At 2nd American Restaurant on Thursday night, around 85 entrepreneurs who have scaled their businesses to at least $1 million in annual revenue sat to a family-style meal of beef cheek roast, airline chicken and the restaurant’s signature bowl of mashed potatoes.
The real meat and potatoes at the fourth gathering of the Chattanooga Owners Club, however, was an hour of mentorship around the question of how to get employees to take ownership of their work. Each table of six had a mentor to guide the discussion. Call it LinkedIn in real life, or group therapy for perfectionists with money on the line.
The invite-only club provides a curated conversation not found on social media and the opportunity to share the struggles and triumphs of self-starting in the Scenic City. The dinners have featured fireside chats with prominent local business owners like hotel developer Mitch Patel and venture capitalist Ted Alling.
The ticket holders own, or have owned, insurance companies and third-party logistics providers and real estate firms and general contractors and McDonalds franchises. They are millennials, baby boomers, men and women of various ethnicities.