InTouch with Southern Kentucky March 2020 | Page 30

Business
Slim Chickens’ owner keeps
hands-on with new business venture
BY CARLA SLAVEY
COMMONWEALTH JOURNAL
R
yan Dotson keeps busy.
He’s a pastor at the Light-
house World Outreach
Center in Winchester.
He’s running for State
Representative for the 73rd District,
covering Clark and Madison Coun-
ties. And – oh, yeah – he opened a
brand new Slim Chickens restaurant
in Somerset in January.
“I love serving,” he says simply as
he sits at a table inside the newly
opened chicken restaurant. “It’s just
like being in here. A lot of people
see me as a business owner – and
I am – but I love talking to people,
waiting on people. If somebody
needs something, I try to take care
of it. It’s just who I am as a person,
and I like to see people happy. I like
to see them satisfied when they
leave here. Business, ministry, pol-
itics, it’s just an extension of who I
am as a person.”
Slim Chickens officially opened
its doors on January 9, serving up
chicken strips and wings, offering
11 different wing flavors and 19 dip-
ping sauces, and offering sides from
fries to mac and cheese to coleslaw.
So, how has business been? Dot-
son smiles when asked.
“We have stellar sales. We’re the
number one store in the company
for the last month in sales. That’s
attributed to being the grand open-
ing, a lot of buzz. But that’s still a
good mark, to be the 101st store in
the company and be number one in
sales this month, so it’s been really
great. We’re on pace to even do bet-
ter in the next few months because
of the weather.”
The warm-up that takes place in
the spring means the arrival of tour-
ists. And one of the reasons Dotson
said he chose this area to try out a
restaurant like this is because of the
30 • I n T ouch with S outhern K entucky 
SUBMITTED
Slim Chickens owner Ryan Dotson, with his wife Tresa.
M arch 2020