Angela Prine ’02 & Bill Prine ’00
University of Mobile alumni and high school sweethearts Angela Chancellor Prine ’02, and Bill Prine ’00, never had the restaurant business on their radar.
But after Bill read a story about The Simple Greek, a “fast casual” and growing Greek restaurant, the couple went to the restaurant’s discovery days for potential franchisees.
“Doors just kept opening from there,” Angela said. “It wasn’t that we were seeking to open a restaurant; we’ve never been in the restaurant business before. The opportunity presented itself and we just jumped into it.”
With Bill’s instrumental guidance in the construction phase of the project and his “behind-the-scenes” presence, Angela is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the midtown Mobile restaurant.
“I went to University of Mobile and was an accounting major,” Angela said. “I worked as an accountant until I had children, and then I stayed home. This is what I’m doing after having children.”
As the family – which includes daughters Addison, 12; Madeline, 10; Haidan, 7 and Evelyn, 4 – balances the rigorous life of owning and managing a seven-days-a-week restaurant, Angela continues to draw on skills she learned at UM.
“In the business world, in particular with this restaurant, it’s really just about attention to detail. The skills from the business school I learned many years ago are still valid, even today,” she said. “At UM we did a ton of group projects and had to work with different people. Those skills of being able to communicate helped me every day, with The Simple Greek in particular.”
As the restaurant continues to grow, the Prines hope to add UM students as employees. “We did a job fair before we opened and we have one student on our payroll right now,” Angela said. “He’s great – we’d like to have more.”
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