Mike Mills discovers joy and success through perseverance and some timely help
If the teenage Mike Mills met himself today, he probably wouldn’t recognize himself.
The teenage Mills was, in his words, “very quiet.” Mills today is a gregarious and outgoing businessman and civic leader.
The teenage Mills is described by those who knew him as “a regular teenager” who did OK in school but was hardly motivated beyond his personal interests. Mills today is anything but regular and is in a constant state of personal evolution and development.
The teenage Mills had little direction and interest beyond his friends and basketball. Mills today is a motivator of others and cares deeply about his community, his family and finding greater success in business.
Mills, 37, is the owner of Symmetry Coffee, a wholesale roasted coffee start—up and is gaining statewide recognition for his efforts to pay forward the kindness and help others gave him.
It didn’t start that way.
As a student at Vanguard High School, he played sports and did well enough in the classroom – no he was not in the school’s International Baccalaureate program.
“When there was something I really wanted to do, I did it very well,” said Mills, sitting outside his Symmetry Coffee shop in Paddock Mall. “If it was something I was told to do but didn’t care about much, I would do it but …”
He was a standout basketball player at Vanguard, playing for the legendary coach, Jim Haley. He was a decent student.
But what changed Mills and his life’s trajectory – although he did not know it at the time — was his acceptance into the Take Stock in Children program after eighth grade. Take Stock is a scholarship program for disadvantaged students who can get a college scholarship if they maintain good grades and stay out of trouble. Each student is assigned a mentor, who meets with the student regularly and tracks their progress.
Mills’ mentor was Kevin Christian, longtime director of public relations for the Marion County Public Schools. It was Christian’s only Take Stock mentorship and Mills is grateful it was him who was assigned to Christian.
“This story should really be about Kevin Christian,” Mills said modestly.
Mills, who grew up in a trailer park with no father present, said Christian was a tremendous influence who didn’t dwell too much on schoolwork.
“Kevin cared so much about the stuff outside the classroom,” Mills said. “He spent so much time talking about being a kind person.”
Christian said what Mills needed at that point was not motivation in school, but direction in life.
“We didn’t talk about classwork,” he said. “He was a smart kid. He was a typical teenager. What he needed was to realize that what you give out you get back.”
Mills said his time with Christian changed his life, his mother’s life and set the stage for who he is today.
“There was a considerable amount of pressure that was taken off my mom when my college was paid for,” he said. “Take Stock in Children opened doors and presented opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t have been there.”
He said it is a reality he didn’t appreciate as a Vanguard student.
“Now that I’m at this stage in my life, I see the kids walk across the stage, and then I see the parents’ faces,” he said.
After graduating from Vanguard in 2006, Mills attended the College of Central Florida where he earned an associate degree. It would be just the beginning of myriad career paths for Mills.
In 2010, Mills entered the Navy where he worked on nuclear submarines as a nuclear machinist mate from 2010 to 2017. During his stint, he played basketball, ultimately making the All—Navy squad.
Upon leaving the Navy at age 30, Mills decided to pursue a career as a physician’s assistant. He went to work for Walden Direct Primary Care. But while pursuing his medical career he got sidelined, enlisted to help grow the practice’s business. He found he loved working in business development and marketing and, with a partner, started his own marketing business in 2019.
Things were rocking along. The business was good. He had married and his wife, Lauren, and he had a new baby girl, Ellie Jane. One day, though, he got home from work, but too late to see Ellie before she went down. He was exhausted, so he took a nap.
“I can count on my fingers the number of naps I’ve taken in my life,” he remembered.
When he woke, Mills decided he needed to shift gears. He was missing seeing his daughter grow up. So, he sold his share of the marketing business to his partner and decided to find another vocation where he could spend more time with his family.
He loved to drink coffee and the owner of Symmetry Coffee at the time, Ted Linn, was interested in selling. Mills, with business and marketing in his background, bought it.
It was the pandemic, but Mills was not dissuaded. As time —and the pandemic – moved on, the business grew. He now has two stores, the wholesale coffee business that sells ground roast to establishments in Tampa Bay, Orlando and Jacksonville, and a third company, Buzz and Grind, that his mother, Robbin Cruikshank, operates here in Ocala. Oh, along the way, when he wasn’t starting businesses or growing a family – a son, Hawklin, was added and is now 4 — he earned his MBA.
But while his career path has been a bit twisting and turning, his affection for Take Stock in Children has remained strong. He has been a vocal and visible advocate for the program.
Mills’ mentorship of Take Stock has been so powerful and effective that in 2023 he was named the Take Stock in Children Alumni of the Year in the state of Florida.
That was followed up last September with the Volunteer Florida Excellence in Volunteerism Award at the Consortium of Florida Education Foundation conference.
But while state honors are nice and appreciated by Mills, he is also most actively promoting Take Stock here in his hometown.
Four years ago, he was asked by Marion County Public Education Foundation Executive Director Meghan Magamoll to sit on the Foundation’s board of directors.
“It was a no—brainer for me,” Mills said.
Magamoll was in charge of Take Stock when Mills went through the program and said, “Mike was one of my first students with Take Stock.”
Mills is now chairman of the Public Education Foundation board.
“It’s easy to forget how young he is when you’re working with him on a project,” Magamoll said. “Mike Mills as an adult is in a constant state of growth and development. The Mike Mills now has evolved.
“And he’s just getting started in our community. We all are watching the great human grow into a great leader.”
Magamoll described Mills as “thoughtful and intentional,” adding, “Mike’s life is already a testament to service – to community and country.”
“This is the first time in the 35 years of the Public Education Foundation a program graduate is chairman of the board. Who better to advocate for Take Stock than Mike Mills.”
And Mills does more than advocate. He currently also mentors two Take Stock children.
Despite his schedule and obligations, Mills intends to use his position to tell all who will listen about Take Stock in Children.
“I’m going to hit every avenue available to let people know what’s possible through the Public Education Foundation because it means generational change for so many,” Mills said. “It’s a great honor.”
As for Kevin Christian, the long—ago mentor and lifetime friend that helped shape Mills’ life, he doesn’t hide his pride.
“I don’t have kids, but if I did, I hope they’d be like Mike Mills,” Christian said. “Obviously it meant something to both of us – and still does.
Christian said Mills is “a model of what a person should be.”
“He’s a charmer,” he added. “He’s a product of Take Stock. He’s the perfect 360. You wouldn’t find a better example of what the program’s about.”
