Weekly Hornet

Issue date: 10/8/08 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Sean Francis

Today he is running a business of 120 employees and going to India twice a year.

But who would've thought Sean Francis the successful 36-year-old entrepreneur and bachelor, dropped out of high school as a junior?

"Not 'cause I got bad grades," Francis said. "I just got bored. You know, high school grooms you to work for somebody else. Instead of money, you get grades … I just wanted to get there faster."

Jeannette Knoedler, who has worked for Francis for 13 years, enjoys every moment of her job.

"He's like my brother," Knoedler said. "Sean makes it fun. If he wasn't my boss, I would've quit … I don't think he'd be where he is today if he continued in high school."

For Francis, the best part of his job is the people he works with.
"I just like working with the employees," Francis said. "There's always music in the background … We're like one big happy family."

It's no wonder that laziness ranks as his number one pet peeve.
"Everybody's gotta work together," Francis said. "When someone just does the bare minimum, it's not fair for everybody else."
Francis can proudly say that he has achieved a lot in only 20 years.

He owns the Slidebar Rock-N-Roll Café, which he credits as his biggest success, and the Continental Room, in downtown Fullerton Orange County's oldest drinking establishment opened in 1925.

He plans to open the Sky Lounge in downtown Brea within the next 60 days and take the modernized 60s concept of the Continental Room to downtown Los Angeles.

Francis is also supportive of local artists and bands who have aspired to be professionals in the music industry.
Local bands that would like to perform in any of his venues can simply send requests to the myspace pages of the corresponding establishments.

Francis sponsored Earth Day events to prevent global warming and to recycle for a greener planet.
He stopped four years ago, because he felt that it wasn't motivating people to implement change into their own lives.
Recently, Francis received a speeding ticket for cruising too fast, and as a result, he sponsored Orange County's first Spare the Air Festival to promote clean air by raising awareness of public transportation alternatives.
"I discovered that it was a viable way to get around," Francis said.

"Spare the Air targets 15 to 35-year-olds. If you convince one of them to get on a metro and continue to ride it, that would change a lot… I still take the bus to work."

Regarding lowering the drinking age to 18, Francis holds conflicting views: "From a complete business side, I'm totally for it," he said. "I'll make it 16. I'm kidding. I mean, at 18, you can go to jail for life. You can die for your country… But you can't drink? … I have 1000 [fake] IDs of people under 21 that are sitting in my office."

For future entrepreneurs, his advice is simple, "Stay in school," Francis said. "I regret not going to college, [but] I've educated myself. I wouldn't get too influenced by business classes [offered in schools], though."

His final bit advice is that "the real world is much bigger than that. We grow up in a lot of opportunities. Think outside the box."

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