After 18 years with Owens Corning, Don Bosko expected a promotion that would move his family to Atlanta. Instead, just days before Christmas in 1990, his division was sold, leaving him without a job and searching for what came next.

In the weeks that followed, Bosko did what many people would do: He looked for another job. But as he and his wife talked through their options, the conversation shifted from going back to corporate America to going into business for themselves. They wanted to create something the whole family could be part of. 

The family was regulars at their local Beef ‘O’ Brady’s. After they stopped in one day after church, Bosko started paying attention to how the business operated and how it brought people together. 

“There were doctors there, regular people, baseball players, all kinds of people,” Bosko said, “and they were all talking about the excitement of this one little Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, maybe 2,000 square feet, and how much everybody loved the atmosphere and the family. I said, ‘Man, this is clicking in my head.’”

At the time, Beef 'O' Brady's wasn’t even franchising. But after weeks of persistence, and multiple rejections, Bosko convinced founder Jim Mellody to give him a chance. He worked for free in the kitchen, learned the business from the ground up and ultimately became one of the first operators to take the concept beyond its original location.

After finally earning Mellody’s trust, Bosko opened his first location in Lakeland, Florida, about a year later. With no established franchise system to lean on, he picked a market he could afford, worked out lower rent and set out to build local support from the start.

Bosko eventually grew his portfolio to as many as 11 locations, navigating relocations, rebuilds and unexpected setbacks along the way. Operational discipline gave the business structure, while Bosko’s commitment to the community gave it momentum.

“My biggest passion is helping others through my business,” Bosko said. “That’s what people can do today in franchising. I’ll give you an example. I was paying $400 a month for Yellow Pages back in the day. Instead, I took that $400 and gave it back to the community through food, events, baseball, soccer and the chamber.”

The business also became a family operation. His children grew up working in the restaurants, learning the model firsthand and contributing to its growth. While most have since moved on to their own careers, his son Andy remains involved as a partner today.

“My family has grown so much through what we were able to do. We had ups and downs. It’s difficult at times … but they all learned from it,” Bosko said. “They all owned a piece of the business without putting money in. It was their growth.”

At 79, Bosko is still active in the business and continues to look for opportunities to grow. He’s scaled back operations, but he remains committed to serving the communities where he operates. 

“I could never be happier than I am at this stage,” Bosko said. “I still want to do it every day.”

Bosko recently appeared on the “Meet the Franchise” podcast, where he spoke with 1851 Franchise publisher Nick Powills about how he got started in franchising and how family, community and hustle shaped his growth. A transcript of the interview — edited for brevity, clarity and style — has been provided below.

Nick Powills: All right, Don, you’ve had quite the story in franchising, and I want you to share as much or as little as you want. Tell me how you accidentally fell into franchising and what that story has been.

Don Bosko: It’s quite unique. I started in corporate America. I worked for Owens Corning for 18 years, fresh out of college. I worked hard as a young man in school, graduated from college here in Pennsylvania with a degree in science management, and decided to move to Florida because we didn’t like the cold weather in Pennsylvania.

I was married, had a child and got a job right away with Owens Corning. I was there 18 years. Two days before Christmas in 1990, they decided to sell the division I was working for. After 18 years with the company, I had worked my way up to regional vice president in the Southeast, with a company car, credit cards and all the things you wanted as a young man coming out of college.

Two days before Christmas, we thought they were going to announce that I was becoming regional manager out of Atlanta, where we were already buying a house. In corporate America, you don’t know. I was shocked. I was nervous because I had told my wife that morning they were going to announce it, and I came back home without a job.

So I went to my church. I prayed for a while and tried to figure out how I would let the family know, because we had already said we were moving to Atlanta. I had my four children, three boys and a girl, and I had to let them know everything at the same time and still figure out what we were going to do for work and how to make money again.

We went through almost 60 days with no money other than what I had saved over the years, stock, savings accounts and things like that. During that time, we went to Beef ‘O’ Brady’s. There was a store maybe two miles away from my house. We would go there after church. We’d go to 4 o’clock Mass, then bring my kids over, get a pitcher of beer and 50 wings for $14.95. That fed the whole family.

We did that quite often. I got to know Beef ‘O’ Brady’s real well. I got to know the waitresses, the assistant staff and the way the business ran. That’s really how I was introduced to it at first, just through the family.

Powills: Your story has a lot of similarities to anybody who ends up falling into franchising. There’s some sort of turbulent moment, usually unexpected. You said you went to church, prayed a lot and tried to figure out what was next. How do you change your mentality in that moment from being beat up to being motivated to become a business owner?

Bosko: I think it was my own business acumen. I knew how hard I had worked for the other company and how successful I was. My wife, concerned, said maybe we should think about something we could do ourselves. In the first 30 days, I was going to contractors and other insulation companies. I was looking to work for somebody else. My first mindset was to get a job, get paid and get going right away.

The more we thought about it, with the ambition we had and the rest of the family, it became about finding something we could do all together instead of me traveling and being gone. I could be around more, become my own boss and build something through the family. That’s how the mindset changed. Within 30 days, the model changed altogether. I was no longer looking to work for somebody else. I wanted to be my own boss, my own client, and build my own business.

Then, about 30 days later in January, we were at Beef ‘O’ Brady’s again. This happened in December, and in January we were there. My wife had helped a gentleman become a court judge by putting up signs. He got the job, so he invited us there.

There were doctors there, regular people, baseball players, all kinds of people, and they were all talking about the excitement of this one little Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, maybe 2,000 square feet, and how much everybody loved the atmosphere and the family. I said, “Man, this is clicking in my head.”

The owner was there, so I talked to him a little bit. I said I’d like to talk about your business. I said I knew your wife from my church, and maybe you could give me some time tomorrow. That didn’t work out too well. I went in the next morning, and he forgot who I was. I told him I wanted to talk about his business. I said I worked for Owens Corning, everybody knows who they are, and they had just sold my division. I was looking for an opportunity.

He said, “Working? Work in my restaurant?” I said, “No, not work in your restaurant. I want to own one.” He said, “We don’t do that. Just go out the door.”

I did that three times. The third time, I brought donuts from Publix. I thought maybe it would slow him down a little bit. He still said, “Haven’t I gotten this across? You’re out. I’m not interested.”

So I went to his wife the same day. She was a secretary at my kids’ school. She knew me from church. She said, “What are you doing here? Kids in trouble?” I said, “No, I’m in trouble. I need a job. Your husband won’t talk to me. I want to open a Beef ‘O’ Brady’s.” She set it up.

The next day, I went to the office. He shouted at me because he couldn’t believe I showed up again. He said, “You must be crazy going to talk to my wife.” I gave him my resume, told him what I was about, what my family was about and why I liked his business. It kind of clicked after that. I told him I’d work for free in the kitchen.

He said I could start tomorrow. I worked for two weeks for free, actually more than that, in the kitchen. I wanted to take notes and figure out the business, the costs and things like that. He said maybe I could help him because he had piles of paper and wasn’t strong on the business side. That’s how we got started.

Powills: How long did it take you to open your first restaurant? And secondly, what does your portfolio look like today?

Bosko: It was about a year and three months after that initial talk in January. I opened my first restaurant. I wanted to open in Hillsborough County, but they wouldn’t allow me because that’s where he had his stores. I looked at Clearwater because that’s where Hooters started, but the rent was too high, around $12 or $13 a square foot. That was out of my bracket. I was looking for something under $10, under $9.

So I went to Polk County. That’s where I lived. One of my customers was there, and he said, “We don’t have anything like that.” I took him to Beef ‘O’ Brady’s. He liked it. I found a place on South Florida Avenue. It was almost empty, with maybe four other spots, but it could hold 25 stores. When I talked to the real estate agent, he was a pastor. We talked about it. I said I needed low rent. We prayed about it.

He came back and said he’d give me $5.95 a square foot. I said I could only do 2,000 square feet. He said, “You need to sign today.” He told me Outback Steakhouse might be coming into the plaza, taking 7,000 square feet, and that would change everything. So I signed.

Powills: How many units do you have today?

Bosko: I had up to 11 and scaled down. My kids all worked for me. My son Andy is still with me. He’s now in his 40s. The others are Tim, Cara and Phil, along with my wife. I took a picture the day I decided to open the store. I bought everybody a Beef ‘O’ Brady’s shirt. I couldn’t afford it, but I did it anyway.

We had 2,000 square feet in a dark plaza. We put a cross and candles in the back and prayed. I’ve kept that picture ever since. When you say family support, we are family support. I had 11 stores, rebuilt two in Orlando, had one in Englewood, two in Gainesville and one in Ocala. I rebuilt my Lakeland store three times because of moves and hurricanes. My kids have always been involved for the last 35 years.

Powills: I think about franchising today, and obviously in your position, there have been plenty of franchisees who have come into the system and used you as a reference to validate their decision.

What I think is missing in today’s franchise world, and maybe it’s just the accessibility of opportunities, is a guy who’s knocking on doors. I hear about a guy who was beat down but was willing to show hustle and grit. I hear a guy who was willing to get in the kitchen and learn the business before he was handed the keys. A guy who had conviction.

I hear a guy who knew that, in order to have a successful business, you have to engineer a price per square foot that works, but it still has to be a prime spot. I hear a guy who sees opportunity, a guy who was pressured to make a decision but knew what was going to happen, a guy who involved his family in something they could be proud of. I hear a guy who was told no and kept going.

Then we hear the end of the story. You got up to 11 stores. You rebuilt stores. You rolled with the punches. That all goes back to who you are as a person and the hustle and grit you started with.

If I’m writing out the perfect blueprint for a first-time franchisee, or someone in a system who wants more, more wealth, more for their family, oftentimes they don’t look in the mirror and ask, what am I willing to do? What is my role in this? I’m impressed by your story because hustle and grit feel like they’re missing a little bit, both in franchising and in the work world. So, as I say all that, how does that resonate with you? How do you feel about business today?

Bosko: It resonates exactly with what you’re saying. You’ve really got to have the guts and the goal to do it. It’s not a franchise or something you want to start by chance. You’ve got to build it in your own mind that this is what you really want. I guess the word is passion. That’s what mine was.

That’s why, when I had corporate meetings and talked to people about changes, I always went back to passion. If something didn’t feel right, I would question it. But I was also willing to adjust. For example, we went from just beer and wine to full alcohol. I thought our uniqueness was being a family sports restaurant without full alcohol. I was wrong. I accepted it. I rolled with it.

My biggest passion is helping others through my business. That’s what people can do today in franchising. I’ll give you an example. I was paying $400 a month for Yellow Pages back in the day. Instead, I took that $400 and gave it back to the community through food, events, baseball, soccer and the chamber.

I sponsored a golf tournament for $2,000 and provided all the food. About 800 people came. The next week was the biggest week we ever had. I thought, this works better than the $400. I kept doing things like that, feeding coaches after football games and making small investments that brought people in. It just kept building. Now there are systems in place to help with that, but people don’t even do them. They just wait for people to walk in the door.

Powills: When I think about what makes Beef ‘O’ Brady’s successful, price point, food quality and experience, all of that matters. But the community element matters too. So many people buy a business and don’t get ingrained. And ingrained doesn’t mean you’re at everything, but sometimes it’s a free meal, supporting an event or showing up.

Communities support communities. It’s such a simple equation, but people miss it. It still comes back to hustle. If that’s uncomfortable, are you willing to do it? Out of curiosity, when you talk to a franchise buyer today, can you tell within 20 minutes whether they have it?

Bosko: Yes, within 20 minutes. I used to go to discovery days, and mine were not happy programs. I wasn’t there to tell you how great everything is. I was there to tell you the work ethic it takes. If you and your family are willing to commit to that, then it’s the right spot. But this is not about opening a door and waiting for money.

You’ve got to have the passion. You’ve got to be there a long time, especially in the beginning. Then things start to roll and things fall your way. I’ve had a lot of bad things happen. In 2004, I lost a business completely. Total loss. But I had insurance, business interruption insurance. It cost me maybe $20 a month more. That building went down, and everything was covered, including salaries and assets. We rebuilt. Things happen. You’ve got to be ready.

Powills: When you showed me that picture of your family, here’s where my brain goes. I wrote a book. I call it my dust collector. I sold it, spoke around the country and all of that. But the moment that mattered was walking through the airport with my kids, and they said, “Dad, there’s your book.”

That’s it. I can sense it with you. You are so proud of what you built for your family. How important has that family element been, and the fact that you were able to leave corporate America and spend time with the people you love?

Bosko: My family has grown so much through what we were able to do. We had ups and downs. It’s difficult at times. That’s probably why most of them are not with me today in the business, but they all learned from it. They were partners. My son Andy is still my partner. Whenever I introduce him, I say, “This is my partner.”

They all owned a piece of the business without putting money in. It was part of their growth. Andy couldn’t even talk to people when he was younger. He would get nervous before speaking in class. Now, when you hear him talk, it’s incredible.

My wife was shy. Now she knows everybody in the store. My daughter became a chef. My other son works in wellness. Even though only one is still with me, they all understand the legacy. I could have never done this in corporate America.

Powills: Life moves fast. As you sit here today and reflect back, how do you feel emotionally? Have you found happiness in this life?

Bosko: I could never be happier than I am at this stage. I’m 79 years old and still have a mission. I still want to do it every day. People ask me why I still want to grow another store. It doesn’t leave you. But it’s also the things behind it, helping people.

I worked with a group that needed funding. They had a $35,000 budget. I went into the community, got restaurants to donate meals and we covered everything. They made extra money. It didn’t cost me anything, but it meant everything. Those are the things that stay with you.

Powills: Your goodness was brought out of you. It’s probably hard for younger people looking in, but you took a swing. You believed in yourself. If someone is listening to this, you’re proof that they can have a tremendous ride too.

Bosko: Yes, because there are still young people with that same passion. It might not be food. It might be something else, like a car wash or a donut shop, something they believe they can do better. You’ve got to have the passion, the willpower and keep walking. The rewards are there.

I didn’t do it for the money. I did it to get a job, to keep going. The rest followed. You’ll have tough moments. You might have a customer throw a pitcher of beer in your face. You walk away. Two days later, you get a letter from someone saying they’ll come to your restaurant forever because of how you handled it. Those are the things you remember.

Powills: That’s such a powerful story. Life is delicate. Sometimes you get knocked down, but if you keep moving, the outcome can be tremendous. Those who get stuck are the ones who stay disappointed. You’ve had that mindset your whole life. I love it, Don. I’m grateful for your time and your story.

Watch the full interview above or on YouTube.

To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/beefobradys/info.