Joe Dunaway 0:02

Welcome to the VICI Code, where we unlock real stories of small business owners who've battled chaos, crushed out, and conquered their challenges. Faith, family, and finances. No fluff, just raw, honest conversations that decode the path to victory. One story at a time. What is up? Thank you for joining us today as we explore our latest purpose-driven journey, the architecture of atmosphere, where we learn about scaling the intangible, how to move from owner-operator to CEO in a service-based business, the discipline of scratch-made systems, and why faith and family are the ultimate ingredients for a sustainable legacy. Most chefs are artists who struggle with the business. And most CEOs are tacticians who struggle with the art. Today's guest is the rare leader who has mastered both. He went from a home kitchen to building a multi-seven-figure event empire in the Pacific Northwest. His name is Tim Mitchell. Tim and I are fellow elite members. He is a master of atmospheric architecture. What makes him perfect for the VG code is his refusal to choose between scale and soul. He proves that high-level systems are exactly what allow for high-level creativity and presence at home. We are exploring the transition from artisan to architect and how to scale a business that is built on your personal luxury touch without losing the quality. As always, we filter Tim's journey through the VICI pillars faith, family, fitness, and of course finance. Tim, what an honor. Welcome to the show.

Tim Mitchell 1:58

Oh, thank you so much. What what an intro. Thank you for the uh for the hype. That means a lot.

Joe Dunaway 2:03

You got it, man. And as always, we like to really start with the nitty-gritty, the breakthrough stuff. You started in your home kitchen. I can relate. I started something in my home kitchen uh not too long ago and moved through the luxury resort world before building Mangia. Many entrepreneurs get stuck being the star of their own show. What was the specific breakthrough moment where you realized you had to stop being the one cooking the meal so you could start composing the atmosphere of the company?

Tim Mitchell 2:32

Yeah, no, great question. Um, you know, it's it's a line that I think a lot of people, especially in in our industry, find themselves is you're you're you're trying to wear all the hats and spinning all the plates at one time. And, you know, I have the ability to connect with people. I'm a relational guy. Um, I love people, I love caring for people, I love serving people. That's why I really got into this business. Um, and I I did that through the vein and vessel of food. Um, but as things started to scale and things started to get busier, I realized that I could teach my method, I could teach my recipe, I could teach my approach and theology to food and allow someone else to kind of take the reins with the knife and the pan, per se, uh, and really stay connected to the client side with the sales side and really start to uh invest my time and my experience in the relationship with the customer. Uh and so that was really the pivotal moment to where I realized I'm trying to, you know, chop something and I got a cell phone taking a call from a client to hear about what their event is, and I wasn't able to really give them my full intention because something's on the stove or coming out of the oven and kitchen timers are going off. Uh, and so it was that kind of epiphany of like, hey, like, I'm great at what I do, I'm an awesome chef, but at the same time, I'm not doing anything so breakthrough that I can't teach someone else how to do this. And so when I brought somebody into the kitchen to work alongside of me, it really freed me up to be able to put all my chips in on the relational aspect of what we do with which is uh planning events, creating those experiences, leaning into the details, obviously the sales aspect. Um, but I I I always say it was like that moment when I was chopping onions and I realized, yes, this is really important, but there's a more important thing and a more valuable thing for me to do with my time. Uh, and that was the the the client-facing side.

Joe Dunaway 4:31

All I heard there, Tim was humility, right? So many business owners, startup owners, they they they missed that key secret ingredient is humility. And that's what it takes in order to go from, you know, you know, startup, you know, growth chaos to being able to say, you know what, I'm good, but like I I can be a lot greater if I let go of some of that control. It's still hard though. What was the hardest part of letting go of the physical craft to focus on the business?

Tim Mitchell 5:05

Um, you know, just having the hands-on the ingredients and like shopping for the stuff and just knowing like, hey, this is my recipe, and it's all gonna, it's all gonna come together and be what my my ideal plan is going to be. But you know, it it wasn't a full like let go of the reins. We had to put some systems in place to make sure that there was still kind of that final check of tasting sauces and looking at things before they went out on at an event. And, you know, it wasn't just a full like, hey, you got this, I'm gonna, I'm gonna see you in the office. It was working alongside that person and just really um inspecting what you expect as you try to let people have some freedom to do what they need to do with the experience that they have, but also just putting some guardrails up and making sure that they're keeping the standard and keeping things at what we're known for. Um, and so it was just making sure that it wasn't a full let go. It was just being able to come alongside that person, uh, the team. I think it means a lot for people to know that you have their trust and you have their buy-in and what their position is. And so at first it was like me always kind of helicoptering in and just trying to save the day and trying to put my touch on it. I just quickly learned like, hey, I've I've trained them, I've brought them through my process, I gotta let them fly, I gotta let them do their thing. Uh, and that's really where we started to see the traction where I wasn't getting involved in every single corner.

Joe Dunaway 6:28

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And then, you know, we mentioned it at the beginning of the show that, you know, not all chefs make that transition into the the finance pillar. You know, we talk about ROI in luxury catering. The ROI is often found in the effortless feel of an event. How do you build operational discipline into something as volatile as, say, a wedding?

Tim Mitchell 6:55

Yeah, I mean, uh, a lot of it is just keeping keeping and holding standards, communicating standards at every touch point. Um, you know, when we're when we're talking luxury, we're talking six-figure events um or or or or maybe five-figure events, but a very, very low guest count. And so, you know, the intentionality with every step of the way is is really important. And that's really what sets us apart in what we do is making sure that those finer details are really illustrated. And not that we want to be like, hey, look what we did here, look what we did, but just that feeling, that moment, that ambiance, that environment that we're creating, all of those little details build into um making sure that people have a great time. And so just making sure that the standards are held, making sure that that the right people are in the right places and that we've invested in the right tools, the right resources. Um, it's not just a show up and try hard thing. It's it's really a disciplined nature to what we do and how we do it.

Joe Dunaway 7:54

How do you ensure a seven-figure bottom line when you refuse to have or take the heat and serve shortcuts?

Tim Mitchell 8:03

You know, I just doing things with integrity, uh, doing things with with like quality and excellence, those are some of our core values and the pillars of what we hold up our business on. And we've grown our business a lot, uh, a lot of the ways organically because of that. And people understanding that we may be a pricier option within our market, but what they're getting, there, they're the the value for what they're getting and experience that they get to go through with us, um, it's really what sets us apart. It's not even just necessarily the final event, it's the entire planning process and the intentionality of the details and just really immersing ourselves in the personality of the client and what they're wanting to experience. And so it's like we're holding hands all the way from the very first phone call and email all the way to the end. And even aftercare, I think is forgotten a lot of a lot of times in the service industry where it's like, oh, got that done. We can move on to the next one. And it's like we have a system in place to make sure we're sending out handwritten cards after you know year anniversaries or doing a phone call touch um after after the event, after a few weeks. Uh, and so it all of those things go into building what we've built. It's not one secret sauce that has made the way it's it's the catalog of secret sauces that have really allowed us to to um excel at what we're doing.

Joe Dunaway 9:25

Yeah, I mean we look at social media, it's everyone's highlight reel, right? No one realizes or or they or or not a lot of people realize that all the details and hard work that go on behind the scenes to make it look effortless, to make it look that good. And that does also go unnoticed. Um, but I like that you mentioned about like the follow-up too. Like that's that's also important because that's a moment, you know, to learn how can we do things better, right? How how did we leave things we think we knocked out of the park, but you know, were there other things? It's good to actually hear that we knocked it out of the park by the people that we were serving as well. Um it is there an operational blueprint in place that's allowed you to scale into multiple venues and brands simultaneously.

Tim Mitchell 10:14

Um, you know, it's it's a lot of building the building the plane as it's taking off for sure. But we we do we have um we call it the the manja way. Um and so even in our hiring process, before they're even manja employees, we're talking about the manja way and how our interview approach is different and how we're we don't provide these traditional structured interview processes that that that it's fun and that it's um creative and it's immersive into what we do. And so, like from day one, you know, as they're coming on board through going through our processes of making sure that they know what certain equipment is and all of the different layers, it's like it's really, you know, on the on a culinary term, it's like it's the recipe and uh for success, you know, making sure that they have all the right ingredients to make sure that they know what they're doing and how they're doing it. And we have ways to measure where they're at within their skills, um, and making sure that we're not just sending people out to something and then hope for the best. Uh, and so a lot of it has been um proactive and some of it's been reactive, meaning, you know, like, hey, we we've kind of thought the best idea through, we've documented it, we've kind of set some goalposts and some expectations. We send a team out um that's learning or training, and then we get their feedback and include them in that, gives them ownership, and then we react and say, okay, what can we how can we make it better? And that's something that our company is all about. We we we were part of a program, a fellow colleague caterer out of Denver has a program called MIBE, which means make it better every day. And so that's one thing that we've taken on is like, hey, these small incremental improvements that we can make within our systems every single day, every single event that we do, they compound over the 15 years that we've been in business. And that's really what's created this kind of manja way, and it is a working document and it will always be a working document of how to make things better, how to improve the systems that we already have in place.

Joe Dunaway 12:14

That's great. So, so culture and and structure combined have allowed you guys to create this, you know, working, working, living, breathing, operational blueprint, you know, to you know, not only deliver on high-level like events, but also attract the talent and develop the talent um to continue to grow and provide the same level of service on each event. That's a great um let's jump into uh some of the pillars, Tim. Um scratch made culture and leadership. We just got done talking about that. You mentioned that your menus are built entirely from scratch. How does the no shortcuts philosophy translate into your leadership and culture?

Tim Mitchell 13:02

Yeah, I mean, I think it's just being clear with people and not allowing them um, you know, like gray areas, you know, making sure that we're we're maintaining, you know, one-on-one uh conversations with our with our management and our leadership, making sure that our managers are doing one-on-ones with with their teams and making sure that there isn't anyone missed within the system. And that's an easy thing to do, especially, you know, we did like 3,000 guest count last week, you know, over 10 different events or something. And so it's like when the machine is running, it's very quick to just let's get the food sold and booked and cooked and and out the door. Um, and so it's just making sure that as a leader of the company, that everyone has a pulse on what their individual teams are doing, and and I have a pulse on the ones that are leading those teams. Uh, and just making sure that we're not because we're busy, because we're trying to be efficient, that we're not cutting a corner on our most valuable asset, which is our which are which is our team.

Joe Dunaway 14:02

Yeah. And how do you how do you mentor a team to care as much about the rhythm of service as you do?

Tim Mitchell 14:10

Um, you know, it's the it's the culture, culture wins, you know, and there's lots of books um out there about culture and and gone through several different cultural programs and books and leadership books. And there's, I mean, uh obviously a ton of resources out there within that, but it it's it's really that simple. That if if uh if I'm the leader of the company, if I'm investing, if I'm putting time in, uh if I'm nurturing and I'm developing my leaders, uh, and set that expectation that they do the same with theirs, it's just that natural um thing that comes out of it. Um, it's not something that's forced or coerced, it's just part of our culture, it's part of what we do and how we do it. And and um it's because our interview process is so unique, it's almost vision cast, and that seed is planted from the moment they walk into the building. Uh, and so all of that snowballs into just making sure that everybody wants to to win the same way and and have the same successes.

Joe Dunaway 15:06

Yeah, the way you talk about culture and about your people and wanting to set them up to win, you can just tell that there's something deeper going on with you. You list your faith in Jesus as the proudest achievement, even above your seven-figure uh business. In in the high pressure world of luxury events, how does your faith act as your true north when a deal goes sideways or the stakes are at their highest?

Tim Mitchell 15:31

Yeah, I mean, the the nice part is that my identity is found in the Lord, my identity is found in who I am as a son of God. And so um I don't have to allow the world to define who I am or what success looks like to me. Um, I have the Holy Spirit in me that gets to discern and talk to me and know what uh know when I'm messing up and know when I'm doing right. And uh when I feel the Father's delight and what I do and that I know that I'm glorifying him through what I do by by being a business person of principle and of honesty and of integrity, uh and and also treating my staff well. I'm not I'm not the guy that's throwing stuff at them and yelling at them and and chewing them up and spitting them out. Like I really want my people to to win and to succeed. And so having that foundation of faith, like I I literally could not do this business without Jesus. It it it's trying. It's we've showed up to our entire uh parking lot vandalized, uh all of our vehicles spray painted and and graffitied. We've showed up to um, you know, different situations where it's like, man, how are we gonna make this work? And it's literally like God's hand on us. Like, there's no other way to describe how we, you know, like I don't know how many times I prayed the fishes and lows over things when I'm going through the buffet line and we got big eaters, and it's like, I really hope we don't run out here, and it's just like just all right, God, you you feel the need, and he feels the need every single time. And uh from the very beginning of our business to now, um he's been there every step of the way. And my my faith has continued to evolve and to um be refined and challenged, you know. Success comes, you know, with with different different devils. And so making sure that I stay humble, making sure that um I stay true to who I am, um, all of those things are challenged at every kind of step of the road. And as success comes and as as my brand grows with what I'm doing and all the different things that within that, like Jesus is the anchor and and he's the sale uh in not only my personal life, but within our business. And so we're always um processing and praying about things, every new opportunity. Some that like any business person would be like, How have you not jumped on that yet? It's like, no, we're a little slower in our resolve to make sure that this is truly what God has intended for us. And I know from firsthand that like sometimes there's some really good opportunities that are there, but if if I rush into it, I could miss the opportunity that the Lord really has for me. And so it's a lot of it is is just prayer and just throwing it at the Lord's feet and saying, okay, is this is this for me or is this not? And then the cool thing is that if it's not for me, I don't I don't have that shiny syndrome thing, like you know, always always worrying or thinking about that opportunity that I left or that I wulda, shoulda, coulda. Um, I have like security knowing that I'm doing what I should be doing and that God's got it, um, which is a really nice place to be.

Joe Dunaway 18:35

Yeah, and it's it's interesting how he he always reminds us to to be patient, long-suffering, and he shows up. Well, you you want him to show up sooner sometimes, but but he still shows up. And it's usually just in the nick of time when you're just like, you know, it's it's it's happened a lot, you know, in the first 18 months of us launching Vici. Um, but you know, prayer and hard work and just being patient, and he and he tends to still show up uh when things are just really close to getting bad. Um, but there's lessons there too, right? There's lessons to be learned uh by allowing us to um you know to feel the heat, so to speak. Uh so and and just it reminds us to continue to be patient um and and let him do his work. So uh I appreciate that testimony. Um let's jump into uh family and fitness. The hospitality industry is notorious for destroying family time. Yeah, you are a father of four and a husband to Erica and the family pillar. How have your how have your how have your business systems served as a protection for your time at home?

Tim Mitchell 19:45

Yeah, I mean, uh honestly, it's it's still a challenge. Um, you know, we're we're in a very seasonal location. Uh we're in Court d'Alene, Idaho, one of the most beautiful places on earth, in my opinion. Uh lakes, rivers, mountains, uh, you know, four season recreation. But our our business typically starts uh steaming, you know, the steam starts about May and then through the summertime is extremely busy. And then uh, you know, by fall, basically we're kind of ramping down, have a little bit of breather, and then we ramp back up for for the holiday season. And so with that like cyclical season of of busyness, like we really try to make sure that um we're creating opportunities throughout the year for connection, you know, whether that's little family getaways or you know, dad working at home, or just however we can um coordinate and implement. And you know, a lot of times you hear the word balance, like, oh, I just gotta balance my my work and my family. And and you know, I was I was listening to a pastor years ago, and he's like, You men need to get rid of the idea of balance, like it's unbiblical. Balance isn't something that that Jesus is gonna be for. He says that we need to lay down our lives for our wives, he says that we need to lead and shepherd our homes. He doesn't say anything about balancing those things with your work, you know. And so those are my convictions of just making sure that my home is healthy. And it looks untraditional with the way that we do that in the sense of like a nine to five schedule. I I have kind of crazy schedule at different times. And so being a business owner, I have the flexibility and the opportunity to take random time off or to have trips in the middle of seasons where it might not make sense because I'm in the position and have built some systems and put people in the places to be able to do that. Um, but I will say for the entrepreneur starting out that's just in the grind and the thick of it, and maybe has young kids at home, it's like there's a little bit of cutting the teeth season, but you always need to make sure, regardless of what season you're in, that that your home's right because you don't wanna you don't wanna grind and grind and be at work all day long and then go home and be in a place to where it's not peace. And so my wife and I have like that's our thing is like our home should always be the most peaceful place that we get to be at. And so we're always fighting for that. And there's always outside influence with, you know, whether it's with friends or family or or different schedules or rhythms with what the kids are going on or what they have uh you know commitments to. But we're always fighting for peace within our home. Uh, and that makes it a lot easier to go out to work and work harder knowing that I have a place to come home to that uh that is filled with peace and that is protected. Um it is a challenge.

Joe Dunaway 22:26

100%. There's no such thing as balance. You know, it you you you have seasons, you you have these different things that come up, and you just gotta be grateful for for what we have and you know, prioritize the things that matter more. Um, and usually I I say this, you know, faith in this order, faith, family, fitness, the finance piece. I just feel like it works itself out, right? It if it if it becomes a priority, that's when things start going wrong. Um, obviously, we need we live in a we live in a society that you know money is is required to to do certain things. And I like to think that it allows me to help more people, right? Yeah. Um, and I know you feel the same way. Now, let's jump into the fitness piece though. How does your personal fitness routine provide the stamina to lead both your company and your household of six?

Tim Mitchell 23:18

I I, you know, full disclosure, wish I was more consistent at it. Um, you know, being a part of Dan Martel's elite community, it's great being around people that are driven. And, you know, obviously one of the five daily non-negotiables is is doing a workout. Um, and so there's been seasons where I've been great at it. There's been seasons, probably the one I'm in right now, that I haven't been so great at it. Um, but it it is something that I am not content with not being great at it. Um, there's that internal wrestle that comes with like, man, I didn't I didn't get my workout today. Um, I'm not taking care of my body the way I should be. Uh, there's there's that conflict within me. And so I'm glad that that conflict was within me because if I didn't care and I was lazy and I didn't, you know, it didn't matter, um, that would be a real issue. And so um I I typically try to get my fitness in first thing, wake up. Um, I I have a Peloton at home, so I that's the easiest path for me is just hop on the bike or get on the app and do a workout. Um I I live out in a little bit of a rural area, so like hopping into a gym is gonna be like a 30-minute drive-in for me. So being able to do it at home uh is great. So I typically will wake up, uh do my 45-minute workout, shower, and then I'm in in quiet time um with my wife. She's up by that time after my workout. And so we usually spend our mornings together, uh being able to just have some some Bible time and just some some quiet time together. Um and that that those like components have been like so life-giving to me. I love I love getting a sweat on, I love kicking my own butt in that sense. Uh, and so when I'm not doing it, I feel like such a slug. It's like, man, what am I what am I doing? Like I just I need it. Uh and I'm glad that that's my my framework for it versus like I'm just gonna eat a bag of potato chips and watch you know TV all day long.

Joe Dunaway 25:11

Yeah, of course. So important, and just to keep that stamina and we go through our seasons, right? I go through tax season and it's like it's like a moment where it's like I it's like the I feel like I have no time, but also like that's it's like I I resort back to like, well, I have to do this, otherwise I'm gonna have like a meltdown. I'm gonna have a breakdown if I don't, you know, get it, get the get get the stress filtered through my system. So yeah, we go through these different moments of and the summer's hard too. It's like you know, all the things you've been putting off in the winter, it's like, all right, now it's time to you know make good on those promises. So yeah, thanks for sharing. So now we're at our uh our rapid fire moment. A couple questions for you, Tim. Um, just whatever comes off the cuff. Uh, what's the biggest flavor of mediocrity you see in the industry today?

Tim Mitchell 26:02

Um, flavor of mediocrity. I I would think that um I would say presentation. You know, we we try to go out of our way to make things look amazing, not just on the plate, but the environment that they're set in. And I feel like a lot of times in the industry it's just let's just put the food out, put it on the bowl, put it in a on this platter, put it in this this warmer, and we'll call it good. And so there's this kind of mediocre approach to the way things should look. And it's like as a chef and having a culinary background, like I want, I want the food to sing, you know, we want those Instagramable moments, and I can't rely on an event planner or a florist or designer to make me look good. I want to be the one coming to the table with like, hey, here's the best presentation that I can provide. And so uh I've seen a lot of that uh within the industry. And I think it's I think it's growing. I think people are becoming more aware that that those Instagrammable moments are what people are looking for, and those are the the type of vendors that they're wanting to hire for whether it be their wedding or their corporate event or whatever it is. But um, yeah, seeing just kind of like not really caring about the end result is heartbreaking because there's there's like that's the that's that last that last mile as the postal service calls it, you know, like that that's the miracle mile where where things get delivered, where things hit where they should. Um that should be where we're focusing a lot of our energy on.

Joe Dunaway 27:25

Yeah, presentation matters a lot. Um so sometimes we refer to uh Vichy as victory. What does victory look like for the Mitchell family in 2026?

Tim Mitchell 27:39

Uh victory looks like that that peace-filled home. Uh, victory looks like um faith that has grown, um, whether it whether it be something that we've prayed and petitioned for and seeing it come true, or just learning through uh it not coming coming through and just what what God's plan was really through it. Um our property, we we live on 40 acres in in north north Idaho, and it it's it's a beautiful property. It's a a blessing from the Lord. Uh we're in the midst of trying to um repurpose some of the land into a venue, 10 acres of it. Uh, and so we've been going through the conditional use permitting process with the county, and it's been crazy uh to say the least. And so um getting our permit would be a huge victory for us and open up more opportunities to host events and and grow our catering business and uh steward and utilize the land in a really good way. Um, you know, we love traveling too, so that's always a victory when we get to go out and experience things. Uh, as I mentioned before, we hopped on the call. Um, when our kiddos turn nine on their ninth birthday, they've had enough time to hopefully think about where they want to go with mom and dad, just them on a birthday trip. And so we just got back from New York City with my 10-year-old daughter and just experiencing life with them. It wasn't something that I got to do or my wife got to do as a kiddo, was travel and have one-on-one time with their parents. And so it's something that we really just value a lot, is just creating these new experiences for our kiddos, uh, and and kind of the world is our oyster, right? Like there's so many different things to learn and culture and community and city and all the stuff that goes with it. So those are always big wins when we get to get on an airplane and go somewhere.

Joe Dunaway 29:22

Yeah, that's a beautiful picture of victory for 2026 for you guys. I love that for you. So we got uh a quick little recap um before we close out here. Leadership is about the architecture of the experience, right, Tim? Legacy is built on scratch-made values, not shortcuts. If you're a hospitality leader ready to scale, visit thecheftim.com. If you're looking for an elite event pre- uh experience, check out manjacaterinco.com. Those two links are in the show notes, as well as also Tim's uh handles on Instagram and LinkedIn. Tim, anything you want to share with our our audience before we take off?

Tim Mitchell 30:05

No, I I really appreciate the conversation. I think that your four pillars are something that that I'm fully bought into. And I hope that uh other people like-minded uh as us uh find the value and just um the the conversation in the community and and really the the the low-hanging fruit of the pieces that you get to learn from other experienced entrepreneurs that are going through the exact same challenges. We're we're we we all have lives outside of what we do for our paychecks, right? And so having things that can connect us um through faith, through family, through fitness, through finance, those are things that that we should all have a part of our lives. Uh and so having having a conversation with you has been great about just diving into those things and and uh learning about um, you know, even just hearing my own thoughts, you know, and just having the convictions that I do uh and just getting opportunity to present them has been been uh great. Absolutely.

Joe Dunaway 30:58

Thank you so much for coming on, Tim. To the rest of our guests, refine the experience, lead with intention, and remember that the best legacies are always made from scratch. We'll see you next on the next episode of the Vici Code. Thanks for tuning in to the Vici Code, where the underdogs rise and the numbers finally make sense. If today's story hit home, share it. And remember, faith fuels a fight, and your comeback is already in progress.