We recently had the chance to connect with Mike Kelton and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Mike, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
My GM at one of my restaurants was recently out on maternity leave. She is a great asset to my team (as are many of my team members). Taking leave was going to be challenging for her financially, so I paid her a portion of her salary while she was out. I also bought out her baby registry on Amazon. I frequently interact with her family & have a great relationship with her older son. Well she called me immediately when it was time for her to go to the hospital & have her baby. She was due to have a C section. I went straight to the hospital, stayed there thru surgery & was there after she came out with a beautiful new baby boy. I took them food both days she was in the hospital. Here’s the part that makes me proud & a little bit emotional. When the nurses asked if I was her father, without hesitation, she said yes. It makes me proud to have that type of relationship with my staff because I could not do what I do without them.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m retired from a 32 year career in the wine & spirits business. I now own/operate a small restaurant group – currently five locations. I have three Sweet Paris Creperie & Cafe locations, which is a popular location chain focusing on the art of making crepes. I also own two independent restaurants, Treehouse Cafe in Magnolia & Hunger Crush Cafe on Lake Conroe. I think the most unique aspect of my company is our community involvement & support. I support local charities thru all my restaurants as well as local youth & community organizations. I also try to take very good care of my staff. I want them to feel at home & part of my family. What drives me is building a team working toward common goals & achieving those goals together and establishing a positive family culture in my company. I am proud to look back & see all that we accomplished together. I am extremely proud to have long term employees, some who have been with me from the very beginning. That is rare in the restaurant industry.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
This is a tough question to answer. There are several very important relationships that shape me. First was my relationship with my dad. We were very close. He passed away when I was ten, but the things he taught me in those ten years still influence who I am & how I act today. When I was about eight or nice, I had a homework assignment that I struggled with. I took it to him asking for help. He looked at it & saw I hadn’t even attempted to complete it. He refused to help me & told me to go try to do what I could & he would then help me with what I struggled with. I went off crying to my room, but I worked on it (had no choice). I was able to figure it out & complete it with no help. He told me I could accomplish anything if I was willing. That sticks with me to this day.
Next are the relationships with my two daughters. They are my best friends & I love our adult relationship now. They both work for me, which makes me proud. I find that I strive to be the best dad, leader, mentor I can to set a positive example for them.
Finally, my relationships with my grandkids are the absolute best. I adore them both. I believe being a grandparent is a wonderful reward out of life. I am the Pop Pop that gets on the floor with them. That gets more challenging as I get older, but it helps keep me young. I take much better care of myself physically, mentally & emotionally now because I want to be around a long time for them.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering & failure are the ultimate teachers. Unfortunately we don’t see it that way when we are young. Suffering taught me how to survive on my own. After my dad passed away, my mother became a abusive alcoholic. I had to learn at a young age how to survive – take care of myself. I learned that no one was going to do it for me. Suffering & failure made me find alternative ways to get things done. They taught me resiliency & patience. They taught me what I didn’t want from life & pushed me to pursue the opposite. They qualified me to now mentor/guide others thru the same things that I suffered through. I think most importantly, they taught me to greatly appreciate success. I do not take my successes for granted.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
Integrity, loyalty, important relationships, being a great support for those around me. At least that is what I hope they would say about me. I want people to know I at least try to do the right thing no matter what. I try not to allow external influences to sway that stance. I want people to know that I am loyal to them, that their relationship matters to me. I want people to feel they can rely on me. If that is the legacy I leave behind, then I will be happy.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. When do you feel most at peace?
That is easy – when I am surrounded by nature. A pastor once told me that nature is my God. I feel the closest to a creator in nature. I love the mountains, the woods, the ocean. I like rain storms when I’m in the safety of my home. I live on 4.25 acres now away from busy neighborhoods. I love sitting outside at dusk listening to the cicadas. I stayed in a cabin about 30yeard from a rolling stream on one of my trips to Costa Rica. I would just sit on the porch & listed to the that stream rush over the rocks. I hiked up to about 11K feet in Colorado Rockies along a stream that was feed by a mountain lake. Once I got to that lake, I just want overlooked the mountains for hours. It is amazing to me what God, the Universe, whatever you wan to call the higher power has created.
Contact Info:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetparisthewoodlands, https://www.facebook.com/sweetparisaustin, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575380740788, https://www.facebook.com/TreehouseCafeMagnolia, https://www.facebook.com/HungerCrushCafe
