Transcript for Hustle & Heat Episode 10
00:00:04
What’s up, guys? And welcome back to another episode of Hustle and Heat podcast. Today is episode 10, and I’d like to introduce a special guest. This guy has been working for my family since the 1990s, delivering food for the Soup Jungle Cafe. He then progressed in his career to banking and is now a Vice President of Commercial Lending at Crews Bank. Without further ado, I’d like to welcome Nicholas Warden. Nick, thank you for being on the podcast. I appreciate it.
00:00:32
Thank you for the invite, George. It is an honor to hang out with some family members that are not going to yell at me in Arabic that I semi understand.
So, how often did you get yelled at?
Well, I knew a lot of what the words were by the tone of what was coming at me. And I understood “idiot” very much. Your uncle and your aunt liked to call me idiot from time to time.
Yeah. Yeah. I heard you were a good delivery driver.
Oh, I was good at delivering, but when I was inside…
00:00:59
…cutting the tomatoes wrong, I was getting yelled at. Cutting the onions wrong—I was definitely getting yelled at.
So, tell us a little bit about yourself, Nick.
I was born in Flint, Michigan. Moved down to Florida at 10, so I’ve been here for a little over 30 years. I watched this town grow up from—well, I don’t want to call it a one-stoplight town, but there was a Walmart in Port Charlotte when I moved here, and that kind of felt like it was about it.
I look at where it’s come in those 30 years, and I’m just happy to be part of this. I know what my hometown in Michigan looks like nowadays, and I’m a Michigander through and through, but I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else than here. I wouldn’t want to raise a family anywhere else than here. I love what we have here. I love the community. I love the friendliness. It’s a mix of Midwest folks, a mix of East Coast folks, and it’s just different.
It is different. When I try to tell people about our community and who we are and what we do, it’s hard for people to understand it. They don’t get that.
And I kind of relate to you in that sense. I moved here when I was 12 and it was a hard transition from Maryland, but now that I’m older, I’m like, man—thank God.
Oh, absolutely. We had city buses and all these cool things to do in the city. I moved from there out to the Ranchettes. There was nothing in the Ranchettes that many years ago.
So yeah, I’m happy to have what we have today. And I know there’s a lot of people that are like, “Oh, I want it to be the same sleepy town it was when I moved here.” But when you do that, you slow down growth. I like where we’re at. I want to continue to see the path grow.
So, you’ve lived here for 30 years—where do you think we’ll be in the next 10?
00:02:52
I think the next 10 are the most crucial for North Port. The growth patterns—we had a really big boom, and now it’s: how does this city react to that boom? How do we get infrastructure in the ground, and how do we get those other things going so you can facilitate a hospital coming into town and some of these other bigger businesses that want to bring their workforce here?
Infrastructure is the biggest thing. Let’s make sure they have everything they need, so when they do call the city, we have the site—let’s get you going, because everything else is ready to go.
I think we’re going to continue the growth pattern in this area. New builds in North Port are fantastic. There’s a good rental market. We’re a good mix of resident-owned and renters. I like this area a little better than some of the surroundings—less expensive. Yes, we don’t have the beach in our backyard, but a 10–15 minute drive and I’m at that beach. I like that more than paying the fees you’d have to pay to have a beachfront home.
I understand. Do you live in North Port?
I live in North Port. Built a home here in 2005, or we moved in around ’06, but we built during when Charley came through. We had the slab poured and we were supposed to be in our house in a few months, and then all of a sudden Charley came through and they had to use the lumber other places for a while.
At least you didn’t have the walls up.
I was very happy the concrete was sitting on the slab. The blocks were there. That was my first experience with a hurricane—a real hurricane. Charley was a doozy, but it’s changed the town to be what it is. I know a lot of people wish they would have put some things back to the way it was, but progress is to move forward.
I look at downtown Punta Gorda, what it’s developed into, some of Charlotte Harbor, and the growth that’s there. Same thing with Port Charlotte. It’s grown—and it’s grown for the better.
Amazing.
Yeah. And the restaurants we have, the other activities—some of that stuff wasn’t there and didn’t have an opportunity for it. Now we have that, and I love where we’re at.
So, if you were to sell someone on moving to this area, what would be your number one sales point?
00:05:21
Come here. Visit the area. Come stay at Sunseeker. That is a premier resort—something you’d have in a really big city, and we’re lucky to have it in our backyard. Come stay there and then visit the areas around it. Go to Punta Gorda. Go to the Ranchettes. Go to Port Charlotte. Go to the beach in Englewood. Come to North Port. Go to all of these areas around it.
You’re never going to find a better value and a better community that you’re surrounded with.
Top-notch schools—whether they’re an A school or a B school—it’s the quality of the teachers and the quality of the administration. Sometimes a school may not show you an A grade; it doesn’t mean you don’t have great teachers and great leadership.
Those are the things that bring younger families here, and I think that’s what we need.
Yeah, I think we do need younger families, but how do we get them to continue to come here because we’re kind of a snowbird-driven destination?
00:06:17
It’s tough. Think about it—when I want to go do something, typically if it’s not here in town, I’ve got to go somewhere. And that’s the hard part: the going somewhere. If you have a younger family, you don’t want to drive an hour away to do something. You want to be able to do it locally. So as we get more things you can do with children and families, that’s where you’re going to start to get more and more.
So do you see the area being a destination spot for big corporations like Topgolf, PopStroke, Dave & Buster’s—those big-name places people enjoy?
So bigger businesses like that, when they look at a site, they’re looking at the number of residents you have and then the average income. Being a retirement community, you typically don’t have as strong of an income level because it’s more retirees. Yes, it’s guaranteed money, but it’s not family-type money—multiple salaries in the household. Retirement funds are typically not as much.
So the more that we can mix in those other businesses, the more opportunities we get for those bigger companies to look at us. Years ago, we would have never gotten a hospital because most seniors only have certain insurance—and that insurance pays pennies on the dollar—where private insurance pays a lot more. That’s made a difference. That’s why we’re getting a hospital, and why we’re going to get some of the other things that come along with a hospital.
And the corridors of our town have not been built out. Toledo Blade, Sumter, River Road—all of those still have open space to bring a Topgolf, a Dave & Buster’s—there’s space for all those things right here in town. We just need more people.
Do you think within 10 years we’ll be like Sarasota/Fort Myers? Or smaller?
00:07:18
I think we’ll be smaller. The reason I say that is the general development—who originally designed the communities—designed them as more bedroom communities, more resident-forward than commercial-forward. So you have to fight for the commercial space that you have.
The corridor along 41, and then Toledo Blade, Sumter—major intersections—those areas, you almost have to fight for commercial because if I’m a developer and I can build an apartment complex and make more money doing that than building a strip center that could have more things in it to do, I’m going to build the apartment piece.
It’s more incentivized for investors.
I understand that. So as the Vice President of Commercial Lending, you obviously have a big part in development here—real estate purchases and all that. As the years have progressed, do you see more and more investors coming into town?
00:07:48
Yes. In the past, we didn’t have as many folks willing to jump into an unknown area. We are no longer an unknown area—we’ve hit the map. Charlotte County with the airport and having prepped lands, and then North Port having large parcels available for commercial development—that’s where I think we’re going to see the future. We’re going to get some medical businesses in town. Charlotte County is getting some aviation businesses. And I think North Port’s going to end up being a corridor.
What do you mean by corridor?
Along I-75, Sarasota has kind of run out of space. Yes, there’s still some growth and development, but you look at North Port along I-75—it’s wide open for whatever development you want to bring there. Fort Myers doesn’t have that luxury. Sarasota doesn’t have that luxury. Charlotte County and North Port do. We have space.
We do have a lot of space. And that space is wide open—it’s a canvas—but it’s got to be the right thing. Right for the city, right for the people that live here. It’s got to be the right jobs. If you’re bringing in more retail jobs, that isn’t contributing as much as a higher-end aviation job or higher-end medical supply—something that’s more beneficial.
You seem very passionate and optimistic about the future. What brings that passion or optimism?
00:08:48
I saw where we were 30 years ago and I see where we’re at today. And I see some of the leaders we have in town that are forward-thinkers, where in the past sometimes you had folks that didn’t want it to change. I don’t think we have that anymore.
I think we see folks realizing: if we don’t bring in more businesses, there’s still a big tax bill to pay—and that gets split up between residents instead of splitting it up with more commercial. Commercial uses about 25% of the services that they pay for, where it’s almost 60% for residents. So it’s a big difference—commercial pays a lot compared to what they use.
And look at all the good things that come when businesses come into town—more things to do, more attractions. What we have across the street at Cocoa Plum brings folks to spend money here. That’s where I see future growth. I believe there’s additional development at Cocoa Plum. There will be additional developments around the community. Wellen Park is an area that’s absolutely booming. Those are things that help us stay on the map, and bigger entities are going to want to start coming here.
So what do you expect that expansion of Cocoa Plum to look like? What kind of stores do you think we’ll get?
00:09:17
I think it’ll be a pretty similar mix to what they currently have. When they build out the additional section, you’ll have some more restaurants, because most plazas realize you need a good selection of restaurants. And you also need the right shopping.
When it first opened, there was a different store where Dick’s Sporting Goods is, and that store may not have been the right fit at that time, but Dick’s seems to be thriving there. And you look at the mix of stores—they always seem steady and busy. The owners do a really good job figuring out the right mix—what will bring people, and what fits the market.
If you threw in a high-end retailer, retirees may not want to shop there. But if you throw in a TJ Maxx or Marshalls, they’re all over it. It’s the right fit for the market.
100%. I agree Cocoa Plum needs more restaurants. Right now it’s like Five Guys, Chipotle, El Primo’s—not Buffalo Wild Wings—but nothing that really drives people in. What about something homey? I’m excited to see what they put in. I don’t know how long it’ll take, but they’re building across the street from Wellen Park too.
Is it going to be upscale like people are saying? Do you know anything about that?
I don’t have details. Typically, when they do a project like that, they’ll just say a restaurant is going in—they won’t say who. That normally comes out later. It depends on the developer. Most developers don’t want to give away all their secrets—they keep a little mystery until the restaurant says, “Let’s announce it.”
Do you think Wellen Park’s going to outgrow North Port?
Yeah. Yes. In the long run, I think it will. Not as big as Lakewood Ranch, but I really do. Wellen Park has made a lot of good choices. The developers have made strategic decisions for it to sustain itself. It’s not going to need the city at that point. And that’s when you’ll see almost a separation—which I think they tried to do once before—but I don’t know that the rest of the city would be ready for that kind of separation yet.
Understood. So, a little bit more about you. How does one go from the guy cutting onions and tomatoes, delivering food in a plastic bag, to a Vice President of Commercial Lending?
00:10:23
Well, honestly—I can talk pretty well.
I can see that.
I could see that. And that’s helped me, personality-wise, introduce myself into the right groups and crowds from time to time. I’m honest, I’m forward, and I think most of the people I’ve ever worked for have seen that. In interviews, they’ve seen something and they’re like, “Hey, I like this. I appreciate who he is and what he does.”
And I work hard. I started out cutting tomatoes and onions and taking deliveries. I used to leave school, go deliver, then go back to school in the middle of the day because I wanted to have a job—and OJT was a good opportunity for me. That was after I dropped out of Port Charlotte High School and ended up attending the dropout school—New Challenge.
You dropped out?
Yeah, I dropped out my sophomore year.
Really? Tell us more about that.
00:10:51
I was young when I started high school—I was 14—and I didn’t make a lot of good decisions at 14 or 15. Didn’t go to class as much as I should have. Learned some valuable lessons. Didn’t have a lot of credits when I started my sophomore year and realized it just wasn’t right for me. I hadn’t matured.
My mother being a school teacher said, “You are not going to fail. You are not going to drop out. We’ll find the alternative school. We’ll help you get in.” And she did. And honestly, I was senior class president of that school. I received a full scholarship to what was Edison Community College at the time.
It was a self-paced program. It allowed me to do work at my own pace—if something was easy, I could hammer it out. If something was harder, I could spend time in class and get more assistance. It was the right fit for me.
But maturity-wise, I needed to grow up. And that place helped me grow up. I walked in the door and there’s somebody carrying their two kids out to their car at 17 years old. That helps you grow up pretty quick—realizing here I am, some punk kid not doing well in school, talking back, doing stupid stuff—and here’s somebody raising a family two years difference from me. I had to make better decisions.
It helped me grow. It helped me see other sides of life. I saw some things I didn’t want to be part of. I wanted to do better. And all of that led me to where we’re at.
So do you think that was the turning point in your life? Because for me, I was kind of a failure too, and a teacher sat me down after I got in trouble and said, “You’re so much better than this. You can do so much better. You’ve got it in you—what are you doing?” I’ll never forget that conversation at Port Charlotte Middle School. Ever since that day, I turned it around.
So what was your turning point—from a dropout to fixing your life and turning it in the right direction?
00:19:12
It was definitely the alternative school. It gave me some freedom. I didn’t like the feeling of being, we’ll call it, in a cage at the high school. It wasn’t a good fit.
High school was my turning point because of some teachers. Teachers that were like, “How are you this smart but you’re getting bad grades?” And one of them said, “If you would quit being lazy and get out of your own way, you’d probably be one of the best students we ever had.”
That doesn’t resonate right then. You’d probably get angry. Like, are you talking to me? Do you know who I am? But as that sinks in—it changed things.
That was when I realized I always wanted to be a marine biologist, and I learned I’m terrible at science. I’m never going to be a marine biologist. I had to figure out something else to do. Business management was always my idea. I was a manager at some restaurants as I grew up, and it showed me I can manage people. I don’t have to be a slave driver—I can still be a decent manager. People appreciated that, especially when you worked for large chains with that tyrant boss. It was good to have a decent shift manager from time to time.
Yeah. No manager’s ever loved.
It’s true. Especially in this industry.
00:21:03
It’s true. And it’s tough in restaurants. It’s stressful—because when you’re so busy, you have nothing else to do. You’re in the weeds. You’re going crazy. Food’s coming back from time to time.
Ours was a restaurant we delivered in. It can take an hour to figure out the food was wrong that got delivered to that house—now we’ve got to fix it. Now these people had to wait two hours. Of course they’re mad. The kitchen is mad because now they have to make the same thing over again because the driver took the wrong bag trying to go quick.
It’s difficult even here at Dubz BBQ with our food runners. They’ll put the wrong ticket on the bag, or forget an item and it’s sitting in the window. Then I’ve got food sitting there and we’re like, “Where is that going?” Then someone calls—“We’re missing this”—and we refire. It’s money thrown down the drain, and it pisses the customer off. How likely are they to come back after an experience like that?
And you’re spot on—it’s got to be perfect the first time somebody comes in, because if it’s not, in the back of their head they’re like, “Do I want to give it another shot?”
Yeah.
But if it’s perfect the first time, then it has to be perfect every other time.
100%.
And that’s the biggest failure of restaurants—being perfect every time.
And honestly, when I come here, I order the same type things every time and it’s delicious every time.
I appreciate that. I always tell people: when you go in, you don’t think French fries will be the thing you get at a restaurant, but make sure fries are one of your sides. Eat them while they’re hot. The seasoning on them—use the sauces—it’s amazing. Then you still have your brisket, the ribs—fantastic. And it still leads me back to: I want the French fries.
You know why I do the fries the way I do? That’s how we did them in Maryland. Crinkle-cut fries with seasoning—it reminds me of home. Everyone wanted fresh cut fries or straight cut fries, and I’m like, “No. I’m sticking to what I know.”
And it works.
And it works.
And it’s good.
00:23:10
And by the way, the espresso martini that you guys have—top notch. You should have that drink shouted from the rooftops. Even though it may be a pain for your bartender to make the espresso every time.
It is. It is a pain. But honestly, all the bartenders here—that’s all they drink. When they come here on their days off and sit at the bar, all you see is a line of espresso martinis. And the bartender on duty making them is livid.
But they’re not livid when they’re on the other end of the bar. What you’ve got to try is a tequila espresso martini next time.
Alright.
That’ll be on our new menu that should be coming out sometime this month. We’ve got a new bar menu—probably our first official bar menu.
Any other secrets I should know about that are coming out?
There’s a few. Hold on—let me pull it up. We did a night because I’m trying to learn how to delegate more now because I’ve got no choice but to. So I told the bar manager and Monica, the GM, “Listen, I want nothing to do with this. But on this date, at this time, I better have a line of drinks and a menu with recipes presented in front of me—or else all y’all getting fired.” I literally looked them in the eyes and told them that. I said, “I better be impressed.”
Let me tell you something—I went home drunk as… I went home that impressed drunk. Someone had to drive me home. And it wasn’t because I took one sip here and one sip there—no. I took two sips here, three sips there, four sips there, stole a cup—it was a show.
Which means it was delicious and good.
That’s exactly what it means.
They delivered.
They delivered pretty well. We’ve got a Fruity Oats, which is kind of weird, but it was really good. It’s kind of like they went for a cereal milk kind of drink—a blueberry vodka, horchata, and a couple other ingredients.
We’ve got a chocolate martini that was really good. The key lime pie martini that’s coming out is crazy—it tastes just like key lime pie. We’ve got a couple nice mules. We’ve got the Hanky Panky, which is a smooth fruity concoction with a hint of peach. Pretty good.
Hot Bee’s Knees wasn’t my favorite because I don’t like hot honey, but it was really good for what it was. You can respect something that’s good but not your cup of tea—and that was one of them for me.
Is it a gin drink?
Yeah. How’d you know?
Be nice.
He’s a drinker. Chocolate espresso old fashioned is really good. And we’ve got a whole smoky menu for drinks.
I’m excited for that. I do like a good smoked old fashioned.
We’re changing from top smokes to boxes.
Okay.
One, it’s going to be more of a display for customers. Two, when it’s top smoke, all you can taste is smoke. With a box, it’ll be more infused than pure raw, bitter smoke flavor.
So the drink menu—they did a fabulous job. I’m not a big mixologist to make a menu. Definitely one of my cons. I can cook in the kitchen—just not behind that bar.
Fun fact—this restaurant is the first time I’ve ever worked with liquor.
Really?
Yeah. Before I expanded, I never worked with liquor.
Well, it sounds like you’re doing the right things. You started with what you know, you try things, if some work and some don’t, you substitute. You bring in new ones people have had other places. It’s awesome to give someone a different selection than the norm. Great job with that. Those drinks all sound fantastic. If you need a taste tester, just let Christian and I know—we’ll come anytime.
He said you should have hit me up that one night. Had me come through. We would have both had to get Ubers home.
That’s right.
Well, when it comes out, I’ll have you come by for sure.
Deal.
We’ll do a video like we did with Jeff—like a 10–15 minute video.
Absolutely. We’ll put some drinks in front of you and we’ll talk about them. You can taste them—Uber on standby.
Deal. Deal.
00:28:25
That’s a good thing about having a child whose vehicle you pay for.
You want that car payment paid, buddy?
Yep. That’s exactly right. You like your truck? Come pick up Pops. You want to go to baseball practice? Remember all those years I took you all the places? It’s your turn.
It’s your turn. You got to babysit.
I’ll buy you ribs—just come get me.
Just ribs and fries. Seasoned fries.
And the mac and cheese balls. He will not come here without getting that.
I spent two hours yesterday making mac and cheese balls.
A labor of love.
Labor of love. So, I’m prepping full-time now. I come in at 4 in the morning, I leave at like 4 in the afternoon every day—trying to get a day off. It’s been like a week and a half now. I’m prepping every day.
I’m actually really enjoying it, which is weird to say. Being here has not felt like work to me. It’s… I don’t know. That’s all I know.
So by you prepping every day, one of the things that will happen is it’s consistent.
Yeah, 100%.
Same food.
That’s why I changed that. It wasn’t consistent before and I wasn’t happy. This past year taught me a lot of lessons—hard lessons—but a lot of good lessons that are going to make me grow.
Some people fail to realize I’m only 29 years old. This is my fifth year in business. And I think I’m doing a great job.
What I like is you’re not afraid to try something different.
Yeah, like this podcast.
Yeah—like this. And if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. But if it does, good for you for trying something different.
00:30:13
So my number one rule in the kitchen—or business in general—is never be discouraged. Every great chef, every great leader, every great individual makes mistakes or fails at something. But discouragement sends you back to the bottom instead of keeping you at the top. Once you get discouraged, you stop being creative. You stop trying. You stop believing in yourself.
We’re just human. It has to be 100% right at a restaurant every time, but we’re human. You say you have a good experience every time—some people might not say the same thing. I guarantee there are people out there who will say, “Dubz BBQ one day for me was good. Dubz BBQ one day for me was not good.”
But what they fail to realize is we’re good more than we’re bad. Just like you—we all have bad days.
Absolutely.
You know what I mean? Because we don’t have robots back there. It’s not 2035 yet.
So, I’m glad you went to 35—I’m hoping to keep my job to at least 35.
Me too. Me too.
And that’s something people fail to realize. But once you learn not to be discouraged—that was something one of my mentors really taught me when we first opened this place. Don’t be discouraged. Just keep trying. Keep trying, because you will get it. That’s what I did. That’s what I preach.
I learned the consistency thing from your uncle.
Yeah.
And he taught me: as he’s making things, I’m like, why do you pay extra to have this product or that product? And he said, because it’s the quality. When you bought it the first time, you don’t want it to be less quality the next time. You can lose a customer instantly with an inferior product.
And you’re spot on—things will be wrong from time to time. Mistakes happen. But if the quality of the product is there, so what? It came out wrong or somebody made it incorrect—that’s different than the quality.
And I pride myself on buying top-grade stuff here at Dubz BBQ. My bank account doesn’t like it, to be honest with you, because I don’t charge what I should charge—and I can’t charge what I should charge because whatever—but I’m not going to go cheap. That’s against my soul.
00:32:57
Well, you’re passionate about the food you serve. If you want to order it, you don’t want to eat a lower-grade product.
So yeah—I appreciate it. Thank you for keeping quality stuff, and buying me lunch from time to time is what it feels like for you probably.
Well, Nick, we’re going to wrap this up. Is there any last message you’d like to give out to people—maybe younger people, people in business, or people that want to come to this area?
You have an opportunity to still buy a piece of paradise at an affordable price.
How long?
Not long.
How long? Give me a number.
I would say by the 2030 turn, you’re not going to be as affordable. Sarasota and Fort Myers are kind of built out. We are that next spot in between. Venice has its own pieces and North Fort Myers has its own, but the Punta Gorda to North Port—we’re different. We are that little slice of paradise you can still afford. So buy it now.
Yeah—and I tell my brother that all the time. The next 10 years, this place is going to go crazy. We’ve got the opportunity to put our foot in the ground and take advantage of the opportunities coming here. The beach is right there. Miami is three hours. Tampa is an hour and a half. Sarasota is 45 minutes. Orlando is another three hours. That’s all reasonable.
People complain about snowbird traffic here—you don’t know nothing about traffic, buddy. I will take this all day long. I will take this all year long and adapt to it.
Because I’m with you. I don’t want to have to get on three interstates, then on a metro trip, and still be an hour late for work even though I left two hours early. I like what we have. I’ll take this traffic all day long.
I think it’s a blessing to live here, man. I really appreciate you coming on the podcast. I wish you nothing but the best moving forward. Best of luck, and I appreciate you as a friend. I hope you have a great day, man. Thank you.
Thank you, George. Same to you. Best wishes for business ASAP.
Please like, comment, and subscribe. Thank you guys.
