From Casino Floors to Chamber President: Bruce Flax on Reinventing Community Leadership

[0:00]  I didn't realize the impact in the 10 11 years or so and and it's and it's you know ultimately it continues to make me a better person. It's life-changing for the child. I'm as you know like it just you know coming into a family or into a home um and being welcomed is um you know a lifecher. You realize that if if you didn't and you know they ended up staying where they were that they would have a different life. But they also come with, you know, you never know what's behind the eyes, you know, and what's in the head. You have to you have to um evolve like I've evolved. We've all evolved with it because he has he has his challenges. He's a great kid.

[0:43]  There's a lot of love in our house. But again, it's a journey and so it definitely isn't boring and it can be aggravating at times, but ultimately at the end it's it's the greatest. Welcome back to the Heart and Hustle podcast. Have you ever met someone who went from the casino floor to the mayor's office and then flipped the script on what a chamber of commerce should actually be? Yeah, that's Bruce Flax. And today we're diving into how he's turning Mystic into more than just a town on a map. It's actually a movement. Bruce is the current president of the Greater Mystic Chamber of

[1:30]  Commerce, former mayor of Groten. Hopefully I said that correct. And someone who just got that blend of heart, hustle, and straight up real world leadership. Bruce, glad to have you here, man. Thanks for having me. Thank you. Was that a good intro? Right. It was a great intro, man. Groten. Not graten. Grten. There you go. There you go, man. So, let's kind of get into it.

[1:50]  I want to go way back right now. Maybe not way back, but what did 24 What did 24 years at Foxwoods teach you about people, leadership, and pressure? Yeah. No. Um, you know, I got I got to Foxwoods in 1994 when I was um 30 and uh had been in the ticketing business for several years and um heard that there was an opening at Foxwood which had opened a year and a half earlier um and went down I grew up in Massachusetts so and Foxwood is in Connecticut and uh went down for the interview and got the job and it was uh it opened up a world that was um in the 24 years you still don't learn everything. You continue to learn new things. Um, you know, when I first got down there, I was in charge of about a

[2:37]  hundred people, having never been in charge of anybody. And uh it just, you know, understanding people, understanding their problems, understanding my problems, um understanding the casino's issues and problems, um all came around to um truly uh allow me to grow and uh taught me a lot about myself and um and uh and I'm very thankful for it. But I was at Foxwoods. I started in um ticketing but also did bingo. They have a huge bingo hall. Okay. Um and then because I was under finance and then eight years into that they moved me under hotel operations. So I kept ticketing but was in charge of guest services and communications and co-cheek

[3:26]  and uh again learning a lot. Communications and coch were 24hour departments. So always on call. um and continued to develop my people and leadership skills. Um and then uh about 5 years after that they moved me over to entertainment and I was uh you know director of ticketing and uh did marketing for the shows and had the theater report to me. So constantly having different people um that were under me but allowed me to grow a great deal and develop you know and amazing and I'm happy that you you know took that away as well. Um, is there a moment on the casino floor that really just sticks with you till today? Uh, there there's a Yeah. Well, yes. Um, you know, the the the um casino is owned by the Mashion Tech at Pqua Tribal Nation

[4:14]  and um, unbelievable. Like they've uh, you know, I raised I worked there and raised five kids there. Um, and it gave me the support I needed. Um, when I first started there, um, you I want to I want to meet everybody. I'm always like trying to help people. you want to like, you know, when you when you talk to somebody, you want to grab something that they're talking about and have a commonality. And um one of the tribal members had said to me, um, you know, they lived in Ledger, which is a town, and I said, "Oh, my wife is a teacher at Ledger High School." And, um, I I was like, "You know, what's your son's name?" It's like, "I don't want to tell you my like." He got very defensive.

[4:51]  Didn't want to tell me his son's name. thought was very protective and uh definitely raised an eyebrow for me to understand um not just the people who uh worked for me but who I worked for and working for the tribe and understanding the journey that they were on and how protective they were and um and just uh gave me a good foothold into how to uh navigate.

[5:14]  I love that man. But then you go into uh you going from the casino world to public service. or is there that what am I doing moment or did it just feel like this is just a natural next play that I should be on? Yeah, you know, it's funny. Um the the you know, I was on uh Grten Town Council for seven years and mayor for two years and that was concurrent to um when I was working at the casino. So they're, you know, you don't get paid for them. They're you're you're you're serving your community.

[5:42]  And um uh it was funny, a friend of mine, you know, back in probably 98 or something, maybe in the 2000 early 2000s, said to me, "Oh, we'd love for you to run for town council. Do you want to run for town council?" I'm like, "Sure." Like, "What do I need to do?" And uh they're like, "Well, I just need to be a Republican." and uh you know at the at the at the level of that I was at at um you know I was a Democrat and um at the local level in 2003 not a big deal. So I I went and and uh and changed to a Republican run ran for that uh lost the first election lost the second election and then when somebody got off the council I got in and replaced them and then was on for

[6:30]  seven years and became mayor. and um understanding that whole not political world but the local government world like the town government. Uh crazy like you think that you know there's there's things that move slow um you know in in like your regular work world you want things to be fast-paced things are very difficult to get done um in local government. But we we did our we did our thing and we we made some changes and you know tried to keep cost down and um while maintaining the respect for um you know social services and that kind of thing. Love it. And then now you're you're doing work with the chamber or you you know right just kind of journey was. So how bad was it when you walked into the chamber for the first time? Yeah. So um

[7:18]  uh just to catch up on I was um with the Foxwoods. I had worked all during COVID in 2020 and uh you know they tried to do shows where there was um like uh five seats between people in order to have shows and it just they weren't making they just weren't it wasn't working and so they ended up furlowing me in December of 2020. Um, and I was already the chairman of the board for the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce. And seven days before I um was furoughed, the president of the chamber resigned.

[7:56]  And um and so when I was furoughed, I was just kind of going to the office of the chamber and doing stuff and seeking a replacement for for her. And as it turns out, you know, as I was doing it, was having these conversations with my wife about um working for the tribe, how great it's been, but don't really know what my exit strategy is going to be.

[8:21]  Don't know what my shelf life is. You know, you know, right now I'm 60, so I was 55, 56 back then. And um and took decided to take a a substantial pay cut and work for our community. So, I um ended up coming into the into the chamber. Um it was it was a little bit of a mess at the time um financially and just from a personnel standpoint and um came in and uh it's been it's been great. Very very fulfilling. A lot has happened. We've done a lot of crazy things um and great things. Um, but the decision to do that was me wanting to, you know, leave the casino and come into local. I live a mile from town. My office is right in Mystic now. And, um,

[9:11]  having had that background of the town council and the mayor and having the been at the casino was a good background to to serve me as I came into this position. And then you put together five things to do in Mystic, which is totally knocking out of the park. What was the light bulb moment that really sparked that idea?

[9:31]  Yeah. Um, so one of the things that we're trying to do, and I think that people in the chamber world sometimes lose sight of is that it shouldn't be uh what can you do for me? Really, we should be what can we do for you? And we're we when I came in, we decided to to like what I call nickel and diamonding the the the members like, you know, it's 20 bucks to be in the newsletter. It's so and so to be in a social post. It's this much to be on our website. I wanted to eliminate all that.

[10:00]  I like it's really hard. I've learned it's really really hard to own a small business um and get that going and just didn't want to be a bear. And so we're trying to figure out these ways that we can be of benefit to our members. And we were kind of throwing the the first thing that we did was a show called Mystic Matters which used to be a closed circuit TV like local access cable like Wayne's World and um Yeah. Yeah. Good show. Yeah. It was just it was just too long you know the the segments were too long. this they were too long and so we ended up hooking up with a um a video company and doing a new Mystic Matters and we did like seven episodes where uh not me but my membership manager at the time was the host this and she would go into businesses. So there's a very uh well-known um bakery here called Sift.

[10:48]  Um Adam Young won best um best baker in America on the Food Channel and he's run a very successful business. So, we did an episode with him where they made something together and we did like seven episodes and they just there was something wrong with them in that people weren't engaging with them. They weren't watching them. They were too long, whatever. So, we were talking about it and saying like, "What can we do to um promote membership and promote the events down here?" And we like, "Oh, how about five things to do in Mystic?" So, we um the the key to it was finding a videographer who would help us really quality, well produced stuff. and the price would be right. And it was good for him because he got exposed to all these businesses that may need video help. Um, and so we started doing it and we started it in August of

[11:39]  um August of 23, I think it was. And um and we and and people started watching them, you know, we put it on we put it on Facebook and on Instagram and they'd get, you know, 3,000 views, 6,000 views. Um and then uh and we always we always boosted it. Just 25 bucks. We boosted it. And um and then we found a sponsor um who would who were it was presented by and that was that was uh great that they believed in us.

[12:10]  That was in November. And as the videos started going, they started building. And so we're getting uh 25 to 65,000 views a weekend. We we um we film them every Monday or Tuesday. We put them out Wednesday night or Thursday. And uh it's great because um you know, we'll be out like two Fridays ago, we were at a restaurant in Mystic and this guy came up to me. I was with my wife and my daughter and a couple of their friends and he's like, "You're Bruce Flax, right?" And I'm like, "Yeah." He's like, "Five things." I'm like, "Yep." He goes, "I'm here tonight because I saw your five things and we came." I'm like, and of course I get the eye roll from my family because, you know, with the five kids, I'm like, "I'm a social influencer." And they're like, "Okay, sure. Sure you are. Sure you are." I know my wife hates it.

[12:55]  Everywhere we go, she's like, "You just know everybody." I'm like, "That's not my fault." Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. So, we're out and usually a couple of times a week, um, we have people say it to me. And what I love about it is, you know, I always say it's five things. Um, you know, driven by Joshua's Worldwide, which is a sponsor, and they always say it back to me. So, like that it resonates with people. They know it. Um, they tell me that they it's something that they um like people who own Airbnbs share it with the people who are coming in that weekend. I have people who say to me, we look at it every weekend to see what's going on in Mystic. and um and we try to be diverse and uh do different things and um and we've had people say that it's it's it's been very effective in in in building their uh audience and the people who come to

[13:43]  their event. So, it's been really fun. Um so good and we haven't missed a week in probably a year and a half. So, staying consistent. Yeah, you got something, man. And especially when you start to hear your people around like, hey, it's working. I mean, if it's working, why not do it, right? And it's I'm pretty sure it's fun. It sounds like it's something fun as well because you're promoting businesses. You're getting, you know, opportunities back to those business owners in the communities. Like, how cool is that? I I really think that some people should adopt this. I mean, there's people, and you can correct me if I'm wrong here.

[14:13]  I'm pretty sure you've experienced this. There's chambers out there that are still running like a Rotary Club in the 90s, right? Why do you think? Um, I think it's that old school mentality like why don't change it. That's the way we've always done it. And um that's kind of what we faced when I got here um was hey I know what works for Mystic and what doesn't. So we're good. Um and it's such a it's such a limiting way to think. Um you know it uh the success we've had definitely goes handinhand with the social and I think a lot of chambers don't have the financial wherewithal to be able to do a lot know a lot of different things. You have your events, you have you know membership. Um we we had a a uh you like a W9 like a contracted uh person to do our social

[15:00]  and she's been amazing like uh we have a great relationship. She's single-handedly um we've learned together and her knowledge and what she does and when she does it um have increased our so like the success that we've seen has come from the success of our social and how we built it. And there's many chambers even in our area um that we're friends with and competitive with who don't have like may have a great Facebook but their Instagram they never really developed and um and you we you really need both.

[15:31]  And so to your question about um you know why does some chambers not engage? I think that they're just stuck in the past and they don't they don't have the I'll say guts. Let's just say guts to go and and try to do some of the other things. Hey, real quick. If you enjoying the podcast, we first want to say thank you. And we also just want to give you a little insight of what we're up to at Francis. Some don't even realize that we're working with organizations to help them use AI to create that real human communication experiences. Whe that's actually supporting your your families, those patients or the entire community. We're actually creating tech that connects.

[16:11]  Check it out. Francis.ai. Love it. And and other things we can also kind of bring in AI into this topic. There's a you're talking about being behind now we have AI that has really kind of changed a lot of the organizations. Um hell, it's changed the healthcare. It changed you know that space that has been the same for a very long time. Are you guys also working on AI and if so what are you guys doing to um utilize AI within the uh Yeah, so we are um in our office we all use it um to write stuff. So it's just and it sounds so simple and many people may know but you can go in there and just give it a little background and um and say I need a letter to you know to send to the town for blah blah blah and it comes back and it asks you if it's okay. So that that saves a lot of

[16:58]  time. Like we do um one of the programs we do is community proud and we interview our membership manager interviews somebody each week and humanizes the businesses and those have been very successful. But she takes all the notes, writes up something and then runs it through AI to just get um to make sure it's it's it's as as good as we can get it. Um and then what we're working on right now is that benefit to members. So we are um I had uh been a part of a a program in November where I was at a um a you know chamber executives meeting and uh had this presentation from a guy up in um Vermont who did AI and here's the thing like from a membership standpoint we want to do things that's a benefit to them and

[17:47]  having somebody come and tell you how to use AI and give you this whole checklist of things to do to bring back to your office and do they're never going to do, right? We both know that like you get those things and it goes through steps like you don't have time to pick that piece of paper back up again. So, we're going to announce uh we're going to have uh an AI with this guy and we're going to tell you first of all, it's like going to be like 25 bucks for members and we're going to say bring your laptop with you and when you leave you'll be you'll be better set for AI than when you came. So, it's it's uh to me it's respecting the the the members and the businesses to the limited time that they have and say come here and you're going to leave with your you know chat PT knowing more about you and being able to serve you better after the three

[18:36]  hours is done. And uh and so that's and and and I think it's a really to me it's a really important point because everybody they have no time, you know, they just don't have time. The the day is too much. And so if you're going to h and if you're going to ask somebody for three hours of their time, it needs to be worthwhile. And um and that's what we're trying to do. And Bruce, when it comes to AI and what automation is really doing to save time, like man, when I tell you I was busy this past weekend, um it's because I was building automation systems. You know, you talk about G GPT, Chad GPT, right? I now got to the point that I can drop a video in my Google box and automatically it's giving me the post for LinkedIn and Instagram hashtags, captions.

[19:20]  Unbelievable. Yeah. Yeah. Within minutes, you know. So, when you talk about why are we not, you know, adapting to it, I really feel that we're we're being a place where AI won't take your job, but someone using AI probably will. That's a great point because it's a tool in your toolbox. It's not a replacement and I think so many people are hesitant for it because they think that you know robot we've been using AI text predictive for a very long time. AI has been a thing we weren't just calling it that. So I love what how you guys are kind of implementing it. It's not just about how the organization is using it as in the chamber but how others in the community can also start to adapt these tools to bit better be efficient right businesses better. So I like that. Do you have any advice actually that you can give to another chamber leader who actually think tech is too complicated or too corporate for them? Oh yeah. I I gotta tell you that that kind of

[20:09]  thinking is so limiting limit limiting um and you're you're just gonna like you're going to lose the race like you're not even be competitive in the race that um the the it is changing so much but um um to not embrace it and to say like hey you know the newsletter that we print and mail or whatever they do is what we what works.

[20:37]  um is yeah, you're going to lose the race. Please, you gota and and I think also it's surrounding yourself with people who don't think like you. You know that it's it's certainly important in a leadership role to have support of people who um you know don't may may have a different opinion than you and may may um and and also that you need to be open-minded to. So when they when somebody new starts, we just had a new um event person start and he's amazing like and he's you know he brings a whole set of he's an artist and um he's photographer he knows social um and you know I say to my the person who does our social like if you're worried don't like we're a team and we're gonna we're going

[21:26]  to help each other. So, um because I think that in in in those small organizations sometimes there can be um I think lack of a better word like paranoia about what people do and somebody might might come in and do it better and um you know the the main thing is to is to have an open mind. So with that with that technology and AI you have to you have to embrace it. I mean go show it to your leadership man.

[21:53]  your leadership of I want to hire those that are just better in better than me in certain areas, right? You have to you can't control everything. You got to go find the right person. I always like to take it back to dating. Find that, you know, you're going to go through a couple of them before you actually find that that good social media person. You know, I'm pretty sure it wasn't the first one that you just adapted of like, oh, this is great. It might have taken two or three of them. And a lot of people I think when they fail once or when they get that bad first bad one they just don't want to do it again and continue to take that risk you know until you find that one. Um you've also said before that I want to talk about I just wanted to help people. Yeah. Where do you think that actually comes from?

[22:30]  Like is this something that just you grew up in or you know life led you to that point? Yeah. Um that's a great question. I'm not sure I know completely. Um, you'd like to think you have a good soul, you know, and you want to you want to be helping. I think also having uh all the kids that I had, like having five kids and um navigating their worlds are all different and um just um wanting uh them to be happy and do well and, you know, not worry. Um probably definitely helps a lot. And you also just want to want to please and want to um you know make things like I'm always trying to for better or for worse like trying to make those connections with people so

[23:18]  that when you're finding out about something or they say something you're like oh let me did you know this let me help you with that or um so I don't know what the the genesis of it was. Um you know back in uh back in high school I uh was on crutches like a lot. I had like 13 knee operations and um you know got got not bullied but bullied a little bit like picked on because I was on crutches and stuff and um that probably made me a better person coming out of it and um you know seeing what other people go through and having a soft spot um firstand yeah you know and my I think um we've passed it on to our children who are um they do they they feel the same way you know my I think I told you my daughter works for DCF Um and another of

[24:06]  my daughters works for um Special Olympics Texas and um just carried that on. So um I probably my wife has more to do to it than I, but we're together. We're a good team and and um we're very fortunate. Bruce, I want to talk about your family for a second. The adoption journey. Yeah. What led you and your wife to say yes to that? I believe, you know, when you when we just asked that first question on um wanting to help people, to me, being an adoptee myself, I've always looked at it as a second chance in life, especially that there were so many blessings from that, right?

[24:39]  Being the leader that you are, I can only imagine your kids are just really taken in because you don't a leader doesn't stop when you walk in the door at home, right? You're always a leader and you show that to your kids, even those that you um now have taken in. Like where did that come from? Like what led you to that? Yeah. Um it it's a bit of a journey like um my wife has been a high school math teacher in Ledger, the town next door to ours. Um for 30 years now. And uh boy, you know, 12 years ago or so, she came and she's like, she calls me flax. She's like, "Flax." I've been like, there's something like in my head, like at the top of my head, I I see these kids in high school and who don't have um a parent at home and if they just had a parent um you know, things would be so much better for them. And

[25:26]  you know, we seem to be doing pretty well with our with our family. Like maybe there's an opportunity for us to uh you know, adopt. And so we ended up going to a a presentation and we took everybody. So the kids were uh jeez they were um five to 15 maybe 5 to 14 even less than that 7 to 14 and uh and we all went to this meeting and so we we heard about it and then we decided to go through the licensing and um so uh we went to uh there was a there was a class you had to go eight straight Wednesdays so we did that um and Uh, and then once you get once you get licensed, um, you, uh, they

[26:15]  do what's called pairing. So, when there's a social worker in the state of Connecticut who has a child that's ready to be adopted, they go out to all the other social workers and say, "Hey, here's the profile of the child. Who do you have that would make it be a good fit?" Because when you when you do all that paperwork and stuff and you're looking at it, you can kind of say what you want. We'd like anybody. We, you know, we don't want an infant. prefer two years old or you know we don't want somebody who's been drug dependent or had this kind you know you kind of kind of lay it out for what you think is best for your family. Um and so we did that and we went through several pairings where we did not get a child and then um one day they called us with um Damon who's our uh he's 15 and said you know here's who he is here's where he's at.

[27:01]  we think it's a great fit and we agreed and then the um social worker in charge said we were the one. So it was it's a it's really crazy journey because first off for the people out there listening um they need adoptive families, they need foster families. Um there's a big need right here in the United States and in in the state of Connecticut. Um and it's uh it it's amazing what it will do for you. you know, how it's um molded our family dynamic. You know, my oldest daughter works for Department of Child and Family, and that came, you know, she was um she did her thesis at um in the honors college at at Southern on, uh the impact of a mixed race kid in an all-white family, um which is was our

[27:49]  situation. Um and um and so it just, you know, it it it has it it changed everybody for the better. Yeah. Um but it's been Yeah. I I would ask you, is there anything that most people don't really understand about adoption that they should that maybe you've learned that you didn't know? Um yeah, I want to say like it's not a it's not a a sales pitch in any respect, but it it's actually against it, but it it changes things, you know. It's um I didn't realize the impact um in the 10 11 years or so and and it's and it's you know ultimately it continues to make me a better person. Um it uh it it's it's life-changing for the child. Um as you

[28:36]  know like it just you know coming into a family or into a home um and being welcomed is um you know a lifecher um and you know you you realize that if if you didn't and um you know they ended up staying where they were that they would have a different life. Um, but they also come with, you know, you never know what's behind the eyes, you know, and what's in the head. And, um, you have to, you have to, um, evolve like I've evolved. We've all evolved with it because, um, he has he has his challenges. He's a great kid. Um, there's a lot of love at our house. Um, but again, makes you it just it's a journey and so it definitely isn't boring. Um and uh and it can be

[29:25]  aggravating at times, but ultimately at the end it's it's um it's the greatest. I appreciate you sharing that. For me, I I was um I was already when I was adopted, I was adopted by my aunt that I now call mom and she had four kids of her own and you know, kind of my my biological mom had 10 kids, but my she kept none of them. And not that she didn't want them, you know, life wherever she was in life, they were just taking her kids away. But uh my aunt decided she was going to take three of us in, you know, and I I always just give her her flowers, right? Because it's not something that she had to do and it's something that she did out of pure love and and just wanting to do better. And in your situation, the same, you know, it's it's not something that you had to do, but out of pure love and wanting to do better in the world, you

[30:13]  you made that decision. Your family made the decision. So, just kind of thank you, you know, from from those that may be listening that hear this story, you know, an adope like myself and and realizing that there is an issue when it comes to adoption. There's so many kids that just kind of never get that opportunity and then age out and I mean, I know a woman now that doesn't really have family. So, what happens when Thanksgiving comes around, you know, and she doesn't have a a brother or a mom or sister and she's just trying to find someone, right? You've kind of helping that. So, I appreciate you. Yeah. No, I I appreciate the kind words. I I think that um the um there's so many people like you just don't people don't realize what's behind people. Meaning that you see somebody in the street or you're

[31:00]  walking down the street and maybe they're having a bad day or you're having a bad day and just realize that like what like there's so much that people don't see and there's so many blocks of problems and trouble that people go through that have to navigate every day just like we do. But sometimes it's it's um magnified many more times than what we are. And um you just got to be um respectful and and sympathetic at times and just don't always assume the worst, you know. Correct. Correct. Yeah, that's it. Just have empathy um you know with people as well. But I love it, man.

[31:39]  We could definitely go down this road even longer. But Bruce, I also want to talk about just your mindset and and what you've kind of brought into um what you're doing on a day-to-day. you treat it like a business and most people would look at you like why. Do you have a reason of why you look at this and treating it like a business? Yeah, I think that um like in that nonprofit world um you lose sight sometimes that it's a business and you're always in the cycles to try to, you know, raise money and um and uh and try to figure out how it's going to, you know, just how you're going to get from day to day. And I think that like um to look at it more as a business and trying to figure out um I think those get you some um like outside values that you're you know you look at

[32:28]  um you just try to think of it in a bigger picture um and like what how a business runs and how they become successful and being able to apply that to the chamber or your nonprofit and and um because I think that people think that the nonprofit is a is a separate it's not a business, but it really is, you know. It truly is.

[32:51]  It really is. There's a there's a budget and a profit and loss and and you're trying to u figure things out. We're a 501c6, not a C3. So, we're allowed to make money, you know, to be able to continue to help ourselves, but we're still aorg in in our website. um and uh helping to understand um the business side of things and make sure that you're focused on business-like things. I think even like you know treating your members as customers as a business way to think about things. Um so all those things kind of did kind of contribute. So good.

[33:28]  What what do you see um Mystic in the next 10 years? like what is your hope that Mystics is is doing once you maybe decide, you know what, I'm really hanging it up. What are you leaving behind? Yeah, I um so I think that um first off that it depends on who you are is in terms of what you want for Mystic. So, you know, if you're um if you're a person who lives close to town, you're like, "Okay, we may have had enough." And if you're a business owner, you're like, "It's never enough."

[34:00]  Um, and if you're a town leader, you know, economic development, you have to keep that on the forefront. So, when I first uh took over the chamber, it was right after COVID. Um, and Mystic was in an okay place. Wasn't unbelievable. It was okay place. Um, during COVID, uh, it became more popular because, um, Mystic is an, you know, has a kind of an outdoor component to it. the bridge downtown, the shops, you could, you know, walk around, walk around the water, um, be safe and, um, and if you want to go into a store, you just throw a mask on or whatever, go in. And so we saw that happen where people were coming. And then we saw Mystic um, we ended up getting uh, becoming well known for our food because we had two James

[34:50]  Beard uh, finalists. We had a James Beard award winner last year. We have a James Beard nominee this year. And when when um David Stand from Shipwright's Daughter won the um best chef in the Northeast, it it just continued to push us into an area where people were coming for our food. We have some great restaurants here who are known for our food now and now they're coming for that. And so that happened and we're seeing a number uh there was a there was a Hallmark movie called Mr. Christmas which put us on the map as well. You know, Mystic Pizza is 20 whatever 30 years old now. Um that's cool. And uh and so all those things kind of and the chamber I think the chamber really helped um get the word out about Mystic and our social gets out there. And so um that's helped um to the point where it's

[35:41]  going very very well. But the economy is not looking great. We're not sure where it's going to go. Some of the store owners had you know had tough January, February. So you I to me you can't you can't ever take the foot off the gas. So, in 10 years, um, I think it's going to I think it's going to continue to grow and evolve and maybe it won't be the food, but it might be something else or, you know, it might go in waves. But I I anticipate we want my feeling is to not take your foot off the gas and continue to promote and and um and not take anything for granted that you have to. So, in 10 years, hopefully it's still thriving as it was today, maybe a little bit more. Um, and uh maybe they've answered the parking problem. Um and uh and continues to, you know, just be a place, a

[36:28]  destination that people can can take for a day or or for a week. And some may say that's you leaving a legacy. I believe legacy isn't just what you leave behind, though. It's what you build while you're still there. And I think that's kind of where you're at. But what does legacy actually mean to you if you know, everyone has a different meaning of what that actually is. How about yours? Yeah. Um, I'll be honest with you, I've never really thought about it. Um, you know, I had a legacy at the casino, um, because I was there for so long and, you know, did a lot of things. So, when I look back at like, um, how they how some of the things they operate and how the theater structured, I'm like, all right, I can go back there and be happy about that.

[37:07]  Um, for this, I think it's carrying on. To me, the legacy is not viewing mystic as mystic, but viewing it as a larger area. So, for those familiar with southeastern Connecticut, Mystic is it's just a um like a zip code with a personality and uh where if you're on one side of the bridge, you're in Graten. If you're on the other side of the bridge, you're in Stonington. And that was always the focus. And we've we've grown it with um with the development of a traveling visitor center. We have we've framed ourselves as um the Rhode Island border, MSquamaka Beach to Niantic. And what we're saying is is that Mystic is a number one tourist attraction in the state. So we want you to come for seven days instead of two days. And you can stay here, but

[37:55]  go to all, you know, there's there's great history in New London. And there's beach in New London. There's beach in Misquam. Get missing doesn't have a beach. And there's all kinds of other shopping and great restaurants and trails and activities to do um outside of, you know, just right in Mystic. And that's that's hopefully will be our legacy that we continue to grow the footprint of Mystic. So when you think of it, you don't just think of the bridge, but you think of something larger. I'll tell you what, I I didn't know about anything about Mystic, but as you're talking to me, I'm like, I have to tell my wife that we got to go and visit Mystic now. Like, I want to know everything that Bruce just mentioned for sure. And for those that are actually listening who aren't from Mystic, what's one reason they should go visit? I mean, you kind of mentioned some. Or maybe people should model what you're doing in their town. What are some of those things? Well, the reason to come visit is uh it it's just a very picturesque, beautiful place, very quaint. Um we are

[38:44]  on the water and uh and there's so much to do within, you know, a 15 15 mile 15 minute, 20-minut drive. Um and so, uh like there is the food, there are two worldass casinos 10 miles from us, no Foxwood and Moheaggan Sun. there are um the beaches to go to um and a lot of history and hiking and trails. So, it's uh and I think the beauty of it is is that we're equidistant between Boston and New York City. So, we're an hour and a half from either one and we're we're accessible by Amtrak as a stop in Mystic for Amtrak. So, it's easy to get to. Um you know, just looking uh if you pop on like our website or whatever and just look around, there's so much to do. Um, so it's a it's a great place to visit

[39:32]  and there's a lot to do and you we'd like to we'd like to host you. What is the uh the website? What is the website? What is the social? Where can people stay connected to find more? Yeah, thank you for asking. It's mysticchamber.org. Um, and then our social is umchamber um and uh and you can you can see we also have an app that was another thing that we did that was you know people don't see. We have something called the Go Mystic app. Again, providing benefit to our members. So, we don't charge them for being on it, but we've kind of taken the website and moved it onto an app. It's an amazing app. Um, we bought it from it's called App My Community, and they um it's it's it's very simple. You can get it in either the um you know, the the Apple Store or Google Play. Um and uh it's says eat, shop, play, stay, work, live,

[40:22]  and you go into each one and it breaks it out. We've had uh you know the your app is only as good as the downloads and we've gotten 5,000 downloads a year. Um so we have over 15,000 downloads and uh it's a great piece to fit in with the with the membership and people coming. I like that. Man, I um we could talk for forever because I would love to know more about Mystic. We got to start wrapping things up, but I got this blind question for you. At the end of every uh podcast interview, we always ask that blind question and this one is kind of specified. I kind of mix it in because the last leader told me to talk about our 25-year-old self. So, I was like, "Okay, I want to ask Bruce something. If you could actually give go back to the casino floor, give yourself 25 year old self some piece of advice, but you had

[41:11]  to whisper in the middle of a busy casino floor. What would you say?" Okay. um my 25-year-old self and advice I would say to be bolder than you are to whatever whatever cap you've put on yourself limit you've put on yourself exceed it don't limit yourself don't think that you've um that you found your sweet spot always be uh you know ready to kind of blast off and grow. Don't let yourself be limited. Don't think you've ever made it.

[41:46]  This has been so good. And what is your question? All right. My question is I have to read it because uh Oh, it's it's um if if someone saw your daily routine, what is one thing that might surprise them? I like that one. I like that. That's a good one right there, man. Well, Bruce, we truly do appreciate your time, man, and what you've been doing at Mystic. I think it's phenomenal. I think it's always cool when I see someone transition to something they never expected, but they're doing so well. I think it's purpose, right? Life led you to where you're at today and you're doing some amazing things. And I can only imagine, Bruce, by the who you are and what I'm hearing that you're not done. No, no, no, no time soon, you know. So, but we thank you so much for giving your time here on the Heart and Hustle podcast. And we can't wait to myself at least visit Mystic. I got to

[42:34]  see what's there. I'm calling you Bruce. I need to know the best of the best. We thank you so much, Bruce, for being here. This has been the hard podcast. Yeah. Thank you for having me and giving this ring. I've really enjoyed it.