The Flurry Blog

If you’ve eaten at a Shari’s you’ve experienced the entrepreneurial genius of my dad.

You know the old Denny’s design, and those rocks on top of so many coffee-shop roofs? Well, dad came up with that look when starting out as an architect and designer for Sambo’s Restaurant way back in the day. He went on to start a 7 chain restaurant named after his little brother Dan called Fancy Dan’s with my mom. They had locations throughout Oregon and Washington.

After that he opened a place along the Oregon Trail called The Blue Bucket. It had the most incredible homemade barley soup I have ever had, served up in a really cool cast iron bowl.

Next came the Shari’s venture. Today it is still the the only design patented restaurant and has nearly 100 outlets.

With a few projects in between, Dad has never stop innovating. Those projects include helping his friend Horst Mager (yeah that is the fondue recipe we all love) of the Rheinlander and Gustav’s fame with menu development, to designing, building and running an incredible hotel called the Rogue Regency in southern Oregon.

He currently owns and operates Callahans Siskiyou Lodge with his wife Donna, right below Mt. Ashland south of Ashland on the Southern Oregon border.  After the lodge burned to the ground in 2006, dad went to task to design and build a lodge that today amazes and entertains guests year round with it’s rustic but elegant world class service and accommodations.

This week I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on all dad has taught me about business.  Most of all he instilled in me an innovative spirit.  He has a passion to design and give customers a grand experience.  He is a businessman at heart. A friend reminded me of dad’s two hospitality rules a few weeks back:  A. Never ask how everything was when you are cashing out. It’s too late!   B. Never ask if a customer wants more coffee; just fill the cup.

I hope one day to have my own business legacy.  Happy fathers day dad!

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A few months back I received an advance copy of Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness. I try to only read books that come highly recommended by someone I trust or written by individuals I respect in the business world. There are just too many books being written to try and wade through the junk to find the gold. Delivering Happiness is gold. I have been a fan of the Zappos.com phenomenal growth and customer service but most of all I have been captivated by the company culture that has evolved there under Tony’s leadership since 1999. People that work for Tony are happy. They are constantly improving their expertise as well as developing personal and professional goals.

During my visit to the Zappos headquarters in January, I was continually wondering what makes this place tick. In Delivering Happiness Tony lays out both his own professional adventure from the time he sold his first news letter “The Gobler” in middle school (which was a miserable failure), to describing what elements lead to the Zappos success today. What really stood out to me in the book was Tony’s transparency, his willingness to share both his mistakes and achievements. From the disclaimer early on that he is not a gifted writer and his apology to his High School English teacher for the grammar errors, Tony sets the tone of the book at the outset as an honest story of entrepreneurial adventure and a lifetime pursuit of the science of happiness. Just as Dan Pink argues in Drive: the Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us, Tony states that the true ingredients to a company’s success are mutual respect and strong core values.

Later this week I’ll be offering a full video highlight of the book with Chris Nordyke. For now though, go out and grab a copy of Delivering Happiness. It will not disappoint.

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