The Shake Shack Story: Finding Clarity Through Impermanence

Back in the mid 1980s there was a young twenty-something named Danny who was trying to figure out what to do with his life. He had spent a few years selling anti-theft products to shopkeepers in NYC to pay the rent, but he still didn't know what he really wanted to do. Aside from working at few restaurants in Italy during his semester abroad in college, he had no other experience.

One Friday night he went out to eat at one of his favorite Italian places in Manhattan with his aunt and uncle. During the meal, Danny had trouble enjoying himself as his mind perpetually drifted back to his career dilemma. His uncle, sensing something was up, brought Danny aside.

"What's the matter with you tonight?" Danny's uncle asked.

"Ugh, don't mind me," said Danny. "I'm just dreading tomorrow. I have to take the LSAT."

"The LSAT?" the uncle replied back. "Are you going to be a lawyer?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Well, do you want to be a lawyer?"

Danny, hesitated a moment before replying... "well no, not really."

"Can I ask you another question?"

"Sure."

"Do you know how long your gonna be dead for?"

"Huh? No. I guess I don't"

"Well, I don't either. But it's a lot longer than you're going to be alive."

The retort knocked Danny out of his daze.

His uncle continued, "Why would you spend your short time alive doing something you don't really want to do?"

"But I don't know what I really want to do," Danny explained.

"Are you kidding me?" His uncle questioned back. "For as long as I've known you you've loved food and you've loved restaurants. Why don't you go into that business?"

For the first time in his life, thanks to his uncle, Danny now saw the restaurant and hospitality industry as a viable career option. Two weeks later he got a job at a restaurant in NYC as a daytime host. He was making just $200 a week, but he learned the industry inside-out.

This experience eventually led to Danny opening his own restaurant. And then another and another. Actually, you might know Danny. His full name is Danny Meyer.

Today Danny is the Founder and Executive Chairman the Union Square Hospitality Group which runs many renowned Manhattan restaurants including Gramercy Tavern and Maialino. He also opened a somewhat popular international chain called Shake Shack, which went public in 2015.

Way back in the 1980s, Danny's uncle woke him up to his true path and potential. Danny was lucky to receive his uncle's guidance. But we all have these moments in our life where we can choose the path that looks right in society's eyes or the path that feels right in our hearts. Sometimes it's only upon reflecting on our own impermanence that we can see the path clearly for ourselves.

In Danny's uncle's words...

"Do you know how long your gonna be dead for?".... "Well, I don't either. But it's a lot longer than you're going to be alive."

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PSA: My wife, Pema Sherpa, and I have another blog called The Mindful Minute! Check it out.