Shut Up, Listen More: Austin J. Crawford’s Hospitality Journey and Connection-Driven Leadership

Anthony Codispoti (00:00)
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 Austin J. Crawford. Austin is the general manager at Del Mar Columbus, a signature Mediterranean concept within the Cameron Mitchell restaurants family. There he leads with a focus on hospitality, team development, and cultivating a culture of

operational excellence. But Austin doesn’t stop there. He’s also the driving force behind Do Right, Be Great, his personal leadership brand that translates real world lessons from the restaurant floor into universal leadership insights. Through this platform, he offers actionable strategies and practical frameworks that reach far beyond hospitality, helping leaders everywhere develop integrity, discipline, and a focus on lifting others.

In today’s conversation, we’ll dive into that intersection, how his day-to-day leadership at Del Mar informs the powerful lessons that he shares through Do Right, Be Great, and how those insights can inspire leaders well beyond the world of hospitality. Now, before we get into all that good stuff, today’s episode is brought to you by my company, Ad Back Benefits Agency. Listen, if you run a business, you are likely stuck in the cycle of rising insurance premiums. You’re paying more, but your team is getting less.

and many people can’t afford coverage at all. We do things differently. We offer a solution that provides your restaurant employees with unlimited access to doctors, therapists, and prescriptions that’s always free for them to use. But here’s where you really need to pay attention. Unlike every other employee benefit out there, our program leverages different insurance frameworks to put more money into your company’s bank account. As an example, we recently helped a client increase net profits by $900.

per employee per year. Results vary, but the consultation is free. See if you qualify today at addbackbenefits.com. All right, back to our guest today, Austin J. Crawford. Thanks for making the time to share your story today.

Austin J Crawford (02:10)
Well, I

appreciate you having me on today. This is an exciting opportunity and I don’t know, I’m just looking to have a great conversation with you today. So I do appreciate what you guys are doing and I don’t know, very privileged to be here.

Anthony Codispoti (02:24)
Thanks for the kind words, Austin. So let’s jump in. So you’ve spent most of your life in the service industry, but take us back to some of the earliest days. Where did your first real job happen and what did it teach you?

Austin J Crawford (02:35)
Yeah,

I mean, I guess, you know, I’ve been in the restaurant industry, the hospitality industry for, you know, more than a quarter of a century. And I think

real jobs, you we’ve had a bunch of them along the way. I think when I think back to honestly, starting with Cameron Mitchell, back in 2007, it was honestly, it was one of those things where I was like, Hey, I just need to make a dollar, I need to make some money. And this was a great opportunity. But what stands out to me with that, and where things kind of started to shift, you know, it wasn’t right away, but it was

once I started to kind of recognizing and reflecting on what they were and what they were as people and as a company. And I spent a little bit of time being a little bit taken back and being a little bit like, why is everybody here so nice? What’s going on? And I was waiting, you know, a little bit for.

the shoe to drop, right, or the curtains to be pulled back from this facade. And honestly, it took me probably, I think, like six months to maybe a year to really understand that I just hadn’t spent a whole lot of time, I think, around genuine people and great people. And kind of having that window opened and that perspective kind of, you know, exposed to me, they just genuinely wanted me to do a good job. And they wanted me to just show me what hospitality truly looked like. I don’t know. So that realization, I think, became the foundation.

Anthony Codispoti (03:44)
you

Austin J Crawford (04:00)
of wanting to kind of just stay in that industry and kind of just continue to hone my craft there. And so the reflection of genuine people and good people that cared about me is something that I think wanted to begin to translate into my culture and into how my leadership grew ⁓ across the board. know, there are lessons that I think show up every single day, but that’s just something I wanted to duplicate, I think, in the environment that I’m now in, you know.

So.

Anthony Codispoti (04:31)
And so how did that opportunity to first join the Cameron Mitchell ⁓ umbrella come

Austin J Crawford (04:36)
Um, you know, I had worked at a couple of different restaurants, um, in the area and, know, was one of those moments where I just was going through some frustrations at a restaurant that, you know, was working at honestly across the street. And so I just kind of put my things down and strolled across the street, knocked on the door and, know, it was before service and just opened the door and had a conversation, um, you know, with the general manager there at the time. And he was like, well, what do you want to do?

I was like, honestly, I just want to make some money and I want to be in a place that values me. And he was like, well, you’re in the right place right here. And it wasn’t much more of a conversation than that. And you know, what turned into being, you know, something magnificent, awesome was just wanting to make some more money initially. But it just, that’s how that kind of came apart. It was, ⁓ I think by chance, maybe.

Anthony Codispoti (05:29)
And so what was that first location? Was it a Del Mar that you walked into?

Austin J Crawford (05:32)
⁓ No,

it was actually ⁓ Mitchell’s Ocean Club out at Easton and that was recently after they had done like a remodel and kind of reconcepted a little bit. But yeah, that was the location there at Easton.

Anthony Codispoti (05:45)
So I’m fortunate enough that I’m here in Columbus, Ohio. I’ve grown up around the, grown up, I remember his first location opening back when I was in college and I’m an old guy. So that’s been a while back in 161 up in Linworth. But for obviously all the listeners who aren’t familiar with Cameron Mitchell and sort of the lore, explain who he is as a person and then explain kind of the company umbrella.

Austin J Crawford (06:10)
yeah, I mean, obviously, like you said, you know, he started, ⁓ Cameron’s back in 1993. ⁓ but I think walking into the building, it was kind of like I previously stated, ⁓ it was how authentic that, that people first mentality was within the culture. they were.

Initially, right, just things in a handbook and things, you know, on posters on the wall. But really what started to kind of take place was it was not just something they were saying. It was something that they were all doing. that, I not obviously, you know, started with Cameron in 93, but it goes through his executive team. goes through, you know, obviously the more time I’ve spent with senior management and senior leadership team. It’s not just something that we pretend to be. Right. And so I think that that is

ultimately what has kept me with the company and what has strengthened ⁓ our growth. mean for 30 years, I mean over 30 years now, we’re you know still successful. We’ve obviously had setbacks as a company but we’ve also had incredible monumental moments and that doesn’t just happen by chance. That happens because of a foundation and that foundation has to come from a leader and that leader obviously you know was Cameron in the in those early days and now it’s just it’s grown.

significantly and I think what’s really cool is to watch all of the other people ⁓ I think grab a hold of that because we do we want to do the right thing we want to be some part of something great and I think that that’s really exactly what you know has continued to allow us to be in this industry not only now in Columbus Ohio but I coast to coast you know from Beverly Hills to New York and you know now our market in Florida which is expanding so it’s just it’s pretty impressive.

Anthony Codispoti (07:42)
Yeah.

Austin J Crawford (07:59)
of

you take care of your people and everything else follows.

Anthony Codispoti (08:04)
So you walked into that Del Mar, how many years ago was it?

Austin J Crawford (08:06)
So

in 2007 I started at Ocean Club. whatever that is 15 actually my math is not great, but yeah Ocean Club ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (08:13)
Ocean Club, right?

So you walked into the Ocean Club over a decade ago, just, you know, wanted to be at a place where they valued you a bit more and you could make a paycheck, but then fell in love with the culture. You’ve been there a long time. You are now the general manager at Del Mar. As you kind of worked your way up through the ranks, Austin, think about those different transitions as you’re taking on more responsibility.

I’d be curious to hear about one of those transitionary points where maybe it was a little bit more challenging for you than others.

Austin J Crawford (08:49)
⁓ I think transition happens like you know when the I think when as a leader or it’s just a person like when you take on some more responsibility ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (09:06)
Perhaps it was that move to general manager, I don’t know, or you’re sort of in charge of the entire thing.

Austin J Crawford (09:12)
You know,

I think…

that for, I don’t know, leadership is not a title, right? And I think so like making that big, there’s no monumental move where I think it really just starts to hit you. think being a, maybe being a leader or having that title creates a little bit more visibility for it. But I think the responsibility starts internally and, you know, learning that you have an impact no matter at what level you are and taking self ownership, focusing on the little things. Those were really big elements. I think that once I started to

recognized that it wasn’t just me doing those things and maybe I was making an impact and helping other people to recognize, okay, yeah, let’s pay attention to the way that we polish the station. Let’s pay attention to the way that, you know, we show up in a, you know, a clean and tidy uniform, just little details. think those started well before, you know, I moved into management or moved into a general manager role. I think that that made the transition probably a lot easier or made me maybe the right pick, but that just

ultimately came down to wanting to do the right thing internally and so that responsibility became something when I saw others do or mimic or embody that to or emulate it that was ⁓ I think a good indicator to me that I had a little bit more responsibility and a little bit more pull. ⁓

with our people and that I could make a bigger impact. And that helped, I think, springboard maybe into management and not just the paycheck element of it, but just really the impact for the people.

Anthony Codispoti (10:47)
Got it. ⁓ As you think back to some of the attention to the smaller details that.

that you were really kind of honing in on in those early days with Cameron Mitchell umbrella, were those things that you think were already innate in you or were those things where you had some really good leadership there that was kind of exposing that to you for the first time?

Austin J Crawford (11:14)
⁓

I think some of it is a little bit of both, but primarily no. mean, I didn’t have all of those skill sets or, you know, it was a lot of times we get into a mindset, especially earlier on, or when you’re just like, Hey, I just got to feed my family. just got to do this. ⁓ sometimes you look for shortcuts and I was definitely somebody who, you know, I’m not going to say that I was, it had it all figured out by any means. So no, I mean, I didn’t have that. I want to say innately, it was there, I think as a compass that had to be uncovered.

and

kind of dust it off perhaps. ⁓

But mentorship and guidance is always, you know, I think a real driving factor in that. so being around great people and others that inspired me, ⁓ allowed me to want to be that inspiration too. So I think that, you know, I can look back and there’s been a handful of people that have had, you know, big moments and, or given me an opportunity or responsibility before I was ready. ⁓ or, Hey, you know what, Austin, you messed that up a little bit. You know, here’s what I would suggest or Hey,

let’s try this. So yeah, there was many moments of having to redo and overdo and refocus and slow down a little bit that, you know, all of that builds on each other over time. So yeah,

Anthony Codispoti (12:32)
I think it would be interesting for people to hear what the customer experience is like at Del Mar. What is it like inside the restaurant? What can somebody expect going in there?

Austin J Crawford (12:43)
Yeah, well, I’ll

tell you, this is as a new concept. This is a new. ⁓

development that’s been a part of the Cameron Mitchell brand just, you know, honestly, for a few years, we opened the store out of market in Naples, Florida, and it did very, very well. ⁓ But it truly is a spectacle just from a design standpoint, but then also from, you know, a service standpoint. You know, we bridge that gap between, you know, the casual element and into that finer dining. ⁓

experience. But it’s really it’s just truly vibrant. I don’t know if you’ve been in the property ⁓ previously.

Anthony Codispoti (13:26)
No, I haven’t been in Del Mar now.

Austin J Crawford (13:26)
Um, but it is,

it’s, I mean, it’s Mediterranean inspired, you know, which is a very broad scope, right? mean, uh, the Mediterranean spans many different countries, but that, I think that that vacation vibe, that vacation feel is, is certainly something that you go, I’ve heard many people say all the time. It’s like, I’ve stepped into vacation. I’ve stepped, you know, out of Columbus and into, you know, and I think that that that’s part of that, uh, experience as a whole, but, um,

What you said is a customer experience. I think, I think for what we do, it’s important to change that verbiage just a little bit from customer to guest-centered hospitality or a guest experience. Because

When you’re talking about a customer, think that that’s very transactional, right? It’s, you know, I come in, I give you my money and I get this one thing. Whereas guest centered hospitality is more of a responsibility that we all have to take on. And that’s really, you know, what helps to kind of bridge that gap into being connection driven. One thing I think about with Delmar or with the company as a whole is we use a philosophy of like 51 versus 49%.

And that is that 51 % of what we do leans into our culture and our care and our people and the connection. And then 49 % of that is operational. It’s fiscal. It’s those types of responsibilities of running a business. And that, obviously, we’re here to make money. And I think that that’s why we got into business. if we

don’t take time to maybe leave a dollar on the table if it doesn’t, if it means that we’re not going to sacrifice what we believe in and what we value. Those are things I think that we have to lean into. that shows in what everything that we do every single day ⁓ that comes through in the hospitality. When we get it right, it’s not just us focusing on the transaction. It’s when we get it right, it’s us focusing on not only our guests, but also our great associates and our great people.

Anthony Codispoti (15:22)
Hmm.

Austin J Crawford (15:35)
people

and that’s how we earn trust and that’s how we turn, you know, ⁓ a regular employee into a lifelong associate and that’s how we turn, you know, a regular customer into a lifelong guest. And so I think that all of those things come through and yes, the finer details and the, you know, steps of service, but it starts behind the scenes and it starts in the discipline that we have to, you know, we create an experience, but it starts, you know, just with the love and care for one another and genuinely wanting to be there.

Anthony Codispoti (16:05)
Hmm. I like that. you said, yeah, Mediterranean is kind of a broad umbrella. The name Del Mar means of the sea. Is it like very heavy on seafood?

Austin J Crawford (16:12)
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, there is a seafood

influence for sure. But in this market, you got to be also willing to kind of span different areas. We do have everything from rib eyes to fillets, but we do. emphasize grilled octopus. We emphasize ceviche, those fresh ⁓ seafood favorites, scallops, sea bass. And really, it’s a beautiful, well-thought-out menu for sure.

Anthony Codispoti (16:43)
Nice. And at some point, you felt compelled to take a lot of these experiences that you’ve been a part of with Del Mar and with the Cameron Mitchell restaurants and turn it into something bigger. Talk to us about do right, be great. How did this come into existence? What’s the problem that you’re trying to address here?

Austin J Crawford (17:02)
⁓ I think it

was, it just seemed natural. think it seemed normal because what we were doing every single day is we were, you know, building teams and leading teams and doing, you know, these everyday moments. But there was a conversation that I had actually with somebody on our executive team when they had come through and they were having lunch. And he asked about, ⁓ he’s like, how’s things going? And I was like, you know,

Everything is honestly very easy when we do the right thing and we focus on being great people. And he kind of laughed a little bit at that moment. He was like, you’re right. It’s really that simple. He’s like, it’s not easy to do, but it really is just kind of that simple. And so kind of taking that phrase, which we wove into the team that I was leading at the time at a different concept, working on ourselves and the dynamics of that.

It was just something that was already there. We were focused on excellence. We were focused on doing the right thing, not just the perfection element. And so I would start sending emails ⁓ and inspiring things that I had found, motivational frameworks. ⁓ And we were working at building the bench.

for lack of a better term. so originally it was just something that I had kind of started doing and I called it leadership bench at the moment and then at the time and as that platform kind of started to grow just from me wanting to be better myself and having to like learn stuff in order to teach it and share it. That’s kind of where that took hold. know, a lot of leadership out there can be very high level and very overarching. And I think when we don’t

⁓ have the everyday elements and just the practical, you know, things that we do every day woven into that and hospitality being close to my heart and close to what we do. It’s just trying to find a way to kind of weave those everyday moments into that. ⁓ but what I’ve found is like, if it doesn’t make sense and it doesn’t work in a real environment, then why teach it? Why coach it? you know, at least not to me. So.

Anthony Codispoti (19:17)
And so who do you get to share this leadership advice with? Or who is the goal to share?

Austin J Crawford (19:21)
Honestly, it’s just to really

build a community of those that I guess have a similar mindset. You know, I understand that this is not something that everybody wants to unpack some, you know, not everybody wants to lack of a better term lead people. ⁓ But I think more often than not, it’s just

It’s not a one size fits all, it is, you know, those that are interested in this, like I am, you know, that’s really just the kind of, think the community that we’re wanting to kind of capture and grow along with. It’s not about me. It’s not about them too. It’s just really about, know, how can I be better by also listening and hearing and getting feedback? And I think that the platform really took hold because I had to learn more and I had to grow myself in order to teach and have others like, we even just trust me and by any

means by no means do I have that figured out but I found this visual the other day

And it was like, you know, ⁓ like it kind of grew as a graph, where it’s like you read and you are getting this much impact, you know, you do and you get this much impact, and then you teach and you get this much impact. And I think all three are important, but you have to be able to, you know, yes, redo. then I think teaching is really where I think I’ve seen personally, the most growth for myself in this. And so I’m just looking to kind of take people along for the ride that want to jump on board and want to.

Anthony Codispoti (20:48)
I mean, that’s so true is when you’re able to understand something at the level that you can teach it to somebody else. You’ve just baked it into your own mind and body. And I don’t know, like a cellular level that it’s hard to achieve otherwise.

Austin J Crawford (21:02)
Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (21:08)
So it almost sounds like the work that you do there at Del Mar, Del Mar is kind of like a leadership laboratory for you where you get to try things out and you get to learn hands on. I wonder if you can think of an example of something that happened at Del Mar that later became a lesson that you now teach.

Austin J Crawford (21:27)
⁓

Yeah, I mean, honestly, like we when you deal with people and it’s always ever changing. There’s always something I think to learn. I think I go most most recently back to like self regulation. ⁓ You know, this is I don’t know, I want to say a couple of weeks ago, just having and finding myself like frustrated, frustrated, not because like our standards are not clear or not defined or not, you know.

⁓

given or communicated. was just that I think that I was having frustration with people not operating at like a speed or a pace that I wanted them to. And so when I take those moments of like having to self reflect a little bit and self regulate, like, why are you so upset? I had an emotional attachment to where somebody was at this current moment. And just because they’re at that that point right now doesn’t mean that they’re bad people. And so I think that I just that was the most recent, I think, teach

opportunity that I was able to kind of pull from that because I didn’t like being frustrated. I didn’t like being, you know, I don’t want to say upset at the person individually, but just as a general, could feel that, you know, and that divide and you know, that’ll break down your culture very quickly. And so I wanted to fix that. And then I was able to kind of take that to the management team and kind of be vulnerable and share, hey, you know, I’ve recognized that, you know, I’ve been a little bit frustrated and then just being able to self-regulate.

Anthony Codispoti (22:58)
Mm-hmm.

Austin J Crawford (22:59)
in those moments where it’s like, it’s not about where they are now, it’s where they will be and where they want to go. And if they don’t want to go there, that’s okay, I can’t force them. I’m not gonna drag anybody across the finish line. And I think that that helped put a little bit of things at ease with our management team too, who was also feeling some of that tension and that frustration. It’s like, we told them all what to do, but they don’t do it. And so it’s, oh, it’s a beautiful thing. It’s like, they’re just not there yet. And that’s, I think the biggest leadership thing I’ve taken away.

Anthony Codispoti (23:29)
And maybe it helps to kind of recognize that ⁓ you’re more upset with sort of the situation or the moment and not trying to direct that anger towards the individual.

Austin J Crawford (23:37)
Absolutely, right. But then if we

don’t have a conversation about those things, right, and we don’t address them, that becomes like built up resentment. And then that comes out in everything that we do, you know, so yeah, it’s important to fix it. But recognize that it’s not a people issue, you know, it’s a it’s an emotional regulation issue. So

Anthony Codispoti (23:56)
Yeah.

Any ways that you’ve found to kind of help self-regulate in the moment when, you know, tensions are high, things are happening quickly, food needs to go here and, you know, things are delayed? Like, how do you sort of self-control? How do you regulate?

Austin J Crawford (24:10)
I think you just have to be present. You

have to be present at the moment. And a lot of what we do has to be like there is a A plus B is always going to equal C, but that’s not always the formula. so having to, I think, just operate even in the chaos with a little bit of ⁓ just a slow pace and a slow, I guess, tempo.

And that’s not easy to do when things are buzzing a million miles an hour around your head and the flow of the dining room is operating a little bit faster. it’s so funny how just a little bit of a…

stopping for a moment, even if it’s like two seconds or even maybe it’s before the shift, right? Like doing a lap, you know, taking a walk and just kind of reframing yourself and getting yourself ready for what is going to come down the pike because we don’t really know. But I think just being prepared ahead of time to be able to just stop for a minute and think is, it’s helpful.

Anthony Codispoti (25:08)
Awesome. Let’s talk about this phrase, connection driven leadership. What does this mean to you, not just in theory, but in practice? Like how does it show up in the way you treat people?

Austin J Crawford (25:21)
Well, mean, I think it’s, ⁓

connection driven leadership seems simple, right? I mean, it stems from stemmed from me. When I was writing, you know, this book, I was looking to just trying to find a synonym for hospitality, because I think hospitality, you know, a lot of times we get so focused, that’s just for hotels, that’s just for restaurants, that’s just that. And so I wanted to kind of create a little bit of a way to bridge the gap between the hospitality mindset and kind of broaden it. And so that’s where connection driven

leadership kind of came into mind. ⁓ But if you lead with the mindset of connection, you know, and it drives the connection, if you’re focusing on the connection, you’re focusing on people, right? You’re focusing on being present, you’re focusing on being consistent ⁓ in that connection.

I think that those are things that just, I don’t know, I don’t want to say it’s simple, you know, in its definition, but ⁓ we got to focus and a lot of that came from my foundation and my history with, you know, with CMR is just being in a place where it was easy to focus and put the associate first and focus on our people first, because everything else will follow, you know, behind that.

You know, you’re not managing from a distance, right? Like you can be in the office. You can be in the office all shift. There’s a lot of things to do back there. But if you’re not present and available for your people, you know, that comes out too. And what they do, they can’t trust you. They don’t know who to rely on and things, you know, don’t always operate again in the way that you were hoping or that we’ve to and coach because sometimes you’re not present to be able to see what’s different. ⁓ so yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (27:08)
You know, in my experience, one of the things that a leader needs to do is help people who are stuck in old habits, old patterns. I’m curious if you have come up with any effective strategies to help people break out of those old ways.

Austin J Crawford (27:25)
Hmm. Well, I can tell you first and foremost, I mean, I still get stuck in old patterns. ⁓ You know, we’re creatures. Yeah. I mean, we’re creatures of habit, right? We’re creatures of comfort and you know, but the first step is not about change, so to speak, it’s about awareness. And I think as leaders, part of our job is to one first.

Anthony Codispoti (27:35)
Same here, glad you admitted it, tell us.

Austin J Crawford (27:50)
find some of the awareness that we can have internally, but then also discover that and see that in other people. ⁓ We don’t always recognize like how our behaviors are landing, ⁓ so to speak. so I think once we truly see that, or once maybe somebody points it out for us, ⁓ the acknowledgement of that, whether it’s small or not, I think that’s when then the shifts can start to be had. ⁓

The growth is in the discipline. ⁓ It’s not just big giant leaps. It’s taking the awareness and saying, you know what? ⁓ I’m actually not really good at listening. Or I’m not really ⁓ great at giving good feedback. ⁓

So it’s those awarenesses that I think, how do I get better? And if you’re not willing to do that, then I think obviously some things are just never going to change. But that’s where the change starts is with the recognition that you have.

Anthony Codispoti (28:54)
Mm hmm. Yeah, you have to be willing to raise your hand and say, is an area that ⁓ I really need to work on. That recognition is that first step towards mastery might be a strong word, but a higher level of competency.

Austin J Crawford (29:07)
Mastery

comes with the consistency of recognizing. ⁓ And it’s not just acknowledging it. You can be like, hey, I’ve got this circumstance that I am not really great at. And that might be your tone. That might just be how you’re not that you’re intentionally wanting to be rude. But if you’re not aware of it,

just being or acknowledging it even or saying, hey, my time management is horrible. Just acknowledging it isn’t going to fix anything either. Like you have to then do something about it. Like we can all call out our flaws, but then you have to be able to be consistent in order to get that mastery that you mentioned.

Anthony Codispoti (29:50)
Hmm. You know, as I think about your framework ⁓ that you’ve been developing, can you walk us through a specific example, a real scenario where you applied that framework that maybe led to either lower turnover or some other kind of measurable shift in culture?

Austin J Crawford (30:12)
yeah, I mean, I think for me specifically, and, I think we even kind of just talked about it as we entered into this conversation. I think sometimes I used to get, and I still do, focused on being performative, ⁓ and how, you know, I was landing with people or how I was being perceived and

I was just trying to think to share all of the time, know, everything that I knew.

Right? Because yes, I have skill sets and I do have learned experience, but at one, I don’t know at all. But two, it’s nobody really cares how much you know until they, I think, recognize how much you actually care in that moment. so vulnerability, that word, right? Just that resonates with me. And I think that that was just something that I had to do to help our culture. Because again, it started with me.

⁓ I recognize like, I don’t know, maybe it’s, I don’t know, just slowing down. We already talked about it, but I think that that was just some of those things like I wasn’t present enough. And not being present enough, not just whether I was clocked in or there or present in a moment. think that like emotionally present was something. ⁓

Yeah, we adjust our tone. It’s not about I think, trying to perform, you just have to be a little bit more human and a little bit more real. ⁓ You can ask people to care, but they’re not going to care right until we we all show up differently. And that starts with I think the internal reflection and learning to lead yourself first.

Anthony Codispoti (32:05)
So it’s more the leader needs to change before the team is going to follow that change.

Austin J Crawford (32:08)
⁓ 100%. Yeah.

And change or just recognizing, like we talked about before, the acknowledgment of that. yeah, nothing is. Everybody’s going to follow your lead. ⁓

or they’re going to go astray. And if you want them to be able to operate in the direction that is the most beneficial for everybody involved, yeah, the leader has to be the one that recognizes the impact that they’re having with ⁓ a flaw of theirs. So yeah, one of those things was to me that piece of removing performative-based actions and just being real and being present.

Anthony Codispoti (32:53)
Yeah. Let’s talk a little bit about your book, Austin. ⁓ The Genuine Leadership Playbook available on Amazon. ⁓ There’s 21 tactics in there. Which one do you find that leaders struggle to live out the most?

Austin J Crawford (33:11)
I mean, I think in thinking about this, you know, it’s kind of woven into what we’re already kind of talking about is creating a culture of people and creating that people first orientation. And it’s tactic six that talks about just being heard, valued and supported. And I think again,

A lot of these things in theory, right, makes sense. ⁓ But it might be the hardest one because again, we’re talking about slowing down in that regard. You know, you have to be, I think, quiet enough to hear someone. ⁓ You have to learn, you know, from that listening exactly what those people are valuing and what’s valuable to them. And that’s then in turn how they are going to feel like, think, supported. And if you don’t understand that, then

We all are gonna have many many complications, but it’s not just as easy as being like, okay Well, I’m just gonna go hear them and I’m just gonna go value them and support them These are things that are woven together, but it takes intentionality and it takes just I think a little bit of I Don’t know. I have a note on my computer here and it reminds me all the time. It literally says shut up and listen more and It I don’t know like I joke about it and I’ve heard somewhere along the lines like if you think you’re doing good at listening then you’re doing it wrong, but

So actually hearing people, I think, is a skill set. so I do. think that it’s a complicated one, at least just from my perspective, to being available to slow yourself down long enough to hear people and what it is that they value and need. then from there, you can make the decision to how to support them. But you have to do the first two first.

Anthony Codispoti (34:55)
I like that. You know, ⁓ I’ve talked with a lot of folks in the hospitality space and it seems like, as in many industries, hospitality will eventually humble just about everybody. Is there a moment in your career where you were forced to face a blind spot, ⁓ confront a leadership failure? Do you want to talk about?

Austin J Crawford (35:16)
Yeah, mean, guess

I feel like I’ve kind of peppered it in here a little bit, you know, whether it be vulnerability or whether it be, ⁓ you know, slowing down, right. And think that those are kind of running some of the thread points here. But I want to say that internal reflection would tell me that maybe my toxic trait might be conflict avoidance. And I know ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (35:23)
Yeah.

Austin J Crawford (35:43)
I work very hard every day to think push that boundary. ⁓ Because in this industry, being uncomfortable is something you have to get comfortable with. And having hard conversations is something that we have to do if we want people to grow. so naturally, I just want to avoid conflict sometimes because it’s easy. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (36:07)
It’s easier. Nobody likes it. Yeah.

Austin J Crawford (36:07)
It’s the comfort, right? It’s that we’re

all creatures of comfort. And so that is just an easy way, like, I’m just going to walk away from this. And it’ll probably just sort itself out. But ⁓ realistically, you being quiet is not going to maintain the peace or professionalism as much as we want to think that it will. Because then again, we’re talking about the frustration that surmounts. And a lot of times, I feel like our frustration comes from

not acknowledging and not addressing, ⁓ either behaviors or habits or whatever. And that if you’re not communicating them and you’re just avoiding them, you know, I think that that’s when really the problems and that’s when your frustration surmounts. And that’s when, you know, the things aren’t, you know, then you lean further into the avoidance. So I don’t know if it, if it’s helpful, right? That’s a door that I want to continue to open. And I continue to, you know,

force myself to stay in the room with a lot longer than just shutting that door. ⁓ But yeah, that’s, think, a blind spot that I’m constantly working on.

Anthony Codispoti (37:20)
You know, I’ve got two boys, they’re ages 11 and nine. And one of the things that I regularly tell them, and it’s a great reminder every time I tell them for me to hear it myself, is that growth comes from doing uncomfortable things. And I think they’re too young to really understand what that means. I can feel, I can hear the eye rolls every time that I say it to them.

Austin J Crawford (37:33)
Hmm.

Anthony Codispoti (37:46)
But I know at some point it’s going to sink in for them and it’s good advice for me to hear and I see you nodding your head like, yeah, yeah.

Austin J Crawford (37:51)
Yeah, yeah,

had a, know, a sous chef used to like his favorite thing was I got to get comfortable in the uncomfortable. I got to get comfortable in the uncomfortable. You know, and it’s I guess one thing to say it and one thing to teach your kids or try to tell your kids. But eventually, we all will recognize that the best successes that we will have are doing the things that we want to avoid or the conversation, like some of the best relationships and even guest recovery. I think back to like

you know, doing recovery, like we mess things up in the restaurant, right? So we’ve got to reflect on that. We got to recover that and we got to find a way and some of them that’s easy to like, they didn’t like us, let’s not talk to them. But you want to push into that.

One of some of the best guests and lifelong people that we have in our life and our restaurants is from those harder, or the ones that were like, yo, you guys really tanked on this. And so it’s being humble enough to be like, yep, we messed that up. But if we didn’t have those conversations and we didn’t, you know.

extend the branch to say, we messed this up. Then we don’t get an opportunity. And still to this day, we have a couple that comes in and they bring us now Christmas cookies. They bring us gifts at Christmas time. But they were somebody who said, we’re never coming back ever again. So it popped up and I said, oh.

Anthony Codispoti (39:22)
wow. How did you recover that situation?

Austin J Crawford (39:28)
I sat on it for a little bit and it was one of those things where was like, you know what? No, I just, it was not, they got bumped into, they they mistaked the food. The timing was, it just, was a lot of things that kind of compounded. And so I looked through and I checked and I saw who was the sales associate that took care of them that day. And so I reached out and I called them and I said, listen, we made a mistake and we missed the mark.

But I want to do one thing. I want to buy lunch. I want to buy dinner. The next time you guys come in, I said, really, really think that those were not what we embody. Those are not the things that we represent. And for lack of begging, essentially, we were pandering to have another opportunity to really show them what we do. And

Reluctantly, you know, they were like, ⁓ we’ll think about it. And so I got their address and I sent them something and you know, I don’t remember how long it was. It was a little while, but I always make sure that I say, hey, when you’re here and if you decide to come back again, make sure you ask for me. And so he had reached out actually the day before he said, hey, we’re going to come back tomorrow. And so I looked and actually the server that the sales associate that was taking care of them the day that those things went wrong was working. And I said,

Hey, I said I have a challenge for you. And he didn’t like it when I told him. ⁓ He was like, ⁓ man, he’s like, I can’t do that, dude. And I said, you can, you really, really can. And I said, I promise you, this will be the best thing that we do. It’s gonna be uncomfortable. It’s gonna be hard and we’re not going to like it.

but I promise you it’s gonna work out. And there was some trust there and we went through it. And honestly, mean, yeah, he was a little bit uptight, a little bit nervous about it, but we knocked it out of the park. And not because we wanted to go over and above and beyond, but we were just aware and we were then present and we made sure that we didn’t miss the same mistakes that we had before. And when we walked away from that, Tyler was like, my gosh, dude, he’s like, that was actually really easy.

He’s like, those people are awesome. And so they continue to come back to this day. And it’s just, I don’t know.

Anthony Codispoti (41:45)
love so many elements of that story. mean, you know, Tyler got a chance to sort of face the this rough element of this past and, know, something was very uncomfortable. A lot of growth happened there for Tyler, right? And, you know, you, man, I just think about like all the bad experiences I’ve had with a company for one reason or another. And, you know, I tried to be human and approach it in a, you know, kind and professional way. And so many of them try to deflect.

Austin J Crawford (41:56)
Hmm.

Anthony Codispoti (42:12)
This was your fault or they ignore or whatever they sweep it under the rug. And if if if they would just do what you did own it, raise your hand. I’m sorry. Here, let me let the next experience is on us. Man, the the raving fans that you would create from that as example by the story that you’re telling, they send you what did you say? Christmas cards and cookies and.

Austin J Crawford (42:35)
Yeah, they come by and bring cookies and I don’t know,

there’s like a, yeah, it’s absolutely fantastic.

Anthony Codispoti (42:40)
What’s fantastic?

Well, and this, think this is a great example. you know, my people who follow the show, they know my favorite question to ask is about a, you know, a serious challenge that you’ve overcome in your life, because we talk about those uncomfortable situations and big challenges, another place to really experience a lot of growth. Do you have one in mind that you’d like to share how you got through that, what you learned?

Austin J Crawford (43:06)
Yeah, I mean, I think that, again,

like, there’s a lot of nuance here and some of the things that we’re talking about. And just kind of reflecting, I think my biggest challenge is vulnerability, too, right? I know we talked a little bit about, like, conflict avoidance, but I think that that avoiding conflict is also something that, you know, you’re trying to put on a persona. You’re trying to say, that didn’t happen. And so naturally, opening that door,

You know, it is a vulnerability is something that you have to kind of. And so I think back to what I was saying earlier, and one of the things that you had asked me is, you know, just putting down the polish, putting down the professionalism and not having to be fully buttoned up all of the time, I think is where I had problems. you know, I remember just, it was, you know, I had just come over to, you know, Del Mar and I was taking over a new team and being a part of.

you know, this incredible opportunity. And with historical, you know, data being my friend, like I knew what I was doing and I knew what we could be doing, but, and so I took the wrong approach and it just wasn’t, it wasn’t clicking. And it was just, it just felt so rigid and.

I think what I was missing was the component of just realizing that I need to share my mistakes and I need to share my mistrusts I need to share. And so we had this really great manager meeting where I was able to just, think, and it wasn’t just the one time, right? This is an ongoing process, but vulnerability, just recognizing and realizing that I mess up ⁓ more often than anybody else and that

I’ve had people burn me. I’ve had people hurt me. And those are all things that harden me. And it’s not, they don’t need that. Like that is, think what I’ve recognized and continue to learn is like, they don’t need me to show up with my shirt tucked in and they need me to walk into a room sometimes and take my jacket off. Like,

I don’t know, and I found a little bit by little bit, the more honest and the more real and the more human like that I become, or try to, I guess, peel those layers back. ⁓ The more and more trust that has been built with that team.

You know, and it’s not, it doesn’t happen overnight and it’s still, we’re still developing it. I mean, I’ve, know, I’ve recently only been at this property for just coming up on, know, on a year now. And some beautiful things are happening and I’m really, really impressed with where we’re going. And I don’t want to say it’s all because of me, but I did have to recognize that I was, you know, part of the problem. And if I wanted them to trust me, I had to, I think, uh, be more human.

for them and I’ve honestly seen a lot more success with that than anything else. ⁓ It doesn’t mean that I’m going to go and dump my crap all over them, but what it is is just recognizing that, you know, hey, I can’t handle this today. You know, hey, I’m having a hard time with this. You know, or…

Anthony Codispoti (46:32)
letting them see the human side of you. Like you said, not quite so rigid and buttoned up. It’s like, ⁓ Austin’s our leader, but he’s a real dude too.

Austin J Crawford (46:37)
Yeah, we have struggles

and and right, you know, we have family issues. We have stuff at home that, know, we’re that we’re all dealing with and you seem unreal. Like you seem fake when you’re just everything is so like formulated. And I don’t know all over that comes from, but I’ve just had a lot more success with putting that down and, you know.

Anthony Codispoti (47:04)
Yeah.

So what would you say is your leadership superpower today?

Austin J Crawford (47:09)
⁓

man, superpower, think this might just be, I don’t know, the universe kind of speaking to me as a whole. And I think this whole thread, but I think I just keep coming back to like steadiness and slowing down a little bit. ⁓ Presence.

And I recently had a coaching session with a guy who, honestly, I would have never thought that he would have called me. But he called me on the blue. he was like, hey, I’m working through some things. And actually, I’d like your advice. And I was like, sure, no problem. Let’s grab coffee. Let’s do that. And we sat down.

Anthony Codispoti (47:33)
presence.

Austin J Crawford (47:56)
were able to, I think, unpack a little bit about slowing down. we didn’t actually, I didn’t give him results. Like there was no, and I think that that’s what he was looking for. Some of it was like some answers. But I think what I had to do was just kind of take that framework about steadiness and, you know, pausing instead of reacting and being still long enough to like, to think about, hey,

You have a lot of questions that you need answered and it seems to me like you’re just looking to get to the next answer rather than sitting in the things that, maybe what is it that you’re good at? What is it that you’re looking for? What is it that you’re challenged by? And he laughed and he was like, he’s like, that is one of my things that I don’t want to do.

And so what I felt, I felt good about having that relationship, you know, strengthen just a little bit more. I think that if, I said, like for lack of a better term, a superpower is just continuing to kind of focus a little bit more on the shutting up and listening more and, know, being in that moment and hearing what somebody else might need, even if I don’t have the answers for them.

Anthony Codispoti (49:07)
You

So someone listening, they want to take one action this week to become a better leader. Is that what they should start with? Or you have something else in

Austin J Crawford (49:21)
⁓ no, that’s exactly what I have in mind.

You’re not going to have all of the answers figured out, but just slow down on purpose. That would be my actionable takeaway for this week. ⁓ A lot of leadership problems, I think, improve when we slow down a little bit, when we quit rushing past a moment. ⁓

Because that’s also talk about avoidance, right? That can be a very big avoidant technique where you’re like, well, I’m just too busy. I’m just too busy. I’ve got too many things to do. So yeah, just like that coaching session that we had, I think the takeaway is make time for yourself to slow down. That will actually help you to speed up.

Anthony Codispoti (50:07)
Now, Austin, it’s clear to me that you’re building something bigger than a brand here. Where do you see Do Right Be Great evolving over the next few years?

Austin J Crawford (50:23)
I mean, I guess I don’t have those answers and I want to leave a lot of that up to, you know, continuing to just be steady. I don’t want to just scale for the sake of like, you know, scales sake. And this is not about me ⁓ making money or you know, it really is, I think just an element for me to

create a brand that I resonate with and hopefully because I do care about other people and I care about you know our success just as even as a population even as a people I don’t know what impact that we’re gonna have but I do believe that all of that impact comes from you know one the internal reflection and just creating a space I think for people to continue to resonate right or have a relatable place

I just, are, yeah, we want to focus on creating tools. We want to focus on creating, you know, real conversations and development resources and, how do you have a better meeting and how do you, you know, navigate through real world, you know, hospitality? How do you translate hospitality into, you know, everyday leadership? But it’s.

I think that that’s just really open to that development. But in the next few years, I think I’m just excited about learning and being with other people who want the same thing ⁓ and having that community.

Anthony Codispoti (51:54)
Mmm.

Austin J Crawford (51:55)
Right, of leaders who want to choose integrity and presence, you know, and be consistent in what they do. You know, showing up, doing the right thing, and being great people. If that is less than anything other than a movement that, not that I’ve even coined, it’s just, again, like the executive team guy told me, he was like, yeah, it’s very simple. It’s not easy, but it’s that simple. And everything is gonna be better when we just focus on those two things. You know, be a great person.

do the right thing.

Anthony Codispoti (52:26)
love it. What’s what’s something fun you like to do outside of work, Austin?

Austin J Crawford (52:30)
⁓

I you know, I mean everything I mean, it’s been a while since I’ve been on my snowboard, but I do ⁓ I do enjoy, you know snowboarding in the wintertime ⁓ So I grew up in western Canada and I came Yes

Anthony Codispoti (52:45)
You have a bit more

⁓ opportunities. have the geography and the landscape as opposed to flat Columbus here.

Austin J Crawford (52:49)
Yep. Correct. And I remember when we moved, you

know, was, I was coming into my college timeframe when we moved to Columbus and I remember being, someone’s like, yeah, go head on up to, you know, I don’t want to say the name or whatever, but I drove up there and I drove right past it. ⁓

And I was like, ⁓ that is it. That that’s okay. But, know, I, so I still enjoy that from a recreational standpoint, but, ⁓ cycling and, and riding, ⁓ has kind of become, you know, a new, ⁓ I guess, a physical excitement for me. ⁓ I like to get out on, the road bike and, you know, do as much therapeutic as much as it is, you know, healthy and exercise as well.

Anthony Codispoti (53:10)
Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Now, I’ve just got one more question for you today, Austin. But before I ask it, I want to do three quick things. So first of all, if you want to get in touch with Austin Drake Crawford today, you can find him on LinkedIn. And we’ll have a link to that in the show notes. Also, his website, dowritebegreat.com, dowritebegreat.com, also have in the show notes, dowritebegreat.com. And as a reminder, if you want to get more restaurant employees access to therapists, doctors, and prescription meds, that

Austin J Crawford (53:38)
Sure.

Anthony Codispoti (54:06)
as paradoxical as it seems, actually increases your company’s net profits. Reach out to us at adbackbenefits.com. Finally, if you’re enjoying the show, a quick comment or review on your favorite podcast app goes a long way towards helping others discover our show. So thank you for taking a quick moment to do that right now. So last question for you, Austin, a year from now, you and I reconnect and you’re celebrating something big. As you look forward in time, what’s that big thing that you hope to be celebrating a year from today?

Austin J Crawford (54:37)
I think just more peace and ⁓ genuine. ⁓

I guess peace, right, is the right word here. I mean, I think we all think, you know, hey, I want to be happy. want to be, you know, I want to have this much money in the bank and I want to have all those things. I think that my biggest thing that I want to be able to celebrate is looking back and knowing that I spent more time with my kids, that I spent more time with my wife, that I spent more time with the people that really make this life worth living. ⁓

I think that that is true, ultimately true leadership is on myself. But if we aren’t making the time for the things that are important, then I think nothing else matters. And so yeah, I want to tell you when we reconnect next year or whenever that looks like that, hey, I’m being a little bit more intentional there and I’m being a little bit more ⁓ focused on the things that give me life and give me joy.

Anthony Codispoti (55:33)
love it. Austin J. Crawford from To Write Be Great and Del Mar under the Cameron Mitchell restaurant group. I want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate you.

Austin J Crawford (55:44)
Thank you, Anthony. I appreciate being here.

It’s been a pleasure and an honor. I’m really impressed with what you guys are doing here. Thanks for inspiring me.

Anthony Codispoti (55:56)
Thanks for the kind words, Austin. Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.