Tim Murphy of Boomers Parks: Here Are The Things That Happened in My Childhood That Impact How I Lead Today

An Interview With Cynthia Corsetti

Change is inevitable. You have to be willing to change and be flexible. For example, I have a lot of great ideas and visions. But this doesn’t mean everything I say will work. We need to be able to adapt. For example, we changed our payroll schedule to prevent staff from quitting before busy weekends.

In this introspective and reflective series, we would like to explore the intricate web of experiences that form the leaders of today. Childhood, being the foundational stage of our lives, undeniably has a profound impact on our development and the leadership styles we adopt as adults. Be it a lesson learned from a parent, a childhood hobby that cultivated discipline, an early failure that fostered resilience, or even a book that opened their minds to vast possibilities; leaders often have deep-seated childhood experiences that echo in their leadership narratives today. For this interview series, we are talking to seasoned leaders across various industries who share personal anecdotes and lessons from their childhood that have sculpted their leadership philosophies today. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Tim Murphy.

Tim Murphy is CEO of APX Operating Company, dba Boomers Parks, under the ownership of Cerberus private equity ($60B assets). Boomers Parks owns six family entertainment centers and two water parks with locations in California, Florida, and New Jersey.

As CEO of Boomers Parks since 2020, Tim took these eight parks from bankruptcy to profitability in just a year — in the middle of a global pandemic. When Boomers acquired these parks, they were operating at a $10 million loss. Tim transformed the customer experience and added new revenue streams to generate a 180% increase in revenue in 2021, with sales on a similar trajectory for 2022.

Tim launched his 35+ year career at Walt Disney World and has since served more than 150 entertainment, restaurant, and food & beverage brands across more than 10,000 locations in C-suite and senior positions.

Additionally, Tim is a Board Director with Coney Park and Happy City — Family Entertainment. Amusement Parks, part of The Carlyle Group ($376B assets), a private equity firm which operates 150+ family entertainment centers and amusement parks in Latin America.

Tim has worked with top-tier entertainment and restaurant brands including Disney, Rebounderz Trampoline Parks, Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, etc.), Red Lobster, Jimmy John’s, Applebee’s, Sonny’s Bar-B-Q, Denny’s, El Pollo Loco, Hardee’s, Golden Corral, and Firehouse Subs. Tim has overseen more than 35 purchase transactions involving over 1,200 restaurant, store, and park locations. With extensive experience in buying and selling businesses, handling negotiations with buyers and sellers, and creating strategic partnerships to build strong brands, Tim has facilitated deals ranging from $11 million to $350 million+.

Tim is a member of IAAPA, CAPA, FAA, AAMA & WWA. He is a licensed commercial real estate broker in the State of Florida. Tim earned a BS/BA in Accounting from the University of Central Florida and an MBA in Finance from Orlando College.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about leadership, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

My parents had a Family Entertainment Center (FEC) in New Jersey when I was growing up called the Spirit of ’76. I was raised in that environment. Eventually they sold off the business and I went on to work for Disney.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

In this industry, there are very few that focus on inclusiveness in the FEC space. Boomers Parks incorporates core values and a Diversity & Inclusion program. These make us different because we rely on core values when we make decisions. In this industry, many people are in it for the money, not to make a difference. Making a difference is what makes a difference in the industry. People come to you because of your values and beliefs that resonate.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Perseverance. I learned this from scouting and use it today. I never give up and push through what I need to, which is the same mindset I have when running. I have good days and bad days, but I always persevere. I persevered during the pandemic when we had to move forward and make changes to update the park. Our efforts during that time led us to having a record breaking year.

Focus/ Multitasking. As CEO of Boomers Parks, I often am faced with multiple tasks at once. I need to focus, but also be able to pivot to the next task. There are so many moving parts and elements that I constantly have to focus on, but it’s important to prioritize one task, finish it and move on to the next. That’s the difference in this position and my success. I focus on what needs to be done and where my attention needs to be, and then I pivot. You must be able to go back and forth, but also focus heavily.

Success is based on change. A lot of people don’t want to change and at the end of the day, you need to be willing to change. Change yourself, your business, the people in your life, your processes, your policies, etc. You must be willing to change to get to the end result. I notice many people want to get to the end result, but are not willing to change. Turnaround companies are an example; they just need to change.

Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader? I’m curious to understand how these challenges have shaped your leadership.

Personnel. You can go down a path of personnel and try to help them along, but when you need to make changes and need someone to do something, you have to make hard decisions. I ask: “Will this person move quickly enough with our vision; can I get the people I’m working with to change quickly to make decisions?” No one wants to make hard decisions, but ask: “Do I have enough experience if this person is not giving me something?” Maybe they aren’t getting things done or maybe they aren’t getting them done at a fast enough pace. I question if I can get someone else to make this happen faster. When working for a private equity firm, things need to happen quickly. Can this person move quickly? And if they can’t, I will have a hard leadership decision to make.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Let’s start with a simple definition. How do you personally define “leadership?”

Leadership is getting others to do what they don’t normally do. Leadership is to show people how to do something, whereas a manager tells people what to do. A leader gets them to believe and understand what someone will do and they follow. It doesn’t mean 100% believe in your vision, but the leader has to believe in it. People want to follow someone who is confident in the direction they are going. You need someone to motivate someone to say “I’m going to do something I normally wouldn’t do.” Motivating someone and believing in the vision you are setting.

Can you recall an experience from your childhood where you felt truly empowered? How does that moment inform your leadership style today?

An experience from my childhood where I felt truly empowered is when my parents gave me the keys to empty all of the arcade games in the Spirit of ’76. I’d pull out all the quarters, count and then sit there and play. I’d learn the games. Sometimes I’d leave free games on for people to play.

As a child, I had the keys to the park, was able to make people ice cream, I could count money and more. I was empowered by my parents to go make mistakes and learn from them. I could do things on my own and had the skills to. This made me want to learn more and question what I could do as a child.

Were there any role models in your early years who left a lasting impression on you? How has their influence manifested in your approach to leadership?

• My mom and dad. With different businesses, I always asked questions and they would always answer. They always explained what they were doing and why. I vividly remember the interest rates rising and my parents explaining why they had to borrow money from the bank to keep their fence company alive. They got me involved and always answered my questions because I asked and was ready to learn.
• A bit later in life — Abe Gustin. Abe ran and built Applebees into what it is today. I got to drive around with Abe and got his ideas on what it took to make the best locations in Central Florida. I got to pick his brain on restaurants, franchising, success, etc. I focused on: how to support franchisees the most? I was blown away with the knowledge he shared. Abe was like another father in the business/ restaurant world.

Many of us had a favorite book or story as a child. Is there a narrative that you were drawn to, and do you see its themes reflecting in your leadership journey?

• A personal story:

A story I was drawn to with my father was when my father was buying a vehicle from his brother and asked me: “Tim, what do you think I should pay for this vehicle? Whatever you say, I will pay.” My dad bought the vehicle after negotiating down to what I recommended. This taught me there is always the ability to negotiate anything. This is my earliest memory of negotiating. There’s always another way and another side of every point. Sometimes we don’t hear the whole truth and we find out big or little differences. When it’s big, what do the different sides mean? Can I find out their motivation? At the end of the day, this has taught me a lot that there are two sides to every story.

Many leaders find that their greatest strengths arise from overcoming adversity. Can you share an experience from your early life that was difficult at the time, but you find still lingers in your thoughts and informs your actions today?

I hung out with the wrong crowd before I got into scouting. When you follow somebody as a leader and they do bad things, you don’t necessarily look at the consequences of what the good things could be — right or wrong, legal or illegal. I asked myself, “Should I do things differently? What’s the good that can come out of this? Did this decision help me or hurt me? If I did X instead of Z, can I see other successes? “

They say you’re the sum average of your five closest friends; you begin to become who you hangout with. If you believe that this is the true worth of who you are, you’re never going to change. You need to elevate yourself to the next level. Who will make you shine?

Now, I teach this to my own kids. I remind them they should surround themselves with people who motivate them and push them to do better.

Looking back at your childhood, are there particular ‘first-time’ experiences — like your first triumph, your initial setback, or your inaugural leadership responsibility — that you believe were pivotal in molding your leadership ethos?”

A pivotal moment in molding my leadership ethos was once I realized I could finally do something differently.

In second grade, I was almost held back because I wasn’t hanging out with a good crowd and didn’t care for school. I was procrastinating. Eventually I said “I can get better grades and this isn’t that hard,” after reviewing my bad grades. Later when I got into scouting, I wanted to be like the leaders in the group. My brother was an Eagle Scout and I wanted to be better than him. I learned so much during this time about leadership. You can get others to do things that they don’t want to normally do if they believe in you. I got into scouting to compete with my brother, but ultimately learned leadership skills today that nothing is below me and others should follow that too. Show them, enable them, it’s the EDGE method in scouting. If you get them to do it, they’ll follow along. You don’t have to do things in a threatening way.

From your personal experiences and reflections, what are the ‘5 Pillars of Effective Leadership’ you believe in?

1. Change is inevitable. You have to be willing to change and be flexible. For example, I have a lot of great ideas and visions. But this doesn’t mean everything I say will work. We need to be able to adapt. For example, we changed our payroll schedule to prevent staff from quitting before busy weekends.
2. Focus. Whatever you’re doing you must focus on a task. I have a lot of things going on in my life — home, personal, business, family. You must focus. I sometimes tell myself, focus on X. Focus on what you need to do. Don’t pull up your phone, check your emails, etc. when we have scheduled time for something. Unless it is an emergency, give your attention to whatever or whoever it is that you need to focus on to show that your intentions are real and pure. I need to hear new and different things by focusing.
3. Be flexible. I had to be super flexible when I took over Boomers after the company faced bankruptcy in the middle of the pandemic. What do we do next? How do we open? Do I hire? Do I not hire? I knew the pandemic would be over eventually, but you must be flexible and have a good vision and good plan. Be flexible to change or extend the plan, but don’t forget the plan. It will eventually get better. Also, be flexible with team members to an extent. Things change and plans change. You must deal with it but be flexible enough to move on. If I need to go a different direction, I can.
4. Have a good sense of numbers and understand what moves them. The lack of people who understand profitability is amazing to me. If you keep spending money, you will lose money and go bankrupt. If there’s a problem, you have to have a good sense of numbers. Luckily for me, my background is in finance. When I was younger, I wondered how my dad could make more money. When talking about food cost, ticket pricing, etc. I know how to talk about numbers to change things. You also must remember what moves the numbers — did we hire new people, add too much labor, change the insurance policy, etc.? What caused the change in numbers and know why. Change what you can — hours, food, etc. Understanding the cause and effect of everything you do will give you more ability to persuade people.
5. Foster an inclusive environment. I realized this initially when working at Disney. More than ever today, people that are included buy into the plan so much better. Also, I want a different workforce because we are getting new ideas. This brings in more guests, a better environment, etc. Don’t go one direction and forget about the other. Find a way to include everyone and blend both concepts. When we took over boomers there were season passes. The previous company was only focused on giving discounts to season passholders. We wanted to provide this to all people and include all. Fostering an inclusive environment means many things — pricing, workforce, and more. We got our Autism Cert because we want to include more. We’re looking into Spanish menus because we want to include more. Think bigger.

In your role as a leader, what thoughts or concerns keep you awake at night? How do these reflections guide your decisions and leadership?

Once you’re willing to change and be flexible, you will have a better night’s sleep. Things that drive me crazy are when team members aren’t giving all their effort or when they’re willing to be flexible and change but withhold a good vision. How do you get my team members to do this with themselves? I try to reinforce our core values. Can I approach things another way? I will restate things in a different way, find quotes, etc. I will try to find a way to communicate when people have one foot on the bus and one foot on the ground. I want to be a part of something and have passion. There are times I talk to operations and try to offer additional training. When it gets to a point where they don’t respond, it’s time to let them go. If someone is causing cancer in our environment, then I stay up at night.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

The biggest thing I’ve learned with Boomers is the importance of core values. What does a business believe in and value? This is the biggest thing that will change a business and change its culture. What do you believe in? Honesty? Integrity? Growth? We must state as a company what we believe in and what we will move forward with. We think about guests, team members, etc. if you start teaching this to your team, the more you talk about it the more you will see behavioral changes in the team. You have to be able to go out and tell people what you believe in because they will follow you. This is what leaders ultimately forget. We need more companies to follow core values. If organizations follow what they believe in, they will see a change and get excited.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timmurphyceo/

Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. It’s been an honor to delve into the roots of your leadership journey, and we are grateful for the wisdom you’ve shared.

About the Interviewer: Cynthia Corsetti is an esteemed executive coach with over two decades in corporate leadership and 11 years in executive coaching. Author of the upcoming book, “Dark Drivers,” she guides high-performing professionals and Fortune 500 firms to recognize and manage underlying influences affecting their leadership. Beyond individual coaching, Cynthia offers a 6-month executive transition program and partners with organizations to nurture the next wave of leadership excellence.