Rising Stars: Meet Aaron Muller

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Muller.

Hi Aaron, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease very late in my life. I had no prior allergies of any kind and had no knowledge of what Celiac Disease was. I remember talking with my wife Kerry after the tests came back, “no gluten from here on out,” she said. It should be pretty easy, I thought.

It wasn’t, it went beyond not eating muffins or bread, far beyond. About six months in, I was sitting on our couch, sick again from something I ate, completely defeated and horribly depressed. I thought to myself, life has its cruel ironies, but this was overwhelming, defeating. My family is distraught seeing me so weak and not being able to help.

It’s about then that I looked at my situation and decided the problems I’m facing are not of my doing. They are from decisions I had no say in. The game was rigged, the rules broken, and it wasn’t going to change by complaining. So I entered into the Grand Rapids Community College culinary program and began the journey of creating a restaurant that someone like myself could eat safely at.

With my wife working two jobs, we made the very hard decision to cash out our retirement, sell our dream house, uproot the family, and open Papa Chops.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In order to open Papa Chops, we needed capital (cash). My credit score was destroyed trying to stay afloat during the pandemic, and every bank wanted the same thing: comparibles.

I repeatedly told them that there isn’t a restaurant to compare Papa Chops to as it doesn’t exist. “Absurd” was the common word, you’re not creating something new, everything has been done, creating something that doesn’t exist in the restaurant industry, we don’t believe you.

Without funding, partners, or any help, the question came up: are we really ready to give up everything for the unknown? My wife, Kerry, the only one who believed in what I was trying to do, agreed to take a huge risk and a giant leap of faith.

I remember packing all my children’s clothes and toys up, working all day to get our house ready to sell, and crying at the sacrifice they didn’t know they were about to make. It was heartbreaking, so many good memories, so much lost.

It didn’t get better once we sold our house; the housing market was on fire, and although it helped us get a fantastic price for selling our home, it also meant that buying a house meant we were going to pay more. With the last of our life packed in boxes, and no deal on a new home, we left our house and moved into an Airbnb. This was the beginning of the hardest journey I’ve ever taken.

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Before working at the restaurant, I worked for 17 years for Ben M. Muller Realty Company, a company my grandfather started and my father currently runs. I was so proud of working at a place where I could wear a suit, drive a nice car, and meet some of the most amazing people who were opening businesses all throughout West Michigan.

However, my father and I have a complicated relationship, and working together proved to be too difficult, so I left. I operated a printing company called Rose Engraving for years. It was really one of a kind, intaglio printing doesn’t really exist any longer and to be able to work a lost trade was amazing, but then the pandemic hit.

And no one is giving out business cards when they are stuck at home and they’re definitely not spending a premium on embossed letterhead when costs need to be cut. So I closed it down.

What do you think about happiness?
My family, my wife, and adding chaos to balance or adding peace to turmoil. Taking things that are assumed and breaking them apart. I learned from my elders and understood the unrepresented.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.papachops.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/papachopseatery/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glutenfreefeelsgood
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/papa-chops-eatery-grand-rapids