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Some people believe life is nothing more than coincidences and random chance, while others believe everything happens for a reason. Brock Toole falls into the latter camp, in part thanks to how his business, Satisfied Foods, came about. 

Having previously worked in logistics with the Puerto Rican government and Walmart for 19 years, and also serving as the assistant superintendent at Oconee County Schools, the genesis for Satisfied Foods had a seemingly unassuming beginning. Toole had been smoking fish he and his brother LaDon had caught. The pair’s friend, Darrell Goodman, who had recently moved back from Maryland, made his own fish dip, before eventually persuading Toole to try his homemade pimento cheese. Toole, while typically not a fan of pimento cheese, relented, only to find himself enjoying Goodman’s batch. 

This simple interaction would lead Toole and Goodman to consider starting their own restaurant, before eventually settling on creating Satisfied Foods instead. One factor that differentiates Satisfied Foods from the others is its use of high-quality products, while also using less mayonnaise.  

“People would just line up to buy it,” Toole said of the cheese. The pair founded Satisfied Foods in the Watkinsville/Athens area in 2019, and went into production in 2020. In the intervening years, the business has expanded not only their variety of cheeses, but their market, now supplying Satisfied products to Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina. Originally, Dixie Dandy was their first partner; now KGD Produce also carries their products, with Southern Philosophy serving them as well, with stores in Cairo, Thomasville, and the Tallahassee area also partnering. So many businesses either serve or cook with Satisfied products even the odd celebrity has gotten a taste, with Toole recounting how Jimmy Buffet was served a Reuben with Satisfied cheese.

Speaking of musicians, music has been a love for both Toole and Goodman, and has had some influence on the business. Satisfied and its  lineup of cheeses all derive their names from songs.

The business has changed some since opening, with Goodman no longer a part of the business, and Toole having had to close the business’s Athens kitchen in order to move to a larger operation in Lithonia, Georgia, to keep up with their expansion. 

“It kept morphing through our relationships we’d built,” he said. 

But, Satisfied Foods is not the only business that Toole started through friends and simple interactions. In 2020, Toole also began home brewing with South Main Brewing in Watkinsville. It all started when Toole allowed a friend to brew beer at his residence, or rather, the 2-room 1828 kitchen at his residence. It was here that they would hold events, letting people try their beer and cheeses. 

“We break bread with good people and get by with the help of our friends,” Toole said. It was while brewing beer at his house that Toole met Nick Farley, who is now the current brewer at South Main, which opened its permanent location in 2022. 

“Almost every partner we got, we broke bread with them.” 

Toole also met and partnered with Dublin native Brad Allen in both businesses. Toole emphasized his team’s work ethic, which he attributed to “a good ‘ole SOWEGA upbringing, not to mention a solid foundation of teaching from our parents and grandparents.” Throughout this entrepreneurial journey, family and those Southern traditions have been a key ideal. “Sense of community is really big for us,” he said. “I’ve found through music, food, and fellowship, you can make lasting bonds.”