Dan Hilbert has lived in Connecticut for 30+ years and worked in New York City for 18 of those. Dan made a move to Texas about 6 years ago to be closer to his job. Dan spent his career in Marketing and Events with executive level positions at Fortune 100 companies. But when the pandemic hit – and like many others – Dan found himself with less working hours and pay. It was then that he started to fill his time making bagels – the NY Style bagels he had missed from the East Coast. With hours spent honing his craft and passion – he and his wife Jennifer reinvented themselves – leaving corporate America and opening a thriving bagel shop – and becoming small business owners.
Follow Dan Hilbert:
Dan’s Bagel https://www.dansbagels.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dansbagels
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansbagels/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dans-bagels/about/
Linkedin Dan Hilbert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-hilbert-8610051/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dansbagels
Timestamp
[1:22] Background of Dani Hilbert
[2:41] His journey on starting his own bagel shop
[5:52] The importance of seeking help from experts
[7:14] Family support great part of Dan’s business
[10:52] Rule One, stay healthy
[15:35] What drives Dan to his first bagel business?
[19:10] Enough rest makes a better you
[21:18] Do not afraid and never stop exploring
[24:02] Importance of excellent staffs in a business
[27:24] Dan’s big dream
[29:49] Dan’s advise to make dream into reality
[33:26] Dan’s way of lifting his mood
Patti Dobrowolski 00:03
Hello superstars. Welcome to the Up Your Creative Genius podcast, where you will gain insight and tips to stomp on the accelerator and blast off to transform your business and your life. I’m your host, Patti Dobrowolski and if this is your first time tuning in, then strap in because this is serious rocket fuel. Each week I interview fellow creative geniuses to help you learn how easy it is to up your creative genius in any part of your life. Hey, everybody, it’s Patti Dobrowolski with Up Your Creative Genius.
Oh, I am so excited to interview Dan Hilbert. He’s amazing. And I met him in the trophy club. When I was riding my bike out there, I saw that there was a bagel shop and I’m like, You are kidding. And someone recommended his shop to me. And I went in there. And now that I know him, and I’ve tasted his bagels, which I just have to say, I have my favorite bagel right here. I just want to tell you all about him, listeners. And so welcome on the show. Dan, thanks for being here.
Dan Hilbert 01:17
Thank you. Thank you very much. And thanks for stopping by the shop. Really appreciate it.
Patti Dobrowolski 01:22
Oh, yeah, I love it. Now, let me just tell people a little bit about you. And then I want you to tell your story from your perspective. So you lived in Connecticut for 30 plus years, and you commuted to New York City for 18 of those years, right? That’s correct. And then you had all these high level jobs like you were SVP of events and marketing for big companies. And then you move to Texas, you were the EVP there, and then COVID hit, and you had to reinvent yourself. And so here you are, I love this.
You know, we know that living in Texas, there’s not a good bagel to be found, except yours. And this is what’s true. And I said to my hairdresser, which is how I found you. I was sitting there in the chair, you know, getingt my hair bleached. And I said to her, isn’t there any like good bagel shops here? There’s like none, no New York bagels. She goes, Oh, I just heard about this place in Trophy Club. And that was that. And so that’s how I found out about you. But, Dan, tell us what happened. Tell us about your story of how you got to this place.
Dan Hilbert 02:27
Yeah. Well, first of all, thanks for having me. I really, really appreciate it. You’re pretty amazing. So I’m pretty humbled to be here. And yeah. So you know, like many people during the pandemic, the whole world was kind of flipped upside down.
Patti Dobrowolski 02:40
Yeah
Dan Hilbert 02:41
And I was in corporate for 30 plus years. And the job that I had was specifically events, so you can imagine events went away. And so our hours were reduced every week and the entire company, you know, like many others, we had to let people go. I was reduced down to three days a week.
Patti Dobrowolski 03:03
Wow. Okay.
Dan Hilbert 03:05
I was grateful to still have a job. But I was used to working five days a week or more. And
Patti Dobrowolski 03:11
Yeah, for sure. In events, like that’s the craziest life to have, honestly.
Dan Hilbert 03:15
Yeah.
Patti Dobrowolski 03:16
But it’s so exciting. You know, that’s what’s true.
Dan Hilbert 03:19
Yeah. And you know, you’re used to traveling and going to other places. So, long story short, you know, being in quarantine. I always like to say that, and it’s the truth. That food became the center of gravity for family. Right? That’s what we surrounded to gather every day. Right? And coming from the northeast, my wife, Jennifer, who is my wife and business partner. When she was pregnant with our youngest, she always craved bagels. And my son loves bagels. Do the math there. And we were asking the same question you were. Where can you find a great bagel, right? And we’re like, well, we can’t. So let’s just start making them, we have the time. So I started getting into bagel making. And the first few bagels were pretty horrific. They were pretty bad.
Patti Dobrowolski 04:09
Were they like rock hard? Yeah, you would chew any for hours?
Dan Hilbert 04:13
Yeah, pretty much. Pretty much it was…got your cardio and after you showed that. So I made bagels and I kept going, I kept going and what really drove me into it. Was it the idea? Well, you know, I’m going to do a bagel shop because there’s no bagel shop here. It was actually the chemistry and the science of it, and how to lives and how you treat the dough. And if you tweak this ingredient, and you don’t tweak this, how can it just affect the product.
I mean, it’s miraculous. I mean, it’s funny how nature works, but I really got into the chemistry of it. And then you know, I started getting better. And I started giving it to friends and they tasted it and they became a feedback loop and we kept at it – fantastic. And finally I met up with this woman in New Jersey, her name is Beth George. And she taught me how to take my recipe to the next level. She’s literally a bagel consultant.
Patti Dobrowolski 05:12
Wow, wow, that’s fantastic. Well, okay, so yeah, so you started off. And this is, to me, for people that are listening. This is really a design principle that he’s talking about getting this feedback loop testing and trying, thinking about what you want to do, and then doing something about it. Right. But getting that instantaneous feedback. I mean, your family was your first feedback, but then getting your friends involved to give you feedback on that. Totally awesome. And then you ask someone for help, which changed the game completely. Right. Got a bagel consultant who could help you perfect it. Alright, so then what happened?
Dan Hilbert 05:52
Yeah, so. But you’re right. I mean, I didn’t believe that I could do it by myself. I was like, you know, I could take it up to this point. I could really use the help. And, you know, I think, frankly, it’s important not to be too proud not to reach out for help. And so I went to New Jersey, and I went to see her, we worked in our test kitchen. And we took her recipe and my recipe, and we blended it and created what is now Dan’s bagels results.
Patti Dobrowolski 06:22
Well, I just want to say that for people that are listening, you know, if you’ve lived in New York at all, uh, you know, I used to walk from where I lived at 56th and Broadway, I walk up to 72nd Street on the west side to get the best bagel I could. And not everybody has like certain kinds of bagels, right? An egg-everything bagel is something unique. And you can only get that really normally in New York, because most people don’t make them.
And so when I went into the shop the other day, I was like, Look, egg everything bagels! That’s incredible. And the bagels are so delicious. And on the wall, in your store itself. It says what to do with your bagels, if you’re not going to eat them right away, how to freeze them and everything. It’s got instructions everywhere there. So tell us how did you get from the bagel to the brick and mortar?
Dan Hilbert 07:14
Yeah, first of all, with help from my family. I think the first thing is I probably wanted to move faster than I ended up going. Because I think one thing I learned was when you see an opportunity in the marketplace, and you love what you do, right? You kind of want to just jump in and just like, Oh, my word, I got to do this right away, or someone’s going to come in and do it. Right? Right. Typically, that doesn’t happen. At least that’s not what I’m finding. And we took our time, you know, we went quickly, but we took our time. So we knew as much as possible to open up our shop. So we didn’t make so many mistakes.
Patti Dobrowolski 07:48
Yes, because the kind of mistakes you can make, you can put a bagel shop or something where there’s not a walkability score, it isn’t high. And so you can have something there, but nobody knows about you. And the amazing thing is that you came out of marketing. So you’re really awesome at that piece of it as well. Alright, so you moved slower than you would have liked to, but you did all the research. And then what?
Dan Hilbert 08:15
We reached out to family. Again, the idea of don’t be afraid to ask for help. And we have great family. And we were able to tap into our funds, and tap into their graciousness, and get a sum of money to open up a brick and mortar. And then that’s when the real hard work on the business side started. Wow.
Patti Dobrowolski 08:37
Yeah.
Dan Hilbert 08:37
Looked at looking for a spot, buying equipment, etc, etc. So our family has been just absolutely amazing. Now, we took our own funds, you know, and you kind of tap into your savings and things like that, and you go for it. But sometimes you have to. And if you feel good about something, yeah, which we did, we went for it. And every step along the way. There was nothing that said, Don’t do this. Like we would go from one stage to another stage and another stage. And then we were waiting for something to say, “Now you better not do this!” But it never happened. And we just went went, went, went, and finally we found ourselves, working with family, working with businesses, working with suppliers, and now making bagels for great customers.
Patti Dobrowolski 09:27
Yes. And wow I noticed. So how long have you been open now there in Trophy Club.
Dan Hilbert 09:32
Three and a half months?
Patti Dobrowolski 09:34
Three and a half months? Let me just tell you, when you go there on the weekend, there’s a line out the door. It’s crazy there people are insanely in love with your bagels. But here’s what you did. You know, this was one of the questions that my wife, Julie, she’s like, I wonder how they got the money to do that because it’s not cheap to open your own brick and mortar. You really have to have funding. So you got your family’s help with that. And your wife, Jennifer is right there. And are any of her family working there too? Are there other people that she knows, your friends working there? Or is it all people that you hired just off the street to help?
Dan Hilbert 10:15
Majority they are folks that we hired, and I would say almost 100% of them are local high school students first half, stuff like that. The other portion are friends, we have friends who come in, our kids. When we initially opened up, they worked in the shop with us. So it was definitely a family affair, and still is.
Patti Dobrowolski 10:34
Yeah, it’s incredible to go in there. Everybody’s so fun and friendly. That’s number one. And then the food is really great. And so what of this part of it, the brick and mortar, what didn’t you expect? And what’s amazing about it, now that it’s happening.
Dan Hilbert 10:52
I can speak for Jennifer, my partner on this too is the physical demands that a job like this takes. You can expect the intellectual work, the bookkeeping, etc. But we did not anticipate how physically demanding this job really is.
Patti Dobrowolski 11:11
Yes.
Dan Hilbert 11:12
Hauling, you know, flour bags, I mean, we go through a half a ton of flour a week, we go through 600 pounds of cream cheese a week.
Patti Dobrowolski 11:22
Wow.
Dan Hilbert 11:23
And you can imagine, so it’s really been the physical challenges. So we get to bed, we make sure that we keep ourselves healthy, and we do the best that we can. On the amazing side of things is, there’s a few pieces of the day that I really, really love about the job. One is first thing in the morning. It’s quiet. Yeah, I’m just there. I’m at the shop
Patti Dobrowolski 11:47
What time is that? That you’re talking about first thing in the morning?
Dan Hilbert 11:50
3am.
Patti Dobrowolski 11:52
There we go. Yes, I love it
Dan Hilbert 11:55
So it’s just a nice time for me to kind of, I guess, get calm and just kind of get to equilibrium. And then the next piece is when the bagels come out of the oven, I will never get sick of that. And then the third moment of the day is when the doors open, I get a real rush seeing people come in. So it’s been amazing. So that’s what I love about it.
Patti Dobrowolski 12:22
Yeah, that’s fantastic. So this is your Monday and Tuesday are the days that you do baking, right? I know you bake every day. But what is it that happens on Monday and Tuesday that I was able to actually get your stores closed on those two days. But what’s different about these days for you?
Dan Hilbert 12:41
Yeah, that’s a great question. Because there was some controversy. Initially, we said we were closed Monday and Tuesday. Yeah, the reason is, first of all our bagel takes 48 hours to make. It’s unlike any bagel in the area. And all the cream cheeses, the lifestyle. It’s everything Jen makes and it’s wonderful. She prepares it, so there’s a ton of housemade items that we make on Monday and Tuesday. And without those two days, we couldn’t deliver that. Now obviously we’re still working. We’re close to customers, but that’s what we do. We’re still working getting the food ready.
Patti Dobrowolski 13:19
Yeah, I love that. And those different flavors in the cream cheese are this is part of my favorites. You know, like, if I bring home a blueberry bagel with blueberry cream cheese, Julie goes crazy. That’s her favorite of all of them. She’s like, I want that one. And me you know the lox spread or just the locks combination. You sell locks there and I saw you posted on Instagram, you know picking up the lox. I love that. So everything’s really fresh. It’s really unbelievable. The bagels and there’s so much love in it.
And in the store itself. It’s really a friendly environment. So the moment you walk in that door, you’re like oh, this is fun. And it’s tiny. You guys, so if you’re listening, this is a tiny bagel shop. So really the line does go out the back door. But I love that about it. I love that it’s not a sit down shop a you just go in and get your bagels just like you would in New York, you’d line up to get them. You get them, you take them to wherever you’re going.
And I’ve met the most incredible people in the line itself. I met a woman who is you know, going to run her first marathon who lost like 100 pounds getting ready. I mean, you know, and then I met these people yesterday that were talking about, you know, how they wanted to wasn’t yesterday, the day before when I was there. They were talking about it was the first time there, they just heard about it. So word of mouth has gone crazy in Texas in our part of Texas where we live north Texas, and I’m just so excited about it.
But when you think about the kind of challenges like the physical labor is really a lot that is heavy lifting, when you think about some of those challenges and the challenges, you know, you said, well, at every turn the doors opened. But it’s huge to decide to have a vision of something you want to do, and then leap into it. So what gave you the courage to think that you could do it? How did you get yourself to do it? Was there somebody in your life from your past, a mentor, or teacher or your past experience in those big companies? What helped you to do that, to be able to have courage to do it?
Dan Hilbert 15:35
I think I’ve always wanted to own my own business, right? If you’d asked me that, I would end up owning a bagel shop, I say you are crazy. But as long as I’ve been in corporate, I always wanted to leave and open up a marketing agency or an event agency or something that was very, I guess, quote, unquote, made sense. Oh, you know, that’s a natural pivot.
Patti Dobrowolski 15:57
Yes.
Dan Hilbert 15:58
Bagel shop is not? The thing is, is that, I don’t know, it just happened, you know. But I guess what the difference is, is that, when you see it happening, you need to be aware of it, like stop yourself and say, Wow, this is happening. Maybe it’s not that strange that it’s happening, right? Maybe it’s not that strange that it’s a bagel shop. Right? Maybe that’s what it’s supposed to be. And this is exactly where I need to be. So all the sudden, I’m like, well, it ticks the box. Because I want to own my own business. Yeah, I’m pretty passionate about it, you know
Patti Dobrowolski 16:33
and seriously, you are seriously passionate about it.
Dan Hilbert 16:37
And then that from a business perspective does make sense. And so my left brain comes in, and I’m like, you know, logically this could work. But the courage is, it’s such a great question, Patti, this is why this is such a great forum, is part of it is a drive to own my own business. But to have allowed that to be wide enough of an aperture to let that business define itself. Sometimes, like, if you want to do this, and you want to own a business, and you have your eyes set on a particular industry or something. Sometimes you actually swerve yourself away from what may actually be an alternative.
Patti Dobrowolski 17:17
Yeah, or your true calling. I think this is what you’re talking about. So yeah, so in a way, you know, Dan, when you think about this, this is, to me, the beauty of the universe, right? Is that your creative genius is kind of waiting out there, you know, and it’s just waiting for you to wake up to whatever is the opportunity for you. And sometimes you get, like you said, a fixed mindset.
So you could have gone in and opened your own marketing events company, you know, you could have pivoted to do all their online stuff you could have, you know, done and certainly I work with tons of events and marketing people. So I know what people have been struggling with. So that was a big deal to kind of have watched your job get downsized, downsize, downsize, but you didn’t just bemoan the fact of that, you’re like, I’m going to learn something new, I’m going to learn how to bake bagels, because why not?
We don’t have any here. And then it became this opportunity. So you know, when we think about making change in our life, we sometimes think that you have to have a vision of what the end goal is. But that’s not always true. The truth is, you have to have an end goal of how you will feel, you’ll feel excited, you’ll feel passionate, you’ll feel like I’m in it. And that’s exactly what happened to you. I love that. You stumbled on this. And then it became something for you.
Dan Hilbert 18:43
Yeah. And it’s very well said. That’s exactly what happened. That’s a great way to describe it. Yeah.
Patti Dobrowolski 18:49
And then, so in those moments, you talked about that quiet moment, in the morning, when you’re just getting everything ready when you pull Julie and I back behind the counter there and talk to us about the dough, talk to us about the dough because what you said was like a metaphor for life. What did you say about the dough?
Dan Hilbert 19:10
I said that the dough needs to relax, and dough is alive. It is a living, breathing, active thing. And you can’t just beat it up and keep beating it up, right? You got to let it relax and it needs its time. And then after it’s relaxed, it’s even better dough. And then you let it relax and it’s better dough. And you know, I tell people after the bagel dough and the actual bagel shape is made. We put it in the cooler overnight, and I always say you know they’re gonna go to sleep now and then get some rest. And then tomorrow they’re going to be ready to go to work. And it’s weird I know but I truly look at the dough as literally a breathing thing like something I take care of.
Patti Dobrowolski 20:00
I love this because this is what I’m always talking about is that the world is an energy field, we’re all made up of energy. And so that dough, you let it relax, and then you let it relax some more. And this to me is, it’s like us, you know, we need to relax, we need to relax more. And then we need to cool down a little bit and take a rest, so that we can get up the next day and do our job.
And that, for me, is such a beautiful way of looking at it. And you also talked about the science of it. There is so much science in baking. And you can try it. I don’t know about you. But I tried for many years to make bread and I discovered I could never do it right. I just couldn’t do it. I would beat it up. And then I would want it, I wanted it to go. I didn’t want to wait until it rose. And I just didn’t wait. Yeah.
So the fact that you’re talking about this, and you showed us that, you know, you showed us how you make the bagel, and it is incredible. And now. So you’re doing all these different kinds of bagels. Like where’d you get the idea to do a rainbow bagel? Because that was my favorite of course. Right? And then blueberry bagels. So tell me where did you get the ideas for these things that for me feel like your signature bagel?
Dan Hilbert 21:18
Yeah, the, the rainbow bagels were simply I just thought they were beautiful. And yeah, I have a baker friend who was kind of a mentor in the beginning, back in Connecticut. He’s, you know, culinary and into bakery, you know, baker trained. And he made rainbow bagels. And he was kind enough to make a video for me on how to make it. And I fell in love with it. And I started making those. I started making different colors.
Patti Dobrowolski 21:48
Yeah, there’s like I got my Halloween ones already.
Dan Hilbert 21:51
Yeah, yeah, Christmas is coming. And we’re gonna do Hanukkah bagels. So those are coming up. So the blueberry bagels are a little different. Blueberry is I was always unsatisfied with the regular blueberry bagel because it was a bagel with blueberry dots. And like I couldn’t get a blueberry in every bite. And so I ended up basically making a blueberry pie bagel that is made of blueberry pie filling so that every single bite you get in the bagel.
Patti Dobrowolski 22:22
It tastes like a blueberry. Yeah, it does. It tastes like a blueberry. It’s fantastic. Yeah. So is that the one that you’re most proud of? Or which one are you most proud of? Of your babies that you’ve birthed in your bagel shop?
Dan Hilbert 22:35
I think blueberry is probably the one I’m most proud of. Because it’s so so different. There’s some other recipes coming where literally, I substitute the water for something else. Like imagine. I’ll share one thing here is I have a coconut bagel. Okay, yes, there is no water in it. It’s just unsweetened coconut milk.
Patti Dobrowolski 22:57
Wow.
Dan Hilbert 22:58
It’s like if you had strawberry cream cheese on that. It’s like a daiquiri. It’s like just sit on a beach and have a coconut bagel with strawberry cream cheese and you’re set, you’re set. So blueberry is I’m proud of that one. I’m proud of stuff because it’s so unorthodox in terms of how it’s made.
Patti Dobrowolski 23:14
And it’sdelicious. It’s just so delicious. And so if you’re in Texas, it’s worth driving up to Trophy Club to get these bagels. And remember, they’re closed Monday and Tuesday. So don’t go on those days because you’ll be gravely disappointed. You want to go Wednesday through Sunday It’s a nice weekend jaunt, if you’re coming up from any other part, Austin, you better come up here because you know, a Dallas drive on out here because it’s beautiful. And it’s gorgeous there in Trophy Club too now. Alright, so this is where you are right now three and a half months in. And so how’s business going for you? How’s it going?
Dan Hilbert 23:50
It’s unbelievable. We are thriving. It’s really, really good. And I think.
Patti Dobrowolski 23:55
Can you hear the exhaustion his voice when he says it really, really good. Remember, we’re five hours into his day already. So yeah.
Dan Hilbert 24:03
So business is really good. We have, I think, hit on some really good food for really good people. I think what we’d learn before we open the brick and mortar with our friends and starting something out of our home during the pandemic really, really helped. I think without that, we’d be I think still trying to open, candidly. But it’s been really, really awesome. And the staff, by the way. I mean, these young ladies and young men in this community, who go to high school here are just unbelievable. I mean, half of our folks it’s their first job. And that’s I guess the other thing that we didn’t anticipate is how amazing these kids are. They are hustlers. They are rock stars. I mean.
Patti Dobrowolski 24:50
Yes, yes, they really are. What I was gonna say, here’s an example. So you know what happens is sometimes your point of sale goes down because the computers crash, you know, it just happens. And so I was in there on Saturday, Saturday in the morning, and it crashed. And that team of yours, they were so incredible. They got over enthusiastic, they got everybody going. They just were so excited about being there and helping, that everybody in the shop, nobody noticed that it was happening, you know, you apologized and said, it’ll take a second, it really took a very short amount of time and boom, we were right back to business. But the enthusiasm of the people that are working there, those kids that are working there, it was incredible.
Dan Hilbert 25:40
They’re great. They’re great. Ella, who was working the counter, I remember her saying it’s like, okay, we’ll just go old school, I’ll just write down your order. And that was it. Like she just pivoted, she’s like, Oh, okay, Dan, can you help me fix this? I’ll just start writing down the orders. Oh, yeah, we do that, we used to do that before.
Patti Dobrowolski 25:59
That’s right, before everything was automated. I love that. That’s so cool. Now, so you’re having great success three and a half months in, you’re also you should tell them, this is a really big deal. That State Farm is like focused on you, they’re featuring you as a small business. When does that happen? When will we get to see that?
Dan Hilbert 26:20
I think in mid December, we are, I guess, getting the final cut early December. So we have a State Farm agent here, Chastity, who does all our personal and business policies, and she nominated us for a small business showcase. And we are one in four that’s been picked in the State Farm network.
Patti Dobrowolski 26:44
It’s gonna be, your business is going to blow up at that point. This is just, people just know that the line is gonna, they’re gonna have efficiency in place for it. But trust me, this is a big deal to be featured by them. So we’re gonna see them, we’re gonna see them everywhere, which is fantastic. I’m so excited for you, for that happening. So when you think about that, that’s happening, that your business is going great. I want you to tell me, what’s your vision of the future for you? Like, where do you imagine this going? You know, I like people to dream a little bit here. So tell me, what’s your big dream?
Dan Hilbert 27:24
The big dream, you know, obviously, is to grow. But I’d like to grow where each shop is opened up by an operator, not an investor. Okay. And what I mean by that is, yes, you can build another Dan’s bagels. But my requirement right now, frankly, is that you need to work in the shop, just like Jen and I, yeah, need to rely on it for your income, for your savings for your family, to really be invested in it, the idea of just investing in one and opening it and then hiring people. It’s not how we built it. And I think it’ll take a little bit away from the personal touch. And actually, it’ll take a lot away from the personal touch.
Patti Dobrowolski 28:08
Yes, if you do it that way, with just investment, you know, it becomes almost like a franchise model, which is really not what you want. What you want to do is find somebody who’s interested in the bagel, well understands it needs to relax, who knows how to put it in to chill. And so it gets ready to work. And that is committed to that. And that has their family engaged in the process? Because if you didn’t have Jennifer and your kids on board with this, it wouldn’t happen. Would it?
Dan Hilbert 28:36
No it wouldn’t, it wouldn’t happen. No, yeah, it would have been all very scary and polarizing. But that’s not the case.
Patti Dobrowolski 28:45
No. So if you’re listening, and you’re somewhere in Texas, or anywhere else, for that matter, and you think to yourself, Oh, I think this is what I’m into, I love bagels, I’m really into it, I’ve been experimenting myself, you know, you better contact Dan, because this is and all his information is going to be in the show notes. So you can follow him everywhere. And I love that, everything that you’re doing now.
So when you think about this trajectory of what happened with you and where you been, you must have some tips for people if they have a dream like this. So your dream is to see this grow. But in an organic way it feels like to me in an organic way, not in a way where you’re just gonna we’ve seen some of these bagel shops in Texas and we’ve tasted those bagels and they’re not like yours, right?
So we’re gonna have this amazing experience no matter where they open. But what would you say to people who have like, you know, need to pivot and don’t know quite what to do about it or have a dream and want to make it reality?
Dan Hilbert 29:49
Yeah, the first thing is to believe in yourself. I think anybody can learn anything. I really, really do. Yeah, also be very realistic. You’re gonna have to put in the work, you’re gonna have to put in the work. And I think thirdly is make sure you have a very strong network around you. You know, folks that want to pivot, in my opinion typically have an idea of what it is they want to do, you know, a general framework about which to go at it.
But I think it has a lot more to do with grit, and just the ability to go at it. But it’s hard work and you get down sometimes, and just make sure you have that network around you. And you will have naysayers, you will have people who say you’re out of your mind, I would say that happens two out of 10 times, so just forget that. So.
Patti Dobrowolski 30:47
But what’s true is that, think about this stat, you know, nine out of 10, people who are facing a life threatening change, don’t make it. Only one person out of 10 will actually pivot and do the thing. So it makes sense to me that you would have naysayers that would think you were insane and crazy, go back and get another job in events and marketing or open your own marketing firm or events firm. Why would you possibly do something as crazy as a bagel shop?
Dan Hilbert 31:14
Yeah, the other thing is that, let’s say it doesn’t work out. What I’m finding is you meet so many new people during the process. So all of a sudden, your network has expanded, and its and that network creates new opportunities that regardless if your business happened or not, you have new people, it’s not like you have to go back and say, Hey, I’m back. You know, sorry, I left. You know, you’ve met new people. Yeah. And that in itself is a new path.
Patti Dobrowolski 31:46
Yes. And I love that because I met you there. And I feel like you and Jennifer, I’m like, Oh, those are going to be my new best friends. I’m going to get to know them, so that I can help them. Because anything I can do to help your success I’m in. I think you’re incredible what you’re doing. And the fact that you took us back there to show us all about the dough and those beautiful rainbow bagels, my favorite bagel in the bunch. I just love that.
And I think that you’ve provided something in the community that was missing. And it’s not just the bagel, you provided this feeling of love and this essential element, you know, when I go in and purchase things, you know, food because food is such a big deal. I don’t always have the experience that I have when I walk in your bagel shop, where I feel like people are friendly.
I feel like I meet people in front and back of me in the line, then I walk out something that is indescribably delicious, that I will seriously I can barely drive home. If I’m there and I ride up on my bike, I pull that bagel out and eat it right there. Right? Half of it anyway and then ride the rest of the 20 miles. But when I’m there with you know the car, I got to bring it home.
And I have to wait until I get home to open it up. And I can barely wait because it is incredible. So you, you also talked about that you get a little down. Tell me, what do you do? When you get down inside yourself? What do you do? Because I think this is the norm. This is the world we live in. Right? It’s always shifting. Yeah. So what do you do?
Dan Hilbert 33:26
I think first thing is I was talking to children, right? They’re good sounding boards. So that goes back to really have a network. And you know what, if your business partner is not your wife or husband, that’s okay. Just make sure you have a partner that you can do the same thing. So talk it out, don’t internalize it.
The second thing I do, is I go out to the front, when the stores open, get out of my head, just ask the data, wait a little bit, and I go out to the front. And I say hi. And I serve the customer. So I just get back into why you want to do this in the first place. Right? And listen to the great feedback. Don’t listen to the shade that’s being thrown.
That’s the hardest part. Especially food. Right? Yeah, especially bagels. It’s so cultish. But that’s what I do? I go to Jen, we talk it out. And then I, when we open, I go outside and meet some wonderful people and just try to change the mood.
Patti Dobrowolski 34:33
Yes, that is so great. You came out a couple of times when I’ve been in there. So I love that and I think people love seeing you and seeing you know that it’s you behind you are Dan of Dan’s bagels, they want to know that person and have that connection. I love that you’re saying, you know, talk to somebody instead of internalizing it because I think being an entrepreneur is a solo path in a lot of ways, you happen to have a great partner that you’re doing, doing it with right and a great family that supports you doing it. And now you have all these friends and all these customers who are there to help you be successful. But there will be people that throw shade. That’s just truth.
And so for you to know, in your heart that to go out and remember the why, that’s what you’re doing, you’re just walking out there and remembering why am I doing this at 3am getting up and then talking to the dough, right. And so I love that. And I just have to say, this is in this podcast, you’re the first person entrepreneur that I have really felt that you have a brick and mortar. And this is very different than many of the people that I interview, you know, they pivoted into being a blogger, or they pivoted into being a writer, they pivoted into or they didn’t pivot at all.
They’re doing stuff online while they have their day job. But this to me is really, it’s the heart and soul of the world. You know, there are these places that are open. And the people who work there have put their heart and soul into whatever it is that you’re consuming. So take the time to thank them.
And that’s what I would say to you, Dan, thank you so much for everything that you and your family did to bring the most incredible bagel to somewhere near me where it’s not even that far for me to drive and get it. I love it. I love it. I love it. So thank you for taking the time to be here with me this morning. What time do you get to go to bed? If you get up and you got to be there at three then what do you get a little nap in the middle of the day?
Dan Hilbert 36:43
That’s funny. I tried to get to bed by seven, you know, it’s a different workday. That’s all it is. That’s all it is. You know, my suppliers are there, you know, just at the same time. So, you know, my suppliers wake up at two. So yeah, the world still works at that hour.
Patti Dobrowolski 36:59
Yes, I know I used to mak,e when I lived in New York and I was an actor, you know, I made butter cream at night for you know, and I was my shift started at 1:30am. So I know all about it. So yeah, it was fantastic. Well, thank you so much for everything that you do. And everyone please check out the show notes. And if you live in Texas, or even if you don’t and you’re flying through Dallas Fort Worth, you got to go to Trophy Club and get one of Dan’s bagels because they are incredible. Thank you so much, Dan, you are amazing.
Dan Hilbert 37:34
Oh, thank you. Really appreciate you having me. Thank you.
Patti Dobrowolski 37:38
Oh, it’s been so great to see you. Okay, everybody, you know the drill. Go out today. Make it a great day, help somebody else in the world and do everything that you can to bring your talents into the universe. And until next time, up your creative genius. Okay, we’ll see you soon. Thanks so much for listening today. Be sure to DM me on Instagram your feedback or takeaways from today’s episode on up your creative genius. Then join me next week for more rocket fuel. Remember, you are the superstar of your universe and the world needs what you have to bring. So get busy. Get out and Up Your Creative Genius. And no matter where you are in the universe, here’s some big love from yours truly Patti Dover volsky and the Up Your Creative Genius podcast. That’s a wrap.
