"How long do you enjoy the win before you start thinking about the next game, Coach?"  I've heard this before and I've often thought about it as how it applies to my life, my career and ultimately how it affects my number one asset and most important piece to this company's success…  my team.  "I'm sorry, I didn't hear the question, I was too busy thinking of how we could have ran one of our plays better, what was the question?"  Exactly.

I've been asked to speak at a lot of events.  And, like so often happens in life, we often tell everyone EXCEPT the ones we truly love and appreciate, how much we love and appreciate them.  But, we are always telling others and not the people that truly deserve to hear it.

My people mean everything to me and our entire company's success.  I often profess, "I am an idiot."  Truly.  I am.  But, what makes me smart?  The people around me.  I have a team that elevates me and this entire company that works so incredibly well as one cohesive unit.

See, what I noticed early on in my career is that I wasn't the best cook, the best bartender, the best server, the best anything, really.  What I was good at is coming up with an idea and a goal and then having the ability to motivate a group of people to all believe in that one goal and do everything they could to make it happen.

I am a blessed man.  It took me awhile to get my life in order and figure things out.  Many things in life happen for a reason.  You go through life's ups and downs to teach you something.  But, for all my mistakes and errors, it has made me a better human today.  I love my wife, my kids and my extended family of employees.  I can now recognize and appreciate all these things and all of these people, because of my personal and professional successes AND failures…  and it is important for me to tell all of you, thank you for your years of hard work, commitment, loyalty and believing in me to lead this company to success.  It is because of all of you that WE as a TEAM are successful.

My goal is to try and continue to "break the mold" of what other companies do or say.  Sure, companies grow, more rules and systems are put in place for a reason and sometimes a brand can get "watered down."  When the CEO can't visit as often, shake hands with customers and staff, sometimes it loses a little of that magic.  But, why can't we replace the magic another way?  Can a GM/Partner or server/bartender use some of their own "magic" to keep the brand alive?  I think it can.  Can the internet, email, Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites make the world smaller, enabling the CEO to connect to guests and keep the brand alive, just in a newer, less face-to-face way?  I think it can.

So, as we embark into 2012 and look into our future of growth and success for our company, I think it is important to not be that coach that is looking so hungrily at our next victory, without taking time to appreciate our previous successes.  We had a busy 2011 with Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Co. opening in Broad Ripple last January and Scotty's Burger Joint opening this past October.  (2 restaurant in one year!)  We've survived a recession and had growth while many restaurants have been shutting their doors.

 We opened in 1996.  That seems like yesterday to me.  It feels like I was behind the bar, serving, cooking, going home at night and doing the accounting (living at my parents house) and was the only employee.  16 years later in the blink of an eye…  hundreds of miles of distance between restaurants, 8 locations and 1,000 employees, I want to thank each of the following people that have celebrated a certain anniversary with me over this past year, starting from September, 1996 until now.  

Happy new year and cheers to many more years of successes, loyalty and personal growth…

Scotty

2011 Employee Anniversaries 

One Year

Asheley Alexander, Jamie Cavanaugh, Drew Curry, Monica Deck, Betsy Federico, Kylee Hubble, Marianne Hurley, Tiffany Leffel, John Lewandowski, Sarah Mark, Stephanie Marsell, Nick Nicholas, Ali Prieboy, Geoff Rambow, Jenna Schmatz, Adrian White, Mike Brazitis, Megan Ripley, Craig Walker, Marissa Balog, Sarah Berling, Melissa Corbin, Carly Gilliatte, David Perez, Jessy Riekhof, Sarah Leaf & Ramon Ochoa, Brent Gerlich, Max Harvey, Joe Jackson, Drew Burton, Michael Eberle, Laura Buttery, Jen Davis, Julia Angle, Nathan Donaldson, Elizabeth Liebler, Adam Maginot, Fred Britton, Ashley Matuska, , Jessica Calkin, Dave Hornak, Shelby Johnson, Andrea Watts, Ashley Reed, Julien Jordan, Robb Eads, Danny Forst, Veronica Garcia, Jason Goens, Eve Grelle, Leah Keough, Ali Fifer, William Sacks, Vicky Tsoumbakopoulos, Juan Jose, Adiel Harrison, Ashley Barth, Bruce McClain, Ali Prieboy, Derek Richard, Jacob Shively, Matt Sigman, Charles Vinson, Jami Mack,  Rigoberto Sanchez,  Blakeleigh King, Roberto Flores, Holly Herron, Omar Castrellon, Adrian Carrillo, Francisco Castro, Joni Cook, Abagail Musselman, Gerargo Cruz, Kelly Fields, Gerald Bonds, Tyler Schmid, , Erikah Delaney, Elizabeth Doster, Tiffany Sanders, Michele Schmatz, Lauren Sexton, Marta Vitolins,  Melissa Morris, John Choate, Amy Taylor, Marlene Toscano, Evan Butler, Brittany Jacobs, Chris Plumb, Sam Valencic, Josh Robinson,  Chloe Davis, Leah Mills, Larissa Smith, Collin Taylor, John Hastings, Holly Beckman, Josh Brown, Jillyann Burns, Kara Jarvis, Gabriel Martinez, Mitchell Misicko, Leslie Steigmeyer, Brian Winnie, Miguel Cruz, Abby McIntosh,  Ryan Sparks,  Mariel Gabel, Stephanie Kushnir, Chris Skow, Katelin Davis,  Heather Crehan, Jordan Kaelin, Edrico Shannon, Carly Szabo, Ben Dewes,  Ethan Balog, Kylie Shafer, Alexandra Spangler, Jessica Williams, Abigail Alexander, Bridget Langan,  Oscar Licona, Jonathon Dalton, Gabino Jose, Brent Luber, Alan Simons, Keely Thomlinson, Olivia Johnson, James Jones Jr., Heather Purtee, Chelsea Seifert, Danielle Conn, Brandon Brown, Kelsey Hay, Danyal Butcher, Lukas Huff, Gracie Marks, Jonathan Oakley, Megan Rondinella, Amanda Smith, Raul Xique 

Two Years

Guillermina Gerardo, Elena Jose, Emily Kirk, Sam Dixon, Kelsey Baker, Ariel Sarrano, Joseph "Kurt" Carman, Nedra Stuart, Kylee Matheney, Steven Mattingly, Caitlin Kleinsmith, Amanda Smith, Paige Hummel, Daniel Burton, Adrian Thornton, Chelsea Atkinson, Hilary Eisenmenger, Justin Mayes, Rich Cardile, Joel Swift, Jared Owen, Sarah Wallis, Lindsay Aigner, Kodi Melson, Corey Morse, Hannah Hutton, Gabriel Reece, Giedeon Reece, Danielle Jackson, Maggie Gentry, Amanda Goelz, Jason Klenke, Donald (Donny) Torres, Linda Sherfick, Kelsee Hankins, Brad Mahoney, Manda Ostoich, Morgan Albregts, Carly Desrocher, Ben Gehlhausen, Ricardo Lewis, Jess Stephens, Katie Fischer, Andrew Nieken, Elsi Bernabe', James Koontz, Jacqueline Laura, Jamie Moreno, Allison Kay, Dennis Russu, Greg Wise, Coretta Harbold, Taylor Brookey, Deizie Buor, Kevin (McCabe) Wagner, Anna Shepherd, Shaina Allman, Bryce Lemna, Julio Ortiz, Jordan Meyer, Elizabeth Pineda Cruz, Mark Woldahl

Three Years

William (wyatt) Vukobratovich, Katlin Alexander, Robert "tyler" Callon, Derick Hull, Katie Pipp, Stanley Patton, Rachel Smith, Nickolas Furto, Brittani King, Giovanni Vega, Matthew Thomas, Stephanie Lane,  Alex Kraft, Nic Corrie, Emily Sledge, Antwan Vinson, Meg Blunk, Ashley Dunn, Scott Kelch, Arec Simeri, Brie Byrd, Adiel Harrison, Ryan Wade, Brian Zajac, Jessika Knight, John Peresie, Ashley Christopher, Tyler Keller, Ryan Butner, Chris Meadows, Toran Fiene, Kylie Groover, Richard Heston, Brandon Gaffney, Juan Jose, Brandon Wilburn, Robert Baker, Stephanie Dillon, Richard Johnson, Genoveva Jose, Portia McGinty, Heather Seybold 

Four Years

Scott Lewandowski, Brooke Johnson, Colin Oakes,  Ezra Fohl, Nathaniel Turner, Shawn Tuck, Brandon Smith, Joe Davis, Holli Warren, Grady Bass, Lauren Fiedler, Kim Lewandowski, John Cavanaugh

Five Years

Erika Spence-Polera, Kyle Hodgen, Steven Love, Nate Lake, Sarah Martin, Elmer Fernandez, Dan Hillman, Aaron Mitchell, Crystal Ward, Angie Vosmeier, Kevin Cairns, Nancy Honan, Michelle Cox

Six Years

Mark Sontag, Jason Schmatz, Matt Enghauser, Nevin Martin, Phil Woodsmall, Courtney Slauter

Seven Years

Matt Sharp, Nick Kline, Craig Adkins

Eight Years

Sky Kingrey, Heather Diehl, Ryan Kellerman, Aaron Kretzchmar, Mark Pendleton, Jason Podell, Meredith Sowers

Ten Years

Josh Bussberg, Tim Jenyk Jr., 

Eleven Years

Luke Duncan, Rachel Redwine-Nelson

Fifteen Years

Tyler Thompson, Eric Schamp