FEED Family Spotlight: Mike Erhardt
Born and raised in the DC suburb of Fairfax, Mike graduated high school and moved to Ohio to attend the University of Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music to study classical guitar. After a year, Mike transferred to Northeastern University in Boston to pursue a degree in philosophy with an emphasis in legal studies. He finished his last year of college across the Atlantic at American University in Paris.
A lover of the Parisian lifestyle, he frequented jazz clubs, drank the free-flowing cheap wine and dined on great food for a year after college, while working at a Greek restaurant underneath the Eiffel Tower. Ever in search of adventure, Mike packed his bags and passport for South Korea. In Seoul, he taught English to K-8th grade students.
After enduring the frigid South Korean winter, he hopped a plane in search of a warmer climate in San Jose, Costa Rica. By day Mike taught English to banks and on weekends travelled to the small Caribbean town of Manzanillo, on the border of Panama, to enjoy the secluded beaches.
Rivaling the Dos Equis man for most interesting man in the world, Mike, at the ripe old age of 26 moved back to the states and taught high school history and special education in Arlington, Virginia. Following his love of climbing, Mike moved to Chattanooga to enjoy the mecca of climbing East of the Mississippi.
Following his arrival in the Scenic City, Mike served as an inclusion teacher at Signal Mountain Middle-High School and was a bartender at Flying Squirrel before joining the FEED team over 5 years ago. Mike grew from a bartender to a front of house manager before climbing the ladder to serve as FEED’s General Manager.
For Mike, each day as GM of FEED is a new challenge. “What I love about the job is that it presents ever changing problems to be solved- no day is ever the same. While I found stability in Chattanooga, nothing is routine. As GM, I’m able to still cultivate and maintain relationships like I did as a bartender. There is a bond between guests and bartender that you find in very few professions outside of therapy.”
While he has no plans to leave the FEED team in the near future, Mike aspires to own a Korean sports bar or Asian fusion restaurant where he can combine his love of sports (all things Washington) with his first love, Asian cuisine.
When he isn’t running around the restaurant, he enjoys cooking, working out, playing guitar, trying new restaurants and hanging out with his Mastiff- Rottweiler mix, Reese.