Steve Simpson, Owner, Tomlin Subdivision

What drew you to entrepreneurship?

The honest answer is I never wanted to be an entrepreneur, never dreamt of owning restaurants at all. All I wanted to do was be a chef and provide a great work environment that would keep cooks and chefs here in Thunder Bay instead of the standard move away to a different city if you want to get real about cooking. We started this company as a way to provide great cooking, serving, and bartending jobs for people in our community. We also wanted to foster what we try our best to be: a sustainable career in restaurants with room for growth and a really great atmosphere. We try to make it feel like a family, and yes I’m aware how brutally corny that sounds.

What is your most memorable moment being an entrepreneur?

To say I have one moment I look back on would probably mean making something up. I have thousands of favourite memories as an entrepreneur and almost all of them are based around laughter. Although I take cooking and running a business seriously I don’t take much else seriously and prefer to keep things light. When I think back on all my favourite memories in this business it’s all just various scenes of laughter with great co- workers that over the years become so much more.

Who was your biggest inspiration/mentor?

I’ve had quite a few mentors and points of inspiration throughout my career but probably not one that I could point to for all of my inspiration. My dad was a chef so a lot of it would have started early in life but throughout the years I’d say I’ve been inspired by and mentored in some way by hundreds of people. Everyone has an absolute tonne you can learn from them if you pay attention and make them feel appreciated for their time and effort. So instead of naming everyone, why don’t I just say thank you to every single person I’ve worked with, been friends with, and spent time around the last 20 years I’ve been doing this. Honestly, thank you! Most importantly, I’m inspired daily by my current co-workers at all of our locations and all of my friends and family who’ve shown support trying to carve out time with a total pain like me.

If you could go back in time what piece of advice would you give yourself?

Keep your ego out of it. The amount of decisions I let my ego make for me in my younger years may have done some good for me with how much it pushed me to work and learn in the onset of my career. At a certain point though, ego destroys your chances at real growth. I would tell young Steve that no one type of food is better or more important than the others, no one type of restaurant is better or more important than the others, and no one cares how much you and your staff work. I love the more sustainable approach we’ve taken over the last few years. I don’t think in my youth I would be near as excited as I get today when trying to make people’s jobs better and trying to help find worklife balance. I don’t think I would have understood that phrase at all. This industry always comes with some periods of working too much and too hard, but finding time for everyone to collectively exhale is the key.