Using business to create community and social dialogue

In this episode I connect with Manny Yekutiel, founder of Manny's SF, a social gathering space that has become a hub for social discourse in San Francisco. An entrepreneur and small business commissioner, Manny has a wealth of experience in political activism, having worked on multiple presidential campaigns, served as white house intern, Most recently, Manny facilitated a major get out the vote campaign in partnership with politicians across the nation.

Imperfect Show Notes

While these notes are not perfect (computer transcription is still a work in progress), they give you the gist of the conversation. Enjoy!

My conversation with Manny Yekutiel:

Morgan Bailey 0:02

Hello, and welcome to the profit meets impact podcast where we explore the intersection of doing well and doing good in the world. I'm your host, Morgan Bailey, and I'm excited to bring you the wisdom of entrepreneurs and thought leaders, they're using business to create sustainable and meaningful change across the globe. I'm here with Manny yuku, TL, a friend and activists, passionate business owner, Manny founded Manny's SF which has become a foundation for political and social activism in San Francisco. And it's honestly it's making ripples across the nation, you know, and Manny is, you know, he's becoming a political force in San Francisco. He's worked on the Obama and the clinton campaigns, he was the White House intern. And he pulled together an amazing effort to get out the vote for this 2020 presidential campaign. Truly amazing. He was appointed by the mayor of San Francisco to the Small Business commission. But as he mentioned to me, he prefers not to be called Commissioner. So that's one thing we'll avoid. Manny, it's a pleasure to have you on the show.

Manny Yekutiel 1:01

It's a pleasure to be here. And thank you for asking me to to join at Morgan. I appreciate it.

Morgan Bailey 1:07

Yes, of course. So man, I just want to read a little bit from what I you know, what's about your, about your business, because I think it's really fascinating. And it's one of the things inspired me to have this conversation with you. So you founded Manny's, San Francisco, which is a People Powered and community focused meeting and learning space in the heart of San Francisco that combines a restaurant political bookshop, and civic events space. So tell me what what was a little bit your inspiration behind creating that?

Unknown Speaker 1:38

Well,

Manny Yekutiel 1:38

I had worked on the Clinton campaign, I'd left it about a year before the election itself. And I noticed which not hard to notice this, but I noticed how many people in the you know, kind of run up to the election and after the election, were first time, you know, activists first time getting involved first time kind of paying attention to what was happening in our politics, probably because the election was so bizarre and unconventional. And the result of it angered so many people, myself included, and it seemed kind of like a strange problem to me that there was no physical place for the these people to go to continue to be engaged in civic life. You know, all the time. You know, if there are typically in our in our towns and our cities and our neighborhoods, you know, every couple years, a campaign office will open up, and you can go there and make phone calls. But it's very haphazard. And so I felt like there needed to be a place that was continually offering civic and political programming, especially in a city like San Francisco. And I just thought it was strange that there wasn't one. And so I just started doing research, I had the time, and I was figuring out what I wanted to do next. And the more I did research on it, the more I got excited about the idea of actually building it myself. So what had what started out, it's just like, Uh huh, I wonder why there isn't a place that like, you know, to go to, to watch the presidential debates and to learn about different activist issues and nonprofits and, you know, social justice and civic life to like, wow, I really want to, I want to be a part of that space. I want to like, I want to make that space happen. Like, could I do it? You know how I don't I didn't know the first thing about building a space finding a space raising money. But I just got so excited about solving this problem that I figured I I decided and I realized that I had to be I had to give it a try myself.

Morgan Bailey 3:32

Well, yeah, that's amazing. I mean, and it's you've you've had Manny's for how long now? It's been it's been under two years,

Manny Yekutiel 3:38

a little under two years. Mm hmm.

Morgan Bailey 3:40

So I'm curious, based on this experience, you've you've built a business. And, you know, depending on the metrics, you've been very successful in terms of achieving the impact you've wanted to? I've seen, you know, you've reached capacity on many events, you've had a multitude of very high level individuals and influential individuals come through there. And I'm curious, based on this, based on your experience in building this businesses, what what role do you see business plain and sort of social and environmental issues, as you know, currently, and then as we move forward?

Manny Yekutiel 4:16

Well, you know, I, the part of the business world that I know most about is small business, because I'm a small business, and I've had to think about small business issues for a bit since, like you said, I got appointed to the Small Business commission. So I certainly feel like small businesses have a large role to play in social and, and kind of environmental issues. Because we are, we are, in many ways, extensions of people's homes, and offices and communal spaces, even if you're just going to a restaurant, you know, your neighborhood restaurant, your neighborhood bar watering hole, you know, it's it's a place of learning to and engagement and so the conversations that are happening in there, even if they're just between bartenders And customer, you know, they're in total, if you if you add them all together, they're part of what shifts hearts and minds and thinking, many for a lot of people, there's been this kind of unbreachable wall between politics and business, you know, if you're in a bar, if you're in a restaurant, you know, the owner of that bar restaurant employees that are no owner of restaurant, you know, they keep their political opinions and thoughts themselves. So I think that we're starting to see, especially the Black Lives Matter movement, small businesses and large businesses take a proactive stance on a social issue. That's a good thing. And I think i think i think if we can see that expanding, we can see business be a part of political and civic infrastructure, I think that would help move move movements for

Morgan Bailey 5:47

Yeah, and I think that's a really great point, because I think, particularly with the Black Lives Matter movement, it is for the first time, and in my perspective, when we've had a lot of businesses taking a widespread stance, you know, and you walk down, and you see, you see people, you know, you know, putting signs in their window that says Black Lives Matter. Again, which, you know, we haven't seen on necessarily a lot of other issues. So do you see that, that small businesses taking a stance for what they believe in, and perhaps be more intentional? And in the voice that they're putting out there? Do you see that as impacting their businesses in a positive way beyond just voicing their concerns?

Manny Yekutiel 6:30

Um, yeah, I

mean, money, first of all, is important. And businesses have capital, some have more than others. But certainly, they can either donate money or direct their communities and their followers to support organizations. And that's really important, you know, these organizations, these issues require money to make change, and businesses can utilize their communities and their, their capital to help these organizations do just that. And you saw that a lot with Black Lives Matter movement. Um, and also, a lot of societal ills come from business. I mean, that there there there are a lot of ways in which business businesses, and frankly, things that motivate business that, you know, in many ways, they are crucibles of some of the problems we're trying to solve, certainly with the environment, and climate change, and, you know, all those things, and definitely with issues of sexism and racism, discrimination. And businesses not not only can but absolutely should be a part of the solution, because a lot of the problems exists in what motivates business.

Morgan Bailey 7:40

Yeah, I mean, that I couldn't agree with you more. I think business has been some of the greatest driver of inequality, environmental degradation and social issues broadly. And yeah, I think it does, you know, I agree with you, it does have to be part of the solution. Or it may be the, maybe the main point, or the main facet of the solution. So I'm curious, you know, based on what you're mentioning, there's kind of a focal point on business for for change. What sort of shifts? Do you think that we as a global business community, in terms of our mindset need to make, in order to bridge that gap from where we are to where we're gonna need to be?

Unknown Speaker 8:20

Well,

Manny Yekutiel 8:21

I think people

who are patrons of these businesses, demanding more from them and demanding some of the things they're seeing now to continue and be strengthened, you know, business is, depending on the size of it is and answers to its investors, its shareholders and its customers. If you look at, for instance, what's happening in Facebook right now, with all these advertising companies, all these all these large, multinational companies pulling their advertising budget from Facebook, because of how it is, its policy on hate speech and political speech, that is a very effective way to get a large business to rethink its policies and how it operates. Small businesses are less answer and answer less to investors and shareholders. Most of them don't have them more have silent investors, and the answer more to their patrons. So if there's an issue you care about, and a small business that you have a relationship with, the way you see sustained change over the long term, is the community First, the community needs to feel comfortable expressing its priorities to the small businesses that it patronizes and then it serves and that I mean, that happens that's happened with Manny's that happens, man, he's all the time. I mean, we're kind of maybe like an extreme example of this. But, you know, our monthly sponsors are our, you know, our customers, they tell us all the time, what they're looking for what they want, what they want to see out of the space. I mean, we are a community space. So it's in our blood and DNA, but, you know, your local Starbucks, you could, you could ask the managers or even maybe Starbucks is a bad example, a local coffee shop. You can ask them like, you know, hey, Do you guys use? You know, what are your green practices? Are you agreeing? San Francisco has a green business program? Are you agreeing business? Are you being Corp? I mean, these are all things that you can communicate to small businesses and they'll make a change.

Morgan Bailey 10:15

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I Well, hopefully, you know, I mean, we're in with enough, you know, with enough voices, I think a lot. A lot of

Unknown Speaker 10:24

change.

Unknown Speaker 10:25

Say again,

Manny Yekutiel 10:26

not enough likes.

Morgan Bailey 10:28

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm curious. So, you, you have from a very early Point taken strong stances with Manny's

Manny Yekutiel 10:38

Yes.

Morgan Bailey 10:40

And I'm curious how, you know, because I think a lot of businesses may see that as a liability, right. I think people are afraid to flex their muscles, people are afraid to take a stance or to perhaps be polarizing in some way. And I'm curious, how do you think taking a strong stance has affected your business for the positive or the negative?

Manny Yekutiel 11:03

Um, so it's a little more complicated than that, where we are not a nonpartisan organization where a partisan democratic space. And so I guess you could say we've taken strong stances by by proudly declaring that we are a liberal space that espouses liberal values, and is not afraid to endorse candidates and support a party. But I don't think that's very bold in San Francisco. I think actually, if you look at it, we have there are a lot of political organizations in San Francisco. And what I think we've done pretty well, with great effort is to try to make all the colors of the rainbow on the left, and there are many colors, feel welcome and comfortable using the space. So we do that by actually not taking a lot of stances on issues that divide the left, excuse me, or individuals that are competing within the left for power. And, and, and, and for their ideas to be espousing. And the homeless issue, for instance, you divide a lot of San Francisco, affordable housing and divides a lot of time and systems. And we've been able to bring all voices on those two issues in particular, to the table and to feel comfortable in the space. And so I think the key is, how do you create a big tent on the left, because I don't think that I don't believe that what our country needs right now is actually greater bipartisanship. I think our country needs a stronger, better informed, better organized, better educated, better activated, left. And so to do that, actually, you have to be humble, and open hearted and open arms to all folks who want to be on the right side of history, but have questions or concerns or don't know how to say the right word, or how to do the right, know exactly what what nomenclature to use or are just unsure about which policies make the most sense. And so it's that balance between being strong and confident in your, in your in your position. These are the our parties and our conservative liberal divide, while being humble enough to let everyone in.

Morgan Bailey 13:17

Yeah, and I think there's, there's a huge space for that. And I've benefit, I've been to many events, and I'm also a sponsor, which I'm very happy to be doing. I think one thing I'm curious about because I can imagine, you know, as myself as a business owner thinking, you know, I would love to meet more of the community's needs. But I don't know where to start, right. Like, I'm a business owner, and I've been running my business based on a business model that, you know, is brought me income. And I would like to take in more community input, I would like it to be more of a community space. What would you recommend to those sorts of business owners and how they can connect more deeply with our communities?

Manny Yekutiel 14:01

Well, I mean, there are the traditional tools at your disposal, you know, social media, email, and we use both of those. There's no substitute for a be existing in person and communicating to your community in person, which I love doing. It's my favorite thing to do. And same time is in your comment, you're good at it. Thank you. I do think I'm good at it. I think if I'm good at it, I'm good at it, because I really enjoy it. And yeah, typically, and this goes with not just work but certainly with personal life, we're good at the things we love doing you love playing soccer, then you're much more likely to be good at it, you you know love reading, then you're probably going to be a good reader. But of course now it's a lot more complicated because we can talk to our community in person, but we have to do it behind masks and succeed away and risk of killing ourselves and so we know it's very delicate. So that means that the digital tools have become at least temporarily supreme and ever more important.

Morgan Bailey 15:00

So based on that, I mean, because you have you do have very strong pulse on on your community. How How have you been able to adapt? Like practically speaking?

Unknown Speaker 15:12

Like,

Morgan Bailey 15:13

you know, you you get information you hear stuff on social media, you have conversations, how does that translate into actions on how many operate Manny's operates?

Manny Yekutiel 15:25

Say the first part of the question again. Yeah,

Morgan Bailey 15:28

I'm curious. So you get information in, you know, from your community, I'm curious how that translates into actual action or change within your business.

Manny Yekutiel 15:38

Hit a lot, we get a lot of feedback from the community. I mean, a lot. I mean, I'm talking emails, text messages, phone calls, Facebook, comments, Instagram, comments, direct messages. And that we want that I mean, that's, we've, we've opened the door to that. And so that's, that's why I'm, you know, I, and then when I send an email I, that comes from my email address, we've got about 20,000 people on the list. And people reply individual to me individually to me, and everyone that sends me an email or respond to, right. And so that is, takes a lot of time. But it's also very important. And something I very consciously from the very beginning, I wanted people to know that there wasn't many of Manny's and there was an owner, and he was a real person, and he listened to you. And he has the time and the wherewithal to respond to you, you know, all the time, because I just felt like I wanted the venture to be as unpretentious as possible. And the whole idea is I'm trying to humanize politics, and I'm a person in politics. And so I wanted people to know that you could be a human being, and there's real people behind it. And it's not just, you know, folks you read about in the newspapers or online. So I think it's about being responsive, and putting the time in to be responsive. And it's also being honest with with people when you are not going to do what they want you to do, thanking them for it. And then but but being but explaining why like thanking them for their idea or their criticism, or their thinking, and then, you know, either saying, I'll follow up with you later, or that doesn't fit with our programming right now. But I appreciate the ideas. And so I think people just really like being responded to and they also like to know, where they stand.

Morgan Bailey 17:25

missing. Yeah, I'm curious, do you have any examples of some of that feedback you've received that led into actual change within your business?

Manny Yekutiel 17:33

Um, feedback to change that? Well, one thing is, you know, when a couple months after we started, we worked with a coalition of about 16 advocacy groups in the Mission District around their news, to figure out to make come up with a way to have ensure that the operations of the space would not further gentrification in the neighborhood. And one of the things the feedback that they gave, that they wanted to need to do was to come up with a way to offer some form of free or discounted products to folks in the community who couldn't afford it. And because of that, we came up with this Pay It Forward model for coffee, or people who buy coffee, or asked if they want to pay it forward, spend a little bit of extra money, and anyone that can afford coffee can come in and just get free coffee without asking any questions. That was feedback that came back from the community, from the organizations that represent the mission. And it's a beautiful program, we've given you know, 10s of thousands of cups of coffee away, we still we're still doing it and know the pandemic, to homeless people, folks who live in sorrows, folks that are down and out, down and out right now and would love to have a cup of coffee, but can't put the two three bucks in the toe for it. And I was just like, that's a great idea. And let's do it. And so that's one example. You know, a more close to home example was, you know, during the pandemic, we in the last couple weeks, we thought about how do we pivot to online programming, we had this idea to do a talk show, like a digital talk show called Manny's live, but we brainstormed internally for a week or so. And then we hosted a community brainstorm on this idea. We asked a series of 15 polling questions 300 people join the call. And we asked them all sorts of questions. Should it be live or should be pre recorded? what time of the day should it be? How many times a week should it be? What are some of the topics you'd like to hear? You know how you know all the many be the host himself or someone else we don't talk shows all the stuff that we wanted to know and we just asked the community we had very clear responses and because of that, we totally changed the content. We decided to do it live we decided to do it twice a week we decided to you know, we realized you know what, what our to do what was most interesting to introduce your community so were we will very directly polled the audience and made decisions based on that.

Morgan Bailey 19:54

Yeah, that's amazing. And I think that's, I think it's very resourceful way to to pull the information in the community. And co create it. And and I imagine that doubt that creates a lot stronger cohesiveness within the community as around your business. Have you experienced that?

Manny Yekutiel 20:11

Yeah, I mean, I think we could be doing better. For sure. I always think that's, that's something we could do a better job of. But I do feel like people in the Manny's community feel included and feel valued and listened to. And because of that, they, you know, are more loyal to us. I mean, we are funded now almost exclusively by individual monthly donors. This is a small business, this is not a nonprofit. This is a small business in San Francisco, that because of our donors, our monthly sponsors, we are still in depth, so alive. And we've seen almost no drop off since the beginning of the pandemic. I mean, I think I've made the last 10 out of 500. It's just almost, and I haven't really even had to do a lot of I haven't even had to, like ask people to say people are just sticking around. And they're sticking around Morgan, because they believe because they feel ownership. And they believe in what we're doing. And I think people feel like they're people feel like they're a part of what we're about. And they want, because they feel like they're a part of it. They want it they want they want to see it last. So I'm very, very proud of that.

Morgan Bailey 21:26

Yeah, that sounds like I mean, to me that I feel like that is such a strong theme here. Because we've seen through the pandemic that a lot of businesses have seriously struggled, and they've tried to create a business community, or community of their patrons, you know, to help support them when they've never actually done that before, or they actually hadn't reached out, they hadn't actually shown that their cut, they value their customers or their experience. And so I think what what you're showing here is, you know, you you've spent the upfront time, this wasn't something that you just started doing during the pandemic, like you've, you've done that, and it sounds like right now, I mean, the fact that you are pretty much completely supported by donations from your patrons, is pretty massive.

Manny Yekutiel 22:12

Totally, I mean, I hadn't really taken stock of it so much, and like really reflected on it. But, you know, I did send an email, an individualized email to all of our sponsors. Last week, you should have been, you should have gotten that email Morgan. Yeah. And that just said, just just said, Thank you. Did you get that email? Yeah, I did. And I did. I did that. You know, I said that to 500 people. And it was just, it was just me saying to directly to my folks, like, Hey, I'm thank you so much for for doing this. Because, because it's it's literally making a difference right now. And, and I'm proud of us. And that was really the first time that I really got to just express how I feel. And then now in this conversation to just take stock of that, like, wow, like, small businesses all over the place are dropping like flies, and we are still here and standing because of the community. And I can say that, and it's not a talking point. Right. It's I we are literally here because of the community supporting us right now. Yeah, yeah,

Morgan Bailey 23:18

I mean, to be honest, I think it's amazing. And I think it is such a testament to the fact that, you know, we've, you know, as a society in a lot of ways, we've stepped away from the community based model, you know, and there's very individualistic, however, we've seen during this time is, you know, that model falls and breaks down when the when the world goes crazy. And when you actually need that community. And I think you've shown that, you know, resilient business resilience, a key factor in that is having a strong community surrounding you,

Manny Yekutiel 23:49

which is apparent. It is it is totally that and, and so I don't want to take too much credit, because, you know, the community has been very loyal to us. And we're so young, we're only a year and three quarters old. I think also, though, a part of it is I think people have noticed that we are not, you know, taking a rest during this time, but in fact, we have been working very hard and often to continue to execute on our mission of civically engaging the community in the midst of this pandemic. So we did over 100 and 1200 and 10 civic conversations in the first month and a half of shelter in place, including one with you, Morgan, and thank you for participating in that. And I think people saw that they were they clocked us they're like okay, you know, Manny's is I could have easily, you know, closed down packed up shops, and we're an in person gathering space. We're a venue and we're, you know, we'll see you when this is over. But instead we went we went we actually worked even harder, you know, we were there were many sleepless nights to in order to achieve that. And now we're similarly I've got like six different programs that we're working on all at the same time to continue to engage with an election in four months. We have a Senate to flip We've got musical artists to support all sorts of stuff. We've got a lot of stuff happening in our city a lot of local politics.

Morgan Bailey 25:10

So I'm curious. I mean, because you went, you went through a big pivot. And you didn't you didn't close up shop. Now, you know, and you said, So what, you know,

Manny Yekutiel 25:21

what, what

Morgan Bailey 25:21

do you think, gave you the momentum and a very trying time to find the energy to make that pivot.

Manny Yekutiel 25:36

Um, what gave me the energy to make that pivot?

Well,

I have to be honest with you, I didn't think it would be this long. I thought it was gonna be a couple weeks, maybe a month, month and a half. And we've kind of, you know, maybe California would avoid the worst, and then they might shut down the borders of the state. And we would just be like Australia now and, you know, not let anyone in or out and, and just contain it, you know, and I really didn't think that, that's what Kelly would do, because we were doing so well. And I just thought that we would, we would hold it down in the state and go back to normal. So for me, it was like, let's sprint for the next month, because that's how long this is going to go. And we'll come back in May and be proud of all the work we did, and we, you know, we'd like kept a bunch of our events, and we, you know, didn't cancel a lot of things. And so it was easier, frankly, to have that in it, because I just thought this would be shorter. Um, you know, we were also I have a great team, you know, I had threat shelter in place, I had three employees that I kept three full time employees, Jupiter, braza, Santa Villa, and RAM, all the various and the three of them. And I, the four of us as a team, just all were taken by the Spirit. And we all worked really hard, they worked the hardest. I mean, they were doing so much work constantly. And so the team worked really hard. And frankly, like, one of the ways to deal with bad news, and, you know, frightening times is just to throw yourself into something, whether it's work or your art, the creative world hiking, fitness, you know, there have been a lot of coping mechanisms, and one of my coping mechanisms has been to has been work.

Morgan Bailey 27:25

I think, another element I see in it, and you can correct me if if I'm making an assumption here is the fact that I mean, you are a purpose driven business. Yeah. So. So it's not just simply about making a profit, it's a, you know, you've actually have into the very fabric of your business, a purpose to create change. And so do you, do you feel like, you know, and maybe it's obvious, but, you know, do you feel like that that, you know, was what helped propel you and allowed you to sort of revamp your business model?

Unknown Speaker 27:57

Mmm

Manny Yekutiel 28:00

hmm. Well, yeah, we have a very clear North Star, right, like we are mission that I will tell you the hard thing, Morgan is that my mission has been creating, and we talked about this, in the beginning is creating physical space for people to gather around politics. And so what's been difficult about this is I do feel a piece a large piece of imposter syndrome or kind of disingenuousness, because now I'm doing all this stuff online. And that's exactly what I was kind of trying to solve for was our civic and political life living online and, and really believing in the need for gathering in person. And that need was was and I was right. I mean, I was right. We were successful, because my hunch was correct, that people really thirsty for and needed and wanted a place to watch the presidential debates, to engage with politics to meet their local elected officials. And so I I was on something I am onto something. It's true, people do want to gather in person around politics. And now I'm pivoting to doing kind of the exact thing that I was trying to kind of, not fight against, but provide an alternative to. So yes, I have a clear mission and a clear North Star, which makes it easier to know. Alright, man, you know, what, what are you going to be doing? At the same time? What I'm doing feels kind of off, huh?

Morgan Bailey 29:31

Yeah, I mean, I can definitely see that. And, you know, the coach in me wants to say like, you know, it's just, there's no perfection in life. So, we're all doing the best we can through that. And it sounds like that's what you're doing. But I mean, to be honest, it sounds like you know, your customers are responding. And I'm guessing that your, you know, your email list has actually increased throughout this time because you've actually had a much broader reach than you've able been able to have before. So I think, you know, there may be some, you know, side effects to that, that actually are pretty positive.

Manny Yekutiel 30:06

Yeah, I mean, yes, yes. And no. I mean, I thought maybe that would be the case. And, you know, the email list has grown a fair amount, because they managed to Pacific cyber conversations, which was the things we did in the beginning. But recently, you know, we're, honestly, Morgan, we're trying to figure out what the next thing is. And we have some great ideas. And we've been trying some stuff out. And it's possible that what, you know, one of the things we're trying really works and, and and I think there's a path for this, this next

part of this next chapter to be, you know, to have some unintended positive consequences. But right now, we're in a bit of an in between period where we're trying things out and seeing what sticks.

Morgan Bailey 30:52

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I think as a globe, we're kind of we're kind of in that, but I can definitely, you know, respect the fact that it might be as a business owner and uncomfortable place to be.

Manny Yekutiel 31:01

Yes, it is, is scary.

Morgan Bailey 31:04

So I'm curious, Manny, as we kind of start winding down a little bit. I think there are a lot of a lot of businesses and small businesses out there who would who would really like to engage their communities more. So if you were if you were to give them some advice on just where to start their? Or perhaps what mindset to have? Where would you begin with them on where how to start a business know, on how to and how to increase the community engagement of their business?

Manny Yekutiel 31:37

Well, one, I think, the beauty of small business, at least is that one can know the owner, and the, and the manager or the people who run it and are making decisions. And that's not insignificant, because a lot of folks in community, oftentimes they don't have power, you know, or they don't think they have power to make a change or make a difference, you know, in their very spaces. And so, I think for small business owners and managers to, you know, declare themselves and introduce themselves and, and not spend all their time in back offices, and you know, you know, back rooms, but actually, like, be out in front, and in some places do this already. But one, one way is to actually just be physically present, when that's more acceptable force in community so that people can touch and feel you, you know, in a way, obviously, with consent, but you know, and the second for larger businesses, to engage more with their community is, I think, humanizing the who of the businesses at the end of the day, like we like, you know, from the very early days of humanity, we're storytelling people, story listening, people, we love stories. And so how can large and medium sized businesses also tell the stories of who works there, who runs the business? who operates it, who founded it, because that is going to be the first way that a community member or consumer that business can actually connect, you know, I also know what that feels like, or I look like that person, or I know someone that looks like that. And so some businesses do a really good job of this. There's some airlines do a great job of this actually. I don't remember exactly which ones, but I remember watching, you know, some, you know, when you go when you sit on some of the airplanes, and they kind of tell the story of their airline sometimes that wow, okay, United just felt a lot more, you know, real, you know, these are real people that operate in these jobs. And so the more you can tell the stories of the people who I think, the easier it will be to engage with your community. Yeah, I

Morgan Bailey 33:38

think that's amazing. And that's something that any business owner can do. I don't think that that's not you don't have to have an amazing creation story. You just have to have a relatable one.

Manny Yekutiel 33:49

Yeah, you just you just need to be able to, um, you just need to be able to, to be courageous, I think I think a lot of people are afraid of tell of telling their story. They're afraid, you know, folks may not want to hear it, or they may not

care.

But but I think it's important to step forward. And I did that a lot with Manny's in the beginning. I love his live blog, the whole the whole process and experience of trying to find the permits and get the money and build it and open it and hire and I did that, frankly, because I was I was alone. And so I kind of found community that way. But I think for a lot of people it It brought them in and so bring people into to your work and the more informal the better, I think.

Morgan Bailey 34:35

Yeah, absolutely. And I love what you said there about being courageous as a business owner, because I don't think that's something that we hear all that much. And I'm curious like if you if you think about courageous acts is for business owners and if you like, where would you tell someone to start their

Manny Yekutiel 34:55

courageous Acts where to start

Interesting question.

I think one courageous art act that you could do to start would be to choose an issue, or a cause that you, as a business owner really do care about, and get out in front of it. Speak it, say why explain and, and don't be afraid that it might upset some people, or isolate some people, because I think on the whole, you'll probably be people more appreciate that you've taken a stand on something, even if you may lose a couple people who disagree with that stance. You know, you're seeing the solid black lives matter, but also, not black lives matter. You know, like, you know, there are, for instance, I am upset that the prisoners of San Quentin are getting this virus and, and they're not, they can't, they're not being helped, and there's no way for them to escape it really. And I posted online that I think it's cruel and unusual that these prisoners are in a locked facility, not able to socially distance, and 1000 of them now have this virus, which is killing people. And there were some folks in the community that were upset with that they're upset that I said that, that I expressed that opinion, because there are some really bad people, bad men, it's a men's prison. I think when and I don't disagree with that they are there are and there will and that they are and there are bad men in that building. At the same time, our justice system has set of rules and exposing even bad people who are who are charged with crimes to a deadly disease without their ability to protect themselves is in violation with, with how our system is supposed to be. And so I think a lot of people appreciated that I was courageous enough to speak my piece on that. And I think, choose the things that you care about choosing wisely. And then and don't be afraid to speak your mind about them.

Morgan Bailey 37:01

I think that's I think that's a beautiful sentiment. And I do I do think that is there's a very tangible act, courageous act right there. So I think that that's something that any any business owner, we all care about something. And it feels great, I'll be honest, you know, what, it feels great to stand for something. And and I believe that people resonate with that, and people look up to that, and people are drawn to that. So I appreciate you saying that. So one thing I'm curious as we kind of come to a close is what's what were the sort of resources,

Unknown Speaker 37:37

books,

Morgan Bailey 37:38

podcasts? Or what Where do you get your inspiration from or what has given you the most inspiration, as you've sort of, you know, built out your business?

Manny Yekutiel 37:49

What is even the most inspiration? Well, I have to, I have to divide it into two, I have to divide it in when I was able to operate my business as I envisioned it. And then since March, which is me having to figure out a way to operate my business in a completely in a way that is diametrically opposed, frankly, to how I would like to operate it. So on the first chunk doing my business the way I wanted to in person, what inspired me was absolutely the people that came in spoke that I brought in to spread their message, because, you know, I'm I am like most people, I care about things, you know, I have opinions about things I thought, but I'm not like working on X, Y and Z issue, right? I've not devoted my life to the environment or to, you know, the wiggers in China, or, you know, racism, or you know, whatever, ending gun violence, and I have a job and I care about these things. And so whenever I bring these folks in and listen to them, I just, it takes a lot. It takes a lot of courage and strength and dedication to say I've got 6070 8090 years on this earth, and I'm going to push the boulder forward as much as I can on this one issue because it means that much. Wow. Wow. I mean, that's amazing. And, and I have so much respect for those people. And so listening to them, humbly, respectfully watching them and taking notes. That is what kept me going. Since shelter in place, I've gone back to books, which you know, I was pretty, believe it or not, I was pretty quiet child and I read a lot and I read a lot in school and books. Were a safe place for me, especially as I was coming out and coming out to myself and my family. And I've done a lot of reading since shelter in place started and I read team arrivals on Doris Kearns Goodwin, Doris Doris Kearns Goodwin's book, which which

Morgan Bailey 39:41

is a feat which is a feat in itself. That book is massive.

Manny Yekutiel 39:45

It is massive and attitude, as massive as it was. I was so into it, and I was so taken by the book I was crying, sobbing but at the end of it because it was so powerfully written and I've been reading A lot and that and that book in particular really inspired me and kind of learning through this time has been an inspiration to me.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai