John White, MBA

7 years ago · 2 min. reading time · 0 ·

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Where I Really Earned My MBA (a Denny's on The "Shady" Side of Town)

Where I Really Earned My MBA (a Denny's on The "Shady" Side of Town)

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Don't let me kid you, Fort Collins is hardly a ghetto. It's a lovely university town that sits up next to the mountains and has a charming and vibrant downtown.

However, there is one area out by the interstate that has fallen into some bad hands. A few of the hotels out there got run down and instead of renting rooms to travelers like in the past, they began renting rooms to transients by the dozen. So naturally more of them came.

The area has become known for prostitution and drug trafficking. 

Yet, there I sat night after night at the 24-hour Dennys in a booth banging away on the keyboard doing my assignments for class, headphones in jamming to music and drinking coffee well past midnight. 

I never kept track of how many cups I had. I just always knew that it was an unhealthy amount.

So, why in the hell did I spend my time there?

I work from home and if I was going to work nearly 24-hours a day, I needed a change in scenery at night.

It was important for me to have dinner with my family every night and put the kids to bed. That meant I wasn't getting started on my work for my MBA until 8 p.m. 

That meant I needed a place that was open 24-hours. The trendier and hipper coffee shops in town closed at midnight. That wasn't late enough for me.

The food sucked but the service was exceptional. The entire staff got to know me and I was always treated with a very personal touch. I don't know if my coffee keep was ever empty.

I enjoyed the conversations I had with them. Many of them opened up to me about their problems in life. Some of them had abusive boyfriends they wanted to figure out how to get away from, others had drug problems, and other broken dreams that led them to working the night shift at Dennys. 

I offered them a sympathetic ear and advice when I could summon it.

I especially hit it off with the manager. We became friends and I would go outside with him sometimes on his smoke breaks. Even though I don't smoke.

Then one night he sat down in the booth with me. He had tears in his eyes. He told me that seeing me come in night after night and work towards my MBA and the conversations with me had inspired him to quit meth and go back for his GED to complete high school. 

That next week he moved out of the hotel and away from his heroin and meth dealing roommates into a halfway house that was going to help him get clean and finish high school.

I gave him a big hug on his last night at Denny's and told him how proud of him I was.

Two months later, I graduated.

Academia took me to some unexpected places, none more so than a run down Dennys on the shady side of town. While I don't go to Denny's anymore, I will be forever grateful that it was part of my journey.


#Denny #Dennys #Town #MBA #Fort Collins
Comments

John White, MBA

7 years ago #25

#79
Thank you, Robert Tucker!

Katyan Roach

7 years ago #24

I loved this article John White, MBA. It was one of the first things I'd read from you and it still resonates with me

Prakashan B.V

7 years ago #23

John White, MBA..As usual great inspiring article....Keep posting John...I know more is on the way.

John White, MBA

7 years ago #22

#61
You see, now that's some clean living. I don't even know how to spell that stuff! LOL

Jim Murray

7 years ago #21

Great story John. I have a place called the Flying Pony where I go for coffee and have written a lot of my posts there. You're right about a change of scenery. It can make a lot of difference. (BTW heroine- extra e, Damn autocorrect).

Randy Keho

7 years ago #20

#45
I was in that building once, but I can't for the life of me remember why? It must have been a meeting of some kind. It appeared quite rundown. I remember thinking, "This is Roosevelt University?" However, it was probably quite majestic when you were there. Was there an underground stable for the horses?

John White, MBA

7 years ago #19

#40
Kenneth Smith: you made my day, man! Thanks so much!

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #18

#42
Well, Randy, it is a small world. I did my undergraduate degree at Roosevelt Univ myself. Although at the original campus on Michigan Avenue, when it was housed in the Sullivan Auditoriam Hotel --- and not from prison. My only contact with prisons was visiting a couple of old high school friends. They were framed, of course,

Randy Keho

7 years ago #17

I taught part-time at a state prison while working toward my master's degree. I certainly learned a lot more from my student-inmates than they did from me. The prison's "King Pin" took all my classes, in addition to earning a degree through Roosevelt University in Chicago through correspondence. There was no internet back then, just old-fashioned typewriters. Ironically, he was serving a life sentence without parole for murdering a prison guard during a riot years before. He would never again be free, but he relentlessly pursued an education.

John White, MBA

7 years ago #16

Thank you to everyone for the amazing comments. I believe it was Jared Wiese who recently said that one of beBee's biggest strengths is the depth of the commenting by the users. Clearly, that shows here on this post and so many others that I read. CC: Javier beBee

don kerr

7 years ago #15

Good lessons here John White, MBA

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #14

Kudos to you John. All of your hard work, dedication and perseverance has really paid off. You set a fine example as a role model 😇👍

Pascal Derrien

7 years ago #13

Funny I was thinking MBAs were useless now I have changed my mind :-)

Harvey Lloyd

7 years ago #12

Although knowledge is powerful and diplomas a sign of accomplishment, sharing a journey with others is the greatest teacher. Sometimes in our diligence we can't even see that we are serving others. Great revelation @John White

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #11

Yet another layer of yourself you shared with us John White, MBA. I had tears when I read the man went to a half way house after being inspired by you. I'm going to bet you more than inspired him, he sensed you cared deeply. It's strange, some people need complete silence when they read or study, others thrive when there is noise or commotion. I am the latter and always wondered why and how I did it. What a great story to share with your children some day, it will allow them to understand that anything is possible. My favorite Denny's was at a Rest Stop on our way to Rochester NY off of I-90. I once went to one in Phoenix when I was there for personal business and didn't eat all day. It was 10pm at night and there was a Dennys next to my hotel. The hotel clerk said it was safe. I went there by myself and it was full of gangsta type 18-20 some year olds. They had a guard which I didn't notice until I left. I asked him if he would walk me back to my hotel parking lot, he did. Kudos to you for mastering your studies at Dennys!!

John White, MBA

7 years ago #10

#8
Vincent Andrew: sometimes all people need is have someone listen to them.

Dean Owen

7 years ago #9

#6
"Famiresu" (ファミレス - short for Family Restaurants) are huge in Japan because of the culture of not wanting your kids to be a burden to other diners, but if everyone in the restaurant has kids, no problem! But certainly not a place to hunk around a computer studying for an MBA. All the waitresses will be constantly interrupting in unison with their "Irashaimase!". Certainly not a place "where everybody knows your name"....

John White, MBA

7 years ago #8

CC: Milos Djukic

John White, MBA

7 years ago #7

#2
Phil, exactly, this Denny's had comfortable booths, lots of outlets, and decent wifi as I was usually the only one on it as I was the only one there to study in the business users stay on the other side of town

John White, MBA

7 years ago #6

#3
they used to let me sit in a closed section of the restaurant.

John White, MBA

7 years ago #5

#1
thanks for the read and shares, .

John White, MBA

7 years ago #4

#3
wow, who knew so many in Japan?

Dean Owen

7 years ago #3

Denny's! I can't imagine studying in a Denny's, but the Denny's I used to frequent a lot in Japan with my eldest daughter years ago was a Denny's in Japan, certainly not a place for peace and quiet and soul bearing staff. In Japan, Denny's are a fun family restaurant, loads of kids. Can you imagine trying to study for an MBA here? http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/08/18/a-gourmet-family-restaurant-six-reasons-why-you-should-go-to-a-dennys-in-japan/ According to wiki, there are 578 Denny's in Japan, second only to the US.

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #2

Fascinating post, John. I work a lot away from home, so I keep a mental list of the best restaurants to use as an office away from the office. Usually, self-service joints where it doesn't matter to a waiter or waitress if you sit for hours with a single $4.75 mug of coffee. Places with comfortable booths and accessible electrical connections. Nowadays my Microsoft Windows 10 Surface shares my cellular account, so I don't even need WiFi. I tried libraries, but they are too quiet and stifling. And FedEx "office" locations don't have coffee or lunch or snacks. And every so often, as you know, working in restaurants brings you into contact with some memorable characters. Thanks for sharing this one. And cheers!

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #1

That's a great story, John. In this case the end result justified the means and you also helped people along the way. Very inspirational and admirable! 👍😇🐝✌️️

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