To borrow a phrase from the NCAA, Austin Peay has more than 300 student-athletes and just about all of them will be going pro in something other than sports. Over the years, several of Austin Peay's departed student-athletes have gone on to do big things in their chosen field. David Sloan might've taken a circuitous route to becoming a restaurant tycoon, but he's just as passionate about what he can do for others through his work as he is about the work itself.
Sometimes, you discover a passion you never knew you had by pure accident. Perhaps even something as simple as being hungry.
Not hungry, the drive to be successful or desire to make money. Hungry, the feeling of wanting food RIGHT NOW.
Thus it was for David Sloan, former Austin Peay baseball player turned restaurant entrepreneur. A decade ago, he was a money manager in Naperville, Illinois with a desire to see a local mom-and-pop shop stay alive.
"The way I got started was kind of a funny story," Sload said. "My mother is French so I grew up in Paris quite a bit. Since I was a little kid, I was eating Middle Eastern food and Lebanese food, because it's very popular throughout Europe. I loved shawarma, I loved falafel but I could never find it in the states.
"About 10 years ago, I actually owned a money management company in Naperville. I was driving home and couldn't believe it—a small, hole-in-the-wall restaurant near my office called Naf Naf Grill, serving Middle Eastern food. This was 10 years ago—nobody knew shawarma, falafel, hummus, what any of that was. I went in and the food blew me away, how great it was. I went up to the owner and asked if I could help him create something out of this. So I went to my business partner and said, 'Hey, let's put some money into this restaurant and open up a nice one for them, and that way I can have my shawarma for lunch.' So it was more of a selfish play, my involvement—I wanted to be sure they didn't go out of business so I could eat Middle Eastern food whenever I wanted."
In 2010, the first professionally-designed Naf Naf opened and was a runaway hit. Seven years and roughly 40 restaurants nationwide later, Sloan had a new calling that had nothing to do with money management. He parlayed that success into Venture Kitchen, which now counts Invicto (a Mexican taqueria), Blackwood Barbecue and recently-acquired Indian fast-casual spot Naansense among its growing group.
Not bad for a former chemistry major-turned-money manager with no particular background in the industry. With his father, brother and sister all doctors and his mother a nurse, he once seemed more likely to wind up in the medical field than in the restaurant business.
Funny thing, life.
"I had no restaurant experience," Sloan said. "I was in money management. We raised and invested capital and I did that for about 15 years. I opened up the first restaurant as something to be fun, and it got in my blood. I love it."
With the success he and his group have had over the last decade, Sloan is able to give back and provide opportunities for a host of people in his community. He believes in giving back and doing good, which has taken several different shapes over the last few years.
It begins with One Feeds Two, a charity Sloan's group created to feed the underprivileged. Think of it as Toms Shoes for food—for every meal purchased at a Venture Kitchen property, a school meal is provided for a child living in extreme poverty. Sloan's group manages the U.S. branch of One Feeds Two, which began in the United Kingdom and has received substantial support from billionaire philanthropist Richard Branson. To date, nearly eight million meals have been served to kids who otherwise would not have gotten them.
"I believe in doing something good for the world," Sloan said. "I want to be a good example for my children and leave the world better than I found it. The goal [for One Meets Two] is to motivate kids to go to school to get their meal, because unfortunately in a lot of cases it's the only meal they'll get. The idea is that they'll go to school, they'll eat, they'll get educated and hopefully the end result is breaking the chains of poverty through education. We're helping out a lot of kids; we've seen them, the conditions they live in and it's heartbreaking. If we can help them in some way, help them get their education, I think it's the best thing we can do for them."
With Chicago a COVID-19 hot spot, Sloan's group has been stepping up in support of first responders as well. The brainchild of a friend in the business, Feed First Responders feeds nurses, firefighters and police offers in the greater Chicago area.
It's a pretty unique way of doing business.
"Basically we're giving away food to our customers and asking only that they donate whatever they want—a dollar, hundreds of dollars—for Feed First Responders," he said. "I've been blown away by people's generosity, and we've been using that money to purchase meals and deliver that food to local hospitals, police departments and fire departments, just as a way to say thank you during this time."
He's come a long way from his humble beginnings at Austin Peay, where he was an all-conference designated hitter on the 1996 team that marked the Governors first NCAA Regional appearance. Sloan, who married former Austin Peay women's basketball standout Amanda Behrinbrinker, remains one of 19 players in program history with more than 200 career hits.
He may have thought he was destined for a career in the medical field during his time in Clarksville. But he's having a huge impact in a different field and making the most of every opportunity that appears before him.
"It's one thing to be successful; it's another to be successful and do good, and if you can do both, that's the goal," Sloan said. "That's what life is about. Help people. Not only through charity work, but the people you hire and help them develop. We can take a person who didn't have the advantages you or I may have had, but we can bring them in and they can work their way up to a really life-changing career inside this business. There are very few businesses out there where you can take someone who doesn't have a college education but they can build a reputation and career in this business. If I can do good and help people, if I can have that kind of impact, then the business will take care of itself."
