Trey Williams, 34
Co-owner, City Pork Restaurant Group and CP Hospitality
Trey Williams’ City Pork Deli & Charcuterie exploded onto the Baton Rouge food scene three years ago, and the brand continues to grow. With his business partners, Williams has since opened two more City Pork restaurants and is currently working to open Southfin Southern Poké in the Southdowns Shopping Center. Accolades for the popular barbecue restaurants have rained down in the past few years. City Pork concepts were named the Best New Restaurant in 2014 and 2015 by readers of 225, and they’ve also brought home the Best BBQ and Best Sandwiches titles in recent years. City Pork has also been featured on Food Network’s Burgers, Brew and Que. Williams currently serves on the boards of Hope Ministries and Alpha Strategic Partners, and has previously been on the boards of Manners of the Heart, LSU MBA Alumni Association and Louisiana Tech Alumni Association.
NAME THREE MAJOR PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
- Earning CCIM designation.
- “Rookie of the Year” at NAI/Latter & Blum Commercial Real Estate.
- Five 225 Best Of awards, including two for “Best New Restaurant.”
TELL US ABOUT YOUR VOLUNTEER & COMMUNITY AFFILIATIONS AND INVOLVEMENT.
Class of 2016, BRAC Leadership Baton Rouge graduate; Hope Ministries, current board member; Baton Rouge Green, 2017 board member; Alpha Strategic Partners, current member; Manners of the Heart, former board member and secretary; LSU MBA Alumni Association Board, former member; Louisiana Tech Alumni Association Board, former member; Heritage Ranch “Cookoff for the Kids” Planning Committee, 2014 and 2015; Heritage Ranch Golf Tournament Planning Committee, 2016; Coastal Conservation Association, Baton Rouge area committee member; Delta Waterfowl, Baton Rouge area committee member; Young Life Baton Rouge.
NAME ONE BOOK THAT HAS INSPIRED YOU PROFESSIONALLY.
Life on the Line by Grant Achatz
WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD, WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP?
Marine biologist.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB, HOW OLD WERE YOU AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM IT?
My cousin and I spent the summers of 1997-1999 (age 15-18) working for our grandfather in his hometown of Oak Ridge, Louisiana. It was a fairly flexible “summer job,” but we still put in a solid 30 to 35 hours a week, doing yard work around Oak Ridge and some minor construction work on a renovation project he had going on up there. It may have been teenage boys working for their grandfather during the summer, but he didn’t cut us any slack and expected that we work the same as anyone else. Anyone who knew him personally could probably believe that! This was a great experience for me because it (or mainly, he) taught me the value of a good work ethic. He didn’t let us mess around! This was a huge lesson for a 15-year-old boy. I remember he always used to tell us, somewhat jokingly, “You always have to suffer a little bit to have a good time!” At the time I didn’t really “get” that, but now that I’m grown and have a business of my own, I see how true those words were!
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE FOR A BUSINESS LUNCH IN BATON ROUGE, AND WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DISH THERE?
Well that’s easy: City Pork! For a quick, casual lunch with friends, I’d head to the Deli on Perkins or the Kitchen on Exchequer, but if I’m looking for a good “business lunch,” I’m probably headed to City Pork Brasserie and Bar on Jefferson. Most likely, would start out with some Wild Boar Flautas and/or a Charcuterie board, and I’m probably ordering a blue cheese wedge, add chicken, for my meal. That may not sound very exciting, and I’m definitely not a habitual salad eater, but it’s one of my favorite things on the menu, especially at lunch!
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT?
Marrying my wonderful wife, and building a family with her!
HOW DO YOU GET PUMPED UP BEFORE A BIG MEETING, PRESENTATION OR PITCH?
I just try to relax and be myself … No need to get the adrenaline pumping!
WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST FULFILLING MOMENT IN YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
Seeing happy people leave our restaurants!
WHAT WAS YOUR PROFESSIONAL “AHA MOMENT”?
When I realized that it’s perfectly OK to ask for help.
WHAT IS YOUR BEST PRODUCTIVITY HACK?
There’s a great app called “Toodledo” that helps me organize my tasks for the day.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED THE HARD WAY?
Don’t reinvent the wheel.
HOW DO YOU TYPICALLY DRESS FOR WORK—CASUAL? PROFESSIONAL? BUSINESS CASUAL? OTHER?
Somewhere between casual and business casual, depending on what’s going on.
WHY PART OF YOUR JOB DO YOU LOVE? WHAT PART DO YOU HATE?
Well, for starters, I love the food and I love the people! It’s great to work with people you like; our employees are all top-notch, just like the food they create! It’s fun, exciting and very fulfilling, and I am extremely passionate about the entire business! But at the end of the day, it is a business and it must be treated as such. What I “hate” about my job is having to strike a balance between passion and business, because the two don’t always align. If you only follow your passion without putting on your business hat every once in a while, you can get yourself into trouble really quickly, especially in this line of business!
MAC OR PC?
PC, most definitely! I’ve always been a fan of Apple handheld devices (iPod, iPhone, etc.) but I’ve never been happy with their operating system. But now, with their recent move to do away with the headphone jack for (seemingly) self-gratifying reasons, I’m questioning if I’m going to keep the iPhone!
ARE YOU ACTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA? IF SO, ON WHICH PLATFORMS ARE YOU MOST ACTIVE?
I’m on Facebook and I’m fairly active, but you probably won’t see me posting on your newsfeed. I spend most of my time browsing and commenting in some of the closed groups I’m in, most of which are focused on either my food passions (like fermenting, dry curing meats and wild game) or theology. I never really embraced Twitter, I think I have an Instagram account that I don’t have the password for, and Snapchat just left me in the dust. I’m not even sure what other platforms there are out there. I guess that officially makes me that “old guy” I swore I’d never be, who has let technology pass him up!
HOW MANY TEXTS DO YOU SEND ON AN AVERAGE DAY? HOW MANY EMAILS?
I really have no idea. My guess would be about 50 or so, combined?
HOW LOW WILL YOU ALLOW YOUR REMAINING PHONE OR COMPUTER BATTERY LIFE GET IN % BEFORE YOU HAVE AN ANXIETY ATTACK?
Once it gets down past 30%, I’m looking for a plug! I keep portable battery sources all around me, though, in case of emergency.
HOW MANY UNREAD MESSAGES ARE IN YOUR INBOX RIGHT NOW?
ZERO! If there’s one thing I do well, it’s keep my inbox organized. I use Outlook, and have 12 separate folders in my inbox, and each of them has dozens of subfolders underneath. Everything is in the proper folder, so I can realistically find any email that I’ve sent or received in the last 10 years!
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE APP AT THE MOMENT?
As I mentioned before, I have an app called “Toodledo” that’s a very simple platform to manage your tasks for the day. I haven’t fully embraced it yet, but I do use it often.
WHAT TECHNOLOGY DO YOU WISH WAS NEVER INVENTED?
The 24-hour news cycle.
WHAT TIME DO YOU GET UP ON WORKDAY MORNINGS?
Between 5:30 a.m. and 7 a.m., usually, depending on meeting schedules.
BREAKFAST AT HOME? BREAKFAST ON THE GO? BREAKFAST AT YOUR DESK? NO BREAKFAST AT ALL?
Unfortunately, I’m usually “no breakfast” but I’m not proud of that!
WHAT WAS THE BEST VACATION YOU HAVE EVER TAKEN?
The best vacation I have ever taken was probably five years ago to France, where I attended a three-week, hands on workshop called “Artisanal Butchery and Charcuterie” put on by a lady named Kate Hill. My wife, Katie, joined me and we started the trip with four days in Paris. We then took a train through the countryside to the Gascony region of southwest France, where we actually LIVED on a small farm where the pigs were raised and all the butchering took place. Katie only stayed with me for a few more days, but I spent the next three weeks in a very intensive, hands-on course focused on butchering whole pigs and creating delicious products from the pigs raised by the Chapolard family! This was the experience that really shaped what City Pork eventually turned into.
FAVORITE GIFT YOU WERE GIVEN AS A CHILD?
I remember when I was about seven-years-old my father gave me my first rifle. It was a Remington .243 with a cut-down stock so I could shoulder it. When I got older, I got a Browning .270 that I still use today (though I prefer to use a bow). That .243 is very special to me in that literally last weekend I sighted it in for the first time in over 20 years so that I can pass it down to the next generation!
WHICH TALENT OR SUPERPOWER WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO HAVE AND WHY?
Time travel, for sure. I really love history, and would like nothing more than to be able to go back and see important historical events as they unfolded. I’m sure that if I could, I would find that we know a whole lot less than we think we know about history!
WHAT ARE YOU SUPERSTITIOUS ABOUT?
Nothing, really.
FAVORITE DRINK?
Right now, I’m really big on Boba (bubble) tea, but there’s really nowhere to get it in Baton Rouge!
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BAND OR SONG?
Music is something that’s always been very close to my heart. This isn’t a “band,” per se, but I had a dear friend and musical mentor from back home in Monroe named Johnny O’Neal who taught me how to play the guitar, and opened my mind up to a whole world of music that I’d probably never have heard on the radio! He was a full-time local musician and guitar teacher who left a huge hole on Monroe’s entertainment scene when he passed away almost six years ago after succumbing to cancer. He sometimes played with a band, but was usually a one-man show with his guitar, a tambourine under his foot and a little chime he’d run his hand across every once in a while. Johnny and his music had a huge influence on me growing up, and I’m proud to say that his music still lives on because I sing it to my kids nearly every night before bed!
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?
Lonesome Dove, hands down, is one of the greatest movies ever made. And the book is even better! Even if you think you don’t like westerns, you should definitely give this one a chance.
WHAT SCARED YOU AS A CHILD, AND WHAT SCARES YOU NOW?
Snakes! And snakes!
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOUR 18-YEAR-OLD SELF?
If I could go back in time, I would tell my 18-year-old self to be more strategic about work experiences during college. As a business major, I knew the general direction I wanted to go in, but I didn’t have a career path set in stone. I spent all of my college summers working at a men’s clothing store in Monroe, LA, called Haddads, and it was a great experience! I made good money (for a college kid) and I learned how to “sell” from one of the best, but I did it for three summers in a row. One summer during college, one of my best friends took an unpaid summer internship at a bank. I vividly remember trying to convince my friend to come work with me at Haddads, and I recall not being able to fathom why he would spend a summer working for free, especially when he wasn’t planning on working for a bank after college! Little did I know that he would be picking up skills and knowledge that I would have killed for later in my career. I wish I could go back and explain to my 18-year-old self the importance of work experience, and tell him to be more strategic about it. I’d tell myself to spend a summer at Haddads (to learn about sales and customer service), spend a summer at a bank (to learn about finance) spend another one maybe working in construction. Each one of those experiences can help you make better decisions later in life, no matter what line of work you choose to go into.
PETS?
I’ve had lots of pets over the years, but nothing currently. Throughout my life, I’ve had a cocker spaniel, a Boston terrier, a yorkee, two fox squirrels, four flying squirrels, three chickens, two freshwater and three saltwater aquariums, three ducks, one snake (non-poisonous, but it actually ended up getting loose in the house!) and multiple turtles, lizards and other animals that small children like to collect! I always wanted a sugar glider, but never had the opportunity to get one.
WHAT’S THE NEXT BIG PERSONAL OR CAREER CHALLENGE YOU PLAN TO TAKE ON?
Well, we are in the process of opening up our fourth restaurant venture called Southfin Southern Poke! This will be a fast casual build-your-own-bowl concept based on the Hawaiian seafood dish known as Poke (which means “to cut” or “to dice” in Hawaiian). Check out and “like” our Facebook page for more info!
WHAT CONCERNS YOU MOST ABOUT THE FUTURE?
Political polarization and propaganda. That seems to be all you see in nearly all elections, not just limited to the highest office. There seems to be far less middle ground today than there has ever been in the past, and far less “truth” coming from both parties than ever before. If our country and community continues to go down this path of polarization, where will it take us? When is enough going to be enough, and where will it end?
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ADVICE FOR FUTURE FORTY UNDER 40 HONOREES?
Be self-aware. Know your own strengths, weaknesses and limitations, and don’t be afraid to seek out help when you need it. If you don’t have any kind of a mentor, find one. If you don’t have any kind of spirituality, find it. If you need guidance, seek it out. Failing to acknowledge your weaknesses and refusing to accept help can be a major Achilles heel for your growth, both personally and professionally.
DO YOU PLAN TO BE IN THE CAPITAL REGION FIVE YEARS FROM NOW? WHY OR WHY NOT?
Absolutely! This is “home!”
