For the past three years, sophomore Silas Dejean’s typical weekday during summer vacation started with offseason training, swimming from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and concluded with him going back to his hometown of Opelousas, Louisiana, to work in the shipping department at his family-owned company from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
There are many slow days in his working area, but when holidays like the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving come around, customers from various parts of the South place orders for the family’s food mixes and spices, which is popularly-known by Dejean’s great-grandfather’s name — Tony Chachere’s.
Dejean contributed as a freshman to the LSU swimming and diving team, posting the eighth-fastest breaststroke in program history, all while working to further his family company’s already incredibly successful brand.
Chachere published a cookbook with his recipes of southern Louisiana culture and his homemade “Creole seasoning.” He founded the company in 1972 as a hobby.
By 1980, Chachere had handed the day-to-day operations of the company to his son and grandson so he could focus more of his time on the company’s cooking aspect. He added more spices, created dinner mixes and introduced a sauce line.
Ownership of the family business has been passed down consistently — Dejean’s mother is part-owner, and his father is on the company board. The trend is set to continue, and Dejean is anxious about having authority over the company.
“That’s part of the reason why I’m here [at LSU], to get a degree [in marketing] and hopefully run the company one day,” Dejean said. “I want to use my degree to just further advance the company. That’s all I’ve been talking about since I was younger.”
Although he has dreamed about it since he was young, Dejean said his sophomore year of high school completely sold him on taking part of the family company. His father took time away from his full-time occupation as a lawyer to serve on the board and make advertising decisions on furthering the growth of the brand. Dejean said his father let him know everything mentioned in the board meetings to get him more involved.
In his mind, Dejean has already begun planning for when he is officially the owner of Tony Chachere’s. On his first day on the job, his top orders of business will revolve around what his preceding relatives wanted to accomplish: making Tony Chachere’s better.
“I definitely want to get more products out of state,” Dejean said. “[Our products are] in Texas and other states a little bit, but once it gets out of state, it’s really scarce. That’s also because of the [Southern] culture — we season everything. But that’s definitely one thing I’d like to see.”
According to Dejean, his current job — reviewing the orders —is at the bottom of the totem pole. But when he becomes owner of the company, he knows his dedication and persistence will all be worth it.
“[I also want] more TV commercials and more diversity in [our] products, which is what we’re working on now,” Dejean said. “Just in the last year, we’ve gone from sandwich spreads, then we did pourable marinades just a couple weeks ago.”