Knowing What Is Important

By Chris Fromme

Mildred Council is like pecan pie – sweet and always welcome.

Despite her growing fame, most people do not recognize her given name. However, when one hears "Mama Dip," thoughts of fried chicken, fresh vegetables and a full belly come to mind.

Mama Dip is a contrast in humility and pride. Her shy, Southern manners deflect any glory, and she is not awed by popularity or wealth. Speaking before a group of about 20 college students, she keeps her long fingers interlocked, resting on the podium for the majority of the time. Her eyes shine a strong white when she looks up. But, most of the time she looks downwards from her tall frame, almost embarrassed to talk about her success.

The eager, revering audience consumes every word like a plate of her dumplings.

Somehow, even with her timidity, she beams with confidence. Small, sparkling teeth cram into her mouth; it seems like there are a few too many pearly whites between her small lips. Yet, they create a contagious smile. Smiling with her audience, her shoulders quickly rock like a wide receiver performing a touchdown dance when she admits, "I done a good job."

After finally putting humility aside, even if just for a fleeting moment, she gives a guilty grin like a little girl who had her hand in the cookie jar. She laughs, but not too heartily as her breath seems to expire.

The smashing success of her Chapel Hill restaurant and Southern cookbook, both called Mama Dip's Kitchen, suggests that she has done a good job. People from all walks of life, from New York Times food critic Craig Claiborne to basketball legend Michael Jordan, agree.

Her restaurant, located within walking distance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus, is constantly filled with students, locals and out-of-towners.

When describing the success of her restaurant, Mama Dip does not mention making money. She gains satisfaction from being able to serve a lot of people quality, home cooking.

When she first stumbled into the restaurant business in 1976, she could serve 18 people. Now, in two large dining rooms she can serve 90 at a time. She likes that customers come to her for a family-like meal.

Also, her cookbook continues to grow in popularity. Mama Dip travels to two or three places during a typical week for a book signing, television show or some other marketing event. A recent appearance on home shopping network QVC led to Mama Dip selling 10,000 copies of her book in six minutes.

Again, she doesn't see dollar signs in the lights of fame. She claims her book's success is simply a result of people seeking "just easy cooking."

Mama Dip sees her cookbook as more than just recipes. "The cookbook connects people with their raising, grandmothers and how they saw them cook," she said. "It just brings that closeness to them."

However, Mama Dip's greatest satisfaction comes from being a successful mother. "I'm really proud of my family and how they can relate to others," she explains. "I just like to see people when they have fun… I like laughter."

Many of her nine children, 23 grandchildren and now even great-grandchildren work in Mama Dip's Kitchen. So, Council enjoys the two things that she loves the most – cooking and family – while at work.

She lives by her word. "I think that everyone should like what they do in their project for life," she said. "Be happy, because that's what's most important."

Mama Dip loves her job, for she has loved to cook for as long as she can remember. Her favorite moment is when her father first asked Council, when she was a 9-year-old, to stay inside and cook for the family.

Mama Dip grew up on a Chatham County farm as one of seven children. Council lost her mother when she was still a baby, but she quickly became a motherly figure for her large family.

With a bit more firmness, Council said, "In 1939 it wasn't much, but people enjoyed what was on that table." Even as a child, Mama Dip enjoyed making others happy. "I was the youngest one," she explains in a drawl that comes from another generation. "But, I've always been like the mother of the whole community."

All of her life has been spent cooking. Mama Dip is happy about that. She says that she has little spare time, but she does not want much of it. Her favorite thing to do is cook. "I don't want to retire," she declares. "I think that exercise is good for everybody, and I call my work exercise."

She likes to cook and sew, she wears no makeup or nail polish and her gray suit is smooth and simple. But, she is not a simple woman; do not be fooled.

Despite constantly working in her restaurant or promoting her book, Mama Dip has served on the board of many charitable organizations. Currently, she helps on five such boards, one of which is the United Way.

Her philanthropic efforts should come as no surprise, since she enjoys making others smile. She knows what it was like to be poor. However, she never sought pity. "You'll have to struggle in some way of your life if you're wealthy," she solemnly proposes. "It could not be the money part, but there's some other part that you have (to struggle with)."

Mama Dip and her children have also made time to take courses in business management at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-CH and at North Carolina Central University. She credits her father, who sold turkeys, chickens and vegetables, for giving her an entrepreneurial instinct. But, she is shrewd enough to know that learning how to maximize efficiency will make her business better – and in the end, her family more comfortable.

Council sounds overwhelmed when discussing the opening of her current restaurant. "I opened up the loan package and I looked at it," she said. "When I got to the bottom page and saw the bottom line, all of those figures, I wished I could have erased some of them out."

But, she was far from overwhelmed.

This woman will not let herself be scared. She will not let herself fail. Sounding like a professional inspirational speaker, she said, "It doesn't have to be as hard as you think it is if you look at yourself and say 'I can do it.'"

Mama Dip can do it.

However, the real question is – after eating a plate of her fried chicken, yams, green beans and corn bread, can you find room for the pecan pie?

contact me at cfromme@email.unc.edu