Jeff and Lisa Wilkins decided Southeast Michigan deserved a gift, and they’ve worked hard to bring it here. That gift is an amazing dining choice that has never been available here before – but it’s earned a huge fan base in the South.

Think Greek/Mediterranean fare, with 100 percent fresh ingredients, and tinged with the taste of the American Deep South.

What the heck is that?

That, our friends, is Taziki’s Mediterranean Café, which is wowing customers day in and day out at its location in Rochester Hills – at 3792 S. Rochester Road (between South Blvd. and M-59).

Jeff already owns several Taziki’s locations in Louisville, so he knew what he was bringing to Metro Detroit would be amazing. And after a diverse background, Jeff found Taziki’s to be a great fit for his entrepreneurial ambitions. It’s been a real pleasure working with Jeff and Lisa to help put Taziki’s on the Metro Detroit map, which is why he’s a great guest for this month’s Six Questions with Dan and Michelle.

Maybe calling it a rant is going a bit far. It’s more like a heartfelt expression of respect and concern – all while you’re wondering to yourself, “How far down is it behind him?”

The video is now featured atop the main page of our website, but we might as well share it here too:

Recently our roving reporter asked Dan why he felt the need to ascend to these heights and hold forth on such weighty topics. Here is what Dan told us:

“I think corporate communication has become so formulaic, none of it means anything anymore. Maybe it’s driven by data, or SEO, where someone tells you these are the words you need to say, and you just say them like the consultants told you and figure that’s what marketing communication is.

“But the result is corporate messaging that is so predictable and monolithic, it’s mostly a waste of time to read anyone’s material. None of it really tells you anything. And that frustrates me as a writer because I’ve spent my career interviewing CEOs and uncovering fascinating stories about what their companies are doing – and how they’re doing it. This has been a tremendous experience. Michelle and I often talk about how one of the coolest parts of our job is how much we learn just by talking to people and writing about what they’re doing. The stories we’ve written in DBusiness and elsewhere have gotten so many plaudits both for us and for the companies we’ve featured.

“I don’t understand why the material companies put out on their own behalf doesn’t sound like that. But most of it just sounds soulless, like it was written to fit a formula put together by someone who wouldn’t really recognize what’s special about a company if it smacked him in the face.

“And I want these CEOs to know their material can sound that interesting.”

And before he left, he declared: “Business stories will not be formulaic and soulless anymore! I will not allow it!”

Then he tried to put on his sunglasses really fast but poked himself in the eye instead.

The three of us all participated in the Troy Chamber of Commerce’s Community Impact Day on May 13, with Dan and Angie planting flowers at the Pontiac Transportation Museum and Michelle helping to make blankets for hospitalized children in support of Fleece and Thank You. We ended up with some dirt on our hands and sore muscles, but it was all worth it for the impact we had the opportunity to make – and we’re grateful to the organizations who made this happen. It was an honor to be a part of it.

Michelle will be appearing on the morning of June 6 at an open house for the Livonia Police and Fire Department, helping to lead games and activities as kids get to experience police K9s, the jaws of life, SWAT team stuff and truck sit-ins. Michelle is a great event host and the kids of Livonia are in for a great experience.

Congratulations to our client Bestway International for the launch of their new website! We were happy to have a hand in it.

The May 2026 issue of DBusiness includes the magazine’s annual 30 In Their 30s feature, and this year 10 of the profiles were written by Dan.

Dan and Angie will be celebrating their 29th wedding anniversary on June 7! They’re starting to think this marriage thing might be working out.

We studied Luke 10, in which Jesus sent out 72 disciples to tell people about the Kingdom of God in various places. One intriguing detail is when the 72 come back, all are excited because spirits are subject to their commands. Jesus recognizes the danger here, and warns them, “ . . . do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

This sparked a pretty lively discussion about how important it is that, if we get to exercise spiritual gifts, we do that with humility and not to get attention for ourselves. It’s all for the purpose of glorifying God and blessing others, not so we can look cool and feel like hotshots because demons have to do what we say.