Trew Quackenbush, on left, and Corey Ward, co-founders of Tom + Chee, spoke at the University of Cincinnati Clermont College on March 25.

Trew Quackenbush, on left, and Corey Ward, co-founders of Tom + Chee, spoke at the University of Cincinnati Clermont College on March 25.

By Kelly Doran
Sun staff

Grilled cheese celebrities Trew Quackenbush and Corey Ward hoped that University of Cincinnati Clermont College students learned that starting a business is hard work.

“Nothing is ever going to be easy but perseverance, hard work, that’s what’s going to pay off,” Quackenbush said about starting a business.

Clermont College’s Professional Academic Character Experiences group brought in Quackenbush and Ward on March 25 so students could learn from their story, said Maggie Cowens, PACE president.

PACE, the largest student organization on campus, concentrates on three forms of experiential learning: bringing speakers on campus, taking trips downtown to businesses and taking a yearly trip to Portland, said Matthew Beighle, executive vice president of PACE.

Each person will learn something different from Quackenbush and Ward, but Beighle and Cowens, both interns at Tom + Chee, hope students left inspired.

“I’ve heard their story throughout trips to their headquarters and whatnot through school probably four or five times and the story just never gets any less interesting,” Beighle said.

More than 240 people came to hear Quackenbush and Ward speak and sample some of Tom + Chee’s classic foods, Beighle said.

This event was the biggest event that PACE has ever put on, Cowens said, making the hard work worth it.

The event exceeded expectations, said Jay Paige, PACE advisor and assistant professor of marketing. He hopes that attendees left knowing that a dream can become a reality.

“When speaking to students we’re getting…the ability to touch somebody long before they’ve hard a chance to go out there into the world,” Quackenbush said, which he finds very exciting.

Tom + Chee began at a booth at Fountain Square and will have 50 locations by the end of the year, Quackenbush and Ward told attendees.

Ward and Quackenbush told students about the hard work it took to make their dream a reality and some of the mistakes they made and learned from.

Both said they were surprised when the business started to become popular in areas outside of Cincinnati, especially when the first Tom + Chee franchise opened in Louisville and Louisville residents had already heard of it.

“I just really started feeling, this could turn into something really, really big,” Ward said.

The two also spoke about their time on Shark Tank. Quackenbush and Ward did come away with a deal at the end of the episode, Quackenbush said.

“It was a surreal experience being on Shark Tank,” Quackenbush said.