Erika Escue-Cadieux is driven by many things: her faith, her love of people, and her many varying technological and scientific interests. But when she speaks about her work as MEC’s District 8 director, “service” is the theme that ties them all together.
“I think as a restauranteur, it’s all about service,” she says. “I take it very seriously that members are properly represented and their best interests are taken to heart.”
Food and Faith
While working as a restaurant designer in Toledo, Erika had the opportunity to buy a building in Adrian, Michigan and start her own restaurant. She was drawn to Adrian because it was similar in size and countryside-influenced way of life to her beloved hometown of Lebanon, Ohio. In 2011 she purchased and started work on the building that would later become Hooligan’s Grill.
Work on Hooligan’s took longer than expected, but Erika persevered. In 2013 the restaurant officially opened to the public, serving recipes that Erika herself had created and collected from family over the years.
Just two months after the opening, however, Erika was presented with her toughest challenge yet. A serious cancer diagnosis forced her to take time away from Hooligan’s, her staff, and her customers.
“At that time I was still working 18-hour days,” Erika says. “But I was sitting in the doctor’s office and he told me, ‘If I let you go you’ll be dead in two hours.’”
The mental and emotional toll left Erika feeling rudderless. It was then that she rediscovered her greatest source of comfort, which drives her decisions and motivates her to this day: her faith. While Erika had been a Christian prior to her diagnosis, the events catapulted her faith to new heights, helping her see it was part of God’s plan all along.
“Everything I’ve done has led me on a journey to where I’m supposed to be, and I can see God’s fingerprints all over it,” she says.
Erika’s newfound faith helped her through her recovery, and she was eventually able to start working again. While she had been commuting from Toledo to Adrian to work at Hooligan’s, she moved to Adrian permanently in 2019, becoming an MEC electric customer in the process. She ran for the board of directors that same year, winning the election for District 8.
A Life of Service
Erika doesn’t have a favorite menu item at Hooligan’s – or, more accurately, every menu item is her favorite, made from scratch each day using locally sourced ingredients. Her philosophy is to put service first, seeking out the best value for her guests before putting something on the menu. Her favorite saying is, “Food is Love.”
Just as she serves her customers, she serves God, her community, and the MEC members she represents. She has a love of learning, especially about science and technology (at one point even inventing a patented biometric technology called GoDotz). She has a longstanding interest in science, technology, and innovation, including research into patents and emerging developments in energy production and distribution. Erika looks forward to aiding these scientific changes to the community through her position as an MEC director, with an eye toward reliability, keeping costs down, and providing the best possible service to members.
According to Erika, the most rewarding part of being on the board is working with a team of directors that all have the same agenda: serving the members.
“The issues the board is being presented with are so impacting, and none of us take it lightly,” she says. “All the directors bring their experience with them, and that lends itself to making the best decisions for customers. I’ve been told by other directors at national conferences that the MEC board is just outstanding.”
As the board faces new challenges brought by a rapidly changing world and technological landscape, Erika is confident that she and her fellow directors can weather any storm – with dedication, experience, and service as their driving force.
