at the University of Alabama and previously served on the advisory board of the University of Mississippi Business School.
Photo courtesy
Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce will hold a luncheon May 6 with entrepreneur John Cassimus as the featured speaker.
Cassimus will talk about his entrepreneurial endeavors, such as Zoë’s Kitchen, Maki Fresh, Jinsei, Crazy Cazboy’s and Sawtooth Plantation.
Cassimus was born in Birmingham, where he grew up and attended Mountain Brook High School. Cassimus was a two-time All-State and Adidas honorable mention All-American football player.
He attended the University of Alabama on a football scholarship and was a three-year letterman when his team won the SEC Championship. He graduated in 1990 with a degree in finance.
After taking on several entrepreneurial endeavors, including starting his own clothing line and music label, Cassimus is best known for founding Zoë’s Kitchen, which expanded on a restaurant started by his mother, Zoë, and father, Marcus.
Over the span of eight years, Cassimus built the company into a regional brand with 19 locations in five states before selling it to the Cava Group.
Now, Cassimus gives motivational speeches across the country focusing on his entrepreneurial strategies and tells the story of how Zoë’s Kitchen came to be.
Cassimus serves as an adviser on entrepreneurship studies at the University of Alabama and previously served on the advisory board of the University of Mississippi Business School.
Among his many accomplishments, Cassimus founded the Cassimus Family Foundation, a nonprofit that has the mission to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate. He also founded Sawtooth Plantation, a full-service hunting lodge and deer breeding facility in Southeast Alabama.
In his free time, Cassimus is an airplane and helicopter pilot, bow hunter, cyclist, kiteboarder, snowboarder, writer, photographer and chef.
The luncheon will be at the Country Club of Birmingham.
