Good morning, friends!

This week, I interviewed legendary restaurateur Danny Meyer for The Profile. I really enjoyed our conversation, and I hope you do as well.

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Danny Meyer is no stranger to crisis.

The first crisis Meyer experienced as a restaurateur was just two years after he opened Union Square Cafe. In October of 1987, the stock market crashed, and U.S. markets fell more than 20% in a single day.

"I had never seen anything like that, and I was quite sure my career was ending," he told The Profile. "I learned the impact that Wall Street had on our business."

It also taught Meyer a lesson about resilience. In his 35-year career in the hospitality business, his restaurants have weathered the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the 2008-09 recession, and hurricane Sandy.

But none of those experiences could prepare Meyer for the level of uncertainty and chaos that took hold in 2020 as COVID-19 shook the world. The pandemic forced his company, Union Square Hospitality Group, to shutter 19 restaurants, its events business, and lay off 2,000 employees.

"It was probably the most excruciating three days of my career trying to figure out what to do," he says. "We had spent 35 years building a great organization and a people-first culture. How do we reconcile that with laying people off?"

Meyer started a relief fund for USHG members, contributing 100% of his salary and all gift card sales to it. In total, it raised $1.5 million, which went to former employees that were on his team.

Eighteen months later, Meyer says roughly 1,600 people have been hired, and he just opened a new restaurant in New York City called Ci Siamo.

"The through-line with every single crisis is a question that I always ask now: 'Is this the thing that is going to end the world,'" he says. "And if the answer is no, then obviously life is going to go on at some point."

As a leader, Meyer says his role is to challenge his team to think long-term even during the short-term turbulence of the chaotic event they have to face.

He says, "Our guiding compass through every crisis has been [to ask ourselves], 'Who will we have been while it was happening, and furthermore, who will we be when it's over?'"

In this conversation with The Profile, Meyer shares what he's learned about leading in crisis, how he developed his 'hospitality quotient' philosophy, and why he believes in cultivating a culture of experimentation and risk-taking.

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Danny Meyer on Leading In Crisis, Developing an Appetite for Risk, and Building a Hospitality EmpireBy Polina Marinova PomplianoPodcast episode

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THE PROFILE DOSSIER: On Wednesday, premium members received The Profile Dossier, a comprehensive deep-dive on a prominent individual. It featured Dominique Crenn, the three-Michelin-starred rebel chef. Become a premium member and read it below.

The Profile

The Profile Dossier: Dominique Crenn, the Three-Michelin-Starred Rebel Chef

Dominique Crenn has no formal culinary training, but she became a world-famous chef and restaurateur. In 2011, Crenn opened up her first restaurant Atelier Crenn, which earned her three Michelin Stars. She is the first and only female chef in the United States to achieve the prestigious three-star rating…

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4 days ago · 2 likes · Polina Pompliano

PROFILES.

— The king of sports merchandise [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— The beloved TV anchor who's done pretending
— The founders who built a barbershop empire
— The legendary pianist with the bionic gloves
— The influencers getting paid for digital intimacy
— The star who built a business empire
— The actor channeling his passion into food

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

The king of sports merchandise: Michael Rubin is the founder and CEO of Fanatics, a company that manufactures and sells licensed merchandise online to fans of professional sports teams. Fanatics and its new trading card and NFT companies have been valued by investors at a combined $30 billion. Jay-Z is teaming with Rubin and Fanatics on a forthcoming sports betting division. Here's the story of how he built a sports merch empire. (The New York Times)

“Michael is always ‘on,’ and there is no distinction for him between work and pleasure.”

The beloved TV anchor who's done pretending: When she began her television career, Katie Couric was known for her infectious smile. But in this profile, Couric acknowledges how deeply it was ingrained in her that her job was to be “likable,” which she said often translates into being “as inoffensive as possible, palatable for mass consumption.” Here's why, finally, Couric is making peace with all the chaos and messiness that came after years of people-pleasing. (New York Magazine)

“Now I’m liberated to be who I am, warts and all."

The founders who built a barbershop empire: Songe LaRon and Dave Salvant are the co-founders behind Squire, a startup that sells its software to more than 2,800 barbershops in the United States, Canada, and the U.K. The software offers not only basic booking and payment services, but it can help divvy up the receipts among a shop’s many barbers, automatically manage the payouts of tips, and handle payments for chair rentals. Here's how LaRon and Salvant turned their barbershop idea into a business valued at $750 million. (Forbes; reply to this email if you can't access this article)

“Being an entrepreneur and being an artist is similar. You are creating something that doesn’t exist and bringing it into the world."

The legendary pianist with the bionic gloves: When world-renowned pianist João Carlos Martins was 18, he had focal dystonia, which causes involuntary muscle spasms. He got it under control, but then while playing soccer, he fell and sliced a nerve, which caused his fingers to atrophy. Then, at age 54, two muggers ambushed him with a metal pipe and left him for dead. He's faced even more misfortune along the way — a pulmonary embolism, a coma, a failed surgery, and a tumor. Until finally, Martins lost his ability to play the piano. This is the incredible story of how he got it back. (GQ)

"When you're standing before a deep valley, you need to have determination. After you've scaled a high mountain, you need to have humbleness."

The influencers getting paid for digital intimacy: Thanks to a pandemic that left many people at home substituting screens for real-life intimacy and the rise of platforms that merge sex work and social media, vanilla content creators are turning to sex, in all its myriad forms, as a side hustle. Meet the sex workers navigating the rise of the creator economy. (Vox)

"They’re willing to pay for it, and I’m willing to take their money.”

The star who built a business empire: Boxed in by Hollywood norms, actor Ryan Reynolds started by carving out his own lane: action-comedy, with off-color humor. Since then, he’s blazed a path that allows him to be an actor, writer, producer, entrepreneur, viral marketer, and cultural maven, often all at once. Here's why he launched his production company Maximum Effort, and became an owner of Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile. (WSJ)

“Everything we do is scrappy. It’s fast, it’s inexpensive, character over spectacle."

The actor channeling his passion into food: Stanley Tucci has been in front of the camera, in one form or another, for some four decades now. Now, he's written a memoir through the lens of food. In 2017, Tucci realized that food — not acting — was the passion of his life after he was diagnosed with a form of oral cancer, the treatment for which destroyed his taste buds and left him temporarily reliant on a feeding tube. (The New Yorker)

“Food not only feeds me, it enriches me. All of me. Mind, body, and soul.”

✨ This installment of The Profile is free for everyone. If you would like to get full access to all of the recommendations, including today’s audio and video sections, sign up below.

AUDIO TO HEAR.

Tope Awotona on building resilience: Tope Awotona's dad was his hero, so witnessing his tragic death turned his world upside down. "I lost a lot of weight, I didn't have an appetite, and I became an insomniac," Awotona says. Here's how he learned to cope with trauma, moved to the United States, and ultimately, founded Calendly. (Link available to premium members.)

Rob Henderson on the danger of luxury beliefs: Rob Henderson coined the term "luxury beliefs," which he defines as ideas and opinions that confer status on the wealthy, while inflicting costs on everyone else. Take the idea that "monogamy is outdated," for instance. "Saying monogamy is outdated will give you some social cred from other elite college students," he says. "And it's kind of ironic because the upper class is most likely to broadcast these kinds of unusual luxury beliefs, but then they themselves are most likely to get married, and recapitulate the privileges they are critiquing." (Link available to premium members.)

VIDEOS TO SEE.

Scooter Braun on his origin story: Before Scooter Braun became a manager to some of the world's biggest stars, he was a college student trying to make some extra cash. He began his entrepreneurial journey with a not-so-savory (or legal) enterprise: He sold fake IDs to underage students. He then moved on to party promoting. Finally, he dropped out from Emory University in order to chart his own path. There are some really valuable lessons in this conversation. (Link available to premium members.)

Tim Ferriss on the secrets of creating a successful podcast: Podcaster Tim Ferriss has been at it for almost a decade. He's built his podcast audience from scratch to an eye-popping 700 million downloads. "You need to choose a game you can win," he says. "That requires some self-assessment." In this practical episode, Ferriss outlines some of his most useful strategies to building a successful podcast. (Link available to premium members.)

Jessica Rolph on the power of a second act: Jessica Rolph is a serial entrepreneur who co-founded Lovevery, a brand that creates play kits for young kids. She previously co-founded Happy Family, an organic baby food company that was acquired by Danone for hundreds of millions of dollars. Before creating Lovevery, she asked herself, "Can I really hit the jackpot twice? Can I be successful twice?" In this conversation, Rolph details her journey and lessons learned along the way. (Link available to premium members.)