Respect Trust
us. My greatest fears are losing any of my children and dying. You can’t worry about things you can’t control. Most of them don’t happen anyway.” Pihakis doesn’t know what failure is. He says, “I live through opportunities as everything is cyclical. What goes up must come down. During the recession of 2007- 2009 we opened 6 brand new restaurants, put in new menus for taco Tuesday at a BBQ restaurant for $2 a taco. We knew no one would eat just one. Tuesdays became the highest sales of the weekdays and wait staff were making more money as a result. During Covid we followed everything by the government protocol while most changed their model. It’s all about mindset.” “I did it all…everything I wanted to do,” should be the title of the last chapter of my book. “I hope to be remembered as just an average guy who was good at what I did, was genuine, and was caring.” “Influencers, whether they were positive or negative, helped me learn something.” Some of Nick’s greatest influences were his father, Connie Kanakis who owned the Italian Restaurant, Mike Bogner a partner in Jim N Nick’s, his in- laws who have a positive yet realistic outlook on life in general, and are kind, non- judgmental, and great role models.
Pihakis makes an impact everyday as a volunteer and donor to organizations that make a difference. Some of these include: La Cocina whose mission is to cultivate low-income food entrepreneurs (predominantly Hispanic Women) to formalize and Jeff Bezos, Howard Schultz and Steve Jobs where he learned to “never be afraid to give equity away and everybody is important.” Pihakis finds no inspiration in politics/politicians or the news. Most of his outsources are on YouTube or listening to audio books. Steve Jobs said, “Money can’t buy you out of dying.” Pihakis says, “Putting value on money is unrealistic. Whether you fly first class or economy, you will wind up in the same place. You don’t do it for the money; you do it for the impact.”
Pick what you want to do and focus on it Be a student of your career Work hard and smart Take care of people…we’re all stronger together than individually There are two kinds of service… guests’ service which is taking care of our customers and lateral service which is taking care of others. Can’t do anything yourself (Stephen Covey says must be “interdependent”) Customers are not always right! Pihakis says, “I would not change anything. Our experiences are what forms who we are. We all know the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. As you age you realize you’ve been where younger folks are going. No matter how book smart one is, the only way to gain real knowledge is life experiences. I want no regrets and no enemies. That’s peace.” “When I feel I’m being irresponsible, when I get jealous, or when I make decisions based on wrong reasons, I hear inner chatter. When in a bad mindset, we make wrong decisions. When the chatter starts it’s a signal to change your mindset. If one says they live life without fear, they’re lying. Fear is all around His tips for success include:
grow their business. www.lacocinasf.org Southern
Foodways culturally
Alliance, focused,
a
academically
grounded, and documentary driven non- profits leading through rigorous adherence to inclusion. www.southernfoodways.or g Jones Valley Teaching Farm uses food as a foundation so that young people can lead, create, and grow a healthy future for themselves and their community. www.goodfoodschool.jvtf.a pp Additionally he supports
Outside influences are: Jeff
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