A happy accident occurred for

ULM communication students,

Brendan McClain and Kade Fetter,

which resulted in them both

meeting their all-time fried chicken

hero—Slim Chickens CEO Tom

Gordon. In what has been dubbed

“The Slimgrimage,” McClain and

Fetter embarked on a five-hour

journey to Fayetteville, Arkansas

and happened upon the doorstep

of the Slim Chickens Headquarters.

Since the opening of their West

Monroe location in 2016, Slim

Chickens has become a staple of

fried chicken for ULM students, but

none so much as McClain and Fetter.

The two have reportedly spent

countless hours in the restaurant

over the course of their friendship,

enjoying their go-to Slim’s orders.

After a trip to Fayetteville for a

missions conference, McClain and

Fetter stumbled upon the headquarters

by pure luck.

It was then that McClain and

Fetter expressed their love and

gratitude for Slim Chickens to the

security camera, which the CEO

was thrilled to see. After viewing

this recording, Gordon himself

posted a photo of the duo on the official

Slim Chickens Instagram with

the caption, “Help us find them?

We want to thank them for stopping

by.”

“When I saw the post, I flipped

out. I instantly called them,” Fetter

said. “That was when they offered

us a Zoom call with the CEO.”

In addition to the Zoom call,

Slim Chickens offered to send

them some gifts, which Fetter and

McClain still eagerly await to receive.

McClain shared what it was like

to speak to the franchise founders,

an interview which they, of course,

conducted in the West Monroe

Slim Chickens location.

“It was really cool. You think of

CEOs as big business people that

are not down to earth, but they

were some of the coolest people

I’ve met in a long time,” McClain

said.

During the meeting, they were

able to share with Gordon how important

his restaurant is, not only

to them, but to West Monroe and

Monroe as a whole. According to

McClain, Slim Chickens is representative

of this area’s culture,

which lends to its popularity.

In return, the founders were able

to share some interesting history

about the franchise. Gordon embodies

the rags-to-riches dream,

going from small-town country boy

to multi-millionaire businessman.

The original location was built into

an abandoned hibachi restaurant,

and under the mascot Pimp Slims,

who was Mardi Gras-inspired rather

than the blues-inspired mascot,

Slim.

For the two, Slim Chickens is

more than just a chain restaurant.

They have both been meeting

friends there for years, and they

think of it as a place filled with

amazing memories.

“It’s a very special place for

me,” Fetter said, to which McClain

agreed.

“Every social group we’ve ever

been a part of—church, school or

anything—we always ended up

going to Slim Chickens after,” Mc-

Clain said.

This one-in-a-million encounter

proved that meeting your heroes

isn’t always a bad thing, and sometimes

results in an unforgettable

experience.

McClain said he still can’t fathom

how lucky they are to have met

the man himself.

“I’m so grateful. I can’t believe

all these events took place to where

this could happen,” McClain said.

“It’s crazy, but somewhere along

the way, we became slimbassadors.”