Whiskey & Wisdom

The Business of Making Memories with Jesse Davis (The Penthouse)

March 22, 2023 Tyler Yaw
Whiskey & Wisdom
The Business of Making Memories with Jesse Davis (The Penthouse)
Whiskey & Wisdom +
Support the show & get subscriber-only content.
Starting at $3/month Subscribe
Show Notes Transcript

This week we bring on the owner of The Penthouse located in Downtown Wilmington, Jesse Davis. In thus episode Jesse tells us the importance of making memories over collecting materialistic things, why he moved back to NC from LA and how he defines SUCCESS. 

Support the show

Thank you all for listening to this week's podcast! If you enjoy listening please consider rating, following, and reviewing the show.

Want to support the show further? Consider subscribing to the show,
HERE

How to find us:
Whiskey & Wisdom: @whiskey.and.wisdom
Chris Kellum: @ctkellum
LinkedIn: Christopher Kellum
Tyler Yaw: @tyler_yaw_
LinkedIn: Tyler Yaw

Welcome back everybody. As you know, this is your boy Chris, with my constant co-host, Tyler, y'all. This week we have on somebody I've seen a lot in the town, but never officially met. He is in charge of all the funness going around and down at the penthouse Well, it's a pleasure. Thank you for having me. I'm glad to meet you. Yeah. This is Jesse Davis. Everyone, if you can't recognize the voice, I'm sure many of you can who listened to this podcast, maybe not today. He says voice is a little hoarse, but he Okay, everybody, lemme just be honest with you. It's been a long weekend. We all know it. Sunday. Sundays are rough for me, usually yes. But we're here and yeah, we've had a long week of events. We had a, we've had two bourbon tastings this week. We had, you know, we had the heart ball last night at Landfall Country Club. Tonight we have Ford Motion Dance Company. I've been on their board doing their events for years, and they have a com, a full guest list, 50 people tonight. The penthouse is very small if you've been there, you know, it's a small place. It's just one big room. Mm-hmm. But yeah, so we host parties constantly. Let me know if y'all wanna sign up as members. Come on now. Yes, bring it. Bring it. I always see people like posting videos and like, oh, I was hit. The penthouse and I'm like, was I on the bar dancing? You sometimes So the friend, the people I follow, make sure not to post those video. Please don't y'all keep that shit private, please. Damn. They're like nope. I did, you did not see this You know, that's when I'm like really living. Usually after midnight. Oh God. But we close at one. So it's called power. That's right. That makes sense. So if you close at one, technically they could still go down the elevator and go somewhere else. I just realized I had a honey stick in. This'll say thing. You got honey pack. Oh my god. So I want to, you know, I've got some friends that I went and did some little bit of homework before I came here this week. Yes. And one of my buddies, he's a bourbon connoisseur, if you will, so he thought it'd be kind of cool to bring this. It's a bourbon nosing kit, so it trains your nose to find the nuisances in bour. So, let's see. Here we go. So there's all kinds of things from peanut to oak to cherry. Look around, see what you think. And this little oh yeah, sorry, even comes with a cheat, cheat sheet. Basically it's this bourbon nose and kit will help you train your nose to find the nuisances in the bourbon you drink. Here are some of the tips to help you get the most out of your kit. So you wanna read number one, maybe. So you're supposed to pour some bourbon in a glass. Here we go. Roll it around. We're ready to roll. A little gently. You can't be too harsh right there. I'm a very aggressive person, And it says, air interacting with the bourbon can help accentuate the aromas. I wish y'all could smell this right now. It's so yummy. It is good. So this week actually, what are we drinking? We're drinking the old elk, the straight rye whiskey. This is super fancy. This is 115 proof. Oh shit. This is like a be feeling good for this award motion dance party, right? Looks like it is a barrel pick. It was number 1,299. Which I think it's kind of cool just to be just an odd number. 1 99. Like how do they actually know it's 1 99? Well, they, when they pull the alcohol out. So it's like the batch with the, with the corn, how it's like, I think bourbon has to be 51% to be officially a bourbon. Is that what it's, yeah. Yeah. So when they pull it out and they put it in the barrels, they're like, 1, 2, 3, 4. Here's every little piece. Yes, every little one has a little one. But as you guys know, we always, I typically try and talk about the tasting notes and the aroma or the taste. And this kit he has literally has like, it's colored color coded so you can kind of see what the different aromas are supposed to smell like. This one is supposed to be spicy with peach cinnamon sugar. So how do we know what this one consist? Vanilla ice cream. Like cherry or black pepper. There's chocolate honey. Caramel. So on this one with the tasting kit you have, we're gonna do. we're gonna, I thought it'd be fun to bring this cause. Oh yes. Yeah, this is pretty, it's interesting. I've never seen one of these before. Thank you. Corey Yeah. This one says it should have spice. Okay. Which will be similar to not all spice. Well, I guess it would be closer to all spice splice up. Yeah. But when you sniff it, you're gonna stick your nose in the thing thing. What does that say? Oh, it was upside down. All space. All space. There we go. you'll stick your nose in your glass. Open up your mouth a little bit and then just kind of take a nice little breath. You'll take a small sip and just swish it around and they say, chew the bourbon taste very rye. Oh, I'm sure there's a ton of rye in there. You're gonna nose the element and then the bourbon again. So since we're looking for rye, we're gonna smell what? The rye, I don't know. It's kind little container looks, smells like, right? It doesn't really taste right. It doesn't smell super. I've never actually smelled rye I don't think I have either. That's interesting. Cherry, but I'm like, now let's see. It has a little cherry in there, but this kit is super cool because it, it allows you to kind of feel, oh, I'd like that smell. Yeah. Right. Because as you know, when drinking whiskey, the smell affect like cherries. This is really scary looking. Jerry, what is this Sorry, we're all distracted. There's so many things. Many, I was gonna say, there's so many things going on. You've got all leather. God knows he's gonna take a turn. I do love some leather now. No, but you know, all context. Yes, I do. On the penthouse downtown. I'm very grateful. I've got a wonderful membership full of people that I've, you know, basically was my friends and friends of my friends. Started, you know, 2016 and here we are, we've made it through Covid, we've made it through renovations, we've made it through hurricanes. So, you know, it's, it's been a challenge for the most part cuz you know, I've, I still have it. And, you know, I did lose the, the yacht club at one point and you know, after 15 months of having that place and trying to hold onto it, I was able to hold onto the penthouse and, you know, at that point it was like we had to scale back and mm-hmm. you know, kind of. Figure out, you know, where I wanted to be and you know, it's sad when you lose a business, you know? Oh, it hurts. Yeah. You know, and I've, I've had a couple fuckups and failures and I think that's sort of just life in general. Exactly. But it, it definitely, definitely teaches you, you know, how to pull back and not get, don't grow too quickly. Cuz sometimes growing too fast will, you know, it can expire cause you don't know what's gonna happen. I mean, even before the pandemic, we. Hurricane problems where every window was blown outta the entire fucking building. Oh, wow. So like, you know, one of our windows went through Dixie Grill's window. Oh no. Like mid-air. Geez. And then, you know, you're watching the news and you're seeing like all this shit happening and you're like, oh God, am I gonna have a business when I get back? And then the building itself has been under a six year renovation. We're talking about roofs, elevators, stairwells. I mean, everything in that whole building's been done. The windows were the biggest one. So, So, yeah, I'm, I'm just grateful to still have a business. I'm still, ha I still have a job. Yeah. So at the end of the day, it's fun. I throw parties. I'm good at it. I like to, I like to throw a good birthday party. birthdays are my favorite because like people's expectations aren't so high, especially when you're my age. It's like I've had, I'm not gonna tell you how many birthdays, I too many, but no, I just turned 42 and you know, I'm, people aren't so like stressed out over birthdays at our age. It's like, okay, drop the fucking cake. So up, go to Food Lion and get another one. right? But you can't do that at a wedding. You know what I mean? So like the, the place is so small and with the elevator and there's no parking and, and all the, all the things I'm up against every day, just stocking and inventory and, you know, getting no case of water up there is a somebody's job or it's mine, there's somebody you know, but there is no parking. We have, you know, the place wasn't supposed to be a bar. I was very lucky to go through zoning and fire and all the. Change of use stuff that you have to go through in a business like that. And they told me, you're never gonna put a bar up there. And I said, well, when you tell me no, usually like do it challenge acceptance, ammunition for like, you know, but no, the place is going well, I'm at my maximum from, I mean the place holds only holds 50 people, so I can't sell 2000 memberships for a place, 50 people. Yeah. But it's doing well and I'm grateful for all the people that have, you know, been a part of the ride with me for a long time. I just, I love entertaining. It's my, it's, it's my passion and I'm, I'm the hostess with the mostess. Yep. Where'd that passion for entertainment come from? I don't know. My grandfather owned a bar for 30 years. Okay. So I'd seen my blood, I think I started as a waiter when I was a kid in Southport Provision Company. Ooh. And then onward, you know, I was slinging shrimp off P plates. You know, then you wanna bartend and then you wanna learn this, and then you wanna manage, and then, you know, you keep wanting to, you know, grow and, and, and, but then you're like, fuck, I wanna go back and make the tips again. Yeah. That's how the money was, shit. So, you know, I lived in LA for 10 years. I ran a very successful bar out there for a very long time, and I learned a lot. We opened up 33 nightclubs, hotels and restaurants over the course of 10 years. Wow. Good. Yeah. So in that in general, I learned just, I mean, my bosses were super cool and they loved what I did. You know, you just have either a people person or you're not. Yeah. But sometimes you gotta turn it on. Sometimes you can't turn it off. So it's like, I am very, very passionate about what I do and, and I just, I love to see the look on people's faces when they're having the best day of their life. I love that. And you know, like I said, the birthdays are the best cuz there's not a lot of expectations. There are, but it's not like a wedding or. You know, engage in parties and baby showers can get iffy too. Cuz you know, especially if you're first a baby, right? Half the people I know have been married, divorced, they got kids from different daddies. I mean, it's like whatever. That's just life nowadays. And nobody's perfect. We all bust our ass. We wanna pay the bills, but we gotta have some fun in all this. Yeah. And I, that's where I like to bring, bring to the table. So you went from East coast to West Coast back to East Coast. I grew up in Winnek, which is right past Leland. Yeah. And so, yeah, I grew up out in, in the country and being a gay. The, as flamboyant as I am and, and all that, it just, there was no way to hide it, So there was no hide in this and everybody knows that. But so yeah, I grew up, I went to South Brunswick Middle in high school. Okay. And I was really fortunate cause people were like, I did this anti-bullying campaign in LA a long time ago with Hal Sparks and. He was like, how is it for you, like living in the South? I'm like, you just act like, it's like everybody hates gay people, but it's not the case. Mm-hmm. all my, like, it is, you know, people that don't live here are not, don't know anything about South, have their own like minds made up from what they've seen on television. Yeah. But all my best friends still are hot girls and they had big brothers that did not put up with no shit. And if somebody fucked with Jesse, they were fucked. So, yeah. But I learned how to stand up for myself too, you know, I. I don't really take shit from anybody for the most part. I mean, I'm five seven and 125 pounds But no, I'm just being crazy. But no, I did, I had a wonderful upbringing out in, in, in Brunswick County, and I also knew that I wanted more and, and at the time it was definitely being single, gay, no children, never been married, own a bar. I mean, I'm, I've got all these. Kind of in my favor now. Cause I'm like At first I was like, for the longest, I'm like, I want kids. I don't wanna get married. I want, but now I'm like, fuck that. No. I see what everybody's dealing with. I'm like, look, I'm in my happy little world with my bar and my dog, and. I've got a good, I've got a good setup and I can't complain. Yeah. So what brought you back? All the way to the East Coast from, my best friends are here. Oh gosh. All of my best friends and like I said, divorces, now they're, half of'em are like onto their second husbands or, you know, their kids are all grown up and, yeah. I actually get my friends back. So you just gotta wait to go 10 or 15 years letting them go do mommy and daddy chores. And then when the kids get big, you get your friends back. Right And that's what I did. So I, when I did move back, I was really kind of overnight life. I really did not want to be up till four or five o'clock in the morning anymore. It was getting to be like, this is getting like too much. Cuz you get you. You just wanna be around like some sober people that are not drinking and like, you know, but then I was like, oh, I fucking miss that. That is me. Yeah. So, my boyfriend at the time, and I were, I definitely, I was in, I wanted a restaurant. I do miss the element of food in the bar business. That is one thing I do miss and I'm hoping maybe at some point we do have some things in the works y'all. Nice. So just, you'll see sit back and wait. But yeah, we do have some more things in the works. It might be another bar. It could be a re. It could be a lot of other things. I just, I'm excited, I want to tell everybody, but I just can't. Right. But yeah, so anyway, LA was great and I, it was, it was the best, like my mom said, she was like, you just wanted to run as far as you could to the other side of the fucking country, pretty much. And then you were like, all right, do my thing and then I'm going back home. That's what I did. I went out there. Had a great experience. I mean, I lived in Beverly Hills and I had made a lot of friends that were on television and actresses and musicians. You know, I mean if you go in the penthouse, you can see there's my friend Shane calls it Jessieville. Cause there's like pictures of me with all the people I've done events for all over the place. I'm proud of it. But I mean, I love Wilmington. There's no else. I'd rather live, I've traveled the world. I was so fortunate in the midst of. involved in the LA bar scene for a long time. I got a job as a personal assistant, cuz I needed that break again From the bar business? Yeah, the late nights and all that. Yeah. And so I got to travel quite a bit. Was in Australia and Hawaii and Sweden and Italy and all over the place. And I did get to spend some time in England and so I got to get away and then not miss it again. It's like an addiction. The whole alcohol, the, oh, that's Alcohol's an addiction. Everybody. It certainly can be the lifestyle is, I guess what I'm trying to say. Right. But um, anyway, I don't know. We've got the best mix of the beach and the historical downtown par and it we're growing like weeds obviously just drive around. You see everything's getting built, the poor trees are getting ripped outta the ground and turn into paper. And so, I know. We're like, okay, put pump the brakes, you know? Right. But we want our builders to make money too, so it's like we can't please everybody. Mm-hmm. But definitely we're growing. Like, where are these people gonna work? Where are they going? Like, they're gonna live, they're built those condo complexes, which are like popping up. Like, look at Brunswick County. Go to drive to Leland. Oh yeah. You'd be like, wow. Like I grew up out there that used to be trees the entire way. Mm-hmm. we had to get off the overpass to Leland to go to Piggly Wiggly or, well, back in the day it was a Hannaford. That's how long it was the whole day. Yes. But so yeah, like growth is always good, but take it easy, you know, because it sucks to see all these big beautiful oak trees that, you know, that's what Wilmington was known for. Yeah. Was sort of that whole charming, you know, the Charleston South, you know, it sort of all blends in together and. The beauty of it's amazing. And them and Azalia minus the Gen X. Like just don't drink the water. Yeah, don't use the water. bottled water baby. That's the way to go. Bottled water, blah, blah. What was that? Bottled water and bourbon. Yep. So you don't have to worry about GenX and the bourbon. No. Yeah. Alcohol kills germs. Yes. I live in Brunswick County too. So, out where I live off of Mako Road, there is. I love it out there cuz there was just trees just lined up and now it's all ready for development. It's crazy and it's slowly cutting down the like 60 acres at a time and I'm like, ah, sad. Like, you're like, wow. Where did that just pop up from? Right. It's like if I, if that happens Vale Road, like out that way. Oh yeah. You're like, holy shit. Like this was literally woods. Oh, for years. All of Leland. There was that one place, it was like a truck stop, Road. I can't remember the name of it. I should notice going down 17. Yeah, yeah. Yes. I was like, there's one truck stop and then the random cross section where like the Bojangles Hardee's. I'm like's sad. Stop cutting down the trees. Y'all We're gonna have no oxygen, right? if you do cut a tree, please plant a tree. Yes, I like that. Well, now they have like this thing, if you die, you can like 50 trees come in, your honor. And they put your DNA N in the tree. Oh, that's interesting. It's like tree people Tree people. Tree people. That's a next okay, we'll be right there. So, back to the drawing board. Here we are. So I don't know what, so you, you've had whiskey events this week? Yes. Okay. So, first of all, Thursday we did a it was more of a, our house bourbons our stuff that we, we use, you know, bourbons that you mix with ginger a or old fashions. That, that was where we were introducing the new wild Turkey to the menu. Okay. As far as our house bourbon, cuz I love the girl that's selling it and she's a charmer and I love her. And so she brought on the Angels Envy, which is great. We're not mad about that, but on, I mean, we carry like your normal, your maker's mark, your Woodford, your bullet Jefferson's, Eagles, rare Basil, Hayden, all the good bourbons. I mean, this is, nobody's mad about any of those. No. You know, I don't carry any shit liquor. Right. I don't, we don't have any how, like we don't carry any. I don't even know how to pronounce some of that stuff that I'm, I'm like the crazy Russian stuff. That's like$2. The place for so small that we have to turn and burn. We can't have bottles sitting on the shelf cuz we have no room. I mean, if you've been up there, you see how small it is. Our selection is pretty tailored to our clientele. Yeah. And I'm proud of that. But you know, I'm always up for suggestions and if a member suggests something that I don't have, I mean we have the 1942 tequilas, we. We keep espon. You know, Luna UL seems to be like turning into somewhat of a house tequila, which is Yeah. Or it works. And patron's always gonna be a, it's always gonna be there. That bottle takes them so much weird room. It's like, y'all coulda did something different with this bottle, babe. They did it on purpose though. I know. They're like, and it pours out so fast. It's so like, girl, you can't even put a lid on that thing. No. Oh. But yeah, I, I, it is funny cuz the whole world. Liquor. As long as you can maintain it and not get too crazy like I do usually. Yes. Or I'm dancing on the bar upside down with my legs wide open and I'm just Scratch that one. No, we're keeping that one in. Sorry. That one's staying You just gotta come after midnight. That's all. There you go. You just never know. Yeah. But no, I did. We went on Friday. I did meet with the guy that, that gave me this assortment of this kit, the bourbon nosing kit. Yeah. And I had the opportunity to try some Weller and some b Blains, which, which goes into the blands. It's weird because the ABC Commission is such in control of the liquor that, you know, there's. There's some days you get in there and you can only get one, like, you know, Buffalo Trace, we all love Buffalo Trace, we Lovelands, they're actually from the same distillery, I think. Mm-hmm. is that correct? Okay. I wanna make sure I have much shit together. Yeah. They have the same mash bill. Yeah. Right. The distiller. Okay. So a, it means something. They're kind of being, they're made in the same. Probably about the same people that are running that distillery. Mm-hmm. But anyway, yeah, it's just, it's always interesting because even though they have a sim, the same mash bill, just because they're finished in slightly different places of a slight different aspects taste to the process, they taste different like that. What is it like, what do they call it? That, like cast taste? It's like kind of tastes like a railroad, like that, like Oh yeah. Hard tar. Yes. Taste. Yeah. So did you like the Blains? I did that. You, I loved the Blains. Actually, that was probably my favorite one. The Weller was like really? He said the Pappy was like, obviously like that's like the top tier Yes. Right. Of bourbons and I. It's interesting cuz it is, it's its own culture. I mean it is. And even people are like, oh, what's the difference between bourbon and whiskey? Well, bourbon County, Kentucky. Mm-hmm. is like the OG of bourbons. Yep. That's what they're known for. You got their WHI whiskey trail up there, so That's right. Yeah. I wanna go do one of those. Like, I'm okay. I'm, I'm not a big, I love wine. I'm educated with wine. I get it. But I wanna go do like one of those bourbon. Oh, I like how they, the wine country, they have the whole tours to go do one of those Kentucky bourbon tours. Oh yeah. Like the whiskey trail is just ridiculous, but I feel like I would legit have to take three weeks off of work. Or hangovers. Yeah. Right. No drink story of my life. Hangover drink. Hangover drink. Hangover. A never ending cycle. You don't stop drinking, you don't get a hangover. That's right. But you also, I don't wanna burn out my palate or your liver. Yeah. Chris is like, ah, screw the lever. I don't wanna burn out my pallet. It's all genetics. I'm like, At least lose part of my liver and still keep going. I think you, you're entitled to have half of it. right? But no, North Carolina distillers are really doing it. They're really making an effort to mm-hmm. you know, distill good bourbons and we got one right down the street and today's is pretty awesome. Yeah, I think they've definitely put a mark on the map with their own distillery, with vodkas and rums and gins and I'm really proud of that place. I think it's awesome. Yeah. Their, the rye that came out, I guess what, last summer? Super good fall, maybe last fall. Yeah. But their rye was very good and I actually like to mix that with ginger. It's literally across the street. Y'all right? But you know, since the ABC controls everything with the liquor, we, we don't have a lot of, there's a lot of things we want to have that people ask me to carry. And I'm like, they don't understand it. They think I just walk into a liquor store and buy a liquor and sell it. This is not the way it works. Nope. But I think back in the day, You know, Blanton's and Buffalo Trace would be easy to get, but now it's like sparingly to get one bottle and it's gone. The, the first night that we have it, there's like lines out the door waiting for a b, ABC to open to get that. Come on guys. It's ridiculous. Help us out. That's similar to me in watches. Like people are like, can't you just get me this one? I've been waiting six months and I'm like, get at your damns. Help right? I'm like, it's allocated. Sorry. Yes. Like if I could, I would've already called you for it. I just, That Like we could get more, well, you could go to Myrtle Beach and go buy a vodka to cvs. I think I, I don't really buy vodka to cvs. I don't really know, but I mean, it sounds like LA you could do that. They'd have literally liquor and they have it everywhere in the west coast. Yeah. They just want anybody to be drunk, I guess. Dress like drunk to go down to Costco and pick up all of his. Oh yeah. I would never, I'm scared. Costco, the these people are like picking up food all over these stations. It's freaking me out. Cracking me up. Not since a kid. I need something to drink. Wash this down. I'm not gonna get like a pizza roll and like not have some water That's a good point. Very good point. That is, I haven't, some people go there for that. Just to go run around there. Grab all the samples, eat little snacks everywhere. You gotta go smoke a bowl first for that one, right? Sheesh. Going because I'm, I'm quite slow at times. Where is the penthouse? So the penthouse is the heart of downtown. Mm-hmm. It is front Market Street. It's in the old trust building. It's across from Misha. This is Elanta. You could find Scotty at the door. Yep. It's my boy. He definitely looks out for me. And, and for the members and for the safety and for the bartenders as well. I mean, we have a buddy system. That's the one thing I'm proud of. Since day one, I've always implemented the fact that my bartenders do not walk to their cars. Guy or girl. It doesn't matter. I think it's just a safe route, you know, cuz things with alcohol and late nights, I mean, we all know what happens. Yeah. Things can take a turn for the worst. I mean, there was just a guy last week with a white van behind a visa that was like dragging people in. I mean they're, oh wow. He's scary, you know? And, and Eli had from Barbara, he love him. He put a, he put a post up for us to all share and, and that's amazing cuz you just never know. These people are doing the port's right there and you hear about sex trafficking and. You know, obviously, I mean, I, I got a taser on me all the time, so don't fuck with me, I will tase your ass. Please don't bud I tased my brother by accident one time as the most funniest fucking thing I've ever seen in my life. He's like, do it. You ain't gonna do it. You ain't gonna do it. I said, I fucking gonna do it. He said, do it. And I whacked him with that thing. He hit the floor and was like, wiggling like a fish. And I started laughing. I was like, oh my God, I was kill my fucking brother. But anyway, people don't realize tasers suck. They are not a joke. I, so the funny thing, it's not like putting your tongue on a battery, right? It's very different times a thousand No, when I was in the mill, like in order for me to use anything that was like less than lethal, I had to get it done to me, myself. Oh. To try it out. So you go. So I've been tased, I've been like, OC sprayed bear spray. That shit will take some down. I would, I will take it and hit by a taser instead of getting spray. 17 times before I even really admit like, oh, let me do this. Nah, Let's get a little bit more bourbon up in this class. What? So yeah, there you go. You get to pick. With your mouth, slightly open nose. One of the elements then knows your bourbon. Keeping your mouth open is especially important with higher proof bourbons because it prevents your nose from being overwhelmed with alcohol vapors. This is very, very complex situation. Oh, that one. Is that the Long branch? Yeah. Yes. Oh, we just started carrying that this week. Oh, no way. Yes, that was one of our tastings. Ooh, I forgot to just mention. Yeah, let's do it. Let's have some, yeah. Yeah. So we've had Long Branch on before. Mm-hmm. Should I pound those? Sure. Get it. Shots of bourbon on a Sunday, Wonderful. No better time to do it. But since they're, I'm on the way for you for a motion dance. They're be hands full. Oh Lord. Starting early. But yeah, I mean, I'm definitely welcome to like, you know, we have a guest list with the penthouse and because like I said, it's 50 people, I can't, and people are like, oh, you know, people do wanna sign up regular. We're going through the guest list right now. We're trying to weed out people that obviously have not been around to make room for people that actually want to come. Right? Yeah. I just feel you'd be wrong to sell 2000 memberships or a place holds 50 people. Yeah, and people will beg the differ with me a lot of times say, oh, just you should just make money. I'm like, well, it's not about making money. It's also about like having a business that people wanna respect, but understand the. the whole, that building is so complex. I mean, like I said, there's no parking. The elevator's a bitch, it's a hundred and something years old. and yeah, the view is great, but it's a, it's a, it's a to-do to get shit up and down, trash, recycle, you know, liquor, wine, beer, it's like every day. That is my life. It's, I am like a serial stalker. Yeah. I believe like I have, have to stalk every day. Me or somebody. Somebody. Yeah. It's about keeping a good reputation too, and you've kept a very good reputation for that place and for. So I gave a place for like the courthouse to go. I mean, you've got a lot of public officials. Mm-hmm. the judges, the district attorneys, the public defenders, and the mayor. I mean, they're all like really good friends of mine and I'm very proud of that. And it is a place for them to go where, you know, they can be left alone and you know, if they're gonna sit there in court all day and try people, they don't wanna see them when they go out for a drink. Exactly. No. So, yeah, and, and it started, you know, you have your developers, you have your real estate guys and girls. I am really proud. And, and the thing is, is they're all like genuine friends of mine. Mm-hmm. So it goes back to the whole, the basis of my entire concept was, My friends and friends of my friends, and let's keep it safe, you know? I do, I, I do have a dress code. I expect people to somewhat, you know, give a shit when they go out. I mean, yes, I want the men in colored shirts. I want the women tastefully dressed. Do I slip up? Yes, of course I do. You get friends of mine that come in from outta town, they like, you know, they're drunk. They just want to come up and see me sometimes, and they're in a t-shirt or they're in a tank top or whatever. No fucking sweatpants ever but can I pull a hoodie? You can a hug. You can't. You can't. You can wear a hoodie. On Wednesday and Thursday. Okay. No, but I think that, well you notice also people who are behave when they're dressed up. Absolutely, yes. More than, I mean, don't get me wrong. Yes, we have the occasional slip up idiots, but like people seem to care more when they put a suit on or mm-hmm. you know, get theirself together. And it's always the guests of the members that cause the. It's like not nobody I actually signed up. It's usually like a friend of theirs. They're like, oh, I'm so sorry. Such us up, threw up all over your fucking couch. I'm like, oh my God, great. And I'm like, look, you're out. If you don't come clean that shit up yourself, I'm not leaving Scotty to do that shit. Right. You better bring a fucking paper towel and some soap and clean it and get on your knees and scrub. So else you're out of this bitch And it's funny cuz a couple weeks ago that happened. I'm not gonna say his name, God bless him, but the guy falling asleep on the couch, I'm like, dude, you gotta get up. It's a bar. Go home and sleep. Right. It drives me crazy when people get that comfortable when they go out to like fall asleep or like get sick or like go home. If I feel like I'm gonna be as sick, I'm not gonna go out no. Right. If I'm drinking and need to throw up. My buddy tells me and I'm go home finding the bathroom. Right? Yeah. And after or while I'm hugging the toilet that Uber is being called. Yes. Yep. Like Mm. Oh God. I have, luckily we don't have too much of that. It happens in any bar. I don't care. Country club, dive bar. you name it. I don't care how pretty you dress it up, it's the shit still happens. Some It's gonna happen. Yeah, it's gonna happen. Too much alcohol. Some people can't. That's why like, I mean, we're 25 and above. I don't have any members that are under 25 unless they're accompanied by a member, that's their parent or whatever. And yeah, so I had to, the, the building itself is like not suitable for a public bar. It's just not because you know, it's a nine to five Monday through Friday office building, so nights, weekends, holidays, that is the lifestyle that I live. They're, you know, it's nights, weekends, holidays. So, goodbye. This is why I don't have children. This is why I cannot hold a relationship down cuz they're like running away from me. Like, this bitch is crazy. but you know, it is, it's what, it's what I signed up for and I, it's gratifying in all sorts of ways, but it's also a challenge. And that building, like I said, I can't stress enough, is not your normal pull up. Drop off. Mm-hmm. come in as you will. It's just not, it wouldn't, I mean, I would, the building would've kicked me out years ago. Yeah. You know, cuz you, you don't know what happens between nine floor. And the bottom floor people, you know, there's a risk of people breaking in. There's people like having sex all over the stairwell. You know who I'm talking about? Host, which is so, which is good to put out there. Yes. Y'all, there's cameras in that stairwell. Y'all stop it. Oh my goodness. Stop being better. I gotta report back to the band I always laugh cuz I remember going to level five back in the day and being. Someone's done something on the stairwell and I one hate walking up the stairs. And two, when I finally got to catch an elevator, I realized that that is the worst elevator to be in Yeah, that is a scary one, isn't it? It is so, it's so cramped and it just smells like a, it might, everybody loves the elevator at the Pitt house. Well, or they hate it. It's like definitely one or the other. There's like, people go in, they're like, oh my God. I, I'm like, chill out girl. It's two seconds. Just chill out. Yeah. It's such a quick, don't be so dramatic. It's an elevator. I mean, you know, have you not been in New York City before? I mean, come on. Elevator. My elevator is nothing compared to, I was gonna say the elevator. Somebody's cranking it up. Yeah, tho those are sketchy. So yours is nothing compared to that. But I'm pretty sure the bathroom at the penthouse is the most photographed place in Wilmington. Oh, that mirror. I could tell stories I'm just kidding. Maybe. I don't know. Hopefully not. But no, that, that bathroom is definitely, I've had to tone it down recently. If you've been in the bathroom recently, you've noticed I've taken out some things that used to be in there. We had a statue, everybody knows the statue. And you know, I like to push the limits. I'm def definitely a. Controversial kind of person. And I definitely love pushing the limits. And that's just me. Yeah. And I like to go out outside of my box and Well, that's not really a good way to put that. I don't have a box. I mean, whatever. But God, I'm just on a, I'm on a roll today. Is this the, back to the bourbon? This Long Branch? Yeah, that's the Long Branch. Hello. Long branch. So we, so we grabbed the thing a long branch because it's be, it's added to the bar now. Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes. This is our newest fixture on the bar. Long Branch. Have you tried it? Yes. We had that Tasing on Thursday and I drank way too much of it. it led into Friday, so, yeah, I'm, I am like, look, I've been drinking vodka for so long, it's just boring vodka. I can just, I shouldn't say that, but I just drink so much Titos and it's just coming out of me right now actually as we speak. But vodka keeps me paste. Oh yeah, I can paste myself a vodka. Can people say that with beer and wine? But no, if I drink too much champagne, it's the worst headache I've ever had. My entire life. Yeah. Yeah. My birthday a couple years ago, we drank eight bottles of VCA co sitting up there. but no Vco. Yeah, I don't care how much your champagne costs, it still gives me a fucking headache. yes. A thousand percent. But I don't know. Where are we at, guys? Well, we are running up on. Four 30 right now. We've got six minutes. Yeah, we got six minutes to go. Scotty's pulling up in six minutes. we're onto the Ford Motion dance party. So Chris, it never stops. Chris, Chris has one last question for you though. So, because you've opened a business, can I touch this? Yeah, yeah, please. It moves everywhere. Oh, it moves. Hi. Yeah. There you go. What? God, I'm a been, I'm a, I'm a troublemaker. We all know. What's, what would be a definition of success for you with all that you've done? The definition of success is paying your fucking bills if you can pay your bills consistently. Yeah. Okay. I think you're successful. I mean, I think, I mean, we all have this dream fairy tale of big houses and expensive cars and all these lavish. Been there, done it. It's a lot of fucking work. But it does, if that's what you consider yourself successful by having materialistic things. I don't, I think valuing the moments with your family, your friends, and making memories, and that's what I think with the penthouse is like, it's a place where we make memories. Mm-hmm. I mean, people literally like, I mean, I can't even ex, I can't express how, like I said, I've said it a couple times, I'm grateful. I'm blessed to be able to surround myself with great people that want to just come up there and have a good time. I mean, I'm in the business of making memories. Yeah, making good memories. I like to think so. And so success is not about how much you have in your wallet. I think it's what you have in your. Oh, I love that. That was a great quote. I haven't heard that one yet. Cheers, boys. Cheers. Yeah, cheers. Mine says mine's empty, but I'll get Oh, you need some more I know But no, thank you so much for having me on today. This was fun. Yeah. Hopefully I'll get to go. We are working on, okay. Should I let the cat out the bag? Should I do it? Oh yeah, definitely do it. Okay. So we are working on a penthouse podcast. Oh. Oh yeah. You guys have to be guests of mine. Oh, for sure. That, yes. So it's been in the works. We're looking at the end of April for our first one. Yeah. So maybe y'all have to come make a little guest camming out. Yeah, we'll certainly do that. We'll do like, I don't know. We'll do te. I like two tequila Yeah. I drink everything, unfortunately. Me too. Like, like, like I was saying, I look at the, the whole assortment of liquor. What happened there. I'm like, there's nothing I don't like. You have to, I guess as with another thing, like with passion and all this, you have to love what you're selling Yes. Because if you don't really like what you're selling, you're not gonna sell much of it. No. But if you're passionate about, What you believe in. And, and you know, my life is events, it's parties, it's charity events. It's, it's a nonstop party every fucking week. Yep. And I love it though. I love it. I've got a great team of people that support me and I have a beautiful four year old chocolate lab name Rex. Gotta throw'em out there. It's my baby. But yeah, I do, I have a great support system and people look out for me. And the safety's important downtown. Yeah. As well as anywhere. But I just wanna keep going. We've got, we've got a long time left on the lease and we're just not miss any months I committed to this year with not over scheduling the events because you wanna give it your all when you come to work. I'm wearing a suit. I mean, I'm like, I'm, I don't wanna be hungover for these things. Like people want me to be on my A game and they expect that. Yeah. So if I'm not, I don't feel like I'm giving them them my full capacity of what I'm capable of if I'm hungover. So, drink water, y'all. Definitely or not I don't drink any fucking water. Actually, that was my goal too, is to drink more. I've started having to drink water on recording days. Yeah. And we started CrossFit, so. Oh, nice. Yeah. Well, God, that would be a, that would be some interesting things to see me to CrossFit. Geez. Gotta pass out. I'll be looking at all the men and they're like, damn, okay, I'm gonna get outta here. No, but honestly, thank you so much for having me and, and I can't wait. Yeah. Thank you so much and we'll have you back soon. Yes, Tyler, here's one last question. Oh yeah. If you could tell your younger self one thing, what would it be? My younger self would say, be easy on your body. Okay. Take care of your body. It is your temple. Your body is your temple. It's your place. Be good to it. Nourish it in all aspects. Mind, body and soul. I like that. Got it. So I just wanna say thank you for hopping on here, Jesse. Y'all are so handsome. Oh, thanks. Thank you, Even I haven't got the compliment for a while. No, it's been a minute. Thanks for coming on. We will definitely be visiting the penthouse. And we'll tag it in the show notes and just kind of keep an eye out for when they open up. Y'all remember Sunday too? It's been a long weekend. right? So be easy on me. Oh no. We'll take care of it. This won't be posted till Wednesday. Cool. Yeah. Whiskey's on Wednesday in like three, three weeks. Yeah. God bless America. But yes, thank you for coming on. You guys follow us on all social medias. Leave us a great review, five stars, preferably hit that download button on Spotify. Okay. Or just listen to the whole episode. Y'all better subscribe. Is to subscribe. Yeah, definitely subscribe. Y'all better subscribe to Whiskey and Wisdom. Love it. Yeah. Right here on Castle Street. Y'all. Castle Street. Definitely. That's where it's at right now. And as you know, our Instagram is powered by Sway Creations, along with the rest of our social media. Social media. That was the word I was looking for. Happy Sunday. Happy Sunday. Cheers. Cheers. Yes,

Podcasts we love