Join us as we delve into the captivating story of Gerard Craft, renowned chef, and entrepreneur, as he shares his remarkable journey from a troubled childhood to becoming a highly successful chef and business owner. In this thought-provoking podcast episode, Craft opens up about his early passion for photography, his decision to pursue a culinary career, and the challenges he faced along the way. Filmed at the hidden speakeasy, NOTA, located at The Foundry in St. Louis, this episode offers a unique backdrop for Craft's inspiring insights. Discover the key values, training methods, and empowering leadership strategies that Craft implemented to create a positive company culture in his own restaurant. Gain valuable insights into the importance of embracing change, building a strong foundation in business, and the power of continuous learning. Craft's inspiring experiences will leave you motivated to embrace failure as an opportunity for growth and to lead with honesty and feedback. Don't miss this engaging conversation that explores leadership, culture, and the transformative power of following your passion, all set against the backdrop of the hidden speakeasy, NOTA, at The Foundry in St. Louis.

Check out the video interview here!



TRANSCRIPTION

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I am your host,

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Brett Gilliland, and today I've got Gerard Craft

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with me Gerard what's going on, my man.

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How are you? I'm great. Thanks for having

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me. You probably don't know this because I

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don't even know if you check your own

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Instagram messages, but I sent you a message

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in April two thousand eighteen.

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Really? I did. That's Craft. And now here

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we are. No. January of two thousand twenty

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four.

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That's alright, man. You're a busy guy. I've

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been good at checking my, like, normal message

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you know, my emails, my texts.

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I like to share those messages because it's

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life's about persistency as you know. You guys

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stay pleasantly persistent, but our mutual friend, Katie,

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call your introduce to two of us and

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thank you, Katie, for sure.

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Why don't you explain to people that are

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watching this right now? Where are we at

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right

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so we are at Noda, which stands for.

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None of the above. It's our speakeasy

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here at the city foundry, but we're kind

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of through some tunnels in the basement Yeah.

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Hidden away. It's amazing. Absolutely amazing. Do we

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share how we get down here or is

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that kind of a secret?

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You can yeah. I mean, there's a there's

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a door up at the top on foundry

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Way with,

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a red light Gilliland

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if that light is on,

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then you can pop in and, you know,

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hopefully we have some some space.

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I love it. And if it's not on,

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it means you're just not open, or does

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it means it's full? Yeah. It means we're

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not open. Okay. Yeah. Alright. Well, hey, man.

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Let's dive in if we can and, get

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listeners a little lay of the land. I

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told you I'd start with kinda what's your

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backstory of what's made you the man you

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are today.

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Yeah. So,

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you know, grew up in Washington, DC.

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And,

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you know, got into

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far too much trouble as a kid. And

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ended up,

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finishing school, I should say, out in, Northern

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Idaho

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at a,

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at,

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school for, you know,

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troubled kids.

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And when I was there, I got to

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do

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sort of an apprenticeship

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with a photographer. And so I started getting

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really into snowboard photography. We were up in

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the mountains, so it was kinda perfect for

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all of that. I had always been interested

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in photography and done a lot,

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growing up. And so got to really, you

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know, see kind of the professional side of

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it. And, you know, we were doing everything

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from skiing and snowboarding

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to wake boarding,

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on skateboarding in in the summer.

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And then I moved to Salt Lake City

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after that school to go to Gilliland

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to continue my photography.

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And while I was there, I ended up

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dropping out of college. And

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you see a pattern of school not working

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out for me.

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But I

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took a job

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just kind of in the morning, I took

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a job washing cars.

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And at night, I took a job washing

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dishes. And, you know, still was doing my

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photography. Gilliland

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everything, but the photography wasn't really paying any

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money. It was, you know. Right. Right. Yeah.

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It was like a trade stuff trying to

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get in the door with different professional hot,

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snowboarders and stuff like that. But

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really fell in love with the kitchen when

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I was in there and a

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career advisor

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told me I should think about, going to

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culinary school.

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And so I want to,

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Salt Lake City Community College. Mhmm. And

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studied culinary arts while I was still kind

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of working

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at this this place called Fats Grill. I

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mean,

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super high end luxury.

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Nothing like Nota. This was Although it was

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a very clean,

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you know, bar with pool hole,

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you know, pool Gilliland,

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But but it was it was definitely not

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a a real refined spot. Right. And didn't

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you go on to work at one of

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the best restaurants in San Fran and some

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other places around the country? I did not

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go to San Francisco. So I, from there,

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I actually went in,

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did a work study at the Ritz in

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Paris

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and,

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went out to Los Angeles to the,

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Chateau Mamont Hotel. That's what I was thinking

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about. Yeah.

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And so I was a sous chef out

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at the Chateau Marmont,

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and

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stashed at a place in New Jersey for

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a while called Gilliland Inn which was kind

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of on a five acre organic,

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farm

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and,

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just outside of New York City. So It

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was a Relay Chateau property,

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all tasting menus.

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And I think that was about the the

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scariest place I ever

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ever worked.

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But it was amazing. It was just a

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very intense,

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