985: Keith Benjamin Founding Partner & Director of Operations at Uptown Hospitality Group

Keith Benjamin went to Penn State and threw parties for fraternities while also playing lacrosse. He graduated and worked in sports marketing when he started working at a bar in NYC. After a birthright trip to Israel in 2009, he decided to go "all in" on restaurants as a career. He bought in to a restaurant group in 2011 and convinced his partners to open Uptown Social in 2018 in Charleston, 1,500 miles away from their home base. Today, Uptown Hospitality group has 15 locations across three major cities in the US.

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Show notes…

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Favorite success quote/mantra:

• "Any person's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment to all her or she holds dear, is that moment when that person works their heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle victorious."

In this episode with Keith Benjamin we will discuss:

• Night life business
• The importance of locals
• Bar management and ownership
• The industry's effects on personal relationships
• Mental health
• Marketing
• Events

Today's sponsor:

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Key clients include Loews Hotels, Novartis, Madison Square Garden, Yum, FB Society, Hakkasan, TAO Group, and the Dog Haus.

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Knowledge bombs

1. Which “it factor” habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
   • Tenacity
2. What is your biggest weakness?
   • Patience
3. What's one thing you ask or look for when interviewing/growing your team?
   • Well-rounded
4. What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
   • Staffing
5. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
   • Professionalism
6. What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
   • Push the buy-back
7. What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influence operations?
   • BeatGig
   • LineLeap
8. What is one thing you feel restaurateurs don't do well enough or often enough?
   • Look around
9. If you got the news that you'd be leaving this world tomorrow and all memories of you, your work, and your restaurants would be lost with your departure with the exception of 3 pieces of wisdom you could leave behind for the good of humanity, what would they be?
   • Be kind
   • Pay it forward
   • Be generous

Contact:

Instagram: @kmbenjo

Thanks for listening!

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Huge thanks to Keith Benjamin for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!

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