The Life of Cameron Mitchell, Now a $300 Million Business Mogul

BusinessFebruary 22, 2019

At the age of 19, Cameron Mitchell had an epiphany that totally changed his life. At the time, it’s safe to say he had hit rock bottom. He was living with his mother, had quit school, and was working at two restaurants just to make a decent living.

No Direction in Life

Cameron Mitchell became a successful entrepreneur despite having a pretty rough childhood

As Mitchell would put it, he felt he was lazing around and had no direction in life. Moreover, punctuality was a major problem for him at the time. He would report pretty late for work numerous times to the point that it got him a three-day suspension.

Then everything changed one Friday evening as the restaurant was experiencing a high volume of customers. He entered to find pandemonium in the kitchen area because the morning staff was being replaced by the evening staff. That’s when he realized that he loved being part of the restaurant.

The same evening after his shift. Mitchell went home and drew up his dream plan, setting goals for himself. By 23, he planned to be an executive chef, by 24, the general manager of the restaurant, and by 30, the vice president of operations.

Fast forward 35 years later, and it’s crystal clear that Mitchell has surpassed these goals, plus so much more.

As a matter of fact, he is currently the head of a multi-business empire.

Making a U-Turn

Mitchell, who is now 54, is the proud owner of the private Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, which was started in 1993. It currently has more than 55 restaurants throughout the country.

Moreover, it offers an assortment of eating delicacies, spanning from gastropubs to steakhouses.

If that’s not enough, he also owns a chain of casual dining restaurants which he launched in 2002 known as the Rusty Bucket Restaurant & Tavern that currently has 23 locations.

Last but not least, Mitchell is the head of one of the largest catering businesses in the world.

His combined business ventures are a source of income for more than 4000 workers, with half of them being full-time employees. The total annual revenue generated from his businesses totals to a whopping $300 million!

Mitchell managed to overcome his early dependence on drugs and alcohol and successfully pursue his dream

A Difficult Early Life

From the get-go, Mitchell’s dream was not to just have one restaurant.

That being said, he does admit that being a successful entrepreneur to the level that he is was the last thing on his mind while he was still in his youthful years in Columbus, Ohio.

At the time, he was a high school dropout, trailing in his academics, and deeply engrossed in drugs.

In fact, his downward spiral began when his parents separated when he was only nine years old. By the time he was in the 7^th grade, he had already started smoking and by the 8^th grade, was doing drugs and alcohol.

His behavior was so erratic to the point that his mother threatened him that she would phone child services on his behavior. Scared, Mitchell opted to run away, and for a while, lived with other runaway kids.

During the time, he robbed and stole with other kids, but fortunately, was never arrested by the cops.

When his junior year was just about to begin, Mitchell had a change of heart, and decided to call his mother requesting her that he wanted to come back home.

When in school, his mother was unable to give him any lunch money. So in turn, Mitchell opted to take a medial job at a steakhouse nearby. In fact, Mitchell worked throughout his high school years. Though his motives for working were solely on money, beer, and Taco Bell.

Though not doing well in school, Mitchell was a likable individual and was even elected senior class president during his high school year

He almost graduated, but unfortunately, failed one of his classes.

Despite having a grade point average of 1.05, and being ranked in his graduating class 592 out of 599, he was a likable bloke in school, and hence, voted the senior class president.

Building a Business Empire

That being said, when Mitchell decided to change his life, he decided to set out a plan and a series of goals to pursue his dreams.

To kick it off, he began by focusing his efforts on gaining enrollment on the Culinary Institute of America. Nevertheless, during the summer, he needed to take classes to complete his high school degree.

He relentlessly pursued his dream, and in 1993, started Cameron’s American Bistro in Ohio, Worthington. Before he knew it, he kept expanding and innovating and now runs a $300 million culinary empire.