Inside Red Lobster's 35-Year-Old CEO's Routine From When He Was Running P.F. Chang's

I never really have been a person that separated work and life. I worked in private equity. I was working all the time, but I liked it. I thought it was interesting. I thought it was fun. I do that because I started going on longer runs, so I need more time. And the reason I started going on long runs is it's better for what's called your parasympathetic nervous system, which is like your calm, relaxed, autonomous nervous system. I'm finished working out like 5.45, 6. I'll shower, get ready. If I have time, I'll check some emails in my home office. Primarily what I'm looking at then is the numbers from the previous day, which start coming in around that time. I'll drive into the office. It's about a 20-minute drive. I'll be in by 7 typically, or 7.30. My CFO is here. My COO will be here. We'll typically just pop into each other's offices, nothing formal. And then my day starts with meetings. My first meetings, I'll take at 8. In between meetings, I'm trying to keep up with the emails. I try to prioritize and get to the most important things first. I try to approve things quickly so that people can get to work. By the end of the day, meetings are finished. Whatever time I have left, I'll go through the emails that I didn't get to during the day. So I'll probably finish 5.36 is when I'll head home. I typically try to relax and kind of take it easy, especially during the week. Try to re-eat. I'll probably smoke a cigar and hang out on my patio. I get to bed early. I try to get some good rest. And then I start the next day at 4 a.m. I try not to email people on the weekends unless it's an actual emergency. So people can go spend the weekends in the mountains or wherever they do. We have a culture that's on when we're here and try to not be on when we're not. It's one of those things where if you think about it, then other people will start to think about it. Like if I came in with an attitude that I'm young and I need to make up for that somehow, then I would overextend on other things. I might be harsher than I need to because I need to prove that I'm the leader. Or I might make comments that reflect that insecurity. I probably was more native to some of the things that we wanted to do, specifically the digital delivery services. So I was a customer for what was a younger demographic using apps to order food, etc. I'm happy the business is doing well. It's not about me. Honestly, I stepped in because it was the best thing to do to get the best outcome for the business. The company doing well helps the people do well. And that's ultimately what's most important to me.