Cameron Mitchell
Cameron Mitchell Restaurants
Columbus, OH USA
"One step in front of the other. You’re trying to build a career and a lifetime, and it’s done one brick at a time. There’s no other way to do it."
Career Roadmap
Cameron's work combines: Entrepreneurship, Food, and Accomplishing Goals
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Advice for getting started
There have been naysayers all along my path as an entrepreneur. Even one of my friends doubted my abilities when I told her I was going to start my own restaurant company. She was right, I didn't know much about starting a restaurant company. However, if you're determined to do something, you can figure out all you need to know about how to do it along the way, which is exactly what I did.
Here's the path I took:
Bachelor's Degree
Culinary Science
Culinary Institute of America
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio.
2.
I started working in restaurants when I was in high school, starting as a dishwasher at a local steakhouse.
3.
Upon graduating high school, I realized that I loved working in restaurants and wanted to devote my career to that.
4.
At age 18, I wrote out my goals and the steps I would need to take to get from culinary school to president of a restaurant company by age 35—then I set myself out on that path.
5.
While building my career, I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to become the president of the restaurant company I was working for, so I began thinking about starting my own restaurant company.
6.
I left my job and spent 14 months working without a paycheck to try and put my first restaurant together.
7.
I opened my first restaurant in 1993 at 30 years old—since then, I’ve continued to build Cameron Mitchell Restaurants up and have opened 100 restaurants across the country.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Friends:
Are you crazy? You don't know anything about starting a restaurant company.
How I responded:
There have been naysayers all along my path as an entrepreneur. Even one of my friends doubted my abilities when I told her I was going to start my own restaurant company. She was right, I didn't know much about starting a restaurant company. However, if you're determined to do something, you can figure out all you need to know about how to do it along the way, which is exactly what I did.