One of the most successful and influential business leaders, restauranteurs, entrepreneurs and female mentors in San Antonio discusses a myriad of topics. From Fiesta to the very tough economics of COVID-19, we get into it.
Transcript:
Justin: Hello and Bienvenidos San Antonio. Welcome to the Alamo Hour, discussing the people, places, and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonio and keeper of chickens and bees. On the Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great and unique and the best-kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here.
Okay, welcome to the Alamo Hour, today's guest is Jody Newman. Jody is the chief friend of The Friendly Spot. Soon enough to be hopefully Two Friendly Spots. She mentors small businesses through Cafe Commerce. She was the first-ever Queen Anchovy, which is how we met and became great friends to this day, a random Fiesta event, which is one of the reasons I love San Antonio, honestly, is Fiestas. This weird thing where you make lifelong friends. That's where we met.
Jody: It happened.
Justin: We asked Jody on here today. We're going to talk about small business, small business mentorship, and honestly, what's going on today, the biggest thing, the gorilla in the room, the elephant in the room is Coronavirus and how small businesses have been affected. Thank you for being here.
Jody: Thanks for having me, Justin. I'm happy to be here.
Justin: All right, so we're going to start with one of my start with everybody, with a little bit of just random background about you. Do you have any pets?
Jody: I do not have any pets.
Justin: Do you have human pets?
Jody: Yes. I have two wonderful kids. I have a 14-year-old son named Wilson who is a freshman at Holy Cross on the Westside, and then I have a daughter named Simone who is in the fourth grade.
Justin: Okay, what is your favorite place to eat in town right now? I know there's a million, but right now what is it?
Jody: My super favorite place to hang out without a shadow of a doubt is The Dakota East Side Ice House on Hackberry and if you have not had their pork casserole, you have not lived.
Justin: All right. I've seen you and Steve post from there quite a bit.
Jody: It's so good.
Justin: I still haven't been there. I've got to.
Jody: You got to. You have to.
Justin: Another thing. Everybody's got this weird hidden gem thing in San Antonio. When you tell people, "Okay, you visit San Antonio, but to be a PhD tourist, you've got to go to this or do this thing." What is your hidden gem?
Jody: For you to experience San Antonio fully, I think you must go to the Esquire Tavern.
Justin: For me, it's the Downstairs.
Jody: Yes. For sure.
Justin: Such a great hidden gem. Okay, we're going to get into this more in a second, but you're very involved outside of your job, which everybody in town knows what...