Alumnus Learned to Follow His Entrepreneurial Dream at St. John’s
From his earliest childhood days, Somers, NY, native Michael T. Chidester ’98MBA enjoyed an intense passion for cheesesteaks. “As a kid, I would grab $5 or $10 from my parents to buy one from a vendor at a little food court in Cape May, NJ, where we vacationed,” he explained. “I also sampled all the great hole-in-the-wall cheesesteak places where I went to school in Lehigh Valley, PA.”
When he moved to Long Island, Mr. Chidester nurtured that passion and turned it into a business. “I realized a good, authentic cheesesteak wasn’t really offered, not that I could see.”
It was a leap of faith, and it goes back to my time at St. John’s. That’s where I learned to follow my passion and do something in which I truly believed.
Before that happened, he began his career at United Parcel Service of America, Inc. (UPS) after majoring in industrial engineering at a local university in Pennsylvania. “I explored different roles at UPS. I spent nine years moving from supervisory managerial positions in different departments,” he explained. “UPS was a great way to cut your teeth.”
However, it wasn’t something Mr. Chidester viewed as a long-term career. “I was able to leverage their tuition reimbursement program to go back and get my graduate degree at St. John’s.”
He added, “I looked at schools in the area that would enable me to continue working at UPS while still getting a great education. I could get an M.B.A. at night while still working. St. John’s was the perfect place for that. It was a way for me to expand my horizons.”
Mr. Chidester described his St. John’s experience as “refreshing” and allowing a free flow of ideas. “I felt so much more valued,” he said. “I was able to share my work experience. Along with the education St. John’s provided, it was a completely different, more engaging, and more valuable experience.”
Mr. Chidester pointed to an organizational behavior class where he was asked to read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, which greatly influenced him. “That class helped me see how my values and personal goals aligned with my career goals. From then on, I really wanted to find something for which I was passionate, something that I wouldn’t mind doing for 50 or 60 hours a week.”
Mr. Chidester then joined the Executive-in-Residence Program (EIRP) offered by the College of Business Administration (now The Peter J. Tobin College of Business). The program provides undergraduate and graduate students with in-school opportunities to engage in real-world business consulting with actual business and nonprofit organizations.
“That was a very impactful program. We presented our idea at Deloitte and knocked it out of the park. It was a very professional environment, and we displayed our entrepreneurial spirit.”
As an alumnus, Mr. Chidester has participated in the EIRP program, which he finds very satisfying. “I was ecstatic, knowing how valuable it was to me. I was enthused about providing that historical background to the teams this year, knowing what they were going through and understanding what they were trying to accomplish.”
After earning his M.B.A., Mr. Chidester enjoyed a successful career for The Coca-Cola Company, holding positions in Logistics, General Management, and as Vice President of Supply Chain, but kept feeling that call to entrepreneurship. “I wanted to build something on my own,” he said.
That childhood passion for cheesesteaks again rose to the forefront.
Mr. Chidester’s childhood nickname is “Chiddy,” and a friend suggested that he open a food truck offering the kind of cheesesteak he grew up loving. Chiddy’s CheeseSteaks was born, growing to seven successful locations throughout Long Island (including another truck and five brick-and-mortar locations), with one in Queens at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets.
“I expected to start something small and see if, with hard work and motivation, I could grow it to something big,” he recalled. “You must be willing to fail, because if you’re not, you won’t take the necessary steps to succeed.”
Mr. Chidester added, “It was a leap of faith, and it goes back to my time at St. John’s. That’s where I learned to follow my passion and do something in which I truly believed.”
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