Beyond Data Management Podcast
The definitive podcast for government data management and stories from the field - with a special focus on Environment Health professionals.
Beyond Data Management Podcast
“The Cats Will Handle Our Rodent Problem” - A Health Inspector’s Life | Chase Boddicker ep 56
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Chase Boddicker never planned to be a health inspector. He trimmed trees and sprayed pesticides for Grand Junction Parks and Rec. His wife Kyla saw the Mesa County posting and said try it. Three years later he’s on the western slope talking food, air, and why the job is almost never the hammer people think it is.
Recorded live at the CEHA + WAFDO Mega Conference in Lakewood, Colorado.
In this episode:
Iowa cornfields to 1.5 million acres of public land on the western slope
Why “thank God you’re here” is the sentence that makes an inspector pay attention
Cat food in the kitchen — “obviously, to feed the cats” that were the pest-control plan
The operator closed on their very first routine inspection
The mobile unit that kept selling because “the freezer still works”
The guy who called every inspector an expletive… then roasted Chase for temping chicken wrong… then decided Chase was his favorite
Colorado’s certified nose: Nasal Ranger, opacity, burn bans
Advice for day-one inspectors: be curious, drop the acronyms, say “I don’t know”
Yellow gloves on the ready-to-eat line, and why humility in someone else’s kitchen matters
Why asking about the brisket is better enforcement than writing the ticket
“¿Cómo se dice?” and the Mesa County team behind him
Chase’s rule before he writes anything down: what are they trying to do?
Beyond Data Management — powered by HS GovTech.
Chapters
text0:00 Episode Preview
0:32 Opening
0:45 Live from the Colorado Mega Conference
1:26 Meet Chase Boddicker of Mesa County
2:52 From Tree Work to Environmental Health
3:52 A Wife’s Nudge Changes a Career
5:11 AFDO
6:07 From Iowa to Colorado
7:23 The Relational Side of Inspections
10:38 Cats as Pest Control
12:44 Memorable Inspection Stories
17:32 Air Quality and the Certified Nose
19:15 Advice for New Inspectors
21:13 Curiosity as a Career Advantage
24:17 Seizing Unexpected Opportunities
26:20 Humility and Respect Inside Kitchens
28:07 Education Over Enforcement
29:58 The Team Behind the Inspector
31:26 Closing Thoughts
Guest: Chase Boddicker, Mesa County Public Health, Colorado
AFDO Fresh Take Friday Webinar Series: https://AFDO.org/fresh-take-Fridays
Recorded at: CEHA and WAFDO Mega Conference, Lakewood, CO
Please remember to like and subscribe - and reach out to us with your stories and show ideas Beyond@hscloudsuite.com
The worst thing I've ever heard, right, is someone I show up, the immediate thing they say is, Oh, thank god you're here. You know, I once had somebody, um, they had like uh cat food in in the kitchen. I was like, Why was there cat food in here? And they said, Well, Chase, obviously it's to feed the cat and they will take care of our rodent problems. I had someone get close on the very first inspection they ever had. I got kept chicken wrong. It happens to me to, I didn't get quite to the middle of the meat's like, here a house inspector, you didn't get to the middle to get a temperature. How did you get this job?
SPEAKER_01I was like, This is the Beyond Data Management Podcast, powered by HSGov Tech. Now here's your host, Cameron Garrison.
SPEAKER_03Welcome back. Here's live from Denver. Technically in Lakewood, Colorado, but it's Denver, uh, here for the mega conference. Siha combined, which is Colorado Environmental Health Association combined with AFT WAFTO, not uh I left off the W. Uh WAFTO. So um seven, at least 12 for uh Western states and some provinces from Canada. Appreciate them inviting us and for beautiful, beautiful setup. Absolutely. So um Colorado has been I was actually looking at my flight history when we were coming in, and I've come about into Denver two or three times a year over the past few years, and um a lot of it going down to is it Cherry Creek, where the state is, and uh working with them. But you're from this is Chase Boderick from Mesa, right? Mesa County, Colorado. So for folks who aren't super familiar with the geography, roughly kind of where in Colorado uh are you?
SPEAKER_02So we are um the biggest out on the western slope. So we're equidistant from Salt Lake City to Denver. So if you head over I-70 and you keep going, you can't miss us. We're right off I-70. And so we're really kind of um the gateway into Utah and into uh I think parts of Wyoming as well. We just really kind of open up into the rest of the west. And then once you stop past us, it's uh not much um between you and Salt Lake City that you're gonna see as much of.
SPEAKER_03And that's a beautiful part of the country, and they had the west side of the Rockies.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely, absolutely. And what I think some folks, when they think of Colorado, they're just saying to themselves, oh God, look at the mountains, the Rocky Mountains are the premier thing to see. Well, in Mesa County, um, we have like 1.5 million acres of public land. Uh, we have the second highest concentration of arches outside of Arches National Park. It's very beautiful canyon country, and then just to the south of us is the San Juan Mountains, like your tell your rides, Ridgeway, your Ray, those really beautiful areas. So, you know, I've always I've always considered it the best kept secret in Colorado. I guess now that I'm on a podcast, I may not may not say the same, but you know, I still love it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, people um because there's a lot of people pass through, right? Because you're the gateway. Absolutely. Go through the Eisenhower tunnel and keep on trucking, and eventually you come through there. So, how long have you been with the county?
SPEAKER_02I've been with the county coming up on three years. So I started started in December of 2023 and um, yep, December of uh 2026. My math's correct there, it will be three years, and um, you know, it's a wild ride. Um, being a health inspector is so much different than I anticipated being, you know, in when you see it in the movies or TV, it's a lot more relational and really getting to know people as opposed to coming down with with uh the hammer, so to speak.
SPEAKER_03So were you at a health department before that, or was Mesa your first foray into this?
SPEAKER_02You know, you probably wouldn't believe it, but I used to trim trees uh and apply pesticides for the city of Grand Junction Parks and Rec department. So completely different background, knew nothing about retail food, it's just the way it was. And so I had that background of understanding rules and regulations because you know the EPA sets rules about applying pesticides, the label's the law, and so I went from that. They hired me here, they continue to keep me around, and so I I do health inspections and a few other things.
SPEAKER_03What made it dawn on you that you know what, maybe I can go uh see what environmental health's up to? Because I think, right? Because it's not very well publicized.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um, I don't, I don't care how cliche it sounds. It was, it was my lovely wife, Kyla, you know, really just uh backborn as backbone of support in my life. Absolutely. She saw the job come up. Um, saw I was looking around for something different, and she said, you know what, I think you'd be good at that. And I was like, should I even I don't even know anything about it? But she's like, no, go ahead, do it, see what, see what comes of it, and you may very well like it. And the first time I applied, you know, my skill set um was new, it was it was unique to them. So they're like, Oh, we'll keep you in mind and uh coming down the pipeline here, hopefully. And then came up again. I applied again, and the second time I'm assuming uh management decided, you know what, this is someone I want to see. He's consistently applying to this job, so there has to be something to it. And they met me. Uh another funny thing like you wore a suit. I was like, I thought you wore those interviews. I I don't know, maybe I'm old-fashioned that way. And they gave me an opportunity, and um thanks to them, I I think I've really thrived in the position. I I like it, and I I think I do pretty good work.
SPEAKER_04Hello and welcome to another season of Actus Fresh Take Friday webinar series.
SPEAKER_05HPAI viruses are of course of great animal welfare and economic concern, but the terms are not predictive of severity of human disease.
SPEAKER_03So you're so and your wife's intuition was spot on.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely, absolutely. Um, you know, she's really uh walks by faith. So if I if something bad go goes down, right, she says everything's gonna work out. I'm like, you have no idea that's gonna happen. She's like, no, no, no, no, it's gonna work out. We didn't think we'd move to Colorado. It's a dream of ours. It happened. We never thought we'd buy a house in Colorado. We did that, it happened. So yeah, she definitely called it every step of the way. Every step of the way. She knows she is dialed in. Where do you come from if you're not from here? I originally am from the great state of Iowa. I grew up in the in the corn field.
SPEAKER_03A little different, flat corn to the Rockies.
SPEAKER_02Well, I tell you what, I love it. I'm not going back. I don't want the corn no more. I definitely want to be in the Rocky Mountains because there's so much beautiful splendor. I I actually saw my first bear this year. Really? It was a grizzly. It was not a grizzly, it was a a little black bear just running around, you know, still though doing his thing. But it was crazy. I like literally slammed on the bear, bear, bear. My wife's like, oh my god, look at it. It was it was the the tops. That and seeing a bull, moose, and aspen, oh my gosh. They're like the size of a truck. They're huge. People really don't know how big a moose is until you see them, and you're like, Oh my goodness, there you are, you know. Yeah, if you run that over, you will lose. Yeah, I'm pretty sure they get up, walk out, and they're like, All right, Max.
SPEAKER_03That's the best you got. You're come on now. Yeah, they're lovely. It's interesting you say it wasn't what you thought it was gonna be. No, and it it's like probably so many things in life, you realize, oh, it's just two people in a situation, maybe with some friction sometimes, and we have to dialogue our way through this.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely, absolutely. You know, there's been times folks have um, you know, the the funniest, but maybe the the or the worst thing I've ever heard, right, is someone I show up, the immediate thing they say is, oh, thank God you're here. And I'm like, Well, no one really wants my presence per se because it's you know, it's a that's a just that's a that's a that makes you like pay attention, doesn't it? I'm like, what's going on? And um she said to me, actually, I just I really want to learn from you and grow and grow our food safety system. And I was so appreciative of that. I was like, wow, you really want this to be a partnership. And and they're like, Yeah, I need you. Um, you know, I want to serve safe food in the valley, I want to succeed, and I I know that you guys have those uh extra tools for success. So I love those positive outcome stories for the best.
SPEAKER_03And it is ultimately the highest part of the calling, right? Which is like you for operators that'll be humble enough to trust to ask a question, it's almost like free consulting. Exactly. Because you can say, okay, how should I handle this so that we don't have a problem? A lot of people charge a lot of dollars an hour to to talk to you about that. But I think a lot of people you find some people still hesitant to trust, quote unquote, blowing the whistle on themselves. Absolutely. They don't want you to be like remember that question and come in and hold it against them.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you know, like when like when you go and you see something and we all have our own our own tells, right? Like my tell is I'll kind of you know, kind of hunch over a little bit, put my my hand on my chin, kind of look at something intently, and I'm like, hey, can I talk to you for a second? They kind of know, all right, something's up. I I need to meet with him and figure it out. But most oftentimes they're like, I just want to get better. I mean, people don't, I think one misconception people have about health inspections is they think if they ask a question, they call something out before we do. That's a violation. In truth, really not, because if I see you as the manager and someone's not washing their hands, but before I say a word, you're over there like, hey, you need to go wash your hands right now. That is the creme de la creme, right? You are doing exactly what we look for.
SPEAKER_03That behavior is the reason you would write the violation, right? Is so that they would have it on their mind.
SPEAKER_02It it exactly. But then again, you know, there's sometimes I've gone through an inspection, everyone else is on point. It's just one person. And after a while, I feel like I'm like following this one person around like, hey, hey, wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands. And it can be, you know, a little frustrating for them, but they understand that there's an intent behind that. Very rarely have I ever come into a friction in this line of work. And I think some people might find that hard to believe, but it's a lot of it's relying on people's better nature. And most people, I truly believe, have the best of intentions and they're really trying their best, but you giving them that olive branch saying, Hey, I'm here to help, completely changes the dynamic entirely.
SPEAKER_03So smart. More inspectors, that that's the model for success as an inspector. Because if you want to do it, like you said on TV, if you think you're there to be a ticket writer, you will have friction. Oh, for sure.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_03With those people.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah. I mean, there there's been times where like I, you know, outwardly have said, you know what, I don't like you. And I'm like, okay. Well, you know, you no one said you had to like me. No one said I was the the the person you really wanted to hang out with today, but lo and behold, I'm here. Um, but sometimes for me it's it's the it's the process of what folks go through. Like, I, you know, I once had somebody, um, they had like uh cat food in in the kitchen. I was like, Well, what the what's their cat food doing here? And they said, Well, Chase, obviously it's to feed the cats. And I'm like, great, I love that. And then they added, Well, if I feed the cats, then they will take care of our rodent problem. I'm like, well, thank you for being honest. I love that, but maybe there's a different way to do this. Like, I can get you a pest control person if you need them. And they were super open to that, to that feedback. But I didn't I didn't fault them for that because their logic is sound.
SPEAKER_03They are trying to get rid of the the the vermin.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. They they they have a process to deal with the problem, and I it's something I take from my personal life into my work that not everything's wrong, sometimes it's just different. Uh you may you may not know exactly what they're trying to do, and yes, it may not be in accordance with the rules and regs, but you understand what they're trying to get at. And I I really rely on people's intentions. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received from an inspector I used to work with. Um, he told me, Chase, before you ever write anything on your paper, ask yourself, what is their intentions? What are they trying to do? Think about that before you you get too involved and really hands off the wheel, watch what they're doing and understand them before you, you know, give unsolicited advice is the job calls.
SPEAKER_03Or assign assign motives to an action, right? Exactly. Like you if you know where they're coming from, sometimes they weren't trying to be wrong. It's not an interesting way about trying to be right. The food coach does have objective right and wrong in it, but you're right, like those are actually the easy cases, right? Like if it's cut and dry, a temperature. Temps or temp. But there's other things where, like, okay, I see how you got there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. You're kind of like, okay, you know that those were decisions that were made, but uh we're gonna figure out what to do better next year. Maybe next time. Maybe next time we'll figure that out.
SPEAKER_03So you've been doing it three years, which is more than enough time to have probably had some experiences that like over uh you know, a drink with friends or you get home and you chat with your wife at the end of the day, you're like, you're not gonna believe what what I uh what I saw or dealt with on an inspection today. Um any any notable stories come to mind? It usually comes from the food program, just because it's usually largest, right? In terms by volume in a lot of jurisdictions.
SPEAKER_02That's a that's a you know um I think for me there's whenever whenever you get licensed, right? You have your first routine inspection. The first one's like, we're out of the gate, you're ready, you're operating, let's do it. Let's just have this thing. I had someone get clothes on the very first inspection they ever had, and I was like, everything, no hand washing, cooling wasn't right. You know, they were just leaving food out and about, you know, they really didn't have any processes in place for success. That one was pretty shocking for me. I was like, wow, okay. But one that really got me, um, that I just thought was more humorous than upsetting was somebody didn't have adequate refrigeration on a mobile kit. And so their freezer was fine, but the refrigerator didn't. And if you don't have adequate refrigeration, I'm sorry, time out, we can't do it no more.
SPEAKER_03We can't sell food.
SPEAKER_02And I go back and I and uh the event coordinator kind of gives me a ring and he's like, they're still operating, by the way. I was like, that's crazy, because I just gave them a a letter about all this stuff. Okay, cool. So I march on over there, yada yada yada, and I am like, hey, what's up? He's like, Well, my refrigerator's not working, so I use freezer food. I'm like, that is not how like a closure is a closure. You are done. You need to call a person to fix that. Those are the ones where I'm like, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_03Freezer food. Yeah, like it's all frozen, so it's good. I'm like, no, no, it's not. It's that it's that unpublished substandard under that FDA section, unless you resort to the frozen corn dogs or the frozen food.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and then there's the unique food items that like I've never seen, but I have to pull from from the service. One was um uh freeze-dried meat. So they freeze-dried the meat and they were selling it out of market, and I'm like, oh, okay, all right, I'm with you. I'm with you there.
SPEAKER_03Sort of like the Skittles, except with meat.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but then I was like, what happens if I add water? And they're like, well, it adds like raw meat again. I'm like, so it's not even cooked? And they're like, no. And I'm like it was raw? They froze dried raw meat. They somehow remove the water from raw meat, and this is all per them. So I was like, wait a minute. I don't know what kind of Dexter's laboratory science you figured out there. I I again, I'm here for it. I love the ingenuity. I love that you're trying to produce a new product for market. So I was like, mm-mm, mm-mm, no, no, that's not gonna that's not gonna go.
SPEAKER_03And I you know, yeah, hard to imagine that didn't take off and go everywhere.
SPEAKER_02Believe it or not, it it didn't. But they you know, they were super chill about it. Like, I get it, you're just doing your job. And most times they're they're pretty chill about that. I I can say there's not a ton of friction. I've had people, you know, uh, I don't believe what you're saying, I don't think you're being fair to me, I think you may be a little cold about what you do, but that's the human element that some people I think don't realize about um environmental health is I don't know. I find it's very much like a very relational job. It's like public relations on steroids for lack of literature. Like you need to get to know people well, they have to trust you, they have to rely on you, and if you can't build that partnership with a job, then you can have a rough go. You can have a very rough go. There are some people that are really like they're detesting you a little bit on what you can get away with.
SPEAKER_03Because if you're being tested, that's very passive aggressive, but you you you have to not take the bait.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, oh yeah, I I I had a guy um I I'm actually it's funny, at the end I became their favorite operator, like they literally looked liked me so much. Oh, Chase, it's so good to see you, you're the best, the whole bit. But when I first um met them and started going over the rules and regs, and he's like, you know, I heard all of you inspectors are this expletive, that expletive, and that expletive. And I was like, Okay, okay. Am I among that crowd? And he was just like, you know, you're all right, you're not as good as many others I met. You're like, you know, you're like substandard, but you'll do. And I was like, okay, I'll try not to take that as a as a a hurtful thing. But then over the years of us working together by the end, he was just messing with me and I tempt chicken wrong. It happens to me too. I didn't get quite to the middle of the meeting's like, you're a health inspector, you didn't get to the middle to get a temperature. Well, how did you get this job? I was like, you know, that's a good question for the hiring managers. If you if you have concerns, you just made a comment to them. Maybe they'll help you out and figure out how the how I got here and how I stay.
SPEAKER_03So you do other stuff too, right? Like lead and and uh like or not lead, um air quality.
SPEAKER_02Air quality. Air quality is a completely different, completely different animal entirely because in air quality, when it comes to the interface with the public, right? We have our air monitors we maintain. It's our responsibility to maintain the air monitors so we can get the data to the state. The state can analyze it and make decisions about like um, you know, burn uh burn advisories. Like we have no burn bands, so you can't have your agricultural residential burns. That can create some friction there. And then complaint investigation. Someone calls and says, Hey, it stinks. Something really stinks really bad. Well, the great state of Colorado has odor regulations, and I use a nasal ranger. I yes, I am I am uh an official nasal ranger as my team likes to say. Uh, they haven't gotten me like a whole, you know, like uh park ranger hat. I would like one, but you know, the whole bit nasal ranger the office.
SPEAKER_03Note that down. Exactly.
SPEAKER_02A certified nose needs a hat, you know, and then you have to get your eyes certified for opacity. So I like to joke that my nose is certified by the great state of Colorado, my eyes are certified by the great state of Colorado. All I need is touch, taste, and feel, and I'll have all my senses accounted for and all the color, and they'll register your hands as a lethal weapon. Maybe, maybe. I don't know about that. I guess when you're typing up stuff, it could be detrimental. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03But yeah, there's some people are angry typers. Apropos about nothing, but you know, you could tell if somebody's pouring like some heat into an email because it's like you're trying to break that keyboard over there? Yeah, they really, really Yeah, like with feeling.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, you can you can definitely sense it.
SPEAKER_03So what would you tell? So you've been at for three years, it wasn't what you thought. If somebody at this conference came up to you and goes, Well, I'm starting on Monday. What's the one thing you are like, man, I wish somebody would have told me that before or on day one? What would you tell them?
SPEAKER_02Um couple things. Always be curious. Take your time. Really take your time. You will be drinking through a fire hose at the very beginning. I like to tell people, um, environmental health is uh jack of all trades, master of some. Right? We have so many different rules and regs. If people have a concern about their environment, they go to their environmental health team. Whether or not there's a program bill for that, they're gonna ask you. So just take things in stride, be curious to learn more, and really give yourself time to absorb it. Because I'm at three years in and there's things I don't know anything about, I'm not super proficient on, and I'm never gonna claim to be the smartest person in the room. And anyone who who says they're the smartest person in the room, most often in my experience, is not. You want to keep an open ear and really just allow yourself to take it all in and know you're not gonna get it all on the first try. You're gonna make mistakes. I have I've made, you know, errors. I'm not perfect, but I always find it's how you address those and get better. You know what I mean? Like nothing gets a blank stare quicker from an operator and be like, well, um, this is a TCS food there, sir. Do you exert AMC or you know, are you using TPHC or a ha or a HACCP plan by chance? All that lingo, they just look at you like Yeah.
SPEAKER_03In that goodwill you've been trying to burn, you just gave some of it back right there. Exactly that transaction.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. They're like, Man, this is a taco truck. What are you talking about? Like, I got case of Borea, and then I got the you know, regular street tacos over here. Like, come on now. I I need I need something that's tangible for me to understand.
SPEAKER_03Curiosity, it's as your supervisor sitting in the room here off camera. It's such a sign of intelligence, right? A curious person about the world can end up doing or accomplishing almost anything they want to, because their curiosity feeds their knowledge.
SPEAKER_02That that is um the greatest compliment that uh my wife gives me. She always says, You're so curious, like you just have a thirst for knowledge. And for me, I don't expect to learn everything on earth, but I have slowly become I probably am at this point, like the person with the most random facts at the office. Like random things you wouldn't think someone would know about. I would probably you've got it covered. Random.
SPEAKER_03What's your number one? So when you're just passively absorbing information, you read old school books, listen to audio books, podcasts, like we could all the above?
SPEAKER_02Podcasts. Books, audiobooks, whatever kind of stuff I can get I can get my hands on. You know, um, I've read about you know the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II. I found that was such a fascinating story that's such a fascinating story, right? Like things you wouldn't think of. Or um, you know, the folks like Marie Curie and all of her work that she's provided to the world. And actually, um later on in her life, she was coming out to Grand Junction. She tried to get out there because not many people know this, but um, you know, we had uranium mining in Eurovan to the south of us. That's that's part of our our shared history, and so those kind of interesting facts I think allow you to connect with people uh because they they notice you're kind of quirky too. And anyone who's around me long enough is gonna think this guy is a little odd, maybe in a good way, maybe a bad way. I don't know. But they're definitely gonna hopefully they walk away saying he was interesting.
SPEAKER_03I learned something probably it was amused, but you know what amusing's good. Quirk amusing's very good, and quirky is good because quirky is authentic, it's the person who like paints over all their quirks that you never feel like you knew who that real person was. Like, that's who you look out for. Like, quirky is a sign of authenticity.
SPEAKER_02I think so. I don't and you know, maybe it's your bag, maybe it isn't. Have you ever watched SpongeBob?
SPEAKER_03I I have not admittedly, not in a long time.
SPEAKER_02Well, there's there's a scene in one of the episodes where SpongeBob he has all of his, he's a sponge, right? He has all of his little divots and holes and whatnot. And he someone says, Why can't you be normal? And eventually he smooths out entirely, like physically smooths out. And he's like, Hi, I'm normal. How's the weather today? All right, see you around. Like, that's all he says. That's his entire dialogue, like a non-playable character in like a video game or something, right? And so I don't want to be that. I you know, that to me is like there's more to life, there's more to people. I can go to this conference that we're at right now and talk to you guys, and there's so many experiences to be had, and there's so much to learn from other people that you just take it.
SPEAKER_03Second, if you know, honestly, if we would take our nose out of the phone, there's so much going on around you on a daily basis to it's amusing to learn from, but a lot more and more everybody's got their head down, getting the scoliosis at the neck early.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. You know, I never thought in my life I would get the chance to be on a podcast. I'm literally on a podcast right now. You know why? I saw it, y'all plugged it. I went to my um managers like, hey, is this something where you know that that I that I could do? I'd love to do it. And like, sure, time permits, and thus here I am chatting with you guys live, and uh it's pretty wild. I did not think this was gonna happen today, but I just wake up and just kind of move about the world.
SPEAKER_03It embrace opportunities as you find them, which like it's another good point that people not started yet, should keep in mind of any profession. No one you have to ask. You could stand over in the corner and watch other people come do it, or you could roll in and go, What's this about? Okay, yeah, I talked about supervisor, let's go. Like seize the moment is like how you could summarize that, right?
SPEAKER_02It works for some, but it doesn't work for others. How I feel I gained so much knowledge about food and what I think is a good amount of time, right? A pretty steady clip. How that happened is I literally went uh to the most challenging inspections, places that I knew nothing about, things that had everything going on, and I just immersed myself, just allowed myself to learn as much as possible. But in the same breath, I would always turn and say, I don't know. I don't know. Let me phone a friend. And that's really important to build your network and rely on other people to help you out when you need it. Because you know three minds work better than one, you know what I mean? And you can multiply that exponentially however far you want to infinity. And I think it's really important to rely on each other.
SPEAKER_03Iron sharpens iron. There's also something authentic about what you tattoo because if an operator sees you, say, Well, I don't know, that's a good question. I'm gonna call somebody. Man, that's nothing more authentic than that. Because you're not trying to have to know everything better than you, regulator attitudes, you're like, dang, that's a good one. I haven't seen it before. That he's gonna be going shout out to your supervisor there, he's gonna be a good one. It is a good one. I uh hopefully so far.
SPEAKER_02You know, the the reviews they give me, they say they're doing I'm doing well, so I'll take that. I think one example is I was at an establishment where they had different gloves for um raid e food, you know, regular less tomato, whatever. And then they had yellow for chicken. It's a pretty standard process, right? Yellow chicken, whatever. And I didn't do anything wrong necessarily, but I put on the yellow gloves and I went over to the raid-e part and I was just checking things, doing my thing. And the uh the operator comes up and says, Hey, I I just want you to know that's not how we do things here. That's not our policy, that's not our procedure. I would like it if you would, you know, adhere to that. And in humility, I was like, you know what? I understand what you're saying. I respect your space. I'm a guest. And I just took off the gloves, washed up, put on the right gloves, and went right back to it. And people want to see that operators are, you know, being heard, and at the same time, the inspectors are human. I think anyone who my favorite compliment I've received from somebody was they say, You are the most cheery inspector I've ever had. You laugh, you're having fun, you're only serious when you need to be serious. I tell people all the time, I'm serious when I need to be serious, otherwise, light and airy the whole way. Let's make it fun. I'm gonna ask you about your food. Because I'm curious, folks really take time to create their recipes. So, anyone listening to this, just know your operator took time to create that recipe and to perfect it. And so to ask them about their food, they are going to literally jump for joy to talk to you about it. That's what they spend all the time doing. No one makes an awesome brisket with a great rub, a perfect bark. They use the hickory wood that only comes from a certain species in Texas. They don't do that unless it's something that means a lot to them. So just give space for that.
SPEAKER_03That's so smart. Like it's the medium of their art form, right? Absolutely. And everybody likes to talk about themselves. And especially if you just create a beautiful I like brisket, so I love that example. But and you know what? Like, do you think a lot of inspectors just think that it's not appropriate to do that? Like it they're like because you know, I think it seems like a really great warm-up technique.
SPEAKER_02I can't really speak to other folks. Uh, I will say that folks from yesteryear maybe are a little more um on the regulator versus relational. It's really focused more and more the industry's moving to an educational base, at least in my experience and the folks I've been around. Not a cop. Yeah, I'm I'm definitely definitely not a cop. Don't have the badge. I mean, no one, no one's gonna pull out a gun be like, drop, drop the cheese right now. You need to go off straight. It's like no one's doing all that. That'd be crazy. No one's doing all that stuff. But it's really just important to ask them. The one thing they were surprised, they're like, Why are you asking for my recipe book? I'm like, well, A, I could just ask you what's in the food, or B, you give me the recipe book, and I don't ask you um silly questions while you're working. And they're just like, I can go back to cooking and you can just do your thing and I don't have to be around you 24-7. I'm like, that would be good for both sides. Suddenly, the recipe is not nearly a secret. Take a peek. Exactly. And some of them are like, well, that's proprietary. That's my favorite thing to tell them. Is like, nothing is proprietary with me. You can't just say it, you're not gonna tell me what's in the food. Like, that's just that's not a that's not a reverse Uno card.
SPEAKER_03No black box dishes around the rest of the room.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you don't get to reverse Uno, the inspector, be like, by the way, no, I'm gonna be like, uh, you know, forsake and purpose, there are actually rules and the regs for that or for me, yeah, that I cannot share anything proprietary. Right, yeah.
SPEAKER_03And you're not gonna like write down KFC's secret recipe in a note card and sell it on eBay.
SPEAKER_02I will say the one recipe I probably wouldn't be given is probably like Coca-Cola or docked pepper. You know, the people like, you know, the myth is it's in a safe. Maybe they would be like, you know what? No. I'd be like, all right, well, you know, okay, whatever. I'm not I'm not there when they're making anything.
SPEAKER_03It's bottled and it's that's a uh FDA or a manufactured bottle.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's a whole different thing. Somebody else knows a recipe, it ain't me.
SPEAKER_03Well, Chase, like you shouted out your wife. You she really did do well by she she knows you, man. It puts you onto this path. You're going to go really far. You're exactly, by the way, what a lot of people at these conferences talk about that they're worried about and looking for. So we could put a name and a face to it. They're looking for chases, right? Like as people are retiring and there's more and more openings. Um, it's not for everybody. They're looking for like you're you, they're looking for you.
SPEAKER_02So I'm trying my best. I'm I'm I'm one of many. I can I can shout out to my co-workers, Melissa, Daniela, Jennifer, Egan, Sally, the whole crew. I would not be who I am without them in this business. You need teams, you need to rely on each other. So I'm I'm so grateful for the compliment. I really appreciate that. I take that in and hold that space, but simultaneously I give it up to the the folks that have helped me. You know, my Spanish was beginner when I started. My Spanish is now intermediate because I've been gleaning so much off of um my Spanish-speaking co-workers. Um, now we actually have conversations in Spanish because I'm just gleaning as much as I can. Uh, the best line you can have is como se dice, how do you say, and then I say whatever I need to tell uh get out, and then they help me with it.
SPEAKER_03And they probably get a few laughs at that along the way too.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you know, um my wife uh she she once said gra um grassiest, grassiest, and I still give her heart like hey, there's a little more grassious, you know, a little more to it, but uh you know, there's a tongue on some of those.
SPEAKER_03Chase, dude. Excellent stakeholders. Thank you for coming on and stay curious. Thank you. Smart guy. Yeah, Chase, Mesa County. I really appreciate you stopping by. And for all of us here at the Beyond Data Management Podcast, powered by HS GovTech, I'm Cameron Garrison. We'll see you next Tuesday, same time, same channel. Thanks a lot, everybody.
SPEAKER_00Bye bye.