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Robert Irvine does not do \u201csmall.\u201d He is a celebrity chef, British Royal Navy veteran, bestselling author, relentless road warrior and the driving force behind the Robert Irvine Foundation<\/a>, which supports service members, veterans, first responders and their families. His latest project is a six\u2011month national tour with rock band O.A.R.<\/a>, using their 30th anniversary tour to raise money and awareness for veterans with special donation activations at every stop. <\/p>\n Last time I chatted with Robert, it was live on stage at a How Success Happens recording in New York City last summer. It was great to reconnect and dig even deeper into what he\u2019s learned about maintaining energy, strong leadership and building impact that actually lasts. And also, how to get by on almost no sleep.<\/p>\n Dan Bova: You just rattled off a day that includes a call with me, a White House economic call, a CT of your hips, then a flight to the Red Sox. How do you maintain the energy to do all these things and stay focused?<\/strong> So you\u2019re like a lion that eats a gazelle and then sleeps for a week.<\/strong> Tell me about this partnership with O.A.R. How did it come about and what can people expect?<\/strong> Photo credit: The Robert Irvine Foundation<\/em><\/p>\n What are some of the special things you have planned for the tour?<\/strong> Anyone who knows you knows this passion for the military has been going on for decades. Is there a success story or a moment where you saw the direct work of your foundation affecting someone\u2019s life?<\/strong> With Dinner: Impossible<\/em> and everything you do, you don\u2019t do things small or easy. What\u2019s behind that? What\u2019s the psychology there?<\/strong> For people who want to follow your lead, what are small things you suggest they can do to make an impact?<\/strong> Robert Irvine does not do \u201csmall.\u201d He is a celebrity chef, British Royal Navy veteran, bestselling author, relentless road warrior and the driving force behind the Robert Irvine Foundation<\/a>, which supports service members, veterans, first responders and their families. His latest project is a six\u2011month national tour with rock band O.A.R.<\/a>, using their 30th anniversary tour to raise money and awareness for veterans with special donation activations at every stop. <\/p>\n Last time I chatted with Robert, it was live on stage at a How Success Happens recording in New York City last summer. It was great to reconnect and dig even deeper into what he\u2019s learned about maintaining energy, strong leadership and building impact that actually lasts. And also, how to get by on almost no sleep.<\/p>\n Dan Bova: You just rattled off a day that includes a call with me, a White House economic call, a CT of your hips, then a flight to the Red Sox. How do you maintain the energy to do all these things and stay focused?<\/strong>
Robert Irvine:<\/strong> To be honest, I do get tired, but I\u2019ve got a kind of a six\u2011week hard roll and then I need at least three days\u2019 sleep after those six weeks. So I kinda go on rolls. But that sleep doesn\u2019t necessarily happen at home because I\u2019m only home eleven, twelve days a year, on the road three hundred and forty\u2011five plus. So I try to take the flights or at least the days to sleep in late before I have an event or go to the gym or whatever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yeah, something like that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Well, I will tell you first and foremost, O.A.R.\u2019s Marc Roberge is on the board of our foundation and has been for the last couple of years. I met them by chance. Justin Leonard, who\u2019s my COO, is nuts about them. And I\u2019m not a big music guy. I\u2019m not. I didn\u2019t even know what the Backstreet Boys were. I\u2019m an ABBA, Celine Dion kind of guy! But I went to see a concert with them and was totally blown away by the music. And then we started traveling around the country to see their shows because we became friends. For our Beats \u2018N Eats<\/a> event in Philadelphia every year, which is our biggest foundation fundraiser, Marc would always help me find acts like Gavin DeGraw, Goo Goo Dolls, just some amazing people. They were doing so much for me that I wanted to do something for them. I said, \u2018Hey, wouldn\u2019t it be great, your thirtieth anniversary, if we just sponsored a tour?\u2019 So we\u2019re wrapping two tour buses with the foundation. We\u2019re raising money and hosting veterans at every show of the forty\u2011one shows coming up. It\u2019s really exciting for me.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a sweepstakes where you get a chance to have a dinner with me and the band on November 12 in Tampa, which is kind of the end of the run. One winner and a guest, airfare, hotel room included, plus a $250 credit for food. It\u2019ll be a great meal with me and the guys.<\/p>\n
I see it every day. I\u2019m now in the middle of 23 years of work. I changed legislation for the Army with the Army team last year on feeding. We\u2019ve just opened our sixth dining facility. We are changing the way the Army feeds, purchases food, and keeps guys fit. We now have another twenty RFPs for new bases that I\u2019ve helped design, not only the menu but also the actual facilities. You can see the results. Soldiers are voting with their feet. Zero people used to go there. After a $4 million renovation, now seven thousand a day. We\u2019ve got an executive chef in each location, a nutritionist, and technology just like we would use in restaurants. When you walk in and use your smartphone or self\u2011ordering platforms, within minutes they\u2019re cooking the food to order. People say to me, \u201cIt can\u2019t be done.\u201d I\u2019m like, \u201cWhatever dude.\u201d I\u2019m gonna prove it can. And we did.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a fix\u2011it guy. I\u2019m interested in how the system works, why it\u2019s broken, and how we can fix it\u2014not only better for the employees or associates, but also the end user, whether it be Walmart and the associates and customers or the Army feeding and the soldiers. There\u2019s always something broken, and I love the fix. The Army doesn\u2019t pay me. I do it for free. Well, they pay me a dollar. I\u2019ve never seen a dollar yet. But I do it because I truly believe we\u2019re making a difference.<\/p>\n
Look, you don\u2019t have to have money to make an impact. It means opening a car door, helping somebody across the road. If you see food going through the cash register and somebody pushes it to the side because it is too expensive and you can afford to pay for that food? Do so, because it may be for a child that\u2019s not being fed. And I see more of that. It\u2019s the working poor. It\u2019s not guys and girls living on the street. It\u2019s people working in offices in suits and ties. And it doesn\u2019t cost money to be nice. It doesn\u2019t cost money to listen. Or volunteer at your local Red Cross, dog shelter, St. Jude\u2019s \u2014 wherever you feel your heart takes you, follow it and give.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Robert Irvine:<\/strong> To be honest, I do get tired, but I\u2019ve got a kind of a six\u2011week hard roll and then I need at least three days\u2019 sleep after those six weeks. So I kinda go on rolls. But that sleep doesn\u2019t necessarily happen at home because I\u2019m only home eleven, twelve days a year, on the road three hundred and forty\u2011five plus. So I try to take the flights or at least the days to sleep in late before I have an event or go to the gym or whatever.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n