Meet Chad Visger

Executive Pastry Chef, Entrepreneur, and Mentor

Making life a little sweeter while bringing people together through food

Chad Visger has spent nearly two decades turning ideas into reality. Sometimes that means creating the perfect pastry, building a business from the ground up, or bringing people together over food. Other times, it means helping a young person discover a talent, develop confidence, and recognize a future they may not have imagined for themselves.

As the founder and owner of Pastries by Chad, Chad has built a business that reflects both his creative vision and his commitment to community. After years in the culinary and hospitality industries, including work as an executive chef, he launched Pastries by Chad in 2021 and opened his brick-and-mortar bakery in Elkhorn in 2023. His talents earned him a place on FOX's Next Level Baker in 2025, where he worked alongside Gordon Ramsay, Carla Hall, and Candace Nelson.

Yet the accomplishment that perhaps best captures who Chad is began long before the bakery opened its doors.

Early in his career, he taught culinary and baking skills to at-risk youth in Chicago. Today, that passion for mentorship has come full circle. Through Pastries by Chad, he works with high school culinary students, mentors aspiring competitors, and partners with Elkhorn Area High School's youth apprenticeship program to provide hands-on experience in a working bakery. His students have earned first place in all three categories of the Kikkoman Culinary Showdown, and one young baker he mentored went on to place second on Food Network's Kids Baking Championship.

For Chad, these achievements are about more than trophies or recognition. They represent young people gaining practical skills, finding confidence, and discovering that their potential can become something tangible. It's the same philosophy that drives his business: see the possibility, put in the work, and help others along the way.

That mindset also extends throughout Walworth County, where Chad uses his business to support schools, nonprofits, and community events. He believes entrepreneurship carries a responsibility to give back and that success means little if it doesn't make a positive difference beyond your own front door.

Those who first meet Chad may notice his drive, ambition, and high standards. Get to know him, though, and you'll find a laid-back, sarcastic dreamer who believes strong leadership requires empathy just as much as determination. He's a husband and father first, grounded by his faith and devoted to his family. Away from the bakery, he enjoys sports, cooking at home, football, and time with the people who matter most.

Chad's ambition has never been simply to build a successful bakery. It's to create something that lasts: a business that supports his family, strengthens his community, brings people together, and opens doors for the next generation. If he can accomplish all that while making someone's day a little sweeter, he's doing exactly what he set out to do.