A Word with Michael Stewart

Entering Michael Stewart’s room is not what you would expect from the son of one of the most well known entrepreneurs in British Columbia, it is actually quite modest to say the least. He spins around in his plastic desk chair from Ikea and greets me. His friend and housemate comes in the room joking that Michael would actually be the topic of biographical piece. I push out a forced laugh and get down to business, no pun intended.
Michael Stewart, as you know is the son of Cactus Club owner Jim Stewart, and has one promising career ahead of him. Born in Calgary, Alberta 20 years ago, this man seems to have been bread for business. “When I was younger, I like video games, which is not uncommon. But these days, I’m more interested in the business and watching the trends and the sales of video games then actually playing them.” And he does just that, logging on regularly to see how Microsoft’s Xbox is doing versus Sony’s PS3 or Nintendo’s Wii. He admires Nintendo the most for doing something completely different than everyone else, and would like to incorporate that into his own business some day.
Own business? Right now Mike has no definite plans, but in five years would like to be selling his first business, probably a restaurant, as he recognizes he has more resources available in that industry. Beyond that though, he really doesn’t have any plans for five years out. He isn’t planning on having a family by then, whatever that means for his current girlfriend of 2 ½ years. “I plan on being an entrepreneur”.
So what will happen to our favourite restaurant chain? His brother seems to be happier with his job at e-bay. But, he doesn’t seem to be too worried about any of it.
“Do you ever feel that your living in the shadow of your dad?” I had to ask. “Probably, although I don’t think it’s negative, because with expectations comes opportunities to exceed those.” And the opportunities are coming in. In addition to working for Cactus Club as a chef, for the last nine months, Mike has done several case studies for his dad’s company including a look into their HR structure and expediting their scheduling process, all the while receiving course credit. “Yeah you could probably screw it up, but if you really do take the time to learn and try to figure out what he’s done right in all these things, then you can use that to your advantage and build on that.”
So world, as Mike Stewart heads into his last year at University, finishes a few more case studies, and continues to work in and learn the art of running a restaurant, be on the look-out, because Mike will probably own your favourite restaurant, or at the very least be cooking in it.