We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amberle Kurkowski. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amberle below.
Hi Amberle , so happy to have you on the platform and I think our readers are in for a treat because you’ve got such an interesting story and so much insight and wisdom. So, let’s start with a topic that is relevant to everyone, regardless of industry etc. What do you do for self-care and how has it impacted you?
Running a business can be stressful and overwhelming at times and it really helps to be able to do something not related to my business that both grounds me and helps me maintain my focus. Horses have always been a part of my life and have been my outlet for stress. In 2016, I volunteered to be a foster home for a large horse rescue in Texas called Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society (BEHS) and I also participated in my first rescue horse training challenge. BEHS mostly takes in law enforcement neglect case horses and horses who owners are no longer able to care for them. I also founded my own equine sanctuary in 2019 for the purpose of providing a home to horses with medical conditions who were not adoptable. So for me, self care is working with a horse to give them a 2nd chance at finding a forever home, whether that is through rehabilitation or retraining. I have found that accomplishing small goals with a horse I have in my care helps to restore my motivation for other things I have going on in my life. Horses also have amazing hearing and can hear a human heart-beat from 4ft away and they are very intuitive. So many times when I am stressed I go out and just love on the horses in my sanctuary. They sense my emotions and come up to me in order to provide me comfort. Just being near them, brushing them and spending time with them really helps me to destress. I have found the less stressed I am the more effective I am in running my business and leading my team.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I recently opened my first restaurant (July 2023) called The Palomino. It is a burger house with brats, Bavarian pretzels, cheese curds and a whole selection of delicious 1/2 lb angus steak burgers on the menu. We have 32 taps, 24 are beers, 4 are ciders and 4 are wine. The Palomino is family friendly beer garden with a casual and relaxing atmosphere.
The namesake for restaurant is a horse my husband, Chuck, and I rescued during Hurricane Harvey, named Zinnia. Zinnia is a Palomino that we were contacted to rescue by the local sheriff after she had been standing in a mud-pit for a week. She was severely emaciated and had little energy left when we arrived. We were able to get her loaded onto our trailer, and after a week long stop over at a friends she ended up coming to our ranch and being one of the first horses in my sanctuary. It took about 6 months to fully rehab her from the starvation and she resided in our sanctuary until last year when we unfortunately lost her to colic. She had a very sweet and gentle disposition and was absolutely unforgettable. She will always have a place in my heart.
Part of the reason I opened The Palomino is I wanted a way to give back to organizations that rescue animals like Zinnia and give them a 2nd chance. I am donating a portion of my profits every month to support animal rescues. I also wanted to give our local community somewhere that is welcoming and family friendly to relax and hang out.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Perseverance. Sometimes there are going got be a lot of hurdles thrown at you and in your way; it will feel like you are climbing a mountain and are never going to reach the peak. I have found you just have to take each hurdle in stride though and address them as they come at you. Perseverance is key is continuing to move forward and achieving success.
Developing a team. I think the saying there is no “I” in team is a very important one to take to heart when opening a new business and building a team. As the business owner you have to find good people, but also trust in those people to take on critical tasks. Although The Palomino is my first restaurant, it is not my first business. I have founded 3 other companies and what I have learned, initially the hard way, is that you cannot do everything yourself to run a sustainable business and be an effective leader of that business. What makes your successful is finding key leaders to work with you, delegate tasks to them, and encourage them in their positions to not only develop those below them but to provide them constructive feedback on how they can perform better. It is important to me to have a working relationship with the members of my team and also to take into account their ideas and feedback when making business decisions. Teamwork is a 2 way street and leaning on the team and valuing their opinions helps to make an organization better.
Perspective. I think there are a lot of business owners and leaders who get overly stressed, worked up or freak out about challenges they may encounter and instead of focusing on a solution they waste a lot of energy being upset. One thing I learned from my time in the military is to perform under pressure and always remain calm. Approaching a problem calmly allows you to better analyze the problem and come up with a solution faster of how to fix or address it. One things that always puts this in perspective is a saying one of my senior non-commissioned officers used to say to me, “Ma’am, I know your are stressed, but did anyone die?” Sometimes you have will have equipment break down, or someone not show up to work, and I have found in circumstances like this the best thing to do is to remain calm, work through the problem and find a solution. Getting overly worked up or stressed only delays finding a solution to the problem. So when a problem arises put it in perspective, is this the worse possible thing that could ever happen, and consider worse things that could happen, be thankful it is not as serious as it could be, find a solution and move on.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
The people I have worked for and with over the years have helped me to build and develop the essentials skills and knowledge to be successful. In the military it was the senior leaders and my soldiers. After the military in the companies I worked for it was the owners, my peers and my subordinates. In the businesses I founded it was my business partners and the employees in my organization. I think there is always something to learn from those above, below and around you. Sometimes the lesson is what not to do, other times the lesson is what right looks likes. I think every person in your day to day life can teach you something about yourself, give you perspective or give you tools to add to your tool bag to be successful in the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.palominogtx.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/palominogtx/
- Facebook: @palominogtx
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amberle-kurkowski-11396031/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-palomino-georgetown-2
Image Credits
Food and Interior/Exterior pics: Lisa Haynes Team and Ribbon Cutting: Ron Parks
