David Chan: Transforming Food Truck Culture & Jeffrey Schlissel’s Hybrid Cookbook on Mental Health

Can a food truck park truly become a community hub without charging vendors for parking? Tune in to our latest episode of the Walk-In Talk Podcast as we chat with David Chan, the mastermind behind Brandon Food Truck Park. We explore his innovative approach to fostering a vibrant culinary scene and delve into his strategies for attracting foot traffic and keeping truck owners happy. Get ready to hear about the diverse range of foods available, from tantalizing tacos to succulent barbecue ribs, and the potential introduction of new offerings like dessert.

In the second half of the episode, we celebrate a monumental achievement for our co-host Jeffrey Schlissel, who has just released a groundbreaking hybrid cookbook focusing on mental health and food addiction. Jeffrey opens up about the inspiration behind his book and the unique design choices that make it stand out. He also shares heartfelt testimonials from readers and emphasizes the importance of acknowledging mental health struggles within the culinary industry. We round off the episode with a lively debate about the role of water in making authentic New York-style pizza, including some skeptical takes on machines replicating New York's water quality. You won't want to miss this blend of entrepreneurial insights, culinary discus

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Chapters

• 0:37 Food Truck Park Entrepreneur Interview
• 8:31 Food Truck Park Development and Vision
• 13:43 Pizza Quality and Water Myth

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:37

Hello Food Fam. This is the Walk Talk Podcast, where you will find the perfect blend of food fun and cooking knowledge. I'm your host, carl Fiodini. Welcome to the number one food podcast in the country. We're recording on site at Ivis Images Studios, where food photography comes alive and I get to eat it. If you missed it, be sure you catch last week's episode with chef educator Suzanne Greer. She's a firecracker and she's a great human being. Go back and listen. All right, I'm into quality-made smoked fish dips and spreads. I know you are too. Check out our friends over at Crab Island Seafood Company. One of my favorites is the Crab Rangoon. It's delicious. Visit them at crabislandseafooddipcom.

Speaker 1: 1:23

So interesting news Walk Talk is going to be on site at the University of Tennessee in two weeks to cover an episode of Kitchen Storage Makeover. This is an amazing contest created by Metro Storage and Distribution Systems. Walk Talk's own Pooch Rivera and Glenn Haggerty of Pius Media will be capturing the entire adventure along the way. It's a road trip baby, so it's going to be fun. Learn how to become a contestant on IG at Metro Food Service. Check them out. All right.

Speaker 1: 1:55

So who's an entrepreneur? I am Well. Today we meet a fellow who decided to open up a food truck park so he and his lovely wife could improve their culinary options in their area, and that area needs it. So this is a really great thing. These are my kind of people right there, because one day they will feed me. It's true, that's going to be David Chan, owner of Brandon Food Truck Park. He's on deck. Stand by for that. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Listen here. Before we get started, I want to be the first on-air personality to congratulate our man chef podcast co-host and author, jeffrey schlissel. Congrats.

Speaker 2: 2:39

thank you, jefferson it's really weird to hear that author right, yeah, you know, but thank you very much, I appreciate that I know that this is a big moment for you, so my intention is to actually just suck up all the attention.

Speaker 1: 2:54

why don't you go ahead and take a minute, maybe 30 seconds, for what John says? Take a little, take a few seconds here to explain what the book is and where people can find it.

Speaker 2: 3:04

The book is a hybrid really. It's a cookbook, self-help, and it was pretty much started. My friend, amelia Levon, said why don't you do a cookbook on mental health? And I didn't want to come out the gate doing something that's straight mental health. I mean, obviously, being a chef, you want to do something different, but I think one of the things in the restaurant industry that we have we need more of is people that know that it's okay to not to be okay and mental health is a big thing. With me in 2018. I really became an advocate and did a lot of presentations for the American Culinary Federation, cater source and different other entities that I've been talking about mental health and it's just my journey about food addiction and I wanted to do something that showcase things a little bit differently and the the point of the book, or the message of the book, is being conveyed in the right way, and I love that, because that's the thing that you want to do when you develop a book is you want to have that message out there.

Speaker 1: 3:57

If it is about a message, so I have the book, I bought it and apparently I bought it at a higher price, thanks Amazon. But that's fine for you, man, I appreciate that For you. I spend the extra. I'm not making that much scuttle from it.

Speaker 2: 4:19

Trust, shuddle from it. Trust you will, though this is going to be a big deal for you and you're wait. Where do you ranked right now? 19th in self-help, 1006 in cookbooks, which is there's a hundred thousand. And then there's 32.4 million books on amazon's pro shopping cart or pro platform that's the word I want to look for and I'm ranked 25 000, and we just launched.

Speaker 1: 4:33

Friday yeah, that's really awesome. It's sitting on my kitchen table and I intend to dive into this thing. I just got it like a day and a half ago, so I need to carve out the time, but I understand. I mean, you kind of kept it quiet for a long time as this thing was getting put together. Apparently, john and I are scattered throughout the book.

Speaker 2: 4:53

There's a lot of people that have touched my life in a way that I wanted to showcase how they helped me through my journey or to turn me into the person I am today. One in particular was Cleve Brown, who is the manager to Kool and the Gang, and if you look through the book and you see Kool and it's spelled K O L, it's I'm showing props because he had such an influence on my, my growing up in my twenties it's almost like a celebration.

Speaker 2: 5:22

See what you did there, that was a dad joke. 100% Cleve's going to love that.

Speaker 1: 5:26

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 5:27

It's for you, cleve. But what's funny is I've gotten a lot of people that reached out to me and said listen, of people that reached out to me and said, listen, I. What I know from his book is it's it's okay not to be okay and it's you're never alone and you can reach out anytime, and it's one of those beautiful things. Tina Davis, I got to give her a shout out. She inboxed me. She's like I'm eating dinner and I'm reading your book and I thought I stained it with some steak juice. I did some things there when I wanted to be different. I wanted to showcase things differently. I didn't want to have stagnant white paper, black writing on it, especially with John's beautiful photography. So we did a little bit of like water stains or coffee stains or juice, whatever it is, and they're scattered throughout the whole recipes.

Speaker 1: 6:05

Well, you know, I don't know if anybody would understand what a water stain is, but that's totally, totally fine. People from New York.

Speaker 2: 6:11

Understand what's the name of the book. It's called Craveable Obsessed Journals of a Food Addicted Chef. It's on Amazon. It's actually doing so well that Amazon's algorithm, as you mentioned, dropped it down 23%.

Speaker 1: 6:24

It's like $38 now. Don't say that Now people aren't going to go out and buy anything.

Speaker 2: 6:26

He's doing good enough? No, no, no. It's not good enough. It's about the message. It's not about the money, it's about the message If it helps one person, exactly, just one life. That's what it's all about for me.

Speaker 1: 6:36

You know what? People don't buy it. No, I'm kidding. Go out there, Get this book, Check it out. It's on Amazon. I'll put the. You know what? Because it's you dude, I'll put the link in the.

Speaker 3: 6:55

I appreciate that and you know it'll be. Are we done with?

Speaker 1: 6:56

this? Yeah, I think so. Can we move on? Yeah, I'm kidding, I love, I'm really. I'm actually really thrilled for you, dude, I appreciate that. Yeah, when we do our cookbook, I might mention you. All right, all right. So, david chan, welcome to the program. How are you? You, I'm doing good, thank you. All right, man. All right, so check this out. Let me just set this up.

Speaker 1: 7:18

For the last year or so, I drive down Lithia Pinecrest this is in Lithia, florida, near Riverview, off kind of outskirts of Tampa, and there's a certain part of this once you get past a certain area, there's like no more life for a while, right, and one day I'm driving and I noticed a food truck I mean, we're in the food industry here and I saw a food truck like a lonely food truck, and I said to myself, boy, I wonder what that guy's doing there. He must own the property. That food truck must just live there, right, didn't think anything about it. Over the course of months, weeks and months, I started seeing more food trucks and then I saw string lights and then I just said, wow, actually there's some action happening there.

Speaker 1: 8:02

And around that same time, I saw on Instagram what popped up is is, you know, brandon, food trucks, all of a sudden, food truck park, and all of a sudden I made this, this. I had this epiphany, you know, and it exploded in my mind. I said I bet you that's the same, it's gotta be the same place. So anyway, david, I reached out to you. We've been communicating and it is in fact you are he with, with the, with the truck park, and I think that's really awesome. So congratulations on that venture and this episode with you, we are going to go full entrepreneur status with you.

Speaker 3: 8:42

Okay, Thank you. Thank you again for inviting me. I'm probably one of those rare people you would invite that actually doesn't even know how to cook. I can't call myself a chef, my wife does most of the cooking at home but what we created in our vision, I think it would definitely have a great impact to entrepreneurs out there, new startups, food trucks because there's a lot of struggles that they have when they're mobile, when they're traveling around, when they're finding water power, and they have to stay compliant at the same time.

Speaker 1: 9:18

Well, your value proposition when you first started this off was very interesting. We had a conversation on the phone yesterday. You explained that you didn't charge. Yes, that is correct.

Speaker 3: 9:30

Talk a little bit about why. Talk a little bit about why. When we first invested into this property, we thought that if we were able to concentrate food trucks in one location to become a food court, not only myself and my family can enjoy it, the community can enjoy it as well, and that also gives a leg up to new trucks or any trucks that are out there trying to make a living. So when I started this I was thinking, all right, let's just not charge anything to park with us and see how that works out. And even then still, like you mentioned, when you drive down Lithia you may have saw one truck, two trucks, three trucks, and maybe a week later they'll never open, they usually close. There'll be more trucks later and then they'll go. It's just the nature of food trucks, they're mobile, right. So to kind of retain them in one location and have them build food I mean foot traffic is. It's a struggle, it's a balance that has to be, you know, kind of just it takes time in order to build that food traffic.

Speaker 1: 11:15

So what do you do to generate not just traffic but an experience? What do you do to bring people in on a regular basis in order to have the truck owners, you know, keep the doors open longer. You know, make themselves more available, whatnot?

Speaker 3: 11:36

When you have, when you're building a park like this. It's a very unique business. The way to kind of capture and motivate trucks to stay and retain with us would take you to sell your vision to them. You would tell them about what the plans are, if there's a time frame, how we're going to achieve it, and with that some trucks do understand and see the vision there and believe it and they would actually commit to it. So some of these trucks have been with us for longer than half a year and some of those during that time there wasn't much trucks at all, so some would stay, some would go, but over time we'll collect a good amount of them. Tacos that's your favorite truck, that's one of my favorite trucks and the barbecue ribs and the barbecue ribs.

Speaker 1: 12:29

Yes, okay, so they're there. Are they kind of like staples or anchors in that park right now? More or less, yes, okay, is there, I'm going to get to something here. Is there a pizza truck? There is Now. Wait a minute. We spoke on the phone and not very many people that I have conversations with can understand or appreciate Spumoni Gardens, the LNB. We need to find, we must. Did you see that face? I didn't, but we must find. I'm looking this way. We've got to find how to get that kind of pie, or I should say squares, here. Man, what do we do? Do you know a guy we could use the house?

Speaker 3: 13:16

Yeah, we could use the house to do that. I mean, there is a vacant house there right, there is a property on the lot there and we can do that. But there is one challenge though, which I I have looked into it. I think the water down water I knew you.

Speaker 1: 13:27

I knew you were the water. I knew you were gonna do it.

Speaker 3: 13:31

I knew you were gonna do it. There is gonna have to. There's definitely a difference in the water. I think that that may change. Just here's why I don't think so you don't think so okay, I don't there's a.

Speaker 1: 13:44

There's a place not far from where I'm at. I'm a little bit south, further south of you, where that property is, and of course, I can't think of the name right now but there's a pizzeria not far from me the guy's from he's actually from Brooklyn and he does a fantastic job. Now, it's not like it isn't? It's no L&B, but it's really good. There's only one L&B. There's only one, and I don't think the water has anything to do with how they're going to put out that product. With that said, we need to find a suitable alternative to Spumoni Gardens.

Speaker 2: 14:23

Yeah, but the other problem too is's the thing like for me as a chef. I travel to New York and that's where I want to go to get pizzas that place. But if I'm here in Florida, I want to go to a place that's going to have a really good pizza. So let it be the one. And to your point about water there are some pastry chefs that will be listening and be like water has no effect. It chefs that will be listening and be like water has no effect. It's actually the, the flour, it's the the sauce, gravy cheese, like it's all those different accoutrements that are going along with it. Water to me is not that, it's irrelevant like.

Speaker 1: 14:54

By the way, by the way you say it, we know you don't care about no, it's, it's. You bastardize it.

Speaker 2: 15:00

But brooklyn water bagels. They were all it's going to be, just like.

Speaker 1: 15:03

No, it's you know what's funny about that? Real quick side note. You know, being families from up there, grew up there also for a little bit, and how oh yeah, the water's so good you drink it. You know how old the pipes are there it's super old.

Speaker 3: 15:17

They're like a hundred years old. It's older than that, more than that and do you know what kind of? How disgusting that's got to really be, I would agree.

Speaker 1: 15:26

Even though when you drink it it's good. But really is it I?

Speaker 3: 15:31

don't know. I mean, after going through those pipes, most of the houses there are older than probably all of us combined here. He's pretty old. I was waiting for it. But going back, there's actually a machine online. If you go on Google, there's a machine online that actually says that it does the same type of filtering New York does. So you're actually able to buy that machine and create New York water. Now again, yes, it's probably, that's just Does it come with a bridge.

Speaker 1: 16:05

Does it come with a bridge?

Speaker 3: 16:06

Does it come with?

Speaker 1: 16:06

a bridge. They sell you the Brooklyn Bridge too, right.

Speaker 2: 16:09

Well, no, I want to know. Does it have the contaminants that are in the water too?

Speaker 3: 16:13

I would absolutely.

Speaker 2: 16:15

We are talking about New York. It's not the cleanest place.

Speaker 1: 16:17

It comes with the Listen. It's a different place today than it once was.

Speaker 3: 16:24

I agree, I absolutely agree.

Speaker 1: 16:26

All right. So let's get back to the park and, by the way, we're not going to forget about the empty house and all the cool stuff that there are many, many potentials, because I don't know if you noticed or knew, but we're doing cooking events. So part of our success, I feel, is our success is the fact that we don't just get behind a mic and talk and maybe say something funny once in a while or whatever it's actually we're doing. So we are doing dinner collabs with high-end chefs and high-end restaurants and we're highlighting farms and we're doing all these things and we're connecting brands and buyers. We're doing a lot of stuff. So when you're talking about having a, a house to to throw a party per se, yeah, man, there's a ton, a ton that we can do. But let's, let's talk challenges for a second. How, how rough is it to keep the the park full? Like, how, how were you, how were you finding actual trucks?

Speaker 3: 17:26

Yeah, so, aside from offering zero fees to park with us, zero commitment on top of that, again going back to sharing the vision and doing more development into the park, what was actually a turning point was when we started adding electricity, water, potable water, wastewater, commercial waste bins, restrooms, you know everything that they need to be compliant. That kind of started helping with them to kind of work with us and grow with us. So that kind of kept retainership, but again the still the challenge of having them continue to operate at the schedule that they originally told me they would.

Speaker 2: 18:23

I love that one.

Speaker 3: 18:25

That becomes difficult right After a couple of weeks. Again, the nature of trucks they're mobile, they can come and go if they wish. So it was a challenge, but I think the main ingredient in order to build a food truck park and this is to all other food truck parks, that has reached out to me, that spoke to me, to all other food truck parks that has reached out to me, that spoke to me I told them the same thing, because we fought the same struggles that it just takes time, commitment and don't give up and keep going. I'm not saying that we're successful in any. I mean from the park, from what I envision it to be, is still a long way to go. There's still a lot more work to do.

Speaker 1: 19:04

I mean, they have these mobile axe throwing, you know the axe throwing stuff like between that or Carnival type of things Carnival, yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah, yeah, they also have mobile bar units that can be there too, so there's a bunch that you can definitely do.

Speaker 3: 19:20

I had yesterday's funny a mobile, A mobile cell phone repair trailer, reached out yesterday and asked the park and I'm like I don't think that kind of falls into food. But you know, it's just a lot of things. But if it brings traffic it brings traffic. Haircut, you know salons mobile, it's in the van, so that.

Speaker 1: 19:45

I can tell you with assurance, would be phenomenal. No, because, like the place that I go to, yeah, I've been in tampa now tampa area for about eight years, something like that, and I usually keep my barber for decades.

Speaker 1: 20:00

That's how that's just how I get down yes, the place that my barber is at the ac is always out. Something happens I I want a towel. You know hot towels. I'm at a towel Like what are you doing? But he's great. I wish that cat had another place to kind of just go and do his deal. That would be phenomenal, because I feel like that's not just unique to my shop. I feel like that's probably everywhere.

Speaker 3: 20:26

No, no, it's actually that they actually travel in a van and when you sit down there's a seat with all everything they need and it looks like a barber.

Speaker 2: 20:35

I'm sorry I have this image of dogs the groomer, you know, in the top and you're up on the table.

Speaker 1: 20:40

Can I get a bath too? Can I get a bath while I'm there?

Speaker 2: 20:43

put me in a oh my god, I would pay good money to see that, if that was his, but that's not the weirdest one.

Speaker 3: 20:50

The weirdest one was actually a mobile gym that came to us. Literally, they had gym equipment and it was a bus, it was a large bus with gym equipment. During discussion with this vendor I was like, well know, it's outside, it's like 110 degrees right, and you have all this gym equipment that you kind of just expose out, you kind of you can actually bend out forward with all these stuff that you can have your. I guess your subscribers were exercise with and I was. I don't know if this is going to be something and then you put them next to food, well, it would have to be next to, like the.

Speaker 1: 21:30

And then you put them next to food.

Speaker 2: 21:31

Well it would have to be next to like the Vitamix. No, you know what it's like. That's like being at your house and having a workout, and then the refrigerator is right there. So now you have the bus, that's got the workout, and the refrigerator is the food truck. How?

Speaker 1: 21:40

do you think I, how do you think you wouldn't?

Speaker 2: 21:44

go in there. That's a cool bus. Let me go get a hot dog. Wait a minute.

Speaker 1: 21:47

Wait a minute. Well, that's what I'm trying to tell you. I work out six, seven hours a day, seven days a week, but you wouldn't tell because you know what. I go straight to the fridge and eat six, seven hot dogs.

Speaker 3: 21:56

That's what it's doing. At least you admitted it.

Speaker 1: 22:03

Oh man, eight, nine hot, I really eat them a lot.

Speaker 2: 22:07

Yeah, and I know you don't work out six to seven hours a day. No, I don't. I don't do that, especially when you're getting up at 3 30 in the morning the post.

Speaker 1: 22:14

Actually, since I've had children, I haven't seen a gym. I haven't. I hardly can, I don't want to even do push-ups you're not the only one I feel the same way side note daughter's nine, right. So nine years ago or eight and a half years ago, no, nine and a half years ago, excuse me I was doing muay thai. You know I was, it was active, I was doing stuff, it was fun and then so you're blaming your kid on that.

Speaker 2: 22:39

That's really messed up, bro. Love her so much and him.

Speaker 1: 22:42

Both of them. I love them, but uh, yeah, no, when it comes to like, uh, you know extracurricular stuff or your own self, just toilet bowl Sounds about right.

Speaker 2: 22:53

But how did you come up with the idea? And you said, hey, I'm going to do a food truck park, food truck park, yeah.

Speaker 3: 22:59

Me and my wife, before we had kids, would go above and beyond to travel to different places to eat the food that we for what we were craving for that day. Right, and we would do that. And we miss those days where food food variety was, you know, is just abundant. So I was like you know what, let's try this and see. And, to be honest, my mother told me I'm crazy, right, she's like what are you? What are you doing? Just just build a house on it and do something else with it, right, or lease it out to somebody else? And I'm like, no, I'm just gonna try to park food trucks and see what, what happens.

Speaker 3: 23:40

And it was wooded there too, so I had to cut down all the trees. There's a ton of trees, and after you cut all the trees, then there's all this mulch on the floor that you have to wait and start to rotting, and there's just a ton of things that have to be kind of considered and worked out. But you know, over time, one of the things that you know that it's valuable to me is, other than the experience, it's meeting these people and understanding their struggle, because all of them have unique struggles, some more or less similar, but all of them have different struggles and when talking to these people, you learn a lot, and it gives me satisfaction to be able to help them and provide a platform for them to exercise their culinary skills and whatnot. So there's a lot of value to it, which I didn't expect.

Speaker 1: 24:27

There's a lot of value to it, which I didn't expect. So when you're actually having conversation and learning other people's struggles, it's actually it's in concert with your own struggle with the park, right?

Speaker 3: 24:39

Yes, yes, they might not know, but it gives me kind of some. I guess it makes me feel a little better knowing that they also have the same struggle.

Speaker 2: 24:53

More or less it is. Yeah, it's validation.

Speaker 3: 24:56

Because building the park, they understand it's difficult. One of the main things that I didn't want to do was build the park on their expense. We'll have to do it on both our expense and make it fair. And I got a number of trucks that have came over to me from other parks and which has told me that you know, the way, the method I'm doing it or the philosophy I'm applying to this they feel is, you know, a lot more sustainable than you know maybe elsewhere. I can't speak for any other places, but you know they think that something like this is worth their time.

Speaker 3: 25:36

And you know, to some extent we all walk the same ground. We breathe the same air, right, we're going to have the same struggles, more or less. If they can understand that, you know I need time to implement certain new developments at the park. I would also understand that they can't operate seven days a week because they're only operating themselves, right. So there has to be a middle ground between us. So it's always a constant balance between that. But through that we build a relationship, a trust, and I think I learn a lot from that and that also gives me satisfaction because I'm out there actually doing something much more impactful than my nine-to-five job, which I still do my IT. My boss doesn't listen to this, but but but you know, I'm an IT project manager. Yeah, you know it's, it's boring stuff and it's constant chasing. You know resources to do things, but yeah.

Speaker 1: 27:31

I have never met an IT person that didn't have something happening on the periphery.

Speaker 3: 27:39

Yeah, I think that just because they're in IT, it kind of gives them a bit more freedom with maybe working from home or hybrid some form of that, and they probably have a bit more time to just figure something out. But to do something like this, you kind of just got to dive in and commit yourself. But to do something like this, you kind of just got to dive in and commit yourself. I mean, at first I probably thought about giving up on the park at least two to three times and I would probably feel. I probably think that would be the same thing for any entrepreneurs out there.

Speaker 1: 28:12

Trust us.

Speaker 3: 28:12

Like over time, you're just like where is that validation? Where is that validation? Point where like you, you should keep still moving and going forward. Like you committed all this time money, resource, everything, and you know when is this ever going to work right? So I think we constantly keep asking that question for at least startups or entrepreneurs. Oh yeah, we do that every day. Every day we do. I look at you and I go why? Why, for at least startups or entrepreneurs.

Speaker 1: 28:36

Oh yeah, we do that every day. Every day we do. I look at you and I go why, why? Right now, how many trucks do you have in the lineup?

Speaker 3: 28:47

I have 11 trucks.

Speaker 1: 28:49

Okay, and if you don't know this, it's okay. Like nobody's judging, we're all judging, do you know?

Speaker 3: 28:57

kind of in and about what their concepts are, Concepts Meaning what they serve right yeah, so you got tacos. Yeah, we got tacos, we got barbecue. We got, we got, we got Populsaria's truck. I actually don't know what it's called. Populsa, populsa, yeah, populsa.

Speaker 2: 29:12

So that's basically like an arepa and it's stuffed, it's a cornmeal. Okay, yeah, it's actually an Ecuadorian or Salvadorian kind of street food, but Buddy of Mine used to do that at Grandview Public Market.

Speaker 3: 29:26

We have some chefs from Hard Rock that also created some special, unique dishes that I don't know if it's a specific cuisine, but they have some food that they also provide there. There's also a vegan option. There's pizza, as we mentioned earlier, and a lemonade truck, coffee truck, a Philly cheesesteak truck we just signed up a hibachi truck and we also got soul food coming along as well Ice cream, and there's actually a couple of trucks that park with us that don't operate, but they always pull in and out for events, okay, and they would use the service there. Again, most important thing for them is to be compliant. So wastewater and getting potable water and all that.

Speaker 1: 30:15

What kind of events could be done there? Did you have anything in mind?

Speaker 3: 30:19

We actually have an event this Saturday where we invited a bunch of non-food tent vendors that are setting up tents selling little crafty stuff, and then we also got a bounce house. I think there's also a DJ for music and we're just running a little event just to see how it goes. This is probably our first one this year, but I mean kind of limitless, if you think about it, on type of events we could do yeah, I'm curious what the property?

Speaker 1: 30:52

so I've never stopped. I see it, you know, because it's usually I'm heading to a specific destination and there's no deviating off of that, correct, when I'm going down that road. But I do want to go and check it out just to kind of get the the, the layout of it, because I know you said you've done a lot of work there, yes, and I figured, as soon as I saw the string lights I was like, oh, they're doing something fun, like that's going to be a fun place, right?

Speaker 3: 31:15

yeah yeah, we're trying. I just recently got like five truckloads of dirt and crushed asphalt just trying to pave more of the roads Because as we're getting more traffic the roads are just getting worse. So just did that. There's a lot more development to do, but if you do, stop by if there isn't enough parking on site there is a lot of parking across the street where there's about 30 medical offices is a lot of parking across the street where there's about 30 medical offices, and I know the property manager there which we have kind of worked out. Most of the time if we do run events, it's on the weekends.

Speaker 1: 31:55

There's no one parking in there. Did you have any challenges last week with the weather?

Speaker 3: 31:59

Oh yeah, so one of the things that I do pride myself in, oh yeah, so one of the things that I do pride myself in in hiring a very great manager who is also an electrician his name's Rob, and his wife, jen, who helps maintain the park. The power was fine. Every truck had power. So remember these trucks when they park overnight. If they lose power, all their goods can be gone. Okay, so that's a major thing. So one of the things we tell all the trucks is to buy this little monitor that they can connect to Wi-Fi. If power goes out, there's an alert that goes out there, right? So that's one of the things that you know. But other than that, because of some low spots in the park, I had to get extra dirt and crushed asphalt just to cover so we can get the floods. You know, little puddles of water to kind of just mitigate that.

Speaker 1: 32:56

I mean you, jeff. You pointed at him when he was talking about the Wi-Fi and the thing.

Speaker 2: 33:03

Oh, I see, Of course this guy would know.

Speaker 1: 33:06

Actually't none of that dawned on me. You can turn that whole thing into something very uh tech driven absolutely.

Speaker 2: 33:15

There are so many things you can do this up here started like he could do movie nights like you know drive-in movie, and then you have all the concessions there. There's different things you can do there. There's a. There's my my head was it's already going. My question to you is there a truck? You're missing because you said that you started this because you want a different out, you want a different food venues. Is there one out there that you were like I wish I had that truck?

Speaker 3: 33:40

yes, I would. Some of of the trucks would be Asian trucks that would serve some Asian food. We have we covered most of the ones out there, but you know there are some trucks specific, maybe like dessert trucks, maybe more desserts. There has been a lot of tent vendors that has been reaching out and they would bake bread. A lot of tent vendors that has been reaching out and they would bake bread. Some of them would do, you know, crab ragoon and and a number of things that that that you know they would reach out but trying to put them out, you know, providing space for tent vendors I the way we design the park is more catered to food trucks.

Speaker 3: 34:22

So the the rent rate right now that we're trying to, you know that we have in design is kind of encapsulates all the services there that the tent may not use, the tent vendors may not use. So you know it was kind of difficult. And plus, tent vendors also need licensing. So a lot of them do decide to just operate during the Saturdays and Sundays. So I know there's a demand. I think lot of them do decide to just operate during the Saturdays and Sundays. So I know there's a demand. I think one day we're going to just cut out a section just for tents and see how that works out, but there's a number of things that we can do on different events, do you?

Speaker 2: 34:57

vet them coming on. I try as much as I can. If you need somebody, he's a professional taster. I'm pointing that to Carl.

Speaker 3: 35:09

I am. In fact, what I do is that any truck that do park with us, I do tell them that, listen, we got to walk the park together, let's talk there and just make sure that you know we have what we're able to provide, what you need to be successful here.

Speaker 1: 35:25

Are they required to be so? Let's just say, most food eateries or whatever. They're gonna be busy Thursday, friday, saturday, sunday, something like that. Are they required to be open and there on those days?

Speaker 3: 35:39

Yes, when I do speak with them and I tell them that if you're gonna park with us, it's mandatory that you have to be operating at least three to four days a week with foot traffic and making sure that trucks, you know, find it worth it to stay open longer has been a big challenge, Right? So you could just imagine, right, if you're fighting that, and then I'm mandating, I'm trying to mandate that you operate at the certain you know schedule.

Speaker 3: 36:20

It's a dance you know a schedule, it's a dance. It's a dance and it has to be that way for quite some time, until they notice that hey, wow, there's a number of other trucks that believe in this place, then they have to. Then they will actually commit themselves a bit more. But then, over time, some of these trucks realize that their consistency is actually paying off, like the taco truck, like a couple of other trucks that they they noticed that consistency was paying off because the customers could rely on them being there. That's a big thing. So when they started seeing that, they're like, oh, okay, then they started committing to open more hours and they won't be leaving earlier or shutting down earlier or you know, whatever the reason is.

Speaker 2: 37:00

Are you marketing at the same time, like that part of that, that common area maintenance, obviously the cam you're marketing. How is that going? How does? Is that a? Is that a selling point, too, for the trucks?

Speaker 3: 37:11

Yes, I would tell them that the park itself would would do advertisements on social media platforms. I recently bought a giant inflatable gorilla that has our logo on its chest. It's 26 feet tall. Bought that from I have.

Speaker 1: 37:28

Jeffrey I was waiting.

Speaker 3: 37:30

We can inflate him at the bar.

Speaker 2: 37:32

I was going to go after you and I was waiting. I'm like, nah, I'm going to let him have this one.

Speaker 3: 37:36

I had this crazy idea of putting that inflatable on top of that roof on the house there and just have it stand up. Do?

Speaker 1: 37:45

you get challenges from people who live. I mean, I got to believe that.

Speaker 2: 37:50

That's an actual absolute. Yes, he has challenges.

Speaker 1: 37:53

He didn't even let me finish the question.

Speaker 2: 37:55

He already answered it. He's still laughing.

Speaker 3: 37:59

You could say that I do have personal contacts from the code enforcement health department. I have their numbers, they have mine as well, not because I know them personally, right Yet?

Speaker 2: 38:13

Oh no, no, he does know them personally, because people probably are calling complaining.

Speaker 3: 38:17

There has been a couple of complaints. One of the things was one of the truck's operators his birthday and he asked me David, can I run a little event here just to have family friends and just blast the music and whatnot? And unfortunately I wasn't there to monitor the whole thing. The event went from afternoon to late night and the music was blasting at 9.30, 10 pm and they were all drunk and obviously says that that upset some of the, the neighbors which I, the neighbors, called me directly to first. So I was like okay, let me go there. And I took care of it and I just just told them that listen, going forward, you can't be doing this anymore. And later on, I think the next day, the truck left and never came back.

Speaker 1: 39:03

Well, number one, I can appreciate that, but number two, why wasn't I invited?

Speaker 2: 39:07

That was not a party. If we're not there, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1: 39:11

I'm just sorry that it's not a party, but I can also appreciate the whole get off of my lawn sort of vibe. Do you know what I mean At this?

Speaker 3: 39:19

point there's actually a more recent report was like how is this possible? What kind of business is this? How are they able to operate and just put food trucks onto a vacant lot and just let them operate like that? Why is that? Why is that legal? So that was one of the complaint from a local, I guess, citizen there. And I mean we have the zoning, it's zoned for it. It's zoned for it. We have the zoning and the code enforcement agent which I know, which took this complaint. I know him personally and he tried to explain to the person that the owner went through very difficult rezoning to actually be legal, be legal to do what he's doing. So so then he told me you know, kind of, just make sure everything is is in compliance you know, change does things to people.

Speaker 2: 40:15

People don't like change, so obviously this person that complained probably was like I don't want this, so let me complain about it yeah, but isn't that, see?

Speaker 1: 40:22

I don't know if this is a thing or not, but, like I, I would say all right, you know what person x? Come on in, I'd work something out with the vendors, take care of them, make them feel part of the family, or something like that, and make friends with them do.

Speaker 2: 40:36

It's like when you first move into a house. You're going to throw a house party. You're going to ask and invite all the neighbors around. I, I'm not inviting any neighbors.

Speaker 1: 40:43

Nobody likes you, that's not true.

Speaker 3: 40:47

Yeah, it's true, there's going to be people that may not feel that that's the right thing to do. I even had someone that maybe was an animal activist who actually reached out to me on Facebook and mentioned that you guys are slaughtering animals.

Speaker 1: 41:03

You know what you need to do. What you have to do is forward, share with them, with the, the one of the videos where they're getting a little piglet and they're giving it the massage and they're putting a little like the chapstick on the nose and you know, brushing it and then, boom, it's right from the grill you know what I mean.

Speaker 2: 41:19

Send that to them. That's what you should do, but or you can send me there, I'll take care of that. I'll just hold up my arms. I'm like these are vegans. What we need to do is get a butchering truck out there.

Speaker 1: 41:31

That's what we need to do.

Speaker 2: 41:32

Literally killing the animal? Yeah, like literally. I would butcher but I would not put down.

Speaker 1: 41:38

Yeah, not put down, but to break down, that's what we're talking about.

Speaker 2: 41:43

You want a veal chop? No problem, I got one. Come here, come on.

Speaker 1: 41:45

Come here, come here, come here, come here, you know.

Speaker 2: 41:49

How many pounds of beef do you want Exactly?

Speaker 1: 41:52

But now we're talking. Yeah, you know, and if we really want to shake up the neighborhood, that's what we do.

Speaker 2: 41:55

I just want to point something out to and the media so that you can eat. He bought property so he can eat. We're very much the same Good observation yeah, I was just making them like. You thought of this and he thought of that.

Speaker 1: 42:13

You know, your intelligence goes beyond where I think that you really can expand to. I'm just trying. He's pointing to the book You're an author.

Speaker 2: 42:23

Anybody can write a book.

Speaker 1: 42:26

No, no, I mean mean your name is arthur. All right, david. Last thing advice food people, non-food people, it people, entrepreneurial kind of a guidance or advice, what say?

Speaker 3: 42:42

There is a saying that I've heard and more or less over time I've I've really understood it very well and it goes this way Today is difficult, tomorrow will be worse, the day after the sun will come out, but most people die tomorrow evening. And if you know, you kind of just you know, just dwell on that a little bit. It kind of. It kind of sums up you know entrepreneurship when you don't give up and you commit yourself and you keep going and you just don't stop and and yeah, there may be people that may tell you otherwise, listen it might not just work.

Speaker 3: 43:30

If you could just ignore all the noise and stay committed and you're able to prevail in due time, things will work out most of the time. Most of the time, I believe that's just my philosophy and again, it took a year and a half and you know and and a lot of mistakes, you know a lot of feedbacks from everybody and a lot of learning and experience. If I gave up, that would have been it. All these trucks would have actually no place really to kind of go and say all right, you know what I want to start this journey and you know, but doing this it's going to take, you know it's going to be very difficult with trying to go out there and going to different events and have no place to really, you know, go back to and have all these services already provided. So you know, one of the things is in life is just if you don't give up, I think you know not only that it will make a huge impact to yourself but to everybody else around you.

Speaker 1: 44:36

So I agree with that 100%, because we're living the same. We're living in that same fabric. I will tell you this the same, we're living in that same fabric. I will tell you this there's a meme or a video on social media where it has this is entrepreneurship. And it's this little kid with a Nerf gun and he shoots himself in the groin and he starts crying. That is entrepreneurship. It's self-inflicted pain, and yet you continue to do it. Ana, we're wrapping up. How do people find you?

Speaker 3: 45:04

Oh, find us on facebook brandon food truck park. Instagram, brandon food truck park. On our website, brandonfoodtruckparkcom, you can also find us there and it's actually I believe there's a number there which you can call or send an email to excellent david.

Speaker 1: 45:19

Your lovely wife christina kristin. Kristin jefferson congratulations. Thank you for coming. Your book, man. I can't wait to put it in the garbage. John, your lovely wife Christina Kristen Kristen Jefferson congratulations, thank you for coming. Your book, man. I can't wait to put it in the garbage. John, I love you baby. Everybody did a great job. I can't wait to read it. Dude, congratulations again. Thank you All. Right, we are out. We'll see you next time.