Allen Peake

Allen Peake was born and raised in Macon, Georgia. He attended Auburn University and graduated from Mercer University with a BBA, majoring in accounting. He also attended Dallas Theological Seminary.

Allen started his restaurant career in 1985. In 1995, he was promoted to President and CEO of RMS Family Restaurants. He helped lead RMS to become the 10th largest restaurant franchise company in the country, operating over 130 restaurants in 3 different states, including Shoney’s, Popeye’s, Fazoli’s, Church’s, and Captain D’s.

In 1999, Allen and partner Mike Chumbley became Cheddar’s Casual Café franchisees. Allen eventually owned 11 Cheddars throughout Georgia before selling his restaurants in 2017. Allen’s business philosophy is based on servant leadership – the biblical principle that the best leaders are those that serve others.

Allen has been married to Betsy Middlebrooks Peake for 40 years, and has 3 children, and 8 grandchildren.

Allen’s passion is playing competitive amateur golf, qualifing for the USGA Mid-Amateur Championship in 2005, and he has been consistently ranked among the top seniors in the country, winning several national senior tournaments since 2017.

Allen was elected to the Georgia State House of Representatives in 2006 and served for 12 years before retiring in 2018. He served on the House leadership team, and authored legislation to protect Alzheimer’s patients, creating tax credits for the rehabilitation of historic properties, establishing Georgia’s first business tax court, banning texting while driving, and consolidating Macon and Bibb county governments. His legacy legislation though was the passage of Haleigh’s Hope Act in 2015, that allowed the legal possession of medical cannabis oil for certain medical conditions. His passion for changing state and federal law regarding medical cannabis remains today. Allen and his wife established the Peake Family Foundation to aid families who need access to medical cannabis oil for their legitimate debilitating illnesses.

Since selling his restaurants and retiring from politics, Allen has also turned his focus and energy into serving on various boards. He is currently on the board of the Georgia State Golf Association, the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association, and the Amateur Golf Alliance, as well as other various charitable organizations.