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

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Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!!

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Favorite success quote/mantra:

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

In this episode with Keith Benjamin we will discuss:

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

Today's sponsor:

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Knowledge bombs

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

Contact:

Instagram: @kmbenjo

Thanks for listening!

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

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