Find A Mentor and Then Be One
Presented by Society Insurance
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By T. Chad Montgomery
Find a mentor, and then be one…
I am in the middle of selling the restaurant we started approximately 3 years ago, we are busy opening our bakery/café and prepared foods retail spot. How did I get here? It’s all about the people who invested in me.
Growing up in a family of seven, with two older sisters, and a Mom who could “throw down” in the kitchen, made it easy for me to want to stay in the house instead of banging my knuckles working on engines with my dad and three older brothers. I have been a foodie for as long as I can remember. I was that kid who wanted a birthday pie instead of cake.
My sisters helped me bake cookies, and I decorated my first cake around nine years old. Soon, I brought cakes to church and delivered my proudest achievement of zucchini bread to my neighbors to thank them. The zucchini bread was terrible, and I never forgot what that failure felt like. In high school, I cooked venison, made tacos and cookies at house parties, and soon got a job after school at a restaurant. I’d ride the bus to the restaurant. They would give me a ride home after my shift.
People invested in me, mentored me, listened to me, and simply helped me become who I am today. Paying it forward is an understatement of my motivation to help others.
After the Marines, I moved back to upstate New York and worked for the government until budget cuts left me unemployed with a week’s notice. The same week I lost my job, I left a 20-year long relationship. The question, “What’s next?” had no answer. I cooked and baked, mowed lawns, delivered pizzas, anything to pay the bills. The pizza place I delivered pizzas for gave me a full display to showcase my baked goods and then things started to happen as this landed me a job at Hilton Hotels as a Pastry Chef without a culinary degree.
“Fake it until you make it”, was the only thing I could say except “thank you”, to the people who believed in me and gave me a shot.
I moved to Georgia to be near my 85-year-old Dad and I found a job as a custodian at a local college. I was depressed for a year. I was thinking, “what did I just do?” I had my dream job, I had just bought a house, and now I’m cleaning toilets and living with my dad while being reminded that I am NOT the man of the house. I couldn’t even make oatmeal. I was in such a bad place.
A year later I started baking at night after work, averaging 2 hours of sleep. I bought a tent and worked at the student-run farmer’s market. I made $65 that day, I was so happy. There was no stopping me now.
A year later I found a 12-foot concession trailer. With duct tape, friends, and prayers we got it on the road and sold coffee and desserts. Business took off, I ordered a custom-built 28-foot food truck with a pizza oven on the back and started selling wood-fired pizza, lemonade, and cupcakes. I had a business advisor who was sharp and had a similar passion for restaurants. Amanda and I partnered up and opened a pizza shop that doubled as a bakery and started catering.
Now it’s time for my next chapter. I would not be in this position if it weren’t for surrounding myself with the right people.
Headquartered in Fond du Lac, Wis., Society Insurance has been a leading niche insurance carrier since 1915. As a mutual insurance company, Society focuses on the small details that make a big difference to its policyholders while offering top-notch insurance coverage, service and competitive pricing to businesses in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Tennessee, Colorado, Georgia and soon Texas.
Pastry Chef (man) hold tray of desserts
USMC
AAS Animal Science/Equine Concentration
Pastry Chef/Owner
Sylvania, GA
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