In this Happy Hour episode, Tim and Michael open with the December spiral — too-early Christmas parties, the pressure to “catch up before the end of the year,” and the collective madness that hits hospitality every November. Their thesis? It’s okay to say no, it’s okay to push things to Jan or Feb, and it’s okay to stop saying “Happy New Year” after the first week of January. The pair riff on the emotional pressure of year-end expectations and the strange social rituals that come with it.They then dive into Take Two, a really great, timely A+ article written by Fleur Bainger on restaurant “reboots,” exploring the idea of flipping a struggling venue — why it happens, how much it costs, and why failure in hospitality shouldn’t be treated like a scarlet letter. They talk through examples of seasoned operators pivoting concepts, the nuance of product–market fit, and the quiet reality that sometimes a venue doesn’t fail because the idea is wrong, but because the fundamentals — rent, layout, location, staffing — were never right to begin with. The episode touches on the art of failing well, transparency in public comms, and the importance of not clapping for closures when they impact dozens of suppliers and staff.Finally, the conversation shifts to personal experience — moments at Bar Liberty and Capitano where things, early days, got tricky, the difference between holding your nerve and pivoting too slowly, and how early venue misfires often have nothing to do with concept and everything to do with timing, team, or sheer random bad luck. The episode closes on a balanced take: sometimes you should pivot, sometimes you shouldn’t, and both paths demand clarity, humility, and guts. Hospitality is complex, the market is brutal, and a little generosity — toward operators and their missteps — would go a long way.The PAX Hospitality Podcast is produced by PAX and Craate Creative. Support for this podcast comes from Square and Brunswick Design and Innovation. Our music is produced by Patricia Heath and Mattias Westergren. PAX acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people as the traditional custodians of the land on which we operate. We pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging and to all First Nations People.

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