Epsiode 489: Jesse Valenciana of Secret Bodega - Nashville, TN. What's the BIG SECRET in NASHTOWN? An Innovative Take on NOSTALGIC + COLLABORATIVE Cuisine. From Grilling Clubs to The Culinary Scene.

How does a successful marketing professional with three cookbooks and a viral men's grilling club end up starting over from scratch? And what if that painful reset is the only path to finding your true purpose?

This powerful episode of the JUSTIN AND THE [FOOD] ENTREPRENEURS Show brings you the incredible story of Jesse Valenciana, the "accidental restaurateur" and creative visionary behind Nashville's Secret Bodega. Host Justin Bizzarro sits down with Jesse for a raw and inspiring conversation about resilience, reinvention, and the profound impact of community.

Jesse pulls back the curtain on his unconventional journey, which began in Chicago with "ManBQue," a tongue-in-cheek grilling club that became an unlikely culinary incubator and media sensation, landing him two cookbook deals after a fateful encounter. But with success came burnout, and a devastating personal loss forced him to re-evaluate everything. This led him to make a life-altering move to Nashville, where he discovered a completely different kind of food scene.

This is a masterclass in community over competition. Jesse contrasts the guarded, scarcity mindset he knew in Chicago with the radical collaboration he found in Nashville, where chefs like Julio Hernandez of Maiz De La Vida didn't see a competitor, but a brother in arms, offering up his own food truck to help Jesse get started.

You'll hear the trial-by-fire story of Secret Bodega's launch inside the Pearl Diver bar, where Jesse's inherited team "jumped ship" at the last minute, forcing him to build his dream from the ground up, alone. Discover how he crafted a menu that is a true culinary autobiography—a nostalgic, innovative, and deeply personal reflection of his Chicago-Mexican heritage, filled with playful and critically acclaimed dishes that led to him winning Nashville's "Burger Week."

This episode is a testament to the fact that sometimes, the greatest opportunities are born from the deepest struggles. It's an unforgettable story about the grit it takes to start over and the magic that happens when a passionate entrepreneur finds the right community to call home.

 

IG: @thesecretbodega

IG: @jessevalenciana

IG: @pearldiver_nashville

 

Book: Birrias: 65 Recipes from Traditional to Modern

Book: Eat Street: The ManBQue Guide to Making Street Food at Home

Book: ManBQue: Meat. Beer. Rock and Roll.

 

Entrepreneur interested in being on the show: https://calendly.com/justin-bizzarro/podcast

 

Hosted By: Justin Ryan Bizzarro (IG: @justinbizzarro and LinkedIn: FOLLOW ME )

 

Who is Justin Ryan Bizzarro? – Justin Bizzarro is a serial food, restaurant, technology, media and marketing entrepreneur, who helped build a 24-year-old group of food and restaurant related businesses, he created with his father and business partners out of his family’s basement, in 1998. He is a highly desired business management, personal and athlete growth, free market, food diversity, and entrepreneurial leadership speaker. Justin’s expertise are in human growth, motivation, leadership and management development, health foods and beverages, global lean manufacturing facilities, vertically integrating businesses, food marketing and advertising, supply chain creation and management, direct to consumer fulfillment, transportation and distribution, personal brand building, restaurant development and construction, and entrepreneur acceleration. Justin received his BA in International Business and Management from Dickinson College, in 2002, and his MBA from University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, in 2014. He is currently pursuing his Master of Divinity in Leadership from Denver Seminary. His leadership and entrepreneur podcasts have positively impacted millions of people across the globe.

 

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