From Rock Bottom To Empire: Overcoming Burnout, Mental Health Battles, & Turning Set Backs Into Success Ft. Kevin Boehm
The Bossticks
Dear Media
4.4 • 15K Ratings
🗓️ 9 April 2026
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
#960: Join us as we sit down with Kevin Boehm – James Beard Award–winning restaurateur and co-founder of Boka Restaurant Group, who has spent three decades opening more than 50 concepts throughout his career and building one of the most influential restaurant empires in the country. In this episode, Kevin gets brutally honest about the failures and setbacks that shaped his rise, mental health battles, and the personal hardships that forced him to evolve. He unpacks what it really takes to operate at a high level and shares actionable insights from his debut memoir, The Bottomless Cup.
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Produced by Dear Media
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Bostics, starring Lauren Bostic and Michael Bostick. |
| 0:07.5 | Together, they are the Bostics. |
| 0:10.5 | Hello everybody, welcome back to another episode of The Bostics. |
| 0:13.4 | Today we have Kevin Bame on the show. |
| 0:14.9 | He is a James Beard award-winning restaurateur, has spent the past three decades opening more |
| 0:19.3 | than 50 restaurants and building |
| 0:20.8 | Boka Restaurant Group into one of the most celebrated hospitality companies in the country. |
| 0:25.8 | Along his partner Rob Katz, he has launched over 40 acclaimed concepts, earning Michelin |
| 0:29.6 | Stars and numerous national awards. |
| 0:31.8 | In 2019, the duo received the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant Tours. |
| 0:35.9 | And for those in Chicago, Bame is also the co-founder |
| 0:38.0 | of Bian. I hope I said that right, Kevin, a 40,000 square foot, one-of-a-kind private club in Chicago rooted in wellness and community. He showed us some renderings and some videos. It's a picture of the place that's incredible. When I go to Chicago, I have to get there. And he's also recently debuted his memoir, The Bottomless Cup, which was named one of Bloomberg's best books of the year, and it became a bestseller. |
| 0:57.0 | We had an incredible time. also recently debuted his memoir, The Bottomless Cup, which was named one of Bloomberg's best books of the year and became a bestseller. |
| 0:57.2 | We had an incredible time talking to Kevin. |
| 0:59.0 | He was one of the nicest guests we've ever had on the show. |
| 1:01.6 | Some of the themes include The Gift of Rock Bottom, reframing success, personal transformation, |
| 1:07.3 | how to think about the world in an unconventional way, how to avoid burnout, what it looks like when you're burning it at both ends of the candle and trying to survive. This is really a story of somebody who's hustled their way to the top, has built an incredible brand, had a lot of tenacity, a lot of grit, and has done some really smart things along the way. He's also got some incredible stories. With that, I think this audience is going to |
| 1:27.9 | love this episode with Kevin. Kevin, welcome to the Bostics. Kevin Bame is on the show. So I was served |
| 1:33.8 | to your book and I told you I was hooked from page one. And then I needed to put faces to all the |
| 1:39.6 | characters. And so I went to your page and tagged you on Instagram. The book was so compelling. It was so good that I had to have you on the show. So welcome. Thank you. Welcome. That's so nice. I think that I have a personal, there was a relatability to me in your book because I grew up in a restaurant. Like I remember being a tiny little girl and my dad dealing with produce during the day. |
| 2:02.4 | So your dad is bad shit crazy just like me. |
| 2:04.3 | You guys love intensity. |
... |
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