Brian Newlin cares for the community with love and compassion
By Sherri Coner // Photography by Angela Jackson
There are some people who don’t ever seem to meet a stranger. They reach out to others with a giving heart and expect nothing in return. Brian Newlin, a well-known face among southsiders, is one of those individuals.
While growing up in Nashville, Tennessee, Newlin often tagged along when his parents volunteered for various efforts around the city and as the years passed, they encouraged him to do the same. They also emphasized that being part of a community includes offering a helping hand when it’s needed.
After graduating from high school, Newlin earned a business management degree at Lipscomb University. During that time, he kept busy and developed his own personal goals, but all the while, held on to his parents’ advice.
With a natural combination of southern hospitality and the kindness of an old soul, Newlin initially spent five years working for Outback Steakhouse. Though he was primarily responsible for administrative tasks, he decided it was important to build strong relationships with young employees. So instead of merely talking with them about things, such as menu changes and scheduled time off, he strived to become a consistent and understanding confidante.
Newlin knew which employees were taking part in athletics or working toward college scholarships. In fact, he’s convinced his genuine concern for them made a positive difference as those workers began to take, as he describes it, “more pride in their work performance.” They also displayed increased support for their own co-workers.
In 2001, Outback Steakhouse bought Bonefish Grill in Castleton, Indiana, so when management asked Newlin to provide training for new employees, he happily packed up his belongings and headed north.
Although he was excited about the new professional challenge, Newlin was equally thrilled about the opportunity to experience Indiana weather. His winters in Nashville had certainly been filled with inclement weather that included treacherous ice storms, but he was looking forward to even more than Music City had provided.
“It’s winter for six months out of the year (in Indiana), and I’m in heaven,” he said with a laugh.
According to Newlin, his first three years in Indiana went by quickly, and it wasn’t long before he was asked to transfer to Bonefish Grill in Greenwood. For five years, he worked as the dining room and bar manager, and those experiences gave him the confidence necessary for another professional leap.
“I’ve been a managing partner for 16 years,” he said, proudly.
When Newlin transferred to the Greenwood-area Bonefish, he also became a Center Grove resident and that transition eventually brought about another change in his life when his future wife walked into his restaurant for the first time.
Hannah, formerly of Columbus, Indiana, had been waiting for a full-time teaching job to open in the area. But in the meantime, she secured a server’s job at Newlin’s Bonefish Grill, and a budding romance soon began.
“What I liked about him at first was his confidence,” Hannah said of her husband. “He’s very funny, too. He’s calm and peaceful, and he is kind. Brian was a great boss.”
Hannah left Bonefish in 2017 to accept a teaching position at an alternative high school in the IPS school system.
“And I thought, ‘You know what? I’m going to ask that young lady out,’” Newlin said. “Hannah is the truest, happiest, most energetic and high-spirited person I’ve ever met. And she is gorgeous.”
When their unspoken mutual attraction finally had no barriers, what had been casual dating quickly turned into a comfortable relationship.
Married four years ago, the Newlins patiently worked together to achieve a workable balance between the constant class planning and preparation Hannah squeezed into her schedule and the stacks of paperwork and 82 employees always on Brian’s mind.
Along the way, Newlin continued to remember his parents’ advice about the importance of community service every time area school representatives came asking for donations.
When damaging storms moved through the Center Grove area, Newlin volunteered to feed crew members who spent countless hours addressing the damage that had taken place.
As the threat of COVID-19 led to nearby school and business closings, Newlin thought about those who still had to perform jobs outside the safety of their homes, so he asked his employees for help.
Ultimately, working alongside both employees and personal friends, Newlin provided 80 to 100 meals to all shifts of hospital employees, firefighters, EMT workers and police officers.
These days, Newlin enjoys seeing the children of former employees apply for jobs at Bonefish Grill, all the while reflecting on and hoping for the same positive work experience their parents often describe. Newlin said he’s honored when those moments occur.
“I teach kids to have confidence in themselves,” he said. “I always want to build them up.”
Newlin also wants to pass along the character-building experiences and knowledge his parents gave to him because he said life is about more than just grade point averages and customer service at Bonefish. In fact, he said life is about paying attention and caring enough to identify needs in others and then respectfully following through on those needs.
“Sometimes you have to look for opportunities to help instead of waiting to be asked to help,” he said.
Newlin also wants kids to realize how they feel about themselves when they help in the community.
“The older I get, the more I realize that I just want people to succeed,” he said. “I want to help them grow.”
Since July 23, 2023, Newlin’s caring heart has grown even larger. It was on that date that he and Hannah welcomed their first child into the world, a boy named Harvey Houston Newlin.
The baby’s presence has helped calm an otherwise aching heart in Hannah.
“He’s been like an angel to me,” she said while cuddling Harvey. “In the last year, I lost my dad and my grandma and a pet. It was the worst year. But somehow it was also the best year of my life because of him.”
With Harvey, Brian has also discovered new levels of love within himself.
“It’s cliche to say, but I honestly didn’t know how wonderful, how fulfilling … how much love I could have in my heart,” he said.
In a world that many believe is becoming increasingly selfish, Newlin’s commitment to others and his community has only gotten stronger.
“Sometimes, you can’t help with whatever is going on,” he said. “But you can always help the helpers. I don’t think everything happens for a reason, but I do think everything works out.”
