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Mike Hutchison, owner of Star Bar and co-owner of Azalea Restaurant & Lounge and Zen Sushi & Noodle Bar, tries to live his life around one word – optimism – even though he claims he has absolutely no idea where his positive attitude comes from.

His long days of juggling his two overactive boys’ athletic schedules, overseeing his three restaurants and managing his real estate company, Peach Tree Properties, have definitely put a damper on his alone time with his wife and time spent in the gym, but Hutchison figures it will all be worth it in the long run. And with an attitude that exults, “Success is measured by happiness, not money,” Hutchison smiles and says, “I feel successful, I have a great family and I like where live; I like my life.”

Childhood hardships

And even though Hutchison claims he has no idea where his cheerfulness originates, he told a story that reveals his optimistic roots and his “you can do anything” attitude. Hutchison’s story dates back to when he was 5 years old. His father had been diagnosed with stomach cancer and given only six months to live, but he miraculously beat the cancer and lived another 20 years.

“He had a tumor like a hand wrapped around his heart,” Hutchison recalled. “They opened him up on the operating table and he actually died and came back to life. They did chemotherapy and radiation, and probably didn’t know what they were doing too much back then, and so I’m guessing they zapped him with a lot more than they use today, and the tumor disappeared.”

Hutchison explained that before his father was diagnosed with cancer, he worked in the insurance industry, but wasn’t allowed to come back to the office after his diagnosis. Hutchison said that instead of filing a lawsuit, his dad just “swallowed his pride” and took a job in a maintenance shop.

“He was very humble and did that to provide for his family; swallowed his pride,” Hutchison said, adding that his mother worked “24/7” just to keep the medical bills paid, food on the table and clothes on him and his two siblings.

“It was tough,” he recalled. “But I am very thankful that I got to know him, because he died once when I was 5 and was able to live another 20 years.

“He was a big impact on my character, and so even though he has been gone for 15 years, I’ll take it, every day of it.”

Full-time father

So Hutchison has taken the strength that he saw in his father and has made it the motivation for his success, pointing out that any hardship he has or will encounter is nothing compared with the hardships his parents experienced. That’s especially true when it comes to parenting, so he ensures he has enough time to be a full-time dad.

“Everyone wants to give their kids a better childhood than they had in certain ways,” he said. “And I am sure that has a lot to do with my motivation there.”

From soccer practice to football games to swimming lessons, Hutchison is alongside his two boys, ages 7 and 9, at every practice – usually as the coach – and almost never misses a game or a meet.

“I think since my dad was sick, he didn’t ever make it to ballgames or ever coach me, or even play catch, and he would have, but he couldn’t,” he said. “And I definitely think that has a lot to do with me not missing games and wanting to coach and give them something I didn’t have.”

His roles as full-time dad, full-time restaurant owner and full-time real estate manager require a constantly booked schedule, but Hutchison finds the time for it all, even if it means doing paperwork in the middle of the night.

“I work early until late,” he said. “I get to the practices I need to be at and then resume work at night once the boys are asleep. Family comes first, business comes second, and it seems like (my and my wife’s) personal life comes in third. We had that before kids, and we’ll get it back after kids.”

Hutchison said his wife, Carter, helps out with the restaurants when she’s not on mom duty, and she sometimes even takes a shift as hostess at Azalea.

Partners in business

In the midst of balancing his various roles, Hutchison has also been juggling the future of Azalea and Zen – which opened in the summer of 2007 – with his business partner, Jeremy Morrow, who left the daily operations at Azalea and Zen more than eight weeks ago, but showed up ready for work last month.

“I was a little surprised when he called” and said he was coming in to work, Hutchison said.

Hutchison and Morrow were partners in Star Bar, Zen and Azalea until Hutchison bought Morrow out of Star Bar last May, leaving Morrow as part owner of just Zen and Azalea.

However, more than two months ago, Morrow left the daily operations at Zen and Azalea – where he served as executive chef – to pursue other business options. Morrow said the other business pursuits fell through, and he decided to go back to work at the restaurants, claiming “we are still trying to figure things out, and the reason I haven’t been there lately is because we had talked about things and had a verbal thing worked out, but never were able to get it finalized.”

Morrow said he decided to return to the daily operations once he came to the realization that his new ventures weren’t going to work.

“The only reason I haven’t been involved is because we talked about a deal, thought we had it worked out, but it never really progressed,” he said.

However, things appear a little different from Hutchison’s side of the table, and he claims that Morrow’s recent involvement in the restaurants is solely because “it puts him in a better situation for negotiations,” noting that if the situation ever got to court, that “for someone to say ‘I walked away and I didn’t help the company at all’ – it’s tough to get credibility there.”

Hangin’ with the boys

So with a sticky situation on his hands, Hutchison finds it difficult to squeeze in time for play and is usually mired in work. However, his two right-hand men, TJ Moberg, owner of Moberg Gallery, and Ted Irvine, owner of the Mansion, make sure Hutch – as they like to call him – finds time to loosen up on the golf course, even though his game is anything but up to par.

“That might be the one thing he isn’t optimistic about,” Irvine joked. “Hutch claims to play golf, but he might be among the worst golfers; he is just horrible.”

Irvine and Hutchison both attended Roosevelt High School, but Irvine said it wasn’t until about four years ago that the two of them started getting close.

“We’ve become pretty darn close over the last four years,” Irvine said. “He is an admirable character and has done a lot of stuff over his life, and when he decides he wants to do something, he does it.”

This “get it done” attitude and competitive friendship landed Hutchison and Irvine in the middle of a $500 bet about who could lose 25 pounds first, but apparently, Hutchison didn’t follow the “fair play” rule.

“He cheated,” Irvine laughed. “I debate that. The real bet should have been who could keep it off.”

But despite a weight gain of “a few pounds” that Hutchison said he put on once the bet was over, he was confident that when things got sorted out at the restaurants, he’d get back around to his health – even though he might have to take Irvine up on another bet to get there.