Peter Demos - Restaurateur

Peter Demos is a restaurateur and the CEO of Demos Brands, a family business that his father started. He successfully owns and runs multiple restaurants, but his career has had plenty of failure, too.

Peter started working in his dad’s restaurant before he was even a teenager. He loved the community of “restaurant people,” but was also interested in becoming a lawyer after he saw the proceedings of a court case. During his undergrad years in college, Peter got in over his head with thousands of dollars in credit card debt… until he discovered some practical money management principles that he’s carried with him to this day.

After law school, Peter started working for a firm in Tennessee, but realized it wasn’t something he wanted to do long-term. And so, things came full circle when he rejoined his dad’s business, taking over the management of the restaurant and eventually buying it from his father.

All this time, the Christian faith wasn’t a huge part of Peter’s life. He’d gone to a Christian school as a kid, but had terrible memories of being bullied there by his classmates. His wife often asked him to go to church, but Peter’s focus was on making the restaurants successful – and he did that. And then one day, everything changed when Peter made the decision to become a Christian

Instead of his business increasing in size and scope, a new high end restaurant concept he’d been working on began to fail miserably. Peter questioned why God would allow that to happen, but looking back, he sees how God was teaching him valuable lessons about facing fear, trusting Jesus, and handling failures… all of which have been vitally important during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Peter’s life is proof that God’s plans for us are much greater than commercial or career success. If you’d like to hear more of his story, you can check out his new book, Afraid to Trust: One Man’s Journey Into the Love of God.

Special thanks for this episode: Peter and Kristin Demos, Kristin Nill, Josh Batson, Jenn Lazala

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