Life Lessons from a Successful Restaurant Entrepreneur

Janet emphasizes the importance of trusting oneself and not succumbing to societal pressures for a fulfilling life.

### Embracing Risks and Authenticity: Life Lessons from a Successful Restaurateur
* 🍽 Janet, a successful restaurateur with 12 restaurants in Toronto and 2 in LA, emphasizes the importance of **following one's own path** despite societal expectations, having initially pursued a **conventional education later in life**.
* 📚 After dropping out of high school, she became a **straight-A student and valedictorian** in university, later earning a **master's degree in business**, all while recognizing the **absurdity of needing formal accolades for societal approval**.
* 💪 Starting her first restaurant at 30, she faced skepticism about the risks involved but countered that she had "**nothing to lose**," which fueled her entrepreneurial spirit.
* 🔍 With nearly three decades of experience, Janet has honed her ability to **assess the viability of restaurants**, often predicting their **success or failure** based on factors beyond just food quality.
* 🌟 She believes that true happiness comes from **pursuing passions and being present**, advising others to **wake up each day with a positive mindset** and to **not be overly concerned with others' opinions**.
* ⏳ Janet stresses the importance of taking risks, arguing that the **fear of failure should not overshadow the potential regret of not pursuing one's dreams**, as life is fleeting.
* 🛠 She advises **building strong foundations in business** rather than rushing to expand, sharing her own painful lessons from a failed investment where she **lost millions by ignoring her instincts**.
* 💡 Ultimately, Janet concludes that **happiness and success are intertwined**, and one must engage in **self-reflection** to truly understand what will bring **fulfillment in life**.

what has been a big mistake or a failure. I lost millions on that one deal. I was on The Joe Rogan podcast. People were saying, like, I want her dead. Can somebody kill her, please. I want her dead. Or they said everything people say, like, What's the secret? What's your happiness? Figure it out for yourself. This summer, I interviewed 58-year-old Janet, who has started over 12 successful businesses. Janet, for a lot of reasons, has figured life out, but at the same time, is still someone who's trying to navigate it. My husband passed away months ago. It still feels rather traumatic for me to even talk about. We interviewed Janet and posted short snippets of her videos on Instagram, and those videos have gone millions of views worldwide. So today, we are sharing the extended version of Janet's greatest life lessons and experiences that I guarantee will change the way you look at your life. How old are you? I'm 58. What does it feel like to be 58? It feels better than I thought it

would feel it's all where you are in life and um. I thought at 58 I wouldn't be active. I you know I didn't know what 58 was but I feel good. I feel happy. I feel like I have a lot of energy. I play tennis almost every day. I feel strong. What would you say is a big change you made in your life that drastically improved the quality of it? Not caring what other people think. When did that come? Well I you know I didn't live a typical life. When I was 18 I moved to Italy on my own um. You know I just kind of LED my own life to my own rules and I had a lot of feedback that I should you know fit in society's rules. Never got a high school diploma but then I went on to go to university. So I just did things in my way and sometimes I cared about what people said to me. You know you're not going to make everyone happy so why bother and you have to be true to yourself. What do you do for a

living uh I own restaurants 10 restaurants or 12 sorry 12 restaurants in Toronto. It's good when you lose count of how many businesses you have uh 12 restaurants in Toronto and two restaurants in La amazing. So you're were talking about you know people want you to go down this conventional path. Did you ever end up doing that? I mean going to University was was pretty conventional and I I got the message from society because I was a high school dropout that I needed that and so I was figuring out kind of like okay Society parents you want me to go to university you know I'm going to do this and I went later in life and I ended up being a straight A student and valid dictorian and then I went on to do my master's degree in business. So I I I fell into to that but I thought it was a little bit you know of a joke that I had to do this read some books take a test and now Society is going to praise you yeah I

thought like I figured out the biggest secret um on the planet to make people happy. You know, at the end of the day, do you really need University when you look at the Bill Gates of the world or you know, maybe we don't. So, we don't need to fall into what Society has taught us. I finished University kind of around when I was 30 and um opened right into the restaurant business. Wow, I'm passionate about restaurants and I travel all over the world to experience restaurants. I'm doing two of my passions: business and restaurants and food. I feel very lucky. I mean, some people never discover what their passions are and generally, you know, it's been successful and I've been really happy doing it. I think that's the greatest success: if you're happy doing it. What's your attitude towards risk? There's a lot of people who want to make changes in their life but the so to speak risk of doing that, risk of failure, of fear perception from

others how do you approach that when I opened my first restaurant um when I was 30 uh I had a lot of people a lot of people have a lot of advice when you start off in something new and you haven't done it before. Everyone's an expert yeah unless it's coming from someone who has walked in your shoes or have done it the experience but people just randomly giving you advice when you they don't they don't trust that you know what you're doing now nobody can say anything to Mez. I'm I'm 28 years in the business but for people starting off a lot of people you know giving their opinions but one opinion that I had pushed my way was this is too risky and you're going to lose everything and what I had to say to everyone was I have nothing. There's nothing here to lose. I had a bit of money that I rolled into this restaurant and I was like it's not that much and if I lose it I'm going to start over again when it depends on how

what do you have to lose? What stage of your life are you at? I think there's times to take bigger risks, other times you want to put the kids through college. Maybe it's not time to start rolling some dice. I think it's a stage of life, and you have to ask that question to yourself: Are you okay with risk? Do you want risk? How risk-averse are you? It's such an individual journey, right? But in the beginning, when you start something, what do you have to lose? Nothing. Yeah, even to that point, I find that's a limiting way of thinking. What do I have to lose? Being meaning money, this or that. Well, okay, what do you have to lose by not taking that risk? People often think, What do I have to lose by taking the risk? What do you have to lose by not taking it? That pressure that you now have inside your head, that dissatisfaction with yourself, all the regrets, all the what-ifs, that's a lot to bear and a lot of the

time. We don't think about that. We think about what happens if I take the risk and it doesn't work. But what happens if you don't take it? Life is going to be over like that. You cannot believe how fast time goes by. People will not believe it. And it's like you're going to snap your fingers, your life is going to be over. Live your best life. And what? What? What your life is? I don't know what's going to make you happy. And you may not know what's going to make you happy until you do your work. Do your work. Get clear. What do you want in this fabulous life that we get to make a choice every single day? You better figure out your own life. No one and no one's going to help you. No, you know, no one's out there going to serve you your life on a platter. I think just like simplifying these things. I think we overcomplicate a lot of the whole figuring my life out business. I agree. And as if you can simplify it.

down to what do I do in the morning, what do I do during the day, in the afternoon, at night, that really gives you a lot of clarity. Yeah, if you were someone in a situation like this, but you want to be doing things like this, this, and this, I highly recommend you grab a copy of our goal-setting journal in just three parts. This journal will help you figure out your ideal life, turn that into specific, measurable, and achievable goals, and then build the discipline and structure you need to achieve all of your biggest dreams in just 6 months. Now, because it's the holiday season, we are giving away over $1,500 of free bonuses for the first hundred people who click the link below and grab one. So, if you're someone who wants to take the next step to upgrading your life, just like Janet has been able to do, click the link below. 28 years in the business, kit you today knowing everything you know if you were to go back in time to your 30-year-old self.

When you just got into this business and gave her advice to get where you are faster, what would that advice be? I would say there's no need to go faster; build that foundation. I think people move too quickly, and I've seen a lot of people blow up because of that and lose everything. I made sacrifices in my life. I moved back home. I left home when I was 18. As a 30-year-old, I moved back into my parents' home to save money so I could save money and make bigger moves in life to then kind of have a bigger life later when you kind of want it. Build strong foundations. I've seen too many people start expanding. You expand too quickly, and you don't have the resources; it's a recipe for disaster. Can you understand when a business will do a restaurant business will do well and when it won't? Like, can you identify certain factors immediately when you walk into a restaurant? Sometimes I can. Sometimes, you know, I will. I have, you know, certain sayings like never mistake

a busy restaurant for a successful restaurant meaning are you making money. I like doing this business. I also like making money so I can walk into a small restaurant. I can see an army in the kitchen. I can see high labor. I can see high food costs. I see a busy restaurant and people will say they're killing it. Look at them. They're so busy and I will say they will be. They'll be done in one year and I've been good. I've been good at picking out the restaurants that I. I. I kind of analyze it. I walk in. I see locations. I see what they're doing. I'm good at calling how. How long restaurants will. Will be around. I think but I'm fascinated to the way you're talking about everything. You haven't mentioned once the food. Oh God no. I know the food's obviously great. No no. I know it's obviously great but I feel like in terms of succeeding and that's such an important life lesson or business lesson. It's often times not about like what you

would think it is right. I go to a restaurant. I think food, but what actually makes me like this restaurant? One, where is it? Two, you know who's the chef? Three, the vibe, this and that. Like, yeah, you really focus on a lot of things beyond that. A restaurant is not just the food, not just the service. And when you watch a movie, it's not going to be just like who the director is, who the actors are. It's going to be the lighting, like the costumes, the makeup. So again, I equated it to a film. Everything has to work for the vision of that, you know. Every time I'm to a restaurant, I approach it like a movie. How do you apply that, generally speaking, as business advice? It's not a one-size-fits-all situation in life, and that's why it's almost hard to say, do I have a formula? I don't have a formula. There's not a formula, project by project, gut feeling too, or it's more planned out? No, huge gut and opportunity, luck, right?

time right place. I wouldn't be in the restaurant business had I not walked by in Yorkville. Be our partner. Uh, you guys joking. We're serious. Uh, let me think about it. Um, two weeks later, I'm in the restaurant business. Life happens, and are you open for the opportunities? And also, right, you know that you work a lot with your gut, but your gut has to be clear, meaning do you know what you want? I mean, sometimes you think you want things, but until you do your inner work and you get clear, uh, you're not going to know what's right for you. Some people might say, like, I want to be a lawyer. I want to be a lawyer because their parents have told them that. They get there, and they're like, this is not what I want. Who are you living for? You sometimes think that, oh, I just want money. Oh, you know, money is going to make me happy. Things from the outside are going to make you happy, and then once you get all

the money in the world. That's when you realize that's not it. You'll see a lot of billionaires give these talks. People that don't have money, they're like, they don't believe it. They're like, if I had money, I know I'd be happy. But I know quite a few billionaires, and they were chasing to be rich. When they got rich, they're like, I'm not happy. Then they went and they did their inner work, and now they can enjoy their money. But it's not until, I think you have to live an examined life. I think that's the important thing. You have to do your inner work, and we all have trauma to different degrees. And until you deal with your own trauma, then get clear so something speaks to your gut is actually true. Yeah, so one thing I've learned is that as much as you can focus on being successful, being happy and being successful are parallel. So as much as you can put effort into being good at what you do, you also need to put effort into being happy and living in the

moment and enjoying life are two different things. If you put all your eggs in one basket and focus on success, it doesn't mean that you focused at all on your happiness, and they don't directly translate. I completely agree, and I think there's a key to life, and that's being present. You know, be present every moment of your life. Everything's easier said than done, and depending on your privileges, really. I feel very privileged. I was born in Canada, and most people don't realize that. They don't, and I think that if you have to remind yourself of that. We live where we have too many choices, maybe, and you know, if you're born in another place where you have to just feed your kids, you don't have the problems that we have. We have privilege. I think we have too much choice, and I think we have too many wants, and I think the also another key to happiness is want less. Want less. What has been a big mistake or

a failure. H. You're waiting for that one. Oh, ow, it hurts. It actually physically hurts. I had a big, had a big, huge failure. What? Tell me, tell me. Uh, yeah, this one project in Downtown LA. I'd invested some money. Um, $800,000 at that point. And then Co hit. I did not listen to my gut. My gut was shut it down. And then I had a lot of people come my way, whether it was the landlord saying, We'll fund it. We're going to give you money. Um, and uh, I went against my inner gut. My inner gut telling me to pull the plug. It was the worst decision that I ever made in my mind. I will tell you this. I will never listen to any, like, at the end of the day when it's my money involved. You cannot listen to other people. And I listened to a lot of people say, We can do this. We're getting money. We, and all this feedback of We can do it, when every step of the way I said, This is our time to pull the plug. Yeah.

and um it was a huge loss for me. We opened for 6 months, and then we closed it down. At the end of the day, my partners, who were the landlords, they came and they sued me for the full lease. And uh, so I lost. I lost a million on that one deal. What's the takeaway that you learned there? My choice to pull the plug on that project was the right decision to make. I went against my own inner knowledge, and I don't blame anybody. I blame myself. I started to listen to outside voices. We can do this. No, I mean, we're getting money, and all these things, and we should do this. We're, you know, somebody handing you money. And uh, it still feels rather traumatic for me to even talk about it. It still hurts, that failure when it's your own money, your own, you know, and you feel it. You got to go. You got to go with that, you know. And I knew better, and um, I paid dearly for that. I'm still paying for it. That's why I feel it is your

appetite for. I'm not appetite for failure, but your attitude towards it different now that you're no longer perfect. Well, I want to go back to being perfect. Being perfect is so much better. Understandable. Okay, what is one thing that when you were younger you put a lot of import on, and as you've gotten older you realized wasn't actually that important? It's always going to be what people think about you, and nobody's actually thinking about you. Nobody really cares, and if they do, you cannot pay attention to it. Like, I was on The Joe Rogan podcast, and then my sister said to me, Do not read the comments. And there were thousands of comments, and people were saying like, I want her dead, like me. I'm talking about the restaurant business, and Can somebody kill her, please? I want her debt, or they said everything, and they said, Oh, I love her, I hate her, and everything in between. And I laughed at it. I said, This is ridiculous. I was really straight talking about business and the restaurant business, and people want me dead.

they have a lot of opinions, good, bad, and the ugly, but Joe Rogan will say this: you don't see LeBron James in the comments section. Who's making comments? Let me see your life. Put your name to your comment. And also, people are thinking about themselves. Most people are self-centered and so worried about themselves. People aren't really giving you that much thought. It's not actually happening. If you could give someone your age or younger one piece of advice to live a good life, what would that be? You never know when it's your last day, your last minute, your last second. And I think that the best choice you can make every morning is to wake up in a good mood and just know this may be it. This may be. You never know when your last day is going to happen. You know, you have dreams in your life, you have goals. Just do it all. Do whatever you do. Do whatever you want. People say, like, What's the secret to what's your happiness? Figure

it out for yourself. That's what I got. That wonderful. Thank you so much.

A 58 Year Old Self-Made Millionaire Shares Her Best Life Advice

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Embracing Life's Journey: A Personal Reflection

At 58, the speaker feels vibrant, energetic, and happy, attributing their well-being to not caring about others' opinions.

They have lived life on their own terms, defying societal norms and discovering their passions in the restaurant business.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of waking up in a good mood, pursuing dreams, and finding happiness in one's passions as the key to a fulfilling life.

Taking risks is influenced by one's stage in life and personal attitude towards risk.

It's important to consider what you have to lose by not taking a risk, as the pressure of regret and dissatisfaction can be heavy.

Life's opportunities often arise unexpectedly, and being clear about your desires and inner work is crucial for making the right decisions.

The Importance of Taking Risks and Being Present

Time passes quickly, and not taking risks can lead to a life unfulfilled.

Finding happiness is a personal journey that requires self-reflection and simplifying choices.

Being present in each moment and wanting less can lead to greater happiness and fulfillment in life.

Achieving Clarity and Success: A Step-by-Step Guide

The goal-setting journal offers a three-part plan to help individuals define their ideal life, set achievable goals, and build the discipline needed for success in six months.

The holiday season promotion includes over $1,500 in free bonuses for the first hundred people who sign up.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of inner work and building a strong foundation for long-term success, rather than rushing into expansion.

The appeal of a restaurant goes beyond just the food, encompassing factors like location, the chef, and the overall vibe.

Success in business is not formulaic and involves a mix of gut feeling, opportunity, and luck.

One key realization over time is that people's opinions are often overvalued and not worth stressing over, while listening to others can lead to poor decisions.

Success in the Restaurant Business: A Personal Journey

The speaker owns 12 restaurants in Toronto and 2 in LA, having initially dropped out of high school.

They later pursued a university education, becoming a straight A student and valedictorian before earning a master's degree in business.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of experience over unsolicited advice and shares their ability to analyze restaurant success, focusing on factors like labor and food costs rather than just the food itself.