Asked if he could give his 23-year-old self a piece of advice, Prince Edward Island’s Kevin Murphy said it would be the same wisdom he and his co-founder/wife Kathy have lived by for the past 44 years: “Dream big, work hard—have a beer.”

“We have made many mistakes in our career, but I believe if you’re not making mistakes you’re not learning. We would not be where we are now if we did not make those mistakes,” he said.

Launched with a single restaurant, Murphy Hospitality Group (MHG) currently consists of 15 food and beverage operations, two boutique hotels and the Prince Edward Island Brewing Company, which produces beer as well as craft cocktails. In 2022, they opened MYSA Nordic Spa and Resort in St. Peter’s Bay, P.E.I. And then there’s Whitecap Entertainment, which hosts the now legendary Cavendish Beach Music Festival for more than 60,000 country music fans each year—snaring major acts in the past such as Taylor Swift and Chris Stapleton. Not to mention February’s P.E.I. Beer Festival and the Sommo Festival, a shoulder season celebration of food, music and drink in Cavendish.

But, hearkening back to Kevin’s message about failing, their success hasn’t been a linear line—roughly half the ventures they started have come and gone. Including the first one.

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