The saying goes “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”
The Crimson Melt, 2100 N Eastern Ave., Suite 10 in Moore, owner Ashontay Owens knows a lot about heat, having spent 20 years being tested by actual fire as a former United States Air Force fire captain.
In many of the things he’s done, Owens has stood out as a first or a leader in fields where he didn’t always see himself represented. Now a business owner, that continues to drive him to achieve more for others like him.
“It means a lot to me because there are some people out there that don’t think that African-Americans in general can be business owners or can do things and everybody in this world has a different background and a different walk of life,” he said.
Now retired after 20 years in the Air Force, but still working a full-time job at Tinker Air Force Base while owning a restaurant, the idea for Crimson Melt came to Owens as a way to combine his reverence for his time as a firefighter, experiences he had while enlisted and his passion for helping other first responders.