Porchlight Business Book Award nominee, Leadership & Strategy

A captivating tale about what it takes as a small business owner to build a meaningful company from the ground up, falling in love with your work along the way

In The Mac & Cheese Millionaire: Building a Better Business by Thinking Outside the Box, best-selling author, entrepreneur, and culinary innovator Erin Wade shares her inspiring and often hilarious journey of leaving her corporate lawyer job to open a hit mac and cheese restaurant, taking you through the challenges and victories that paved her path to success. By sharing the lessons that helped her sell millions of dollars in cheesy carbs, she delivers the tools you need to create change and surpass all your expectations.

This book isn't just a personal narrative; it's a masterclass in redefining what it means to love your work. Because while her journey started out of a love of mac and cheese, Wade found that what she ultimately fell in love with-was business. What follows is the story of starting a small business, all of the ensuing trials and tribulations, and ultimately building a unique, feminist work culture that helped transform the restaurant industry.

You'll also find:

• Funny and inspiring personal anecdotes that illustrate the power of tapping into your own singular brand of leadership
• Strategies for creating a one-of-a-kind work culture based on greater meaning, purpose, and connection
• Tools to embrace a feminine leadership style that offer an enduring competitive advantage to entrepreneurs

With leadership takeaways for businesses of all sizes, The Mac & Cheese Millionaire is an essential read for small business owners, professional women, aspiring entrepreneurs, and, of course, comfort food-lovers. Wade's story demonstrates how blending passion, innovation, and a bit of culinary magic can lead to unparalleled success. Whether you're dreaming of launching your own venture or seeking to infuse your current role with more meaning and joy, let this book be your guide to transforming your professional life.

Praise for The Mac & Cheese Millionaire

"The Mac & Cheese Millionaire will take you on a journey fueled by determination, compassion, and purpose. Transforming lives through comfort food and elbowing her way into people's hearts, Erin's story is sure to inspire anyone who dreams of making a difference."
-Danny Meyer, Founder of Union Square Hospitality Group and New York Times bestselling author of Setting the Table

"One of the most wise and funny management books ever written. The Mac & Cheese Millionaire is a beautiful blend of Erin Wade's rollicking no-bullshit memoir and her hard won and relentlessly useful lessons for building a humane and profitable business."
-Robert I. Sutton, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University and New York Times bestselling author of The No Asshole Rule, The Friction Project, and Good Boss, Bad Boss

"A delightful memoir that doubles as a management and career guide for the modern era, The Mac & Cheese Millionaire offers both humor and wisdom. Erin Wade shares her remarkably adventurous life experiences and along the way decodes how to build a better company and a better relationship with work."
-Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School and author of Right Kind of Wrong and The Fearless Organization

"In transforming herself from high-priced corporate lawyer to mac and cheese queen, Erin Wade made an unexpected discovery: she loved business as much as her favorite dish. What's more, she turned out to be equally skilled at both and she wound up selling her mac and cheese restaurant for millions of dollars. Read this book to share the joy of her journey, even if you don't love mac and cheese."
-Bo Burlingham, author of Small Giants and Finish Big

"Any small business owner will find Erin's thoughtful experiment-in creating a job she could love by opening a restaurant-a joy to read. Post pandemic, with work force stability and satisfaction at an all-time low, Erin's story could not be more timely or useful."
-Mary Sue Milliken, award-winning chef and co-owner of the Mundo Hospitality Group

"The Mac & Cheese Millionaire captures the true spirit of entrepreneurship-the wild, gritty, sometimes lonely but ultimately creative act of starting something new. It's about problem solving and refusing to take the status quo as a given. A compelling read for anyone looking for their own path to defining success."
-Ann Miura-Ko, co-founding partner at Floodgate and named the "Most Powerful Woman in Startups" by Forbes