Turning Obstacles into Opportunities

Ever wondered if you can conquer a Tough Mudder and open a restaurant with the same mindset? Discover how my brothers Bruce, Courtney, and I tackled the muddy, grueling terrains of Oxford, Michigan, and the valuable lessons we learned that apply to both personal and business challenges. With Courtney cheering us on and Bruce pushing us forward, this episode is packed with motivation, anecdotes, and reflections on our 11-week training journey that felt like a test of endurance and mental strength. You'll hear about the scenic yet punishing landscape and the triumph of crossing that finish line, drawing parallels to the trials and triumphs of opening a pizza place.

But that's just the beginning! Listen in as we translate our Tough Mudder experiences into the realm of entrepreneurship, sharing insights on the importance of preparation, the right tools, and a strong support system. From navigating the complexities of permitting to the excitement of launching Detroit-style pizza on our menu, this episode has it all. Plus, get a sneak peek into my new book, "Idea to Open: Step-by-Step Guide to Opening Your First Pizza Place," designed to help you streamline your business journey. Your support fuels us, and we can’t wait to share more exciting moments with you!

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:02

But what became the most critical and most important to me was having some support with me. Having somebody that Courtney, a four time Tough Mudder, a four time Tough Mudder Having him in my corner saying, look, this is like we're going to get over this one. We don't stand on my shoulder, let me lift you, let me help you, let me help you out. Having Bruce there like, hey, keeping me encouraged. Hey, we just hit mile six. Let's be right there. We're already past halfway. Let's go. Welcome back.

Speaker 1: 1:45

Pizza King podcast listeners. I'm your host, tyrell Reed, joining you here. From the home office studio hangout spot. I got Dallas Reed hanging out behind me. Sit up and say what's up, dallas, what's up, what's going on? That's my guy right there, he charging his phone. That's why he hanging out in here. He don't want to talk about that. He broke another charger. Anyways, we're back at it. We're full swing, it's summer, excited to jump on and talk through another episode.

Speaker 1: 2:17

Just update on my life and Pizza Chronicles and what's been going on. I haven't talked to you guys since before, but I just got back a couple of days ago from from Michigan where I did Tough Mudder with my brothers, bruce and Courtney, and first of all, let me say Sometimes the kind of person you are will get you into trouble. Like I'm the kind of person that's like, always down to do shit and always down to like just be, like, yeah, I'm in, I'm down, you know, I'm game, and especially when it comes to supporting my friends and my family, you know I'm like, I'm always up for a challenge, I'm always down to do some things. I should have just kept my mouth closed on that tough mutter because that thing was rough, because that thing was rough, uh, so my. So, courtney, just excuse me, courtney, just just uh, retire from the army. And he wanted to do something to celebrate and he, he threw it out there to the group. We got our group chat going. He threw it out there to the group Like, hey, let's, let's, uh, let's jump on this tough mother. And I'm all I was. I was a quick yes, oh yeah, hell yeah, let's do it. I was a quick yes, oh yeah, hell yeah, let's do it.

Speaker 1: 3:29

And then the training started. I had 11 weeks to get ready for it and it was already intimidating because it was. It was, you know, we did a 10 plus miles, going to be at least 20 obstacles, and even with 11 weeks of training, there's in my opinion, there's no training that can prepare you for what you're about to go through out there, mentally and physically, for 10, 11, 12 miles, however many miles. It was. All of the obstacles, all of the challenges. What an experience, but we finished it. We got it done. I was sore for a good solid two or three days, whole body cramping up, but it was well worth all of the things that we had to go through to. You know, to get it done and get through, get through that that course over there in Michigan.

Speaker 1: 4:19

So we were up in Oxford, michigan, and I think that's we were riding home and I'm like and I think that's we were riding home and I'm like telling these guys like I don't know where I am, on the, on the, on the Michigan, on the map. He was like you about right, you about right there. So I guess we were in the, in the palm of Michigan, and doing it. You ever seen anybody do that before? Give you the map of Michigan, but they show you on on the hand, on the mitten. So we really we were like right there, I'm from Lansing, but it was cool. So we were up in the northern part of the state beautiful scenery, lakes. It was some old, not old. It was beautiful property like materials and gravel business that just had just all kinds of beautiful landscape, some really rough hills, a lot of rocks, ton of mud, and it was. It was something.

Speaker 1: 5:15

Crossing the finish line gives you an incredible sense of accomplishment and then all of the pain starts to set in right after that and uh, and it's, and it's not unlike going through what you got to go through to to open one of these restaurants. You know what I mean. Y'all have been through it, so I'm not, I'm not saying much there. And even you know when I posted it on on IG and Facebook, you know some other folks that reached out like man, I did it before too, so shout out to anyone who's who's prepared and you know, went through the pain of going through one of these, one of these obstacle races races, because that was the first one for me and it was. It was a hell of a challenge and I'm glad that I finished and I know that if I ever want to do it again, I need to start preparing even much way, way, way earlier.

Speaker 1: 6:06

My ass is training in the gym, running on the treadmill like that was going to get me somewhere. Please. I had to get outside, had to get around some hills. We don't have a very hilly terrain here in Florida where I live, it's pretty flat. So I got to start to create those types of terrains and challenges or find places. You know, golf courses, something like find some hills oh there's, you know, there's a hill that around here at my dog, there is a big hill over there. It's like starting to run some hills and, and you know, put your body through some of that stuff, because there is not there, there's nothing in the gym that's going to prepare you for that. It had me thinking, you know, on the way home, like man, this is, this was dope.

Speaker 1: 6:53

I felt accomplished and I honestly came out of it wanting to go back in and do it again because out of the 23 obstacles I did, I finished 18 of them Two, two I tried, three, I think, two I tried and tried and didn't get through like the hanging trying to do like the monkey bars across, fell off of those, and then there were three that I didn't even. I didn't even attempt the gas chamber late in the race I started to. I had a really bad cramp in my calf and in my my right calf, my left groin, which was really slowing me down on some of the uh on the climb. So I didn't do one of like the big, I'm trying to climb up the big Everest and I didn't do a a couple of other ones. So 18 out of 23 obstacles complete but cross that finish line. It's super elated, super happy, uh, I'll put some, I'll put a picture up of it because it was. It was just that fun.

Speaker 1: 7:54

But it had me thinking about you know what, what it's like in this process and look, and preparing for Tough Mudder. You know, we, we started to get the course early, like you start to understand what the obstacles are and you can start. You can start seeing some of that stuff. Um, you could look through all the YouTube videos and see how to prepare and what gear you should have and what shoes you should wear and how you should, how you should plan your hydration and what you should be doing and training 10 weeks out, five weeks out, six weeks out, all of these things. And it made me think about what we do and what, what I try to do, and helping people prepare for opening their first pizzeria. And it was, like you know, even with, even with having all of that information, and they sent you the course. And I knew, I knew the entire route and you know how much distance is between each obstacle and you know we had all the preparation, nothing, nothing compared to having to having my guys with me mentally help it, you know, to help me get through each one of those, because all the preparation went out the window once the course started. And I knew it well, I was the one that was trying to psych myself out oh, it's only a mile or two here and there, and it's not a 10-mile race, and it's not a race, we just get through it.

Speaker 1: 9:12

And here's how I prepare. And it's, you know, it's not a race, we just get through it. And here, here's how I prepare for this. And I, I know I can hang for this long and I know I can. You know my legs are strong enough to get me over it Like I. I knew I was mentally, I thought I was mentally prepared, but then, when it, but then when it started, all that changed because the terrain wasn't what I prepped on, the atmosphere wasn't where I trained, the environment wasn't the same environment that I've been preparing in and all of those things started to come into play, which is not any different than what it's like when you start to, when you tell yourself that you're going to get into this business, you're going to open your first shop, I can give you all the checklists and look, you can get all that stuff from me. We already know, I talk about it all the time. Checklist books we just dropped a new book all all these things to help you prepare and they're great and they're valuable tools.

Speaker 1: 10:07

But what became the most critical and most important to was having some support with me. Having somebody that Courtney, a four time tough mother, a four-time Tough Mudder, a four-time Tough Mudder having him in my corner saying, look, this is, we're going to get over this one, we're going to stand on my shoulder, Let me lift you, let me help you, let me help you out. Having Bruce there like, hey, keeping me encouraged, hey, we just hit mile six, we right there, we're already past halfway, let's go. Having that support and having, you know, almost a coach and a mentor there with me was like, was like the cheat code for real when it came to finishing, because mentally, you know you got somebody with you, you go. You go get it done.

Speaker 1: 10:48

So when I tell you when, when it's time for you to start on this journey for yours, make sure that you and look it don't have to be me, but make sure that you got somebody that's with you, that can help guide you and support you, and someone who's been there that was the key Someone who's been there and who has been through it that can tell you look, this is what it's like on the other side of that. You know what I mean. Like this, if it, regardless of how it looks right here right now, this is what you should expect next and this is what it looks like. When you get past that, we're going straight. We're going downhill. After we get up here, let the let the momentum carry you. This is the hardest part of it, but after here it's going to be flat. You know what I mean. Like all that shit matter. All that shit mattered and you can do it. You can, you can. You can have all the tools and you can prepare, and I encourage you to do it. Take advantage of all of that, because that helps you go into it with the right attitude. That helps you understand that. That helps you understand that.

Speaker 1: 11:45

Look, there are going to be some challenges that I'm going to, that I'm going to come up on, and this is when they're going to happen. I know that after I get, after I hire a contractor, we're going to have to go through an arduous permitting process, depending on where we are. I know that inspectors are going to come out. I know that they're going to do all these things. That's okay, cause I knew it was coming. But now we're here's a Chico, here's what they're going to look for. Let me talk to my, let me talk to my, to my associate that says, look, oh, yeah, I know that inspector I've been, yeah, he's, he's done a couple for me. He's going to be real. He's going to be real focused on you know the finish, the finishes, and you know how, the, how things look according to the plans, and this guy's not going to be so worried about you know what, what the exterior looks like, as long as you got everything in line, I mean, like all the different little nuances, right, that it starts to matter.

Speaker 1: 12:42

So I just say that to say, as I completed, you know finishing, completing my, you know my Tough Mudder experience I'm happy that I had the tools to prepare a Tough Mudder experience. I'm happy that I had the tools to prepare. I'm happy that I was able to hire you know trainers and get, get training plans and get help and support from, from people who you know, who I've been through and and you know are offering that those kinds of services and products. But I was also very grateful to have somebody with me in the process to help me really get over to, to help me really get over to hump. And none of that was about pizza, but I figured it was. It was worth talking about because I started to see the parallels myself as I was going through it, um, and as we were driving home, I was starting to just, in my mind, draw, draw those parallels between what I just gone through and what that process, you know, feels like, especially for a first time. And uh, yeah, so, so that was it pizza of the week.

Speaker 1: 13:43

This week. I'm excited, um, we've been playing around a lot with with a Detroit style pizza, the square pie, and it's it's about to hit, it's going to hit the menu. We're, uh, we're looking to do, probably going to do like one day a week where we offer Detroit style and I'm excited about that because we've just been having a ton of fun making them. We've been having a hell of a time enjoying them and they're delicious. So I'm excited about having those things on the menu. So stay tuned for that. If you're in Brandon Tampa area, you definitely want to come check us, check us out and get one. Get your hands on one of these Detroit style pies. And yeah, you know, real short episode this week.

Speaker 1: 14:25

I just wanted to just tap back in and say what's up? Hey, the book is out. That's. The other thing I didn't get a chance to do was talk about the book idea to open step-by-step guide to opening your first piece of real. That thing is out. We're past the pre-order stage, so we're, we're, we're all to full price now, but you're still going to get incredible value.

Speaker 1: 14:43

This thing is jam packed with all kinds of all kinds of bundles the team building bundle with with a team building guy, hiring and recruiting, job descriptions, schedule templates, building guide, hiring and recruiting job descriptions, schedule templates, training schedule outlines, team member handbook outlines. You got the profit playbook with a break-even analysis, your weekly P&L calculator. You got what else is in that thing the operations toolkit with some of the daily operations checklist, just some of the tools that I've used over the years and um and that I put together in. You know it's. It's a real, real, simple thing. You just you go ahead and go to the site tyrone reedcom, you know. Look at the products, go ahead and take a look at that. That's going to come with with all of the tools and the, the things that you need to learn and to understand what you're getting into. But it's also going to have some of those templates to give you that shortcut, save you some of the time that it spent me creating those. You got it right there. They're all Google docs. Change the name, you know. Change the dates, you know. Change some of the it's totally customizable. Change the pieces that you need to change and go ahead and start to apply those directly to to your business and, you know, get yourself on the road. But that's all we got for you.

Speaker 1: 15:59

Pizza King podcast. Tap in with us, go, follow us on TikTok, instagram, facebook, youtube. Appreciate everybody on YouTube. The growth has been crazy over the last, you know, 45 days, totally, totally. You know well how do. How do I say it? I'm just excited and thankful and grateful and appreciative of all of the growth on YouTube, really on all of the platforms, but, um, especially YouTube, cause we've been we've been putting a lot of focus into the YouTube channel, so just excited about how that's been growing and, uh, you know, stay tuned in with us.

Speaker 1: 16:32

We got more great episodes to come. I got Dodie from Pizza King of Texas coming up really hoping to. You know we got that one coming up. I've been talking to a couple of other folks about coming on to the show. I know Pizza Hawk is coming soon. He's working on getting his studio set up, so I'm excited for us to get a collaboration going. What else is going on? Speaking engagements coming up. You got Western Food Show in August. You got Pizza Tomorrow Summit coming up in November. There's going to be opportunities just for us to connect live. So tap in with me, stay tuned in and, as always, appreciate you. Holler at you, boy.