Hue Jackson: Diner chef, featured on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives”
Hue Jackson just wants to make good food to feed the good people of the smallish California town he calls home. His parents’ gardening and cooking habits of his childhood, though, have permeated the 15-seat diner he’s owned since saving up from his first line cook job when he was 14 years old. The fresh, local ingredients have been a staple of his humble menus since the first day; little did he know that approach would eventually become trendy, and that the nation’s top connoisseur of diner delicacies would come calling.
“Triple D [Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives] changed my life and my business, definitely for the better,” Jackson told the local paper not long after Guy Fieri, the host of the popular Food Network show, came to town in 2015. “He called my abelskiver ‘the fluffiest pillows in Flavortown’ and my five-bean chili ‘the big kahuna.’ I can never take those two off the menu now!” added Jackson. Most importantly, though, is that Jackson now knows just how much he means to the community, though he mused, “this community means even more to me.”
John Harbaugh: Venture capitalist
While Jim Harbaugh decided to take up the family business and head into football coaching, his brother, John, decided to make business his business. And after earning both Bachelors and Masters degrees in business from Pepperdine University (and a graduation bonus of $100,000 from dad), he’s become one of the most wealthy successful venture capitalists of his generation.
A founding investor in Groupon—and a quick exit—moved Harbaugh into the Silicon Valley spotlight in the mid-2000s. Since then, he’s help fund Uber, increased distribution of La Croix sparkling beverages and has introduced a tablet competitor which, admittedly, failed, but cost him far less than the other investors.
Harbaugh is now focusing on the “biohacking” sector while also keeping his fingers in the cryptocurrency market. He and his brother have no idea what the other is talking about when they gather around the holiday table.