bake - December 2019 - 8

department
management

Veteran's
Wisdom
Kamal Grant, owner of Sublime Doughnuts in Atlanta, used
his enlistment in the US Navy as an opportunity to pursue his
dream as a world class baker and business owner. Grant offers
advice for veterans who are looking to rejoin civilian life and
even start their own businesses.
"If you're a veteran looking to start a business, or any aspiring
entrepreneur, my advice is to just do it. Don't hesitate - go out
there and put a business plan together. Once you have a solid
business plan in place and you're on the right track, start looking
into business loans and working with your bank," Grant says.
While starting a business can be intimidating, he says, there
are a lot of resources and special beneﬁts out there for veteran
entrepreneurs. It's a matter of ﬁnding what's right for your
business and your short and long-term goals. When creating a
business plan, make sure to do your research.
"I worked closely with my bank, Chase for Business, to familiarize myself with special veteran beneﬁts, and take advantage of
waived fees and discounts. My banker helped make the process
easy so I could focus on what I love - baking."
Grant credits his SBA business loan for veterans and banking
with Chase for Business for helping him secure the ﬁnancing he
needed to start and grow his business.
In the Navy, serving as a baker on the USS John Young, Grant

my recipes today by allowing me to better understand different

quickly gained the praise of his shipmates because of the

aspects of what made products good," Grant says. "For example,

delicious cinnamon rolls he baked. He learned how to listen

when we were in Singapore, we watched local bakers make ice

to what people liked or disliked and made sure to incorporate

cream sandwiches using bread instead of cookies like we do in

those learnings into his formulas. The Navy not only gave Grant

America. That gave me the idea for our donut ice cream sand-

an opportunity to bake (and on a large scale), but his travels

wiches at Sublime Doughnuts. I realized using sweet bread, like

around the world exposed him to international culinary treats

donuts, for ice cream sandwiches is just as delicious while also

that combined ﬂavors and textures that he had not been ac-

being something new for our customers to experience."

customed to in the US.
"While overseas, I experienced a lot of different cultures and

of organization, he says. "Coming in as a teenager straight out

learned new techniques. I realized it's not just about the ﬂavors,

of high school, I realized the importance of structure and that a

it's about textures and other elements that make a baked treat

chain of command isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, orga-

memorable. My international travels with the Navy taught me

nization and structure helps to keep the whole team focused,

how to be a good baker and pastry chef and inspired many of

productive and motivated, and is critical in running a business."

08 < DEC 2019 | bakemag.com

JOHN UNREIN

Overall, being in the Navy taught him discipline and the value

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