Chef Rae: Beyond The Fork

oday we going back to The Ville, the 615. That’s right; Nashville is back in the building courtesy of Chef Rae. Chef Rae is the owner of several projects, including Beyond The Fork Food Truck. Today I learn from Chef Rae a few (remember I said that) of the projects she is working on and the importance of being a constant student and hustler as an entrepreneur despite great obstacles. I’m sure her story is going to motivate some of you to get on your grind, but for now sit back and relax the show starts now

Over the past 5 years, I’ve  learned a lot about what makes a good food truck stand out among the rest. I took 8 of those key concepts and created a book where I could have curbside conversations with each of you about them. This book  is not only digestible and not designed to overwhelm you, but also propels you into action. You can purchase Before You Launch A Food Truck TODAY at TheFoodTruckScholar.com/shop in paperback and ebook format as well as on Amazon. 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:33

What's up everybody. Welcome to the food trucks scholar podcast. I'm your host Ariel D Smith and I appreciate you choosing to kick it with me for yet another episode of[inaudible]. Your thoughts on today's episode on social media using the hashtag T F T S podcast. Today we're going back to the Ville, the six one five. That's right. Nashville is back in the building courtesy of shelf race. Chef rate is the owner of several projects, including beyond the fork food truck. Today I learned from chef Ray a few, remember I said that of the project she's working on and the importance of being a constant student and hustler as entrepreneur, despite great obstacles. I'm sure her story is going to motivate some of you to get on your grind, but for now, sit back and relax. The show starts now.

Speaker 2: 2:30

That's right. Thanks so much. Being on kind of the listeners, your name, the name of your food truck and where you're based. Hi everybody. How you doing? Oh, fat fry. I'm out of Nashville, Tennessee. Then I moved. My future is beyond the fork and we are, um, work mobile and everywhere. But you're in this list one?

Speaker 3: 2:51

Yeah, I was a couple of years ago, two years ago when I was at Vanderbilt, so I was one of the first things I did when I went and got the Nashville was I went to a food truck in bicentennial park. I think my the day after I moved here, I'm excited to have my back on the Hill on the show.

Speaker 2: 3:12

Yes. Yes.

Speaker 3: 3:15

I love it. Well, I'll tell more about the foods, but first I want you to take me back and tell me like how did you get involved with cooking? Like what are your passion for cooking?

Speaker 2: 3:28

Probably my great grandma taught me how to cook. He wasn't from the town from Washington state, but we grew up in Oakland, California. Half the time she was in Orinda, which was a very kind of prominent neighborhood and to make the flight scenes, artichoke them floss and fried egg and kind of shows me how to do little things and she also bake looking. He made everything from scratch and I think I took a lot of those kind of practices from her. Then I also had got my first check bag with all my set equivalent from her when I was five. So I did something that I didn't know.

Speaker 3: 4:07

Okay.

Speaker 2: 4:09

So I would have to say that I've always loved the hook, but I never thought I would actually be a chef. And I definitely think I'll be assessed on, on this level. You know, it started out as my friends coming over to my house, current eat my food, and I mean like this was like a problem. I was[inaudible], you know, you've got to give, I love y'all, but you're not saying paying for this end. I'd even bringing, you know, if people need to put on the grill. So I started right for me because I got tired of feeding everybody, but they're not off realized people really love my food. And[inaudible] started the catering company and that's how it all began was literally after they came over, we had a big barn and I just realized that maybe I can turn this into something. And that was 2012 not before then when I kind of started a personal sensor and we started out on coupons doing new phones. So these all started could either be girls. I mean seriously like I'm calling, I can name them, but you know, we're not going to put them out there like that. It was at least for the work you do. Um, but I love you and I really do appreciate all the times ate my food for free because you know, you couldn't hear, you couldn't hear. And I appreciate that. I really didn't see any motivation. It's amazing how things in our lives. We never know what they say. Now, did you have any other exposure to doership? Oh yeah. So my dad was from Omaha, Nebraska. We all, you know, we're from California. He was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. His mom was from Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Oklahoma city, and my mom, dad was from Oxford. So I kinda got basically a lot of Southern type of, you know, taking from everybody, everyone kind of somatic within my mom. She actually was Hispanic and so she taught me how to make tamales and it's a lot of hours sitting at the table full and shaking, you know, and I kind of learned how to do high with her. And so I kind of took everybody, I guess, you know, my dad was more of a like a Southern club, UIC, you know, red beans, rice and getting stuff like that practice. And my mom was more of California, Mexican first. And then my, my grandma was more of straight peach cobbler housing and in fact kind of combined all of those things together. I actually feel like I had, um, a serious weight problem growing up and so as to what I learned how to cook and to turn it into something healthy or you can help your ingredients but making the same exact dish. And so I think that kind of pushed me to see whether or not I want it to, you start playing with the different ingredients. I would have to say that I have been cooking, I learn learning when I was around three and I would get on like the actual chair in the kitchen and my grandma. But I would have to say that when I had two little brothers and there's about a nine year age difference between the youngest one and so I would have to close with them, you know, so around like seven or eight years old, we were kind of raising ourselves, you know, and the very first thing I ever proud of Megan was burn down the house. I never thought I was crazy. They invented something for her and I said it. So my idea, and I don't know how to go ahead and get this money, but I try to make a grilled cheese sandwich and I stuck it in the post. Don't ask me why. Okay. It had no butter because there was something I gave when I was five. And so we had like the air popper and my uncle and so I had like this little goals, my goal one day. How cool. The pocket again. Cold. Yeah. My great grandma. Let's just assume there alone. And there was like a little black market, you will find no judge blogger on the fools who has got a pocket. I will not that great of an experience because my mom looked in that side on the deck and she said she came in the house in a museum, you know, of course I got whooped for that. You write, you know, you never can do that again. But after that I said, well, you know, maybe I'm not that great, but money talks something else. I'll try to make it onward. And I was marketing, um, and it was the easiest thing to do. And then, you know, that's kinda how I, um, when I graduated high school, I joined they area garden corporation and we built the one acre guard, like planted everything. He literally takes everything and we would invite the kids to come by and we would show them how to, you know, clean and had a pool and then also how to cook with the ingredients and stuff. So that's how I kinda ended up here. And the ideas that I have now kind of STEM from my childhood. One, I don't know how to rule, it kind of showed me a little bit, but not in the end into I have this experience over at the garden and I really do believe and advocate in grain what you eat. And so that's how I started. Honestly, I have one in core awhile because I did a business plan in culinary school that shows the breakdown of what it costs to own a restaurant. And it was like, first of all, you have to have wages for like two years. And most people don't know that or even think about that. Like, yes, you have the money to do it is Navy, Navy, Elise, maybe it's already turned T, but now you have to fill it with equipment and maybe it already has it in the Navy. If you're already over$100,000, let's just say hypothetically six figures for restaurants. And so even at the fetus Mexican menu that I created, my restaurant ideas is still over half in hour. Um, then you know, you have to calculate two years away. So with a food heard from me, the visits were dramatically lower. Um, I realized that I could take mine, you know, dream and I'd be live on the road and that people can kind of, everyone can, um, and get a taste of my food rather than just me being in one location. You have traveled Nashville and you know, all of that and then we'll just need this having so much family, um, around us and so many friends and traveling a lot. I figured who settled the purposes because especially if I decided to do a festival somewhere else or someone I knew or I decided to vacation somewhere for a couple of weeks, then I got my closer. So that's kind of how that started. Um, someone just invested in me and, and really, you know, encouraged me and told me that that was something that they felt like I would be successful on doing. I had never thought about it, but I never really thought about it, you know, until it became real like 30 days. And for, I had to fly to Florida and drive the key trip from Florida to Atlanta, Atlanta or Chattanooga with an ass. Ooh, Ooh. Yeah. You know, and it didn't have no Parker. So you know, I didn't know anything about it. If I could say anything. Hasson doesn't have a car for innocent. Does it go to Walmart or somewhere and gives you one of those portable voltage pack over there in the battery section. And no one ever told me this. Okay. And so I stopped at every gas station just about seven, five because this is right when the flood happened in North Carolina. You can take 95 and if you didn't know how to drive you had, you were going to end up on 95 and just turn back around cause it was shut down and put it, you had to get off and get back on the exact same highway. Everything was time. Wow. What wouldn't hurting? Oh my God. So what was the most of the, probably not even a 10 hour drive. Um, Florida. Panama city beach is actually do what it is. Yeah. Fort Lauderdale in the fall. And it was more like 15 to just to Atlanta. So I had a hotel book or one night pocket draft Merlin and then back to Nashville and I pick a day at risk. I didn't even make it to the hotel setting. I made it the following day. I hope that you idea how long this took this role because when I first first got this, I got into, I got their food who down in Florida and the guy was really, really nice. Like actually I buy my food coffee that, and this is the crazy thing is I tell people this all the time, like, you know, you could buy cars with me. They also, I didn't do the money transfer via eBay that I found in Vietnam and I flew down there, met him at like this, um, the works facility and I only got maybe two blocks up the road in a vertical. Okay. So I'm sitting on the side of the way trying to get on to, I want to say it had to have been, you know, 75 and I'm sitting there for hours, at least three hours before I pose her cane for the guy that I thought this is her phone and came back and I have to then take it to the shop and then have like a battery saver on the battery. So it broke off and it literally sat down everything, you know, if I had a wait cause I got fixed so by that time it was afternoon. So my idea, Hey, I'm finding early first quite out and then I'm going to leave straight from there and go straight to Atlanta. I should be able to, you know, be okay as long because I didn't leave Florida. So I grew up on 10. In addition to that, I was on the side of the road, you know, literally on the floor of my food in the front seat. And I will never forget because people kept punking for me to move. I can't move, you know, and um, the side popular belief there, there is no flashes on my food. So I mean it wasn't like I can,

Speaker 4: 16:20

you know, when I say I never forget, I was on the bottom axis similar to a Puerto Rican and I only remember this very distinctly because I had went through a fight inside of the airport

Speaker 3: 16:52

[inaudible] with their hands. It lives on and now they don't,

Speaker 4: 16:57

not that I know of, but that's what happened to me.

Speaker 3: 17:07

Okay.

Speaker 4: 17:18

It used to be all Aramark so that they would have, when they're calling off uniforms, you know

Speaker 3: 17:38

when the dogs, and I'm like,

Speaker 4: 17:39

I know right? You have to write a whole paper on

Speaker 3: 17:45

how am I call it, one of those, Oh they're not there. Challenge is breaking down. Some of the challenges of

Speaker 4: 18:04

honestly just opened because when we sent like a three month launch time and then we get into the trip to go get our permits and it doesn't go in dry. So it's really this for instance, you need to start and you know, going from there pretty much his time, anything he did mobile mechanic. But our truck is renovated, you know, it already has the rack on it because the guy that had it before never actually did anything with it. So it was already wrapped. So we're going to keep that temporarily and it just went with our concept because there was a bunch of super heroes all of our trip. So like beyond the four, you know. And um, so that's kinda how we can lose that name myself. And how of Jeremy you, that's been the biggest challenge. Honestly. I mean everything else was pretty easy, you know, penny insurance and things like that. Um, creating a menu. We even got an Uber eats, you know, for delivery. So most people don't know that she's mentioning. So that's kinda neat. And we were even able to get a restaurant POS system so I can really monitor my truck. I'll say any piece of advice you might have on a today, but I prefer that's fine. I mean I can track them on real good because I have a business account. And so I get automatic notifications when easy to deposit taken out anything but, and I can see what is home. And then you know, you have PayPal here, which is like where you can set up your menu and you can do a little card reader. That's awesome. That's great. But for the people that are just doing like the sheet is easiest transactions type of, you know, record recording, stuff like that. And I wouldn't do that personally, but what I would recommend is touch the show. It is amazing. It's integrated with PayPass and Dave and have integration set up, um, for a square even. And it allows me to even put an anti Fest system onto my POS so I don't even have to be there. I suppose there's still, I don't even have to have a camera on. I can sell based on the recording. And even does your, um, profit and loss statements each month, which I recommend. So before I actually became a food truck owner, I was in sale and so I worked for everybody. You can think of the biggest of these company, cell phone shipping, um, sale. Literally the top of the food town named them at the top of the food center company in those areas. I worked for American corporate for 10 years. I graduated high school in three years. I graduated college in three years and then I went on to pay my master's in HR management. So I kind of know the business side of everything before I really got into it. And I do think that that's important too, is understanding business, understanding contracts, understanding how to set up certain things to make life more efficient. I can't keep up with it all without that, without, you know, efficiency or SLPs and quite so yeah, that's kind of my biggest piece of advice. Definitely gives you a good point of sale system. Um, we are using an iPad, but the touch D sharp system is, is literally embedded into the iPad. I can, I can print out, receive offers and stuff. So it's kind of nice.

Speaker 3: 21:25

And he said it's called cousin bistro who talked about how you got camels in 90 on the forth. The way I connected with you was actually someone followed you to the front of mind and I think it was the photo, the post that you made on Instagram when you first got the truck. They attacked me in it and so anytime I see someone that come up to business owner and then I started following you a little bit more after I realized that she was doing stuff in the community, which is what I definitely love to see is now as people become business owners and when they use it as a platform.

Speaker 4: 22:08

DOJ.

Speaker 3: 22:09

Can you tell a little bit more about the work that you've been doing in Nashville?

Speaker 4: 22:14

Oh yeah. So I started this program and all this. We hadn't originally, how it all started was actually we graduated in 2013 with my diploma. This was after grad school and then I said, I want to teach the, how do I do that? Because I can't teach from my masters. I mean you can, but not cutting people off of HR. And I can't teach her my English because, well my English degree, because you have to have a master's and you have to have at least 18 credit hours in the subject you're teaching in a degree. Right. So, okay, well I'm gonna teach you someone in a classes going on five years now. All over the city. I teach them that businesses. Um, I have like contracts for nine apartment complexes and I even had a contract rehearsal wholesome. And so I'd go around and Sunni. I just teach cooking classes and I even go home, you know, we kids and adults. And then I was like, I really love this quiet, you know, I run the classes the way I want. A crazy meaning average life. You see the people. And then I want to pick up my license to teach K through 12 cause it was college level culinary you don't have, you could teach. That was just like a regular culinary and certification. So I got my teaching license. That was last year. I'm graduating. I only had to take two classes to get an associates from culinary. And the two classes I was missing my degree. I got the license. So now I have a license of the occupational practitioner. And when I got that, I started really looking into working in a school capacity and now it's academies had just purchased a building that used to be part of Berger three 60 which was a company that, you know, literally just did burgers and fries, kind of like quick bites. And they were literally right on the end of the property. My hairdresser was on the other and files all assault them. And when they cleared out, they left a really good space with all their equipment behind, you know, so we, we're going to take that um, room and turn it into where they can buy meal prepared meal already prepackaged. The kids can run it like a restaurant and I can see some front of house, back of house and literally within run it in groups. And that was going to be the beginning of the culinary program. And then during that kind of, I guess, you know, discovery, what I was going to do at KAA, you should do a grocery program, something to do back to the community, allowed people to eat healthier food options and more affordable. And so we created a national chefs and that was going to be supposed to be for the kid once we started it. Once school started back up in August of this year, we were going to take national top chef and run it as the beginning of your culinary program, teaching them how to buy, who had a package. You literally had a commercialize the boxes when you were, we were giving out and how to make it part of the curriculum. And one of the guys, um, was running an agricultural outdoor learning program. Now him and I worked together and so he's got a different high school. I just got hired at a different high school and so we're gonna basically join our programs together. Um, so it, thing is, there's no other covering her concern. The head of the department, we're going to join those two schools together and he points to basically run ag. And so through our nonprofit fresh foundation, no longer national top shows is a subsidiary of grips, which is a nonprofit called growing resilience in the South. And they primarily focus on um, health education type of things like that. You know, like one of the ladies that is over that, she's a registered dietician. So her primary focus, Tricia, my primary focus in J farmer focus is agricultural and culinary learning and how we can combine those two together. And so now we're all wondering and trying to do at a partnership with Delmont to create this program and also create a kind of like a college bound program for Belmont. So that's kind of what I'm working on. That's kind of how it started was I tend to pay a, you know, unfortunately it was under false pretenses, but you know, this, the greatness that came out of it was the idea. Right. And so I'm now taking this idea and it's my idea, like it's no longer, I don't have to really share it anymore. You know, it's just a group of four of us and we have a board and it's amazing and there's no drama. We track our expenses, you know, we use the money where it was supposed to use it for and it's an amazing thing when it works. Um, and so now like the culture, because the food trick set for almost as being like a year, almost a year come September. And during that time I built a nonprofit and really focused on that and we would focus on first and the idea. And I was like, well how can I make this work for what I'm doing? You know, rather than just be procrastinate. Cause that's really not the goal. The goal was to have my own establishing, but as far as how I was going to take it into what extent that I feel like the diligence through the relationships that I did when I was just had of me. And so I wanted to create an externship program. I'm almost like the culinary Academy, almost like an apprenticeship where, you know, hands on learning technically fall under culinary part of the state. Um, it has a hands on learning piece. And so I want us to build an internship program with my field trip. So despite all the drama that happened over there, when my name and business idea was pulling the grant application, I said, okay, now I have to go, I have to go pitch for this money and try to get this money and at least, you know, somehow make it all put together and possibly California for the second time. That was in may for an event. Tony rhombi and rock social societal award in San Francisco for teach for America. And I went down there and we, um, and it was for$100,000. We didn't get the$100,000, but we did get five. And when I tell you why, I believe, you know, I don't want to offend anybody, but I do believe in guy and I feel like everything works out for, or you know, if it's true purpose and we teach and having won, we asked for activity, but you did not get the hundred thousand. So we came by the activity bus, right? But when we teach them, we have an activity bus, some are cool, they don't have an agricultural program, so now they do, because I'm going to give it to them. They didn't have the money for the program, but now we've got the$5,000 polluters. Great. Our cash crop can see you putting that into the program. So now they have the land that we're facing. We were donated to us thrown on property. And so in turn I'm able to use that to field the agricultural programs that never even existed. And so utilize my resources to make it grow into something bigger than what it ever was going to be. Anyway. So honestly kind of worked out together. You know, like now I can see and all the things that I've ever wanted to do. I can lift the shoes on them. Like I wanted to be a pop up dinner club. Now that Papa's dinner club is going to be our fundraiser for the culinary department, you know, and he knew that we were doing in knowledge Academy. Those meals are now more in front rows. So I could take my students out of the country and set them on trips and do just straight food trips, you know, things like that. Now the money that I'm going to use a muscle shirt is going to allow me to take those fees, the festivals and events and give them exposure that they never got to say to that they would ever see. You know? So the end of the day like you know, I'm winning regardless and now I can share that with over 180 kids that belong just to my program because my program is completely built up at any, I cry when I tell you

Speaker 3: 30:03

I tried to come alive when I had an[inaudible], like I remember how I can connect it a lot of times in high school and even a lot of times around my college career because I should, how the stuff I was learning in class was relevant to me.

Speaker 4: 30:26

Well someone

Speaker 3: 30:26

that was committed to me, I came a lot and I had a whole career change just because hi. So I did in that degree more. And I realize, okay, this is this program I'm in. He's in the business school, but none of the brands I'm going to take after this going to be like this. I got to find something easy, more like this. What I see people who are taking the time, the effort, the resources, the talent they take to put together a program. Claudette, you know, children here all over can have both types of experiences. I did it, I tried it, and I get grateful because moments like where you might something called files, right? We're learning become manageable and it's reliable and they get a chance to not just sit in advance and have throw information at them, but they actually get to create it.

Speaker 2: 31:25

So the fact that a lot of people don't know my room, and so I grew up in Oakland, California. You've ever seen postcards and you can move. That was my neighbor. I was not even a couple of blocks from that store, whether they were shooting at wow. You know, that was Richmond. So I've lived in, you know, some of the representatives that I grew up in Oakland. I went to school on paper 30 miles away so that I can be in a better environment. And I say my dad, my dad raised where I was with my mom, we can, you know, so it was a completely different way of life. When I was with my dad, I read my textbooks back because I knew the fab was my way out. That's how I got my, you know, my exits and a safe, you know. And so I figured out that I congratulated, you're probably in did every summer school program for six years. It took me six years to graduate. One year you get enough credits to graduate one year. So graduated one year early. I was the first person to do it in 34 years. I walked the stage with my brother who was not my queen. And so we were the first nine places to walk the stage together, 34 years. And I was the first person to graduate a year or so. Just to kind of give you, you know, I didn't know how to read and so I was like 11 I think that that not knowing how to read, you know, when you got parents that they there, if they're not there, like I was raised by my mom, I was like, Hey, and I'm just going to be the honest, you know?

Speaker 4: 33:09

I think that having that experience and then really finding my purpose, like I felt like I really found my purpose when it came to food, but it was more so like, okay, I want to be a chef with a wedding. I did not know and it was not revealed to me. I feel like it wasn't revealed to me until the event happened, trocar working and all knowledge you've had during that time. I was like, okay, after, you know, I was getting roadblocked for what I wanted to do. I just still kept it in mind in my mind that one day, these are the things that I want to do for her kids to give back, to give them a better opportunity by using these photos to really be a teacher that cares, that really comes in every day and inspires the classroom, you know, pushing them away. Uh, just hiring them. I had teachers telling me I was never going to be anything and I remember them by name. Like I remember the principal that I deal with who asked my dad to whoop me when I was here. You know, he's still over at the school district over in California. I won't say his name, but he knows who he is and you know, I have so many people telling me I was never going to be anything cause I could not read. And I mean that was a real thing for me. Like I was hooked on phonics, investing from an academic about it. Now let's just don't find anything. Nothing for me. Okay. My mother called his phone phonics, that one in hundred numbers who say, can I get my money back? I kid you not, she got her money back, she got a refund. She got a refund. Like let me tell you that they came in a big old box box about, you know, I mean he came, he got backpack cassette tapes up in it. It happened. It was just buy everything you needed. Yeah, they probably do. We need to Google it and just see. But I say that to say that's how I became, um, I feel like I really started to build, in my mind I was going to be a teacher, but I was going to be weighing more than a teacher's just I want it. I want it the same opportunities and I'm giving these people giving it to me. And they weren't, you know, I was actually robbed of a lot of opportunities. And so now I want to use these same opportunities that they deserve. Like you're in a culinary program, which all y'all do is make sandwiches and salad, um, for culinary one. You won't be doing that. So what I decided to do, not only has this developed into this big idea for me, but I've also decided to feel curriculum, so I'm building a standard curriculum for culinary one, two and three. The only difference is the recipes and culinary ones who will take some of the tests that culinary three so they're prepared, but it's not going to be any different. That way they're all on the same page and that's what I plan to do with standardized international school district and that is part of the problem is my learning. Kids not understanding because they're learning at a different pace on a different level. Why can't we all be on the same page?

Speaker 3: 36:08

I've got to add, unfortunately professors, teachers, and we have data. I'm thinking about in my high school, we had a college class level poll from one guy in the nation went to community college. They know directly from a four year university.

Speaker 4: 36:30

Oh wow.

Speaker 3: 36:33

They about things of that nature. I'm thinking about Uber that doesn't have it. The support that children need. You didn't learn how to read until you lived 11 for who, who invested into you to help me get to that stuff?

Speaker 4: 36:50

Honestly, after that, that has called from the conversation with the looming, my mom cuts us off on the car. After that situation. I mean that, that one incident changed my

Speaker 2: 37:05

whole life. From that day forward, I learned how to do everything that someone told me I never could do by myself. So I had this blue pill and it was in my room and I'll never forget it rotated. And I went and I read book.

Speaker 3: 37:20

Why[inaudible] learn how to read them and I pride myself. That's really what happened after that situation.

Speaker 2: 37:28

I mean people pick like, okay, that's it. I'm going to teach myself how to read. And you know, I taught myself how to tie my shoes on myself, how to, you know, get up and do what I have to do. And I was taking care of my little brothers at the time. And so I just became really independent. And I think that that, that's why in the way that I am. Why people all the time you're working hard with you, blew you sleep. I honestly don't really think about sleep. I think about never being in that situation here for where I would even have to figure out how to learn how to read. Right? Like you can say that whole concept that you can, you can adapt it to anything. Like I fixed that constantly was like, I never want to be in a position where I have to ask somebody, basically Damien to teach me how to do something. So I learned how to do it at home and I was a professional students. I mean professionals to the city. I've been in college, if I was 13 years old, I have transcripts from when I was in high school and I mean did in college. And so from that day forward, I just, I use education's my school one. It was my way to get out of the house, who I knew that I could get espouses. And you know, I just really knew that I can learn everything that I need for her education and

Speaker 3: 38:45

really I went to school and just kept going and no one could tell me anything. And from that point forward, like, you know, I do a lot of random things that have nothing to do with food. And if you ask somebody, I just go look it up and I'll figure it out. And the new way, like I said, because I didn't learn how to drive them because I was raised by my grace and I love the love of their life, but at the same time she was very controlling and very old Vertex. So she didn't want me going anywhere without her knowing one way of doing it. And then she was, you don't know how to that.

Speaker 2: 39:26

Right.

Speaker 3: 39:27

So that was one of the saber I felt when I got through hundred I got the data drive, but you know, yeah, you got some friends that will help you, but it's like other than they responsibility. So it's like whenever they got time and they feel like doing and then, yeah. You know, I'm thankful for all of my friends who did, you know, pick me up and take me to different places. At the same time you got real frustrated. You're like okay I gotta be at this place. So I got to figure out, okay most runners in Uber look, look out, look all them like man you gotta ask it all, I'm running late or uh, well I thought he had just tried to get real aggravated and so I, well I gotta figure out we didn't really, I got, I went through that hallway cause I got my permit, I failed my driver's license the first time I said it and I got, well mom, I got that and I'll okay well you know you just need practice cause I hadn't had any fun. I'll talk to a friend of mine who in many ways is kind of like at five figure to me in many ways how she looked at me like my oldest sister and in a lot of ways. And so we worked together for three days and I've had, it was like three days, three, four days. The first time we served here, I paid how this failed. And because I stopped at the stop sign, the way she called me, they're like, no, yeah. Then you gotta roll up. She was like, well, okay, let's take a chance. But then because of that feeling, and when I called home, I had my license. I didn't have money for a car. I was working five or six, no, no plan. I probably two jobs and I was doing my math, stay afloat, pay the tuition, you know, pay my bill. All that type of professors. They weren't even my professors, they just me walk up to me when I was petitioning the financial aid because I was[inaudible] my classroom and I had one class left. I ain't got into full do like I was good about fucking ball, but I had$800 pals I couldn't pay. I get everything and she walked up to me, you know, you got to work more full. I'm like,[inaudible] don't you come to my face telling me that, you know, I it all I need. When I worked, I was an intern at KIPP, so I would get up early in the morning. Tizen over did over there, worked from seven to three, then go to class at four 37 then have my oldest job on Monday and go to class all the other days and go through my all job as well. Now don't tell me that I'm not doing it, but it was moments like jet where I said, you know what, I do position again when I have big people for funding or I have to ask people, can they take me a year or can tell me very okay, they do this for me. That's what I'm going to do is watch how you did it. I might ask you how you did it or what resources were involved. I can't figure it out, but once I did that is it's both side and I'm gonna figure out how my weight is. Puzzle, stuff like that.

Speaker 4: 43:19

Yeah. I mean I really do. I could have had life a little bit easier. We all couldn't have. Right. But I do. I am really thankful for the occurrences because now you know, we all want to toot our own horn. We can invite filling instance, you know, you could tell me how to do something and things. I'll listen our CD, the will and all that. But I mean I'm 31 years old with four degrees, you know, and with a nonprofit and a food truck and a private chef business and I did it with$5 to my name. And so I want to take that and now I want to show how to do it.

Speaker 3: 43:54

Well we got a bag and you got how many now?

Speaker 4: 43:59

I got one nonprofit and technically I'm a subsidiary. I'm a subsidiary of the nonprofits community. Fresh foundations is incorporated by grid. Technically it's two separate, you know, organizations operating under one and then Ray cuisine is still operating too. I'm still a private chef, I feel because I'm also a Walmart chef.[inaudible] had got her first official corporate contract from a Walmart ship, the real food championship and I'm ACE in the rural. I never thought I come and I see privately group. I'm about to ask, are you getting ready for a cooking class or I know,

Speaker 3: 44:36

and you throw it in war. And he did this all the how much,

Speaker 4: 44:40

no lie. I didn't have any money to start my business. I got a tax ID for free business five for and 16 I didn't have to do the business license right away as time and$3,000. So I started my business. Basically the five goes to my name, you know, opening my bank account. I don't even know what I deposited up in there, but I opened up my bank account and you got my EIN for free. Pretty much got my documents for less than 20. So you know, I didn't really start with any money. I say maybe$500, you know, after, but that's his knee of awhile. Right. Like once I got that money, then I got uniforms and equipment. Um, then later on I got, I got a job, um, I won't say her name, but I was a sales rep for one of the top industrial supply companies and I always had a full time job in conjunction with being a private chef. So I would take my money for my jobs and I was funneled with her, my business so that I can, you know, do what I needed. And so, um, I was in sales rep and I was, I saw a 1.1 plus million dollars a year in industrial supply and I used that money, um, to basically get my supplies and I use my discount to get my catering cabinets and to get my equipment. And then I used my company vehicle and I don't work for y'all. No more sound care no more. I use my company to get to my events and I didn't pay for gas for three years while I worked there. So, you know, I had to do what I had to do and that's how I, that's how I did it. That's how I started race cuisine. Literally I was catering and I was using my company vehicle as my van. Okay. It was a Jeep. I'll never forget it, but I got it brand new set off a lot. I was on the check to keep the shirt. If it wasn't for that, I don't know. I don't know where I would be, but that's exactly what I do. I use that company vehicle to get from a to B and from B to C and D, I mean in and out of state and then what I have to do. And then while I was a student, I had teachers who really supported me and that's another reason to why I wanted to be a teacher. I'm like these teachers, they love me, but what I didn't want them to know was one, I had a higher degree than they had. You know, I got my master's when this was probably six years ago, so I think I was like 2324 when I graduated in my mind, and I'm in culinary school and my teachers barely have a bachelor's and when they found out I was like, why you didn't tell him? Because I didn't want you to know cause I, the way that people receive you and treats you, it's to me, it's not just paper. Some people's just paper. But I sweat it for that degree. You know, like I'm talking about, I had multiple jobs and this job, and I'm talking about with the sales job, I have 350 accounts. So it was all up to half a million dollars working sale and I had to increase themselves. I was traveling in and out of state for work and I was running this business anywhere I could. If I was in Atlanta, I was, I had a client. If I was over, I had a client and that's how I marketed myself. So it's crazy when you think about it. Like, man, what would we do with the companies that pushed us out, the managers that you know, turn their heads and really just made us not want to work there. Where would I be if it wasn't for all of the bag mentors that I had in my lifetime? But when I'm, when I'm doing is I'm utilizing anything that happens to me and I'm turning that into something that has to be to others because now I'm writing this book that has to do with exact conversation we're having about clients and about just the different experiences about being a black female running a business period, you know, doing this. And so it's called them just to help. And so I'm writing back right now and there are several factors about my different employers. Of course I do funny titles and stuff and so hopefully, you know, 2020 I'll announce a date for that. But it's this inspire me to do a lot more. Like I want to do this with public speaking. And you know, this, this experience when I was academies, this is giving me that platform and giving me the connections I want. And, and people aren't helping me left and right because of what happened when that book come out, let me know. Oh, I definitely will. Definitely will. I have, I actually have an introduction I can read to you and tell you some of the, I'm telling you some of the titles of my chapters that she wants to know. My introduction is

Speaker 2: 48:57

this book is about my life, how I got to this point in my career and all of the obstacles I've encountered. It's about my struggles, cons, or I felt defeated, lessons I've learned and about how I began to define myself through being a private test. It's about what I will and will not tolerate. Real stories from real cases unfolded on napkin over dinner, place the race. So I'm excited about this one fact I'm writing about, it's called how my parents, the name of it, but right now it's called toxic swirl, vanilla, rural. And anything in the middle will make me hurt. This is about my client who told me I was 60% black and 40% white and then I wasn't liking it.

Speaker 4: 49:45

You know, I ain't never had someone break it down like that.

Speaker 2: 49:59

I'm excited about that one. Um, I have a whole tracker in here by my mom called umbilical cord sell capital B I L L and it's just about having children and how that can be seen as a curse or as a blessing. This chapter is actually by me being abandoned by my mother in the day. I decided I got rid of mine. So that's like my deepest factor. Um, that's going to be the one right before the conclusion. So I'm excited. You know, I've been working on, I got an outline and everything about all my factors and how I'm a writer.

Speaker 4: 50:28

No in between season, in line caught hello season. Don't be soft.

Speaker 2: 50:34

The equal order that

Speaker 4: 50:40

it's called hello season. Don't be salty. Give season. It's occasion. Mexican season.

Speaker 2: 50:46

You can purchase it at R a E. dot com. And it is, it is the all purpose. Even the 500 on everything. Literally. Don't ask me why I love potatoes. I, you know, I understand. I the completely in the sense. So my family, a lot of my family's from new Orleans, so you know, um, cause really that's what I am. Like my grandpa was a full blooded French, correct French and so, and my grandma was talking about Indian. So yeah, that's kind of how I started. Especially the seasoning. That's pretty much, I love Creole seasoning. I love Korean food. That's actually one of my favorite things.

Speaker 4: 51:39

We got a book, we got season, then we got Trump, we got the part where we got the curriculum, Marcel and Walmart. That

Speaker 2: 51:46

was the biggest one. Like I said, I'm actually kind of shocked. So I made it out of twin courts around the United States to be part of the roof championships, recipe

Speaker 4: 51:56

champ demo club. So we go, you know, you can see the people at Walmart and they give out parents. It's honestly you're talking about them. Y'all better stop. Stop and contracts is good.

Speaker 3: 52:11

Well I feel often in Walmart here I see it mostly in like van club,

Speaker 4: 52:17

which is owned by Walmart. Yep.

Speaker 3: 52:19

Wow. We rolling. I am that person they rolled by. He was like,

Speaker 4: 52:33

so this will be a neighborhood Walmart, not the actual Walmart sign up. It doesn't hit it store right and those actually are smaller and moving more intimate, you know, and you get a little bit more foot traffic but we guys can go over the rescue with you demo it, you scan a QR code on your phone and you get the rest of you right on your phone and that would give you the samples and everything. So you were out. You can get everything on based on a recipe. I get the way different, um, they where you're going to do for a company prior to that advance the car, I want to say and they still do, but now we're just on our own though. Right? That's 24 people are separated now from, I think that was the name of the company.

Speaker 3: 53:11

Nothing sign off.

Speaker 4: 53:15

Oh, y'all don't be calling me asking for no money. I'm trying to work on that.

Speaker 3: 53:18

I didn't call on you for that. What I will be calling you from what

Speaker 4: 53:23

I'm talking about, these people listen and they'll be calling me to come on. But when I do get there, everybody going to be all right. I still hustling so drive Uber quite when I say I do not stop if y'all don't, if y'all don't start having a third second, third handcuffs, that's what we need to talk about one day

Speaker 3: 53:54

up here. You're kind of crazy a little bit cause you got drivers. But incidents are different ages here.

Speaker 4: 54:04

Well let me say Uber really allow me to pursue my burns. I was able to leave my job and just go drive over. So I drive over list and I'll share with y'all. Last year I made 60 K driving so I said that to say, you know that's really what really just keeps me up until we get the truck up and running and just like, you know, instead of home where I want to be, I was able to do everything else without having a regular job.

Speaker 3: 54:34

I believe it because if it wasn't I would not have and then you can

Speaker 4: 54:44

everywhere.

Speaker 3: 54:48

It really don't matter. Just all over our little[inaudible] hasn't been bold.

Speaker 4: 54:53

[inaudible]

Speaker 3: 54:57

why do I still work?

Speaker 4: 54:59

You need a car and I'm on top of that. They feel like they're kind of relaxed by every year. They relaxed it a little bit, but the other thing I do, I'm trying to think what is it that you could rent a vehicle, you know Uber or you sell a program through the Shane Simpson and I did that like let me say you don't have a car.

Speaker 3: 55:21

Might've got,

Speaker 4: 55:25

well you don't have a car you don't live with. I've got this great program on Hertz and you can rent vehicles through them

Speaker 3: 55:33

and as you drive, if you like with a friend of mine around, you actually don't have like a car condo.

Speaker 4: 55:40

It's 245 a week just about right. That includes like the taxes, but it's so worth it because you don't pay for maintenance. You don't got to worry about miles. You can drive out of state. You could, you could work in 40 different States. It wasn't a plan. I was thinking about it at one point in time. That is amazing. Jabu she RD. If you don't know how to do stuff just as you are in trouble when you're an entrepreneur because entrepreneurs is not paying folks and so you to that point, you know when they don't have time. And that's something that we've talked about with a lot of other food truck owners as well is like until you get to that place where you are able to stabilize yourself, you got, you got to be available. What can I learn about this? Right. Alright man, we, I have, this might've been the first child. We've got to ask that link up, but this won't be the last time. So I want, I want you to know that whatever I can do to support your vision. Yeah, I ain't got the money yet, but whatever that, whatever other resources and has the African land to support you, I most definitely will do. So. I definitely appreciate it. I appreciate the opportunity. Honestly. You know, you kind of syndicated in your own right. You know, people talk about you all the time. By the way, when you post it, it was about a cat fish and grits. I cannot remember the food truck, but it was in Alabama. Is granting tuition goes in there? Yes. When you posted that, that was the day I was watching that on TV. Actually, I don't know if you knew that, but it was um, on, what's that guy's name? Andrew Zimmer was around yet. And you don't have[inaudible] or whatever. Yeah. That day. Like I was literally watching that episode and then I go online and I see that you have posted about it and I said, yeah, you're fine. So I just want to let you know that people even out this way and around are talking about, you notice Caretta goes around the food truck, truck trailer. So even I may have, let me say, my food truck is the biggest, it's 27 feet long. That thing is like long as a 18 Wheeler and I drove it by myself. But thankfully I used to be, um, I used to be a mail carrier. So you know, I drove in my latter days and this was only three years ago. I was a mail carrier and so I drove post office truck. I used to work for a, for ups. So you know, I didn't do it on the two time and I worked for FedEx and so I have actually all the way from a tug, you know those tubs that they put the um, the luggage on at the airport. I drove one of those, but it was as long as the city bus with freight on it and I would pull up next to an airplane. Okay. I had to park this thing next to an airport. So you had a turn at the right moment. You had to back with the rivalries, you scratched the airplane. It was$1 million. And that's how I learned how to drive different stuff. Like nothing to do with cars, but all that experience really prepared me for that drive across from Florida. All the wedding nationals. That was scary. It was sounds, I had to stop just the breathe. I mean I had been parked at a McDonald's y'all like, I don't even know where I was at, but I parked that food store. I got up out of McDonald's at pull it up on a black, it was just a car. It looks at me like, what is she doing? Just like y'all blueprint is a bit of the time and you don't have to say, but I'm from Detroit and I walked by. That's all seeing world and food and not for the[inaudible] hat so you will. And I'm like, yeah man. That's what I envisioned when I visited the pool shark. I was like, I want an 18 Wheeler and you can have people sit up on their, you know, like a little diner in the back of something. And a lot of people don't do that. But there are some that have the double Decker full trip where you could eat up top and like they cook on the bottom. Oh, I got to see. Very, very rare. Very rare. We're going to see, I got to see, I got to see one. I kind of go, yeah, I'm finally, you're on wheels. I got to see it. Oh um, I'm a fine. I'm a start finding yo food trucks look and say as soon as you check out, check out this one. I don't know. I need to see a list of all the ones you've already been sued. I'm working on it. I'm working on it. You know, it's only a year. It's only been like only been around for a year. Yeah. So my one year anniversary was um, this much Joe Phil food trucks gal. You out there making waves and it had been a year, I believe. I do. So like juicy. That was the day I sit on my couch and started drawing my birthday. That's my birthday. That's the lucky day. Lucky day. And see, and so you, you, you bring up the show Andrew's? Mm. What happened was that half saw an article for it. And uh, for instance, like, Oh, this is where I said no, like I need to be out here and doing shows and stuff. I'm like, okay, you know what, to get to get away on his PhD to be done. We just gonna start with where we at. So I just started drawing and then I out to somebody I knew on Facebook, uh, spanking him and his mom who of the BB queen and Fiorio, I reached out to him, had never met him before, personally drove up to Peoria, Sam, that I have no idea what I was doing. But thankfully there was somebody from Purdue who does film and you know, we figured it out and then worked on that, worked on the logo and figuring out all the ins and outs. And then in August I released that first episode and then after that my, I started doing Instagram live interviews. And the first one I did with chef sassy prom, the great food truck race. He's a not, Hmm. And so all of a last fall I was doing Instagram live. And then because you know, network issues and stuff like that, that's not always a stable thing. So, okay, I'm gonna do podcast. And so I did my last like pie. I did my last Instagram live, I think back in January I bought the equipment and I started in March. So the podcast itself is three months old. Oh wow. He had a podcast is fairly new. The food truck scholar has been around for a year and a half from the day that we bought domain names and stuff like that to now been a year. Are we trying to get our podcast stuff together? I'm actually on a podcast. I out in DC called beans don't burn on the grill. I'll look out for that. I send you our first, but we did it in um, Virginia. So that was kind of interesting. I actually flew down there and we cooked and a chef scape, which is a adult kitchen. It's like one of those test kitchens. He does gone there to test out products so you can go down the hall and then actually cook like the commissary. That's another thing you should look into as well as um, citizens kitchen in Nashville. You know, it's like one of about four kisses on Nashville for per people. And I'm still off Charlotte, so it's off of 46 and Charlotte, the first one. Yeah, I've been and yeah. And then the other one that they just built with called Hunter station, it's going to have a bunch of different restaurants up top. And then below we're going to be operating below like all the different, you know, who trucks and cater when I work got a farmer's market. So that one call, hundred station. But if their second location and then you have the platform, which I used to be a member, um, you know, we've moved on and then there's Costa Mesa and I think that might be like the beehive to have a little bit of space where you can take on one or two people that you know, use this kitchen with them. But um, that was about five only five kitchens pretty much in Nashville that were available for youth. And like right now the wait list is over 700 people long. You can't even get a kitchen. So if you have a food for you can operate. That's one of the biggest challenges. Somebody needs to build another kitchen international because if they do, they'll make their money back one probably in about a year or two. And then you know, people can actually operate and you could just buy the wait list from the other, the other kitchen[inaudible] in how can people connect with you on social media and all your website. So you can find me at chef Ray cook, C H E F R a C O O K S chef, right cook or chef Ray, cooks.com. Um, you can also look at beyond the fork food truck on Instagram and Facebook or Twitter at beyond the fork. F1 is how to, how to put it on, on Twitter. But if you just follow me at show for, I cook in my bio and my website is the same. Partially know my launch date and everything as well or kind of,

Speaker 2: 1:04:30

I know I'm excited. I mean it's right there at that P, you know, but it all came together. It all worked out and as the time school's about to start, so it's perfect. I might even park, I might even park it up at the school to be honest. Soccer, wash it off.

Speaker 1: 1:04:53

Well look, I'm out of time, but I'm definitely not out of material. Once again, thank you for kicking it with me for another episode of the food trucks scholar podcast. If you are a food truck owner that would like to be a guest or listener that has suggestions for a food truck, I should try email me at Ariel that's a R I E l@thefoodtrucksscholar.com and make sure you follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as the food truck scholar to stay up to date on the latest in the food truck world. I'm your host, Ariel D Smith signing off and reminding you to eat local, buy local and support your local food truck owners. I'll see you next week.