Page 246 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company
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Dream, Believe, Dare, Do 227
of things everywhere. He dreamed of making things better.He didn’t want to
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bring out something that wasn’t unique and innovative.” If you’ve ever tried
the Thai Lettuce Wraps on the menu, you’ll know what she means.
Before the little restaurant opened in the world-famous city synonymous
with wealth and celebrity, an ounce of fear entered David’s mind. He had
never set his sights on opening with the fanfare of the Disneyland band or
having the who’s who of Hollywood enter on the red carpet as if approaching
Mann’s Chinese Theatre. In fact, he really didn’t want to be open at lunchtime
at all. “I put a small sign in the window, ‘Open at 2 p.m.,’” David told us. “At
1:30 p.m., a line had already formed in front of the restaurant, and by 2 p.m.,
the line reached well beyond our property to the next store. I told Linda to
go out and entertain these people. She was a wonderful cheerleader.” And, for
the “money’s no object” Beverly Hills clientele, you’d better be prepared to
“razzle-dazzle ‘em. David once said, “New Yorkers can be very straightforward
in their demands, but Beverly Hills is a tougher group to really please. In a
sense, we were trained by the best customers in the country.”
David seemed perfectly content to let Linda take center stage. His role
as consummate producer and director of a one-of-a-kind culinary institution
was and still is reward enough. And, fortunately, both of his parents lived to
see his extraordinary success.
Believe
Every generation seems to blame the one before it for something, and in
families everywhere, this certainly rings true. It’s an uncommon and refresh-
ing exception when adult children publicly credit both of their parents for
helping formulate their fundamental beliefs and values. David Overton is
such a person. “My father was total perseverance,” said David. “He could go
and call on a restaurant account six or seven times and never take no for an
answer. With my mother, I think I got just the straightforward quality, the
sort of desire, the commitment.”
David started the little 78-seat restaurant with all the right ingredients,
and they were not found in the kitchen. Rather, it was the Overtons’ lead-
ership, strong work ethic, and desire to do something nice for others that
generated the long-standing recipe for success at The Cheesecake Factory. To
this day, David is still inspired by the memories of his mother in action. At
one point in time, much to David’s dismay, Evelyn made a decision to close
down her fully functioning bakery and move to another location, which was
not immediately ideal for producing huge orders. As David recalled, “When