As told by Sticky Owner, Jeff Goldstein.

Renae Ahring The first 10 or 11 times I worked with Renae, I was positive that she hated me, and I could never figure out why. The first of these instances was while she was a server in Summerville, and the next few times was while she was managing (and a full-time student) in Columbia. Now that she has been promoted to Operating Partner in Myrtle Beach, I realize that she’s just way more about hard work, service and performance than she is about kissing the boss's butt. Or maybe she really does hate me.

Scott Alexander We call Scott Alexander “Extreme Scott.” Before he became a family man, Scott spent much of his time on the river or jumping off of buildings, mountains and other tall things. Now he’s a husband (Emily), and father (Thomas & Lauren), and one of our area supervisors making sure that the ne'er-do-well operating partners in Chattanooga stay on the straight and narrow and keep cooking our ribs the right way.

Marcus Anthony Somehow Marcus got hired despite the fact that he's a New York Yankee fan. But, he more than made up for this character flaw with his hard work, commitment to customer service and his immaculately pressed wardrobe. Marcus started out in Greenville as a server and bartender and became a star instantly. He has helped us open every restaurant over the past couple of years, and when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004, we felt so sorry for him that we let him be a manager. In 2006, Marcus took over for Matt Peterson as Operating Partner in Greenville, who now oversees the operations of several Sticky locations.

Heather Bell Heather Bell started working as a hostess when we opened our Atlantic Beach restaurant in 1999. She was only 18 years old. Within a few years, Heather became part of our Opening Team. She has now helped us open and manage 8 new restaurants. In fact, in 2004 she was awarded Employee of the Year, the highest honor we give. Heather also received a restaurant of her own in 2004, and is now the Operating Partner in Hilton Head. We’re hoping she’ll stay put for a while. Heather is a big Dale Jr. NASCAR fan, listens to country music, and well, you get the point.

Steve Brunson Steve Brunson was there when Chad, Todd and I were 22 years old and had no clue what we were doing. He's still around now. We still have no clue what we're doing. Steve started out behind the bar in the Mt. Pleasant restaurant, and over the years has pretty much gotten every resident of Mt. Pleasant sauced at one time or another. Steve met his wife, Mary, at Sticky Fingers when she was a server. They have three children, Liam and Emma and Aaron. Steve is now the operating partner of our Ribhouse out in Summerville. Hey, it's a shorter commute for him now.

Todd Callaway Todd is our Operating Partner in Wilmington, North Carolina. Todd is a West Virginia refugee who worked his way up in the Myrtle Beach Ribhouse from the day it opened in 2004. Here's all you need to know about Todd: about two years ago, his 1995 Mazda Millenia broke down in the Myrtle Beach parking lot. It's still there. All that stuff you heard about West Virginia? It's true.

Rob Coburn I remember my most embarrasing moment involving Rob Coburn like it was yesterday. We had gathered a crowd of Sticky Fingers staff and friends in Chattanooga to annouce the new Operating Partner for our Hixson restaurant (Hixson is a suburb of Chattanooga where I used to get in trouble growing up. But I digress). After some glad-handing, it was finally time to make the big announcement: "Coburn, you're our next operating partner!" Rob rushed up to the podium to accept the keys to the restaurant. As he did, I didn't have the heart to admit that I didn't mean him. I was talking about his wife Alisha. Rob has proven to be an incredible operating partner for us, so we have no regrets about missing out on Alisha. OK, a few regrets. Not big regrets, though.

Mark Coley Todd Eischeid, one of my buddies who started Sticky Fingers, had a girlfriend from high school who dumped him for no good reason. This was back in the 1980’s. That break-up must have stuck with him, because she went on to Mercer University down in Macon, and he always said that there was no way he would open a restaurant in “her” town (we knew what he meant). Todd’s been traveling these first six months of 2008, during which we quickly built our Macon location at the new River Crossing mall. By the time he gets back from his travels in late July, we will have opened the restaurant. I can’t wait to see the look on his face. We picked Mark Coley to run our Macon Ribhouse because, quite simply, the man knows every single person in town. He wasn’t sure he wanted to attach his reputation to our little barbecue company until he went up to Chattanooga, met our people and tasted our ribs. Now he’s Sticky for life, and we’re glad he gave us the chance.

Darren Collins I used to be the drummer in a cover band in high school, and we would typically close with a Kiss song called “Cold Gin.” It was quite the crowd pleaser. I thought all that was behind me until we asked Darren Collins, our new operating partner of the Concord, NC Ribhouse, for a photo of himself. He sent this one with a note explaining, “I’m Rock n’ Roll, baby!” I would like to say how Darren lacks culture and needs the help of the good people of Concord to help show him the error of his ways, but then there were those high school concerts that I’d have to reckon with. Rock on, Darren. I’m with you in spirit.

Sam Cowan Sam Cowan explained to us that whatever he does, he does it for his family. His kids told him to get a college degree; he did it. Then they told him to take over one of our Ribhouses. He did that too. Apparently they also told him to do a great job, too, because that’s what he’s doing for us down in our River City location in Jacksonville, Florida. Sam’s family, if you’re reading, please don’t ask him to run around out on I-95 in front of the restaurant. The people of North Jacksonville need good ribs, and Sam is the only game in town.

Christina Creed When Christina Creed hired her husband, Eric, to be her kitchen manager in 2003, I warned him that his wife was now the boss both at home, and at work. With their two children (Elijah and Emma), scheduling between home and Sticky Fingers is quite a challenge. Still, they both say they wouldn’t work anywhere else in the world. Eric says, “They make fun of me for having to do all of the cooking at work and at home, but I’m used to it by now. Before I started here, I would come home and complain about working all day, and Christina would come home and consistently talk about how much fun she was having. I jumped at the chance to work at Sticky Fingers.”

Michael Crum Michael Crum became an Operating Partner in 2006, after spending almost a decade as cook and kitchen manager. Crum is a Sticky Fingers institution. He’s helped open every new restaurant, helped all of us make our kitchens run better, has saved our butts hundreds of times, and has borrowed money from almost everyone (you still owe me $40, Crum).

Todd Eischeid If the definition of “laid back” were in the dictionary, it would almost surely have a picture of Todd Eischeid next to it. Sometimes we forget he’s even in the room. However, he has spent a majority of the last few years acting as the deciding vote when Chad and I are fighting. Since this happens pretty much every day, Todd actually ends up deciding everything. I guess I can’t complain. They say never date someone you work with. Well, Todd started dating Adrienne when she was a Sticky Fingers server several years ago. They married in 2001, and had their first child in 2003. Of the three of us, Todd was the first to get married, and first to have a kid. Music: Led Zeppelin, Motley Crue Movies: Raising Arizona, The Matrix Books: Life of Pi, Atlas Shrugged Sports Teams: San Francisco 49ers, Georgia Bulldogs Favorite Sauce: Carolina Classic

Jeff Goldstein Writing about everyone else is a whole lot easier than writing your own biography in under 200 words. I’m Jeff Goldstein, and here’s how I’ll sum up my Sticky story: My dad always used to say that going into business with friends was a bad idea, my mom always told me never to date anyone you work with, and everyone in the world told me to stay out of the restaurant business. So, to prove them all wrong, I started a restaurant with my two best friends, and ended up marrying one of our employees. That should do it. Music: Beatles, NRBQ Movies: Raising Arizona, Spinal Tap Book: To Kill a Mockingbird, Atlas Shrugged Teams: South Carolina Gamecocks, Chicago Cubs, Chattanooga Mocs Favorite Sauce: Memphis Original

Chris Hill Chris Hill loses a lot of bets. Here's why: He's a Penn State Fan and a glutton for punshment of the "Penn State will finish higher in the polls than Georgia" variety. Chris, the new operating partner of our Myrtle Beach RibHouse, did win a bet recently. He took on his old RibHouse in Concord Mills, North Carolina in a sales contest. The losing manager got a 5-gallon bucket of barbecue sauce poured over his head. Rumor has it that the Concord Mills staff sand-bagged the contest because they wanted to see their manager get "sauced." Chris thinks he's on winning streak, though, so I'm not bursting his bubble just in case he wants to go double or nothing this Fall on the Penn State-Georgia wager.

Kim Kearse Kim Kearse started in the kitchen in North Charleston right when we opened. Before too long she was kitchen manager, and then a couple of years later she reluctantly accepted the job of Operating Partner. Kim had been working in kitchens her whole life and was terrified to come out and spend time in the dining room. She got over her fear pretty quickly, but she says she still likes being in the kitchen better. “Ms. Kim” is a classic rock fan and lives out in the country with her two black labs Daisy and Jack.

Shane Littrell Shane has like a masters in training. Seriously, he is the highest-educated person ever to run a Sticky Fingers. What I wouldn't give to also have a masters in training because the cap and gown are really cool. Shane wears his to company outings. He's going to let me borrow it next time. We would have known Shane was headed for success if we had seen his high school yearbook photo earlier than we did. Once we saw it, BAM, we promoted Shane to the operating partner role in our Broad Street Ribhouse in Chattanooga.

Karen Miller Karen Miller is a walking freak show. She got us all thrown out of our hotel during our Greenville restaurant opening (legal dept. will not let me give details). So, it is remarkable that she now runs the busiest restaurant we have. She was briefly a Gamecock and server in our Columbia restaurant, and after a quick stint in Greenville, was promoted to operate our Savannah restaurant (where both she, and the restaurant, are currently kicking butt).

Jennifer Moore Jennifer Moore is the best thing to happen to Charleston since the Revolutionary War. She started as a server in Greenville when we opened in 2004, and quickly proved that she was ready for her own Sticky Fingers. That opportunity came in 2005. She has taken over the reigns at one of our busiest restaurants, and has been “wowing” her staff, her bosses, and her customers ever since. Jenn’s only questionable decisions so far seem to be her choices in college football loyalty (Clemson), and her choice in men.

Murray Parker Murray Parker goes by the name Cree. Don't ask. Cree started as a prep guy when we opened our Wilmington restaurant in 1998. Back then, he was just a punk kid, and Sticky Fingers was his first real job. Eventually, we let him out of the kitchen, and before too long, he was running the store. In June of 2005, Cree got engaged and then moved to Jacksonville to run one of our RibHouses. A glutton for punishment, Cree moved in 2007 to open up one of our very newest RibHouses in the Ballantyne area of Charlotte. We think Cree moved back to NC because of his loyalty to the UNC Tarheels and Charlotte Panthers. Cree has extrememly bad taste in both movies and music.

Matt Peterson A couple of years ago, Mike Monen called me and told me he had a server named Matt Peterson who kept bugging him about having his own Sticky restaurant. Less than a year later, Matt became yet another Chattanoogan with his own Sticky Fingers. Matt began working when we opened in Chattanooga, and then moved to Hilton Head to help us open in 2002. Eventually, he moved to Greenville and took over our first restaurant there. Matt is a huge Tennessee Vol fan, with dogs named Peyton and Manning. He admits to liking country music, 4 wheelin’, camping, hunting and fishing, but hasn’t had much time for these since he got his own restaurant. Matt’s wife, Samantha, also works for Sticky Fingers, and while their baby boy doesn't yet work for us, he will soon I'd guess. Matt is now one of our area directors helping our operating partners run their Ribhouses.

Tom Porfiris Tom Porfiris is yet another reason why I get up every morning and take a bath in barbecue sauce before facing the day. OK, that's not true, I don't bathe in barbecue sauce; what is true is that Tom completely understands what Sticky Fingers is about, and with his passion for our culture, pretty soon the whole stinkin' country is going to want to wake up to a barbecue bath. Or something like that. What is also true is that Tom gave up a promising career at a growing chain of restaurants called Red Robin to come help us get a little better at wowing every single guest in our restaurants with great food and over-the-top service. He's one of area directors and lives in North Carolina. He's a Yankees fan, but we try not to hold that against him too much. Tom, you complete me.

Bryan Postulka Bryan started with us when we first opened our Greenville Ribhouse on Woodruff Road. When he came in to apply for a job, he looked to be about 10 years old, but he had ID that showed he was old enough to wait tables, so we gave him a shot. The kid had a great work ethic, and he moved his way up through the ranks in Greenville over the years. The one thing about him, though, is that he still looks to be about 10. In fact, if you want to see a guy try to grow a beard who looks like he's not yet old enough to drive, stop by our North Charleston RibHouse and ask to see Bryan the operating partner.

Heather Anne Puckett Heather Anne Puckett cussed me out the other day because I hadn't put her picture and bio up on the website yet. She was right. Heather Anne has been working at Sticky Fingers for almost a decade. In 2005, she won our most prestigious year-end award: Operator of the Year. She has definitely earned a spot. Heather Anne started as a server in Wilmington. Since then, she has worked pretty much everywhere, helped open every new restaurant, and has seen us at our best and our worst. In 2005, she accepted the Operating Partner job in Atlantic Beach, and has done a phenomenal job in her first year in that position.

Darcy Thompson Darcy grew up in Nowhere, Pennsylvania and attended Penn State University. She later moved from Washington, D.C. to Charleston, SC because she loved the area and couldn’t afford her rent. She started serving at our original location in Mt. Pleasant, and eventually became our ninth female Operating Partner in Augusta, Georgia. And no, she can’t get you Masters tickets - Why?? Well she's back in Mount Pleasant again and doing a bang up job. Darcy is one of way, way too may Jimmy Buffet fans at Sticky Fingers, and says she enjoys an occasional Miller Lite.

Steve Torti [Steve asked that we let his proud mom submit his bio. Here's what she sent.] Steve was born and raised in Southern California. He lived, worked, married and had his first child here before he was abducted by aliens (his in-laws) and transported to South Carolina. After living in South Carolina and teaching just about everyone who lives there the restaurant business, Steve is sharing his expertise in Georgia. Steve and his wife Melanie and their three children, Kyle, Layton and Josie are now part of the Augusta, Sticky Fingers family. The next step, we hope, is for Sticky Fingers to open a store in Southern California and for Steve to manage it -- for purely selfish reasons(grandkids). Love, Mom [We don't have a good photo of Steve, so we've posted what his mom thinks Steve looks like.]

Chad Walldorf I’ve spent a majority of the past 25 years fighting with Chad Walldorf. We’ve always disagreed on pretty much everything, from sports teams, to music, politics and beyond. When we started a business together, it really got ugly. Typically, I do most of the yelling, screaming, cussing and name calling, but Chad ultimately wins every argument. I guess more often than not, his decisions have been good ones. Like any good friend, I’m always there to remind him of the ones that weren’t. Chad was always the smartest kid in our high school (ok, second smartest). He was our Class Vice President, editor of the school paper, Honor Council member, and stud athlete (that is, of course, if you consider soccer a sport). He always dated (and is now married to) the best looking girls. He got a full scholarship to go to the University of Virginia, worked in the White House, and spent his time padding his resume with countless other honors, awards and attractive girlfriends. In 1991, after a few too many beers, I was able to talk him into moving to South Carolina to get into the restaurant business. The rest is Sticky history. Music: Wilco, NRBQ, Pyramid Movies: Raising Arizona, Waiting for Guffman Books: Atlas Shrugged, The Magus Sports Teams: Virginia Cavaliers, South Carolina Gamecocks, Charleston Battery Soccer (if you consider soccer a sport) Favorite Sauce: Tennessee Whiskey

To be continued, as our family continues to grow...