Apparently, convincing your friends to sell chicken can pay off — big.

At 24, Arman Oganesyan was making $50 a night as a stand-up comedian with no restaurant or business experience when he pitched the idea of selling Nashville hot chicken to his childhood friends Dave Kopushyan and Tommy Rubenyan. Pooling $900 in savings, they launched Dave’s Hot Chicken in 2017 as a pop-up in a Los Angeles parking lot.

On Monday, private equity firm Roark Capital bought a majority stake in Dave’s Hot Chicken, which is now a franchise business with more than 300 locations, in a deal worth “pretty close” to $1 billion, Dave’s CEO Bill Phelps said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

“It’s insane what we did,” Phelps said. “The vision of these guys was just great. Arman Oganesyan was the founder. A high school dropout, but a marketing genius, and he created all of this in his head.”

But the idea nearly didn’t happen. Kopushyan — a chef who had worked at Michelin-starred restaurants — initially told Oganesyan, “‘Chicken? First of all, I don’t even like chicken,'” Oganesyan said on the “How I Built This Podcast with Guy Raz” in 2024.

It took some convincing, but with Kopushyan eventually on board, they went to their other friends looking for investors, Oganesyan said — everyone turned them down, except Tommy Rubenyan. Oganesyan said the trio scraped their savings together and got to work developing a Nashville hot chicken recipe, drawing inspiration from popular Los Angeles restaurant Howlin’ Ray’s, which has two locations.

The friends spent months eating at various fried chicken joints, watching documentaries on chicken and experimenting in Kopushyan’s kitchen, Oganesyan said.

Some of their “crazier” ideas, like using gummy bears in the recipe, were struck down; others came unexpectedly, Oganesyan said, like using pickle juice in the brine, which they discovered by accident after tossing leftover chicken into a nearly-empty pickle jar.

“It was a lot of belief with a lot of doubt,” Oganesyan said.

Eventually, they were ready to start selling their fried chicken tenders, but couldn’t afford to buy a food truck, so they set up in a parking lot in LA’s East Hollywood neighborhood with a $150 fryer, a heat lamp for fries and tables they borrowed from their parents, Oganesyan said.

They made $40 the first night they opened from four meals they sold to Oganesyan’s girlfriend and three of her friends, he said. But five days into opening, they caught the attention of former Eater Los Angeles food critic Farley Elliott through word of mouth.

From there business boomed, and Oganesyan said they began selling out and making “a few thousand” dollars every night in a matter of months. At the end of their second month, they paid themselves for the first time, each taking home around $10,000 in cash, Oganesyan said. “It was the most money I’d ever seen in my life,” he added.

A year later, they brought in Rubenyan’s brother, Gary, who helped them open their first storefront.

In 2019, an investor group, which included Dave’s current CEO Bill Phelps, actor Samuel L. Jackson, Good Morning America anchor and former NFL player Michael Strahan, movie producer John Davis and Red Sox owner Tom Werner, bought a stake in the company with plans to franchise the brand, the company told Nation’s Restaurant News in 2019.

Phelps, who has served as CEO since then, has expanded the chain’s presence nationally and internationally, adding locations in Canada, the United Kingdom and the Middle East, he said on “Squawk Box.”

In the U.S., Dave’s brought in more than $600 million in systemwide sales last year, up 57% from the year before, according to data from market research firm Technomic. This year, the company expects to bring in $1.2 billion in sales and is currently “extremely” profitable both at the franchise level and in its corporate operations, Jim Bitticks, president and COO of Dave’s, told CNBC Make It.

While the financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, Oganesyan, Kopushyan, the Rubenyan brothers and Phelps will retain minority stakes in the company and continue in their current roles, CNBC reported on Monday.

“The timing was absolutely right,” Phelps told CNBC. “We were at an inflection point where we could get an incredible valuation, and yet there was still significant upside for Roark, so that’s the perfect place to be.”

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As a leadership consultant who studies workplace psychology, I’ve spent 30 years working with high performers across all industries. Again and again, one truth keeps proving itself: Being artistic in some way can transform you.

Even Steve Jobs agreed when he was interviewed for the PBS documentary “Triumph of the Nerds” in 1995: “I think part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians and poets and artists and zoologists and historians, who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world.”

Of all the artistic fields, I’ve found that mastering a musical instrument is the most powerful for rewiring the brain for greatness. Playing an instrument — whether it’s the piano, trumpet or guitar — activates nearly every part of your brain: motor control, pattern recognition, emotional regulation, creativity and stamina.

That’s why I believe parents should encourage their kids to learn an instrument as early as possible. Studies have consistently found that children who learn music are more likely to have increased IQ scores and better language development.

Plus, it encourages their brain to operate at full capacity, building the neural foundation for mastery in pretty much everything. Here’s why:

1. You make visualizing success second nature

Musicians don’t just practice, they fantasize. They see the stage, hear the notes and feel the outcome long before it happens. Hence, musicians build skill while just visualizing playing. That ability to rehearse and mentally simulate outcomes is a superpower: You learn not just react to reality, but to create it.

2. You develop a sacred relationship with time

When you practice an instrument, time stops being abstract. You feel in real-time the cost of distraction and the miracle of being fully focused.

Over time, you become fiercely time-conscious — not in a stressed way, but in a sacred one. You don’t want to rush, you want to make it count. This discipline shapes everything, from how you run meetings to how you build relationships.

3. You stop running from discomfort

Every musician has to face the parts of the music they hate and struggle with. There’s no shortcut. You can’t outsource it, nor avoid it. You have to lean in until the failure becomes fluency.

While most people avoid uncomfortable moments in life, playing an instrument teaches you to seek those moments. You no longer panic at pain; you see it as a sign of growth.

4. You learn that emotions are designable

Music isn’t just output. It’s a way of regulating your inner world by changing your emotional state with sound, breath, rhythm and in how you prepare.

It becomes an invaluable skill you carry into everything, like before a stressful conversation or during a conflict. You don’t just express emotions anymore — you direct them.

5. You realize boredom is just feedback

Musicians don’t just play scales mindlessly. They know what they’re aiming to improve: precision, control, phrasing. Without that goal, their attention drifts, and practice becomes boring.

We often think stuff we do is boring, but boredom is feedback. It’s your brain telling you: “Show me what this is building toward.” The insight that boredom is the absence of a goal changes everything. Instead of labeling tasks as boring or dull, you ask, “What’s my goal here?”

This makes you sharper, more engaged and harder to distract in any setting.

6. You turn being stuck into invention

Sometimes you can’t play it right. Your hand won’t stretch. Your fingers trip. So, you try it a different way. You improvise, rearrange, compose. Suddenly, the failure becomes fuel. This teaches you a profound lesson: When you can’t follow the map, draw a new one. Innovation isn’t a gift; it’s a response to friction.

7. Your standards rise and stay high

Once you’ve heard the difference between “okay” and “exceptional,” you can’t unhear it. Once you’ve experienced how moments of excellence feels, mediocrity becomes unbearable. Music teaches you to expect more from yourself and others, not out of perfectionism but out of respect for what’s possible.

8. You learn to create for others, not just yourself

When you’re playing an instrument, you can’t help imagining an audience, maybe to impress but mostly to move someone, to say something without words. That habit reshapes how you approach everything.

Your work becomes an expression of your standards, your values, your imagination. It forces you to ask: Is this good enough to matter to someone else? Will this make them think, feel, grow?

Your brain’s plasticity and ability to learn allows you to pick up a new instrument at almost any age, so it’s never too late if you didn’t learn to play music as a kid.

1. Pick the one that sparks emotion. You don’t need logic here. What’s an instrument that moves you? That makes you feel something? Piano, guitar, trumpet — follow the spark.

2. Practice for at least 20 minutes a day. Studies show that 20 to 30 minutes of focused practice can induce measurable brain changes, particularly in areas tied to motor skills and attention.

3. Celebrate improvement, not performance. Don’t worry about being good. Track what you can do today that you couldn’t do yesterday. Mastery is just small progress, compounded with love.

Stefan Falk is an internationally-recognized executive coach, workplace psychology expert, and author of “Intrinsic Motivation: Learn to Love Your Work and Succeed as Never Before.” A McKinsey & Company alumnus, he has trained over 4,000 leaders across more than 60 organizations and helped drive transformations valued in excess of $2 billion. Follow him on LinkedIn.

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Growing up, Gabrielle Heyman, 53, did not know what she wanted to do with her life.

“I thought that I wanted to be in film when I was younger because I’m from L.A. and I have family in film,” she says. “But then when I tried it, I found people were just really mean,” especially to those in the assistant positions she was taking.

It was while working as an assistant at CBS in 1998 that she decided to apply for a job at the company doing sales for online campaigns. “It was the dawn of the internet,” she says, “so they were just building their internet ad sales team.” The people were nicer, it turned out, and she found she had a knack for sales.

Heyman continued to build her career with roles at Electronic Arts, Yahoo and BuzzFeed. Today, she serves as vice president of global brand sales and partnerships for video game developer Zynga.

Despite her eventual success, those early days of the World Wide Web were tenuous. Here’s how Heyman survived and her advice for anyone starting in a brand-new field — like today’s budding AI.

There was a lot of hype around the internet when Heyman started her career.

The 1990s saw lots of investment in internet-based companies, but beginning in 2001, when many of those companies ultimately failed and shut down, the Dotcom bubble burst. As many as 168,395 tech jobs were cut that year alone, according to outplacement company Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

“I was sure I was going to be laid off in the Dotcom crash,” she says. She was working at Electronic Arts by then, which cut 250 jobs in October 2001. “And I wasn’t laid off.”

Heyman believes what helped her hold onto her job was being both good at and passionate about what she was doing. You have to “know your s—” in these moments, she says. “Don’t be a fraud.”

When industries are the zeitgeist, many people flock to them to try to capitalize on the boom. That includes entrepreneurs creating businesses with no clear path for profitability, she says. The draw is the opportunity to cash in rather than their genuine interest in making something that works, she says. When demand for that field levels out and some of those companies fold, “there’s a lot of riff raff cut out,” she says of the people who aren’t genuinely interested — taking many jobs with them.

To survive in a new field — like AI, for example — you have to care about it. That means reading articles, “being up on what clients are doing, playing with the technology yourself,” Heyman says. And be discerning about who you’re interviewing with.

“Look at how the company is investing in long-term talent, infrastructure and leadership,” she says, adding that, “it’s often easy to spot the difference between companies chasing trends and those building for the future.”

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Bill Gates is moving forward with plans to give away $200 billion over the next 20 years, and the billionaire now says the “majority” of that money will go toward improving public health and education services in Africa.

Gates announced on May 8 that he plans to give away nearly all of his personal wealth and shutter his nonprofit Gates Foundation by 2045. On Monday, Gates offered some more specifics: “The majority of that funding will be spent on helping you address challenges here in Africa,” he said in an address at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

That spending will be directed toward initiatives that address the three main goals Gates outlined in his May announcement:

• Reducing the deaths of mothers and young children from preventable causes
• Eradicating diseases like polio, malaria, measles and Guinea-worm disease
• Funding advances in education and agriculture in African nations to help “hundreds of millions of people break free from poverty”

Africa particularly needs health and education resources: Nearly half a billion people there live below the poverty line, according to 2021 data from the United Nations. Improving global healthcare and education have long been major focuses of Gates’ philanthropic foundation, which he launched with now-ex-wife Melinda French Gates in 2000.

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Gates has publicly asked world governments to increase aid funding to African nations, noting that “there’s less money going to Africa at a time when they need it,” he told The Associated Press in September. In a May 8 blog post, he called out wealthy nations, including the U.S., for cutting “tens of billions of dollars” from their global aid budgets over the past two years.

“No philanthropic organization — even one the size of the Gates Foundation — can make up the gulf in funding that’s emerging right now,” wrote Gates.

On Monday, Gates lauded African government leaders, health workers and development organizations who partner with his foundation for embracing “innovation” with limited funding, citing insecticide-treated mosquito bed nets for fighting malaria and artificial intelligence-enabled ultrasound technology for identifying high-risk pregnancies.

“I’ve always been inspired by the hard work of Africans even in places with very limited resources,” said Gates. “The kind of field work to get solutions out, even in the most rural areas, has been incredible.”

The Gates Foundation opened its first African office in Addis Ababa in 2012 and has since added offices in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal, the foundation noted in its press release detailing Gates’ address at AU headquarters.

“By unleashing human potential through health and education, every country in Africa should be on a path to prosperity – and that path is an exciting thing to be part of,” Gates said in his address.

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There are endless ways to approach parenting. Many parents choose “authoritative parenting,” a widely respected style that balances firm boundaries with nurture and support. Others lean into “authoritarian parenting,” a stricter model that emphasizes rules and consequences.

More recently, I’ve seen lots of “gentle parenting,” which prioritizes empathy and emotional validation.

But what if raising successful kids isn’t about being strict or soft? What if the answer is to create a safe place? After years of studying over 200 parent-child relationships, and from practicing healthy habits with my own child, I’ve seen firsthand what helps kids thrive … and what quietly shuts them down.

That’s why I’ve developed a new parenting framework — one that I believe works better than the rest — rooted in what kids need most but rarely receive: emotional safety.

With emotionally safe parenting, the goal is to be deeply attuned to your child’s emotional needs. I teach parents not just how to manage their children’s behaviors, but also to help them build emotional resilience, trust and connection through open and honest conversations.

Like authoritative parenting, emotionally safe parenting sets clear boundaries and encourages independence. What’s different is that it encourages parents to focus on emotional attunement, self-awareness and inner healing.

Some common traits of emotionally safe parents:

• They accept their child’s emotions without rushing to fix or dismiss them.
• They respond without shaming their child — avoiding phrases that belittle, guilt or embarrass — even if those were the responses they grew up with.
• They view “bad” behavior (i.e., screaming, yelling back, hitting another sibling) as stress signals, not defiance.
• They take responsibility after conflicts by apologizing and reconnecting, rather than punishing or withdrawing.
• They do the internal work — through journaling, therapy, or mindfulness — not to stay calm in the moment, but to become less reactive in the first place.
• They create an environment where their child feels safe expressing big emotions, asking questions and showing up as their full, authentic self.
• They embrace the whole child, showing consistent acceptance of both easy and difficult traits, not just the “well-behaved” version.
• They lead with calm, steady authority — holding boundaries without fear, while welcoming even the biggest emotions with compassion and clarity.

Emotional safety is the missing piece in so many homes — not because parents don’t care, but because most were never taught how to create a steady, safe place during emotional storms.

Here’s how to practice emotionally safe parenting:

1. Do the inner work first

Emotionally safe parenting begins with the adult, not the child. Get into the habit of reflecting on how your own childhood and emotional triggers shape their reactions today.

• When you’re in the heat of the moment, bring awareness to what you’re feeling — not to control it, but to understand it.
• Before correcting your child, ask yourself: “What part of me feels threatened right now?”
• If you notice yourself repeating something your parents said, consider: “Is this how I want to show up for my child?”

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2. See behavior as a signal, not a threat

Instead of viewing misbehavior as disrespect, emotionally safe parents see it as communication — a request for support, not punishment.

• If a child slams a door, see it as “they might feel overwhelmed,” rather than “they’re being rude.”
• Ask, “What is their behavior trying to tell me?” instead of, “How do I stop this?”
• Respond with curiosity instead of jumping to consequences, asking things like, “Can you help me understand what happened?” or, “What were you feeling when that happened?”

3. Set boundaries with empathy, not control

Limits are necessary, but you don’t need to set them with fear or shame. Emotionally safe parents hold firm boundaries while staying emotionally connected.

They might say things like:

• To stay consistent while still offering empathy: “I understand you’re upset, but the answer is still no.”
• To offer support, not just corrections: “This is hard. I’m here to help you figure it out.”
• To validate feelings without changing the limit: “You’re frustrated this isn’t going your way.”

 4. Prevent shame from taking place

Emotionally safe parenting isn’t about being perfect — it’s about modeling what healthy repair looks like. Instead of blaming or withdrawing, reconnect after hard moments and show your child that conflict doesn’t have to lead to shame or disconnection.

This could look like:

• Owning your part and not blaming your child for their reaction: “I shouldn’t have yelled. That wasn’t okay, and I’m sorry.”
• Validating feelings even during correction: “It’s okay to feel angry, but we need to find a safer way to show it than hitting.”
• Restoring connection before problem-solving: “Let’s take a few deep breaths together, then we can talk about what happened.”

The way you speak to your child becomes how they speak to themselves. Emotionally safe parents are mindful that their tone, words and reactions shape how their child sees themselves, especially in hard moments.

I always try to use a calm, respectful tone with my child, even when setting limits. And I let him know that his feelings are valid: “It’s okay to be upset,” or, “I’d feel that way, too.” Most importantly, I want him to know that I’ll always be there for him: “Even when things get hard, I’m still here.”

Remember, you want to give your child something deeper than discipline: the sense that they are safe, supported and unconditionally loved. I always tell parents that the child who feels emotionally safe grows up to be the adult who can regulate their emotions, build healthy relationships, trust themselves and live with confidence.

Reem Raouda is a leading voice in conscious parenting and the creator of FOUNDATIONS — the transformative healing journal for parents ready to break cycles, do the inner work, and become the emotionally safe parent their child needs. She is widely recognized for her groundbreaking work in children’s emotional safety and strengthening the parent-child bond. Follow her on Instagram.

Want to boost your confidence, income and career success? Take one (or more!) of Smarter by CNBC Make It’s expert-led online courses, which aim to teach you the critical skills you need to succeed that you didn’t learn in school. Topics include earning passive income online, mastering communication and public speaking skills, acing your job interview, and practical strategies to grow your wealth. Use coupon code MEMORIAL to purchase any course at a discount of 30% off the regular course price (plus tax). Offer valid from 12:00 am Eastern Time (“ET”) on May 19, 2025, through 11:59 pm ET on June 2, 2025. Terms and restrictions apply.

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