Fueling the American Dream: Josh Molina Celebrates 10 Years of Coffee and Culture Success in Vegas

Josh Molina is a first-generation Colombian-American entrepreneur whose vision has transformed Las Vegas’s cultural and culinary landscape. As the founder of Makers & Finders, Josh has created more than just a coffee bar—it’s a beloved Las Vegas hub known for its vibrant, Latin-inspired cuisine and electric atmosphere.

With over a decade of experience in the restaurant industry, Josh has expanded Makers & Finders into multiple locations. Beyond his business ventures, Josh’s dedication to community shines through his role on the board of Thrive Point Academy, a charter school committed to helping credit-deficient students. 

In this episode of Pursue Vegas, we reconnect with Josh as he reflects on how Makers & Finders has become more than a business; it’s a space rooted in culture and connection—a place that, as he says, “raised him.” “Vegas gave me everything.”

This conversation provides rich insights into the realities of running a business in Las Vegas, the grit needed to scale in a fiercely competitive market, and the essential role of authenticity in building a brand that truly resonates. “Failing is essential. There’s no shortcut to growth.” 

Josh’s philosophy of “creating memories” as the true product of Makers & Finders shines as he perseveres against the odds and stays true to his vision. His work with Thrive Point Academy further exemplifies his purpose-driven approach, blending entrepreneurial spirit with a commitment to lasting community impact.

Don’t miss out on this compelling conversation about entrepreneurship, resilience, and making an impact in the heart of Las Vegas.

Follow Josh’s journey on social: @makerslv | @takeiteasyroasters.

Key Takeaways

• Building a Community Legacy: Josh’s vision for Makers & Finders goes beyond coffee, aiming to create a lasting cultural impact in Las Vegas.
• Thriving in the Vegas Hustle: Valuable insights on navigating the pressures of entrepreneurship in a fast-paced city.
• Genuine Leadership Matters: Josh discusses the power of leading by example and cultivating a strong, inclusive team.
• Philanthropy and Purpose: From community projects to education, Josh’s passion for giving back shines.
• Authenticity as Success: A call for aspiring entrepreneurs to build businesses that truly resonate with their values and the people they serve.

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Transcript

0:00:00 - (Josh Molina): Hi, this is Josh Molina with Makers and Finders. And this is Pursue Vegas.

0:00:05 - (Dave Burlin): All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Pursue Vegas podcast. I'm your host, Dave Berlin.

0:00:10 - (Tawni Nguyen): And I'm your co host, Tawni Nguyen.

0:00:12 - (Dave Burlin): And we are incredibly excited. This is a very special episode of the Pursue Vegas podcast because we brought back one of the OGs from the very first series that we ever did for Pursue Vegas over two years ago, and he was one of the first people that stepped up and said, hey, I want to be a part of this. And I'm so glad to have Josh Molina, the visionary and founder of Makers and Finders. And if you haven't been, it's a very vibrant, Latin inspired coffee bar and eatery that's become a staple in the Las Vegas community.

0:00:43 - (Dave Burlin): Known for the lively atmosphere, bold flavors, and commitment to fostering community, Makers and Finders reflects Josh's passion for creating spaces where people can connect and thrive. Josh the man, welcome to the Pursue Vegas podcast. What are you excited about, bro?

0:00:57 - (Josh Molina): Well, after that intro, I was excited about that. That was incredible.

0:01:01 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

0:01:01 - (Josh Molina): That.

0:01:01 - (Tawni Nguyen): Not the coffee.

0:01:02 - (Josh Molina): No. And the coffee. No. There's definitely a lot of coffee in the system right now. No, I'm so excited to be here, Dave, and I'm glad that, you know, the revival'here for Pursue Vegas, and I'm excited to see where this goes and how I can contribute.

0:01:14 - (Dave Burlin): You know what I love about you, bro, is I. We got connected right before we did that series two years ago, and somebody else had kind of bailed and you stepped in. You were like, yeah, I'll help. And I feel ashamed to say this, and I've really shed a lot of my shame and guilt, but I've barely talked to you in the last year especially. Everyone just gets busy with life, you know what I mean? I've been doing a bunch of stuff with all the work that I do with veterans. I've been doing a lot of stuff with Global Entrepreneurship Week.

0:01:43 - (Dave Burlin): And then when this kept coming back up, I was like, I'm just gonna hit Josh up. I texted you, and in like five.

0:01:48 - (Josh Molina): Minutes, you're like, I'm down instantly, man. No. And, you know, that's how I go. We're busy. Time flies. But when there's a moment, an opportunity to connect, I mean, we're there to take it, right?

0:01:57 - (Dave Burlin): So good. Well, a couple of things have changed since then. You've got some new locations, so just go off, man, us everything about. Tell us everything about makers and finders, what you're working on. And what you're excited about?

0:02:08 - (Josh Molina): Yeah, I mean, this year is a very special year for us. It's our ten year anniversary. Right. So I just can't even believe saying that. But going back to that's just time for you. We opened up in 2014 in the art district, a much different art district than what we have now. We were the second food and beverage concept, the first specialty coffee brunch concept. And now There are over 35 eateries, restaurants, breweries, bars, et cetera.

0:02:35 - (Josh Molina): So I mean, just, just, it's been an incredible journey just to be able to bear witness to the growth in the arts district. Uh, the culmination that, you know, that was always why we chose the arts history. Because early on, you know, I saw, I saw the vision for Vegas. I knew that we were headed in a direction where it's, it's going to be more metropolitan, a lot more people from other cities, it'll become less transient and we'll start building like a cultural foundation that identifies Vegas outside of the strip, right? Outside of, you know, what, what we were known for for the longest time. So I mean, I've seen that just our art district location gets a lot of tourism. So just hearing them say, hey, we're coming.

0:03:14 - (Josh Molina): Yeah, the tourists, the Vegas tourists has evolved, right. It's no longer just looking for the clubs, the u the, the beach clubs, the, the buffets, right. Which is fading away quickly. Uh, and now it's looking for what's, what is Vegas for real? Like what's local Vegas. And so coming to the arts district, Fremont U, Fremont East, Red Rock Canyon. I mean there's so much to Vegas and I'm just u happy to see it. But that was, you know, that was kind of like the early beginnings of makers and finders. We wanted to be in a neighborhood that was going toa be like the center of that kind of.

0:03:48 - (Josh Molina): I don't want to sound too dramatic, but like the cultural revolution of Vegas, right?

0:03:52 - (Dave Burlin): Be dramatic, bro. We're just looking for, we're just looking for the truth.

0:03:56 - (Josh Molina): It sounded so different in my head too. Like I like echoes have some kind of flair. Yeah, no, but I can't do that much.

0:04:03 - (Dave Burlin): Beti can.

0:04:07 - (Josh Molina): And then, yeah, here we are. I mean now the art district is known as like the center of Vegas and the culinary scene, the arts scene seen. I mean there's so much going on down there. And then fast forward to now. You know, we, we opened up our second location in downtown Summerlin, right? That's where we met a couple of Years ago to shoot that u. And then right, you know, right smack dab in the middle of COVID we opened up our sister concept, Take it Easy Roasters, which is a, you know, an elevated pastry shop with a micro coffee that we micro roast. We also telling um, our buddy here, Bruno. Thank you.

0:04:46 - (Josh Molina): Yeah. Br Bro.

0:04:47 - (Dave Burlin): Bruno's the Jamie of our show that Joe Rogan has.

0:04:51 - (Josh Molina): Yeah.

0:04:51 - (Dave Burlin): It's just this anonymous being. No one's ever seen him. No one might. But yeah, that's the Jamie. Yeah.

0:04:57 - (Josh Molina): Well, yeah, I was telling Bruno about the bean. And so we get really, you know, we got a direct trade deal out of Columbia going on really high quality beans. And then fast forward we open up a satellite location and Area 15. And then finally last year, June, June 17th of last year, we opened up our Henderson location. And that was, that's our biggest location to date. It was an old Chase bank. So that was quite, that was quite the build out. You know, I had to, you know, build that restaurant from scratch. And a lot of vision required for that just because, you know, it was a bank, not a restaurant.

0:05:30 - (Dave Burlin): Is there still a vault there? Like o that'd be cool like if you just had like one bean that was in the vault.

0:05:34 - (Tawni Nguyen): It's where they stored empanada sauce.

0:05:38 - (Josh Molina): Which.

0:05:39 - (Dave Burlin): Is delicious sauce by the way. Little pico mastery you do with it.

0:05:43 - (Josh Molina): And no, we don't have a vault. Yeahah. We weren't that lucky. But still, you know, quite, quite the build out, quite the project. And now we're a year're into it. So you know, we're happy, we're growing. We'we're looking to continue to expand makers and finders here in Vegas and outside.

0:06:00 - (Dave Burlin): How big is your team? Because I was mentioning a little bit before the show, like I've. I've always been a fan of restaurants. To me it is as. It's great that you have food and coffee. Right. Because those are two of the easiest places to bring people together. I've been good friends with a guy back in Oklahoma who was world pizza champion president. He's broke the record for the world's largest pizza party.

0:06:23 - (Dave Burlin): He has 12 restaurants. Right. And he's home every night for dinner. What is that life for you? But my question also in that is how many people are on your team across all the place places?

0:06:35 - (Josh Molina): Yeah. So we have over a hundred employees now. Yeah, love that. Because like you said, we're more of a full restaurant. So you know, at any given location we'll have anywhere from like 30 to 35 employees and then we have a office team that handles our HR back end and then we have like our production team that does the empanadas, the bakery items of coffee roasting. So it's definitely, you know, a work, you know, u a labor of love for a lot of labor. Right.

0:07:05 - (Josh Molina): And u so we, you know, and it's, it's important to build a team and that's really where I'm at 10 years in is just still understanding, you know, what makes people tick. At the end of the day, this is the restaurant business. You know, we're not, we're not, you know, doing open heart surgery. We're serving coffee, we're serving great food, great, great cocktails. But you know, there's a lot that goes into it and it's, it's a very people heavy job. So you know, I've had to really develop my skills as a leader and then also, you know, become creative in how do, how, how we develop these team members who, you know, maybe restaurants, not their passion, but how do we make them feel happy to be there and how, and even more importantly, how does that trickle down to our guests? Rightm so it's, you know, and to this day like this year has been a really like a in, you know, looking within, looking at the mirror because we want to expand, you know, we want to continue to scale, but we don't want to scale our problems, we want to scale our business. You know what I mean?

0:08:01 - (Josh Molina): So that's, that's a, that's a big focus. So you know, looking into our SOPs, our training programs, like really diving into the training and I mean investing money, time, resources, like building out true courses, like hybrid courses where they can do it hands on like a typical restaurant, but also they can have some content they can study from home. So I mean that's, that's really, you know, what I'm seeing is bringing me a lot more freedom because that's really, I think what I'm in pursuit of now is like, okay, I got the businesses going well, I obviously want to continue growing it, but how do you know, how do I not feel shackled to it? Which is, you know, it's a really easy to become obsessive and tied to your business. So I have a son, I was telling you, you know, he's seven years old. I have a family and so I am just trying to play smart. You know, I want to work hard, but I also want to work smarter.

0:08:57 - (Tawni Nguyen): So I love that. Congratulations on breaking the decade because you know, statistically Speaking a lot of restaurants fail within the first year. And, you know, like, more than 95% of it, to be exact. Right. And most don't make it past four or five years. And surprisingly, I've been to the Henderson one because I live back in the boonies and I did go to the downtown. When, now that I think about it, I think when I first moved through as a tourist, that was the first time I went during. No, before COVID I was like, man, I need to move somewhere.

0:09:26 - (Tawni Nguyen): Like, what's it gonna be? Is it gonna be Chicago? Is itnna be Seattle? I was just chasing different weathers outside of California.

0:09:32 - (Josh Molina): And you chose the desert.

0:09:33 - (Tawni Nguyen): The weather tax, you know, I had it too good. You know, I. So congratulations on that. And I really loved the concept, and I can't even tell that it was a bank.

0:09:44 - (Josh Molina): Yeah, that's good.

0:09:45 - (Tawni Nguyen): Which is like, so funny how we all connected. And I did take a meeting there too. And we love the steak and eggs and everything. It's just so vibrant. And the coffee choices. And now that I know what labor of love goes into it. And as like a child immigrant, I grew up in the back of a restaurant with my parents for years and years and years. So I know that we get there early in the morning and we don't leave for like 14, 16 hours.

0:10:06 - (Josh Molina): Right.

0:10:06 - (Tawni Nguyen): You know, so I know that when you say you're building and you're putting heart and soul and to building this community, not just around the food and service, like industry, because obviously when you bring up SOPs, that's what makes a business drive. That's what your systems and processes going to make revenue. But at the end of the day, it's going to be your people that's going to drive your actual profit, your bottom line, your cash flow and the service and the hospitality, on why people keep coming back to you and why people want to keep pouring back into their community. And it sounds like you're doing a lot of work to, like, give back and like, build the team and actually nurture the people and, you know, do a really good job at bringing people together. So, like, what does that look like for you in the next couple years with you, in your expansion, right, of just you being elevated as a person with your son and how that entrepreneurship kind of takes.

0:10:54 - (Tawni Nguyen): Are you gonna take your son, like, to work with you, show him the lifestyle, the vision on how you want him to get his roots into the ground of understanding what entrepreneurship and restaurant tours really like outside of, you know, the big corporations here in Vegas?

0:11:07 - (Josh Molina): Yeah, that's a great question. And Hudson, that's my son's name, he, he was there, you know, he was part of the Henderson build out from before it was the restaurant it is now to when it was dust and rub. So that's definitely a big part. I take him to work especially on the weekends ca. Because that's when I spend the most time with him. And you know, just this last weekend, even just picking his brain and you know, kind of stimulating that vision and that eye for detail.

0:11:35 - (Josh Molina): We bought some planners for the Main street location that, for the patio and you know, we had some negative space and I was like, hey, maybe we can use a couple more. But I, I ended up leaving it up to Hudson. I'm like, hey, what do you think, man? Like, you know, we have this many planners. I was kind of thinking about adding here and, and he made the call. And so, um, you know what? I think what he's taught me a lot and what's translated into being a restaurant owner and an entrepreneur is like just how much grace and patience you need to have with children. But beyond that, just with, with people, you know, people that work for you. Like, you know, yeah, there's rules, there's systems and procedures, but at the end of the day, like, we're all on a human level. Like we, we're all walking into work with, carrying something, right?

0:12:21 - (Josh Molina): And, and my job is to, you know, create an atmosphere where they can kind of forget about that for a little bit and, and focus on making people happy, making people smile and, and handing out experiences, you know, So I take that really seriously. And I think that just being someone who's been in Vegas for 25 years now, um, I, I, you know, I owe this city everything like this, this city has built me to what I am. I always tell people like, you know, this business raised me, you know, and I was, I was 25 when I opened that first location.

0:12:55 - (Josh Molina): Um, so I traded in, you know, my, um. Well, I still partied, but you know, I was goingna say I traded in the parties for a restaurant, but that, that wouldn't be true. But uh, you know, it's, it's just, it's different. Like, you know, when you're carrying that amount of responsibility in your 20s, it's just a little unusual for people. And so it'it, was, it was a challenge to really learn how to carry that weight, right?

0:13:22 - (Josh Molina): And beyond learning how to carry that way, understanding that I don't have to carry it all right, I don't have to Carry it all. And I think that was the biggest part of this journey, that. That I'm. I'm on the journey. Right? But that's one of the things I've learned along the way is, like, hey, man, like, you have your team, enable them, empower them, and give them the opportunity to perform. And part of performing is failing. So, you know, and, you know, I'm kind of the mindset now just like, embracing failure is probably the most important thing because you.

0:13:55 - (Josh Molina): We don't learn the easy way. I can't tell you one thing I learned just by someone telling me, hey, do it like this. Yeah, sure, I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna do it my way. Fall. Fall over and pick myself up and say, okay, I won't do that again.

0:14:08 - (Tawni Nguyen): So speaking of failure, what was, like, that biggest kick in the face lesson that you've taken in 10 years of just building your restaurants out here that you didn't anticipate or expect or no one told you about that you wish you knew sooner?

0:14:20 - (Josh Molina): I think it's the. Just. I don't mean to stick on. Stay on the subject. But it's just, like, the leadership aspect. You know what I mean? Like, I feel like, you know, either people are like, business management degrees or some form of, like. I was a psych major at unl, so, you know, that, you know, I've always been very interested in, like, behavior and what makes people tick, but I think that's the biggest thing I've learned and the biggest, you know, not one kick, but, you know, so many kicks in the face, Chun Li style, you know, so it's just.

0:14:54 - (Josh Molina): It was. And it's just realized. Culture reference, it's u. So it's been just realizing that I. You know, forcing people to do things the way I want to do them and. And that, like, codependency factor of, like, wanting people to think like me and, you know, do things like me. Like, that was something I really had to let go of. Um, and as a person who's like a type A kind of ocd, like, you know, controlling to certain degree, like.

0:15:25 - (Tawni Nguyen): That was tough D on the disc.

0:15:27 - (Josh Molina): Yes. Yes. And so, um, that was. That was. That was a big challenge for.

0:15:32 - (Dave Burlin): I would say, man, I love that. And thanks for sharing everything, because s your passion not just for people, but for food. Comes out in your atmosphere. But I love how you even said it. You're in that season where you're taking a look in the mirror. How can you be a better person, be a better leader? And it does trickle down and then it's going to trickle out. Right. So you're doing a lot of philanthropy and a lot of stuff in the community as well.

0:15:58 - (Dave Burlin): Can you talk a little bit about that? Because most people know me, they know I do a lot of stuff in the veteran space. I'm a Marine Corps veteran. But for you's's the, what's the work that you're doing outside of, outside of your restaurants in the community?

0:16:11 - (Josh Molina): Yeah, I mean, you know, I'm also a first generation immigrant. Like, and I think that that's what I've really taken the most passion to is like, hey'm, you know, I'm, I identify with, you know, the Latino community. I am Latino, I speak Spanish. Like, you know, that's, that's where my u. That m mishmash of like culture between like the South American and then the American culture that I've, um, been, you know, I've had the privilege of growing up in.

0:16:38 - (Josh Molina): And uh, so I think that's my biggest, that's my biggest inspiration and passion right now is like showing other kids that look like me that, you know, don't have the resources, the money, the upbringing that u that you know, others might have that come from a more privileged background. You can still make it. You know what I mean? You could still make it. And it's just understanding, you know, the importance of educating yourself, the importance of being curious and finding resources and finding mentors and you know, listening to podcasts like these to get inspired. So I've now. So my most recent endeavor is I'm the board chair for a hybrid high school charter school in Las Vegas, Thrive Point Academy of Nevada. It'a it's in person and remote, it's totally free.

0:17:28 - (Josh Molina): It's for 9th through 12th graders, specifically for credit deficient students. And it's focused. The location is right across from Meadows Mall. Right. So 8, 9, 107. Very boiling pot of, you know, culture. A lot of Latinos there as well. So I got involved with this project last year. I mean that, you know, education is not a space that, that I've ever kind of been in. And so just uh, it was a journey just to kind of sit in front of like the, the charter school board and prepare the application and go through that whole process. I mean I learned a whole lot and I've been able to contributem time into this project. We got denied last year. Right.

0:18:12 - (Josh Molina): But we appealed and we were able to win the appeal. Which means that we actually opened our doors a couple weeks ago with the school year. So we're officially in business. We have over 200 students enrolled. You know, this is just the beginning, but I'm just projects like these are what make me really what make me tick and make me, you know, want to keep moving, keep growing and continue that evolution.

0:18:38 - (Dave Burlin): I love that man. And, and such a passionate thing. And that's where it's one thing to be successful in business, it's a whole not other thing to be successful in restaurants. But this is a whole different layer for you to be successful in restaurants in Las Vegas. Because a lot of the culinary stuff here has always been predicated on the power of the Strip. What do you think what you, what are the biggest challenges that you see in that industry, specifically in the culture of being an independent owned and operated restaurant owner here in Vegas versus where you might have done this anywhere else?

0:19:17 - (Josh Molina): Yeah, I mean there's, it's a double edged sword, right? Like Vegas, you know, it's, it's. Everyone from anywhere will inevitably be in Vegas at some point or another. Right. So I mean that visibility to be able to say, hey, I opened a restaurant and like immediate, you know, I have not just the city kind of being able to experience it, but in the sense like the world can come and see it, right? That's huge.

0:19:42 - (Josh Molina): And that's an incredible opportunity. But on that same, on the other side of that, it's the amount of competition, the amount of restaurants that there, that exist in Vegas, the Strip, you know, that's something that, you know, is extremely challenging. And beyond that, I know we're all feeling it like, you know, we all hear the inflation and all the stuff going on with costs. Like that's, that's, that has been extremely challenging. You know, restaurants notoriously already have small margins, right. Small bottom lines. But now you, you add inflation into the mix and the cost of goods are so incredibly high. And you know, it's a lot of, I feel like there's a lot of pressure right now, you know, and we're seeing some really, you know, incredible, you know, culinary destinations that you most wouldn't expect. Clothes, you know, and that's just, that's just the fact of the matter. Going back to what you said is 95% is the failure rate. So it's been.

0:20:39 - (Josh Molina): So I would say that's, that's been a huge challenge. And how we've been able to try to mitigate that. Well, you know, that comes back to what, what I was talking about earlier, training, really building out these programs so that, that you know, we can have staff that know what they're doing, that can come in and be comfortable in their zone. And of course, like, you know, being our marketing is something that we do. Very heavy, right Instagram, you know, we have almost 30,000 followers on there.

0:21:11 - (Josh Molina): We just started a new coffee chat series, which, by the way, you're gonna have to repay the favor and come on to that with me.

0:21:17 - (Dave Burlin): Is there coffee?

0:21:18 - (Josh Molina): I'm down maybe an empanad 2 too.

0:21:22 - (Dave Burlin): We got to do like, is it like the hot ones where instead of, like, eating hotter wings, we do, like, more double shots of espresso? We just like, keep throwing it down.

0:21:30 - (Josh Molina): I love it. I love it. So. So, yeah, I mean, you know, just gotta stay active. And that's the thing about restaurants, man. It's like a very. It's a trending kind of gameplay. Like, you have to be always bringing something to the table. Um, and I think that that's what we've done well, is we've. We've maintained relevance, we've maintained activity even through Covid. Like, you know, we never really close our doors, even during the shutdown.

0:21:58 - (Josh Molina): We just, you know, and look, that's exhausting as hell. But. But it's. It's's. It's the. It's what I do.

0:22:06 - (Dave Burlin): Well, now it's part of your culture. Now it's part of your history. And like, I've seen places that are similar. Like I told you about my friend in Oklahoma. Like, people talk about that. Like, that becomes something that when new people are coming on board to your team, like, they'they'll be talking about, man, back in the day. And it's like that back in the day is what draws people to be there because they know that you've grown through something. That means you can grow through anything.

0:22:31 - (Dave Burlin): And it just adds a different level of safety and trust. Because the days of, you know, somebody going to work for somebody somewhere for a paycheck, those are gone. Like, people go because they want to belong. They want to be part of something. They want to be part of something special. And I'm so glad that that's what you've created, because when you say you have a hundred plus souls on board right now, like, that's going to grow, right?

0:22:56 - (Dave Burlin): Mike back In Oklahoma is 318. Like, he'll tell. He can. He can wake up every morning and he knows 318. There's 318 people that are counting on me for every interview that he goes on or any of that stuff. And it's like it's going to grow and it's, it's not anything new to you. It's just again as you're going through it, it's like, man, I didn't realize how it seems so hard when you're going through it and then you look back and you're like, that was kind of easy. But the point is, is it mattered and it now becomes part of, part of your story.

0:23:26 - (Josh Molina): Yeah, no, 100% man, I like that.

0:23:28 - (Tawni Nguyen): So yeah, no, I love the energy that you carry just not just throughout this conversation, like through the coffee and through explaining it to us on how much intent and effort goes into thinking about every single step. So now it kind of makes sense. On the feeling I walked into as a you visitor or a consumer walking into a restaurant, checking it out for the first time and just really feeling what it's like to be aligned to like a restaurant when you feel it and like it feels like family. Right. So when you meet obviously the maker, ha ha ha, you understand how that's translated throughout each operations, right? Like from the door to the service to like when we receive our foods. Like you want to feel a certain way when you get service because hospitality is why people keep coming back and why people tell their friends because that's the most expensive but free, you know, marketing ever. It's just if I tell a friend, they're going to tell 10 friends because of this place and how it made me feel.

0:24:24 - (Tawni Nguyen): Not essentially just because, oh they have this sick ass viral social media post. But that doesn't capture far and long because it's not sustainable because those restaurants will capture the short amount of people that catches virality of a restaurant. But to build something sustainable to where you're actually delivering value and like putting effort every single time and treating like each customer as of they're your family. Like now I can kind of hear like the founder story without the founder story. So it's like, it's kind of amazing.

0:24:50 - (Tawni Nguyen): Like everything kind of like circles around and makes sense on like the experience it and then now you meet someone who poured the vision and the values into building that and it translates like all the way. For me that's something I just want to through it.

0:25:03 - (Dave Burlin): No, that's great. Well that also brings up a really good point and you know, we've had a lot of different people on the show but to be really candid, you're the first restaurant and I'm so glad that you're back. But this, this makes for a really fun question because you are here. Right. Where's your favorite place to go? That. Not only for that, but food service. AMB beience somewhere that. That challenges you or that inspires you.

0:25:31 - (Dave Burlin): That's a local spot here in Vegas that most people may not know about.

0:25:35 - (Josh Molina): I think most people probably know about this place. U but it's one of my favorites. Right. Sparrow and Wolf, right? That's in Chinatown. Chef Brian Howard. Um, you know, just the way they continue to push the envelope from a, you know, creatively in a culinary way to really, you know, bring that local heart of Vegas and put it on the plate. Right. Very beautifully as well. I love Sparrow and Wolf. I love the intimacy of it. I love, you know, it's. Everything about it is perfect. And it's a place that I frequent, whether I'm at the bar, at the table.

0:26:10 - (Josh Molina): You know, it's just one of, uh. It's a. It's my comfort zone.

0:26:13 - (Dave Burlin): This is so funny because when we did the series back in the day and you were telling us about all the places where you had makers and finders, it's on the videouse. You were like, we have the commissory spot that does all this stuff in Chinatown. Take it easy. And I was like, dude, I live in Chinatown. I didn't know that. And you're like, you should check it out. I'm there all the time now. Cause I still live in Chinatown.

0:26:34 - (Dave Burlin): Embarrassing to say this. Sparrow and Wolf is 412paces from my apartment and I've never been. I've been there for three years and I have not been one time. So I'm probably going to go tonight.

0:26:46 - (Josh Molina): I'm so excited for you. I wish I got to enjoy it for the first time again.

0:26:52 - (Tawni Nguyen): You didn't even invite us. I know I'm gonna go tonight.

0:26:54 - (Josh Molina): He said, I'm goingnight.

0:26:56 - (Dave Burlin): It's very private, personal experience for me. But no, that's great. Thank you for sharing that. And again, it'I've. Seen it a million times, right? Everyone's said great things, but it's almost like moving there. I was very overwhelmed. I didn't go anywhere for the first year. I went to the Leathernet Club because it's a marine bar and they have great burgers and it was delicious. And I was like, I never need to go anywhere again. And then a lot of people said, oh, my gosh, you live in Chinatown. There's so many great places. I was like, honestly, I haven't been to any of them. And they're like, what? One guy finally was like, here's five places and the first place he gave me was Weir a thie and I went to Weir and I was like I never have to go anywhere again. Like every place I go to I'm like I never have to try to eat other food again.

0:27:40 - (Dave Burlin): But that's been something very like I've been very conscious about that lately. I want to be a lot more adventurous through there. You know, I've mainly always stuck to pizza because I'm just a world like that which there's great places in Chinatown as well. But no, when. When it comes from you and just the whole everything from you stepping in and helping before and like telling me that like I've had so many magical conversations and take it easy and I bro, I kind of hate talking about it because then I feel like more people are gonna find it and I'm not gonna have my same seat every time I go becausee normally I get to go and I just got my own little seat and like this is a nice day. I'll get so much work done now. There's gonna be like all kinds of people coming through. But I dig it. I dig it for you because then that means you get to bring on more people, you get to open more spots. Do you have an eyeball for new spots? And then the double edged question, are you also going toa do other kind of activations? Are you always going to kind of stick with the same, the same vibe?

0:28:37 - (Josh Molina): Yeah. So we're definitely looking. We're scouting right now. We've been scouting for you know, several months now. It's just we all, you know, the economy'got there's a lot going on right now. I mean obviously it's an election year but you know, there's just the commercial real estate market is, is changing pretty quickly and you know, I'm a big believer like hey, I don't want to force it. Like if it's meant to be like I'll know it'll go through so u Unfortunately, you know we've had some near misses but we're constantly looking, you know, at other parts of Vegas. We, you know, we've been looking south by the M resort. We've been also looking north by like Kyle Kyl Canyon. Yeah, um, Sky Canyon I should say.

0:29:19 - (Josh Molina): Um, and so we're constantly looking to answer the second part. You know we're all also creatively, we're always trying to try new things out, always pushing ourselves. So we do have some, a few things up our sleeve. We're not ready to share Jess. Yet. But yeah, we're working. We want to continue creating space for people to break bread and enjoy, you know, experiences like what you described that take it easy. Like, and what you said earlier, I just, you know, I just wanted to just really quickly go back to that because you somehow dug into my head and pulled all of the words out of my brain.

0:29:59 - (Josh Molina): The way you explained it, I mean, it's. You made it sound magical's. And that's what it is. You know, having an experience in a place that's like curated and where there's a vibe and there's an atmosphere. That's the feeling that, you know, we're shooting for. Yeah, we want to serve high quality coffee and food, but beyond anything else, like, we want to create like memories like that. So I just want to say I love how you said that.

0:30:25 - (Dave Burlin): That's great. I love it. So when it comes to, obviously there's always. You're right. There's a lot of things going on. There's a lot of big challenges. What would you say is the biggest challenge in the ecosystem for the community, for businesses across the valley? Not the Strip. Right. But just what's the biggest challenge that you see as you're carrying multiple businesses kind of all across the valley?

0:30:54 - (Josh Molina): You know, two things, and I kind of mentioned both of them already, but it's, you know, cogs. And what that is is cost of goods sold. Like, that's how restaurants. Like, that's a big chunk. That and labor are the two biggest chunks that dig into your. Your top line. Right. And so that's been extremely challenging. Just, you know, always making sure we have our comps there, making sure we're tracking these things, tracking inventory. And then the second thing, which is a little harder to predict and forecasts is the real estate market.

0:31:28 - (Josh Molina): It's crazy out there. The amount of money that some of these, you know, companies are trying to charge to lease out a restaurant, to lease out space. It's absurd.

0:31:41 - (Tawni Nguyen): Internet and cams.

0:31:43 - (Josh Molina): So it's so bad.

0:31:44 - (Tawni Nguyen): It just triggered him right now.

0:31:45 - (Josh Molina): I was. Got that tick back. It's bad. It's just, it's obscene. You know what I mean? And I'm seeing that as like we're scouting and it's crazy what these people are charging. There's such a. There's such a disconnect, I feel like from what, you know, the landlords and the people looking for leases are looking for. And unfortunately it's, you know, it's got to get. It's got to get worse before it gets good, right? You know, we have to, you know, stop signing these crazy leases and with these inflated values for real estate and, and we, you know, we have to bargain and negotiate hard and not force it. You know what I mean? Becausee that's the, that's the first thing I think that's the easiest thing to do is just say, well, I'm just gonna do it. Right.

0:32:36 - (Josh Molina): But yeah, it's a little concerning, but.

0:32:38 - (Dave Burlin): You know, so when it comes there, what for people in the industry or outside the industry because you're passionate about the community, if you had one piece of advice for someone that was looking at either moving here or stepping out into that next thing, and if they were looking at starting a concept or digging into food truck business, catering, any of that stuff, what piece of advice would you give somebody who's ready to kick that off in Las Vegas?

0:33:08 - (Josh Molina): I would say that, you know, look within. Right. And what I mean by that is create a product that, you know, is genuine, that is organic, that, that makes, that resonates with you. Because if it resonates with you there, there's a higher likelihood that it'll resonate with others. Right. Um, if you're just doing something for, you know, to, to, to follow a trend, you know, you hear the margins are good.

0:33:34 - (Josh Molina): Yeah. U, you know, it's, it's just, it's maybe there's going to be some short term gains, right. But that, that strategy is really hard to sustain. Right. So I would say, you know, really. And that's kind of what, you know, what I've done personally, you know, with my marketing, you know, our newest kind of marketing message is like fueling the American dream. That's what's on that mug, right? And well, that spoke to me because I saw my parents and their journey to, you know, give us a better love me and my, my brother'a better life. And, and that spoke to me and it speaks to others as well. So I think just, you know, be genuine in your product, be genuine in your marketing and your messages and just, you know, remember, one step at a time.

0:34:22 - (Dave Burlin): You know, I love that. I love it. And then as we start to wrap, when it comes to, for you seeing all the challenges, growing through all these things, if you could wave a magic wand, what's one thing that you'd really love to see here in the Valley in the next three to five years?

0:34:44 - (Josh Molina): It's happening. So it's like it wasn't my magic wand, but somebody's right. The monorail, which is great. Well, it's like, I guess like a high speed train right from la. I've always felt like there had, you know, California is such a big market for, for our city that having a direct and easy way for people to commute if they wanted to or just like visit Vegas in, in a quick and less expensive way that won't, you know, clog up to 15, I think that's huge. I think that's going to bring a whole another dimension to this city that's already driven by tourism and, and so I'm excited about that and I'm excited that you know, the people and the faces and, and the ideas that it brings to this city. I just, I just, I'm just grateful to be in Vegas and you know, had took a chance on Vegas and Vegas took a chance on me, you know and I'm just happy to be able to continue to grow with it and see, see it's you know, its potential because it's pretty unlimited.

0:35:48 - (Dave Burlin): I love it.

0:35:50 - (Tawni Nguyen): I know. My God, I'm just sitting here like feeling so wholesome. Is anyone else feel so el? No. Thank you, you Josh, for just like sharing and you know, like your, like the way you, you move through your food and your passion, it really shows. So I like, I know that people can feel energy even through just listening to this podcast or sharing it with their friends. So we just, we really just want to wish you the best. Like we're going toa continue to bring friends into the, you know, all the places, obviously the local ones and hopefully just more people see what it actually takes to build a gritty business and maintain the business the way it is and operate on its highest capacity out of integrity, you know. So you said a lot of things. There's like oh, the trends will kind of, you know, go through its thing. So I just want to appreciate you for being here and acknowledge you for all the work you've put in to just build something like so worthwhile in this town. And we're here for it man.

0:36:43 - (Dave Burlin): We're for it. You've got a new refan. She's a refan now.

0:36:47 - (Tawni Nguyen): We're gonna buy the mug and have lunch there without Dave Ca becausee he's going to spring Wolf.

0:36:54 - (Josh Molina): I'll meet you there. I'll meet you.

0:36:56 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'm a little petty.

0:37:00 - (Dave Burlin): So where can people find you? Where can they connect and what's the easiest way to get plugged in with everything you're doing?

0:37:06 - (Josh Molina): Yeah, best way you know, is you can find us on all social media platforms, makers LV doc. I'm sorry. Make maker LV on our website makerlv.com. you can find me on LinkedIn. I'm back enrollling on LinkedIn. That's a whole. I mean I'm gone for four years and I come back and that thing's like a monster. It's so it' that's crazy how much has changed. And yeah, take it easy. Roasters is in Chinatown. Take itasyroasters.com or take itasy Roasters on all social media platforms. We're open seven days a week for brunch, lunch, coffee, breakfast, all the above. And you know, we hope to see you there. And I just wantna say thank you both for having me on this podcast. I mean it's been fun getting to chop it up with you guys.

0:37:48 - (Dave Burlin): I love it. Thanks so much. With that you guys have to make sure and stop by any of the makers and finders location. Sometimes you'll catch me with a stack of books just trying to make friends over at Taking Easy Roasters since I bail on all my friends and go to Sparrow and Wolf without them. But yeah, you guys are incredible. And with that I think we've got a wrap.

0:38:09 - (Josh Molina): Yeah.

0:38:10 - (Tawni Nguyen): So see you next time. Catch us on Pursue Vegas. Reached out to Dave and I anytime or with Josh. We're happy to connect you with anyone in the community and let us know how we can add value. Thanks.