Courtesy of Livability

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article contained errors relating to Schonert’s connection to The Chocolate Season and Schonert’s connection to The Food Network. The errors have been corrected.

Adam Schonert, a 2023 graduate of Iowa State’s concurrent food science MBA program, is using his degree to operate his own business in the food service industry. The former Cyclone took the entrepreneurial plunge following graduation and never looked back.

“I went to Iowa State for food science and business, and I don’t think many people can say they use their degree every day, and I get to use mine constantly, and that just really excites me,” Schonert said.

Born and raised in Algona, Iowa, Schonert always held a passion for baking. As a child, he often created his own recipes at home and continued to develop his skills as he grew older. Throughout high school, Schonert baked and sold homemade pies and cheesecakes during the holidays as a way to raise money for college.

As a sophomore in high school, Schonert noticed a job posting from The Chocolate Season, a local chocolaterie and coffee shop.

Schonert was invited to interview for the position after applying and was later offered the job. A frequent patron of The Chocolate Season, Schonert was ecstatic to contribute to a business that held a special place in so many locals’ hearts.

Schonert eventually became a “waffle master” along with other members of the staff, as The Chocolate Season began to produce menus of waffles that would become popular.

“Waffles are actually the first thing I ever baked and so it’s kind of what got me started,” Schonert said.

Schonert began working hand-in-hand with The Chocolate Season’s owner, Erika Jensen. 

“We had this amazing synergy… we developed probably like five or six waffles together and just started serving them casually on Saturday mornings and continued to create different seasonal waffles,” Schonert said.

Some of Schonert and Jensen’s first creations included the Baconator; a waffle stuffed with strips of bacon and caramelized walnuts cascaded in maple butter syrup, and the Salted Caramel Waffle; a chocolate waffle topped with caramelized corn flakes, Nutella, chocolate chips and whipped cream. The intriguing creations quickly caught the attention of The Chocolate Season patrons and became an overnight success within the community.

“It just continued to grow in popularity, and so people would start coming from surrounding towns or communities just to try them,” Schonert said.

Soon after the waffles began to skyrocket in popularity, The Chocolate Season was contacted by Food Network and notified that the waffle creations were to be featured in an upcoming article, rating the best waffle menu in every state.

“I’m a big believer in just doing everything with excellency, and so that was kind of like the first example of just doing that,” Schonert said. That continues to be a really big value in our business today, ‘how can we do everything we do to the absolute best of our ability?’”

After completing multiple internships in the food science industry, Schonert decided it was time to make the leap and start a business of his own. He began under the name of Schonert’s Patisserie, offering premium and handcrafted breakfast catering to various local businesses and events, including many on campus at Iowa State. 

“Truly, the Ivy College of Business supported us so much, they really allowed us to get up on our feet and get started,” Schonert said. “So they started using us for lots of events and since we were from Iowa State and really connected. Before we knew it, we’re working with multiple departments, multiple colleges and doing premium and handcrafted breakfast catering all over campus.”

Through his experience working with the university, Schonert decided that he wanted to work with larger businesses; he shifted his focus to strictly corporate catering and halted its direct-to-consumer website sales. In May 2023, the business was officially rebranded from Schonert’s Patisserie to Schonert’s Corporate Catering. 

As the business grew, Schonert relocated to the business’s new permanent home in North Grand Mall.

“So now we operate with a full size, licensed to marshal kitchen,” Shconert said. “We used to be limited in our offerings and only able to serve 100 people, but now we just have a lot more capacity to do catering which has grown to 500 people.”  

As an Iowa State graduate, Schonert continues to involve his business in the community. Schonert’s Corporate Catering is an Ames Chamber member, Discover Iowa Partner and approved vendor for the ISU Alumni Center. 

“With our connections, with the food science program, the MBA program and the Chamber of Commerce, you know, we’re showing up to local events constantly to meet new people and reach those connections,” Schonert said.

A former president of Iowa State’s Food Science Club, Schonert encourages Iowa State students and aspiring entrepreneurs to get involved with the many opportunities available on campus.

“It’s just such a rich environment to be an entrepreneur… I don’t think there ever is a safer place to try something out. I’ve been at Iowa State and so I think leveraging that and taking advantage of the resources they offer,” Schonert said. “The Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship offers tons and tons of services, from Smart Farm workshops to the Innovation Center’s workshops… those are just no-brainer ways to be able to get to do more work in less time than you ever would.”

Schonert hopes to inspire Iowa State students with his story and encourages aspiring individuals to take the first step in their entrepreneurial journeys.

“As an entrepreneur you’re gonna fail and so learning to embrace failure and to learn from failure will allow you to become an expert in what you do,” Schonert said. “That’s something I recommend to students is just get started, fail, accept the failure, learn from it and just keep growing and striving to do better.”

From his days selling cheesecakes to his time as a waffle master, all the way to opening his own business, Schonert’s story serves as inspiration for aspiring Iowa State entrepreneurs and proof that with the right idea and enough determination, no dream is too big.

“I look at Iowa State as I’m on campus almost every day delivering catering and I just think of the opportunities available… it’s just a breeding ground for entrepreneurs and I never expected that to be me,” Schonert said.