We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tommy Ayers. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tommy below.
Hi Tommy, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I developed my work ethic at a very young age, i grew up watching my mom work 3 jobs to provide for me and my sister. I started off asking people can i take their trash out at 8 years old. It grew from that to me cutting grass and shoveling snow. I got my 1st summer payroll job through a school program called earn and learn and continued gaining work experience from there. I’ve done everything from a sanitation worker to factory work but i had a different kind of passion for restaurant work I always knew i wanted to have my own restaurant business 1 day. The passion for hibachi started when I got a job as a dishwasher at Benihana it was a unique style of cooking i wanted to learn more about. I worked my way up to become a table chef I loved it even tho i was the worse chef when I first started I was determined to become 1 of the best. Eventually I became very popular and the most requested my hard work was paying off. I didn’t want to settle I wanted to become the head chef so i took cooking courses and became serve safe certified. Guests began asking if I made Hibachi house calls, that’s how the concept of MBK Hibachi Catering was formed. I went out and bought a flat top grill and some business cards then stepped out on faith in 2017. A very good brother of mine, Ronnie Jordan was the connect to hibachi being a part of my life we started of boxing together thats how the friendship developed then he got me a job at Benihana years later from there we started Hibachi catering he passed away August 2022 i will forever be grateful that he introduced me to something I became very passionate about. I am constantly looking on ways to make my business stand out I make my own garlic butter, teriyaki sauce and yum yum sauce. I’m also in the process of revamping my menu with more protein options and egg rolls. I am committed to becoming a name mentioned in any conversation about hibachi in any city and state
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a travelling mobile hibachi caterer I do small/large events, parties, weddings, romantic dinners and pop up shops. I bring the full hibachi experience to you. The most exciting things about it is travelling networking with new people and the reactions once they taste the food I would say those 2 things make everything feel worth it to me.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Self control, leadership and perseverance are 3 skills that have been very impactful along my journey and they all go hand in hand. Self control is important because no matter what your trying to accomplish there will always be haters and doubters you have to learn every action don’t deserve a reaction 1 thing people are going to do is talk you have to be strong minded enough to block out the white noise and stick to your game plan. Leadership skill are important to me because leaders have the ability to stand alone or work with others without having to be in control but could take control of situations if need be. Perseverance is the most impactful skill of them all the will to continue no matter how bad you want to give up this skill develops leadership and self control. Life deals us all kinds of cards some beneficial some detrimental but perseverance make any obstacle possible to overcome. Advice for folks early or late in their journey is no matter what you think you know always be a student gain as much knowledge and experience as you can learn from it and don’t ever get comfortable, Stay focused!!!
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
I think being well rounded with strengths and improving on weaknesses is better than going all in on our strengths. The things we are good at is never a problem its always the things we’re not so good in that makes things difficult. For example you can be great in math but struggle with reading your weaknesses can weaken your strengths not improving on weakness can also take away from your value someone can offer the same service as you and they might b great in an area a customer is really big on if you never take time to build your weaknesses you will continue to get passed over until improvements are made in those areas.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Mr.HIMbachi
- Facebook: MBK Hibachi Catering
- Yelp: MBK Hibachi Catering
