We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joshua Wagy a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Joshua, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Is there a historical figure you look up to? Who are they and what lessons or values have you learned from them?

A “Historical Figure” that I Iearned the most from would be Don Shamp. He was a historical leader and a Titan in the International Industrial Glass Furnace Engineering
Field. I worked under him for 20-years and during this time he instilled many traits on
me. The one that stands out the most to me today is how to treat employees. I use his
model as a staple today on how I run my business. Don created a workplace
environment that made people want to work for him, learn from him, and be around him.
All of his employees worked very hard in many different ways. Looking back I see that
the work culture and the respect he gave his employees are two of the main reasons he
grew such a successful business.

1. His passion was extremely evident in what he did. His love for the industry was very
apparent and there was nothing he rather be doing. Passion spreads and is very
contagious to others around you and truly makes them perform better.
2. He learned what you were the best at with your own personal passions and let you
shine with TRUST. I think this is key when building a team, when you take the time to
know your employees you see where they shine. This only make you more successful
as a leader and as a business.

3. Which brings us to micromanaging. He did not and nor do I ever want to
micromanage employees. You have good communication upfront and let them do their
job because you trust. This is a huge area of business where if an employee forces you
to micromanage them they are not for you business and they will “weed” themselves
out. You must move on. Build a proper team around you, you cannot do it all well all the
time.

4. You are not above any job in the business. This is a huge one and probably the most
important. This also falls under leading by example…. ie… taking out the garbage or
getting people coffee. If he was in the office…. he would bring in coffee or go around to
every office and ask if anyone needed coffee or anything else. It was his way to see
where you were at for the day and if he can do anything for you to help you do your job.
At the end of the day he would come get your trash. This man was the President of an international industrial engineering firm, little things you would not expect from someone
with that title. When we were on a job site he would be the first to handle any dirty, hot,
hard job that's needed to be done. He lead by example and showed us nothing was
beneath him. You knew he supported you. For me in my restaurant I will dish wash, I will
take out the garbage, I will do anything it takes to keep the wheels turning forward. I
hope my employees see me doing the same for them as we watch Don do for us.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Personally, I have owned businesses in the restaurant & media industry and worked for an International Industrial Engineering firm for 20 years. I always worked in
restaurants growing up along with interning/working for engineering companies at the
same time while I was going to school. Along the way I have created a multimedia
company that I have since sold. My next venture came about when I was looking for a
positive outlet for local food and restaurants. It was then I created the number one
networking blog that highlights positive support food and restaurants in my city, Toledo,
Ohio, that is still active today. In 2013 I co-created the number one five-star Sushi
restaurant in Toledo. It was a passion project that grew into a great success. After being
in business for several years I sold my portion. It was around this time I retired from 20
years as an operations manager for an international industrial engineering firm. This led
to my current business, Farnsworth Cocktail Bar. I currently operate this business in a
100-year-old historic bank and am beginning the process of opening another restaurant.
My goal is to oversee three (under 40 seats) restaurants full of passion. In my spare
time I put a lot of energy into local non-profit work. I currently have a few chairman
positions that focus on large scale food events that benefit these non profits.

It is important for people to know that I stride to stand apart from others. When you have
passion in what you do, you will naturally be a leader in your industry. Like I said before,
passion is contagious. Do not be scared to show your passion.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Communication upfront is everything. Listen to the others around you and try to understand where they are coming from. Then communicate to align the ideas moving
forward. This allows employees to feel included and a part of the business. This then
keeps morale high due to being a contributor factor to a successful business.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I am currently “building” and will never stop. With every new business you have to earn your clients trust no matter the industry you are in. At Farnsworth, our new
restaurant/bar, that is what we are doing. This first year is all about building trust with
our customers. Building our locals trust to not only provide a quality product of food and
cocktails but also provide a positive social experience. We stride for our city to be proud
of our businesses and know that we support each other.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.farnsworthcocktails.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farnsworthcocktails/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuawagy