BRYAN, Texas — At first glance, Mary Beckman might seem like your average working mom.
She's an Aggie who graduated with her husband Wade in 1990.
And, oh yeah, Mary and her husband, Wade own and operate three restaurants in the Brazos Valley: Shipwrecked… Amico Nave's and Third on Main.
"We have upscale Italian, then we have a dive seafood and oyster bar, then we have counter service Americana, and then we have a full service catering company," Beckman said.
But she didn't exactly plan for a career in restaurants.
In their younger days, Mary was in retail and Wade was fulfilling his dream as a restaurateur, but she was needed to replace someone on maternity leave.
"...He needed a fill in... so he took his HR person, put her in catering. He's like 'You're going to be my hr person.' And I was like, 'Okay!'."
Since then, Mary has been in love with her and her husband's work.
She makes it look easy, but with day-to-day operations Mary said there's "no such thing," as a "typical day."
"Wade and I hold a lot of hats, wear a lot of hats. Every day is different," said Mary.
With about 80 employees and a busy schedule, she and wade are always on the move.
But, at the end of the day, it's worth it.
"It's just amazing to have people live breath and work and are invested here and only here. It's important to us to give and to give back. To make the community stronger, to make it a great place to live—which it is amazing."