A short SBA YouTube success-story interview (April 22, 2022) featuring Scotty Johnson, a retired service member who used the Post-9/11 GI Bill to attend culinary school and founded Blessed and Highly Flavored Cuisine, a private chef service in Warner Robins, GA. The video describes Scotty's path from military retirement (October 2015) into culinary entrepreneurship, how Boots to Business training (SBA/VBOC) helped him with business fundamentals, and how SBA resources (including EIDL during the COVID pandemic and other loan programs) supported his business continuity.
Questions this video answers
October 2015.
Post-9/11 GI Bill.
Boots to Business (free two-day introductory entrepreneurship class).
Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL).
Timothy Craig.
Chapters
My name is Scotty Johnson. I'm the executive chef, owner of blessed and highly flavored cuisine Private chef services, which right here in Warner Robins Middle, Georgia area, I would say. And what we do, we bring fine dining to their homes, different clients, we provide cooking classes. I have clients that I do meal preps for every week when I go in and fix up meals in their home or I prepare it here in my house and deliver it. So I like making healthy dishes for people based on what they want to eat. My private share services. I got into it when I retired from the military1 October 2015. I made an announcement to everybody that came to the retirement ceremony, including my wife for the first time that I was going to culinary school. And so my wife's like, culinary school? What about a job? I said, well, you know, a leap of faith. I took a leap of faith. Never cooked in the military. I was an artillery guy. So I took the post 911 GI bill and decided to use that to go to culinary school. My business already was up and going, I say, about a year into my business, almost a year, my wife, she said, hey, I signed you up for a class. And she said, it's a booster business. And I was like, boost the business. What is that? I didn't want no class. I don't need this. And so she said, well, you going, I signed you up for it. So I went. And what it did, I realized that first day, I was like, wow, this is a great class because it helped me build my business. It taught me to find out my demographics, the financial part, the management part. So it taught me those things that will help me grow my business.
My name is Timothy Craig. I am the director of the Veterans Business Outreach center in Warner Robbins, Georgia. The VBOC is a SBA organization whereby we assist veterans who are looking to start, grow, expand or purchase a business. As such, through the sba, we teach a free two day class called Bootster Business. Boots to Business is the introduction entrepreneurship class to assist those transition military veterans who are getting out, those who are currently veterans, National Guard reservists, and their spouses who want to start a business. And so through the Bootstrap Business class, we teach eight foundational aspects of how to get a business started and also about how to connect with other SBA resource partners, because there's always an SBA resource partner in our ecosystem that can help you at every step of the way.
Along the way, teaming up with Tim Craig helped me out tremendously and the amount of resources that they have you know, the sba reach out and let them help you because like during the COVID pandemic, we had various obstacles that we had to overcome and face. So I reached out to SBA to give me the economic injury disaster loan, which helped out my business and kept.
It afloat under the umbrella of the sba. There are a lot of loan options that a veteran can consider for their business. It's not just Eidl, it's not just PPP loan. There are many loan options out there. Again, starting, going or expanding in business. There's a funding program available to you.
In that context, I think the biggest thing I have been great supporters, you know, with SBA, VBoC, with your spouse, friends, family, my parents. The biggest thing and to think about is that I'm able to reach out and touch whichever one I need at what particular time and they're always there. And each one of them brings a different perspective of what I'm looking for. Answers I'm looking for being able to have hands on with those supporters is the best thing ever.
The military, I believe, is one of the greatest incubators of talent and pulling those things to the fore and giving an individual the wherewithal to figure out what they're good at. I tell all my veterans that you're going to use those same traits that the military taught you. You're going to put those same traits in your business. You understand how to pivot, you understand how to develop relationships. You understand how to solve problems. Problems as things occur. The military has taught you those things don't negate what they've taught you. Use those in the context of how your business will proceed and go further down the line. If you call the Veterans Business Outreach center first, no matter where you are in the US they can help you to put your business on the right path, make the right decisions and become a profitable, sustainable and successful business in the small business world.
