnerable position. If this is you, hopefully you can find friends and a community where you can share the real you, or message me, I gotchu.) ​ My Reality: My children and my wife all know that at times I see a mental therapist who helps me navigate things in my mind, just as they know I see a physical therapist to help with my lower back issues. Be Real With Your Friends Make it OK for a friend or a colleague to say they’ve been feeling blue lately and don’t know why. Then, you can make the obvious reply, oh, I’m so glad you told me. Are you getting any help with that from a doctor or therapist? If you were bleeding from the eye or had broken your leg, I’d help you get to the Emergency Room. I’d also be there for you, listening to you talk about the struggle, the pain, the pain in the ass, that these health issues cause for you. I would also offer to bring food or organize regular meals for you. Let’s add mental health challenges to this obviousness. If you’re dealing with anxiety, disordered eating thoughts, or depression, I’m here for you. I’d be happy to help you and talk to you about the struggle, the pain, the pain in the ass, that these health issues cause for you. My Reality: Over the past two plus years, I have been recovering from a concussion . As I talked with friends, sought advice from some previously concussed, and even blogged about it, I realized again how a physical injury, in my case a nasty wipeout while wake boarding, makes it easier to share. It was still a health issue in my brain, like other mental illnesses, but its cause somehow made it feel less private. And allowed me to be less protective. But why is this? Why are people less afraid, and even less ashamed, to share about issues and illnesses in other body parts? Like an irregular heartbeat or the need for a hip replacement? Why is there stigma attached to mental illnesses? In part, I believe, because they are hard to see (as-is a concussion, but the initial trauma is physical and visible) and in large part because we simply haven’t been taught or shown how to talk about them. Lead & Role Model at Work Remind those that work for you, and with you, that they are far more than their “expertise.” They are an indivisible whole person. They can no more leave their problems at the door , than they could leave one of their limbs at the door . We can and should invest in the overall health of the whole person. Not only is this the right and necessary way to operate, it also creates value in the workplace. Regardless of how you define value, I’m certain I have a formula that makes clear that seeing and caring for the mental wellness of everyone on your team is a winning investment. In our restaurants, to ensure our team has mental health resources and to truly walk our talk, we invest in free, confidential mental health therapy. This therapy service gives our team members and their family members access, for free, to their own dedicated, licensed mental health provider to connect via telephone, in-person, or virtual at their convenience and set up live video appointments. All of the therapy is provided through a secure, HIPAA-compliant platform. We also provide access to traditional therapy through our employee assistance program. Our mental health service has proponents and detractors, but I say that breaking down barriers and creating access is always the right path; better to make progress than to stay still awaiting the ideal. My Reality: ​ Prior to our investment in mental health services, my biz partner and I shared our own personal mental health challenges at our bi-annual Town Hall meeting with one hundred of our managers, chefs, and support team. Our goal was to make it part of our company culture to be okay talking about mental illness as just health and a health challenge, and one more element of being human. At every Town Hall meeting, we also start the meeting with an expert guest speaker on mental health. When I am in the restaurants, I make it a point to look my teammates in the eye to convey that I care about whatever is deep in there. I try to stay quiet so they have the space to tell me what’s on their mind, work related or not. I think it is beyond obvious why we should be eliminating barriers to mental wellness. The world would be a much kinder and more productive place if we all worked harder to see and honor the whole person, ourselves and others, and to role model conversations about our mental health. So, let’s talk to ourselves, family, friends, and colleagues, and together let’s make it easy and obvious that mental health IS health.