When Todd Graves and Craig Silvey came up with the idea for a restaurant in southern Louisiana that only sold chicken fingers, they probably didn’t expect to get the lowest grade in a startup-pitching assignment for Silvey’s LSU undergraduate business class — or to get rejected for bank loans when they tried to make it a reality.

Yet the concept, which eventually became Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, propelled Graves to his debut Tuesday on the Forbes 400, a ranking of America’s richest people. He’s reportedly the country’s 107th-richest person, with an estimated net worth of $9.5 billion, largely driven by his ownership stake in Raising Cane’s.

“If people tell you something can’t be done, it makes you strive so much more to do it,” Graves, now 52 and the company’s co-CEO, told students at Nicholls State University in 2009.

To raise enough money to open the fast-food chain’s first location in 1996, Graves moved to California from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to work 90-hour weeks in an oil refinery — and, later, fish for salmon in Alaska — according to the company’s website.

He spent between $40,000 and $50,000 of his own money, plus roughly $100,000 from friends, family and a Small Business Administration loan, to get his restaurant off the ground, he told the “Trading Secrets” podcast in May.

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Today, Raising Cane’s — named after Graves’ yellow lab Raising Cane — has more than 800 locations internationally and brought in $3.7 billion in net sales last year, a company spokesperson tells CNBC Make It. Graves owns more than 90 percent of the company, and has no plans to take it public or sell his stake to private investors, he said.

“I want my kids in the business to be able to carry our values on after their mom and I are gone,” said Graves. “They can turn this into a worldwide business and continue to grow.”

When Graves and Silvey — who left the business in 1999 — opened their first location in Baton Rouge, Graves had zero business management skills, he said. He worked seven days per week at the restaurant, from opening at 8 a.m. to closing at 3:30 am the next morning, he added.

As the company grew, Graves figured out how to recruit employees and develop leaders on the fly, he said: “I was building a plane while I was flying it.”

Most entrepreneurs finance their businesses with a mix of debt and equity. Graves relied almost exclusively on loans when starting out, he told the “How I Built This” podcast in 2022. He’d offer private investors a 15% interest rate on a loan, which he’d then use to secure additional funding from community banks that treated the debt as equity, he said.

In retrospect, the approach was “stupid,” and nearly cost him the business when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in 2005 — shutting down 21 of his 28 storefronts in the Baton Rouge area — but it allowed him to maintain his ownership stake while growing his company, he said.

“Debt to equity, you should have proper balances in your business, and that helps you get through tough times like a major hurricane — but I levered everything,” said Graves, who credited his business’ survival to reopening as much as he could quickly after Katrina passed. “Luckily I lived through that, but that’s when I really learned to balance risk.”

The company — which turned 28 this year and is on its third real-life yellow lab mascot, Raising Cane III — had its first billion-dollar quarter in sales earlier this year and is on track to finish 2024 with nearly $5 billion in sales, says the Raising Cane’s spokesperson.

Contrary to the company’s hard-charging early expansion, Graves now preaches the value of not rushing into opportunities or growing too quickly at his brand’s expense, he told “Trading Secrets.”

“The vision of Raising Cane’s is to someday have locations all over the world, and be the brand for crave-able chicken finger meals, great crew, cool culture and active community involvement,” Graves said. “You have to stay disciplined, because if you are successful, opportunities are crazy, and you can grow it towards something not special at all.”

His outlook echoes advice from other successful entrepreneurs. Kind Snacks founder Daniel Lubetzky and Vuori CEO Joe Kudla advocate for taking a step back to self-reflect before big decisions, and Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck says he takes his time to analyze any potential opportunity.

“Sometimes, you can take big risks. Sometimes, you need to be very safe and methodical about how to back out of situation,” Beck told Make It last year. “Control the things you can control and acknowledge the things you can’t control.”

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Jay Chaudhry knows what he’s looking for in a hire.

The 66-year-old billionaire has founded five companies altogether, including his most recent, a cybersecurity company called Zscaler. He’s currently serving as the CEO of the company, which he says has 7,000 employees. Zscaler’s market cap is $25.4 billion as of Tuesday.

When sussing out who to hire, “I look for three things,” says Chaudhry. These could be for “a very top-level job,” he says, and they could be for “an entry level job.”

Here’s what he prioritizes.

The No. 1 most important quality Chaudhry looks for is passion, he says.

“When people are passionate and they have conviction, they automatically work hard,” he says. They have that motivation to keep pushing through and solving problems. Plus, he adds, “work is no longer work. They enjoy it, and the results end up being strong.”

When it comes to hiring, Chaudhry looks for this by taking note of people’s excitement. Passionate people have done their “homework better” ahead of the interview, he says. They also “ask better questions.” They’re keen to learn and find their place in the company.

The second most important quality is a curiosity and willingness to learn.

“In today’s world, everything is changing rapidly,” says Chaudhry, adding that “the way you work, how you work, where you work — all that is changing.” People with a natural curiosity can learn the new ways of working quickly and be up-to-date on how to succeed on the job. They can also help the company move forward using new tech and tools.

To ensure a candidate has this quality, Chaudhry might give them an exercise during the interview process. “They go, they do some research, they come back, they present,” he says. Judging by their answer, he can see what they picked up.

The final thing Chaudhry always looks for is adaptability.

“When I hire people from other companies,” says Chaudhry, “I tell them, whatever worked for you in your previous company, probably half of it will work here. Half won’t because it’s a different environment.” That’s why adaptability matters — every company has its own processes and tools. Chaudhry wants flexible employees who can soak up new information and work anywhere.

To see if his interviewees are adaptable, Chaudhry asks open-ended questions. “Describe to me a situation or project where things weren’t going well,” he says as an example. “How did you think through the process of saying, ‘this is thing is not working, I need to drop it.’” He then asks what changes they made to find success down the line.

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Growing up in Nara, Japan, one food that was a constant in my home was tofu. It’s truly been a lifelong staple. 

When I was a baby, once I could eat solids, my mom commonly prepared two dishes for me — one was a mix of tofu, rice porridge, sweet potato, kabocha (squash), and nori (seaweed) paste, and the other was miso soup with rice porridge.

I carried on that culinary tradition with my two kids when they were small. I never bought any ultra-processed baby food; instead I opted for tofu. It saved me time, money and stress, and it was a way for us to connect with our roots while living in the U.S.

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When we arrived here in 1994, tofu was harder to come by. If I could only find shelf-stabilized packaged versions, I kept about two dozen of them in the house at any given time. Even today, I always have several packs of tofu in my refrigerator.

In Japan, tofu is enjoyed by folks of all ages. My in-laws are 95 and 88 years old. They still live in Nara, and have tofu, natto (fermented soybeans) and miso soup every day. They attribute their longevity and immunity, in part, to that daily routine.

Here is why tofu is my No. 1 kitchen must-have.

Tofu is traditionally made from soybeans and nigari, the liquid that remains after removing the salt from seawater. In the U.S., calcium sulfate is often used as the main coagulant. 

Either way, tofu contains all the essential amino acids that meat, poultry, eggs, fish and dairy do — but without cholesterol, since it is plant based.

It also is rich in calcium, iron, vitamins, fiber and isoflavones, a type of plant estrogen. 

Studies have shown that the consumption of tofu can help reduce the risk of heart disease, fight cancer and reduce the risk of bone loss. 

It takes 70.6 kilograms of greenhouse emissions to produce just one kilogram of beef, but only 3.2 kilograms of emissions to produce the same amount of tofu.

I typically purchase 14 ounces of organic tofu for $2 or $3, which is often much less than the same amount of poultry or beef would cost me at the grocery store. 

To me, it is simple math. In the course of the week, if you were to swap out one or two beef burgers for a tofu burgers, you would feel better, pay less for groceries and do something small to help the environment. 

Tofu has a very natural, subtle flavor, so it can be matched with just about any cuisine or dish. Since it’s soft, you can also prepare it without a knife and cutting board.

As a nutritionist and cooking instructor, I am always developing new recipes, and tofu makes it very easy to experiment.

I serve tofu in a variety of ways: pan-fried or in soups and salads, in nimono (slow cooked roots and veggies), dumplings, veggie pancakes, vegan curry, burgers, cabbage rolls, mochi and ice cream, to name a few. 

My go-to lunch is a tofu miso soup with seasonal roots and leafy vegetables, seaweed, ginger and goji berries. Generally, I make a large pot and return to it throughout the week, serving it with multigrain rice, natto and nukazuke (pickles). 

My other perfect, simple meal is hiyayakko. It is cold tofu — usually the silken or soft variety — topped with nori, sesame seeds, ginger, shiso, scallions, natto and a little bit of soy sauce. If you prefer it warm, you can always pop it into the microwave for one to two minutes and then add your toppings. 

I often call tofu my best friend for happy living. I hope you are inspired to incorporate it into your kitchen, too. 

Michiko Tomioka, MBA, RDN, is a certified nutritionist and longevity expert. Born and raised in Nara, Japan, her approach focuses on a plant-based diet. She has worked in nutritional roles at substance recovery centers, charter schools and food banks. Follow her on Instagram @michian_rd. 

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A college degree can help you financially get ahead, compared to a high school diploma alone.

In 2022, workers ages 25 to 34 with a bachelor’s degree earned a median annual salary of $66,600, according to the latest National Center for Education Statistics data. Their counterparts with only a high school education earned $41,800 a year.

But not all college grads see that salary boost. Degree holders in studio arts, for example, earn a median salary of just $40,000, according to a recent Bankrate analysis of the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey data.

Bankrate looked at median salaries among workers and job seekers with at least a bachelor’s degree, along with unemployment rates and advanced degree rates, to rank the most and least valuable college degrees. 

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Studio arts degree-holders have low earnings prospects and an unemployment rate of 4.6%, nearly double the rate for all college graduates — 2.4% in June 2024, per New York Fed data — all of which factored into it being named the least valuable college degree. 

Here are the 10 least valuable college degrees in 2024, according to Bankrate:

1. Studio arts

• Median salary: $40,000
• Unemployment rate: 4.6%
• Percentage of workers with advanced degrees: 28.1%

2. Drama and theater arts

• Median salary: $44,000
• Unemployment rate: 4.9%
• Percentage of workers with advanced degrees: 29.0%

3. Visual and performing arts

• Median salary: $40,000
• Unemployment rate: 3.8%
• Percentage of workers with advanced degrees: 28.7%

4. Film, video and photographic arts

• Median salary: $46,000
• Unemployment rate: 5.5%
• Percentage of workers with advanced degrees: 13.8%

5. Miscellaneous fine arts

• Median salary: $45,000
• Unemployment rate: 4.8%
• Percentage of workers with advanced degrees: 15.0%

6. Clinical psychology

• Median salary: $45,500
• Unemployment rate: 2.9%
• Percentage of workers with advanced degrees: 69.1%

7. Communication technologies

• Median salary: $50,000
• Unemployment rate: 5.3%
• Percentage of workers with advanced degrees: 11.9%

8. Library science

• Median salary: $48,000
• Unemployment rate: 3.2%
• Percentage of workers with advanced degrees: 69.1%

9. Fine arts

• Median salary: $45,000
• Unemployment rate: 3.7%
• Percentage of workers with advanced degrees: 25.0%

10. Other foreign languages (excluding French, German, Latin and other more common foreign languages)

• Median salary: $53,000
• Unemployment rate: 4.8%
• Percentage of workers with advanced degrees: 45.2%

The most valuable bachelor’s degrees, by Bankrate’s standards, have a trifecta of high salaries, low unemployment rates and low rates of workers with advanced degrees.

The arts-related degrees on the least-valuable list do have low rates of workers with advanced degrees — but they fall short on the other two factors, with median annual salaries below $50,000 and high unemployment rates, compared to other grads.

Among the 10 least valuable bachelor’s degrees, just two see grads earning at least $50,000 a year: communications technologies and other foreign languages. Communications tech majors have a relatively high unemployment rate of nearly 5.3%, though, suggesting that higher paying jobs may be harder to come by.

People with bachelor’s degrees in less-common foreign languages have a slightly lower unemployment rate, but nearly half (45%) of these grads have advanced degrees. Even larger shares (roughly 69%, each) of library science and clinical psychology undergrads hold higher credentials.

That data suggests an advanced degree — and the years of school required to to earn it — may be needed to to fare better financially in those careers.

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What if there were something you could do to help your child succeed in life, but you weren’t doing it yet? 

I’m talking about helping your child become mentally stronger, which is easy to overlook with everything else that demands your parental attention. But it’s more essential than ever, given that kids face so many triggers for self-doubt, fear, and anxiety, and so many barriers to resilience, focus, and positivity.

I’ve been studying mental strength for three decades. That work recently culminated in my book “The Mentally Strong Leader.” And I’ve applied my findings both to help adults and to help parents assist their kids. 

I’ve seen firsthand the impact that teaching mental strength can have: My own daughter, who learned to handle the challenging environments of middle and high school with resilience and confidence, was able to successfully transition into college and the “real world.”

You, too, can help your kids become confident, resilient, positive-minded problem-solvers. It starts by nurturing their mental strength in these six ways.

If you have kids, you’ve likely endured a barrage of “Why?” questions: “Why, Mommy?” “Why do we have to do that, Daddy?” “But why?” 

Take that inquisitive spirit and put it to good use. Teach kids to be good problem solvers by using the Five Whys analytical approach pioneered by Japanese inventor and industrialist Sakichi Toyoda, whose son established the automaker Toyota. 

Foster kids’ instinct to keep asking, “Why?” until they get to the root of a problem. Often, the root cause emerges around the fifth repetition of the question.

Say they aren’t getting their allowance this week, for example, which is a problem for them. Help them get analytical as follows, maybe even making a game out of it:

• Why aren’t you getting your allowance? Because you didn’t wash the dishes like you said you would.
• Why didn’t you wash the dishes? Because you played video games instead.
• Why were you playing video games when you knew you shouldn’t be? Because you didn’t put them away. They were in front of the TV, ready to go.
• Why didn’t you put them away when I told you to? Because you weren’t listening.
• Why weren’t you listening? Because that’s a bad habit you need to work on.

The point is, problem-solving starts by digging into why an issue occurred, so you can address the root cause. Help your child build this habit when they’re analyzing any problem, and you help them become mentally stronger. 

Kids seek their parents’ approval. It’s natural. But approval-seeking becomes unhealthy when it turns into a constant search for external validation. You can begin to migrate away from your authentic self. 

Help your children measure their performance against their own expectations rather than seeking a stamp of approval from other people.  

Instead of determining if they lived up to someone else’s standards, encourage them to consider: “Did I accomplish what I set out to do?” and “Am I becoming a better version of myself?” 

You probably already know that it’s smart to put limits on how much time your kids spend on social media — and how much time you spend on there, too. That doesn’t make it easy.

As you talk with your kids about the social media they do encounter, remind them not to compare their bloopers to everyone else’s highlight reels. Help them understand that influencers often post carefully tailored impressions that don’t reflect real life, and that they shouldn’t hold themselves to the impossible standards they come across. 

Encourage them to view social media as largely entertainment, rather than a measuring stick. This can help prevent or at least soften feelings of inadequacy that might otherwise arise. 

When kids focus too much on the outcome of their efforts, it can lead to perfectionism. Instead, teach them to fall in love with the process. 

Especially when they’re encountering setbacks in their efforts, ask them:

• “Are you learning along the way here?” 
• “Are you having fun?” 
• “Are you growing and improving?” 

That’s the real victory, and by asking these questions, you help them focus on the positives of the journey.  

By no means am I saying they shouldn’t strive for a great outcome. But becoming overzealous about results can eat away at kids’ mental strength because so many factors besides effort can influence the outcome.  

It’s important to help keep children from falling into a victim mentality, which can make them feel and act as if they’re powerless. Here’s one key question to ask them in such times: “Do you just want things to change, or do you want to change them?”

The former is passive and can induce prolonged periods of wallowing in the sense that “it’s not fair.” The latter is proactive and helps turn your kids into change-leaders. That can build up their mental strength. 

A great source of anxiety for kids can come from worrying about things they can’t change. 

You can conduct “Control Checks” with them. Ask them to write down all the things they’re worried about. Then ask them to circle only what they can control and discuss with them how they could do something about those items. 

Mental strength has a lot to do with putting your energy where it serves you best. This exercise works to narrow down a kid’s universe of worry and helps them put energy toward taking action that will improve their circumstance, which can further ease their worry. 

Scott Mautz is a popular speaker, trainer, and LinkedIn Learning instructor. He’s a former senior executive of Procter & Gamble, where he ran several of the company’s largest multi-billion-dollar businesses. He is the author of ”The Mentally Strong Leader: Build the Habits to Productively Regulate Your Emotions, Thoughts, and Behaviors.” Follow him on LinkedIn.

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