Stephen Mitchell Jr., a 12-year-old student at Bronzeville Classical School, has earned multiple awards for math, poetry and robotics. Along with his stellar academics, “Stevie” is also passionate about track and tennis.
He has his eyes set on becoming an entrepreneur one day, a goal his father regularly offers advice on.
“You want to do something that you love and not something that will just get you this money, but something that you actually enjoy and wake up always wanting to go there,” Stevie said.
That place for Stevie? Chick-Fil-A.
“Since he was a little boy, he really loved Chick-Fil-A and he would inquire, ‘Can I invest in Chick-Fil-A?’ and I was like, ‘It’s not a publicly held company, but you can become an owner/operator,'” Stevie’s father, Stephen Mitchell Sr., said.
That’s exactly what Stevie is setting out to do.
He already has a “future operator” name tag and even dressed up as his mentor for Halloween, Kareem Edwards, a loving father and the owner/operator of the Chick-Fil-A in the South Loop.
“[Stevie’s] father expressed to me that he dressed as me for Halloween, which blew my mind and as a young kid, I always aspired to be a business owner and mentor, and hopefully be a positive role model. So to see Stevie in all the greatness he has and play any role in his life was surreal and rewarding,” Edwards said.
By the time he’s 25 years old, Stevie wants to own a Chick-Fil-A. To keep things moving in the right direction, he’s interning with Kareem this summer to learn.
“Different strategies to make sure you’re getting the right profit and saving money and all of that type of stuff, so I’m learning a lot,” Stevie said.
For Stevie, the though of going into business is not just about making money, but opening doors of opportunity for his community.
“I think as a Chick-Fil-A owner/operator, I can help the people around me and my community. Like I said, I want to create jobs for other people and to create opportunities,” Stevie said.
Stevie also made an appearance on the WGN Weekend Morning News Saturday morning. You can watch that segment here.
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