The nontraditional path sure doesn’t seem to have hurt, as Fieri leads a vast Flavortown empire with five Food Network shows, a growing number of restaurants, and a variety of other creative and food-related pursuits. And according to CelebrityNetWorth.com, he’s worth approximately $70 million overall! Not bad for a “high school dropout!”

But no one should mistake Fieri for being anti-education, especially when it relates to food and the restaurant business. In fact, he’s even recently used his Guy Fieri Foundation to fund large donations to a Florida high school’s culinary program, telling students that, professional or not, cooking is a critical part of life everyone should learn. Fieri encouraged them to go to college, working in restaurants along the way if they want to gain experience in the food world while getting a parallel education of priceless life lessons. In an interview for SoCo Careerfest, he argued that restaurant work teaches young people versatile skills like teamwork, time management, communication, empathy, and responsibility that serve them well regardless of whether or not their eventual career involves food. 

All in all, it’s understandable to hear Summers’ surprise about Fieri’s path through school in his young adult years. But, with the chef and restauranteur’s offbeat personality and intense drive, he’s shown that a nontraditional education can’t stop you from finding your own unique success.