So why don't you, um, dive in really quick about your story up to Outback, and then we'll start playing around with the Outback, uh, ness of it.

Well, you know, my story was I was a kind of a typical liberal arts, you know, Florida State graduate from art history.

I had a wonderful time at Florida State.

I studied in an extension program in Florence, Italy.

I became a tour guide at the age of 20 years old in the Uffizi Gallery, lecturing on Botticelli, Michelangelo.

I mean, it was really, I thought I, uh, I had peaked, you know, at such an early age and had so much fun, um, being in Italy.

You know, had a, a Triumph motorcycle going off to Greece and, uh, across Baraco and, and really just incredible adventures.

Like, where did you guys learn that kind of a culture?

If you take yourself back, what is a defining moment, memory or something in your past that was a real turning point for you that put you in a new trajectory?

When I was working in New Orleans at 39 and I was working for a gentleman, we were very successful in the restaurant I created for him called Copeland's Cajun.

And he was head of Popeye's, big, big company.

And I got offered to go work for Outback with my partners, Bob and Chris, to start a new company.

and they were going to give me an equity position.

And I went to Al Copeland and I said, Al, I'm going to leave and go to Tampa.

And he offered me, he said, why? He said, well, I, you know, I have a quarter of a million dollars in debt from this World's Fair project that I did, didn't work.

Opens.

What did you intentionally design into the experience or the culture that sort of acted as a moat around Outback Steakhouse to protect it from replication?

That's a very good question.

I'll give you one example.

The Bloomin' Onion, we didn't copyright it.

Anyone can try and copy it, but nobody has.

Why is that? Because in the design of the kitchen, we designed to build the menu around the Bloomin' Onion.

And so the people that try and copy it don't have that kitchen design, nor are they willing to put the dollars in to change their kitchen to do that.

And where did the thinking come from initially for you to design the business in such a way to show that love to your partners, to respect them, and also to have that target of if we're going to be wealthy from this, you will be too?

How did a kid from Florida with $37 in his pocket do what you've done?

It's real simple, to be honest.

You have a great idea that you truly believe in.

You're good at something.

I was good at flavor and putting recipes together.

And then you find two partners that, that totally trust you and believe in you.

And then once you have that partnership together, everything is possible.

Is that right?