By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
He never intended to run a business, never intended to become the Snow Cone King, and certainly never envisioned being on TV with Gordon Ramsay.
But Aaron Valentine did all that and all before he turned 22. According to Valentine, it began completely by accident when he moved from Oak Grove to Maryville to attend Northwest Missouri State.
Valentine never attended a class. Instead, he became obsessed with Kool Kats, a Maryville fast food restaurant in a dated, pink building. Valentine approached owner Dave Ackman. He didn’t have the money to become a partner, but he had an idea. Valentine would create outlandish, sometimes foolish videos on Tik Tok to promote Kool Kats. It worked. He became a hit. Aaron Valentine became the Snow Cone King.
That would land him a role on “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars.”
A very young entrepreneur shared his experience on a national reality television show during the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce Small Business Summit.
Valentine says the chance to spend time with Gordon Ramsay on his reality show while still a teen-ager was incredible.
“When you look at Gordon, he’s the most prolific food entrepreneur in the world at this moment,” Valentine tells reporters after speaking at the Small Business Summit. “The biggest celebrity chef and has one of the largest followings in the entire world. He’s someone that most people only dream of even meeting, let alone getting to spend two months with him, side by side, through his challenges, through his mentorship. There’s a lot to learn from someone with that much power and success.”
Valentine got his shot on Gordon Ramsay’s relativity television show when he was only 19 and did learn a lot.
“Gordon Ramsay is, kind of like I would say your Grandpa,” Valentine says. “He’s got that tough love. He’s sort of like a military general when it comes to food.”
What sticks with him about the experience?
“My biggest lesson from Gordon Ramsay that I learned was probably the fact that he said to be adaptive,” Valentine says. “Entrepreneurship is a game of solving problems. And, as an entrepreneur, you face a million different problems in your journey. It’s a matter of overcoming all of them to get the success that you want.”
Valentine grew up in Oak Groves and learned at an early age how to face challenges or, perhaps, best described as tragedy. A tornado destroyed his family’s home. Valentine says everyone can face tragedy in two ways: let it define you as a victim or view it as a challenge to overcome.
Valentine says he hopes his experience, though earned at a young age, can inspire others.
“I think if you’re going to take one thing from this it’s no matter how hard your business or life gets, how many challenges get thrown at you, you can always do more to overcome those challenges,” according to Valentine. “Have a positive perspective on the world and your challenges become a lot easier to overcome.”
Valentine has returned to the area after spending much of the last three years in Los Angeles, which has a lifestyle that grew old for him. He isn’t sure what his future holds, but says he plans to rebuild his capital and, perhaps, run a food truck with or without snow cones.