Henry gives Battenfield-Carletti lecture at NSU

(Tahlequah, Okla.) Tulsa businessman Tony R. Henry, president or shareholder of several successful Oklahoma restaurants, delivered the Battenfield-Carletti Distinguished Entrepreneur Lecture at Northeastern State University on August 31.

Henry, speaking to a capacity crowd in the auditorium of the W. Roger Webb Educational Technology Center, told of starting his career as a certified public accountant, then becoming a chief operating officer before taking his first steps into restaurant entrepreneurship.

Some of Tulsas most popular restaurants and nightclubs are associated with Henry. His interests include Wolfgang Puck Bistro, Oklahoma Joes Barbecue, Full Moon Cafe, In the Raw Sushi and the Rave Review Catering Company. Henry co-administers a nightclub space on Brookside which began as id and has since reopened as Suede, Jewel and now the Ivey Lounge. Henrys first nightclub venture was more than a decade ago in an old building on 11th Street adjacent to the University of Tulsa.

When we opened JRs Place, I thought How hard can this business be?, Henry said. I thought it would be a piece of cake but I was wrong. I was also in it with the intention of having one place and doing one thing. In fact, I was more interested in the real estate value because I knew of TUs master plan and that they would want to acquire the land eventually.

With the success of JRs Place, Henry said he got the flavor, the taste of running a business. He and his business partner opened the Brookside venue and bought Tulsas two Full Moon Cafe locations.

Citing his own experiences, Henry said an essential trait of any successful entrepreneur is a willingness to run risks. After acquiring Full Moon Cafe, his business interests required he leave his day job as CEO of Nameplates, Inc., and throw himself fully into self-employment.

I cut the cord and took the risk and really havent looked back, he said. Hopefully the risks you take youve been able to research, but ultimately they're still risks. Hard work can sometimes help you recover when you make a wrong decision, but Ive noticed we do work a lot longer and harder when we do something that doesn't work out.

In closing, Henry stressed the importance of quality employees, which can create a quality organization.

People ask me how I do all this stuff, he said. The answer is I don't. We have about 400 employees that make this organization happen. When Im not there, it comes back to their training, adherence to standards, our expectation of quality at our restaurants and allowing our management team to execute a plan which we've all agreed will help our business. People are your critical asset. I try to hire people who are smarter than me.