To pay his tuition at Prairie State Junior College in Chicago Heights, Steve Skonecke took a job at Century Steel Co. in Chicago Heights.
Initially, he worked in the shipping department but soon was promoted to production, where he scheduled the equipment needed to custom-finish steel orders bound for domestic users.
“I loved everything about it,” Skonecke said. “I liked meeting with the sales manager and superintendent to prioritize the jobs and coordinating everything.”
Then, the steel market softened, and Skonecke, newly married, was laid off.
The apartment where Skonecke was living happened to be across the street from a pizzeria franchise under construction. It was owned by two of his high school classmates from Rich Central High School in Olympia Fields.
“I walked over one day and started talking to them,” Skonecke recalled. “The next thing I knew, I was assembling tables and chairs, helping them take down a barn and nail the sideboards on the restaurant walls, and installing pizza ovens.”
The two owners asked Skonecke if he’d be the pizzeria’s general manager.
“The minute I started in the restaurant business, it was instantly satisfying,” Skonecke said. “There’s no routine. Everything you do depends on the circumstances of the day. It was exciting, fun and energizing.
Today, Skonecke, 54, is Chicago district manager for Bakers Square, a privately owned, Denver-based restaurant company. He is responsible for the company’s 38 properties in metropolitan Chicago, which he estimates will sell 175,000 holiday pies Wednesday and Thursday.
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Q. Where did you get your work ethic?
A. When I was 7 years old, after church on Sundays, my dad, a barber, would take me to the barber shop to help clean it. The windows needed to be washed, the magazines straightened.
I thought my dad was inflicting pain on me. Instead, he was teaching me how to achieve goals so that I’d be a success in life.
Q. How did you decide where to attend college?
A. I started at the University of Wisconsin in Whitewater because I had friends there and I could afford it. I worked part-time jobs in high school to save for the money to go to college. I was a walk-on for the basketball team. I didn’t balance my academic and athletic ambitions well when I was a freshman.
I returned home and went to Prairie State Junior College for two years, where I had an opportunity to play.
I ended up at Governors State but dropped out three courses from graduation because I was working too hard and didn’t have time to study.
Q. After you left the pizzeria, you joined Bennigan’s, eventually becoming the company’s president. Then you left. Why?
A. When I started with Bennigan’s, I was responsible for one restaurant, then several. Eventually, working out of Chicago, I was responsible for all Bennigan’s east of the Mississippi.
I was selected to become president of the company and moved to Dallas in 1994. My family stayed here in Chicago. I left after having spent eight days with Stephen Covey, the famous career counselor, in Utah.
Working with him, I realized that my life had no balance. I was consumed by work. I was spending a lot of time in airports and very little time at home with my wife, Toby, and our three children, Aimee, Josh and Lindsay. I made the decision to come home.
Q. After you left Bennigan’s, what did you do?
A. I spent time with my wife and children and became reacquainted with the men for whom I’d originally worked at the Richton Park pizzeria.
I bought property with one of them in Frankfort and built and operated the Kansas Street Grill until Jan. 1, 2006, when we closed it.
After having had the support of an entire restaurant company–legal, menu development–and then you have none of that, it’s a big change. I liked the entrepreneurial spirit of the venture, having long-term employees, interacting with the guests.
Q. What prompted you to join Bakers Square?
A. Now that my children are adults, I thought there was a lot of value that I could bring to people, based on my restaurant experiences.
Even though all of our children are out of the house now, I’ve got two grandchildren. … That’s why I interviewed for the job of Chicago regional manager.
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Step by step
2006-present: Chicago district manager, Bakers Square Restaurants, Chicago Heights
1997-2006: Owner-operator, Kansas Street Grill, Frankfort
1994-97: President, Bennigan’s Restaurants, Dallas
1993-94: Divisional vice president, Bennigan’s Restaurants, Flossmoor and Dallas
1990-93: Chicago regional vice president, Bennigan’s Restaurants, Naperville
1985-90: Area director, Bennigan’s Restaurants, Oakbrook Terrace
1983-85: General manager, Bennigan’s Restaurants, Calumet City
1982-83: Manager trainee, Bennigan’s Restaurants, Niles
1981-82: General manager, Ground Round, Olympia Fields
1979-81: General manager, The Gathering, Merrillville, Ind.
1975-79: Operating partner, Chicago Dough Co./Pizza Inn, Richton Park
1976: Steel fabrication worker, 4M, Chicago Heights
1974-75: Production scheduler, Century Steel Co., Chicago Heights
1973-74: Stock clerk, Sears, Chicago
1971-73: Shipping coordinator, Century Steel Co.
1966-70: Inserter, The Star Newspapers, Chicago Heights
1965-1971: Newspaper deliverer, The Star Newspapers
1960-69: Barber shop helper, John’s Barber Shop, Chicago Heights
