From Chicken to Culture: Why Tumble 22 Puts People at the Heart of Growth with Laura Dunlap

Anthony Codispoti (00:04)
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast, where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. My name is Anthony Cotaspodi, and today’s guest is Laura Dunlap, Director of Human Resources at Tumble 22. They are a Texas-style chicken company whose menu includes classic sandwiches, salads, and family meals. They are Texas-born and bred

with a mission to serve delicious, all-natural chicken that is hand-breaded and packed with flavor. They were named the best chicken sandwich in Texas by lovefood.com in July of 24, which is a big honor. Laura joined Temple 22 in May of 2024 and brings a strong background in human resources and business management. She has guided teams at Texas Roadhouse and Aerotech before and

She holds a social media marketing certification from Cornell University. She also earned a business management degree from the Minnesota School of Business and a BA degree from Rasmussen University. She is committed to mentoring operators and helping them improve their store performance. Now, before we get into all that good stuff, today’s episode is brought to you by my company, Ad Back Benefits Agency, where we offer very specific and unique employee benefits

that are both great for your team and fiscally optimized for your bottom line. Imagine being able to give your employees free access to doctors, therapists, and prescription medications in a way that actually puts more money in the staff’s pockets and the company’s too. As an example, one recent client with 450 employees boosted net profits $412,000 a year. Results vary for each company and some organizations may not be eligible. To find out if your company qualifies,

Contact us today at atbackbenefits.com. All right, back to our guest today, Director of HR at Tumble 22, Laura Dunlap. Thanks for making the time to share your story today.

Laura Dunlap (02:07)
You bet, that was quite the introduction.

Anthony Codispoti (02:09)
Well, let’s jump in and learn more. Laura, what first drew you into the restaurant industry?

Laura Dunlap (02:16)
I was born into the restaurant industry. So my parents started their own restaurant concept, travel concept. And so really I started working when I was 12 in this industry and just kind of grew my way through the ranks. With them, I went all the way up to management, but then decided I didn’t want to work next to my dad in management. And so I ended up transferring to another company outside the family business. And that’s where my love for the industry really grew because it was now a restaurant that was giving an experience to people.

I then moved on to Tumble 22 where I was able to help develop a new brand, which was something new for me.

Anthony Codispoti (02:51)
So what was the concept that you were working with your father at?

Laura Dunlap (02:55)
It’s called Nelson Brothers. It’s in Minnesota. It’s a travel ⁓ place, but it’s a restaurant, bar, bakery, gift shop. It’s actually been nominated for the best travel stop in the United States.

Anthony Codispoti (03:07)
Travel stops, so along the side of the highway, somebody can use the restroom, get some gas, and also have some wonderful food. Okay. And so ⁓ what did you learn working with your dad?

Laura Dunlap (03:14)
You got it. Yep.

gosh, I think the hustle is the main thing, right? Because my dad, my parents were divorced when I was at a young age and so my dad had to hustle to provide for us three kids because we lived with him. And so obviously I learned that the hours aren’t glamorous, ⁓ but the way that you can change people’s lives is glamorous. So to me, I just remember calling my dad and being like, dad, I can’t even pull out of your parking lot without waiting for five minutes. Like you need to stop sign here so that you can get people out. And he’s like,

isn’t that great? He’s like, that’s how many people’s lives we’re changing because we can afford to pay 300 plus employees and we’re changing lives here. We’re not just serving food. So after that, it was something that I really just bonded with and I’ve just never gotten out of it.

Anthony Codispoti (04:03)
What was it that you guys were doing there so well that had such a strong, steady business?

Laura Dunlap (04:10)
Homemade product, would say for sure. We also, there we treat our people right. Like we’ve had people there and the restaurant world is unheard of, but we’ve had people there since the beginning. So 35 plus years. So I think the knowledge that those long-term employees bring is key, obviously. And then the homemade product where we’re not just microwaving stuff in a bag.

Anthony Codispoti (04:30)
Okay, cool. okay, so you went from one successful concept with your dad to another successful concept.

Now, most of the people I talk to, whether it’s C-suite, business owners, founders, et cetera, ⁓ they’ll generally agree that probably the most difficult part of running a business is managing the people. But you found an enjoyment, a passion in managing the people and developing them. Why do you think that was?

Laura Dunlap (05:01)
100 % because the thing about the restaurant industry is and it shows for myself too is like you don’t need a strong degree or you don’t need a bachelor’s degree or you don’t need any sort of degree to be able to develop your future, right? So like you come in with that good attitude willing to learn, know, energy, whatever, and you start proving yourself in the restaurant world and you can work yourself through the ranks just by doing that and working hard. Not every job can do that. You know, most people need a certain amount of time for experience and need a certain education or degree.

In the restaurant world, you can literally take people that come in that really have had a probably not so great upbringing and you can teach them and develop them and becoming the person that they want to be and show them that there is a future in restaurants. So for me, that’s, that’s my favorite is you’re really like, you’re almost like taking a chance on people sometimes, but to see them grow and see them develop and provide for them and provide for their families is certainly something that’s fulfilling.

Anthony Codispoti (05:56)
and we’re gonna get to talk about Tumble 22 and what the customer experience is and sort of where you guys are on your growth curve, but it’s a newer concept, it’s smaller. Do you guys have sort of the infrastructure, the resources available to do the same kind of thing for your employees?

Laura Dunlap (06:13)
That’s what we’re trying to create right now. What we’ve gotten to is something that we call a group orientation, basically, is where we start and we bring everybody in. Every person that’s joined the company will all come together once for this orientation when they begin, within their first month. And so that’s where we kind of lay the foundation and basically talk about the development paths of where you can go. And you’ll really see, after that orientation, they’re jazzed, they’re pumped up, they’re doing chants, they’re doing the chicken dance, whatever.

But when they leave there and they go back to their home stores, that’s when they really connect with their managing partner and they get to start talking about where they want to go and how far they want to come in the company. And again, maybe that’s not with Tumble 22. And I think that’s one thing that makes us different is because we will take you whether you’re coming in for a pit stop. So maybe you’re only going to be there for six months or if you’re going to be there for a year or more, right? Like no matter where you’re at your point in life, we’ll take you as you are and we’ll love you how you are. It might not be Tumble 22 for your future forever, but we don’t care.

Like we just want you to be a better person when you leave our building.

Anthony Codispoti (07:11)
That’s really cool. Okay, so tell me about the Tumble 22 customer experience. I’ve never been to one of your restaurants. I walk in for the first time. What am I seeing, smelling, tasting?

Laura Dunlap (07:24)
Yeah, so we’re loud, we’re proud. Like, you come into all of our restaurants and they look completely different. We have one that’s a church that has literally been remodeled into our restaurant. We have one that was a previous concept that looks like an Applebee’s when you walk in. So they’re all just different. But what we have on the inside is really like homemade art. So some of our employees were artists. And so we’ve said, hey, what can you do for us inside Tumble?

another way again for developing. And so they literally will paint huge chickens on the side of the walls. We have some that create images, like weird images, like ladies on the beach eating, then they’ll impose like a thing of chicken inside. So it’s really like creative art that we’ve put together that’s funny and fun and it’s light. And then our food is all made from scratch, which I think is the best part. And you can get our food in like mild to no flavor to all the way up to habanero or Reaper pepper. I mean, you can get as hot as you want.

And so it really hits home with everybody because they can order what they like. So kids can get the no seasoning. know, dads and moms can get the most seasoning and most flavor and everybody wins. Not to mention we have the best mac and cheese in the whole entire world. And I’m not joking about that.

Anthony Codispoti (08:34)
What makes the mac and cheese so good?

Laura Dunlap (08:36)
it’s a secret. It’s a secret recipe. We use some expensive cheese that we probably pay too much for, but it’s a winner. Like I’ve never had mac and cheese like that. So.

Anthony Codispoti (08:44)
Okay.

And the chicken itself, it’s fried, it’s grilled, it’s baked. What are the options there?

Laura Dunlap (08:50)
You can get it grilled and you can get it fried if you want to be healthier obviously you’ll go towards the grilled but what we’re really known for is the fried the hot chicken part where it’s hand breaded it’s hand cut so we have like a meat cooler where our our employees will go and they’ll cut the meat fresh so everything’s gonna be totally fresh we hand breaded

Anthony Codispoti (09:07)
You

cut it and you bread it on site.

Laura Dunlap (09:10)
Yes. Yep. everything is homemade. So literally we have a person that’s in charge of cutting the chicken.

Anthony Codispoti (09:16)
But

that’s not done from like a central commissary and then shipped to each of the locations. They’re all doing it like right there on site.

Laura Dunlap (09:23)
Yeah,

we cut them fresh for like the sizes that we need, you know, the white, the dark meat, whatever. So that part we’re definitely doing in-house. So it’s not frozen, it’s fresh. Wow. And then from there we batter it. And then from there we hand batter it or hand batter it and we tumble it 22 times. So hence the tumble 22 name. And then of course we have like the secret spices in there.

Anthony Codispoti (09:44)
Humble it 22 times in the breading and the spicing.

Laura Dunlap (09:47)
Correct, so when you take the chicken, you throw it into the breading, and literally like the way you’re flipping it, you’re tumbling it with your hands, and so you do it 22 times before it goes into the fryer. Why is that? I don’t know.

Anthony Codispoti (09:57)
22 the magic number, 24.

You guys tested all the different numbers and it’s like 24 is too much, 21, not quite there, but 22, you’ve hit it.

Laura Dunlap (10:11)
It has the correct layer and the correct amount of like, don’t know, it soaks up the seasoning perfect. It’s just, it’s 22 and we’ll never change it.

Anthony Codispoti (10:19)
You’re

the director of HR there. You love to focus on fostering a positive and inclusive environment. Can you share a specific moment or maybe a particular initiative that has really demonstrated the power of the inclusive practices that you put in place there?

Laura Dunlap (10:36)
Yes, like I can pinpoint it to a T. When I walked in at Tymbal 22 to tour it to see if it was a business that I wanted to come over to walked into one of our locations in Lake Austin Boulevard and I was blown away by the amount of diversity in that restaurant. So literally, I mean, there was multiple colors, there was multiple genders, there was people that didn’t identify as certain gender.

there was people from all over and you literally walk in and you look at this restaurant and immediately I fell in love with it because every single one of them like love each other like their family, right? And you don’t always get that. Like I come from a small town in Minnesota where there’s not a whole lot of diversity to be honest. Like my small town is like 580 people. It’s very small. And so you come into Austin where people are creative and authentic and have piercings and have tattoos.

And they’re all loved and accepted for who they are. And I just knew right then and there, was like, this is the company that I need to be for or need to be with. And then I went and traveled to the other restaurants and saw the same exact thing. So there’s people from all different backgrounds, all different cultures, religions, whatever. And it’s so cool to like learn from each other and grow from each other. And again, that leads back to our development piece, right? We’re like, we don’t care where you’re at in life. Like we just want you to be happy. want to love on you and we want you to grow some way, somehow within tumble 22.

I honestly think the initiative right away, and we’re a very small company, so I think as we grow, we’re gonna need to have those D and I initiatives, right? But right now, we’re little, and so we’re literally, we’re putting applications out, or we’re accepting applications from all over, and we’re just lucky enough that our managers are accepting people for who they are and where they’re at in their life.

And so we’ve just built this like, I don’t know if you want to call it like pot of soup, but like it’s literally like a mesh or a hodgepodge of everybody with all their cultures and religion. it’s so cool just to accept people for how they are, how they look, where they’re at in life. And it’s just, it’s just amazing. It’s so great to learn from each other. So.

Anthony Codispoti (12:34)
That’s really cool. So when you first joined the organization, ⁓ paint a picture, where was the size in terms of number of locations? Where are you guys now?

Laura Dunlap (12:44)
So since I’ve been on board, we’ve opened two locations. So we’re about to open up our ninth location now, which is in the works. So before that, they had seven locations. I’m sorry, they had six locations. I’ve opened up two with them and then we have another one on the books and three more to come next year. So our goal is to like three to five a year. We don’t want to grow too fast where we don’t have the right people in the right seats, right? Cause then your company is going to go downhill.

So we just want to make sure that we can develop those people and have that bench to continue to open up stores, if that makes sense.

Anthony Codispoti (13:16)
Yeah. And these are all company owned locations? Are you guys franchising?

Laura Dunlap (13:21)
company owned. So I think eventually maybe as we grow and go outside of Texas, we might then do some of those franchises. But right now, our goal is to basically make a name for ourselves. And what we found is like in Austin, if we open up a restaurant in Austin, it’s a go from get go from the time we open up our doors, because we’ve kind of spread through Austin, Austin so big.

We’ve spread through it. Now we’re going to the surrounding cities around Austin. And what we’re finding is that our revenue is spot on by the time we open our doors, because they already know us. So if we start going into these other states where nobody knows symbol 22 and start throwing franchises up, yes, we have good food and good service, but it’ll take a little bit.

Anthony Codispoti (14:01)
have

the name recognition. It doesn’t have sort of the built-in audience right away.

Laura Dunlap (14:05)
Exactly. Yep. Yep.

Anthony Codispoti (14:07)
Um, and, so I’m sure that there are other chicken places in Austin and the surrounding areas. Why are you guys doing so well? Lots, lots. How do you rise above the noise? How are you beating out the competition?

Laura Dunlap (14:16)
Okay, a lot.

That’s a great question. And the only thing that I can answer is that it literally goes back to our food and goes back to our service. Like we have those initiatives that you have to tumble that chicken 22 times. We’re not taking anything frozen. It’s all going to be made, you know, made from scratch. We do like a rotating chicken that people can actually put in boats for and submit what they want to see as our sandwich of the month. And we’ll do this whole voting poll on social media and we’ll actually like give them food for a year if they put up a sandwich that they like. So.

Not only do we have our menu that’s fantastic, but we’re also rotating in new products that the public wants to see because they get their opinion on that as well. And then our service, I think, is above the rest too. We’re just very picky.

Anthony Codispoti (15:02)
And to ask a very basic remedial question, it’s all chicken. We won’t find other proteins on the menu.

Laura Dunlap (15:09)
Well, it’s all chicken at Sefer and Houston. We actually have a burger. So same burger as hand patting and stuff there. So Houston did really well with the hamburger. Austin market, not so much. So Austin is going to be all chicken. We’ll test it. like our new location in San Marcos, we threw on a burger because it’s a college town and know, college kids like cheeseburgers. So we threw that on the menu and we’ll see how it goes. But in Austin, it’s a hundred percent chicken.

Anthony Codispoti (15:35)
You mentioned social media just a second ago, Laura, and we mentioned in the intro that you’ve got a social media marketing certification. ⁓ As an HR director, what was behind that decision?

Laura Dunlap (15:50)
part of my main position was the staffing, staffing and recruiting. And so I did things from like training technology to teaching people how to staff and recruit. ⁓ And so I went and got that degree so that I could kind of help grow our brand, especially after COVID. Before COVID, we didn’t have to even ask for applications. People were just flying in our doors, knew our brand.

It was easy enough after COVID hit, it was like a struggle because we were going from open stores. So then we’d have to close them or then only to to-go sales. And so we were fluctuating so much that after that, we had to start asking for applications. And let’s face it, these days, social media is the way to go. mean, the old school.

Anthony Codispoti (16:29)
social media to recruit new employees.

Laura Dunlap (16:31)
Yeah, yep. Actually with Tumble 22, I do not do any of the marketing on social media. We have a fantastic marketer that does everything on social media and we also have a director of marketing that also helps with that. So that part of my history is in the past for now. Maybe it’ll come out if we have to start recruiting. But with Tumble 22, it’s insane the amount of applications we get in. Like people want to work there because it’s so fun.

So for right now, we don’t have to have a employment branding side of it.

Anthony Codispoti (17:01)
So we’ve talked about Texas Born and Raised. ⁓ are not Texas Born and Raised, you’re in Minnesota, but you’ve really, your heart’s been drawn to this brand. Is it created any challenges for you being so far away from the restaurants themselves?

Laura Dunlap (17:20)
Fun fact, I was actually in Texas, but I was born in Minnesota because I was on vacation with my family. So I was born in Minnesota, but we actually lived in Texas. So I am halfway, if you want to count that maybe.

Anthony Codispoti (17:32)
All right. All right. You check part of the box. We’ll give you.

Laura Dunlap (17:34)
I

it. But I think being a challenge, no, because flights are so easy, right? So like anytime that I need to go, if we have a human resource investigation, I need to go on the fly. It’s, you know, two and a half hours away to get there. So even though it’s far away from Minnesota, it doesn’t feel like it. And I make it a point to go down there a lot because I want I don’t want to be the stuffy HR person. Like, I want to be the person that they can call and they know they’re talking to a human that understands that.

has worked in their shoes and been a manager for many years. So I make it a point to go into those restaurants and I know the hourly employees, I know the managers. So if they need me, they call. Like literally any time of the day they call. If I need to go down there in a heartbeat, I’m down there. I love being in the stores. It’s fantastic.

Anthony Codispoti (18:17)
And your small town in Minnesota, how far are you from Minneapolis? I’m going to guess that’s your airport. So hour and a half drive, two, two and a half hour flight and you’re there. So you’re down there a couple of times a month.

Laura Dunlap (18:23)
An hour and a half, well.

Yep. Yep. Depending on what’s going on. If I need to be down there more, then great. But when I’m down there, I’ll spend, you know, four days or whatever and make sure that I hit all the stores so I can spend time with people. And there comes in that development piece again where I can chat with them, see where they’re at in their life, but then also help them with their struggles that they’re having in the store when it comes to people.

Anthony Codispoti (18:48)
Yeah. Any, besides what we’ve already talked about, Laura, are there any other kind of HR projects that you’ve, I don’t know, either recently completed or recently undertaken that you’re excited about? I don’t know, whether it’s new software, new programs, new strategies.

Laura Dunlap (19:04)
Yeah, So coming from like where we have all the technology and all the funds and we can buy whatever we want, coming to a new brand that we’re trying to make a name for ourselves and create that revenue, we really had to be selective, but we didn’t have an applicant tracking system. We didn’t have a good payroll system. And we also like,

We just implemented Restaurant 365. We implemented PayCore Delay on top of that. And then we also are using PayCore’s applicant tracking system as well. So those three things were brand new that just went live basically. I mean, we started an implementation last year, but we’re fully set probably January 1. So it’s been great to see all the new bells and whistles that we can do that helps us with our daily job for sure. And then I’ll grow and that’ll change, but that’s what we’re using right now.

Anthony Codispoti (19:52)
So you upgraded the PayCore and their applicant tracking system. And there was something else you mentioned, Restaurant 365. What is that?

Laura Dunlap (20:00)
So that’s like a basic layer inventory system where we get to calculate all the purchases in and out. I mean, it does a lot. like serve safe cards, manager cards, scheduling, it does all of that. So it really just, it helps overall.

Anthony Codispoti (20:13)
I mean, in any one of those three projects, that’s a lot to take on at one time, but you layer them on top. It sounds like you were doing these concurrently.

Laura Dunlap (20:22)
We were actually. Yeah, we had to get away from ⁓ a previous company that wasn’t working for us anymore. And so myself and her name is Amanda, she’s the director of finance. ⁓ And then Doug Lyons, the director of operations, us three kind of came together and each took our piece of what we could handle together. And then also our director of training came in there too. So the four of us really just jelled together and kind of divided it up and it went live. And obviously there’s hiccups, you know, it’s technology, but.

Now everything is running smooth and it’s fantastic.

Anthony Codispoti (20:53)
How much time did the three of you have to dedicate to getting those projects?

Laura Dunlap (20:57)
A lot. I think that’s basically all I worked on for probably the first couple months. But from implementation to going live, we had to do it fast too, because our contract was at the end of December. It was done and we weren’t gonna have that anymore. So we had to make sure that we rushed in two and a half months to get all of it pushed out, which is insane. Normally it takes like a year, right? So it was insane, but it worked and we all worked hard on it and we’re proud of it.

Anthony Codispoti (21:21)
So now what are you doing with all your free time?

Laura Dunlap (21:24)
⁓ Now I get to ⁓ deal with a lot of other things. now it’s more heavily. So as when I first started, right, like people didn’t really know who I was, where I was coming from, maybe probably didn’t trust me as much as they do now. So in the beginning I was okay with being behind a computer screen and working on that stuff. Now I get to do my real job, which is like helping people and helping with employee issues and doing the payroll side of things and benefits and.

know, investigations and things like that. So now I get to do my real job, which I

Anthony Codispoti (21:59)
Are there any other upcoming projects for you or things that you would like to do kind of on the future horizon?

Laura Dunlap (22:06)
⁓ Yes, I would love, love, love to look more into the benefits side of things. So we’re a new company and I think one aspect that we’re not winning at is having a 401k. And so that’s something my next project that I’d really, really like to zone in. And then also on the development piece of things is, again, I come from a past where development was a big deal and we want to start tumble 22 in that same direction. And so it’s really partnering with the director of training and kind of making those tools and creating new tools that work for chicken.

⁓ to help our people get to the next level. So that’s a fun part of my job that I really love.

Anthony Codispoti (22:42)
So for those that are just listening today and aren’t taking in the video version of this, there is a furry creature over ⁓ Laura’s shoulder here. What is that? What’s going on back there?

Laura Dunlap (22:55)
That is a Sasquatch or a Yeti or whatever you want to call it. But since I’m in Minnesota, people think I live in the Arctic and don’t have grocery stores and think I’m just covered in Sasquatches. So that’s that.

Anthony Codispoti (23:08)
So they sent that to you as sort of a homecoming present or a welcome aboard kind of a present.

Laura Dunlap (23:15)
Yes, yep, that came from directly our managing partners who think they’re just hilarious. But I love them and they are hilarious.

Anthony Codispoti (23:23)
And

what’s the, I see you’ve got some artwork, you’ve got some ink. What’s going on there? Are there some stories on your?

Laura Dunlap (23:29)
⁓ yes. I have two arm sleeves, actually. So again, thank God, Tumble 22 lets you be who you are. But not many HR people have that. But yeah, it’s all my favorite things. So it starts from like the sun, sunset, and then it goes down to mountains and waterfall, kayaking, camping, wildflowers. And then this side is flowers and palm trees and sunrises. So all my favorite things. So lots of. Mm That’s Minnesota for you. What else are you going to do?

Anthony Codispoti (23:52)
It’s about Dorsey things.

I love it. Let’s shift gears, Laura. I’d like to hear about a serious challenge, personal or professional, that you’ve gone through. How’d you get through it? What’d learn?

Laura Dunlap (24:09)
I guess we’ll start with, maybe we’ll do personal. Does that work for you? Okay, all right. let’s see here, where to start? Okay, so I mentioned earlier that I had come from a divorced family, right? And had gone right into restaurants from the get go. So I don’t know if you know anything about restaurants, but we’re in that world. You pretty much date everybody that’s in that restaurant. Like that’s how you meet people. That’s your family, whatever. Anyway, I got hooked into the wrong crowd, wrong person.

Anthony Codispoti (24:14)
Absolutely.

Laura Dunlap (24:39)
ended up being with somebody that was mentally, physically, whatever, abusive and got into a rut where I would say that maybe probably struggled with alcoholism. Like I’m getting real deep here, so get ready for it. ⁓ Yeah, yeah. So at a young age, I was not in the right place and really I didn’t have a good future. And thankfully I made my way out of that cloud and got into, remember when I said I transferred to a different restaurant.

Anthony Codispoti (24:52)
is what we came for

Laura Dunlap (25:07)
That’s really what pulled me out of that dark cloud of that scene of not so good people that I was hanging around, a lot of alcohol, there was drugs going on, whatever. ⁓ But I was able to get with a company then that did develop me, that did push me, that I was able to go back to school and did those things for me. And I think that’s why I’m so passionate about development is because I can see what it’s like to be in a dark place in a dark cloud and to have people that…

invest in you and love on you, bring you up from those dark times and show you that there’s a future. ⁓ That’s amazing. again, I don’t think every industry can do that because sometimes you need that degree or you need whatever. So it’s just really fun to be able to tell my story, especially with women ⁓ in this industry that think that they can’t be a mom or they think that, ⁓ you know, in the restaurant world, alcoholism is a big deal. Like it is a big deal.

And so they think that, you you need to be drinking to be able to make connections and, and, you know, whatever, whatever the, the stereotypes are of the restaurant world that it doesn’t have to be that way that you can break free. You can, you know, live a happy life. Like me, I don’t, I’m sober. I’ve been sober for a while. Have kids, still live in the restaurant dream, right? I’m just in a different role, but I still get to be in restaurants and just that there’s a future for everyone. So there you go. Real deep.

Anthony Codispoti (26:24)
I appreciate you opening up about that Laura, because there are going to be a lot of people who hear that and that story resonates with them. When you were going through that, you’re in a relationship that’s not healthy, you’re in a circle of friends where some of the habits are not healthy and not supporting a good lifestyle for you. Was there kind of a catalyst, like a trigger that made you one day sort of sit up and realize, I got to make a big change here? Or was it kind of a gradual thing?

Laura Dunlap (26:53)
You know, it was probably losing all the friends to begin with. had, when I was in high school, had, again, I started working when I was 12. So really this happened when I was quite young. So around like the 16, 17 mark. So I started to lose a lot of friends and noticed that, you know, why aren’t my friends coming around? Why am I not, you know, my phone’s not going off anymore, this and that. And just recognize that I wasn’t going to go anywhere. And really if I was going to stay in the situation, my future wasn’t going to be bright and.

Who knows? mean, it could even, you could, and when you’re in an abusive relationship, you’re very crowded, right? So, I mean, you can die. could, like, there’s all these different things and scenarios that could have happened, right? Luckily, I was able to make my way out of it, but I think not having those friends anymore to lean on was really eye-opening. I also had an incident where my boyfriend at the time had elbowed me in the face and I had to go to the emergency room and like the…

roof of my mouth caved in and so I had to emergency surgery. That was pretty much the last straw. And then when I had to walk up and show my dad my face and he had to bring me to the emergency room at three in the morning, he was like, that is enough. And so he really pulled me from that atmosphere as well and made me move home and kind of got me straight. And again, that’s the dad that I worked for since, you know, I was little. So I think his input is, goes a long way. So I guess I credit it to him. And then after that,

I had new friends and had a new life, new restaurant concept, and actually met my husband that I am now that we’ve been together for 20 plus years. ⁓ And so I got lucky, but I’m glad that I had people in my life that were able to pull me out of that. I don’t know if I would have been able to do by myself.

Anthony Codispoti (28:31)
Man, how fortunate, right? I think about that every day. The family that I was born into, I kind of hit the lottery. ⁓ The love and support that I was shown, the value on bettering yourself, on education, those values that were instilled in a very young age, it sounds like, and not everybody has that, right? And you kind of alluded to that earlier, and that’s why you enjoy doing what you’re doing in the industry that you’re in because

You don’t have to have the bachelor’s, the college degree. You don’t have to come from this pristine background. Come as you are and we’ll take you and love you as you are and we’ll help lift you up. The fact that you’ve kind of walked part of that path yourself, you can relate to a lot of the folks that you’re working with, I presume.

Laura Dunlap (29:24)
Yeah, 100%. It’s really cool to be able to share a story that some people are struggling with or that some people don’t see that they can find their way. And I don’t even have to share my story, right? Like can just try to help inspire them in different ways. And again, it doesn’t have to be with Temple 22. It can be in something totally different. But if we can help you get your life together in certain other aspects or areas and help you achieve those and you can see your worth, then I mean, who knows? Who knows where the world will take you, which is pretty cool.

Anthony Codispoti (29:53)
Well, that is really cool. If you had to recommend a resource to listeners, maybe people who are trying to get a foothold in the restaurant industry, a a podcast, a course, something that’s been helpful to you along the way, what would

Laura Dunlap (30:10)
My absolute favorite book is Genuine Hospitality. I don’t know if you’ve ever read it, but it is insane. It basically talks about ⁓ how to give somebody an experience above and beyond from what they would ever imagine. And so it just teaches people that, again, the restaurant world, you get everybody from every different background, but at the end of the day, if your goal is to blow it out of the water, to

give everybody an experience that they never think is wild and pour yourself into other people, whether that’s guests or ⁓ other employees, that you’re gonna go far and people are gonna remember you and come back to you. So for me, it’s like, I mean, in the book, there’s this example, like this person came into this restaurant and they really wanted a hot dog from whatever, a place three miles down the road. And so this person like literally went, it’s a fine dining restaurant and went and got this kid a hot dog from the place that he really wanted to and served it to him.

And then it also talks about, again, people that don’t have that strong background or don’t think they’re going anywhere. And they started out as a dishwasher and now they’re, you a managing partner of a fine dining restaurant. And so it just shows you like with those memorable experiences, how far you can go, whether that’s building sales in your restaurant or building somebody up in an area that they need. So that book is killer.

Anthony Codispoti (31:27)
⁓ Can you think of an example of something you took from that book and it generated an idea for you to put into place, something that you were like, ⁓ I can do this.

Laura Dunlap (31:38)
Yeah, but it’s not going to be that super inspiring.

Anthony Codispoti (31:42)
Sometimes it’s just turning the small dials that matter.

Laura Dunlap (31:44)
Yeah, I suppose. But like the experience thing is always something that as a consumer who goes into restaurants a lot, because let’s face it, like after working in restaurants, you don’t want to go cook your own meal. So I always want to give that great experience and obviously elevate that restaurant to the next level and give that provide that experience. Right. So one thing that I did when I worked for our customers or our guests was if they were coming in and celebrating a anniversary or birthday, whatever.

we would go in office and hand write a card for them and, you know, congratulate them and have the staff sign it and we would give it to them. And it was just like that little sentiment that was above and beyond that they weren’t used to. And then for our employees, which is something that we still continue to do is celebrate them in every victory that they have. So whether that’s a birthday, an anniversary, a graduation, we’ve gone so far to even like at tables have all the graduation pictures laid out and close the table down to just kind of celebrate them. ⁓

And just, it’s the little things that matter, right? Like just, just the little things, whether it’s an experience or for your employees, that it’s going to take you to the next level.

Anthony Codispoti (32:48)
That attention to detail, those small dials, they matter. They make a big difference. ⁓ So you mentioned you’re married, mother, how many kids do you have?

Laura Dunlap (32:57)
I have two, a 12 year old and an eight year old.

Anthony Codispoti (33:01)
great. ⁓

Laura Dunlap (33:03)
grew

up in the restaurant business for sure because my husband and I met in the restaurant industry. He now has a food truck that he’s running and then obviously I’m with Tumble. So that’s kind of all they know, but they know that there’s a future in it.

Anthony Codispoti (33:16)
Yeah, do they talk about that? I want to be like mom and dad when I grow up.

Laura Dunlap (33:19)
yeah, our son who’s 12 now works in the food truck. ⁓ That’s his jam. He has to support his fishing habits. So he’s in the food truck all the time. ⁓ My daughter Elise has said since she was little, you know, she has this little board that every year they take a picture of how old they are and where they want to work. And it’s always been in the restaurant industry or in the food truck or whatever. So we’ll support it.

Anthony Codispoti (33:43)
That’s awesome. I love it. That’s ours, Yeah. Let’s talk about how COVID changed things in the restaurant space. And I know that you were at one restaurant concept during COVID, and now you’re with Tumble 22. But certainly, you’ve talked to your coworkers who were there through the whole thing. How has the working experience and the customer dining experience shifted since then?

Laura Dunlap (34:10)
gosh, I feel like people are just so negative nowadays and I don’t know if it’s from COVID or what, but it’s hard. you know, the employees that you get in sometimes don’t want to work so hard. The guests that you get in are sometimes pretty cranky. And so you just have to, at the end of the day, like not take anything personal, but also like realize you don’t know where they’re coming from and what their background is too, right? So they could have experienced something that you have no idea about before you and you can’t take it personal and just try to change around their experience.

I think COVID as a whole, I mean, it changed the entire world. For us, was, in restaurants, was challenging. You know, like I had talked to before, it was wide open and then it closed down and then you could maybe do on the patio. And so you really found who your true employees were because they stuck by your side through that whole thing, right? And you knew who was dedicated and who was going to be there for you when you needed them. But.

I don’t know, I don’t know what you think, but I think as a whole, this world is kind of negative sometimes and it’s just not fun always. So to try to make it fun, we do our best, I can at Tumblr 22 and try to give them that experience.

Anthony Codispoti (35:14)
There certainly is a layer of crankiness that maybe didn’t exist before, but what I love that I hear you say, Laura, is that you focus on trying to make it fun. Like you could spend all of your time and energy focusing on all that crankiness, the employees maybe who don’t want to work as hard, the guests who come in that, you know, they’re mean and angry from the start. ⁓ But what you’re really trying to focus on is how can we make a great experience both for the employees and the guests.

Laura Dunlap (35:39)
Exactly. Yeah, you got to make it fun. Like people feel so entitled these days. so let’s have fun. Let’s have a contest. Let’s have a good time. Let’s celebrate. Whatever, whatever we can do to light the mood is our call.

Anthony Codispoti (35:51)
Laura, what’s your superpower?

Set humility aside, what do you do better than anyone?

Laura Dunlap (36:01)
I really think it’s the connections that I make with people. I alluded to this earlier on where, you know, as an HR person, you’re not the first person people want to call. Like, they think that they’re doing something wrong if they have to call HR, right? And so I really just made it my mission to connect with people on different levels. And we’ve kind of talked about some of the levels, like what my past was in growing up, but it…

It’s just connecting with them to find some way somehow that they can relate with you so that they’ll remember your name, that they think that it’s okay to call HR, that they’ll call you for advice and being proactive instead of reactive. And I think that’s not even just in my job too. I think that’s in everyday life. I like to meet people. want to know about their backgrounds. I want to learn from the most people that I can. And so…

the way that people trust you is making those small connections. And somehow I make people laugh, I guess, and they trust me. I guess putting humility aside, I’m gonna go with connecting with people.

Anthony Codispoti (37:01)
Well, that’s a powerful one. Because, you know, especially with what you’ve talked about and what you enjoy doing in your work and helping people up, helping people through challenging parts of their lives. You know, I talk about this a fair amount on the show. You know, the power of safe human connection, I think, is one of the best forms of medicine that exists. And so that being your superpower, God bless you.

You know, you’re making your corner of the world a little bit better.

Laura Dunlap (37:33)
So that’s what I try to anyway and instill that in my kids. Like that’s so hard. Raising kids nowadays is not easy. And so obviously you want to raise your kids to be the best that they can. And in this world sometimes it’s challenging, you know, people aren’t always raised the best and they get so much peer pressure from everybody around them. So it’s just really instilling that power again of connection and letting people help you grow and doing the right thing, I think is hard, but it’s important.

Anthony Codispoti (37:58)
Do you have a little nugget of parenting wisdom for myself, for the listeners? Something where it’s like, you know, I started doing this and it’s made a big difference in my life, my kids’ lives, et cetera.

Laura Dunlap (38:11)
Yeah, be nice. Like, that’s it. Bottom line is be nice. mean, treat people how you want to be treated. But, you know, if you see somebody that’s sitting on the side that is, you by themselves and you can see that they’re down, like, you help them. You help them up because it costs you nothing except for reaching out to somebody, you know? Like, you just, you have to be nice. It’s so sad how many people are angry or mean or what have you. And it’s just, if there was more nice and more smiles in the world, I think we’d be in a better place.

Anthony Codispoti (38:39)
I love that. I’m gonna tuck that one away for myself. Perfect. Especially as my nine-year-old was yelling at me what a mean dad I am last night.

Laura Dunlap (38:47)
isn’t that lovely. So what’s your advice for your kids? What do you tell them?

Anthony Codispoti (38:53)
Oh boy, I don’t know that I’ve got any pearls of wisdom like you do. You know, we try to do the, you know, take a deep breath. isn’t as big of a deal as you think. But at times that feels like the wrong message too, because whatever it is that sort of has them triggered is a big deal to them in that moment. And I don’t want to diminish that, so.

Laura Dunlap (39:20)
I agree. I’ve always heard like little people, little problems, big people, big problems. And so it’s like right now, sometimes those kids come to you with like things that are just so little, right? Like, somebody didn’t want to sit with me on the bus. And to them, it’s just like explosive. Like it’s end of the world. And I’m sure I would feel that way if I was their age too. So you’re right. Like they’re big problems or are little to us, but like they’re a big deal to them. And so it’s hard to, I think it’s important to keep that open relationship. I don’t know what you’re like with your kids, but like,

you come to me with anything, any question I’d rather have you ask me than go ask your friend. Ask me, I will tell you the truth and we have that open relationship because there’s just so much negativity. again, kids are raised from parents who maybe are not in their lives and they’re not raised the best way. so to instill, mean, faith in our family is a big deal as well, which I won’t go on that tangent, but it’s just always boiled down to like do the right thing when nobody’s looking and be nice to people.

Anthony Codispoti (40:19)
When did faith get to be such an important part of your life? You raised that way, was it going through some of those earlier struggles later on?

Laura Dunlap (40:28)
Yeah, my parents actually are big into faith. And I remember going to church and hating every second of it. then like literally they would say, okay, fine, just come with us once a month. And I was like, So you can make it look like we’re a happy family and faith. I remember just like batting against them and not having a good time in church. And then actually after… ⁓

like finding sobriety and kind of finding my way. I still go to the same church that I went to with my parents when I was younger, but now I willingly go and my kids come with me and my kids beg me, like if we don’t get to go, they’re sad. And so it’s just something that.

now it’s really fun because I want to be there and I’ll sit next to my dad still to this day and he’s just like beaming because he’s like, I did my job. She’s doing okay for herself and she’s now loving her faith and actually expressing it on her own and not having him pull me to church every day.

Anthony Codispoti (41:23)
How did you flip the script for your kids? Why are they so excited to go when you weren’t as a kid?

Laura Dunlap (41:29)
So when I was raised, my parents went through kind of a nasty divorce. And so I was never in church until probably my dad met my stepmom. ⁓ And that’s when I was 10 years old. And so for me, it was probably something like, this isn’t what I was used to. Like I am gonna, you’re not my mom. Like I don’t wanna go. It’s never been an issue before. So it was probably just me being that hot headed stubborn jerk. I don’t like enjoying it.

For me and with my kids, I never forced them to go. just, actually my parents took my kids to the church for the first time and they just loved it. And ever since then, they’ve been hooked. We have a really good church, so we’re very fortunate.

Anthony Codispoti (42:08)
it lively like music, dancing, like that kind of a thing.

Laura Dunlap (42:12)
⁓

yeah, enjoy the energy. How about you? Are you in a faith or not so much?

Anthony Codispoti (42:18)
I am. ⁓ I was raised Catholic and our services are radically different from what you’re describing. And so I went through the same thing where I did not enjoy going. I encouraged my brothers and sisters to be extra quiet on Sunday mornings, hoping that the parents would oversleep and we would miss it. Yeah. And then, know, life unfolds and evolves and you find yourself in new places with new beliefs and new understandings. so I think it’s a…

Laura Dunlap (42:37)
Bye guys!

Anthony Codispoti (42:47)
It’s a fun path. But how about, let’s shift gears and I’d like to hear about maybe outside of faith, like some daily habits, rituals, practices, things that help you get your day started, help keep you on track.

Laura Dunlap (43:01)
Yeah, I don’t know if you can see behind me, but with my Sasquatch working out on the elliptical, I also have some weights over here, but I’m a big firm believer that you start your morning with a workout. If you don’t start it with that to clear your mind, then my day is always shot. I can tell you that. So I typically play my beach body on the TV screen, lift my weights and jam out to some Jesus music as I’m pumping my iron. So.

That’s my day. That’s how I get it started. And I can tell you what, if I don’t do that and I jump into work and turn my computer on before, you know, I do my workout, the rest of my day is shot. Like, I’m just angry. I need that happy music.

Anthony Codispoti (43:40)
It’s good way to wake up and it’s a good way to just kind of, yeah, burn off some of that angry energy that may be there when you first throw out of bed.

Laura Dunlap (43:47)
100%. It’s a ritual.

Anthony Codispoti (43:49)
You know, sometimes our mistakes, and I’m using air quotes, end up becoming our greatest teachers. Is there an early career moment that seemed like a setback at the time, but actually propelled you forward?

Laura Dunlap (44:01)
HR direction with staffing and recruiting. And now I’m coming to a different side of the HR and learning and evolving. And I still do some of that, but like, I’m not all the way there yet. You know, I’m learning as I go and I have to take, you know, conferences and classes and start developing kind of that legal side of the HR background that I really wasn’t familiar with. And so coming over here, I’m kind of like deep down, if you ask me, I’m like, I’m kind of a fake and a phony. Like, I’m learning as I go on this part, but having that human connection.

is what’s, you know, like I’ll be the first to say, I don’t know, let me find that out and I will get back to you, you know? And so thankfully I have a good support system that I can lean on that will help me with that, but I guess so. But then also like sometimes I’m exposed because I don’t know the answers to everything. Yeah, but I’m trying when it comes to the HR legal stuff, so.

Anthony Codispoti (44:51)
So what I’m hearing you say is I’m a human being, which by definition makes me imperfect. Yeah. You know, we talk a fair bit on this show about the idea of imposter syndrome, which is something you touched on there. You know, like ⁓ I feel like a phony, a fraud, like I don’t know half of what it is. I’m kind of making it up as I go along. And I’m glad that you gave voice to that genuinely Laura, because there’s so many people who think that they’re alone in that. And I’ve talked to people at

the highest levels of their career, founders, CEOs, large corporations, ⁓ financially very successful, lots of education, and I hear the same things over and over again. I think it’s a part of the human condition. ⁓ And because it doesn’t get talked about a lot, people think, ⁓ I’m alone in feeling this way in my job. I had one guest, and I’d be curious to get your

thoughts on this, ⁓ who reframed it. And he says, you know, actually he’s like, the imposter syndrome is my superpower. ⁓ It’s the thing that kicks me in the butt every day, makes me get out of bed and make sure that I’m always trying to do better than the day before. How does that land for you? Because I wonder if more people could sort of, you know, when they sort of find themselves

pushed up against that imposter syndrome, feeling like a phony or a fraud, if they could kind of turn it around and look at it from a different angle and be like, you know what, actually I’m gonna use this as leverage to help me get better rather than being something sort of scared or shy away from. I don’t know, as you hear me talk about that, Laura, how does that land for you?

Laura Dunlap (46:35)
Yeah, no, I think that’s a great aspect and a great way to look at it. You know, when you’re in a job in a company for so many years, you kind of, you’re the person that knows all the answers, right? So then coming to Temple 22, where I’m new to this company, right? And I’m in a different role and feel like I have that, you know, I don’t have the answers for everything. But now I’m so busy, right, with all of the other work that I’m trying to do that I…

didn’t, I would say 100%, I didn’t make time for things that I didn’t know and to try to work on them and grow on them, right? Until recently, having like a hard conversation as like, hey, you need to learn how to be the expert in this and you need to figure it out whether that’s, you know, doing an Excel class or, you know, taking this conference or whatever, like you, this is part of your job and you have to make time to do that. Like we know you’re good at the people stuff, but now you got to work at the accounting stuff, right? So I guess that hard conversation.

kind of relates to what you’re saying, because I needed somebody to say like, yeah, I know you’re busy, but I need that extra step for you to start learning things on your own and taking that initiative to, to work on your faults. Right. And so after that conversation, of course I was pissed at first cause I was like, hearing hard feedback is hard. Right. But then you look at it you’re like, yeah, I need to do this stuff and I need to make time for this stuff. So whether that’s blocking stuff out on your calendar or whatever, to take those Excel courses or whatever, ⁓ you just have to find time and make time. But I do love what that person said. I think that’s.

fantastic advice to make that drive you and to work on those insecurities because that’s a hard thing to do.

Anthony Codispoti (48:03)
Growth can be difficult. It usually is actually. Looking back, what do you think is the best decision that you made for your career?

Laura Dunlap (48:11)
Coming to Tomell 22, ⁓ scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life because I was comfortable and I knew my job. And I was working for a billion dollar company and then coming to a starting company and trusting the COO who I’d worked for previously and trusting in him that he’s going to take this company to the next level and develop people like he says. ⁓ I always have believed in him, but it’s a hard step to do when you’re leaving your security behind and taking that blanket off and coming to a new position.

with a new owner, a new company where you know nothing about chicken and all you know is steak. And seriously, that’s how it is. I mean, it was 100 % a change and it’s so, so scary. I left a lot behind at Texas Red House, but what I’ve gained here is like so much growth, so much more knowledge. ⁓ It’s fun to build a brand and it’s cool to, excuse me, it’s cool to follow his dream of developing and passion and having our dreams connect and growing that in a new company. I mean, a startup company is something I’ve never done before and it’s pretty cool.

Anthony Codispoti (49:10)
It’s amazing. bought into his vision. Obviously somebody you and trusted from having worked with before. You believed in the concept of the restaurant and you got really excited about the idea of being able to further develop people, which is a big passion of yours.

Laura Dunlap (49:24)
Yeah, at Roadhouse, wasn’t like, was, was in my job now. I’d started out like, you know, helping people, but then it kind of grew into the technology aspect of things. You know, our world just changed so much with technology. So it was more like teaching people how to use technology and staff and recruit. And now here at Tumble 22, I get to fill my passions again, which is being right next to the operators and being in the stores and, you know, helping people on that aspect. as much fun as I’m having now, it was truly scary though, when I did it, but I’m glad I did it. I’ll never look back.

Anthony Codispoti (49:53)
That’s great. You and I reconnect a year from now, Laura, and you’re super excited because you’re celebrating something big. One thing, what’s that big thing you’re celebrating a year?

Laura Dunlap (50:03)
Well, hopefully we’ll have five more stores open. ⁓ With that, obviously increases the bandwidth that we need on the support side. So one thing that I don’t have at Tumble 22 is a team behind me yet. And so that’s one thing I’m missing is that passion of developing somebody underneath me and kind of growing them into a manager, a director or what have you. ⁓ So my dream would be obviously five more stores open and we’re so busy that I need another person on our team.

Anthony Codispoti (50:30)
No, come as you are. What’s your dog’s name? Frank.

Laura Dunlap (50:36)
Yes. A cute little rescue dog that turned into a foster, temporary foster to a permanent dog now.

Anthony Codispoti (50:38)
Great.

Well, Laura, I’ve just got one more question for you, but before I ask it, want to do two things. First of all, everyone listening, pause for just a second, open up your podcast app, hit the follow or subscribe button there. I want you to continue to get more great interviews like we’ve had today with Laura Dunlap from Tumble 22. If you have an extra second, you can leave a review or a comment. It helps the show a lot, helps a lot of other people find us. And Laura, I also want to let…

others know the best way to either get in touch with you directly or that of the brand or to follow your story. What would that be?

Laura Dunlap (51:22)
I think LinkedIn is probably the best way that you’ll keep in touch with me. I try not to do the whole social media thing all the time, but LinkedIn is something that I do keep up on just for the professional side of things. But also, I mean, my email is open, so it’s laura at tumble22.com. It’s super easy. So any way is good.

Anthony Codispoti (51:40)
I love it. We’ll include links in the show notes for folks. So Laura, last question for you. As you look to the future of the restaurant industry, call it the next two to three years, what do you foresee as being the big changes that are coming?

Laura Dunlap (51:54)
it’s sad to say, but I think that technology is really going to impact our restaurants. whether that’s, you know, them still in some restaurants, you can see they’re testing it where they order their own food at the, you know, at the kiosk at the table or whether it’s getting a QR code and they order it and then it ships to the kitchen and just taking that aspect of humans, I think is going to come out of it because labor is so high and every restaurant wants to succeed and everyone

wants to make the most amount of money. But what I can say is that’s something that Tumble 22 will never do. We will never take out that human aspect of coming into our restaurant and creating that experience. unfortunately, I think that is some place that it’s going to happen for a lot of our restaurants.

Anthony Codispoti (52:38)
Why is it so important to tumble 22 to not go that route?

Laura Dunlap (52:44)
It’s all about the experience, 100%. We want to connect with you. And by looking at a screen ordering your food, we can’t connect with you. And you come in and you spend your money, which let’s face it, everything in this world is expensive right now. So you come in and you spend your hard-earned money in our restaurant. We want to take care of you because you chose Temple to spend that money at.

Anthony Codispoti (53:06)
Laura Dunlap from Temple 22, I wanna be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate it.

Laura Dunlap (53:13)
You bet, thanks for having me.

Anthony Codispoti (53:15)
Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories Podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.

Laura Dunlap (53:19)
you