Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Welcome to Work, Life, and Money Insights with Kevin Ellman, where Kevin shares the stories of his life as the foundation for his outlook on the economy, market, and current events.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Hello, everyone. Elizabeth D’Aleo here again. Thanks again for joining us. I’m sitting alongside Kevin Ellman, and we’re going to sit and have a quick conversation about a story that he shared with me that I think you’ll find a lot of joy in and hopefully make a lot of connections with. So Kevin, when you can, just start at the beginning and take us through.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So when I grew up, I was living in New York City, and my father was in the restaurant business. I guess it was the late ’60s, he owned a restaurant, called the Cattleman Restaurant. Which was a fancy high-end steakhouse, and I believe at the time it was considered the number one busiest restaurant in New York City. So, I used to go there after school, and I’d go there on weekends, and I would hang out. The restaurant was in Midtown Manhattan, and we lived on the Upper West Side. So believe it or not, I used to take the subway myself at age 10 to get to the restaurant, and get there in time for the dinner rush. And every now and then, if I had been a particularly good boy or I had a friend coming with me, my father would send the stagecoach for me.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

That is unbelievable. Hold on. Let’s just spend a second there. So stagecoach, awhile back, I took a food tour through Manhattan, and there were various stables in the old estates. Right? And I thought to myself, “Oh, who would ride a horse around New York City?” Right? Or, “How long ago was this?” But I thought it was such an amazing concept. But here you are telling us that you took a stagecoach.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Yep. Well, my father was actually conceiving of the idea for the restaurant. It was all built around a western theme, and they had guns, and rifles, and cowboy hats, and all kinds of western memorabilia all around the restaurant. I think one day I said to him, “Hey dad, wouldn’t it be cool if you had a stagecoach?” He snapped his fingers and says, “Kevin, that is a great idea.” So, he arranged to have an authentic, actual stagecoach, pulled by horses, and its job was to take people after dinner from the restaurant to the theater.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Ah, okay. Cool.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

You know, but every now and then, just for fun, he’d send the stagecoach to pick us up at home or pick up all the kids. Or I would announce to my friends, “Hey, anybody want to go for a stagecoach ride this afternoon?” And they go, “What are you nuts?”

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

I think it sounds more like Uber in today’s terms.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So, I would take all my friends on a stagecoach ride down to the restaurant. Well, when I wasn’t with my friends, I was just hanging out with my dad. I would go to the restaurant, and I would stand at the front door with my father, and I would just copy everything that he did. So first of all, I was dressed exactly like him, I had a three-piece suit, I had cufflinks, I had a tie tack, I had my hair slicked back with Brylcreem just like my father. My shoes were shined. Somebody would come into the restaurant, and he’d greet them, “Hey, Mr. Smith, how are you? Good to see again. And Mrs. Smith, don’t you look lovely tonight.” And whatever he said, I would just say the same exact thing. So, I would shake the guest’s hand. I’d look him in the eye, give him a nice firm handshake, and I’d compliment his wife on how the color complemented her eyes. Once the dinner rush was over, when I was finished greeting guests, then my next job, I was the coatroom boy.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Okay.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So, I would work the coatroom, and the hard part was helping people on with their coats because I was 10, and it was kind of hard to reach up to a full-grown adult. So, I had a special stool that I used. To step on the stool, and I’d help somebody on with their coat. When I got finished with the coatroom, my next job was to be the cigar and mint boy. So, normally they had a woman going around, kind of scantily clad, and she’d be passing out cigars and mints, but every now and then she couldn’t make it, so I would substitute.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

I don’t know what direction they took a step in there, but I’m sure the guests appreciated it.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So, it wasn’t quite the same, but. So, I go around and I pass out cigars, and I’d clipped the cigar, and I’d give somebody a light. Then I’d ask them if they want some mints? And of course, everybody thought I was so cute that, the wives would really say, “Oh honey, he’s so cute. Why don’t you give him a nice tip?” So, I made very good tips and I learned how to talk to people. And then every now and then the cashier would not show up. So believe it or not, my father would have me, as a 10-year-old, taking cash. And this was the busiest restaurant in New York City. So there’s a lot of money going through the cash register. And people would look at my father, “What are you crazy? He’s just a 10-year-old kid.” And he would always defend me and say, “Look, he’s smarter than the all three of you combined. So don’t worry about it. He’ll be fine.”

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So this was the biggest thing I think that I am grateful for my father. He always believed in me. He always encouraged me to do things. Whatever I wanted to do, he’d say of course you can do it. Every single night before I went to sleep, he’d sit down, he’d sing a song, and then he would tell me that don’t forget, “You’re handsome, you’re talented, you’re smart, you can do anything you want to do, you can be anything you want to be.” And his favorite expression was, “Aim high because there’s plenty of room at the top.” So, today I feel very good about myself. I have high self-esteem, and I think a lot of that is a result of my father constantly telling me how to terrific I was.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

So, I wonder if anyone listened to our first episode where you kind of referenced yourself as a sarcastic teenager, I wonder if at any point your father thought to himself, “Maybe I shouldn’t have gone so heavy on the self-esteem?”

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Well, I’m sure he did. And for another day, there were a couple of things where my self-esteem kind of backfired on me, got me into trouble. The reasons why he kept [crosstalk 00:00:06:27].

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

For now, it works.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So at the end of the night, you could imagine, I now would hang out at the bar with all the other men. And here’s this 10-year-old kid in this three-piece suit, hanging out with the guys, and they would be having a Scotch and Soda, and I would have a Shirley Temple.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Of course.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

And we would play Liar’s Poker if you can imagine. So, I learned how to hang out. I learned how to be with men, and I learned how to bluff at poker. I think I learned more about how to handle myself in a public situation with adults than I could ever have learned at school, or sports, or music, or anything else.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Sure.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

It was an unbelievable education on how to handle yourself in social situations. So, I’m always tremendously grateful for that experience.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

It certainly is a skill. I think we all know an adult or two that doesn’t have those skills.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Absolutely. But when I think about the restaurant business… After the Cattleman, my father, a little by little, built up a chain of restaurants. Because he always wanted to have a lot of restaurants, and he wasn’t satisfied with one successful restaurant. So eventually, he had built up a chain called Beefsteak Charlie’s, and we had 70 restaurants, and this is in the ’70s and the ’80s. And at the time, we were giving away free beer, wine, and sangria with dinner, and all the salad bar you could eat. So they were extremely busy, and it was a tremendous success, very profitable. But try to imagine, today, if we were in the restaurant business during the coronavirus, what a disaster. We would have had to close 70 restaurants and lay off all those people. It just would’ve been a disaster. So, I’m thankful that we sold that business, I think in ’85, and thank God I’m not in that business anymore.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Yeah. I think that we’re all surrounded by businesses that are being impacted, that’s for sure, specifically restaurants. I, myself, am helping to keep some of them open.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Well, that’s good.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

And continue to do that, but unfortunately, I’m only one person with an okay appetite, but not enough to keep them all up.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Sure. Well, most people don’t realize, I think the number is something like 80% of new restaurants fail within a year or two. So under the best of circumstances, it’s a precarious business. And what most people don’t realize is that guys who open restaurants or women who opened restaurants, they think they’re going to hang out at the bar, walk around the restaurant and make friends with people, which my father used to do. But the only reason he could do it is he had two very, very strong lieutenants in the back of the house watching everything.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So he used to say two things. He used to say, “Kevin, the sales come in the front door, and the profits go out the back door.” So, the secret to success in the restaurant business is not, it’s partially having sales, but it’s more important to have very, very rigorous financial controls. So one of his other favorite expressions was, “If you watch the pennies, the dollars take care of themselves.” So, the essence of the restaurant business is financial control. So when I think about today’s circumstance, aside from all those normal problems in the restaurant business, today it’s just collapsed. We’ll talk about, will restaurants recover, will airlines recover, will people start traveling again?

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

And my own opinion is that yes, I do think people have a tremendous desire to go out, have fun, have a drink, have a professionally prepared meal, and be with other people. So, I think people will start going out once it looks like it’s safe. And I think the names will change. The menus will be different. A lot of restaurants won’t make it, but there’ll be new ones that take their place. So, I do think the restaurant business [inaudible 00:10:32]. I think it’ll be slow, but I think it will. I, myself, as soon as I’m able to, I want to go out and have a professionally prepared cocktail. But I’m thinking I might have to get a haircut first because I hadn’t had a haircut in a while.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

I can relate to that. Well, I think everyone will be looking shaggy just the same, right? There is only so many seats at the barbershop that one person can fill. People are not going to hold up their professionally made cocktail for their professionally cut hair. At least I know I won’t be.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Right. Exactly. I’m looking forward to that day.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

So Kevin, if your dad… What’d you say?

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Said I’m looking forward to that day.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Yes, absolutely. Same. And you know, Kevin, we know the lessons that you’ve taken out of the many, many experiences that you’ve had with your father or that you did have with your father over the years. But if your father was with us today, what do you think his opinion would be about everything we’re experiencing?

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Well, I think he would take the long view. I think that the painful reality is that many businesses won’t make it. One of his other favorite expressions was, “When you run out of cash, they take you out of the game.” So, he always encouraged me to be extremely conservative with cashflow planning and make sure that I have plenty of cash reserves. And in terms of financial planning that we encourage with our clients, we always talk about having a significant emergency reserve. Unfortunately, at this point, a lot of people have burned through those reserves, and it’s a little bit too late if you haven’t done it already. But certainly, I think the important thing is to take the long view and to plan for these disasters in the future, and try to have as much cash on hand as you can, so you can survive a downturn.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Sure. Absolutely. And while we hope it doesn’t happen again, obviously those are words from the wise to make sure that if we didn’t prepare for this time, that we’ll be prepared for the next time. And hopefully, that’ll be way, way, way down the pike.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Yes.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Well, Kevin, this has been great. I really enjoyed the conversation. The story again was entertaining. I just have to ask there are no curveball stories, that you’re looking to tell, about the restaurant days that you can share with our listeners?

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

The one thing I’ll share about that particular time is that when my father wasn’t looking, I would go sit by the piano player in the bar who was this, I don’t know, he seemed old at the time, but maybe he was just 40 or 50. And he was playing old-time Rag and Dixieland. And I would sit on the far side of him, so nobody would see me, and he’d allow me to have a real drink.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Oh.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So, when no one is looking, I was drinking and hanging out at the piano at 10.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Well, we all have our foundations of who we’ve become today, and I’m envious of your foundation. So, it was great sharing the story with you. Great hearing all the details. We certainly look forward to more of these stories. For everyone listening, thank you so much. Stay happy, stay healthy, and stay wealthy. Bye.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Thanks for joining us today for Work, Life, and Money Insights with Kevin Ellman. For your free copy of Kevin’s book, The 7 Biggest Money Mistakes People Make and How to Avoid Them, just text wealth to 88799. That’s wealth, to 88799. Everyone’s circumstance is unique. And the content of this podcast should not be construed as financial, tax, or legal advice. Please consult with your professional advisor, or contact Kevin Ellman, to learn if a complimentary personalized review or candid snapshot of your portfolio is right for you, by visiting wealthpreservationsolutions.com. The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC, or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regard to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward-looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results.