“Keep doing what you love and believe in and that will get you through the tough spots”

This interview sponsored by our friends at The Holos Network

Julie Cook, co-owner of 63 Diner in Columbia, MO loves being in the business of making people happy. Today she shares with us some background about the beloved Diner, and advice for those brave enough to attempt the restaurant business.

Julie began working for the original owners of 63 Diner, Mary and Nortan Evans in 1989 as a waitress. She worked as a waitress, hostess, and manager for fifteen years. Now she runs it with her husband. Through a bad economy, countless competition, and road construction near the diner, Julie has managed to make it a continued success and a favorite eatery for all times of the day, and night!

The 63 Diner is one of the newest companies to sign on to the ever-growing Holos Network, and as Julie explains in the interview, it was her trust in Dave Hockett, part-owner of Holos Network mid-mo that convinced her to sign on for Holos. Dave ran the Facebook page for 63 Diner under the company Dubtizzle, and did such an amazing job that Julie even said “for the longest time I was convinced that Dave owned Facebook because he was so knowledgeable about it!”

MO:
Why do you think Columbia, MO is a perfect town for 63 Diner?

Julie:
We believe what makes our Diner perfect is our loyal customers, which we consider to be our friends. We along with most of our staff build life long relationships with our customers.  Its like they become part of our families.  If someone is sick and in the hospital or stuck at home it is common for us to take them a meal, or call them or just do whatever it is that we can do to help. That is what makes our Diner perfect!

MO:
What has been your biggest accomplishment in the restaurant industry?

Julie:
Our biggest accomplishment is everyday just doing what we love and making our customers happy every time they walk in the door.

MO:
You run 63 Diner with your significant other, can you tell us what advantages and disadvantages you see in running a business with a significant other?

Julie:
One of the biggest advantages is that we both get to do together what we love, and one of the disadvantages is that with Jay having another full-time job with Amerun U.E. and being a part-time farmer we don’t always have a lot of time together outside of our work.

MO:
How is The Holos Network helping you with marketing?

Julie:
With today’s economy “everyone ” is looking for a “deal”  and along with that and the fact that technology has come so far that I
believe that things like Holos are going to take over clipping coupons.  But the biggest reason we choose Holos Network is because of Dave Hockett.  Dave started managing our Facebook page and when he took it over we had about 2600 fans.  Now
after not even a year of working with Dave we have almost 5000 fans. At first I was reluctant to go with Dave and Dubtizzle and a Facebook page, because I am really not to up to date with the social media stuff, rather I am still a yellow pad of paper and pencil kind of gal. But after visiting with Dave and knowing that he is Christian and most everything he has been involved with in business has been blessed I was convinced to give it a try and haven’t looked back and have been more than pleased with his service!!!

MO:
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs who are just opening a restaurant? What do you wish you would have known when you were starting out that you know now?

Julie:
Their are several things we would tell folks. One of the first would be to hire a good accountant. We use Kathy Bonuchi with Beck and Company and she is wonderful.  I know the first six months I probably called her 4 times a day. She was never short with me and always if I may say so very compassionate and caring and most of all patient!  One of the other most important things I would tell folks is to really sincerely value your help.  For me this was easy because of the fact that a lot of the people that work for us are the same people that worked with me when I worked for Mary and Norton Evans all those years.  I still to this day don’t feel as if they work for me, I feel as if they work with me! On that note I would like to emphasize that we are very blessed that we have the most dedicated, hardworking, and wonderful staff of any business in Columbia Missouri. The last thing I would tell people starting out in the restaurant business or any other business for that matter is to ” hang in there”  keep doing what you love and believe in and that will get you through the tough spots.  I don’t know if there is anything we wish we would have known before we started, although we will say that everyday is a learning experience.